Diorama Eggs & Sweet Friends

Just had to share some sweet items that my dear PRH "sister", Vickie sent to me recently. We "chat" quite often as we are both members of a decorating group, but we have never met. Come to find out we are in fairly close proximity, live in the same state a few hours apart, & she has a sister that lives only about 20 mins. from me, so hopefully some day we will meet face to face. That is the great thing about the internet ~ it brings people with like interests together & often times, special bonds are made with our "virtual" friends! We do have a special connection, & she knows I collect wedding memorabilia, so looky what she found for me at an estate sale!!

I've never seen an egg diorama of a wedding scene before, but isn't this one just grand?!?! I adore the vintage silver trim & sweet little pearls all around the opening. And it has such a wonderful little scene inside of a very intricately detailed wedding party! And it has pretty sparkles all over! I'm especially fond of it, as daughter is getting married soon, so we are all in the "WEDDING" mode around our house!!

Vickie is so sweet, she even included a surprise in my package for my little granddaughter ~ her very own hand-decorated Bunny Egg!! She was thrilled with it, consenting for me to keep it only long enough to snap a quick picture. It is a heavenly shade of blue with lots of gold trim & gold wheels, a little cart topped with a cute bunny & sweet little vintage florals, being pulled by another little bunny.

Thanks so much for the fun surprises in my mailbox, Vic!!

Hugs,

Stephanie

Cherubs & Sophisticated Sirens?!?

What a pair!!! Wanted to show you two of my favorite lamps in my home. Remember, I'm a lamp-a-holic! The first is my cherub lamp. Hubby bought it for me as a surprise, brought it home covered with grime ~ once I cleaned it up, he was the one that was surprised. I gave him a big old hug for this one! We call it our "salad bowl" lamp because we have a salad bowl almost exactly like the top, minus the beaded drops of course! It sits atop a kidney shaped chocolate server in our entry hall & casts the softest most beautiful light.

Next is my Art Deco Sophisticated Siren "Va Va Voom" Lady. Hubby also bought this one, with the thoughts that I would sell it. WRONG!! She is just tooo irresistable, wearing her original pink taffeta & lace dress, black elbow length gloves & pouty facial expression. We had her re-wired as she came to us from England. Her dress lights up with a soft glow from beneath her hooped skirt. Wish I knew more about her & her maker. If anyone sees her & can tell me anything about her, please leave me a comment!

Hugs,

Stephanie

A Cherished Family Heirloom

I've been missing my daddy alot today, as he has only been gone since March 1st, so I thought I would like to share a few pictures & a special family heirloom that brings me happiness.

Top grouping of pictures is 3 little roly-polies ~ my uncle, my daddy, & me as infants. We obviously were all well-fed. Daddy is in the middle, larger picture, I'm on the right. Most people think I looked just like my dad & his brother . . . . does that mean I looked like a little boy?!? His mother (my Granny) made all the little gowns & sweaters we are wearing in the pics. Tons of handmade lacy tatting adorn them. Plenty of sweet little stitches, too!

The gown Daddy is wearing is now hanging in my bedroom on my armoire door on a little wooden heart hanger he made for me. His gown is 73 years old. It had hung in my guest bedroom for years, but I had just recently hung it in my bedroom & the very last time he got to come to our home I took him back into the bedroom & showed it to him again. I'll never forget his big grin. I'm so glad for that memory & all the millions of other special times we had together.

The pictures are in our living room. The little tap-dancing Shirley Temple look-alike is my darling Mother! DIdn't she look snazzy in her satin tap panties & satin cuffs?

I just love decorating with articles of clothing that have a special meaning. Thanks for letting me share these with you tonight!

Hugs,

Stephanie

Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks

Here is the link:

http://whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/261081

I have a dear friend who has asked me to share the above video which features her two precious children in the hopes of raising funds for Autism awareness. I believe this to be a very worthwhile cause, the video takes only 4 minutes to view, features adorable kids, beautiful music, & each time it is played, 49 cents goes to Autism Speaks. What more do I need to say? Please give it a look & sign a comment of quick encouragement to Donna, just tell her Stephanie sent you!

Hugs,

Stephanie

Favorite Rose Items

I love anything with roses on it, so wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. The top cache' bowl just spoke to me at an auction a couple of years ago. It has a beautiful gold greek key design and beautiful swagged roses.

I also love my oval mirrored vanity tray. It has a gold ROSES wreath at each end. I've moved this one all around the house. My favorite place is to decorate with it on my bed. Just the perfect spot to display some of my miniature perfume bottles, a favorite lavender sachet, a pretty antique bowl with handpainted roses on it that I filled with paper roses, & my grandmother's hand-crocheted glove. Treasures from the past!

Hugs,

Stephanie

** My sweet new blog friend Michele at sweet yesterdays felt bad about my magazine having an ugly stain on it, so she surprised me by editing it out for me!! I left the original cover below so that you can see what an excellent job she did. Thanks soooo very much, Michele! Go check out her wonderful blog, and you can also visit her amazing website sweet yesterdays by clicking here!!**

My Shabby Wedding Themed Bedroom ~ Part Deux

Thought I would give you a peek at my wedding gown & veil that I wore back in the days of the dinosaurs! For years I kept it neatly tucked away, then decided that my daughter would never choose to wear it, so why not enjoy it myself EVERY DAY?!? It was a long search to find a dressform small enough (oh, those WERE the good ol' days!), but I finally found one, & I've been enjoying seeing it first thing when I wake up every morning for 5 years now.

I also have a copy of MODERN BRIDE that featured my gown on the cover. Sadly, it has a ring on the cover where a glass was placed on it, but I love it anyways. My friend Dolly at from my cherry heart, suggested that I copy the cover, maybe sepia-tone it & frame it. I like that idea! Sounds like a good project for my daughter, since I'm computer-challenged in those areas!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hugs,

Stephanie

My Shabby Wedding Themed Bedroom

My sweetheart of a friend & fellow TEXAN, Vickie, just sent me a teaser of an email saying she found something with my name all over it for my wedding themed cupboard, so I'm sitting on needles & pins waiting to see what she found for me! I haven't been able to talk her into doing this blog thing yet with me, but maybe soon, huh Vic?!?!

So I thought I'd share a couple more pictures of some of my favorite things in my bedroom with you tonight & sweet Vic made me think of this piece. I've combined my small collection of wedding cake toppers with some of my Gone With the Wind wedding themed items, too. Heather, are you looking? My sweet friend Heather of pretty petals boutique told me of the most wonderful Gone With the Wind inspired Inn named TARA ~ A Country INN that they stayed at recently. Check it out if you are into GWTW or beautifully decorated inns! I need to go there someday!!

First shelf has several toppers that I purchased at estate sales, plus ours on the far right. It is the oldest, most yellowed one of all!! I also included the lucky penny my daddy put in my shoe & our wedding knife on this shelf.

Second shelf has a cute Lizzie High Bride & Groom doll set, a Bradford Exchange Gone With the Wind Cameo Series plate called "Pearls & Promises" & a Franklin Mint GWTW domed "Scarlett's Betrothal", along with a Dave Grossman GWTW figurine called "The Wedding of Scarlett & Charles Hamilton".

Bottom shelf has my daughter's American Girl "Samantha" doll (sigh, the very last doll she ever asked for), & one of my Seymour Mann porcelain dolls with "her" dolly. To the right of the cabinet posed on the small chocolate server cabinet is my Seymour Mann "Scarlett" bride doll. I haven't had her very long & just adore her, although her green glass eyes "creep my granddaughter out"!

The small white batting Santa hanging from the cabinet knob is a cutie I got on eBay from Becca of bluebirds & roses. She has great items. Give her blog a peek.

Now, I'm off to read some of my gal-pals weirdnesses!!

Hugs,
Stephanie

I've been tagged - 3 times!!!

My sweet friend Natasha of artistic creations by natasha (a real sweetheart!) tagged me for some weird fun!!! AND so did my dear friend Ele of a bit of pink heaven, AND so did my new friend Shannon at paint mine pink, (I had already tagged her, too!) so there is no escaping. I don't think I'll bore you (or humiliate myself) with 21 weird facts, but I will admit to 7!

Here are the rules…. each player starts with 7 random weird facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Okay, I'm taking a deep breath, here goes in no particular order of weirdness.....

1. I used to sleep with a monkey. Nope, not my husband. A stuffed monkey named Zip. Made by the Rushton Company, worth a bit of money now that he is an antique! Got him when I was teensy & slept with him til I was in 5th grade. My family moved to Waco, TX when I was in 1st grade & we would make the 3 hr. drive to my grandparents at least once a month. On more than one ocassion, I would forget Zip, & my daddy would patiently turn the car around & go back home to get him. And yes, I still have Zip.

2. I am a lamp-aholic. I can not Can not CAN NOT pass up a pretty lamp. I've lost count on how many floor lamps, chandeliers, & accent lamps I have. I will confess that when we listed our previous home for sale, it would take me 1/2 hr. to get all my "mood lights" turned on. Forget making the beds or hiding the dirty dishes, just turn on those pretty lamps!

3. I can drive my car in reverse as good, or better than I can drive forwards! I attribute this feat to the fact that my mom has a very long driveway that I just always pull straight into. When I leave, I just throw it in reverse & zip out of there. I also LOVE amusement rides that go backwards really FAST!

4. I cannot go up open staircases, those that you can see thru. When I was in 3rd grade my parents took me to the State Fair of Texas, & we had to park across the street from the fair grounds. To get into the fair, we had to cross over a very busy street by way of an open stairway, with cars zipping around below us. There were plenty of chain link fencing on the stairs, but nothing between the open risers, & I got so dizzy that I just got paralyzed & melted right down on the stairs. Daddy just about had to pry me up with a spatula. To this day I have a hard time with that type of stairs.

5. I hate having cabinet doors or drawers left open. They have to be closed, even if you are going to open them back up in just a minute.

6. I have to turn off the lightswitches 4 or 5 times. I'm talking about the flip switches. I check to make sure it is turned off over & over. Is my OCD showing yet???

7. I absolutely LOVE polishing silver. I must have been a servant in a previous life. I just love taking some old grungy tarnished piece of silver & restoring it to its former beauty. Hey, maybe I was Cinderella in all her cleaning drudgery in an earlier life. Yeah, that must be it & we KNOW how that story ends!!!!!

Now here are the 7 friends I tag to be it next. I told my dirty secrets, so now it is your turn!

1. Kimberly at my pink boutique

2. Connie at living beautifully

3. Shannon at paint mine pink

4. Debbie at purple flower fairy

5. Lori at vintage flair

6. Alicia at time worn style

7. Arlene at the lil cottage shoppe

Hugs,

Stephanie