Slightly Shabby

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

2012-02-11T14:38:00.000-08:00


I spent the day scanning photo's and decided to share some. I'm having huge problems adding text to my posts, not sure if it's a Blogger issue or just me so I'm having to add text by using the 'caption' option. Sorry for the small writing! This photo is of my brother and me, I think I'm around 1 and my brother is 2.

I'm probably around 2 here, I was bald for quite a while!

My brother and me with our neighbor Ruth, she's in the middle...yes, I do realize I look like a little boy wearing a dress here!

I loved this jacket!

Me as a little English school girl in my uniform...again, looking more like a boy!

We left England in 1976 and moved to Canada, this was our first Canadian Christmas. Check our my Cher doll down there on the right!

This is my 6th grade class photo, can you spot me?

My brother and me with our dog at a little cottage we went to stay at in the summer of 1980.


This was after we moved to Southern California, my best friend Tanya came to stay with us for a few weeks the summer of 1983. Sadly, Tanya passed away at the age of 17:( I still think of her daily though, she was really a special person! If blogger decides to start cooperating I'll share some more of the photo's later on this week but for now, it's too frustrating!!!

A Gloomy White Wednesday!

2012-02-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I found new homes for the gorgeous treasures I won from Rosemary at Villabarnes.

I just love my new cherub!!! He's hollow in the top which makes him perfect for holding flowers:)

I previously had a mirror sitting here but moved my new cork board here instead. I'm trying to hang things less and lean them against the wall instead...it makes everything so much easier when I get a bee in my bonnet to move things around!

I moved the mirror to my end table but who knows how long it'll stay there!

My new jar is perfect for holding tea!

I ordered these push pins off Etsy yesterday to use on my new cork board, they're so pretty!!

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday. If this post looks odd I apologize...again I had a horrible time trying to add text in between my pictures!

Presents...

2012-02-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

What a fun day yesterday was, I had two huge boxes arrive! One contained these gorgeous votive globes I ordered off Etsy from a shop called A Scent from the Heart...they look so gorgeous lit up at night and the candles smell divine!

Beyond that, the seller Mary is the sweetest person....we built up a little friendship conversing back and forth and sellers like her are what keep me coming back to Etsy:)

My box from Rosemary at Villabarnes arrived also! My husband always get such a kick out of watching me opening things...I'm like a little kid, I get so excited!

Everything is so beautiful!!! I'm still trying to decide where to put the message board and the cherub, it's my project for tomorrow:) The little iron rose already found a home.

Thinking of Valentine's Day...

2012-02-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

My Valentine's Day roses from last year are still coming in handy, almost one year later. I broke one of the flowers off its stalk accidentally so I put it in my cherub girls bowl...she loves it:)

A few more hanging from my votive holder in the dining area...maybe I'll get some fresh ones in couple of weeks!

I'm linking up with Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday. Also with Courtney from French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday:)

White Wednesday!

2012-01-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

My little lavender bracelets, I just got them and haven't worn them yet but I have plenty of lavender tops for them to go with.

A lavender candle I got at Tuesday Morning, it also came with two more candles and a matching lavender diffuser.

An etched glass I bought off Etsy, I didn't notice that the seller was having a "Free shipping with code" special so I paid the shipping. The seller was so kind, rather than sending just the one glass she sent me two to make up for the shipping I'd paid:) I love Etsy sellers!!!!

My new sconce:)

I was thinking of painting it white but I am actually liking it in this minty green color!

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday:)

The Bachelor Pad

2012-01-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

My oldest son and his room mates moved from their place in Orange county to a city called Echo Park in Los Angeles last week. On Friday Kyran and I drove up there to see their new place.

They painted the walls and no bachelor pad would be complete without a giant t.v. being the focal point.

This is Walter, he's so cute!

My son is going back to his English roots here with an empty can of mushy pea's being used as a pen holder.

They made the dining table themselves.

My son went downstairs to get something out of his car and Walter eagerly awaited his return.

This is the view from their window.

Some very interesting little houses!

We had lunch in this very colorful Mexican restaurant, I wish I would've taken pics of the front...it was bright pink!

My son left his job at Disney and is now working at Starbucks on Wilshire Blvd.

He made us coffee with his French press after lunch. What a difference that thing makes!

Here's Kyran letting the Mexican food digest:)

It's also Michael's 22nd birthday today...where does the time go! I'm so proud of him:)

Oh Happy Day!!!!

2012-01-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

Rosemary at Villabarnes has been having a lot of giveaways, all of which I've been entering and this morning I found out I had won her latest!!! I am soooo excited to be expecting these gorgeous creations!

Thank you Rosemary!!! BTW, she has another one coming up!

Some new treasures...

2012-01-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

It's almost Friday! Time for some showing and telling.

I bought these 5 gorgeous little vintage wine glasses off Etsy for only $5.99. It's hard to tell from the photo but the top has a gold rim.

This little tin box is from Tuesday Morning. I love that store!

It's perfect for storing all my little tea lights.

I'd had my eye on this book in Sandi's Etsy shop A Cottage Muse for quite a while and was so happy to finally make it mine! It's so pretty, I just love it!

I'm linking up with Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday:) I guess my signature decided to disappear today. Hmmmm...

Goodbye Picnic...I will miss you:(

2012-01-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you know by now that Picnik is shutting down and I am SO sad about it:( I love Picnik and always found it so user friendly...and how darn cute were those little sayings...Painting sky...Spreading out blanket...Opening picnic basket. I know they're moving over to Google + but have heard it's just not the same.

Until they close on April 19th you can use all their features for free...that means all the features that were previously for paying members only are free!

Goodbye Picnik!

Another White Wednesday...

2012-01-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Happy White Wednesday once again! I'm sharing this darling little lamp I bought from Chesnut Hill Vintage on Etsy. I already had the little glass shade. I'm having a terrible time with Blogger today and can't get my space bar in between my pictures so all the text will have to go at the top and at the bottom of this post!

The shop owner, Amy, also sent me this gorgeous little beaded vintage purse! How sweet of her! Along with her shop, Amy has just started blogging so go and say hello when you have a chance at Chestnut Hill:)

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday.

While I take a break from pinning...

2012-01-17T07:59:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness, has it really been a whole week since I posted?!?!

After I noticed Etsy had added a little "Pin It" icon to everything I finally buckled and signed up for Pinterest yesterday...so addictive!!! I even dreamt about it last night!

We went to my in-laws for the weekend and my husband's aunt and uncle gave us our belated wedding gift...a very warm and cozy blanket.

It's coming in very handy right now because it's been cooooold at night!

Also, a cake platter which gave me the perfect reason to bake yesterday...homemade coffee cake:) My husband just loves this recipe!

I posted a while back about buying this little liquor bottle, I tried to struggle my way through drinking it but when Kyran saw the look on my face he said "Just dump it" lol.

It's on the back of my toilet.

I know you've all been dying to see the back of my toilet:)

Believe it or not, these roses are going on a year old now! Kyran got them for me last Valentine's Day, I dried them and they're still hanging in there.

I will be linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday:)

Show and Tell Friday!

2012-01-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

Happy *almost* Friday! It's been so long since I've participated in Show and Tell Friday so I decided today was the day to jump back in:) I have to confess, with having a little extra money from Christmas I went completely overboard on Etsy.

There's a little hook screwed into the wood over the countertop and it needed something. My husband said he could just take the hook down but I said no, the hook needs something!! I found this unique ornament and thought it was so pretty and perfect for the hook! It's a happy hook now:)

Oh I've wanted cherub scales for sooooo long but they were always so expensive! When I found this one for $14.95 I knew he had to be mine! I have him on top of my fridge but with my kitchen cabinets being so ugly and my hideous 80's fridge I took him down for his photo shoot.

I suppose he's not technically a cherub because he has no wings but in my eyes, he's a cherub:)

I've had this little dish for quite a while but I don't think I've ever put it on my blog so it's making its belated debut! I used it as a candy dish over Christmas.

I'm linking up with Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday:)

Vintage White Linens

2012-01-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

Along with my vintage book obsession I've developed a vintage linen obsession. I changed out my gorgeous vintage cherub tablecloth with this more simple one.

Isn't it just so pretty and feminine?

It has these beautiful little flowers all over it!

Oh I adore this vintage cherub towel I found on Etsy...but I don't plan on using it as a towel, I cringe at the thought of someone wiping their hands all over it! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

This piece is intended for a square table but I don't have one small enough so my husband suggested I put it over my plant stand. The sides are actually butterflies! Cuuuuute!!!

Mr. Cherub is peeking out from underneath:)

This vintage book is so pretty, it has lilac flowers on the cover and how cute is The Little Skipper boy on the front!

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday:)

Labors of Love...

2012-01-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Those of you who read my blog regularly, all 2 of you (I'm kidding...I think!) may remember a while back I was completely engrossed in working on a cross stitch for my MIL. I wasn't able to show it in case she looked at my blog but now that I've given it to her I thought I would put some pics up.

This was not the dream frame I wanted but it fit our budget, I had planned on painting it sage green until I discovered my sage green paint was as hard as cement! So it stayed black but that's ok, my MIL's not into the whole white thing.

It's a Marjolein Bastin piece, if anyone is familiar with her. The bottom area was supposed to have her name stitched in but I changed it to "For Mom 2011", even though I don't call my MIL mom she is like one to me.

The birdhouse was supposed to have the artists last name stitched on it but I changed that also to our last name.

My MIL loved it and it brought on the waterworks when she realized what it was, I wish I would've taken some pics of her opening it.

I made one identical to this for my BIL and his wife when they got married. I found this one at Michael's on clearance for 85 cents so I decided to stitch it up for Kyran and myself. The original chart has really puffy hair for the man, since my husband is bald I stitched this one up with a bald head and even added the little beard hair Kyran has under his bottom lip:)

I got the frame free when I bought the frame for my MIL's stitching and bought some sticky board so I was able to frame them myself.

Now it's onto the next!

First White Wednesday of 2012!!!

2012-01-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Now things are getting back to normal which, as fun as the holidays are, always feels good for me:)

I bought some little mercury glass votive holders and amazingly, I did not buy them off Etsy but from the Timeless Settings online shop...she has some really lovely things.

I already had the larger mercury glass one from Big Lots so I got 5 small ones, these are 3 of them.

I decided to keep my angel wings out all year.

They're just too pretty to put away!

I bought this little vintage mirror to display some Christmas votives on but unfortunately, the heat from the candles cracked the glass:( I did my best to glue it back together and put it up high so the crack isn't too obvious.

More vintage books!

My collection is growing and I'm loving it!

My MIL got me two milkglass cherub candleholders, I just love them!!!

My dear bloggy friend Patti sent me this sweet little book:) It has the prettiest pictures inside!

We have built a wonderful friendship, born through our mutual love of classic films. Patti has the most amazing blog "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" dedicated to reviewing old movies and it is a MUST read for anyone interested in a time when they really knew how to make films:)

Since I don't have DVR Patti has recorded a few that I'd really wanted to see and missed. Thank you my dear friend Patti:):):)

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday!

Is it over already???

2011-12-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

Can you believe all that anticipation and preparation is over! We had such a wonderful Christmas though. My oldest son is wearing the crown from his Christmas Cracker:)

At their request I made appetizers rather than a big dinner. They loved it!

As you can see, it was a bright and sunny day...I was really hoping for rain:(

They loved their presents!

Kyran below posing with his new Seahawks beer mug that his little brother got for him and his new Seahawks shirt...he's so happy!!!

And a Happy 70th Birthday to my dad!!!! This photo is from last year at my brothers but he's there again this year celebrating with my cute little nieces:)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I'm trying to get rid of a cold but will be back later this week to share some of the presents I got this year:)

I Have Wings!

2011-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm just popping in to share my new cherub wings! I saw them on someone else's blog (sorry I can't recall whose blog it was) and she mentioned they were only $1.99 at Pier One!

I wandered around searching for them for so long that Kyran finally sat down, I then gave up...figuring they had run out of them but just as we were leaving they caught my eye hiding behind some other ornaments. They had 3 so I grabbed 2 and left one set for someone else (I really wish I'd just bought all 3 though!).

I just love them and most likely will leave them out all year long:)

Touches of Christmas!

2011-12-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Only 19 more days until Christmas! I added a white candle to my tole dish.

Sorry this picture is so crooked, I took it at a funny angle.

My friend Beverly got me this pretty little hanging star ornament! I think I'll leave it out all year.

My cherub that I got at the Biltmore Christmas shop, I love him!!! He's definitely staying out after Christmas:)

My cinnamon scented pinecones. It was my intention to put silver glitter on all the tips but I never got around to it...maybe next year.

Some snowflakes...the closest we'll get to snow here!

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday:)

My Sneaky Stepmom and my Favorite Beer!!!

2011-12-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

Just an update to my SURPRISE gift I received the other day! I started puzzling after I put the post up, realizing Faith didn't have my address, so I rummaged through the box looking for a note to see who could've sent them but...no note! This morning I got an email from my stepmom asking me if I received the candles she had sent me...so SHE was the sneaky culprit who sent me the beautiful candles from Faith's shop!!!

Thank you Ang!!!!!! I love them:)

I really love this Samuel Adams Winter Beer, it comes in a box of 12 with 6 different flavors and they are all so yummy! A ton of calories in just one though but hey, it's the holiday season!

Surprise in the Mail!!!

2011-12-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

I was expecting a package in the mail so imagine my surprise when I went to the mail and found TWO boxes waiting for me. I couldn't for the life of me imagine why I had two!

A few weeks ago I did a post on an Etsy shop named Inspirations By Faith...my step sent me 3 of her gorgeous little printed candleholders!!!

It was such a wonderful surprise and a treat!

Now for the package I was expecting, an Italian tole candy dish.

I'm really having a thing for Italian tole lately! I just love this dish and it was only $18...I've seen them as pricey as $55 so I was happy to find it for so much less.

I put some gold ornaments in it but may put a flameless candle in it instead:) Hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend!!!

Countdown to Christmas!

2011-11-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

Happy White Wednesday! (I know, it's not Wednesday YET!)

I just love these darling little cherub tree ornaments I found!

I didn't get a shot of the back but they read Hark the Herald Angels Sing!

Somemore of my $1 Target ornaments.

Sorry for the giant t.v. in the background but I have these sitting right in front of it.

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday:)

Random Pretties!

2011-11-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

I'm just sharing a few pretties! I got a new vintage book for my bookshelf, although I think it's at its limit of what it can hold:)

I just love all the vintage books that have gilt lettering on them.

Gorgeous!

I also purchased some beautiful cherub tags from Elizabeth's Etsy shop The Porcelian Rose...perfect for the holiday season!

I put out the candles my stepmom bought me and lit them because I don't like the way candles look when they've never been lit!

I'll be back tomorrow for White Wednesday:)

Signature Post!

2011-11-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Just a few pics of my three boys and my oldest son's girlfriend Jessica and youngest son's girlfriend Mackenzie digging into some leftover's yesterday.

I noticed a few people are calling my by the wrong name in my comments so I've been working on making a signature...so this is really just a test post to see how it looks:)

This stuff is always challenging for me!!!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Vintage Glass Lampshade

2011-11-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Just a quick little post today to share my cuuuuute little vintage lampshade!

I know it looks silly on this lamp but I haven't found a really small lamp yet...I'm scouring Etsy for one. It's going to have to be a really, really small one for this shade.

In the meantime, I couldn't resist putting it on one of my lamps:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of food and family:)

I'm linking up with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday!

Etsy Favorites Thursday!

2011-11-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

Happy almost Friday! This week I'm sharing an Etsy shop called Repurposed Antiques.

I just love this handmade decoration!

This bird one is adorable also:)

Darling little pillow and the insert is included.

Cute napkin rings.

These I really love! What a creative and cute way to keep track of whose wine is whose at a holiday party:)

These coasters are gorgeous! Again, the shop name is Repurposed Antiques and has 100% rating...just click on the name to visit:)