Chicory Nits

I Enjoy Being a Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:14:00 +0000

When my date picks me up......

at my place.

I enjoy being a girl. I adore....

being dressed in something.....

frilly.

I flip when my fella rings me on the phone

and sends me flowers. I enjoy being a girl..........

and I enjoy the color pink. Here is to being a girl.

Have a lovely Pink Saturday. Please stop by How Sweet the Sound for more pink.

Be Still

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Do ever feel you need to just be quiet - to listen, learn and observe?

I found out that there is just so much beauty and inspiration all over the place, you just need to let yourself see it. So without further ado, here is what inspired me......

It all started with this painting......

The detail is amazing. The drapes look so real.I am fascinated with it. I found it on the web somewhere without a title or artist. During the research process, I had a renewed interest in art history. I never did find out the title or artist, but after corresponding to some art buffs it is safe to say this was painted in the late 1800s. If anyone knows anything about this painting I would love to hear from you.


Since this painting contains various shades of red, I am going to link this post to Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World. If you like red this is the place to visit.


Carey

Table for two at Laduree New York

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:26:00 +0000

I have always wanted to go to Laduree in Paris the world famous tea salon - part cafe and part patisserie. Since I have three young boys this dream will be put off for awhile. I was delighted to find out that Laduree had opened a shop in NYC yesterday. There was a 45 minute wait to get in, so I will give it a few weeks before visiting. I hope it is as beautiful as the one in Paris.

I would be happy just to look at the window and the beautiful exterior architecture at the Paris location.

The interior looks more like a an expensive boutique rather than a french bakery and tea room.

Laduree is probably most famous for their beautiful, colorful macaroons. The packaging of these pastel beauties are so elegant.

                               The tea rooms are candy for the eyes as well.




                              Laduree tea rooms look like four star restaurants.

Each room more beautiful than the last.

Their table settings are simply elegant.

The china has pastel pink and blue edges and appear to almost match the colors of the macaroons.

Everything tastes better on real china.

And I personally feel that tea or coffee always tastes better
in real china. Wouln't you agree?

At the Athenaeum Hotel in London, Laduree hosts the 4pm tea.

I would definitely sit for tea each afternoon for this.

Mini me received a package from Laduree in Paris........

macaroons of course! I made some tea, won't you join me?

Peinen, a very talented French miniaturist, made me mini Laduree macaroons and a shopping bag. Thank you Peinen, I love them. She has an Etsy shop called OiseaudeNim if you would like your own mini version.

I am linking this post to Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Stop by and see an amazing assortment of tablescapes.

It's Coming

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:18:00 +0000

The calm before the storm, in this case Irene, a beautiful rainbow in a pink sky......

followed by this

Hurricane Irene looks like it already arrived in Montauk. We were planning to go home tomorrow (Sunday) but the town is shutting down. Montauk is the last town on the end of Long Island, on the south fork, the next town after the Hamptons. It is surrounded by water on all sides. It looks like we left at the right time.

The ocean is already hitting the dunes and the storm has not arrived yet.

I hope there will be no significant damage. Montauk has been home away from home for the past 12 summers.

Is anyone else being visited by Irene?

I am joining Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound, hosted by Bev.
Stop by for lovely pinks.

The World of Blythe

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 03:53:00 +0000

Happy Pink Saturday! I thought I would share with you some pictures of the popular Blythe doll dressed in pink. I never heard of Blythe until a few years ago. I started seeing them all over blog land.

I noticed the owners of Blythe dolls were really into them. There was a subculture here that I was completely unaware of. These dolls were not owned by 10 year olds, but by adult women.They dressed them up in the cutest clothes. There are even Etsy stores devoted to selling hand made Blythe clothes.

Some even made homes for them.

I thought this was the cutest thing ever, a doll in curlers.

And what about this photo, a surfing doll. There are a couple of Blythe groups on Flickr with thousands of pictures of all the different Blythe dolls. Take a look, it is well worth your time.

I can't wait to receive my new Blythe doll in the mail. They are not easy to get and not cheap. It will be so much fun to dress her and do her hair. On a Blythe blog site there was a pole given to find out the average age of a Blythe fan. The youngest was 20 and the oldest was 60. I fall right in the middle of that range and fortunately it looks like I will have another 20 years to play with dolls.

Do any of you have a Blythe doll? I would love to hear about it.

Please enjoy more pink by visiting Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Carey

Jeremiah Goodman

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:10:00 +0000

Happy Pink Saturday! I have some special watercolor illustrations to show for Pink Saturday. These lively illustrations were painted by Jeremiah Goodman. He has painted his impressions of the residences of the rich and famous for the past 65 years. Jeremiah is 89 years old, lives in NYC and continues to paint everyday. I chose the paintings that had pink for today but you must see his other work to fully appreciate beautiful illustrations

The above illustration is Diana Vreelands living room.

Jeremiah Goodman's Easthampton bedroom.(above)

Elsa Schiaparelli's living room in Paris (above)

Although there is no pink, I love this painting of Betsy Bloomingdale's home. (above)

Cecil Beaton's home in England. (above)

Tony Duquette's LA living room. (below)

I just purchased Jeremiah A Romantic Vision, which is a gorgeous book with hundreds of his paintings. Great coffee table book or lovely gift. Every page is filled with delicious candy for the eyes. I highly recommend it.

Have a great weekend and for more pink, visit
How Sweet the Sound.

Carey

Miniature Living Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:49:00 +0000

Hello friends, hope all is well. I apologize for the absence. I have been busy with my hubby's illness, work and my three boys. I am glad to be back here and looking forward to visiting you all again.

I am just starting to get back into my hobbies and have found a new one to add to the list. As my friends know I love anything in miniature. I decided to try miniature living gardening. All the plants are real. Do you like the chandelier?

In the picture below there is a swan planter with real plants! I took cuttings of small plants and hoped they would take root and to my delight they did. I love the hanging bird feeder and the blue gazing ball. My local gardening center helped in picking out the plants and I used some of my dollhouse things for decoration. The arch and chandelier were found in a gift store in the fairy garden area.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying cool.

Marghab Embroidery

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:46:00 +0000

I love to do embroidery and in reading about the history of it I came accross the magnificent Marghab embroidery. I have begun to collect Marghab emboidery. Here is my first purchase. It is a linen fingertip towel from the 1950s. The picture does not do justice to the perfection and beauty of this work.

Marghab is the "Tiffany" of fine linens, using only the most skilled Madeira embroideresses and the highest quality materials to create the finest hand embroidered linens in the world. Unsurpassed in quality, they were sold exclusively in 54 Marghab salons across the country. In business from 1934-1984, they created 282 exclusive patterns, all of which are magnificent works of art. Here is examples of the some of the patterns.I choose all the pink patterns since it is pink saturday.

Marghab embroideresses were paid by the stitch! One napkin alone in Marghab's Vineyard pattern took 75,000 stitches and one month to complete! Some patterns, such as Rose Tree, Jacaranda Tree, Plume and Ponto Grega just to name a few, were copied by other Madeira or Chinese firms, some of them quite well. Marghab linens were world-famous and have graced the tables of palaces and embassies all over the world. Several are in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Upon her death, Vera Marghab donated her entire collection (1,918 pieces and 282 designs) to the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, S.D.

I am linking this post to How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Stop by and enjoy all different pinks.

Have a great weekend.

It's Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. I thought I would share with you a special Valentine tag I received.
It is from Sue of It's a Very Cherry World. Isn't is cute. I love the idea of how it hangs vertically.

I thought I would also share with you a Valentine tag I made for someone special. This is the second tag I have ever created. I wanted to make it for Elizabeth of Bluebird Papercrafts who inspired me to start paper crafting and through her many tutorials I am beginning to learn a new craft. Thanks E !

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love!

Love,

Valentine Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:36:00 +0000

I am participating in a Valenting Tag Swap. Although I dabble in many crafts, I am new to paper crafting. I found myself struggling to start this swap even though I really wanted to participate. I realized I needed a little direction. Elizabeth of Bluebird Papercrafts came to the rescue. She answered my questions and I studied her posts on Valentine tags. Finally I felt like I could do it.

I tried to personalize this Valentine tag by studying the blog of my Valentine. I knew she loved cherries, cats, primroses, cottages and the color red. Have you figured out who my Valentine is yet? My goal was to somehow represent all of her loves on the tag.

I found these cute initial hangers at the craft store on sale. I thought they would be cute to use as a tag hanger, for those bloggers who make monthy tags.

One tag done, a few more to go. I have to say I am now hooked on this type of paper crafting and I just wanted to thank Elizabeth for all the inspiration and her willingness to share her experience with me and all of us. If you are not familiar with Elizabeth you must drop her blog for some pretty eye candy.

Now, on to the next tag.

Have a great weekend!

A Valentine Clothespin Doll

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:30:00 +0000

Here is the latest edition of my clothespin dolls.

I am linking this to Rednesday at It’s a Very Cherry World.

Have a wonderful day.

Carey

Clothespin Dolls

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:23:00 +0000

I have been wanting to make a clothespin doll for some time. Here is my first attempt. Naturally pink is the dominating color scheme.

I had so much fun creating this doll. On Flickr there is a clothespin group with the most amazing pictures.

Do you like her polka dotted "stockings"? I am linking this post to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Come see some delicious pink posts. Have a great weekend!

Post Holiday Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:21:00 +0000

I am feeling the post holiday blues.........

very tired.......

and unmotivated and stressed.....

Is anyone else feeling this way?

I know this is a temporary feeling and I can change how I feel by being grateful for what I have.....

and give love to others.

Then hopefully I will get a charge........

and feel refreshed again.

What do you do when you feel in a funk?

A Designer's Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:53:00 +0000

For the last 15 years, in Paris, several well known designers embark on a journey called Les Sapin de Noel des Createurs. Each designer is asked to create their own Christmas tree vision. All of the proceeds are given to charities. This year pink played an important role.

This is by Louis Vuitton and is my favorite....

I am loving the little trunk at the bottom!

Below is by Chanel

Below is Gucci

Next is by Guerlain, this is my second favorite

Don't you just love the little hanging perfume bottles?

This is a pink tree! This was done by Repetto

Last but certainly not least was done by Thanos Kyriakides

I hope you enjoyed your visit. I am linking this to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

I hope everyone has a Very Happy New Year!

New Years Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:39:00 +0000

This New Years Eve will be a quiet one. My husband was admitted to the hospital the day after Christmas for a fever of 104. Fortunately, he will be discharged tomorrow and will home with us for New Years Eve. So we will be taking it easy, perhaps sharing time together on the couch drinking tea and eating leftover Christmas cookies the kids and I made.

Later in the evening our immediate family will come by for a midnight toast.

I will have a buffet and make a few cocktail type appetizers and special sweets.

I will light some pretty candles, fill the punch bowls and chill the champagne.

At Midnight we will toast to a Happy New Year. I am so thankful that I will be able to spend this night with my husband, John and my three sons.

I hope all of you will be able to spend New Years Eve with your loved ones as well!

Thank you for visiting and I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

I am linking this to Between Naps on the Porch for
Tablescape Thursday.

The Blizzard of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:17:00 +0000

It may not have been a white Christmas but it certainly did not disappoint. The final total was 20 inches.

I thought my red door in the blizzard would be a fun addition to Rednesday. What about you all - did you get hit with the blizzard?

Want to see some more reds? Visit Sue's Wednesday Red Party at It's a Very Cherry World to see some lovely reds.

Have a wonderful day.

Christmas Shelves

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:29:00 +0000

Today I put the last decorating touches on my cupboard.

I am a sucker for shelf liner. In Country Living magazine there was an article on how to make your own decorative shelf liner. It was fun and easy and I think it dresses up the shelves for the holidays.
I added some red and white Christmas decorations and a few presents and tadaaaaa!

I am linking this post to Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

and
Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World

and

All Things Merry and Brite at All Things Heart and Home

Happy Holidays.

A Pink Gingerbread House

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Today I made gingerbread dough. While waiting for the dough to chill I became very impatient and wanted to start building right away. So, I remembered my kids make graham cracker houses in school each holiday season. Well I had the graham crackers and the rest is history.

Here is my creation, what do you think?

I have been collecting pink candy over the last month to complete
a pink house. It was not as easy as I thought it would be.

I bought some of the candy online at Oh Nuts. They have a great selection in several colors and I received in quickly. They packed the candy well in little boxes. Both of the lollipops were handmade by them. I think they are so pretty.

In my kids school, they usually glue the graham crackers on a little milk container. Since I did not have one I just used royal icing to glue the pieces together. This way everything is edible, but I am not sure I am letting anyone eat this one.

I found the little tree and snowman marshmellows in the supermarket.

I am linking the post to Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly at
How Sweet The Sound.
and
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home hosted by Cindy
DIY Showoff for DIY Parade
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Dittle Dattle for Amazing Monday
Keeping it Simple for Motivate Me Monday

I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Winter White

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:28:00 +0000

Today I would like to share with you a winter white table.
The only accent color I used was silver.

I used square white plates with curvy edges and placed them so that they look like a diamond shape.

I had several silver balls left over from a project and used them here for accent color. I also placed other silver ornaments such as acorns and little mirrors.

Each plate contained a silver box. I bought these at Crate and Barrel a few years ago.

In each box I placed a Hershey's Kiss.

I used a silver charger for each setting.

I used this glass tree for a centerpiece. I love this tree because not only does it lights up but the color of the lights change slowly form a pale blue to yellow, green and red. It is a soft light and not at all distracting or annoying. In fact, it is quite peaceful. I bought this tree at Macy's two years ago.

In between the silver balls and ornaments I placed a silver ribbon with little pale lights. In the picture they look blue but they are white lights.

The tablecloth was given to me by my M-I-L. It has lovely embroidery done in silver thread.

The napkin rings are from Crate and Barrel.

A closer view of the rings.

I added these playful salt and pepper shakers as requested by my 6 year old son, Nick. They are an old souvenier from NYC.

There is a picture of the Statue of Liberty on the salt shaker.

I am linking this post to Cuisine Kathleen for the Winter White Party
and
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Thanks for visiting and Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread Mugs

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:10:00 +0000

I love experimenting with gingerbread dough. Today I made these houses out of gingerbread dough for mugs filled with hot cocoa. I can't take credit for the idea, since I had seen it done somewhere before.

I did however, create my own template for it. The most difficult part was learning where to place the door openings so that the house would sit on the cup. I learned that different style mugs would require their own template. I made the templates out of card stock.

Finally, after several attempts - tada! I think I did it. After careful construction, I crushed up some candy canes for the roof, figuring it would taste good with the hot cocoa. I think it was worth the time because my three sons' smiles said it all.

Thanks for visiting!

I am linking this to:

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
DIY Showoff for DIY Parade
Keeping it Simple for Motivate Me Monday
Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Monday

Lenox and Lauren

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:56:00 +0000

I have admired Lenox Winter Greetings pattern for some time. This year Macys had a great sale and I treated myself.

I love the colors of the pattern and of course the bird.

During the same shopping excursion I found these great Ralph Lauren placemats.

I lovethis red plaid-tartan look and I thought it would look great with the outdoor theme of the plate pattern.

For each place setting I placed a cloche with an outdoor scene.
I made a cardboard house for each and trimmed it with red paint and glitter of course. I placed a few bristle brush trees and made it snow.

I think this is now my favorite Christmas pattern, at least for now.

Do you have a favorite Christmas china pattern?

I would love to know what it is.

I hoped you enjoyed your visit.

I am linking this post to:

Between Naps on the Porch

for Tablescape Thursday

and

A Stroll Thru Life

for the Christmas Cloche Party

hosted by Marty

Decking The Halls

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:41:00 +0000

I had a little help decorating the tree this year. I saw this
idea in a magazine some time ago. My kids thought this was
the coolest idea and it is hard to wow them.

Each of the ornaments on our tree tell a story about us. It reflects our passions our travel destinations - births - weddings - heritage and things that were made in childhood. Our tree is like our family diary.

My son's artistic version of the Rockefeller Center Christmas from 2004. I framed it in a red frame and hang it every year. All three of my sons have a Christmas picture that I have saved. I love looking at them and my kids get a kick out of it as well.

Our front door.

And here is the front porch.

I have an old dollhouse that I decorate for the porch.

If you look closely you will see a tree with lights through the windows.

I am linking this up to Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at

Between Naps On The Porch.

Happy Pink Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:40:00 +0000

If any of you follow me often you know the current project I have been working on, a shabby chic cottage in miniature. This is a shabby replica of the cottage on My Shabby Streamside Studio Blog. Sandy who owns and blogs about this cottage is very talented. You must visit her. She is having a give a way. To keep is shabby looking I made this house out of a card board box.

I thought I would share with you all the pink additions to this little cottage. In the above picture is the bed tucked in the loft. I added a soft pink throw to the end of the bed for the cold nights.

The shelves contain all pink accessories.

The pink stockings are hung on the fire place beneath the pink frosted cake. There is a pink wrapped present on the sofa.

If you would like to see more photos of this work in progress please see prior post.

Thanks for visiting.

I am linking this post to Pink Saturday, hosted by Bev at How Sweet The Sound.

A Shabby Chic Christmas in Miniature

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 03:43:00 +0000

I have kept this box because I just knew I could use it for something. Here is what I made. It is a shabby chic Christmas cottage. This cottage is inspired by the blog My Shabby Streamside Studio.
You must visit this blog to see the world's cutest cottage.

I made the curtains out of toile and added dried flowers. I made pink balls for the tree out of clay.

The fireplace is made of cardboard and painted white. The mirror is an old pendant from a neck
lace. The cake is made from clay.

The pink present is made of clay. The couch is made of styrofoam and tissue paper.
If you look closely there is a "fire" in the fireplace. My 8 year old son Kyle made a little fire out of cardboard and colored it red. There is even "smoke" colored black behind the fire. I think it is perfect.

The little decorations on the shelf came from my dollhouse.

My husband always jokes around with my sons and says oh you better never leave a box around because it will because Mommy will make it into a house. Well he was right about this little box. I was stuck at home waiting for someone to fix the boiler so I used only things I had on hand for this project. BTW my comma does not work so excuse me for the punctuation errors.

This box had the right size to become a shabby chic cottage at Christmas. I painted the box white and wiped it with a rag before it dried to give it that old look.

The box is 8 inches long and 5 inches wide and 5 inches tall. A perfect size for a cozy shabby cottage. Of course a fire place was required which was made of cardboard.

I cut the doors and windows out with an exacto knife. I made the door knob and hardware out of sculpty clay.

The shelves are made of thin cardboard.

I had a green brush tree but wanted a white one. I placed the tree in bleach for about half an hour and it stripped the green right off of it. I then spray painted it white. The little tree on the mantel was done the same way.

Here is a peek from the side windows.

Hope you had fun taking this cottage tour. I am linking this to :

Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

and

Motivate me Monday hosted by Kaysi at Keeping it Simple

and last but not least:

The DIY Parade hosted by Roesel at The DIY Showoff

Have a great day!

Carey

Thanksgiving Table

noreply@blogger.com (Carey) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:33:00 +0000

Can you all help me out? Which dishes should I use for Thanksgiving dinner? Should I use Johnson Bros. Friendly Village (above). Or what about Johnson Bros. Olde English Countyside (below).

Or how about Ascot by Woods and Sons England (below).

I will be using some pumpkins and little squash for
the centerpiece.

I filled the vases with dried cranberries and
flowers.

I cut holes in the tops of the little pumpkins and
apples and put little candles in them. Thanks for your help.

I am linking this up to

Tablescape Thursday atBetween Naps On The Porch
hosted by Susan.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all

a very Happy Thanksgiving.