Monday, February 27, 2012

Exciting News!

Hi friends! How was your weekend? Ours was only slightly productive as my husband and I spent most of ours recuperating from the cold/flu that hit us pretty hard last week. The days we started to feel better were spent getting ready for something really exciting I'm going to share with you today.

Last Sunday, my bloggy friend, Dee, from My Painted Stuff sent me an email asking if I had seen the ad in our local paper about a new antique mall opening up on March 1. I hadn't so I dug through my recycle bin, found the paper and checked it out.

The antique mall opening up is 10,000 sq. ft. of open space that will house about 150 antique vendors. There's an additional 40,000 sq. ft. in the back of the building that will be used for local vendors who can rent space by the day.

Why am I telling you all this? Because Shabby Love is now the proud owner of an 8 x 8 space!!!!!!!!!! After months of dreaming and planning I finally have an antique booth of my very own!! And it's all thanks to Dee. If it wasn't for her email, I never would have known about it.

Here's my little 8 x 8 space marked off with tape. I'll be sure to take pictures after I get it all set up this week.

 When you walk in the front doors, my booth is the front corner booth on the right, right next to the check out counter. So, it's an excellent location!

Here's a shot of the rest of the building so you can get an idea of how huge this place is!

 
I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ironstone Jackpot

My husband and I took a vacation day last Friday to go to an estate sale in an old farmhouse! Have you ever heard of http://www.estatesales.net/? You can sign up to receive emails about sales happening near you. That's how I found out about the one last Friday. I checked out the pictures online and knew I HAD to go based on the simple fact it was in a farmhouse (my dream house) and all the ironstone I spied. Here's what I found!!
 
In addition to the three things my husband found, I got all this for $28!!!!! Jackpot!

Aside from all that creamy white goodness, it's the details and the imperfections I love about ironstone. 


The crazing

The chips and discoloration

Add so much character

Check out the gorgeous scalloped edges!



Any one know what these dishes are meant to be used for? Bread? Butter? *Update: These are bone plates. Thanks Oniwolda, Kelley, and Jan for answering my question!!
 

There's something about old graters I love too!

And check out this cutie I picked up at an antique store also on Friday
 



 And here's two more grain scoops I found to add to my growing collection. I have six now!



I know there were lots of pictures so if you made it to the end thanks for sticking around and letting me share with you life through my lens. I am having so much fun playing and learning how to use my new camera! Now, if only my two year would sit still long enough to get some great shots of him. :)

I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:





Wednesday, February 15, 2012

25 Things

Shaunna over at Perfectly Imperfect is having a link party for 25 random things and I thought it would be fun to participate!

1. 10 years ago my husband and I met online in a random chat room. He moved to Michigan from Pennsylvania to be with me.

2. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on September 29!

3. I am the Administrative Assistant at a historical Methodist church in Flint, Michigan (my husband is part of the maintenance staff).

4. After our son was born, the church allowed me to bring him to work with me for his entire first year.

5. Our son's name is Anderson - it was my maiden name.

6. It is a dream of mine to one day own a farmhouse set back in the woods with a tree lined driveway.

7. Another dream of mine is to open my own home decor business or have a booth in an antique store.

8. I actually prefer rainy days over sunny days.

9. The grey sky and sound of the rain is very relaxing to me.

10. Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors.

11. I've had quite a few people tell me I was born in the wrong era because of my love of old things. But, I've grown up seeing family decorate with time worn treasures so it was only a matter of time that I began to appreciate the history in things too.

12. I put Tabasco sauce on just about everything!

13. My husband calls me the condiment queen. In addition to Tabasco, I almost always use some sort of condiment on whatever I'm eating.

14. Whenever I buy coffee at Starbucks, before I take a drink, I make sure the opening on the lid and the cardboard cozy line up with the Starbucks logo on the cup.

15. I hate the actual taste of coffee so I use a ton of milk and sugar so I can drink it.

16. I'm left handed, but randomly do things better with my right hand (like throwing a ball).

17. I drink with 2 straws.

18. I'm very picky about meat and eat very little of it- I like chicken but not on the bone. I like bacon plain, not in casseroles or sandwiches...except for blt's. And the only beef I eat is ground hamburger.

19. I love movies!!! I have wasted many pre-baby days with movie marathons.

20. These days I have to wait and watch my movies after my son goes to bed. I'm lucky if I can sqeeze in one whole movie before my bedtime. :)

21. I HATE suspenseful movies or books. They stress me out.

22. If I read a suspenseful murder mystery, I flip to the end to make sure my favorite characters survive.

23. I have mini panic attacks if I'm running late somewhere. Ok, not really, but I really do hate being late and am usually at least 10 min. early anywhere I go.

24. I hate bugs. No explanation needed on this one.

25. I'm a chocaholic!!! I love, love, love chocolate. Especially dark chocolate!

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Civil Wars

I discovered a new music duo recently that I absolutely LOVE called The Civil Wars. Have you heard of them? You may have, I heard they performed at the Grammy Awards last night! If you haven't heard of them listen to the two songs below. You can thank me later! :)



Sunday, February 12, 2012

Rustic Heart Tutorial

Today I'll be sharing the tutorial on how I made my bead board heart that I'm using in my Valentine's day decor this year.


Using his saber saw, my husband cut out a heart for me on a piece of thin wood. You could also use really sturdy cardboard. 

Then, I laid the heart on chicken wire, traced the shape and cut it out with wire cutters. Hot glue the chicken wire to the back of your heart. Trim or fold down any long pieces of chicken wire. 

Using lots of hot glue, I attached a heart shaped piece of bead board that my husband also cut using his saber saw behind the chicken wire. I actually put the heart on the floor and stood on it until the hot glue set to make sure it was glued securely. 

I LOVED how my nature inspired Christmas wreath turned out with the branch slices and I had enough wood left over from that project that I thought they would be the perfect finishing touch to this rustic heart. (Sorry for the bad photos. I worked on this after my son went to bed, so no natural light)

So simple, but it makes a huge statement!

 
 
I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:

Sunday, February 5, 2012

A Rustically Romantic Valentine

Hi everyone! This was my post over at Uncommon for their Love is in the Air Series last week. I thought I would post it here in case you missed it. 

I put together a Valentine's vignette and I wanted to stick with a neutral and natural theme and add a small pop of color for a little romance, so here is what I came up with:



 

I made tiny rosettes out of crepe paper streamers to dress up white bead board hearts.

I created another heart shaped wreath using more bead board, chicken wire, and branches cut into wood slices. 


To add a slight industrial feel to the vignette, I placed a cloche on top of an old pulley reel.











I hand sewed the three hearts. The muslin one with the Jane Austen silhouette is my favorite! 








Also, as many of you have probably heard Google Friend Connect will be gone March 1 for non-Blogger users and eventually phased out for Blogger users as well. I was visiting At the Picket Fence and saw their awesome post on a new widget being offered by Linky Tools, called Linky Followers. As you can see on my sidebar I added the widget and would love for you to start following me this way if you are still interested in following my blog! I would love to be able to continue to stay connected with you! Please go to my sidebar where you will see the new widget and click follow me. For more info and great instructions on how to set up your own account, go see Heather and Vanessa's post over at At the Picket Fence. Please let me know if you switch over so I can follow you as well!

I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:


Dear Lillie's Valentine's Link Party

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Bye Bye Google Friend Connect

Hi Friends,

As many of you have probably heard Google Friend Connect will be gone March 1 for non-Blogger users and eventually phased out for Blogger users as well. I popped over to At the Picket Fence and saw their awesome post on a new widget being offered by Linky Tools, called Linky Followers. As you can see on my sidebar I added the widget and would love for you to start following me this way if you are still interested in following my blog! I would love to be able to continue to stay connected with you!

Please go to my sidebar (or see below) where you will see the new widget and click follow me. For more info and great instructions on how to set up your own account, go see Heather and Vanessa's post over at At the Picket Fence. Please let me know if you switch over so I can follow you as well!