Shabby Chic vintage plates

I picked out these pretty vintage dishes from an estate sale to share on the "Show and Tell Friday" at MY ROMANTIC HOME blog. They are Homer Laughlin Georgian Eggshell; and they are the prettiest soft, Shabby Chic blue with a center floral bouquet, pink roses and gold trim. These were the only three pieces at the sale, and they were the perfect pieces to add to our Shabby Chic guest room. I love the blue and pink together with white. The large oval platter hangs over a redone shabbby dresser in the center with two other oval white plates hanging with ribbons on nails (and do you remember the button covers from the 80's? ~ well, I had some pearl ones that were so pretty and I used them to cover up the nails, and I love the look). The small dessert plate hangs over a desk and the beautiful little creamer sits on a shelf to hold paperclips or pushpins (button covered thumb tacks). These are just so beautiful. I hope you enjoy them too. I will post this complete room makeover in an upcoming blog.

Thanks for looking! 
See more Show and Tell items at MY ROMANTIC HOME

Waverly tablecloth transformation . . . French Country curtains

Love this fabric! Waverly rose print. 

I couldn't find this fabric to make the curtains for our mud room, so I purchased the tablecloth on ebay; the red checked border was a bonus! I cut it the length I needed for our window and put in a rod pocket. The tie is a fabric tie that was wrapped around a comforter I purchased for our family room. It was a perfect tie for the curtain. I'm just finishing the final touches on this mud room remodel, and I will post final pics soon. We painted our 'vintage' oak cabinets a pretty french country red and added vintage style bin pulls, a wall mount deep sink, and a checkered tile floor in black and yellow. I love how it is turning out. This is also my sewing room. And, of course, I've added red toile. Thanks for looking. We are redecorating several of our rooms. You are welcome to follow my blog if you want to see our progress. Roses and French Country are some of my favs for decorating.

Check out more transformations at

The Shabby Chic Cottage

http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/2010/06/transformation-thursday-anniversary.html

In the garden . . .

Pretty peonies ~ white and pink and a yellow tree peony. Yes, that is a snail on our pink peony. Later I will be picking a new bouquet of peonies.

Beautiful foxglove; one of my favorites. It is so tall and stately.

The rains have hammered our roses. The arbor is usually covered with beautiful pink roses by now; they are still beautiful and fragrant but will be short lived. 

Purple and pink lupines

I don't know the name of this flower. We received it from a friend's perennial garden several years ago. It has matured into large clumps of pretty purple and transplants easy to new spots in the garden. It has beautiful, full heads of purple with bright green leaves.

Vintage Finds in Centralia

Last weekend we went to a friend's wedding in the Seattle area. On the way home we stopped in Centralia for some antique shopping; a treat for me, as I love browsing for old treasures or finding something I can add to our home or to the furnishings at Starting Grounds Church and Coffee House. I did find a beautiful water color print done in 1903 in its original frame, which I am still trying to find a spot for, and this old black coal bucket. I added a bouquet of dried hydrangeas and stuck it by the fireplace. I had to remove the antique bucket with pine cones, but this is a nice change.
Hope you have a lovely day.

,

 

They look good together don't they? Maybe I should hang the picture above the fireplace.

A gift from Chelsey & Dean. I love love it!!!

New Doorknobs

Second door knob installed; trying to decide between the Victorian glass or the glass octagon knob. Any thoughts?

Peonies & A Bunny

Fresh picked bouquet of peonies, and they are so fragrant.




















The bunny is back! I was so excited to see the big white bunny sitting on top of the sand mound. I had not seen her in about two weeks.  I left her some lettuce. I think she thinks she's a brown bunny; she would just sit there like I couldn't see her. When I started talking to her, she started hopping away. Hopefully, she will find the lettuce.

She is soo cute!

I just installed my first door knob. yeah! . . . only 9 more to go.

In the garden . . .

I'm glad I took these pics before it starting raining. If April showers bring May flowers, what do May showers bring?

                                 Snowball Bush full of snowballs

Purple and White Siberian Iris

Home Makeover Update

Got to see my oldest daughter this weekend celebrating her 25th Birthday! It's always great to see our kids!

Home makeover updates:
Our vintage style deep sink was installed yesterday in our mudroom. It is nice to again have a sink with water. I will post pics as soon as the room is completed. Still need to put on some knobs and build a cabinet over the freezer.
Picked up the final wood trim for the bead board in the toile powder room ~ will post pics when it is finished also. I hope to find some kind of pics or art that I can hang on black toile.

Other news: too rainy to do any gardening; but we did purchase a new patio umbrella from Pottery Barn; which is gorgeous, and I'm going to make some cushion covers for our vintage wrought iron patio set.

Here is the taunting blue jay that runs off the neighborhood cat.

Last night I was excited to see the white bunny in our front yard with a baby bunny. I think it is a female since I've seen a baby bunny with it twice. I put out some lettuce, but she didn't go for it.

How to make a berry pie

Tonight's dessert? ~ I asked my husband what he would like for dessert . . . "a berry pie". Checking the freezer; we still had blueberries and a few marion berries. So I made a combination; 2/3 blueberries and 1/3 marion berries. I like making oil pie crusts; I feel it is a healthier option than Crisco. Here's the recipe with a few adjustments and some other pie hints and notes I've found to share.






Oil Crust Pastry for two-crust pie:
2-1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup oil
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold water
Mix flour with salt and oil until mixed well; add water 1 Tbsp. at a time. Roll out half of dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper; applying water to the counter with a damp cloth will help keep the waxed paper from slipping. When large enough, peel off top paper and place pastry in pie plate paper side up. Peel off paper and ease pastry into plate. Trim off excess and add to other dough for top crust. Repeat with top crust and place on top of fruit or filling in pie plate.


Betty Crocker's tried and true 9" Blueberry Pie
7-8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (can mix with other berries if desired)
(if using frozen berries; rinse and drain berries if icy to remove extra water; no need to thaw)
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Place blueberries in pastry lined pie plate. Pour flour/sugar mixture on top of berries and dot with butter. Cover with top crust, cut slits in top crust, seal and flute. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 10-15 minutes of baking.
Enjoy!



 *Helpful Hint: The best way to foil the edge to keep it from getting too brown ~ fold a piece of aluminum foil like you are going to make a paper snowflake and then cut out the center (as pictured). Unfold and place on top of pie and put it in the oven. Remove the foil during the last 10-15 minutes of baking. Your crust will be perfect!

*And a few other crust ideas . . .

Vintage Finds at Starting Grounds Church Rummage Sale

Today is the big rummage sale @ Starting Grounds Church and Coffee House in Battle Ground, Washington. We are raising money to send a construction team to Haiti. I was excited to find some vintage linens and bought 2 cross-stitch tablecloths; but the cross-stitch patterns aren't completely finished. I am hoping to finish the patterns, even though I've never cross-stitched in my life, but it sounds relaxing, and I'm excited to use them.

Sunny and Beautiful in Washington

I made a few more bibs for my granddaughter.
They are quick and easy to make and are reversible.
I found some fun fabric with cats and birds . . . hopefully, they're not too pink.