She Sells Seashells...

I'm participating in Three or More Tuesday over at Tam's, The Gypsy's Corner. Drop by for all the collections.


Don't you just LOVE seashells? I love looking at them with all their intricate designs and fascinating colors. It makes me think about the stories they could tell: where they've been, who took shelter in their structure...can't you just imagine?




Thanks for visiting...enjoy your Tuesday!

From Ruins to Stardom...

I'm participating in Susan's Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday. Please take a look at all the amazing transformations that are being shared!

For those of you who have been following my posts, you know that we had a beach house last summer. Then IKE blew through and took our house along with many others. When we went back to the island to look for our belongings, we were excited to at least find surviving seashells. I knew I wanted to do something special with them, I was just waiting for the inspiration.

During one of my trips to IKEA, I found cute little shadow boxes. I loved their size and color and for those of you who know IKEA, the price was right. So I picked up three of them.

While working on my new spare bedroom, I decided to showcase my shells in these shadow boxes. It was a quick and easy project that added the simple charm I was looking for in this room.

I took burlap scraps and covered the back board of the frame, then glued the seashell to the burlap.


After putting the frame back together, I took strips of upholstery jute and covered the dark blue strips with ribbon.



Because I didn't have any "hangers" I hot glued the jute to the back of the frame, hung it up with a nail, and I had the look.



And with a printer's tray filled with an assortment of shells, I had a finished memory wall.



This arrangement is hanging over the bed...It really "frames" things out nicely.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoy your Monday.

If you've noticed...

If you've noticed, I've changed my blog a bit this weekend. I decided to change my background from cute and colorful to white ~ it's scary. I'm VERY visual...we'll see if I can keep it plain.

To get over the loss of my background, I turned to Susan at Between Naps On the Porch. A while back, she posted a tutorial on making photographs larger. It begins with your template and extends to changing the Html codes. Sounds difficult, but it's really not...her explanations are VERY friendly. If you'd like to experiment with your blog, I agree with her, try it on your test blog first. Here is a link to her post with the step~by~step tutorial.

For an example, check out these pictures...

...this is a regular shot...

...this is with Susan's advice.


Ok, so if I'm going for it, I need to dust before I take pictures!

{When I was experimenting, I did use my test blog. It was really easy, I promise! In fact it was so easy, I took a step farther and worked on the pictures from my previous post. I was able to enlarge them to show the detail.}

A Little Crystal...A Little Silver...

Be sure to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her lovely tablescapes and other participants as well. It's so fun to see what people put together to share.

Welcome to my tablescape! I'm so glad that you stopped by for a visit!

I'll begin with the tiniest pieces...I found these souvenir spoons at my local thrift store and loved their little designs. I couldn't help but wonder who they belonged to and what their story might have been. I wanted to include them in my table today, so they were placed in my Waterford creamer. This is placed on a glass tray, also from a thrift store {actually it was picture frame in its former life.}



My dishes are a recent purchase: Lenox, Opal Innocence Carved.


My stemware is also Lenox, they were wedding gifts.



The silver is International, Prelude, also a wedding gift and the linens were purchased from Dillards approx. 20 years ago.{There is a matching tablecloth with this set.}



The candelabras belonged to my husband's grandmother. They are Gorham.


The pitcher was a wedding present from one of my bridesmaids...


...the tray it is sitting on was a thrift store find. It was very tarnished...but with a little rubbing and buffing, it turned out fine. See the candle holder on the right? It's the matching Waterford piece to the creamer holding the little spoons. This is the sugar bowl.


I hope you enjoyed your visit. Thanks again for stopping by...enjoy your Thursday!

Love this!

Not joining a party today...just posting one great photo!

photography by Montage Photography
Hm...I wonder what the little ring bearer is thinking?
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Wishful Thinking...

Please join Diane for great finds at 2nd Time Around Tuesday. Here you'll find participants that will amaze you with their treasures!

I have been a bit leary of picking up "silver" at my local thrift shops. I haven't wanted to take something and not be able to make it work for me. However, I picked up this cute shell dish and it turned out beautiful! I have shells here and there, so this will be used quite a bit.


I also dug around in the "silverware" bin. I was leery, but once I got started, I couldn't quit! I found these souvenir spoons. I just loved their detail.




Not too sure how I'll use these spoons, maybe I'll just put them on my wish list of places to visit!

Peacock Splendor...

Please join Smiling Sally for her Blue Monday party. It's always so much fun to see all things "blue"!

Today I'm sharing a centerpiece favorite, my peacock. I saw him in a decorating boutique several years ago. The decorator had used a life~sized mannequin with a Christmas tree as her skirt. The skirt was all things blue, purple, green and with peacocks scattered about. It was breathtaking!

I purchased one...here he is in all his splendor!


He's made of tin and sprinkled with glitter. I just love his sweet face.



I have a rectangular mat placed under his feet...it's the prettiest shade of baby blue.



I hope you have enjoyed seeing something blue today...
Enjoy your Monday!