Christmas Mantel

Layla at  The Lettered Cottage  is having a Mantel Party tomorrow and it looks like I am running late!  I haven't even started decorating the mantel and the tree isn't even finished yet.  Rather than miss the party I am showing you my 2009 mantel.

I must apologize for the poor quality of the photos.  I had just started blogging when these were taken with my little point and shoot.  I will try to do better this year.

















Please visit me starting 12/15 for the Holiday Decor linky Party.  I hope you will join me in sharing your holiday decor including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any holiday you may celebrate this time of year. Please feel free to link up tablescapes, recipes, trees, wreaths, outdoor decorations. There are really no restrictions as long as it is holiday appropriate and family friendly.







Thanks for visiting and Happy Holidays!


Sherry

We Have A Winner!

Thank you to everyone for entering my latest giveaway sponsored by  Providence Ltd Design.





The winner of this vintage amber necklace is...


Delores at  Vignette Design.


Congrats Delores and I hope you love wearing the necklace. If you are not familiar with Vignette Design you must stop by for a visit.  Her homes are gorgeous and the view of the vineyard looks like something straight out of Tuscany. 


Thank you to Mona at  Providence Ltd Design  for donating the necklace for this giveaway.  Mona's new on-line shop is a real treat and I know you will enjoy browsing the shop and the many fabulous antiques.







Just a reminder about the Holiday Decor linky party. See you there.
xoxo,
Sherry

Last Chance!

Thank you so much to everyone that has entered my most recent giveaway.  There are only two days left to enter to win this gorgeous vintage necklace.  You still have time to enter  HERE.






I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.


xoxo,
Sherry

An Invitation To Join Me

Hello all!  I know everyone is busy getting ready for Thanksgiving but I wanted to give you a heads up on my upcoming Holiday Decor linky party.  I am looking forward to seeing all your fabulous holiday decorations. 





This is my first ever linky party and I hope you will join me starting on 12/15/10.  I would love for you to grab my button and help me spread the news.  If you are hosting a holiday party just let me know and I'll be happy to add yours to my sidebar.


I wish each and everyone one of you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings,
Sherry

My Grateful Journal

Lynn at  The Vintage Nest  is having a  Give Thanks  party starting today!  I have so very much to be thankful for that I decided to join in.  I am so thankful for many things including my family,  health,  the love I receive and my blogger friends.  I could go on and on about all the blessings I have in my life but I decided instead to share something that has so much meaning to me and has helped me through some difficult times.

About thirteen years ago I lost my mother to cancer.  Two months later I had surgery and then again several months later I had a second surgery.  I was having a pity party for myself that affected my family, health and my state of mind.  I continued to dwell in this pity for months and then decided I had to let it go and concentrate on the many goods things in my life.

I started writing a Grateful Journal that was for my eyes only.  Sometimes I would write a single sentence and other days my thoughts would fill a page. It could be as simple as " I am grateful that I am loved today" or " I am grateful for my family and friends".   As I filled these pages I truly began to feel grateful again and I started to become happier!





I would like to share a few very special entries with you.





July 3, 2009


I am grateful Steve's surgery went well today. I was so scared I would lose him to this terrible disease.  I am grateful that we found Dr Bo and that he is one of the best in his field.  Dr. Bo said the cancer looks to be contained and he thought he got it all but time will tell. I am grateful for every single moment I have to spend with my amazing husband.


 


October 25, 2010


Another of Steve's test came back negative for cancer and I am so very grateful.   It's been over 15 months since the surgery and every test result has been excellent news.



November 18, 2010


Steve is a cancer survivor!  My heart is filled with gratefulness.


My hope is that you will insist your husband, significant other, brother, father or any other male in your life have a PSA blood test every single year after the age of forty. This simple blood test for prostrate cancer can save lives! 


Just a reminder to enter my Giveaway for a  gorgeous vintage necklace from Providence Ltd Design.


Thank you Lynn for hosting  Give Thanks . 


I will be joining the parties at:


Southern In My Heart 
French Country Cottage 
My Romantic Home 
A Stroll Thru Life 
Common Ground 
How Sweet The Sound 


Thanks for your visit and I am grateful for everyone of you!
xoxo
Sherry

Beautiful Home and Giveaway

Hello all!   I bet everyone is busy getting ready for Thanksgiving.  We have family coming to our home and I will be doing most of the cooking.  I guess I better get a menu planned, decorating finished and shopping for our meal.. Does anyone else feel like you are totally disorganized this time of year?

In my last post I introduced the lovely Mona at  Providence Ltd  and the fabulous vintage necklace she is giving away to one of my readers. You can enter my giveaway  HERE.  I would really appreciate your help spreading the message about the giveaway.  Thank you so very much!

Not only does Mona have a gorgeous new on-line shop  but she is a successful interior designer and has used her talent to create a fabulous home for herself  and her husband.  Below is a glimpse of Mona and Don's home as featured in  At Home Arkansas magazine.


























I hope you enjoyed the tour and will visit the blog  Providence Ltd Design  and then come back here and enter my Giveaway.


Just a reminder that my junkin buddy Lynn at  The Vintage Nest  is having a Give Thanks party 11/19/10. 







Thanks for visiting and entering my giveaway!
Hugs, Sherry


I am joining the parties at:
My Romantic Home 
French Country Cottage 
Be Colorful 

Giveaway From Providence Ltd Design

I have a fabulous giveaway for you today!  Providence Ltd  is opening a new on-line store and has asked me to help celebrate their grand opening today!  Opening day will be a huge virtual grand opening party.  The new on-line shop features antique furnishings, vintage and unusual found objects and below is a small taste of what is available.














My friend Mona Thompson at  Providence Ltd  has graciously offered a beautiful piece of jewelry valued at $85.00 for one of my readers.  The winner of this giveaway will receive this one of a kind piece commissioned by Mona from the talented jewelry designer Ava J. Creations. This gorgeous 9.50 inch necklace is made of vintage amber beads with a vintage pin enhancer of amber, rhinestones and aurora crystals.








Other jewelry pieces available at Providence Ltd


GIVEAWAY


There are three chances to enter to win this beautiful amber necklace.


1. Mandatory - visit  Providence Ltd   new on-line shop, take a look around and subscribe to their email. Come back to this site and leave a comment.


2.  Optional - Become a follower of my blog or tell me you are already a follower for an additional entry.


   3.   Optional - Help spread the word about the giveaway by posting on your blog, Facebook or Twitter.


Please leave a separate comment for each thing you do above.
Giveaway ends on November 26, 2010
Open to all residents of the continental USA
You do not have to have a blog to enter
Make sure I have a way to contact you should you win.


If you are not familiar with Mona's blog  Providence Ltd  you must stop by for a visit.  Not only is she a talented designer but also has one of the most beautiful on-line shops.





.
Mona's gorgeous home was recently featured in At Home In Arkansas and the cover is her fabulous patio.
You can see more photos of her home at Providence Ltd . Prepare to be blown away!



Thank you for visiting and good luck to everyone!
xo,
Sherry

Decorating Dilemma Part II

Please drop by and  enter  my giveaway for a vintage amber necklace from Providence Ltd.

Thank you all so much for your advise on  reupholstering  my Bergere style chair. I have decided to have someone that knows what they are doing make the cushions and I will tackle the rest.  Some of you suggested taking a class and I have found one in my area.  It starts in February and runs for three months. I am planning on signing up but I don't want to wait until April for a finished chair. I am sure I will come up with another project to work on by then.

I am in the process of redecorating our living room.  So far we have painted the chocolate brown walls left from the previous owner and removed the valances. Here are my plans for this room:


Upholster Bergere chair
Add window treatments
Love seat to shop
Two gold chairs to DIL
End tables to shop
New Lamps
Buy white slip covered sofa

Here are the things that are staying in the room:




Antique French armoire



Rug



Mirror



Two French style stools


Design Dilemma Part II
Fabric choices



Choice #1  White fabric to match the sofa. Possibly Linen and throw pillows with red?
Or...



Choice #2  Red and white buffalo check
Maybe even combining the red check + toile like this chair.





I don't remember where I got this picture but I loved the chair. If it is yours please let me know and I will make sure to credit you.


I am also open to any suggestions on other fabric choices. Keep in mind the sofa I plan on buying will be slip covered in white and this room sits directly across from our dining room. I know you have seen the dining room a million times but here is a reminder of the fabric, drapes and rug color.









I know there are some great Design Divas out there and I need your help!
Any suggestions or advice?
Thanks so much.


I will be partying at the following blogs.
Be Colorful 
Savvy Southern Style  
Sue Loves Cherries 
Somewhat Simple 
French Country Cottage 
My Romantic Home 
Southern In My Heart


Hugs, Sherry

Decorations, Wins & Hodgepodge

The antique mall where I rent space is having an open house this weekend so I got busy making some decorations for my shop.  I had some vintage sugar bowls that were missing their tops and some other vintage containers that I had picked up at yard sales or thrift stores. I added faux greenery and some things I already had to make very quick and inexpensive decorations. This is a great way to use those pieces that are chipped, broken or missing parts.








I also joined the bandwagon and made a large coffee filter wreath. I'll be changing out the ribbon before taking it to the shop but this is all I had on hand at the time.  I can't even count the times I burned my fingers with hot glue!  I Like the way the wreath turned out but I won't be making another one anytime soon.  I have a very low tolerance for pain.!!  


Did you notice my new button at the top of my sidebar?  See the one that says CSN Stores Preferred Blogger?  This could mean even more giveaways for my readers and the possibility of  larger gift certificate amounts for you. Do you need to do some holiday shopping and prefer to do it on-line?  We all know CSN Stores  have over 200 stores to choose from and they carry everything from chandeliers to cookware.  I have been looking for a barstool  for my craft table and I think I have found the perfect one.. Check back here for new and exciting things happening.


Since I am on the subject of giveaways I want to show you my most recent wins.  Lacy at  The Inspired Nest  chose my name for her recent giveaway of a Moen Mirrorscape.  This product transforms a plain builder grade mirror to a beautiful framed one. Please drop by and visit Lacy's wonderful blog. Not only is she super talented and creative but she is also one of the sweetest girls I have met in blogging. Below is an example of Moen Mirrorscape.



I wish these were my bathroom cabinets.
 I'll be showing you pictures of the product in our guest bath when we get it installed.  
Thank you so much Lacy!


My 2ND win was this adorable glass tray from my friend Sherry at  Design Indulgence.  Sherry is a very talented designer in Atlanta that creates beautiful homes. She has a gorgeous home that has been photographed for BHG.  Please drop by her blog and look around. 



Sherry, Thank you for this darling tray!


I'll be joining the parties at:
Southern In My Heart 
Shabby Nest 
Common Ground 
Coastal Charm 


Thanks for visiting!
Hugs,
Sherry

Design Dilemma

Hello all!   Thank you so much for all the sweet comments on my one year blog anniversary.  You  are the reason I love blogging!

Now I need your help.  I bought a bergere chair for my shop months ago and I told myself if it doesn't sell soon I'll be bringing it home with me. The chair sat in the shop for months with no interested buyers, so home it came.  I have always wanted an antique French bergere but the prices stop me dead in my tracks.  This one is a reproduction, has great lines and was an affordable find from Craigslist.





Here is my dilemma:
.
I do not like the fabric nor does it go with anything else I have planned for our living room.  I have looked into having it reupholstered but the cost is more than five times what I paid for the chair!  I don't really want to spend this kind of money on a reproduction so I am thinking....of trying to reupholster this myself!

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know my sewing skills are limited!  The only sewing I have done is to make a few pillows and a tablecloth.  I have reupholstered dining room chairs by just stapling on new fabric. Please tell me should I even attempt this or just put the chair back on Craigslist?  For those that have reupholstered is this something a novice can handle?

If I decide I am crazy enough to tackle this project I'll be sharing fabric choices with you on a later post. Thanks for your help and honest opinions.



Hugs,
Sherry

One year Blog Birthday + Junkin

One year ago yesterday I started this little blog not really knowing what I was getting myself into!  I never would have guessed the joy blogging would bring me and the friendships I would develop.  I consider each of you to be my dearest friends that I so enjoy visiting with each morning.  Blogging is like living in a neighborhood full of talented and  fabulous people that all have similar interest and enjoy most of the same things you do.  I have the absolute best neighborhood !

I am amazed and inspired everyday at the talent and creativity posted and I have learned so much from each of you.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Speaking of blogging buddies.  Lynn from The Vintage Nest  and I spent a fun day antiquing and junkin.  We started out at  Snow Creek Farms  Christmas open house.  The shop is the entire downstairs of this fabulous old home and the ladies at Snow Creek Farms had it decorated beautifully.  The home is full of antiques and vintage items available for sale. They even had the outside decorated with beautiful quilts hanging from clotheslines, wicker furniture and they served hot apple cider with sweet goodies.  Below are some pictures of this darling shop.























Lynn and I stopped at a couple of antique shops, a garage sale and a thrift store on our way to Through The Garden Gate.  This shop always has the prettiest and most unique seasonal decorations and this weekend was their Christmas open house. 












Sorry about the bad photos. There was very little natural light.


After leaving these shops I wanted to come straight home and start pulling out my boxes of Christmas decor but my family would have had me committed!  I do think I will start decorating the shop next week though.



It was a really fun day and I got lots of ideas for Christmas decorating  I did buy some decorations, antique bottles and silver plate for my shop.


I am joining the parties at:
Faded Charm 
Common Ground 
Colorado Lady 


Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Hugs,
Sherry