Lovely Things

A Few Lovely Things to Look at to get you thru the rest of the week!

Isn't This Color Wonderful?

I would Cram All of this into this wonderful Stone Cottage~

I wasted way too much time on this beautiful site finding these lovelies

 http://pughs-news.tumblr.com/ 

Ideas for a Craft Room

This adventure in opening a shop on top of a way too much everyday work (real estate) has my plate so full that my house has kind of exploded into a storage unit in the hallways...doorways...corners...virtually everywhere something can be moved or stored until I can get to it. So this weekend I have gathered just enough energy to work on my spare bedroom which is going to be my craft room.

I've always wanted a craft room in pale pastels because the colors just make me wanna stay and create for hours on end. Kind of a cross between a craft room and a vintage postcard style candy shop...full of pale colors, a little sugary and above all else CALM!

Finding the right pieces is a bit trickier because I can't force myself to buy anything new and convenient...even though it may make life easier it just goes against my grain. I do have some wonderful large vintage Ball jars I'm going to use for the smaller items and a great cupboard I got this past week so I'm hoping it at least helps with the storage situation that's happening.

TJ Maxx has some of those wonderful candy style apothecary jars which I'm going to pick up for ribbons...and I do have that little wheel basket which I may relocate to that room too :)

The idea of finally having my craft room had me so happy I swear I spent an hour just re-arranging a garland and an entire morning sorting sticker and paper crafts.

I will share pics once it's done! I can't wait!

All Images Via Pinterest

In Search of Rest

I feel like I have fallen off the face of the earth in the past 10 days! We decided to be a vendor at Mt Dora's Flea Market they had this past weekend only 2 weeks in advance!! In those 2 weeks I have re-upholstered and painted more furniture than I have in the past 2 years all together and I am POOPED. It did turn out to be a fantastic weekend full of wonderful (and I mean WONDERFUL) customers and other vendors who made it all worth the lack of sleep and energy it took to carry it off. Not only do you get to sell your goodies but you get to shop while you are there and I dreamed every night of my buying strategy for the next day :)

I completely forgot in all the excitement to take photos down in the tents but this a sliver from the hillside as we were leaving...it's about 20 times this size with people from all over. My husband compared it to Carnies which makes me love it even more....I always wanted to be in the Circus or a Gypsy wandering around :)

Since this was really the initial adventure into doing these markets we don't have all the fancy enclosed trailers and box trucks everyone else does so we took a little truck and another vehicle with a trailer...let's just say the Beverly Hillbillies had nothing on us! The best part of the show was having so many shop owners actually buy our goodies for their stores...I think our stuff made it all the way to Key West, all over Orlando, Ohio and this precious customer who is moving soon that decided to re-do a room from our booth! One of the most exciting customers were 2 buyers from The Paris Market in Savannah, GA. They were beyond precious and I really just wanted them to hang out all day!

While I totally forgot to take pics of our booth...(I cannot even believe it but I was sooo tired and busy) I did remember to take pics of this beautiful French booth called La Casita...

I loved this little washstand the owner brought back from France~

and this mail bin another lady had

As a side note...If you decide to take your 2 yr old to a 4 day Flea Market Extravaganza let me warn you...this is what they look like when you arrive~

Isn't that just sweet?

But things change after 4 days and when you finally pull out of the parking lot for that drive home...this is what you will find in the back seat~

Thank heavens the markers were washable!

Flowers

This coming week is going to be so busy with the market show on Friday that my husband and I are actually going out for Valentines tomorrow night and to a movie by ourselves which is a miracle in an of itself since we travel with a heard of people all the time. I've been working to get everything ready so I'm more than happy that he has planned everything so I don't have to think about anything else! Between Valentines and Easter bouquets are everywhere, which is mighty fine by me! These are some beautiful images that are just inspiring for so many reasons that I wanted to share and hope they bring a little beauty to your day as well~

I love the simple tray and colors

Sweet Bouquet of Pink & Magentas

Fresh Bulbs at the Market

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have this place to go to?

Just to pick flowers, read or walk around....

1&2. Blomsterverkstad 3. A Rosy Note 4. Via Pinterest

5. Image Unknown

Ode to a Grain Sack

These little beauties are so versatile they can be used for almost everything. These are a few of my favorite ideas for upcycling them~

In a sweet little cupboard as lavernder sachets

A Simple Table Runner

A Re-upholstered  French Chair

Or Two

As a Store Display

Jardin Style Pillows

A German Grain Sack Chair

A Backdrop for a Table Setting

Sorted Neatly on Display

The Basis for A French Country Living Room Design

Every option is so beautiful I would take it home in a second but credit is due...

1. Downandoutchic.blogspot.com 2. Farmhousemusings.blogspot.com 3.Bing.com

4. blog.french-quarters.com  5.Bing.com  6.Pinkpigwestport.com 7.Bing.com

8. Dreamy Whites  9. Via Pinterest  10.Haute Home

The Ugly Duckling

I finished the chair makeover this week and it really turned out so much better than I hoped for. I love when that happens but typical Aspen style there was no one around to appreciate it! So I decided to share with you ~ Enjoy!

Remember the prior Hideousness...

And here it is after I kicked it's butt back into an acceptable shape!

And a close up of the stenciled back-

 I love this little booger but Mom & I decided to be a vendor at this months Mt Dora Flea Market so I'm dragging him along to sell so I can work on something new :)

A Tad Bit of Gardening

The weather has been so great lately...alot of days it's in the 70's which is amazeballs. All the warm weather makes me crazy for anything having to do with the garden before we acually get into full on summer which makes me feel more like an ice cube on hot pavement...not good.  Since it's been so nice my dad decided it was FINALLY time to start on my bakyard and shut me up so I could have parties out there during the spring & summer. This is the photo that was the inspiration for the backyard-

It's an old Italian grotto with a basin...it's unbelievable. The brick, the stones...everything about it is so wonderful to look at. There used to be an inground pool in our backyard but the previous owners filled it in and left behind a semi-circle hedge  that used to go around it which was perfect for enclosing the area.

So this is ugliness of the backyard before...

and this....

The bleakness of it all is painful, not to mention the little terracotta birdfeeder someone stuck in the hedge when we moved in like 4 months ago...we have been MAJOR slackers! It's almost embarrasing :)

Our last house had a dirt pit for a backyard because there was so much shade the only thing that would grow were dirt and gnats so this time it had better be good or I'm not going to be allowed another chance.

This is when they first started and you can see the center will have the grotto and either side will have statuary (to the left and right)

This was the progress from the first few days and you can see the foundations for everything going in and the brickwork starting to curve for the arch....and below is after a little over a week of work-

If you look at the base of the grotto you can see the basin for the water and the black tarp where the water will pool and re-circulate, and where the wood braces are standing on the right is another column that it's supporting. In between those columns and the brick will be tabby shells to fill it in.

The grotto is further along than the statuary but you can see the left side statuary grew a little bit

It still has a bit to go but once the 3 features are done he is going to put either a small water feature in the center or a firepit or seating area. I cannot wait! I think I will move outside and live there once it's done but at the very least I will have as many parties as possible to enjoy it!