Royal Wedding

I'm  excited about the Royal Wedding! 

It's hard to believe it was 30 years

ago when Diana and Charles were wed.  

I watched it with such enthusiasm- it was my first 

experience seeing something like that.  

My boss even let me have the day off so I could watch it! 

It's a wonderful experience to see the crowds of people

that turn out to witness this event and show their support!

This was the beginning of what seemed to be a fairytale, but

as we all know it did not end up that way.

I was sickened to watch the breakdown of their marriage

and the unimaginable loss of Diana.

As a mother I know Diana is watching over her son and 

if she were here she would have had a wealth

of advice for Kate.

I am thrilled to see William's lovely bride Kate 

(the Brits have already nicknamed her "Kate the Great")

They already seem to be a great couple and I think 

she has a much better chance of surviving the storm 

than Diana did. 

Let's all wish them the best and enjoy this

beautiful moment in history!

Spring beginnings!

I had been delighted that our winter weather 

had gone and I could see the grass again!  

One beautiful morning I wandered out to the 

garden area and placed my new obelisks. 

At first I set one up on this cement base...to 

my surprise it fit on it like it was made for it..

but the look just wasn't right...

I stood there staring at the fountain 

wondering where I should put them and 

finally I decided to try them behind the 

fountain rather than out in front...

After moving them several times I 

finally decided this was the

spot for them! Once the hostas

start coming in it will fill in nicely

and these will look great!

I did say I "had" enjoyed this lovely

weather which was April 12th...

 Low and behold mother nature decided to 

pull a fast one on us and on April 19th we got 

nailed with 6 inches of snow...I took these 

pictures after the first two hours 

had passed...it just kept coming through 

the night... ugh...

Don't forget you can click on a picture and see it larger!
The birds were a bit surprised too, I felt sorry 

for them, especially the ones like the Juncos 

and Robins that feed off the ground...

I was delighted to see this purple finch in the

mix...see the female on the left bird feeder! 

The Goldfinches are all decked out in their 

best yellow colors!

Sparrows and Juncos all trying to find some food!

It's almost Easter and this year it's very late...

who would of thought we would have snow again!

I found this on the internet and couldn't 

resist snatching a copy of it!  

Aren't they the cutest!

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Liz

Colorful Easter Greetings!

Happy Easter Everyone!

The table is set and ready for dinner!
Can you tell I like spring colors!

My Fitz & Floyd Bunnies are my centerpiece
(I dressed them up this year with their
green plaid neck bows)
and

I used this fleur-de-lis embossed stemware

for the flowers...inside hidden behind

the moss is a white styrofoam ball..I

decided on silk flowers this time

(I can't get the fleur-de-lis design to show)

This tablecloth was from Kohl's last year...
it has a cut work with a flower and egg 
design...seems to go rather well 
with my china!

I picked up these egg cup holders

from Crate and Barrel, put

some color dyed moss in them

for the eggs to set on..

I also used my fleur-de-lis glasses

that I picked up from Neiman Marcus

a few years ago (I think they still sell them)

My placemats are from Kohls and my 
napkins were from Younker's 

I went to the blog Between Naps on the 
Porch  and followed her tutorial on 
making this Pocket Fold Napkin

 There is actually only going to be two of us

for dinner on Easter Sunday, but I decided

it felt more festive to set it up for 6!

 As always thank-you for stopping by and 

I love hearing your comments!

Happy Easter and I hope you 

have a beautiful Easter Sunday...

*Casual Drinkware from Neiman Marcus/Horchow similar to their Reinaissance pattern.

*Fine China by Noritake called Yoshino

*Gold plated flatware from Neiman Marcus/Horchow called Euro Beads by Wallace

*Egg Cups from Crate & Barrel

*Tablecloth  and Placemants from Kohls

*Napkins from Younkers (a BonTon Co.- Saks Fifth ave. Carson Pirie Scott, etc.) 

*Easter Bunnies by Fitz & Floyd from their Poppies Collection

 I'm linking up with  

Between Naps on the Porch  

 Tabletop Thursdays

Soft on Bunnies

Easter Greetings!

This year I went soft on bunnies! 

I usually put up a small branch for a tree and decorate it 

with Easter eggs, but this year I kept it simple.

These are a pair of bunnies from Fitz & Floyd that I picked 

up several years ago from a collection called "Poppies".  I

decided they needed a little embellishment, so I

dressed them with the green wired ribbon.

There were dishes with Poppies on them too, but at the 

time I couldn't figure why they chose poppies to go with 

Easter bunnies so I chose to ignore them...I kind of wish

that I had bought them now!

 I placed some of the decorated eggs around and some silk flowers 

to make it feel like a garden...

I used my new Pier 1 Imports tray for the display.

I almost forgot to include my little bunnies

from Avon that my sister got for me

many years ago too!

 I picked up a white Easter basket at the craft store

 but decided I had to paint it!  (Don't worry all that snow is gone now!)

This bunny was half off at Hobby Lobby and

I had my hands on it within 5 min. of getting

inside the store! 

 

Looks like it will be a quiet Easter by ourselves this year

but I am looking forward to the trip we will

be making to Pennsylvania a few days later for a 

wedding shower for our son and his 

fiance in Pennsylvania!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I'm joining A Stroll Through Life-Table Top Tuesday

Changes Cont'd....

Seems as though these changes keep happening!  

I picked up a couple of new accessories and put them on the striped chest...

this is just a quick peek...

 

To the left of this area is an entry door. 

I have a little corner that this chest used to be in that I have been working on.  

I tried to use some things I already owned and added a couple of items.  This picture is dark because I was focusing on the candle and the mirror behind it.  It kind of came together because I was playing around with the little mirror, trying to find a way to include it in the grouping...

I ended up with it behind the candle which turned out really great!

Don't you agree?

I also got a new wine rack and the large urn was something I've had from Pier 1 Imports for several years.  I am planning on something tall to go in the urn...

Thanks for stopping by! Love your comments!

Changes lead to more Changes!

 A couple of people I chat with commented that my striped cabinet seemed a bit large for the spot I had it in.  I think I always knew it, but after the second person said it, it was enough to motivate me to move it.  One of my friends suggested I move it to the longer wall by the kitchen table.  This did present a small problem because my space is so limited. I'm known for moving furniture frequently so I had to give it a try!

 As soon as I got it over to this new spot I liked it! I did have to remove my corner curio cabinet as it wasn't fitting in with the look any longer. 

I moved it over to the corner where the chest had been, but I didn't anticipate the doorball unit being in the way.  Ultimately I have decided to remove the curio cabinet and I have started with a new look for this corner.  I'm not done with it yet so I can't show it!

 As the day progressed I played with some items to accent the chest with.

I have a mix of things going on with my house accents. I had chosen a pewter/nickle finished lamp for the kitchen table because it goes with the stainless appliances in the kitchen but I also have dark bronze accents.  So I chose this metal plate to display on the chest to draw on the lamp color. The dark candle holders draw on the picture frame and the dark bronze in the curtain rod and the knobs on the cupboards. I stuck the topiaries there for some more dimension, but I'm not settled on them yet. I think they need to be larger and have a more substantial pot.

Heres a quick shot looking back towards the kitchen showing the appliances and why I had chosen this lamp color.

By the next day I had decided to put these metal scroll accent pieces back on the wall...I played with the pieces until I found a layout I liked.

This is how it looks now and I'm happy I made the change. I'm keeping one chair off to the corner so it frees up some space but I also like it there too!

One more piece made it into the design. This picture was on the other wall with the collage I used to have.

If you've noticed in all these pictures the wall color seems to change, sometimes very beige, sometimes more golden and sometimes a hint of green! 

I'm enjoying this paint color! 

(Huntington Beige by Benjamin Moore) 

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch 

for Metamorphisis Monday

Congratulations Debbie of Debbiedoos!

A big congratulations to

Debbie of Debbiedoos!  

 She's been contacted by 

Country Woman Magazine 

and 

they are coming to her home to do a

photo shoot of her kitchen! 

How wonderful is that!

What an amazing compliment!  

You rock Debbie!  

Congratulations!

Time for a change!

I decided to change the color of my kitchen from a green color to a warm beige tone...I've had the green for 6 years and while I loved it, it limited me on changing up accents and I purchased a chest of drawers with a unique finish on it and once it was next to my green it looked bad...I've been waiting since last fall to get this underway, so I bargained with my husband to paint the kitchen for my birthday!  

So the above picture is with the green and the striped cabinet on the left is what started me on wanting to make the changes.  It's very olive/gold in tone and this wall color did nothing with it.

All stripped down and ready for painting...

The 3rd color from the top is Huntington Beige. I worked from this color group because I already have the last color on the card in the dining area and I needed the "olive" kind of tones in the paint...

 Jumping ahead to the next day you can see the color has changed and the striped cabinet doesn't clash anymore.

 Before with the green above and after with the beige below...

What I am liking most of all about this paint color is it changes personality with the light of day.  At times it seems to be a very light beige, other times it seems to have gold in it and then at times you detect green!  I'm happy with it and I love Benjamin Moore paints they hold up so well, are cleanable and the colors are always consistent.

 I removed the curtains for painting and decided not to put he valance back up. That caused a new problem because I had a conventional old style traverse rod hidden behind the valance and it wasn't exactly attractive.  After much contemplating, I decided on this dark bronze finished rod from Lowe's and some heavy metal rings that I found at JoAnn Fabrics (which had to be painted to match)

I am real pleased with how it turned out and taking away the valance made it feel less bulky. The fabric was ordered from Ballard Designs several years ago and I had the curtains custom made.  

They don't sell it any longer.

Next week I'll show more about the striped cabinet and a change I made with that already.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm joining Metamorphisis Monday with Between Naps on the Porch

 and 

Kara for Whassup Wednesday