Sharing beauty................

Remember me showing you this gorgeous vintage sideboard/buffet recently? A grand piece, displayed at Revival Antiques here in Raleigh, NC during their Holiday Open House. My friends, photographer Dorothy Blum Cooper and artist Bobby Cooper from Louisiana, who moved to North Carolina following Hurricane Katrina, are restoring a beautiful historic home. They saw my post, came to town, and have purchased it! This is great news. I can't imagine a more perfect home for this beauty, or a nicer family to care for it.

Silver service at 'Sleepy Poet'

ILVER..............................

Remember the treasures I told you about at the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall in Charlotte, NC? It was there I found this great buy.........the three piece silver plated pot with sugar and creamer, plus the tray they sat on......all for $18.00.

For the time being I'm displaying this set in the secretary in the guest room, which, as you can guess, is because I've run out of little nooks to place irresistible treasures!


Still quite 'silver' and shining, I know these pretties will eventually start to tarnish.................and no prompting will make me polish them!

Other 'silvery finds' at the POET......................................

The tag reads, "Old rusty crusty dust pan, perfect for a candle". What a good idea - and I have one already so know what to do with it now!

Gorgeous serviette rings - kicking myself for not buying them!

With Christmas coming and decorating on our minds, silver items always look special, reflecting tiny white lights, holding glowing candles and serving special treats. I can see the unusual shaped glass jar on the shelf full of candy, the bowl and plates offering cookies, mince pies and chocolates.

Are you 'silver' or 'gold' when it comes to decorating for Christmas? Of course the two mixed can be awesome too and both are exquisite mixed with white. Gold perhaps warmer in the firelight, silver bright and glistening, especially if you are lucky enough to celebrate where there is snow outside the windows.

Have you started decorating for the holiday season, or do you wait until Thanksgiving is over, the turkey leftovers eaten and the china packed away? I haven't done a thing yet but realize I must get a move on......................and soon!

Pink Saturday at the Little Shabby Shed

Little Shabby Shed, Raleigh, NC

Over the railroad track, down the dirt road, and beside SuzAnna's Antiques, one can't miss Tracy's very cute, very pink shop, the Little Shabby Shed. Chock-a-block full of shabby/vintage/antique furniture and accessories, one is welcomed by Charlie the Yorkie, Tracy, and often her sweet daughters who come to help out in the shop. Tracy hopes to start a blog soon, meanwhile I'm happy to promote her business today. Be sure to visit when you're in town!

"Hi Charlie"

Loads of shabby and chic stuff to browse through.

Tracy's recent painting projects.......chairs and frames.

Tracy always has a can of spray paint or a brush in her hand............she's a whiz when it comes to refurbishing chippy old bureaus, tables, chairs, picture frames, mirrors etc., and.............................


...........she's always creating something cute such as this pink patchwork Santa. He may be just what you're looking for if you've planned a non-traditional red and green Christmas this year. Inside the pink shed, Tracy has a zillion pretty things for you, or for you to give as gifts. Hope you can stop by soon.

Happy Pink Saturday - do stop by How Sweet The Sound to see Beverly's list of participants today. Have a wonderful weekend.

Revived at REVIVAL

Late on a warm Sunday afternoon. Golden light fading, rusty leaves hanging from the trees. Meet a best friend. Head over to a favorite shop. A Holiday OPEN HOUSE was in full swing, mix of soft jazz and Christmas music. The first of several gatherings I plan to attend as the holiday season begins.

I love the offerings at Revival.............antique and vintage furniture, restored, re-purposed, recycled, refinished or repainted (don't you love all those re-words), and turned into stunning pieces, often at affordable prices. One can visit the warehouse where furniture is stacked to the ceiling, awaiting some TLC.

Furniture seen earlier this year at Revival shop and warehouse.

The accessories here are awesome. Some are old and one of a kind, others handcrafted more recently.

This buffet from the 1920's was really beautiful.

The back drop behind the coffee station was a vintage hand-painted velvet panel - a country snow scene with a border of holly leaves and berries, absolutely stunning.

Tonight I'm off to historic downtown Hillsborough, NC where their Ooh La La - Ladies Night Out will kick off the holiday season with an evening of fun and friends. Perhaps I'll start to get some Christmas spirit - time is getting short.

Keep cutting............................

................those hydrangeas from the garden. Mine are really changing now, colors so different from their brilliant blue of Summer. The change to chartreuse green was lovely, now that shade is becoming deeper, tinged with dusky mauve and cottage pink. I think cutting blooms for drying at different times during Autumn gives a variety of shades when the drying process is complete. Later some tan and cream shades appear as the blooms eventually die on the bush, these can be added to give more definition to large bunches in a container.

Having fun with that delightful, and so easy, little editing program, Photoscape, you can see the mix of colors of the hydrangeas from my garden. All these blooms are from the two blue Endless Summer bushes in front of my porch. Looking out as I write, they are still heavy with flower heads and I'll be cutting more for drying soon.

These blooms are mixed - last year's have turned lavender, blue-gray and tan, new ones are green.

Same image edited with Photoscape ~ no color change just a vintage look.

Photoscape is very easy to use for creating mosaics.

Do you have any special tips of drying, displaying hydrangeas? I strip all the leaves from mine, place them in a little water and then just allow them to dry in the vase - no further water added - simple. Within a few weeks they are ready and of course look lovely during the entire drying period. It's not necessary to hang them upside down in a dry place as I do the roses.

Ready for another chair makeover?

As promised, I'm back to show more finds at the Sleepy Poet Antiques Mall (from now on known as the Poet, as the locals/dealers call this emporium of antiques and vintage). A thrill ran through me when I laid eyes on this pile of vintage French linen/hemp grain sacks....................so I was already in heaven at one of the very first booths just inside the entrance. I knew there were going to be treasures with my name written on them.

Hemp and linen sacks awaiting a new life at the Poet.

Some came home with me to give this old chair a new look.

This was an odd Thomasville dining chair bought in the clearance room of a furniture store for a few bucks......over 30 years ago! Nice bones and pretty carved details, almost country French! It's moved around with us, always ending up in a corner as an extra chair to pull out when needed. I had it recovered in this rich terracotta damask about 6 years ago during my "Tuscany" decorating phase after a trip to that stunningly beautiful area of Italy.

I'm painting/distressing the chair frame, same color/finish as the bergere chair. The seat and back sections are at the upholsterer, along with my precious grain sacks, and hopefully my chair will soon have a new look......................show you later.

Pink Saturday

My sweet pink roses from last week are gone.............but not far. They are now hanging from the chandelier in the potting shed, drying to a dusty, crinkly, muted pink.

Once dried, the roses will join these. They are lovely in their second life....................sometimes I use them to add to a gift wrap.

A rose is a rose......is a rose. A beautiful flower loved by just about everyone.

Visit How Sweet The Sound, our lovely Beverly's blog to see today's list of Pink Saturday participants....................and have a good weekend.