BrokenMemories:Shards

Vintage Suitcase for Closet Storage

Mr Beets painted our closet,which started the closet redo snowball. You know you can’t just put all that stuff back into a pretty closet! I had a collection of childhood and wedding treasures and wanted to gather them together.

I scored a vintage suitcase for 1.00.

Both price and size,check and check.

Kinda yucky on the outside,but I had a plan!

The inside was ok,the elastic was loose,but the good news was no bad odors. Check again!

Having recently discovered Annie Sloan Paint,(you see I am always late to the party)I wanted to give it a test run on something other than wood. Gathering my can of Pure White,I went to town.

I painted the whole thing,handle,locks and latches.

I am thrilled with the results. Check again. You may wonder if I waxed it,yep I used the clear wax a thin coat,and it just feels so wonderful. Dare I say it almost feels soft.

Now that the outside is finished,I went to work on the inside. I did not want to do any sewing,but I wanted to make pretty on the inside too.

I hit my stash of ladies hankies,that have “issues”,and gathered some lace. Then I hit my vintage jewelry stash.

I folded the hankies in half and hung them in front of the pockets and used vintage jewelry and floral pearl pins to secure them.

The bottom was clean,but not very pretty,so into my doily stash.

I created a center fold so the sweet baskets of flowers would show.

Around the sides of the suitcase the glue had yellowed and again just did not look nice.

So I used wonderful floral pins with a large pearl head to secure a section of doily along the back.

I was so thrilled at how it was looking! Triple check!!!

Time to fill!

Top priority was protecting this well loved doll.

I purchased acid free tissue paper to wrap her in,and I used it for all the other treasures.

You can image it took forever,I had  to enjoy,read,and lovingly wrap all those memories.

Just as I was closing the lid,the last thing I added was a tear.

~~~Living the Dream!

Memorial Day

A Salute to our fallen heroes

Pinterest

As usual I am late to the parade.

I am sure you are all already on pinterest with loads of pins.

 

When I discovered pinterest it was love at first pin.

I was explaining pinterest to a friend this way,instead of tearing out all those pages from our favorite magazines and having them scattered about you can do the same thing on pinterest. There are thousands of pictures,and just as many catagories to select from,it is all neat and tidy.

You can DREAM and DECORATE to your hearts content.

If you are not yet a “member” of pinterest feel free to contact me and I will be happy to “invite” you. If you are already pinning like mad ,I would love to look at your pins,there is so much talent and lovely decorating ideas I enjoy them all!

I feel obligated to warn you…pinning can be addictive,which may result in loss of sleep!

~~~Living the Dream!

 

I Thought I killed it!

My cousin gifted a start from a beautiful plant that was my grandmothers. I was so thrilled and it flourished for several years. The poor plant had become so root bound and over grown for it’s little pot. So I found a beautiful new pot,purchased the best potting soil,waited until the Fall to transplant her,so the heat would not destroy her. Well….

Well after loving her and nurturing her I had this stick. I was sick,I could not even look in the direction of the plant. Mr Beets,encouraged me to be patient. He kept saying “just leave it,it will come back.” My neighbor was visiting one day and started to pull it out!!!! I kinda joked that I would not declare her dead just yet.

Well look what Spring delivered to our garden!

You can see the “dead” area is still sticking out,but she is really starting to fill in and I am beyond thrilled.

My little transplant from my grandmother got me thinking,plants are much like life,sometimes just a little patience is needed for us to flourish!

Thank you Grandmaw for continuing to teach me great lessons!

~~~Living the Dream!

Monday Monday

You think you had a long day!

~~~ Living the dream!

Super Moon Saturday

Saturday May 5 2012 at 11:35,gaze to the heavens as we are blessed with a Super Moon.

 

(NASA)

A Super Moon is when the moon is full and is closer to the earth. This celestial event happens at 11:35pm. Of course you can celebrate early,but the peek is slated for 11:35. Here is to (saluting with cold diet coke) clear skies across the country giving us all a spectacular view!

 

~~~Living the Dream!

Sharing a Moment and a Great Big Thank you

A great big thank you to Melissa at Design her brands for making little ‘ol me her Brandanista of the week!

Be sure to visit Melissa if you find yourself at a loss for words,she is an author,aesthetic wordsmith,and a branding therapist and all around sweet heart!

A shared moment.

My dear niece and nephew graduated college this weekend and shared there big event with us. I am so proud of them both!

Thank you for inviting us.

~~~Living the Dream!

The Fancy Flea

Time to get your best flea market buggies ready to roll.

Saturday April 28 is The Fancy Flea.

Voted one of the TOP 10 flea markets in the country.

I have not visited the other 9,yet ;) but this is an amazing market.

 

A wonderful combination of handmade,hand painted,antiques,and vintage in a one stop shopping out door market.

 

This is a one day event,call your best buddies,fill the car (not to full you will need room for your treasures!) and head to Lakeland Florida. The weather is going to be perfect!

~~~Living the Dream!

 

Estate Sale Find

For those of you that know me,or have read my blog for any length of time,this post will not be a surprise. But this was my exciting find at a recent estate sale.

No there is not a stick hanging from a tree that got in my photo,I bought that.

We went to an estate sale on day 2,not really expecting much. Mostly I was going to see the view. This property had a breath taking view of the intercostals water way. The home was old for Florida standards,built in the 1920’s with 3 greenhouses. I am sure the home will be taken down for a new home,or maybe several the lot was so large!

When I entered the greenhouses,they were all picked over,empty,with turned over pots and years of neglect.

Except for

hanging all alone in the center of the green house was this. It called (really more of a last gasp)out to me to take it home. It is attached to a very rusty hanger and as you can see is very brown and wrinkled. Mr.Beets,did not ask,you see he knows me,I just said,it needs me! (understatement of the century)

I believe it is an Orchid,the cashier said she thought so too.

If you look really really really close you can see some green,so it is still alive.

It now hangs with my other Orchids,they too have a rescue story to share,each in shades of “green” when they called out to me and were lovingly carted home to live in the shade of the old tree.

~~~Living the Dream!

 

Beautiful White Roses

 

My rose bush has been full of amazing roses this Spring. I love how the buds are a soft delicate pink and turn white as they open. Just breathtaking!

~~~Living the Dream!