Romance

It has been a busy and exciting week. What better way to begin the weekend than with the romance of flowers and the glow of candlelight.

Wishing you all a weekend filled with the peace and tenderness of romance.

OWOH Goodies

Yesterday, I received Constance's wonderful OWOH giveaway package. I can tell you, we are enjoying the goodies she sent me.

Constance, your cookies are delicious and beautiful! And your magical telescope is already taking us on many adventures.

Below are photos of all the loveliness Constance sent. Everything was gorgeous.

Thank you Constance, you brought sunshine into our dull gray winter day!

Pink and Red ~ The Colors of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Lure of the Powder Puff

I love this old engraving of a woman performing her morning toilette.

toi•lette

The act or process of dressing or grooming oneself.

When I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the morning rituals of my Mother and older sister. From washing their faces, to toner, cream, makeup, and of course, the perfect powder puff finish. It was fun to watch how they applied their lipstick so meticulously, and the lovely scents of the creams they used, but one particular item caught my attention . . . my Mother's lovely powder puff. Her puff held a certain mystery, a magic that called to the very deepest feminine part of my soul. I yearned for the day when I would have my very own powder puff to dip in a fragrant batch of silky white powder.

I have collected these sweet little powder puffs over the years.

Now the pièce de résistance of this post . . .

This amazing powder puff was made by the lovely Lori of My Faerie Window. I adore Lori! Her tastes are refined and delicate, and her palette of colors is perfect!

She has created the loveliest confection of vintage beauty. Lori emailed me with photos of this puff, and of course I started salivating. She hit a raw nerve with this beauty. I had to have one. I could never bear to use it in powder though, but I will look at it often as it sits on my vanity table.

Another confection by Lori

This one had a small surprise tucked inside. Thank you, Lori! I will treasure these sweet gifts. They make me smile!

You can click here to see more of Lori's gorgeous powder puffs.

Saving the Imperfect

In a world where the imperfect is often done away with, I find myself trying to save the old and decrepit.

When you first look at this chair, it seems sturdy, but in reality it is coming apart. Rickety and fragile, it will never seat a person again. I had the idea to use it as a table, and started its transformation.



I pulled off the old grungy material, and the padding underneath was still in wonderful condition. The chair still had the remnants of former occupants, if you get my meaning. Let's just say they left behind the signs that they had been there.

The back of the seat looked charming after I pulled off the padding, so I decided not to recover it.

I framed the old burlap, creating a ribbon ruffle with vintage cream binding. Then I redid the seat using a handful of the old nails, and a glue gun!

This lovely chair with its undeniable pedigree will now hold my favorite books. I put the velvet ribbon across to keep guests from sitting in it and splintering it to pieces. That would be embarrassing!

Before and after