When we were kids, my older sister and I would have beauty contests! Of course, being the oldest, she was also the judge! We would stand in front of the mirror, striking our most glamorous poses, that an eight-year-old could manage, before she was judged to be the most beautiful! We still laugh about those beauty contests today. Today, I’m a sucker for a beautiful mirror. I doubt that it has anything to do with my previous life as a beauty pageant contestant (ha!) but you never know! You might recall last weekend, that I found an amazing old mirror,…
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I’m dreaming of a studio. A place with lots of windows, where I don’t have to put my toys away at the end of the day. Judging from the fact that there are more than 48,000 images of “art studios” on Houzz.com, I guess I’m not the only one with this idea! Now, some of the studios I found are a bit over the budget top, but still they’re beautiful. o High ceilings and big windows that slide open…now that’s what I call living! Granted this little jewel box, covered in ivy, doesn’t have the big windows, but isn’t it…
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Hello! As you may have gathered, I’m consumed by pillows these days! That may be putting it mildly. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say, I’ll bet I’ve made more pillows this month than anyone on my block! While I’ve got some gorgeous linen pillows in the shop, what’s unique about most of these (besides the toile) pillows, is that all of the materials are old, repurposed vintage classics. I hope others like them, because I love making them and I certainly don’t have enough places to use all of these pillows! In fact, Ann Marie, my Tech…
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Greetings dear friends!, How was your weekend? Wonderful, I hope! Are you the kind of person who loves a weekend filled with adventure, friendly people, creative exposure and kettle corn? Yep, I am! Every town, worth living in, has an antique fair. I don’t know why it took me so long to discover ours, downtown on the second Sunday each month. It’s an absolute blast! Today was no exception. Let me show you my winner of “Most Clever Use Of A Cookie Sheet” Award. You want a stainless steel table top? Will you settle for aluminum? Actually, it’s very cute!…
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This morning, the girls were on the road, at 7:15 a.m.! While cutting into my beauty sleep, it was all for a good cause! Searching for tomorrow’s treasures, that’s what we do! Today’s loot includes pillow fabric, that makes me happy, including what I think you’d call a toile. Very frenchy! Next to the vintage khaki stripe, these two could get work together! This blue and white stripe is from a French feather bed. It came complete with lingering feathers, and a trip to the beloved laundromat. I also found a great chess board, and a couple of frames, to…
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I used to see women digging through piles of linens and lace at estate sales. I never could understand what the attraction was. But now, I think I know! My mother was the consummate entertainer. Every dinner party included linen napkins that she carefully washed and ironed. In the early years, she would always include a table cloth on her table, for a dinner party. In the later years, she substituted beautiful placemats instead. While I always use cloth napkins for a dinner party, I never use tablecloths, because I hate covering up the wood grain of the table. I…
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While several of my blog friends have had the big national magazines feature their homes, I was thrilled to have “” “About Arden” magazine here, this morning, to do a feature article about our home. About Arden is a great local, monthly magazine, I always enjoy reading. You would have thought the queen was coming to visit, as Mr. Winderful and I were cleaning and primping every crevice, this past weekend! It was a good chance to get some little projects wrapped up that had been on the back burner for a while. I had been wanting to get rid…
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If you haven’t had the chance to meet her, this is the perfect opportunity! Karen, or Karena as she’s becoming known, (sounds much more exotic, don’t you think?), is passionate about the arts! That may be an understatement. As an artist herself, as well as a supporter and promoter of other artists, Karen writes Art by Karena. I’ll let her tell the story…. Barbara, thank you so much for including me in your series of Eight Things You Might Not Know…. 1. I grew up here in the Kansas City area as the eldest of eight, yes eight children! I…
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