IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS... for White Wednesday

Hello everyone!  I hope your week is off to a good start!

I started decorating for Christmas on Sunday, just adding this and that here and there around the house.  We'll be getting our tree this weekend, but I thought I would share with you some of what I've done so far.  I also wanted to share the wonderful vintage table I bought at one of the local antiques shops last Friday.

I'm going for a casual, natural look with bits of sparkle here and there. :)

OK... here she is.  She's curvy in all the right places and perfectly chippy. 

She has great legs... I'm a little jealous.  ;-D

I'll share more of the big picture once I get our tree up and finish decorating.

I'm linking up with Kathleen's wonderful White Wednesday link party.  Head on over to her beautiful blog, Faded Charm, to join in on the fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

'Til next time my friends...

~ Jo :-)

JUST A QUICK HELLO...

 Hello friends! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones.  I know I've said it at least a dozen times now, but I just can't tell you all enough how much I appreciate you taking the time to stop by my blog to visit and leave your wonderful words of encouragement.  I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know all of you and cherish the friendships that have been made here in Blogland.

For those of my friends who aren't from the U.S. and don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you all had a wonderful week however you may have spent it.  I am just as grateful for all of you as my American friends.

I had a wonderful holiday with my family cooking the traditional turkey dinner, enjoying each others company, and playing games.  Some of you who have been following my blog for a while may already know that my mom and her husband moved down here a couple of months ago and are staying with us until their house is done being built, so we have a lot to be grateful for this year.  We couldn't be happier to have them here in our lives on a regular basis now.

My mom and I went shopping at a couple of local antique shops yesterday (Friday), and I picked up a sweet vintage white metal garden table with a wonderful patina to it.  I'll share that with you for White Wednesday, I think.  I also managed to find a couple of adorable angel dolls for my daughter's stockings, so I was relieved to get some of my Christmas shopping started. 

This is one of the last blooms of the year from our French Lace rose bushes.  I brought it inside to enjoy after pruning them back last week.  I love roses.  I'm going to miss seeing them in our garden while they take their winter rest.

My parents are divorced, so my family and I will be heading up to Clovis today to do Turkey day with my dad.  It's been a while since we've seen him, so we're all looking forward to spending a day filled with good food (again :)) and catching up with each other.

Hopefully, the rest of my Christmas decorations will come out of the boxes tomorrow, and I'll be able to share some of that with you for White Wednesday as well.

I wish you all a great weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

P.S.  I was invited to join in on a fun link party over at Maleviks Rosentradgard called Saturday Show Off.  Maleviks Rosentradgard is a beautiful Swedish blog filled with stunning pictures of Hakan's roses from his garden.  Head on over there to check it out. :)

A ROMANTIC THANKSGIVING SETTING...

Hello my blogger friends!

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is just next week.  Fall seems to have flown by, yet we're still having
70 degree weather here in central California.  I'm looking forward to some cooler nights, sitting by the
fire all nice and toasty while it's cold outside.  Rain is supposed to come this weekend, so I'll keep my
fingers crossed. ;-)

Well... I've decided to go ahead and do my Thanksgiving table setting post today.  My dining table redo
is growing on me, and I'm not hating it as much as I did when I first got it done.  Thanks for all of your
words of encouragement in my last post. You all kept my spirits up about the situation. :) 

The beautiful grey-green color of this pumpkin is what inspired me to use the colors I did in my
Thanksgiving table setting.  I bought the vintage carving set from the beautiful Sadie Olive Etsy shop
  a few months ago.  I've been patiently waiting to use them until now.  I love the patina of the handles.

I used these Merci tags throughout the room and added little sprigs of rosemary to some of 

the larger pumpkins.

 So... what do you think?  Did I ruin my table or is it a keeper?
I would love to hear your feedback. :)

I tried to keep it simple by placing the napkins on the plates and just resting some

maple leaves on top.

This ribbon is perfect to show how grateful I am for my family during the holidays... and always.

I made two bundles of three small white candles, wrapped them with twine, and placed them

on a pair of vintage plates.  I placed some vintage French letters and book pages under the

plates to add some interest.

********************

On another note... I received the most wonderful package from my dear friend Maria of Dreamy

Whites the other day.  Maria is such a sweetheart and has such a giving spirit.  She sent me these gifts

to say thank you for ordering something from her soon to open online shop for my giveaway.  I thought

it was the sweetest thing, because I've been wanting to send here something to thank her for letting me

buy something from her shop before it had even opened.

She packaged everything sooo beautifully...  a little preview of what to expect when ordering

something from her shop.  I used these beautiful antique French letters in my table setting.

As if that wasn't enough... these are the fabulous items that she sent me:  a vintage linen pillow cover,

a lavender filled pillow, and a bundle of lavender.  The heavenly scent of lavender wafted into the

room the moment I opened the box.  Everything is just beautiful, Maria... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

It has been so busy for me around here lately.  We had my youngest daughter's parent teacher

conference on Tuesday.  There's so much to do in the garden right now to get everything nice and tidy

before the rainy season gets here, and lots to do to prepare for the upcoming holiday season.  I feel

terrible that I haven't had the time to visit everybody who has come to visit, so this will be my last post

until "after" Thanksgiving.  Hopefully, this will allow me enough time to come visit all of my blogger

friends before Thanksgiving gets here. :)

May you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving holiday!!

xo ~ Jo

:-)

WHITE WEDNESDAY...and a winner!

Hello my friends!  I hope you all had a great weekend!

It's time to announce the winner of the Pom Pom ruffled bag!  I want to thank all of you who entered my giveaway... I only wish I had something for each and every one of you.  I won't keep you gals waiting in suspense any longer.  THE WINNER IS... Lara from the lovely blog Air Kiss.  Congratulations Lara!

I know, I know... we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, and I usually never decorate for Christmas until the weekend "after" Thanksgiving, but let me explain why I'm doing a Christmas decorating post instead of a Thanksgiving table setting post for your guys.  Let me start by telling you what kind of weekend I had.  I decided to paint the top of my dining room table white... yep... I went and did it.  But, I decided it didn't look right in the the space all white, so I tried distressing it.  It looks OK, but I'm still not loving it.  I don't dare show it to you guys out fear of total embarrassment... lol!  So, until I fix the situation, you guys won't be seeing my dining room area. ;-)

I have also been sooo inspired by so many beautiful Christmas posts lately that I could hardly wait a minute longer to get started myself.  I've just started in my little laundry area... it's kind of out of site, but gets passed through constantly.

I adore these little birds!  Guess where I found them.  I found these little lovelies at Target.  Aren't they just the sweetest ornament?  I want to go back and get some more for my tree. 

I bought these sweet little mercury pine cones at Target, too, and I found the real pine cones in their dollar section about a month ago.

I ordered some burlap and linen ribbon from Kristin's Faded Prairie Etsy shop a few weeks ago, and she sent them to me wrapped so lovely with the music note paper and glittery #5.  I thought it looked so pretty that I decided to leave it like that and use it for display during Christmas.

I'm linking up to Kathleen's fabulous White Wednesday link party!  There's lots of great inspiration to see over there, so go check it out!  Thanks for hosting Kathleen! :)

I also wanted to thank you for all of your sweet comments on my last post.  I appreciated them so much!  You girls are awesome!!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

BACK TO SOME DECORATING...

Hello friends! 

I've been a little side tracked by hosting giveaways lately, so I thought I'd try to get back on track with

some decorating ideas.

Some of you may remember when I showed you this lovely photo that was sent to me along with the

items I ordered from Jeane Oliver's Etsy shop, A Bushel and a Peck.  I just loved it and thought it

would be great to display it during the Fall holiday, so I added a bundle of rosemary, tied it with jute

twine, and hung it from the hook rack that's hanging in my mudroom. 

A couple of months ago, I finally ordered a few grain sacks that I've been wanting for so long.  I used

one of them as a cushion cover for the bench in my mudroom.  I love this grain sack because of the

beautiful monogram it has on it.

I bought a body pillow at Target for the insert.  It fit perfectly for the length of the bench and the size

of the grain sack.  I just left the open end to drape over the side to give it a casual feeling.

If you're looking for somewhere to purchase grain sacks, I bought mine at an Etsy shop called the

Antique Linen Shop.  She has the most amazing selection of antique grain sacks and linen rolls you

could imagine.  I couldn't have been happier with the quality of the ones I purchased, and they were

reasonably priced in the $40 price range.

I'm linking this post up to Debra's Vintage Inspiration Fridays link party.  Head on over to Common

Ground to see lots of wonderful vintage inspiration.  Thanks for hosting Debra!

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave your thoughtful and

encouraging comments!

I hope your November is off to a wonderful start!  Have a great day!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

P.S.  I'm also linking this post up to Saturday Night Special over at Funky Junk Interiors.  Head on

over there for some great inspiration.

'TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING... yep, another giveaway!

Hello everyone!

Today's the day... the day I announce the winner of my giveaway gift, the Dreamy Whites lavender package and Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazine from French Larkspur!  Are you on the edge of your seat... waiting... reading...

OK, OK...

**The winner of my giveaway is June from Laughing With Angels... congratulations, June!!**

I want to say THANK YOU so much for the wonderful turn out that I received.  Some of you left the most touching comments that really meant so much to me... thank you!!  It's been a real joy to get to know so many of you over the past six months, and I look forward to getting to know those of you who are new to my blog. :)

Now... since it is the season for giving... guess what??

**YEP, I'M HAVING ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!**

This time it's a sponsored giveaway from Lavender Fields.  Ladies, you DO NOT want to miss out on this!!  I had no plans to do another giveaway, but when I was contacted by Lori of Lavender Fields, and she showed me what she wanted to offer for the giveaway, I just HAD to pass it on to all of you!!

Look at this gorgeous Pom Pom at Home Audrey Ruffled Laundry Bag.  Isn't she beautiful?!  I want one for myself!  Hmmm... maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas... ;-)

You can click here to find out all of the details of this lovely bag.


This time, not only will the winner of my giveaway win, but all of my readers will win, because Lavender Fields is also offering a 20% discount to all of my readers.  To redeem this discount, use the code VIP at checkout.

TO ENTER:

~ Leave a comment on this post letting me know you're a follower for one chance to win.  Please make sure to leave your contact information in your comment, or I will not be able to enter you in the giveaway.

~ Blog or post about it on your sidebar for another chance to win.

~ Deadline to enter will be noon on Monday, Nov. 15th.  The winner will be announced on Nov. 16th.

Good luck everyone!!

I wish you all a wonderful week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

WHITE WEDNESDAY... and a HUGE THANK YOU...

Hello friends!  I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!

I can't believe that it's time for another White Wednesday.  It seems that the weeks are just flying by...

but that's how it always seems around the holidays for me and I'm sure for a lot of you, too. :)  This

White Wednesday post is going to be a little bit random...

I've recently ordered a few items from various online shops and have received a lot of vintage book

pages sent along with my orders by the vendors.  I took a couple of them and rolled them up, added a

little lavender, tied it with some simple twine and placed it in one of my vintage white pitchers.

I placed the pitcher on my fireplace mantel, so that I could get a good picture of it to share with you...

but that's not where I chose to display it...

Sorry for the glare.  I have such a  hard time getting a good picture of this table, because of the

amount of sunlight that streams in through this window.  I decided to display the little

white pitcher under my glass cloche.

I thought this reproduction flashcard with the word "thanks" on it would be perfect to display during

the Thanksgiving holiday.  I added one of my vintage white pitchers with a hydrangea displayed in it

to add a little fall color.

I recently ordered some items from Jeanne Oliver of a Bushel and a Peck.  I just love her Etsy shop!

She sent this beautiful original photograph along with my order.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  Jeanne sells

these in her shop.

She wrapped all of the packages so beautifully!!  I appreciate it so much when a vendor takes the time

to put in the extra effort to make my experience with their shop a good one. Thank you Jeanne!!

Sorry... I'm not going to share with you the goodies I ordered just yet.

That's to come in another post. :-)

Finally, I thought I'd share with you a little spot from our garden today.  I told you it was going to be

random. :-)

Thank you Kathleen for hosting White Wednesday!!  I look sooo forward to your party every week! 

Head on over to her lovely blog, Faded Charm, to join in on all the fun or get some

wonderful inspiration.

**I want to thank all of you for the wonderful turn out I had for my giveaway. It was really

overwhelming to me! I especially want to thank those of you who blogged about it or posted it on

your sidebar! There were sooo many of you who chose to do that, and I can't thank you enough!!.

:-)**

I wish you all a wonderful week!!

I hope to share with you one of my projects next week.

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)