A White Ironstone Christmas

I hope you everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving. 

Unfortunately we had some sad news just before Thanksgiving...

My 92 year old father-in-law passed away.  

He had only been in our family a few years but he was a very special man

and will be dearly missed.  

 My hubby and I have since been spending alot of time with his
Mom trying to help her through this difficult time.

Now here it is already over a week into December!

I'm just now starting a bit of decorating for the holidays,

but having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit:(

I did put together this little vignette with some white Ironstone pieces I've been collecting for a while... and it helped cheer me up!! Yay!

The cutout vase was from Target. 

The branch and pine greenery from my backyard, (free)!

The white ornaments and snowflakes were from the Dollar Tree

These little musical angels were also from Dollar Tree! 

Aren't they sweet?!

 I considered spray painting the branch...

maybe in white or bronze but couldn't decide...so I left it natural. 

What do you think?

***
UPDATE...
I decided to spray paint the branch after Cathy's suggestion, and before Sue said I should leave it natural.  It honestly didn't make a huge difference but I do think it stands out a bit more nicely painted...


Branch painted with Krylon's oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

 These two pitchers I bought just the other day at my favorite local T/S!

The cabbage plates were from Marshall's a while back.  I thought they looked nice in the background to pull the white and green colors together.

I like to mix cut fresh greenery with artificial picks
it helps give them a more authentic look.
These picks above were also from the Dollar Tree.

 And yes... My very first official real cloche!! 
I got so excited to find this one at G/W! 
Looks so cute on this white Ironstone plate with this little green bird,
and a green and white gingham ribbon bow on it.

This little cut work votive holder also from the Dollar Tree

looks cute alongside the cut work vase. 

 Here's another little display I did in my open kitchen cabinet ...

Love my whimsical little Bailey's winking cups...
Hmm... Baileys and coffee, always sounds good
on a cold winters night around holidays! ;)

I had been wanting a cute soup tureen, and finally found this one with a fruit motif
that went well with my kitchen decor. 

Along with my collection tranferware dishes.

Well it's a start, but I have much more to do!  I hope I can get it done soon or Christmas will have already come and gone!
Time just seems to go by so fast these days! 

Maybe I'm just getting much slower than I used to be....
Nah, couldn't be that ;)

Hugs, Sherri:)

I know this is not the traditional tablescape
but since it does have dishes on a table I'll be linking to

Tablescape Thursday

Thank you to Susan our sweet hostess from
"Between Naps on the Porch".

I'll also be linking to
White Wednesday
with Kathleen from "Faded Charm".

as well as
Hooked on Holiday Tours

Okay one last one ...

Marty's Christmas Cloche Party

Please visit all these wonderful blog events
and the other participants for some wonderful inspiration!!
Thanks!!

Happy Thanksgiving~ Sweet Friends!

"I’m Thankful for You"

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time
for focusing on the good in our lives.
In each of our days,
we can find small blessings,
but too often we overlook them,
choosing instead to spend our time
paying attention to problems.

Starting now,
let’s be on the lookout
for the bits of pleasure in each hour,
and appreciate the people who
bring love and light to everyone
who is blessed to know them.
You are one of those people.
On Thanksgiving,
I’m thankful for you.
 Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving My Sweet Friends!   Hugs, Sherri:)

Athena Ironstone Fall Tablescape

This will most likely be my last FALL tablescape for the year. 

I must admit that I'm getting hooked on doing tablescapes though! 

They really are sooo much fun!

This tablescape was inspired by these ironstone dishes, the pattern is called Athena.  They are still available at Pier One Imports. 

The Ironstone centerpiece vase with the little cutouts in it came from "Target".

I'm not sure if it's still available or not.

The berries and greenery in the vase came from a bush in my backyard! 

Don't ask what kind of bush... cuz I don't have a clue what it's called lol!

But it sure has gorgeous orangey colored berries on it this time of year,

and they go excellently with these orange napkins from Kohl's!

Most of the other items are T/S finds of course! 

Including the this wonderful runner and leaf patterned tablecloth.

The beautiful sage green placemats were a gift from my blogging friend Cathy!

I was so excited about finding these beautiful vintage amber colored stemware! 

They are a perfect compliment to the amber tone in the dishware and tablecloth.

This is the dinner plate.
The gold chargers were a gift from several years ago.

I love this yummy smelling mosiac glass candle I bought last year at Kohls,

I do believe they also had them this year as well!

I also love this very cool ELIXER amber glass vintage bottle I found while
treasure hunting!

Of course you know I had to include a Rooster... 

This cute ironstone tureen was another T/S treasure!

One last look! 

Oh, I almost forgot about mentioning the cute little Sun shaped frame

I used as a trivet, I thought it went well with the Star shaped chargers and

added a bit of a Celestial feeling

The cute little ironstone dish and cutout votive holder when put together 

 kinda look like a flower don't they?! 

Well friends I hope you enjoyed your visit today!

As always.. I do love to hear from you!  

So don't forget to leave me a comment!

Thanks!!

I'll be linking up with Susan @ BNOTP for

"Tablescape Thursday"

Be sure to stop by to visit her and the other participants

for some creative tablescaping inspiration!

~***~

  We're supposed to have a cold rainy weekend here,

and I'm looking forward to curling up in front of the fire with my new issue of ...

 ...to start looking for some inspiration

to start

Decking ~the~ Halls!!  

Hmmm....

Decking ~the~ Halls... 

Actually the halls are about the only place

 I don't do any Christmas decorating lol!

What are your plans for the weekend?!

Hope it's a good one!

Hugs, Sherri:)

Little Changes in my Master Bath~

Hi there friends!
Making little changes in my home is something I love doing,
and never seem to tire of.

Today I'm showing you some of the changes I've made in the Master bath.

I previously had a large gold framed picture above my tub that I decided to change  with a smaller one without gold frame .
It seems more in scale and doesn't compete so much with my wallpaper.

I also decided that it was time to launder my window treatments, up until now I had only vacuumed them for fear they might not launder well. 

But I had finally made up my mind though that I was just gonna do it,

and if they didn't survive, well then so be it!  

But as it turns out they washed up beautifully!

Then I also decided to remove the blue trim and bow

from the valance that I made for a bit less fussy look. 

Then I discovered that I could also take apart the faucet knobs on the tub

and I repainted the polished brass rings on them with

Krylon's Oil rubbed Bronze spray paint.

The photo above is the way it looked "before".

The light fixture above the mirror was looking a bit dated in the polished brass finish,
so decided to paint them.

It was a subtle change, but I like it!

I just got a piece of newspaper and loosened the fixture a bit to tuck it behind it to keep the paint off the wallpaper.  I used acrylic crafters paint called

Metallic Taupe by "Folkart". 

I used a one inch paint brush and stippled it on like you would a stencil.

Fixtures "after".

I also decided it was time to make a change with this other gold framed picture.

What do you think? 
I'm really happy with how this turned out! 
Much lighter and frenchy looking. 

I got this free vintage picture from the

"Graphics Fairy blog"

It started out looking like this..

but then I played with it using my photo editing program until I changed it into shades of blue with touches of green to make it a perfect match for my bathroom wallpaper! 

I also love the fact that it say "Violettes" on it

since my wallpaper and fabric design is called

"Sweet Violets".

I'm joining our sweet hotess, Susan and the other participants for

Metamorphosis Monday

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

Hugs, Sherri :-)

Embroidered Chenille Table Runner

Just popping in to share with you this

gorgeous rich looking dark brown embroidered chenille table runner

that I spotted the other day at "ROSS". 

It screamed take me home with you! 

So since it was only $9.99

How could I say no!

I gave it a nice home (for now;) here on my dining table...

Love the rich bouillon fringe!

Too bad they only had one or I would have bought two
and made matching place mats to go with it! 
Oh well...that's the way it goes sometimes!

Hope all is well with you and yours!

Are you still enjoying Fall?! 

Or are you all ready to start decorating for Christmas?!

Me,  I'd like to savor Fall just a little bit longer...

I'm joining our wonderful hostess Marty for

"Tabletop Tuesday"

 Please stop by and visit her and the other participants for more inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by to visit! 
I'm going to go now to get caught up on some visits myself!

Hugs, Sherri:-)