Blog Parties

Friday, February 26, 2010

Little Prudy


For Valentine's Day my hubby took me antiquing. I love to go antiquing. But since we don't have much money, it's more like thrifting when we go. It makes it more of a challenge when you don't have much to spend.

Lucky for me there is one antique store in Temecula called Granny's Attic that tends to have lower prices than the pricier ones in Old Town Temecula. I usually can find stuff for thrift store prices there. And Valentine's Day was no exception.

Here is a treasure I scored on my last trip. Two Little Prudy books.

Now I had never heard of these books prior to laying my eyes on them. But it was love at first sight when I saw them. Maybe Valentine's Day had something to do with it. I paid about $8.00 for the both of them. They were marked 20% off. That was more than I would normally pay for a book. But it was "love"!!!! And it was Valentine's Day.

Little Prudy was first published in 1863. It was Sophie May's first book and the first in the "Little Prudy" series. Little Prudy's Cousin Grace is actually the fourth book in the series.

My two books were actually printed some time in the early 1900's. One of the books had 1916 written inside. The other book didn't have an inscription. But it looks about the same age. So I guess they aren't true antiques for a few more years.

I just love old books. It's a fairly new collection for me. Mostly I buy old books for their color or cover to use as decoration.
I used my new "old" books on my Valentine mantel. And I'm sure I will be using them in my Spring decor as well.

What treasures have you found lately?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Up, up and away

This is what I saw this morning right outside my front door.

And I don't live in New Mexico.

I love seeing hot air balloons.

Just don't want to take a ride in one.

Do you? Or have you? Do tell.



Linking to:

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Thursday, February 18, 2010

It's time for another cloche party!!!

The day has finally arrived!! It's time for Marty's Winter Cloche Party. Any of you that have been to my blog before know that I love, love, love cloches and apothecary jars.

Since I am the one who makes the rules around my blog, I am officially naming myself the "Cloche Queen". Anyone out there willing to challenge me on that? I hope not as I'm really a scaredy cat & would hate to fight to defend my title. But lets just keep that between you & me.

So now that you know that I am the cloche queen, you won't be surprised at the numerous photos to follow. You should be able to click on them to make them larger if you really want a better looksy.

A lot of you will have already seen my winter & Valentine cloches. But I think they are worth a second look.

We will start off with Winter:

















This was the first year I have decorated for Winter. It was fun to be able to have a little bit of Christmas pizazz around for a few more weeks without it looking really Christmasy. I'm sure I will decorate for winter now every year.


If you are still sticking with me, we will now move onto Valentine's Day.

















If you want to know the particulars of anything, just ask me in comments. Believe it or not, I decided not to be too wordy. I figure most people just look at the photos. They don't really read anything that is written. But I could be wrong.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tablescape Thursday-Be Mine

Are you tired of Valentine stuff? I'm getting there.

Last week I shared a Valentine tablescape that the men in my family would not be afraid to sit at. This week, I wanted to share a more girly tablescape.

I even baked this week. Funfetti cupcakes. My son's favorite. Even if they look a little girly this time. The men in my family aren't afraid of eating pink cupcakes.
I call this tablescape, Be Mine. Somehow it just popped into my head. Wonder why?
I used my three tier cake plates.


I love conversation hearts. They have to be the most popular Valentine candy. They are so hard to find sometimes. You'd think that stores would stock more of these. I love the Necco brand ones the best. I never did see any at Walmart. I did find some Necco ones at Dollar Tree. But I already ate them. I needed some for my tablescape, but could only find the Brachs ones at Target.
Used my battery operated candles that I got at Costco before Christmas.
I was going to make chocolate cupcakes as well, but got too lazy. Then I remembered that I had these Little Debbie heart cakes. They are not chocolate, but they will work.
I placed my candles in vintage glass compotes. I've had one for years. I just picked up the second one this past weekend at a thrift store. I think they were twins separated at birth. lol.
I wrapped some ribbon around the candles.
Got these little bowls at Michael's last week for $1.00 each. I loved that they had cupcakes on them. Match my placemats.


Don't you just love these placemats? I got them at Kohl's back in January. I even got the matching apron. I should have taken a photo of it. It's soooo cute!!! Did I wear the apron while making the cupcakes? Nope! I forgot. I don't usually wear an apron. Plus I didn't want to get it dirty.
And don't you love my white plates? I just got a set of 6 at the thrift store a week ago for $1.00 each. I got them to replace mine that I've had for 25 years. Same exact plates. Except these look like brand new. Mine look like they are 25 years old. I was so excited to find these.
The pink heart shaped plates came from a local grocery store called Winco last year. I got them on clearance for 1/2 price.
Added candy to the small bowl. But somehow all the candy has now disappeared. And I won't admit that I ate most of it. Did I tell you I love conversation hearts? I do. But these Brach ones aren't as good as the Necco ones. The yellow ones are my most favorite. The whites, my least.
I found the pink napkins & the brown tablecloth at my local thrift store on Saturday. I was so happy. I went looking for these 2 items & found them. I love when that happens. But the brown tablecloth is not a tablecloth at all. It's actually a sheet. Works perfect. And yes, I did wash it.


I really should get some other glasses. I use these all the time. But they work. I had a fabulous Valentine's Day. Hubby took me to brunch at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town Temecula. Then we went antiquing. My favorite thing to do except for thrifting. For dinner he cooked steak & lobster tails. It was the perfect day.
I do have a confession to make. We didn't eat at either of my Valentine tables. We ate in front of the TV while watching Survivor. That is what we like to do best. Why change now.
Just keeping it real!

Thanks for visiting my tablescape. Be sure to visit Susan's blog to see this weeks participants.

What did you do for Valentine's Day?