We interrupt winter

I know that a lot of you are knee deep in snow. That you are freezing. And that spring is still weeks away.

But..........I just had to rub it in.........

It's already spring here in southern California!!!! Temps in the 70's to 80's.

Flowers already blooming in my backyard.

It actually started the last week of January. JANUARY!!!!

My peach tree.
I love these pink blossoms.

The bees have been a buzzing.

The birds have been chirping.

My apple tree is blooming.

I don't have a clue what type of apple tree.


But I love the flowers.

See what you have to look forward to.

Now back to our regular scheduled winter. Sorry!!

It was a nice interruption though.




Linking to:

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Happy Valentine's Day & Sunday Favorites

For Sunday Favorites I thought I would repost last years Valentine's Day post. It was actually on my family blog as I didn't have this blog yet.



2/14/09:

I hope everyone has a very romantic Valentine's Day. If you can't be romantic, at least have some fun.

Click on the play button below to see my Valentine's decor and my tribute to my one true love Mike.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Linking to:

Sunday Favorites at Happy to Design

Red Valentine decor-The finale

Are you tired of seeing my Valentine decor? I know I'm tired just posting about it. But I promise, this is the last of it. Unless...............I decide to decorate my living room.

Don't worry, it won't be happening. Valentine's Day is only a few days away. Plus I'm out of stuff to decorate with.


At Christmas I placed this sofa table from my living room behind my family room couch to make room for the tree. At first I hated it here. But now I'm liking it. Gives me a new place to decorate in my family room.

Here is my newest cloche. I have some vintage bottles inside. I placed Dollar Tree heart picks inside one of the bottles.
Added a "I Love You" cutout and some red heart scatters.
Behind everything I printed out a vintage Valentine heart with a Kewpie doll. I just enlarged it & cut it out.

The silver "XOXO" letters came from TJ Maxx this past weekend.
I used them in my Valentine tablescape posted earlier today.

This cloche came in a set with the other one I just showed you. I got the base on clearance at Big Lots for $1.50 back in December.
The Eiffel Tower is actually a Christmas ornament. I love it. The glitter is getting all tarnished.
I printed out some frenchy looking document from my vintage images to place behind it. Threw in some heart scatters. Added a tulle bow and it was done.

So there you have all of my Valentine decor. If you missed any, be sure to check it all out. You can see my pink decor here. My mantel here. And my china hutch here.


Linking to:

Valentine Party @ Bargain Hunting (and chatting) with Laurie

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Mantel Party @ The Stories of A 2 Z (I know this isn't a mantel, but she said any table, shelf, etc that we decorate works. So there!)

Pink Valentine decorating

I've shown you my china hutch, and you've seen my mantel. Now it's time to share the rest of my "pink" Valentine decor.

My original plan was to do all black, white and red for my Valentine decor this year. But I had so much pink from years past and I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Plus, I love pink!!!

So I've grouped all my pink together for this post. Here is a shelf in my family room.

The cherubs were thrift store & antique store finds. The red transferware plate was an antique store find from years ago. But I only buy stuff at antique stores that are still a bargain or are selling for thrift store prices.

Cherubs could stand a new paint job. I like a shabby look, but this just looks scratched up to me.

I broke the lid on the tea pot last year. It wasn't that big a deal as I don't drink tea & was only using it for decoration. So I decided to add some flowers and use it as a planter instead. I love it! The heart picks came from Dollar Tree last year.

This is the cherub that came from an antique store. I think I had to pay $15.00 which is more than I would normally pay. But it was for my wedding reception. I forgot I had this till I saw a similar one on a friends blog. I'm glad I saw hers to remind me I had one.

I picked up a cherub punch at the dollar store last year. Punched out a bunch of cherubs as scatters. I used a thesaurus (don't worry, it was from the Dollar Tree) for the paper.

Above the little cabinet in my kitchen area I have hung this white ironstone plate I picked up from a thrift store for $2.00 a few months back. I just added the "LOVE" stickers the other day. The stickers were from Target. I think they were only $1.00.

Here is the little cabinet in my kitchen that sits at the end of my cabinets. The empty white frame was a thrift store find for $5.00. I painted it white & distressed it. It sits here all the time.

I bought this vintage rose picture off ebay some time ago. It came in an ugly frame. I put it in this newer frame that looks vintage.

My apothecary jar holds my letter balls from Coldwater Creek outlet. I just added a hanging heart from Michael's (few years back).

I love this cherub print. It is one of my favorites. I have it on a few of my vintage image CD's. You can find it today on Shabby Chic Papirskatter. Go get it now!!!! And your welcome!!!

I got the frame years ago from ABC Distributing. I love the cherub on the top. I used to have 2 others, but I sold them on ebay when I was selling.

Close up of the cherub on the frame.

Now we will move over to the other side of the room. This trunk sits at one end of my couch & right by the window. My SIL was throwing out this trunk about 5 years ago. Lucky for me I was visiting her that day. Now I am the lucky owner.
This trunk is fabulous but hard to decorate. The top is so uneven. It really needs a piece of glass. Hubby says he will get one. But hasn't so far.


A thrift store frame with some of my vintage prints that I print out from my computer.


Another shot of my frenchy sign that I made last year at this time.

I just love this!!!

Another cloche that I made. I got the glass dome from the thrift store & glued a glass knob on top. I placed another of my thrift store cherubs underneath & placed on a heart plate I got from Marshall's last year.

It was too plain with just the cherub. So I added this little sign that says "I Love You".

My hubby got me this cloche for Christmas. It is a vintage wedding cake topper inside a glass dome. He picked it up at an antique store for about $10.00.


Isn't this couple just too cute?


This cloche holds a vintage Valentine that I printed out. I placed it on 2 layers of my 3 tier cake plate. On the bottom tier I added these cute little cups with cupcakes on the side that I picked up at Michael's just yesterday for 99 cents each. The votive holders came from Target dollar spot last year or year before.

Closeup of the cherub Valentine I printed out & cut out.

Want some candy? It's OK to eat it now, I've taken the photos.

The hearts are actually Christmas ornaments from Lillian Vernon from a few years ago.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Valentine decor. I still need to post my red decor. But luckily it's only my sofa table. So not quite as many photos. So be sure to come back to see.



Linking to:

Valentine Party @ Bargain Hunting (and chatting) with Laurie

Friday Mantel Party @ The Stories of A 2 Z

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

"LOVE" Mantel

My Valentine decorating continues. Here is my fireplace mantel, brimming over in "LOVE".

Much better than last years version. Which by the way, I forgot to take photos of.

I found these black frames at Dollar Tree. They are fabulous!!! I may do something more to them later. But for now, I love them the way they are.

I printed out some letters from my stash of vintage images on my computer. I printed each letter in sepia tone. Don't they look fabulous? The little "love birds" in front are actually Target Christmas ornaments. I got them on clearance, after Christmas. They will work all year round.

Here is the left side of the mantel. I got 2 botanical rose prints at Goodwill a few weeks back. Three bucks each!!! And they came looking just like this. All I had to do was clean the glass. They are sooooo my style! My original plan was to give them to my niece since she is doing her room in Shabby Chic style. But since they are sooooo my style, I opted to keep them for myself. Sorry Danica! Maybe when I tire of them.
The topiary came from ABC Distributing a few years back. Actually almost 4 years ago, since I used them in my wedding. I got a set of two. The cherub was a thrift store find & left over from my wedding as well. The letter "K" is for Kim. That would be me. I picked up a set of letters from the thrift store a few months ago. I had no clue what word they spelled. When I got them home they spelled "Kiss me". Perfect for Valentine's Day. Except for the fact, that they are made to hang on the wall, not sit on a shelf or mantel. Well the "S's" aren't. But I got the "K" and the "M" to stand on their own. I just couldn't get the words "Kiss Me" to all stand up. And I am too lazy to hang them on the wall.


And here is the right side of the mantel. Pretty much the same as the left side. Except the print is different, the cherub is different and the letter is different. Other than that, exactly the same.

The "M" is for Mike. That would be my hubby. As well as my ex hubby. Lucky for me, both hubbies were named Mike. I didn't have to remember a new name. Except for now my ex uses his real first name which is actually John. But that's another story.

I love this cherub. He looks like he is blowing a kiss.

And one final look at my mantel. Someday this will be totally different. With different tile & a wood surround and mantel. But until someday, the ugly stucco mantel will have to suffice.

Well it's time to head home & make dinner. Hopefully I will get more Valentine decor posted later tonight. Or maybe in the morning. So be sure to check back. I have lots more to share.

If you missed the post about my china hutch, you can see it here.



Linking to:

Valentine Party @ Bargain Hunting (and chatting) with Laurie

Friday Mantel Party @ The Stories of A 2 Z

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home