OK, now don’t expect anything too fancy… and don’t expect any thing super expensive… and for heaven sakes whatever you do don’t expect CLEAN!! Now with all that in mind you may take a peek at where I create. Keep your eyes peeled for vintage touches here and there.

Sitting at the sewing machine is a daily activity for me. So I’ve got a great cushion for my fanny! I’ve tried to add some of my favorite touches: like vintage quilts, linens, buttons and ribbons. Believe it or not, I have evolved from a vintage baby dress re-storer, ( say that fast 5 times) to a designer of quilted baby shoes, to now a designer of quilted baby shoe patterns. Which I sell to creative, quilting type gals and also to darling quilt shops.

I have collected dolls for years and am still a little girl at heart! Can you tell? I even hide things behind lovely fabrics too, so don’t even ask me whats behind the bookcase, cuz I’m not tell’n ya, and trust me you don’t want to know.

I found this white shelf and use it to display some of the shoes and boots I have created over the last several months. (some are vintage ones too)

My little shabby chalk board keeps me on task. Ya right! It sounded good tho didn’t it?

This is my very cluttered, but very sweet bulletin board. Believe it or not I know where every thing on it  is too!

When ever I need some storage or something to hang on the wall, I go searching in the back yard. I love using garden elements here and there.

Here are some of my favorite little vintage baby gems hanging across the wall. They are so tiny and sweet and come in such yummy soft pastel colors! So fun to fix up and clean. Well, a little fun.

The details are so amazing! I would never have had the patience for sewing those “itty bitty” pin tucks. It just wouldn’t have happened!

I wanted a very simple window treatment, so I did a valance. But then decided to add tied white vintage hankies for a shabby flair and then finished it off with a curved black iron wall piece. One day it almost fell on my head! I know what your thinking , but don’t say anything.

I love the whole trash to treasure thing! These shutters were left by the side of the road. Yippie, guess they had my name on them. I didn’t even have to paint them either. I just cleaned them and hung them up! The vintage china plates are from a garage sale (like 25 cents each) crazy!

I thought that this little plaque was so cute. “The beehive is the ultimate Home Sweet Home“. Well I guess that just about wraps up my sewing room tour.

This is where I create… this is where I sometimes get frustrated… this is where I wait for inspiration to come, (ya I’m usually in here awhile) and… this is where I go to get away from the world.

So… ladies, where do you create??

E is for Estate Sale!! One of my most favorite things to do on a Saturday. I have found so many gems and treasures over the years. And really GREAT buys too!! An old vintage 6ft. shutter divider was FREE!! ( My favorite price!) It was an ugly dark brown and so I painted it a shabby white. I took out the broken shutters and replaced them with lovely shabby fabrics in  blues, pinks and greens. Some are even vintage fabrics.

This was a great find too. A wonderful garden shed at an estate sale for only $50.00. It was dark wood and I painted it a sweet country blue with white trim. We love it and use it all the time in our garden.

This 5 piece wicker set was also a fabulous Estate Sale find. It was beige and pretty dull until…yep you guessed it. I painted it white!! And only $75.00 for all 5 pieces! I used vintage fabrics to make seat covers.

F is for Flowers These are some heirloom flowers we had in our garden last year. Foxgloves are a very old variety and are a very English flower. To me they are pure heaven!

We also planted heirloom Sweet Peas. They are so delicate and fragrant. One sniff and you’ll be hooked.

Thanks for joining me at the Etsy Party today.

Which one struck your fancy??

Take a peek at the table scape I designed for our Easter dinner yesterday. I used quite a bit of green with just a splash of orange!

I thought that I would share with you some of the crafty and fun decorating ideas I used and thought you might like to try them on your table.

I used gold chargers to accent the green plates from the green tablecloth. Then used vintage white linen napkins in a cute clay pot napkin ring.

Have you ever seen carrot eggs?? This was a really cute and easy idea I found online. ( I can’t remember where) You blow out the raw eggs. Dye them orange. Then at the top of the egg where you have the largest hole, you cut some green tissue paper and insert it in the opening. I decided to write every one’s names on them and use them as place cards. They are held in egg cups.

The centerpiece was another idea I found online. (Not sure where on this one either)  I took a basket and filled it with lots of lovely assorted house plants. (Got them at Home Depot) and then just added a large chocolate bunny. I found some darling green and brown polka dot ribbon at Jo Anns and added a bow on each side.

Then I decorated the base of the centerpiece with ecru shredded paper, more greenery in pots and then accented the table with some fun “Glamour Eggs” (I call them). I found the idea for these eggs on the DIY Dish.com.

Here are a couple of styles. They are made with plastic eggs that you mod podge fabric pieces onto and then embellish with gathered ribbon, gems and paper scrapbook flower pieces. I will show you closer pics and how I made them in my next blog post.

I thought that this table scape looked so springy that I am keeping it up all month. I must admit the chocolate bunny may not make it!! Yum!

Welcome to another fun Vintage ABC Party at Etsy Cottage. They are always so fun to participate in. I love to see what treasures every one shows. Come join me…

C is for China… My favorite is an English china set I got at a wonderful antique shop. I love the tiny pink flowers.

It looks pretty great with my blue transfer ware. Don’t you just love mixing and matching?

C is for centerpiece… I loved doing this English garden centerpiece, starting with a pretty vintage tea pot, lovely flowers, vintage china and vintage tablecloth. All for a garden tea party for my friends.

D is for Dolls… some of my favorite treasures are my 1940’s Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls. Such as Goldilocks and Little Bo Peep.

One year I participated in a Valentines Day Tea Party featuring several of my Vintage Dolls. This picture shows my adorable Cupie doll from 1967, a darling unknown doll from 1961 and of course another sweet Nancy Ann doll.

D is for Dresses… Vintage baby dresses that is. I have refurbished and restored vintage baby dresses for several years now and here are a sampling of some of my favorites. Take a look at this peach one with all the sweet embroidery details. It is from the 1940’s.

This fun bubble bum pink checked dress is from the 1950’s. I just love the details of buttons and lace on the bodice.

Let’s not leave out the little boys! Here is an adorable sailor set from the 1940’s. I like the cute little anchors along the front and of course the sailor collar!

There you go… that is my Vintage ABC collection for today.

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Now off to visit yours.

Come join in the fun as we celebrate February with our love for all things Vintage (that are lavender or purple) at the Etsy Cottage Vintage Purple Party! Let me share with you some of my vintage favorites. My 1940’s  lovely Nancy Ann doll. She is “Beauty” from Beauty and the Beast. I love these dolls they are so cute and have the sweetest little faces. Another delight of mine is collecting tea sets and cups and saucers. These are precious sets that have been given to me as gifts over the years. Here are a couple of little florals I’ve had placed around the house. The dried heart wreath is from the early 1980’s. And I still love it! I almost forgot about this cute little bear that I bought back in the 80’s from a darling little tea shop in Monrovia, CA called “FRILLS”. My girlfriends and I, used to just love to go there for their yummy tea sandwiches and to die for scones. ( complete with a lit sparkler on the top!) There antiques and gifts were wonderful also. And last but not least…. an old vintage white birdhouse that I adore. It is embellished with a vintage hankie and lots of lovely flowers. Even purple wisteria!! Here’s a closer look! I hope that you have enjoyed seeing some of my Vintage Purple treasures as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. I’d love to hear your comments. Now off to check on all your blog posts!!!

Had such a great day out in the sunshine, pruning my roses!

The flower beds always look so bare. I only did a few today. I will need to work a little every day to finish in time. I have over 70 rose bushes! Yikes!

Can you believe the size of my rosemary bush?? It’s HUGE and it smells like heaven!

I love the sweet little flowers that bloom on it this time of year.

I even got one last bouquet. It will really brighten up my Sunday dinner table tomorrow.

I was totally unsure as to what to “Show off” or “Brag” about so I just thought that I would share my final look at our Summer flowers that I blogged about a couple of days ago. Gardening is a hobby that my husband and I share and we enjoy doing it together. We love to watch things bloom and grow and try each year to add some thing new.

Flowers have always been such a joy for me and spending time in the garden is truly a labor of love and at times a healing kind of therapy.

So please feel free to take a little walk in the Anderson Garden and enjoy some of natures beauties and our favorites!

I thought I would share with you some of the last photos I have of my summer beauties. Fall is just around the corner and even in sunny So. Calif. many do not last.

Above is a vibrant and lovely blue Lobelia.

The tail end of my beautiful foxgloves. I hope they come back next year. Some times they do.

Eye popping inpatients! They should be around for most of the year. Yippie, because I love them! And they are super easy.

This is an unusual one… its called a thistle flower or bush. It grows kinda wild, but is really quite pretty. This one is a really bright and intense fuchsia color.

I hope that you have enjoyed some of my floral beauties these past couple of months.

Leave a comment and let me know your favorite or share a summer beauty of your own!

I hope you enjoy every last minute of Summer.

Best wishes!!

Chris

Fuchsias babies just ready to pop!

Lovely large pom pom style Hydrangeas!

A splash of color with Orange Nasturtiums!

And last but not least, sun brightening Gerber Daisy’s!

If your garden this year seems a little BLAH... add flowers, add color, add beauty!

Any flowers will do the trick!

Look for more posts and pics of my English Cottage Garden flowers soon.

Here is a sampling of flowers grown in our backyard garden. One of my all time favorite flowers are FOXGLOVES. They are so beautiful and majestic. They always make me think of lovely trumpets.

The flowers that will always and forever remind me of my Grandma Hall are SWEET PEAS. Their fragrance and delicate petals are so sweet. Hey, maybe that’s why they call them sweet peas!!

I love Hollyhocks and I believe that this flower is one of my husband favorites. He is quite the GREEN THUMB gardener!! Some of his Hollyhocks have grown over 7′FT tall.

Flowers really do add such delight and great beauty to any garden. What are you favorite flowers??