Revisiting a Special Trip to France

Nine years ago today I was boarding a plane with my then 10-year-old grandson...headed to France for a trip we had planned since he was five! I am so happy we made that trip and have those wonderful memories! I'm revisiting my first post after our return which contains links to all of our plans each day if you would like to follow along. A special day, given all that has happened, was our visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. I am so happy to have been able to take the trip of a lifetime and share my favorite city with a very special little guy!

Bonjour mes amis! We just flew in from Paris…my ten-year-old grandson and I…and I wanted to give you a quick peek! There will be more details once I have recovered from jet lag! This is the trip we have planned for five years…since he first became a big fan of Monet thanks to a wonderful art teacher. We spent one week seeing everything there is to see in Paris and I am exhausted! lol  But, when I asked him what he liked best, here’s his list of favorites…

Revisiting Notre Dame Cathedral with My Grandson

I am sure that many of you, like me, were in shock and heartbroken to see Paris' beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral in flames yesterday. It has been reassuring this morning to read that there is hope of preserving what remains of it and moving forward with what I am sure will be a long-term project to restore this Parisian icon. I have to admit that I am still teary at the thought of the loss but so grateful to have been able not only to see it but to take my then ten-year-old grandson with me for the trip of a lifetime!

Thankful at Home...Pottery Barn Inspired Dough Bowl

I am so excited that November has come at last! Not only does it signal the arrival of my favorite holiday…Thanksgiving…but it means that it’s time to pull out one of my most prized possessions…my grandmother’s dough bowl! It has seen many a batch of wonderful Southern-style biscuits through several generations and its lovely old patina and well-worn finish represent all that is family to me. And…over the last several years, it has become the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving décor as well! This year the old gal is sporting a very stylish look…inspired by Pottery Barn!

As soon as I saw this photo of their harvest mantel on the Pottery Barn web site, I knew I had found this year’s inspiration! I love the fall elements of pine cones, autumn leaves, birch candles and acorns! But I also knew that it would need some modification since I am not much of a gold or glass girl.

So here is my version…in more natural fall colors. I used my bargain birch candles…found half price at Kohl’s…and sprinkled in a generous helping of pine cones from my yard and faux acorns with some pretty fall leaves for color.

And I will reveal my secret for keeping it all in place…if you look closely, you will see that it is all seated on a bed of dried black beans! Sometimes I use dried pinto beans as well. Yes…they anchor all of the candles and serve as a subtle backdrop for all of the elements in the dough bowl! Now you know!

Our scheduled co-host and CEO Miss Ozzie seems to be having her afternoon nap in the sunshine so I will show you a few of the previous years’ fall dough bowl arrangements.

It was four years ago that I first saw dough bowls being used in décor and realized what a treasure I had in my grandmother’s bowl! My first arrangement back in 2009 was a simple one, with white baby boo pumpkins, pillar candles and votives resting on a bed of dried pinto beans…sounds like an new vegetarian dish, doesn’t it? lol

For Thanksgiving the next year, I dressed it up a little with the addition of some raffia tied around the candles and placed it on my buffet along with some of my favorite vintage silver. I love the contrast of the rustic and elegant! You can see more here.

The following year, I traded the white pumpkins for traditional orange ones and used it as the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving tablescape, including dropcloth, burlap, family heirlooms and Goodwill finds…quite a combination! If you would like to see more of my tablescape, click here.

Last year my dough bowl arrangement starred a long-stemmed pumpkin that I brought back from my family’s annual visit to a pumpkin farm in the north Georgia mountains…always a happy memory for me! I love seeing my grands wandering among the pumpkins…big and small…both the pumpkins and the grands! You can get a closer look here. 

And here’s another look at this year’s version. I am so blessed to have a family piece with a wonderful history that I can pass down to my daughter. I hope that happy memories of Thanksgiving will include this dough bowl and that it will figure in family tradition for many years to come!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed having a little peek at my fall dough bowl arrangements! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures,  Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays , The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays , Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits on Thursdays , My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday , French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday , Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special, Tatertots and Jello for the Link Party Palooza
See you next time! À la prochaine!

Also find me at…

 

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Oh, no! Say it isn't so!

Today is a big day in my family…my oldest grandson turns thirteen! We have a teenager in our family...and I am in complete denial! How is that even possible? It seems like only yesterday he was just a little guy! So in honor of the occasion, I looked back through my blog posts for a few little milestones to share with you. His first mention on my blog was this wonderful Easter card that still hangs on my refrigerator! That’s me wearing the crown! :-)

If you have been with me for a long time, you might remember the “line of toys” (his words) he created at age six…villains and superheroes to appeal to children his age. I did the sewing based on his decisions…

…and on this time-worn drawing…priceless! You can get a better look at them here.

I also took you with us when we visited the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to see Monet’s water lilies for the first time. He was eight years old and we were very excited because it was the prelude to a long-time plan of ours! (Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the Monet exhibit.) But he was beside himself with joy and exclaimed “Blobs of art!” when he first spied the modern art! 

But my favorite posts are about our trip to Paris when he was ten years old! You can start at the beginning by clicking here. It was the best trip I have ever taken…spending all day, each day introducing my favorite traveling buddy to my favorite city!

The highlight of our trip was the visit to Monet’s gardens at Giverny. You see…he has been a big fan of Monet ever since he was introduced to him by his kindergarten art teacher. So when he was five years old I made him the promise to take him to Giverny when he was ten. And he never forgot my promise!

And today he is thirteen years old! Unbelievable! He is already taller than his Granny and is turning out to be quite a smart, well-mannered and funny young man! Please forgive me for not sharing his handsome face with you. You see…I keep my real family all to myself and only share my fur babies with the world. I’m selfish that way.
So I would like to take a little moment here on my blog to mark this big occasion in my life and say Happy Birthday to my grandson Andrew. You are the best grandson any Granny could ever ask for! I love you, honey!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed having a little peek at my grandson's birthday celebration! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures, The Everyday Home for Home{work} Wednesday , Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays , The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays , Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits on Thursdays , My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday , French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday , Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
See you next time! À la prochaine!

Also find me at…

 

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A Family Heirloom and a Tiny French Antique

I have some beautiful little treasures to show you today! One is a wonderful handmade family heirloom and the other is a fabulous French antique!

And because this is such a special post, our seldom-seen CEO Ozzie is serving as our co-host today! We are very appreciative since, like Greta Garbo, she usually says I vant to be alone, dahling!

The first treasure I want to share is my mother’s baby bonnet. Yes…that’s a baby bonnet! It was made for her by my great-grandmother in 1921.

It was lovingly handmade of black silk and trimmed with little handmade pink silk rosettes. Aren’t they fabulous?

There is also a little matching coat with upturned sleeves…wonderful!

The color choice may have you puzzled, but I was told that black was a popular color for children in the early 1920s. I think it is interesting that my vintage French spools of thread (a treasured gift from my sweet friend Pat) are in the same colors…black and dusty rose! They must have been very popular in France, too!

And now for the French antique! I was very fortunate to have won a 25 euro gift certificate at Fleaing France! Simone combs the French countryside for brocantes …sort of a cross between an antique fair and a flea market…and finds fabulous little French treasures which she offers for sale at her online brocante! You should head over and have a peek! She frequently restocks, so there are new goodies all the time. Her next sale starts today!

And this is what I chose…a wonderful antique measuring tape dating from la Belle Époque…the late 1800s.  Isn’t it fabulous? Can see you what it’s shaped like? It’s an acorn! It is made of vegetable ivory…the tagua nut from the ivory-nut palm. It was a vey popular material during the Victorian era because it was as hard as ivory and could be polished to a lovely patina. It was also used to make buttons, umbrella handles and chess pieces. Good…because I am sure it saved quite a few elephants!

The measuring tape is housed in this intricately carved case and is wound around a bone spindle with a little bone pull.  The tape itself is marked in centimeters, although I have seen a nearly identical piece marked in inches. Isn’t it wonderful!  Merci, Simone! I am loving my petit trésor!

I have to admit that I am now smitten with antique sewing notions and I am on the hunt to add to my little collection! Help! Another addiction! But…at least these tiny treasures will not take up much space!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed a little peek at my vintage treasures! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party
Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday (first Monday of the month)
Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Beth at The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Marty at A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Anita at Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up! on Tuesdays
Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for Sizzle into Summer
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
See you next time! A la prochaine!

Shabby Saint Patrick's Day Centerpiece

I am still loving my oh-so-versatile shabby box! This time I have filled it with all things Irish for the Wearin’ o’ the Green! After all, when your great-grandmother’s name is Tootie O’Toole, you’ve got to have a little Irish in you! Sooo…

…I started with a cabbage leaf…what else? This Bordallo plate just reminds me of all the Saint Paddy’s Days I spent eating corned beef and cabbage as a child. It was a family tradition!

Next, I added a vintage coffee pot filled with white hydrangeas in honor of a favorite winter time drink…Irish coffee…or rather my version…coffee with a little Bailey’s Irish cream. Yum!

Of course, we have to have some Irish lead crystal, so I have included this wonderful little urn filled with vintage silverplate!

And we cannot forget to add some shamrocks…from a dismantled door decoration found on sale for $7.00 at Hobby Lobby! I debated about including a real shamrock for luck, but my staff would just eat it. Is that still lucky? Hmmm…

And my favorite addition…a little music box that has an Irish blessing on the lid and plays When Irish Eyes Are Smiling…a gift from my mother many years ago. She was the traveling companion of President Jimmy Carter’s mother (fondly known as Miss Lillian) during a Friendship Force visit to Ireland in 1977…a thrill she never forgot.

And finally, Baby Kitty reminds me that the Irish flag is not just green and white…it’s also orange! Doesn’t he add just the right touch?

And here is the result…my shabby Saint Paddy’s Day centerpiece! Gotta love the rustic look! Several people have asked me where I found the box, so I will tell you that it came from Joss and Main. I am lovin’ my shabby little box…

…because I have been able to decorate it for every holiday. So I bet you know what I’ll be doing later this month. That’s right…decorating it for Easter! I can’t wait!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed a little peek at my centerpiece! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party
Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday (first Monday of the month)
Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for the Saint Patrick’s Day Blog Crawl
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Beth at The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Anita at Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up on Tuesdays
Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday’s Treasures
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for the Winter Blues Party
Jaime Lyn at Crafty, Scrappy, Happy for Crafty, Scrappy, Happy Me on Thursdays
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Diann at The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
See you next time! A la prochaine!