High Dollar, Low Dollar Carrot Wreath

Here's a cute idea for a carrot wreath created by Kimberly at Serendipity Refined last year for Spring 2017. 

Serendipity Refined

I saw a similar wreath at Pier 1 Imports last week, but it was priced at $79 so I passed it up. 

Here's a photo from Pier 1 Import's website of the carrot wreath they're selling this year in 2018. 

Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports is running a clearance sale and has dropped the price of their wreath to $55, but I still think I'll try making Kimberley's with maybe a few extra carrots to fill it out more.

According to Kimberly's post here, she used an old grapevine wreath, some leftover burlap and ribbon, and about $9 for the carrots.

The carrots are the same carrots I bought last week at Hobby Lobby and Pier 1 Imports. The ones I bought at Hobby Lobby were half the price of the other store by the way. 

I'm using them to decorate the mantle for Easter with a Peter Rabbit theme...

If you are interested in making a carrot wreath, I hope you'll pop over to Kim's Blog and read her instructions and show her some love! She says it was really simple and took her only 10 minutes to do.

Thanks for dropping by!

Faux Vegetables For Easter Decor

We haven't seen the new Peter Rabbit movie yet, but we saw the movie trailers for it when we were at the movies recently.

I really love all the colorful plants and animals associated with the new Peter Rabbit movie and decided to gather up some vegetables and flowers to create a Peter Rabbit theme for Easter on our mantle. 

Our four youngest grandkids (ages 3 to 9) will be here for spring break this year, and I'm hoping they will enjoy a colorful mantle.

I found the striped carrot bunches at both Pier One and Hobby Lobby. Pier One had lots of adorable carrot wreaths and banners, but they were way too expensive for my budget.

Hobby Lobby had the same striped carrot bunches for half the price as Pier One since Hobby Lobby's Easter decorations are already marked down to 40% off.

The colorful flowering cabbage I found at The Frisco Mercantile on my last visit. As Texans say...it was high-dollar...but so pretty I had to buy one! 

The blueberry stems and smaller green cabbages are from Hobby Lobby and were a great price at just a few dollars each. 

Here's a group shot of the mixture of veggies. Can't you picture Peter Rabbit having a good time in this mix?

I cleared off the mantle and started rounding up some faux mustard greens and a tiered wire basket I had on hand. 

In addition, I'm going to use the faux flowers, watering can, and the bunny in the picture below, all things I found around the house. 

How about you? Do you decorate for Easter or just a few of the major holidays? 

Poinsettias and Greens Finally Got Put Away

I have to admit I still had some Christmas decorations up on the mantle until I took them down just the other day. 

I left the Christmas twinkly lights up for Easter though. What's a holiday without twinkly lights?

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The Greatest Showman

Have you had a chance to see The Greatest Showman?

We saw it last Thursday and thought it was wonderful! We're not the only ones...

Our 9 year-old-granddaughter saw it with her dad on Friday night and asked her mom to take her again today.  Mom loved it too.

It's just that kind of movie, and it's worth seeing on the big screen because some of the scenes are larger than life. If you get a chance to see it, take it.

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Friday's Favorite Things

There's a great place in Frisco, Texas (just a little north of Dallas) called The Frisco Mercantile. 

Here's a few of my favorite things I saw there when I was out and about last week.

The Frisco Mercantile

 Isn't this huge mirror fantastic? I don't have room for it, even with 12 foot ceilings, but I'd love to do a smaller version of this around our bathroom mirror. 

And then down a side isle, this cute little shelf was hiding on a wall out of the way. It wasn't for sale, just display. 

Frisco Mercantile

Come closer...

I love this rustic thing! I was so busy admiring the shelf, I didn't even notice the cute things on it until I was looking at the photo just now.

I think this shelf looks pretty easy to put together...what do you think? 

Here's a view of just a few of the rows of vendor's shops. Their Facebook page says they have over 200 vendors inside the Mercantile. 

Frisco Mercantile

I never have enough time to see them all so every visit I start at a different isle so eventually I cover the whole place.

I bought this vintage library table at the Mercantile recently. It's narrow at 35 inches, but it's not the long harvest table I've been hoping for.

I'm in the painting process and for me it always takes a while. You know the old "put the paint on then sand it off and start again" process? Yup...that's me! 

My Work In Progress Table

Here's a table that's used for display at the vendor where I bought my recent table purchase... 

I'm starting to think I do have a "type" and it's old, white and flaky, but sturdy even though it has seen better days...seems my husband and my favorite tables have a lot in common!

I'm very fond of this larger display table, especially the white chippy paint on those legs, but it's way too large for our dining area and it's not for sale anyway.

 The Frisco Mercantile

I don't do paid endorsements on this blog and all opinions are my own. Just sharing a favorite shopping place with you in case you're in the area. 

The Frisco Mercantile's address and phone information can be found here. You can also find them on Facebook. It's a great place to shop for new things, as well as vintage and antiques.

Joining the Amaze Me Monday party at Dwellings and the Vintage Charm party over at My Thrift Store Addiction here. Hope you'll join me at both.

Thanks for dropping by!

That Narrow Long Table

On Saturday afternoon we went back to Pier One to buy two more counter stools while they were still in stock. This is not a sponsored post, and no one ever pays me to share their goods. Just sharing what catches my eye here...

Not gonna lie...their Easter stuff was really cute, and I was tempted! 

But I had counter stools to buy so just took a few photos for you and passed them up!

Luckily there was a girl at the door handing out "15% off your whole purchase" coupons so we got a good deal on the two counter stools we went to buy.

They had a few big bunnies....

And some small ones with tails...

A nice wooden hutch...

With jeweled glasses sitting on it...

Look here!  Pier One also had a version of a long, narrow Harvest Table kind of like I've been looking for...

Pier One's version is by Magnolia Home, Joanna and Chip Gaines' furniture company. Leave it to the Fixer Upper people to want to fix me up!

Sadly, I already bought a used table last week that I've been working on to make do. 

But I have to tell you, I was tempted by this pretty lady...

The Magnolia Home table is very narrow. Like 30 inches narrow! And long too, like 84 inches (7 foot) long. 

The problem would be that it doesn't overhang on the end, so only a very narrow chair would fit between the legs of the table at the end. 

So despite all the pretties, we came home with just the two counter stools that we actually went after. Probably a record for me.

Hope you'll join me at Let's Add Sprinkles' Keep-In-Touch Party

Thanks for dropping by!

Counter Stools

Stopped in at Pier One the other day to check out their rug selections and came home with a counter stool. 

Isn't that always the way? When you stop looking for something, you find it!

They had so many wonderful stools and chairs at reasonable prices. I think I drooled all over most of them! 

Remember my inspiration piece for the kitchen I showed recently? This dish towel I've been hoarding for a few years...

Because of the dish towel, I knew I wanted to add more black and white to the kitchen to tone down all the gold-ish brown of the cabinets. 

This black stool with a creamy white top seemed like it would be just perfect for the counter. Most important...It's really comfortable!

We need three stools, but I bought just one to try out since I was debating between these with white tops or ones that were all black. Buying one meant I'd only have to lug one home and back to the store if it wasn't a good fit or the colors were wrong. 

I learned my lesson when I ordered three Restoration Hardware counter stools back in 2013. It would've been a much cheaper lesson if I had only ordered just one to try out instead of the three. 

They looked wonderful, but they were not comfortable. In fact, sitting on them for more than a few minutes was impossible. And let's just say the metal legs weren't good for our wood floors either!

It took me 3 years to finally call it quits with those stools, even though I knew when I unpacked the first one they weren't right for us. In 2016, I wrote about it here.

So back then a young woman on Craigslist got a real bargain on three Restoration Hardware counter stools, and I learned a lesson about buying just one of something to try out. 

Now we'll be going back to confidently buy two more stools real soon. Hope you'll join me at Amaze Me Monday over at Dwellings - The Heart of Your Home.

Thanks for dropping by!

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Perilous Adventures

Sometimes life's adventures can become perilous. 

Two recent pictures from Youngest Daughter brought that word to mind tonight. See if you agree:

When The Ride At Zoo Is Not As Fun As You Expected

per·il·ous

ˈperələs/

adjective

1. full of danger or risk.

   
   

   "a perilous journey south"

   synonyms:

   dangerous, fraught with danger, hazardous, risky, unsafe, treacherous; More

   • exposed to imminent risk of disaster or ruin.

     
     

     "the economy is in a perilous state"

When You Just Gotta Have Some Of That Darn Cat's Food

Hope you have a great weekend. Do something perilous just to break the monotony of the dog days of winter.

Thanks for dropping by!

A Yank Attempts To Understand

My ancestors came from England on my paternal grandfather's side. 

That's the only reason I can give for my obsession of British blog's and lifestyle.

Wikipedia

Bubble and Squeak has been cooked on two blogs recently, Mamas Mercantile and Going Gently, so finally I went to Wikipedia to understand it. Turns out it's their version of hash, but always with cabbage thrown in it! 

According to Wikipedia, it's called Bubble and Squeak because that's the sound cabbage makes when it cooks. 

I hope someone British leaves a comment and let's us know if that's true or not. Frankly, I usually add cabbage to my hash and I've not heard any sounds at all.

Two Fat Ladies

Of course I had a slight inkling it was a dish made somehow with cabbage and potatoes as we use to adore watching Two Fat Ladies Can Cook, and they always seemed to be mulling over making Bubble and Squeak. 

You can still watch Two Fat Ladies Can Cook episodes on youtube if you have a good sense of humor.

Thanks for dropping by!

Bower Power Post On Paint Colors

Just when I was loving all things white walls, I happened upon this Bower Power post about which colors sell homes for a higher price.

Bower Power

According to a Zillow study, if you plan to sell your home any time soon, painting certain rooms shades of blue, beige and gray will bring a higher price and sell your house faster.

One thing that surprised me was the recommendation to paint a kitchen gray for the highest return on investment. I would never think to paint a kitchen gray until I read this post.

After I read the Bower Power post, I went to Zillow and found homes in our neighborhood and looked at the pictures of their rooms. 

I immediately compared the color of the rooms on the Zillow site with the recommended colors from the blog post, and I could see right away how much better the rooms would look if they were painted in the recommended colors.

You can find out the particulars here Three Paint Colors That Sold Our Home. Even if you're not planning to sell your home, I promise the rooms will help if you have Paint Trauma Disorder like I have. 

If you start thinking her rooms were probably great to start, go see her "before" pictures in this post. I think these two posts will make you start thinking differently about paint colors and maybe make it a little easier to make decisions about which color goes in which room.

Thanks for dropping by!