Our New Flooring ~ It's About Time!

At long last are the promised pictures of our new flooring that we installed just before Christmas! Yes, it took awhile! These pictures were taken for my Mom so don't mind the mess on the coffee table...that's just day to day living around here!, especially if I'm looking at magazines! We opted to go with a darker flooring instead of a light, more shabby finish. I'm glad we did as makes the furniture, cabinets and accessories "pop" more and gives it more of a cozy feel. Light and airy is fine for the summer, but here in Utah, cozy is better in winter. It's cold enough out there, we didn't want our home to look and feel harsh during those long winter months.

I also had to purchase a bunch of new rugs (isn't that a shame!) for the floors and I got them from a mixture of places...HSN, JCPenney and the antique mall. I purchased an absolutely huge pink rug from an antique mall since these pictures were taken and it is now in place of the one underneath the coffee table in the family/tv room. That pretty pastel rug is now under our dining room table and the one under the dining room table is now downstairs. Talk about musical rugs! Do you ever find yourself doing that when you are redecorating something? You want to put one new picture on the wall and pretty soon you find yourself redoing the entire room and the next one beside it! (*_*) Good thing that it's such a bunch of fun!

We actually still have more flooring to put down in our offices and we've been putting it off long enough! Reason being is that my office has SO MUCH STUFF in it that everything has to be taken out and I want to paint the walls while I'm at it and give my office a bit of a redo...so that is going to be happening here pretty soon. There's nothing like a good spring reno to kick off the season! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Ma Vie En Rose (My Life In Pink)...

If I found this dilapidated piece of elegance sitting abandoned in a field would I have to take it home? Would it be too much for me to resist or would I feel like I was disturbing it? After all, how did it end up there and who would throw out this gorgeous creature? Those were my thoughts as I came across this lovely photo on Flickr. What a beautiful shot...a seemingly neglected velvet chair touched with dirt and wear, yet elegant and curvy with beautiful lines and the best color.

Ahhh yes, "ma vie en rose" which translates to "my life in pink". That is how I seem to view my life these days when I am out and about searching for treasure. Have you ever seen the animated movie "Up!"? My friends say that I am like "Dug" the dog (wait a minute, are they calling me a dog?!)...he is on one train of thought and then completely out of nowhere he turns his head and yells "squirrel" for a moment or two when he spots a furry creature and then he goes back to his original thought. That is how I am with the color pink. Yes, I do love pink!

Check out the retro kitchen I found on Flickr. So pretty and so pink! Even those appliances! I lived in an apartment once back home in Canada that had a smaller pink fridge and a little pink stove. Pure bliss it was for me!

Pink is a happy color, a soothing color and of course, a very feminine color. Looking at it just brings me sheer joy. Who wouldn't want to walk on that dock in the last photo? So beautiful and pretty and the sky...another shade of glowing pink.

If you don't have anything pink in your home, you are missing out my friends! Even a little dash will add a bit of pretty color and happiness to your room. I for one know that I would have even more of it in my home if I could especially in the way of furniture. I say this because who am I kidding?...if I knew where that chair was, it would be coming home with me! ~Stacy~ **All photos from Flickr.**

Sugar & Spice And All That's Nice!

Okay, I must admit it...I'm a teeny bit obsessed with the whole faux food thing lately. Well. maybe not all faux food, but certainly with faux cupcakes! I happened to purchase a few faux cupcakes last spring and I've been enamoured with them ever since. I have this gorgeous cabinet in my kitchen that I've wanted to turn into a "sweet shoppe" or "patisserie" for some time and I've wanted to decorate it with loads of yummy looking faux treats. When I say "loads" of treats, I mean dozens and dozens of charming cupcakes and I was certainly not able to purchase that many as it would have set me back a small fortune. So I decided to take the plunge and make my own and I am hooked!

This past weekend I made 36 cupcakes; 12 pink ones with clear sparkles, 12 buttercream yellow ones with pink sparkles and 12 light mocha ones (not pictured) with clear and pink sparkles. I used plaster of paris for the bases and poured the plaster into muffin tins that were lined with silver cupcake liners. I left them to dry for 24 hours and then started on the "icing" part. I used lightweight spackle from Home Depot and tinted it with acrylic paint to achieve the desired color. Then it was my first go at using a pastry bag and tip and it was so much fun! I had quite the production line going. The next ones that I will make will be a little more embellished. I plan on finding cute cupcake toppers and pretty papers for on the outside of the liners. The cupcakes really didn't take too long to make (except for the drying part) and now I've got the prettiest treats for my cupboard that will last for years to come! I can't wait to make more! ~Stacy~

Pretty Books For Your Decor

My friend Marci is the Queen of creative decorating ideas. Her home is an enchanting maze of beautiful vignettes and charming creations. I get a lot of inspiration from her and I incorporated one of her ideas into a small corner of my family room. She likes to decorate with second hand books!

Her books are not antiques (although she has many of those too!), but rather normal every day books that you can find in your local thrift store. Her theme colors are ivory and gold for her books and what she does is simply go through the racks of books and looks under the jackets to find an ivory cover and gold spine. She then discards the jacket and displays the books in groupings as a central part of a display or as a "filler"...you ladies know what I'm talking about! (*_*) You can display the books with pretty bookends, fill cupboards with them, stack them on top of each other with little treasures on top...use your imagination! They are so many ways to display them.

Marci probably has over 150 books like this, but I limited my collection to a few dozen or so. The great thing about decorating with these books is that they are relatively inexpensive, $1-$2 in the thrift stores in my neck of the woods, and you can find some really interesting titles. A few favorites that I found are "How To Be A Great Wife And Other Myths", "Old Friends", "Always Daddy's Girl" and "Freaky Deaky". If your decor is a different color, just look for books in your color scheme. Think how beautiful a section of pink covers with gold lettering would be! Positively charming! I love new and interesting decorating ideas and I think this is a great one! I hope you try it! ~Stacy~

Sweet Valentine's Day Centerpiece

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought I would share with you a whimsical and romantic centerpiece to make for your Valentine's Day table. I made this centerpiece awhile back for a luncheon that I put on for some friends and it was such a hit. It is very simple to make and takes only a few minutes.

This first thing you need is a very large clear glass vase of some sort. The one that I used was a giant glass teacup vase that I found at Tai Pan Trading here in Salt Lake. Any large glass container will do, but try to find something a little bit different than the norm if you can just to make it extra special. Next, you will want a smaller glass vase to fit inside. I had a nice sized square one that was a perfect fit for my teacup. Then, assemble your fresh flowers in a bouquet and add them to your square vase. I used roses and quite a few of them too to fill up this vase, almost two dozen. I had to cut the stems quite short and I assembled a perfect looking round bouquet and secured the stems with elastics so they would keep their shape. Place your smaller vase with your flowers inside your large vase and fill with water. Then add mini white marshmallows on all sides of the vase to the very top to completely cover the glass vase inside. I could have done abit better job of this as you can see a few of the square corners of my vase inside. The effect is very pretty and it looks as though the roses are floating on top of the marshmallows. Any type of pretty candy or filler can be used, (you can really use your imagination with this step!), but I used marshmallows as they are very inexpensive and last a long time.

This adorable idea did not come for me (unfortunately!), but rather from a fabulous floral book called "Simply Pink" by Paula Pryke. This is an absolutely fantastic book if you love the color pink and want to create dreamy floral arrangements for your romantic home. I would highly recommend treating yourself and picking up this beautiful book. I hope this gives you some inspiration to try your own pretty floral arrangement just in time for Valentine's Day! Enjoy! ~Stacy~

Gorgeous New Treasures Just Listed!

Just a note to let you know that if you're looking for a special new treasure or two, I have just listed the first few batches of goodies in my Vintage Finds and China Closet Boutiques on the web site. Such pretty pieces await you ~ lovely Lefton roses, soft pink Fenton glass, french prints, vintage perfume bottles, antique silverware and much more. Be sure to stop in and have a peek! ~Stacy~

Romantic Winter Reading

The tree has been taken down, the goodies have all been eaten and the excitement of the Christmas season is now behind me. All I can see now when I look out the window is a frozen landscape of ice and snow and the promise of several months of dreary winter weather. Sounds kind of depressing doesn't it! One thing that really does pick me up though is to sit down with the issues of my favorite decorating magazines. Through multiple cups of tea and soft candlelight to keep my spirits high!, I disappear into the pages of my top three favorite periodicals namely Romantic Country, Romantic Homes and the ever elegant Victoria Magazine.

Romantic Country absolutely never disappoints me and with "Fabulous Fifi" at the helm, I don't think that it ever will! She brings a magical quality to this beautiful quarterly magazine that is just not evident in any other magazine out there. In this issue there are loads of interesting articles including how to throw a party "Fit For A Princess", a charming home in the article "Bring Home Paradise", a great romantic book review, a feature on an elegant home in "Splendor In The City" and much more more! Don't miss this issue, it's simply beautiful!

The February issue of Romantic Homes magazine has a feature article on Gloria Hill of Shabbytownusa. Gloria is an old acquaintance of mine from my early days on Ebay almost 10 years ago! Her home decor is simply breathtaking and one of a kind. There is also a sweet article on how to make your own yummy Valentine's Day cookies. I might have to try it out once I've recovered from all of the Christmas treats!

Victoria magazine is so timeless and classic and is a magazine that I have enjoyed for decades now. Nothing about this periodical ever goes out of style. The decor and fashions featured years ago would be equally at home today with romantic minded souls the world over. The current issue has a wonderful article on Margot Elena of Lollia Life products which I love! There is also a beautiful feature on antique lace, a feature on Pom Pom Interiors, advice on interesting shops to visit in Denver and an adorable silhouette art project that I may just have to give a whirl for Valentine's Day!

If you are looking for some beautiful and romantic magazines to read this winter that will inspire your home, your fashions and your peace of mind, then seek out these three titles to add to your bookshelf. ~Stacy~