Amazing Lace

I just love lace.....or in this case, lacy trims!

These were some recent purchases; crocheted lace trimmed doilies.........



Ahhh.....so pretty. (Can you see my reflection in the silver creamer? Ha ha....No matter where I stood, I was reflected...blue sweats and all!)

This one I put on top of the piano in the hall........ Look at those gorgeous roses!

This one was extra tight and extra thick....it must have taken a hundred years to make!!!! (Well, if it was me making it, maybe it would have!)

I have never tried thread crochet. Years ago I bought a pattern book at a rummage sale that had some patterns for thread crochet; doilies, a tablecloth etc. I looked at the pattern instructions and thought my head was going to explode. The intricacy! The delicacy! I presume you have to keep your tension very tight when doing thread crochet; my tension is not so good because my hands get tired so fast.

Needless to say, I never made anything in the pattern book and I don't think I even own it anymore!

Oh well, when I can buy these beautiful vintage labors of love, made by much more patient people than I, and only have to pay less than $10 usually for these.....that is worth it!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be joining Faded Charm for White Wednesday this week!

Blooming Big!

Ahead of schedule, like everything else in my garden, my big double white peonies are blooming!

  I have lots of them this year; plenty to cut a large bouquet for my dining room table, with many left on the bushes. This is their third year since transplant. I also have some light pink ones, but they are always a week or so later than these white ones.

                          I swear some of the blooms are almost the size of a dinner plate!

I tucked a few fern sprigs in the bouquet also; these are Ghost Ferns. They are a hybrid between Lady Ferns and Japanese Painted Ferns. They have a silvery, whitish hue (thus the name) with a burgundy rib although mine look sort of light green in the photos. The color can vary a little depending on how much light they get.

Also showing off it's really BIG  blooms is my double clematis, which was called "Celtic Skies" by Michigan Bulb, which is where I ordered it from. The real name of this cultivar is "Vyvyan Pennell". It took a few years to get established well enough to get flowers, but they are quite beautiful. This is the first year that I have the double flowers. This clematis is a repeat bloomer and will get blooms again later in the season, but the blooms will be single flowers, instead of doubles, when it blooms a second time.

The blooms are really quite large, almost bigger than my hand. Right next to this clematis, on the same trellis, I have a dark purple clematis, a very popular cultivar called "Jackmanii". I planted it last year and it has been growing nicely so far, so maybe I'll get some blooms from it later this summer!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be joining A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

and

Faded Charm for White Wednesday!

Little Boo Pumpkins

I'll be joining Faded Charm this week for White Wendnesday with some pictures of sweet Little Boo Pumpkins that I bought last weekend. They will be making up part of a display I'm doing for Halloween in the parlour. More on that later!

Thanks for stopping by!

White Wednesday: 2010 "Theme" Tree

How fitting that I would have pictures of my theme tree this year all ready to go in time for White Wednesday....because, after all, my theme tree for this year is white! White with birds and snowflakes to be exact.

I'll be linking up with Faded Charm for White Wednesday, so be sure to check back to see all the other wonderful whites for this week!

In the meantime...............

These little "bouquets" of flowers and ribbon I made myself and then tucked them into the branches.

Mr Snowy Owl gets to sit right at the top of the tree. An owl is considered a good luck omen!

Thanks for stopping by!

White Wednesday: Favorite Whites from this Year

For White Wednesday this week, I thought I'd post some of my favorite "white" pictures from this year. Don't worry, this above photo was taken last winter. We don't have any snow here....yet!

A tree in our yard.

A gravestone angel in the cemetary near our house.

Beautiful vintage bread basket linen.....

Luscious white whipped cream on strawberry shortcake...........

White painted distressed towel rack..........

Gorgeous white spirea in spring............

A ruffly white peony, heady with perfume...looking like  ladies' petticoats..........

White shoelaces on my favorite Converse sneakers....

Crisp white summer bedding............


Thanks for stopping by!
I'll be joining Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday!

White Wednesday: Cute Little Frames

I love this little vignette in my bathroom. The old advertisement for Jersey Cream Toilet Soap I recently re-framed (is that a word?). You can click HERE to see that project. Next to it I just put up two little plastic frames that I painted with white spray paint over the weekend. I got these two frames for $1.00.( And yes, there is a big crack in the glass on the framed ad, I need to get a new pane of glass. It fell off the shelf a few weeks ago!)

This is what they looked like before. They were painted gold with some black "stain" to make them look fancy. I took the backs off so I could paint them. I used one coat of white spray paint and liked how the under color showed through slightly and made the white look almost like a very, very light blue.

Each of the frames had a little picture in it. This one had a picture of two women harvesting hay. Sort of a strange subject matter for a little frame like this. I had a small picture of Lillian Russell hanging around doing nothing in particular, so I put her in this frame. I love this photo with her in a big hat and fancy dress. It is the dress and hat she wore when she appeared in her title role in the 1904 musical, Lady Teazle.
Lillian Russell (1861-1922) was a famous American actress and singer during the late 19th century and early 20th century. She was known for her beauty and style, as well as her voice and stage presence.

The other frame had a picture of Marie Antoinette in it, which I left in the frame.
So pretty!

Thanks for stopping by!
I'll be linking up to Faded Charm for White Wednesday.