Creating a Winter White Booth Space

I have been busy-busy-busy and have lots of posts to write.  I'm going to start with something I helped with at the antique store where I rent my booth - Rockin' B.  Yesterday, several of us put together a feature booth at the front of the store. I am calling it Winter White Wonderland - that's a lot to write so in this post I'll call it WWW for short.  It is fabulous!  Since I helped to make it happen, I should be modest and low key when talking about it, but I can-not-help-myself.  I love it and I'm not going to hide my enthusiasm!

At the front of the store, our wonderful decorators were starting to work out themes and ideas for three feature areas.  One item they wanted to use was a vintage aluminum tree.  The first thought that came to mind was a colorful retro look.  We also have a fun, vintage, red Formica table at the store that could be used to put that look together and it would have been very cute.  But then just before they really got going with that idea, something else happened that changed everything.

Meanwhile, back in our booth, Martie and I were trying to rearrange the booth to make some new things fit in.  Beth's soft gray table needed a change.  As we were moving things here and there, Martie set a white linen table square on the table.  I had a metal ornament tree already there.  It's sort of a pewter color.  Then it clicked for us.  The metals and whites and grays looked so nice together.  Once we had our new direction, everything came together fast.  It ended up with such a great look.  The rest of the booth was harder to put back together, but that's another story.

Then, the ladies up front came back to see our mini masterpiece.  They asked if they could move the whole thing - table and accessories - up front.  Well, OK.  We did have some things to put in their place, so it wasn't really a problem at all.  That was Thursday.

Martie and I went back over on Friday.  I took my blue vintage table to put in the empty spot in our booth.  That's the table I posted about a month ago.  I tried it in a couple of spots around the house (porch, laundry room), but in the end decided I didn't really have a place for it.  I put it in the booth and I know someone is going to come along who has the perfect spot for it.  I guess I kind of knew it didn't belong with me, but I loved it so much that I wanted to try to use it somewhere.

Back to the WWW story.  On Friday, we moved the table and all of the accessories up front.  Suddenly I knew.  That aluminum tree belonged with our table vignette.  Jacque (decorator extraordinaire) could picture it, too, and away we went, pulling things from around the store like crazy.  Debbie was working and she started pulling things, too. We had it set up in no time at all.

I am beginning to think that when things flow easily, you're on the right path.  When you work and work to try to make it work, it might be the wrong path.  All my decorating experiences this last week back up that theory.

The WWW is the first area you see after walking through the doors.

What a lovely sight.

 If you want to see more pictures of the WWW area, 

click on over to our store blog.  

I added a post to it this morning with lots of photos.

I had such fun.  I had so much fun that I missed lunch completely and didn't even care. Plus, playing around with decorating at the store helps a little with my decorating A.D.D.  I may not be able to have that all white look at my house, but by golly, I can have it somewhere!  Funny.  I used to have more fun with dollhouses and doll furniture than I did with the dolls.  So now, I'm playing with dollhouses on a much larger scale.  I love it!  I hope they'll let me help more in the future!

Be sure to check out the latest RE- Party!

We RE-do, RE-decorate, RE-organize, RE-pair, RE-upholster, RE-furbish, RE-finish, RE-purpose,  a
nd of course, we love to RE-lax! 

This party celebrates the RE-'s in our lives! 

 ~~~~~~~~

Take a look at these other wonderful link parties for more clever ideas.  

I'm linking this post with them!

• + Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple 
• + Show and Share Day at Just a Girl
• Favorite Things Friday at A Few of My Favorite Things
• Flaunt it Fridays at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
• Vintage Inspiration Fridays at Common Ground 
•  Fab Friday at Frugal and Fabulous Design
• It's a HodgePodge Friday at It's a HodgePodge Life 
• I'm Lovin' It Fridays at Tidy Mom 
• Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
•  Inspiration Friday at  Southern in My Heart
• Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors 
• Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello  
• Favorite Things Saturday at Bargain Hunting with Laurie 
  
• Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely
• Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different Act Normal 
• Check Me Out Saturdays at I Am Only One Woman 
• Vignette Fridays at Color Outside the Lines
• Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper 
• Silver Sunday at Gypsy Fish 
•  

Snow... Day Two!

First of all, our new pup, Jack, is named after the boy on the left in this photo. His brother Jonce, is in the middle. Their friend, Jake, is on the right. Triple "J" Boys!


The snow is still here. It's around noon. The sun is out and the snow is starting to fall off the trees a bit, but not much - it's still below freezing.

This morning, I went up to the loft and was struck by the view out the windows.
The window wall up there is just fabulous - even more so on a day like today!

By the way, the knockout rose cuttings are doing just fine!
Two of the three cuttings made it and have put out lots of new leaves.

Jack was a little antsy this morning so we went for a walk.

Yesterday, I thought we got about 2 1/2 inches of show.
Wrong - it's at least 4 inchesdeep in most places
and in wide open pasture areas, it's a little over 5.

The barn roof had a pretty melting affect over the edge this morning.
It's hard to tell from this photo, but there's a pretty good curl involved here!

The lake was like glass.

The pups had a chat with their friends from next door.

The road looked pretty.
A few people with 4 wheel drive have been out,
but most people are staying put today.

Rudy's old truck (which we still think of as Uncle Clyne's truck)
looks pretty in the snow. Hopefully, it will soon have a home with a roof!

Snow Day!

Yipeeeeeeeeeee! I love snow. I didn't go in to work today. All of the schools were closed in anticipation of the snow, which was supposed to start around 9.

At noon there was still nothing. But once it did come in, it really put on a show. It's still coming down as I write. According to porch rail deposits, we have a little over two and half inches.

I went for a walk a little while ago. I should have gone earlier, but I ended up taking a very serious nap. Buddy and Lulu and our new baby, Jack, went along.

SIDE NOTE ON THE DOG'S NAME: My niece's youngest boy is named Jack and we are awaiting his permission to use the name. At family events, we would need to refer to our four legged baby as Jack Jr. The two legged Jack could be Jack Sr. If Jack Sr. decides he doesn't want a dog named after him, then other names being considered are Duke and Chester.

Now, back to the walk. I took lots of pictures. I edited pretty well but still have lots to share.

First we all went to the lake. So pretty...

The babies spotted some friends on the other side of the fence.

Moving on... Everything must be inspected.

Jack was a bundle of energy. He LOVED the snow!

This is the gate at the end of the driveway.
It's a pretty view no matter what the weather.

Buddy was quite happy with the snow. The cold was NOT a problem.

The pasture... very serene.

...until the babies cut loose.

Back home.

Running home.

Buddy had to run back to me. Buddy is a definite mama's boy and is a little concerned about Jack. He likes Jack but wants to make sure Jack doesn't take his place as top dog by my side. In fact, Buddy is sitting right by my chair as I type.

Here's one more because I couldn't resist ... early evening looking towards the barn.

Y'all, It's Cold!

I live in Georgia. When it gets cold down here, we get excited. This week, we've had quite a cold spell.

We had a bit of snow, which meant that just before it came in, the grocery stores were a zoo! The bread and milk aisles were left empty. All the ingredients necessary for making chili were wiped out. Somewhere in the Georgia law books, it says that if it gets really cold, you must have a pot of chili on the stove.

The temperature seems to be staying way below what we thin blooded southerners are used to. What happened to global warming?

By the way, I sure am getting tired of my photos not being turned the right way. I rotated this one and saved it in my photo program, but apparently that's not good enough for Blogger!@#$!

Back to my story - It stayed so cold that our pond has frozen over solid. We threw some rocks onto the ice and it makes such an unusual sound - sort of a mix between a tuning fork and birds chirping.

I hope we get some more snow this winter! I have a feeling we will.

Unexpected Good Things

First of all, I am flabbergasted by something that is missing from my blog. Last year around the first of January, I won a photograph from Little Red House. I remember emailing to thank her and I remember writing about it for my blog. I remember writing to my friends to tell them how excited I was to have won. It was such a wonderful surprise.

I recently framed the photo (which made it seem like winning all over again) and wanted to write Mary to tell her how much I am enjoying it. I looked for mention of it on my blog and it wasn't there! What happened? Did I delete it? Did it never get published? I went back to work around that time so there's no telling. I don't even know what to say.


The photo is so serene and quiet. It's a cold wintry day. At first it appears to be a black and white photo, but on closer inspection you see brown leaves and other slight signs of color. I propped it on my kitchen counter in a spot that draws the eye. It makes me happy every time I look at it. Thank you, Mary!

Another unexpected good thing... a free wreath was delivered to us by LL Bean just before Christmas. It's made from real fir and smells delicious. It's nice and fresh and perky. What a luxury. Better yet, what a pleasant surprise.


It needed to be outside, so I hung it just outside the door we use the most. I tend to spend more effort dressing up this door than our front. It's a reminder that things are good.

The wreath that was there needed to be moved. I had already made another one for the front door. Rudy (who seems to be doing better than me with fresh ideas) suggested hanging the extra one inside on our dining room doors. Loved it! The picture does not do it justice. It's brighter and more red in person.

Something Smells Wonderful!

One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to have a crock pot going with homemade potpourri. In the winter, with the house all closed up, the air just seems to be stale. I think I should have lived closer to the equator so I could have my house open all the time.

The best way to give the air a little lift, is with simmering potpourri. I cut up whatever fruit I have on hand - apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, lime... whatever. I throw in a stick of cinnamon, cloves and any other spices I am in the mood for. Then I just make sure that I add a little water from time to time. It sure does smell nice!

Divine Gift of Snow

Snow is taken for granted by many. But in Atlanta, snow brings everything to a wonderful standstill. We seems to get it even less than we used to. Global Warming maybe. But this year, we got a divine gift of snow in March. We all got out and went for a stroll around the property to take in the absolute beauty of it all.