Miss Mustard Seed~ A special guest

Hello Everyone,

I have a special guest today...

The talented Marian from the blog, Miss Mustard Seed is here.

Marian always shares the best tutorials on her blog.... 

Thank you Marian, for sharing one of your fun tutorials on my blog today.

I will let Marian take it from here......

I am so excited to "have the floor" on Maria's lovely blog.  I was hooked on Dreamy Whites the first time I stopped by, so it's a pleasure to be a guest here, today. 

When Maria first asked me to share a fall decorating idea, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  I generally don't decorate for fall.  I might put a few pumpkins, gourds and pine cones out, but I rarely make anything.    Using lumina pumpkins seemed like a no-brainer to me.  (This is for Dream Whites, after all.)  This led me to the idea of making a "grain sack" pumpkin.   

It's very simple and was under $10 for two pumpkins. 

First of all, wash and dry the pumpkins.  Apply a piece of low-tack painter's tape around the "equator" of the pumpkin.  

Using the tape as a guide, paint a thin stripe above and below it.  I used acrylic paint (midnight mixed with burnt umber), but you can use any paint you have on hand. 

With a 2.0 liner brush, paint initials, a date, or a seasonal word above the top line.  As a nod to "The Headless Horseman", I painted Ichabod on one and 10.31 (the date of Halloween) on the other.  If you're not comfortable with a brush, use a paint pen or Sharpie marker.  You could also use graphite transfer paper to trace text printed from a computer.

The look is subtle and sophistcated and it took me only about fifteen minutes for both.

I propped it on a pedestal and surrounded it by a small wreath of bittersweet. 

I hope this inspires you to get creative with your fall decor.  For more DIY and decorating inspiration, visit my blog. 

Thanks again for this opportunity, Maria!

Don't you just love her...

Thank you Marian!

I just want to share a few things with you about the talented Marian....

 Marian owns a successful antiques and home decor business called Mustard Seed Interiors.

Marian just moved some of her wonderful creations into a new store in Walkersville, Maryland.  

The store is filled with all kinds of treasures.

She is always sharing ways to transform a simple piece of furniture into a piece of art on her blog.

We will soon see Marian sharing her tutorials over at HGTV.com...

Congratulations Marian...

You are an inspiration to us all.

Miss Mustard Seed

Gli speciali di Casa Chic

Hello Everyone

I hope you all had a great weekend.

I wanted to say thank you to Annarita Triarico, a journalist and editor for Lotus Publishing's Interior Decorating Magazines.  Annarita wrote a feature on my home for an Italian magazine called Gli speciali di Casa Chic. 

My friend, Tracey, (French Larkspur) was also featured in the same issue.

Thank you Annarita, Tracey and I are honored to be featured in  Gli speciali di Casa Chic.

This magazine is published only in Italy.

Hope you all have a great week.

Take Care,

Maria

I wanted to share an amazing story with all of you....

I stumbled upon this blog,  The Stylish House, in the middle of the night Sunday, while I was waiting for photos to upload into my blogger.

This is a picture of a beautiful young girl, named Heather.

Heather, sadly suffers from a disease called, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. 

Heather is in need of a liver transplant.

She needed to find a live donor, with type O blood type.

Cathy, Heather's mom, posted about her daughter's medical condition, on her blog, The Stylish House, and asked if other blogger's would spread the word about her daughter's medical condition.

After reading Cathy's post,  another blogger's husband,  courageously  stepped forward to be Heather's donor.

Heather's donor was officially approved and Heather is set to have surgery November 15th.   Cathy will be starting a caring bridge site to keep us all updated on Heather's condition.

I hope you get the chance to go over and visit Cathy, over at the Stylish House.

Please keep Heather and her family, along with her courageous donor in your thoughts and prayers.

I just wanted to make sure you all  read a comment that Cathy, Heather's mom,  left on this post....

Maria,
Thank you for sharing my daughter Heather’s story with your readers. Heather was the picture of health growing up so her illness was unexpected. Twenty five friends and family stepped forward to donate, but none had a compatible blood type so I used my blog to find a donor.
The word grateful doesn’t begin to cover how we feel about this wonderful man Robert and his wife Kayren who are helping us.
Transplants are life saving and if this can happen to our family it can happen to anyone. We never intended to go public with our story, but our wish is that it might get people thinking about organ donation. Thank you for your kindness, support and prayers!
Hugs, Cathy 

French Farmhouse Antiques~fall decorating

Fall is one of my favorite seasons of the year...

Since I haven't found my favorite type of pumpkins yet,

I thought I would share a way of bringing the season into your home without using pumpkins.

I brought together my favorite french antiques.....

I displayed some pears in an antique compote.

I put a few apples in  my antique french metal basket....

I was using it to display rolls of linen.

I like how the bright red apples look against the dark metal.

I usually display bottles on my french drying rack, I took those off and added these little terra cotta pots from France.   I am a sucker for these little terra cotta pots.

If you are trying to add some fall colors to your home, but don't want to use pumpkins, these pots are an inexpensive way to bring in some fall colors to your home.

This little french farmhouse table, has an old french newspaper stuck to the top of it.

I was so excited when I found this table.

I wish I knew how to can....Then my canning jars wouldn't always be empty....

I am obsessed with lavender.

Do you have a favorite way to decorate for fall?

Do you like to use pumpkins in your fall decorating?

I hope you all have a great week.

Take Care,

Maria

Sofies Haus~

photo by me

Hello Everyone!

I had planned to do a post about my clock today, and was going to answer a few questions... but I haven't had time to get that post done yet.... sorry.

So I thought I would do a quick post and share a blog with you, that I love....

I have received a lot of emails asking how to decorate a home that has mostly white interiors for fall....
As soon as we get pumpkins in the stores here.... I will share a few of my ideas with you...
until then....I wanted to share a blog that seems to know how to add the right amount of fall decor to her home....

I think you will feel inspired to add a few pumpkins to your home after visiting Sofies Haus....

Her photography, styling, and decorating are beautiful, and she just did an inspiring post on
  apple pie.....

Sofies Haus


I also wanted to say thank you to my friend, Federica, who emailed me this morning, and told me that she did a feature about my home for an Italian E-Magazine~ 
Idee dalla rete
Thank you Federica!


I promise I will be posting answers to your questions very soon!


Have a great day!
Take Care,
Maria

Congratulations Lindsay!

Congratulations Lindsay, from the blog, Lee la la

Lindsay is the winner of my french ticking pillow giveaway!

Lindsay has a very cute blog, and if you have a little girl, you should check out her etsy site, called Lee la la.

She makes adorable accessories for little girls!

Thank you Euro-Linens for sponsoring such a generous giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participated. I will be back toward the beginning of the week to answer a few of your questions from my previous post!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Take Care,

Maria

Hello Everyone!

I first want to thank everyone who has participated in my french ticking pillow giveaway, I really appreciate it.

There is still time to enter it if you haven't already... Just click here ~

It ends Friday at 9:00 P.M. P.S.T.

Today, I thought I would share a few pictures of my dining room with you.

My mom and brother were here visiting a couple of weeks ago, so I snapped a few pictures of the way I set my table for dinner.

I kept it very simple....

I used french canning jars to hold roses from my garden.

I clipped a few hydrangeas from the garden.

Since it is at the end of the hydrangea blooming season, the flowers do not wilt very easily, so I was able to just add them to the table without needing any water.

I am addicted to this sparkling lemonade.

The brand is called Lorina, and is a product of France.

I buy mine at Safeway.

I love to have them sitting out on the table in these french bottle carriers.

If you do not have access to fresh flowers this is a fun way to add color to your table.

My mom made the table runner for me.

I will be selling runners like these in the shop.

I love using a french red stripe runner in my dining room.

The glasses are from Anthropolgie.

I like to only use these on special occasions....

They help add a little bit of color to the table...

I have a mismatched collection of bistro chairs.

I think having them all be different colors makes the table more interesting...

One of my favorite chairs is the orange one....

All of my plates are mismatched as well.

I have found most of my ironstone plates at local tag sales.

I made blackberry pie for dessert.

My friend, Tracey, from French Larkspur, is sharing a french inspired table setting today on her blog...

French Larkspur~

I hope you are all having a great week.

I have to apologize for not being able to get back to everyone lately....

I am hoping to catch up on my emails this weekend!

Take Care,

Maria

A Euro Linens sponsored giveaway!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a great week!

I am having a giveaway today, sponsored by Euro-Linens.

Eric and Dani are giving away a 22" by 22" down pillow, made from antique french ticking, to one lucky reader.

The pillow is valued at $98.00

I want to tell you a little bit about Eric and Dani before I share all the details about the giveaway with you...

They own a great store in La Selva Beach, called Patine.

Their pillows are made from vintage french tickings and antique grain sacks.

Eric does all of the sewing.

You can read more about Euro Linens by clicking here~

The above photo was taken at their store, Patine.

You can read about my visit to their store by clicking here....

I have never seen a store filled with so many french ticking pillows.

You can also find Dani and Eric at various Flea Markets.

Here is a link to a listing of the shows they attend.

On the 5th of this month they will be at the Alameda Flea Market.

If you are there this weekend, be sure and stop in and check out their booth.

Just be ready to spend a couple of hours there going through all of their beautiful linens.

Dani and Eric are truly the most genuine people!

Here are a few links to enjoy for Eric and Dani~

Euro-Linens

Patine

Eric's blog

Dani's blog

photograph of the giveaway pillow

Details about the giveaway

Eric and Dani are giving away one 22" by 22" down pillow made from antique french ticking, to one lucky reader.

The back of the pillow is made from antique white linen..

The giveaway is open to everyone...

The giveaway will end Friday, September 10th at 9:00 p.m. pacific standard time.

1. To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post....

***Please be sure and leave a separate comment for each entry!!!***

2. For a second entry, you can post about the giveaway to your blog...

3. For a third entry, you can post about the giveaway on your facebook page.

4. For a fourth entry, you can tweet about the giveaway.

Please make sure if you want another entry you leave a separate comment for each entry~

Thank you Dani and Eric for sponsoring such a generous giveaway!

You two are the BEST!

Euro Linens

I hope you all have a great weekend!

We are going to be out of town until next Tuesday!

My nephew is getting married Saturday, so we are headed to Arizona.

I will be back on Tuesday...

Take Care,

Maria

Photo by me

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to let you know I am over at my friend Zaira's blog for an interview today.

I met Zaira last spring through blogging.

She is one of the sweetest girls.

Thank you Zaira for doing this interview with me!

Little Emma English Home

Also my friend, Anne Marie, has a special announcement today.

Please click here to learn more about her barn sale...

I wish I lived closer.....

Na-Da Farm Sale

I love both of these girls!

Thank you for taking the time to stop in today 
and I hope you all have a great day!
Take Care,

Maria