To Help My Friend Mona

Why Floridians keep their doors locked, LOL

This is an experiment to see if I can help my friend Mona who is having trouble uploading pictures to her blog.  I suspect that she's already gotten her limit with Picasa, which I think is the default when you upload pictures from your computer.  They automatically go to a Picasa account, which can finally require you to pay for more space...at least I think that's what happened.

So...I uploaded a picture to Photobucket, which is free, then used the "url" option to upload pictures...you go to the picture in your Photobucket account...click on it...and on the right hand side will be choices for codes to paste in the "url window"...I clicked on the "Direct Link" and it automatically copies that address.  Then you come back to blogger and paste that url.  Not sure how we do multiple images all at once though.

This picture is showing up on my blog...now to publish it and see if it disappears or if it stays.  Maybe this will work for Mona.

Love to you all...I am working on my Halloween Tablescape...just not satisfied with what I'm creating so far...

Halloween Tablescape Past

I was going through some pictures on my computer, and ran across my Halloween Tablescape from last year.  I love how it turned out.  My daughter Kristin and Grand Daughter Kaitlyn came over and helped me put it together.  Kris tied the beautiful ribbon on the witch's hat.  I had a lighted garland I found at Home Goods, so we wrapped that around a white pumpkin, adorned with that hat.

I thought it made the perfect centerpiece!

I had some gold chargers.  I made the decision to paint them black.  Loved them for the Halloween table, but regretted that decision all year whenever I wanted gold chargers.  I finally found some new gold chargers at an estate sale last week.  The wheat design dishes came from Home Goods.  The black salad plate from an estate sale.  The pumpkin tureens came from both Marshall's and Home Goods. Napkins and napkin rings from the same estate sale.

Outside decor. Gathered over the years...including the husband sitting in the chair waiting for Trick or Treaters, LOL.

One of the Halloween Dinner guests.  He's been waiting for me to cook.

Kris and Katie helped me arrange my hutch.  Normally, it would have all white or white and cobalt blue...will be difficult to try to arrange it differently this year.

The "Blue Hour" as my favorite blogger Susan, from "Between Naps On The Porch" calls it.  It is that very short time before darkness, when the sky photographs as blue.  I didn't intentionally try to capture it, so it was a surprise to see it.  The "window spooks" are made from plastic black tablecloths, cut to the size of the window, and then the faces of the spooks cut out.  You tape white plastic compactor bags behind the cut out faces.  Tape to the window, and put a light behind them.  Have used them for years and years now.  I'm hoping to put something in the double center window this year.

A view of a table setting.  Can you see the bat placemats?  I bought a runner at Home Goods and cut it down into four placemats.  I used the iron on tape to close the edges, so I didn't have to sew.

One of the pumpkin tureens that I purchased separately, turned out to be a little larger in size.  So I put candy corn in it.  The pretty clear glass votives were estate sale find.  I put the centerpiece on a cake stand to elevate it a bit.

I learned that bloggers who post tablescapes always have the obligatory "rim shot"...so here's mine!  The flatware was found at an estate sale. 

Another Halloween Dinner guest...he won't eat much...eats like a scarecrow! LOL  The Pumpkin Tea Pot was also an estate sale find.

Another view of the "Window Spook".

The crystal is what you might call my wedding crystal.  The very first that I ever had.  It is Val St. Lambert and the pattern is Balmoral.  My husband earned points for selling Thermo-king units when he worked for Fruehauf Corporation.  He used his points to buy me this crystal.  I have always cherished it.  I met him on my sixteenth birthday and we've  been married since 1957.  My!  How many years is that?  We've lost track and I'm afraid to count them as I hope for so many more with him.

The tablecloth came from Home Goods. The little beaded pumpkin decorations came from Ross. Halloween cups on the hutch from TJ Maxx years ago. I love that Pumpkin pitcher on the hutch.  An estate sale find again.

I hate the glare from the light over the table.  This year, I hope we have a different one hanging there.  We bought two at an estate sale a week ago.  I hope I like whichever one we choose to hang...if not...I'll be saying the same thing about the new one, LOL  I hate the glare!

One of the "Window Spooks" with a different look!  This year, I'm thinking of a flying witch for the two center windows...or maybe some bats and a rat or two?

Well, this was Halloween 2012...Got to start thinking about what I can do differently for Halloween 2013!

I do so love tablescapes and I can't wait to see what the bloggers who also make them do for this Halloween.  They are all so creative!

Joyce aka SpyderLady 

(my name when I made stationery for Incredimail...and it stuck).

My Rabbit Habit

I am making a confession here...I LOVE Rabbits.  I have a pretty big collection of them.  This started out to be my Easter tablescape, but two tiny little kittens changed all that.  My neighbor appeared on my doorstep in mid April, first with one baby kitten with its eyes still closed...and then rang the doorbell again with the second one.  I knew they wouldn't make it unless I fed them every two hours.  I put all my efforts into saving these little tykes. They are now juvenile delinquents who use our heads for spring boards while playing, and doing well, so I thought..."Gee...I never did post my Easter table".

So...instead of calling it Easter tablescape...how about just calling this  "Showing you some of my Rabbit Stuff."

I love this tablecloth and napkins that matched, found at an estate sale, of course.  I put a white vinyl covering with a flannel back under it...that protects my table, since I never was able to afford table pads.  I chose the pink placemats because I thought they were so pretty.  Love the satin damask look.  All 4 were found at an estate sale for $3.

I have to admit...I splurged on these little rabbit cupcake stands.  I bought four of them on sale from the Pottery Barn, months and months ago.  I coveted them ever since I saw them on Susan's table at "Between Naps On The Porch".

I'm constantly looking for cabbage plates now.  Found 4 of these at an estate sale.  I really want a set of the Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage dinner plates, and I have passed up some at estate sales that were just too expensive.  I'm sure I'll run across some at a reasonable price one of these days.  I just have to be on the lookout.  

I've collected Rabbits over the years...at least 40 years.  This large rabbit was purchased at a store that was called the Christmas store (not the Christmas Tree store that is there now) in Altamonte Springs, but it was the kind of store you shopped all year.  The family that owned it closed it after many years and I was devastated.  They nicknamed me "The Lady With The Rabbit Habit"...can't imagine why!  The eggs I found at Marshalls.

The rabbit candleholders were found at the same sale that the napkin rings and rabbit pitcher were found.  I think the former owner also had a "Rabbit Habit".

A close up of these darling rabbit napkin rings.  I found 12 of them at an estate sale!

These Hydrangea plates are one of my favorite finds at an estate sale.  It was at the Countess sale in Winter Springs that I found these...along with 4 white ones, and 4 blue ones.  Also Teapot (white) and mugs, sugar and creamers in white and pink.  I just used the pink for now, saving the others for another time.

The Pink Hydrangea sugar and creamer.

These Indiana Madrid pattern glasses called to me the minute I stepped into an estate sale in a subdivision near me called "Sleepy Hollow".  There were 8 of them and I was so happy to get them at half price.  Aren't they beautiful?

This was found at the same estate sale the napkins were found.

I do LOVE this silverplate flatware I found at another estate sale...(getting to be a broken record isn't it, but we have so many around here and things sell for so little it's amazing).  This pattern is William Rogers Chalice (also known as Harmony and Jasmine).  It's in perfect condition and polishes up so nice.

The silver chargers were also found at the Countess estate sale in Winter Springs.

My daughter gave me these Wallace Baroque pattern silverplate salt and pepper shakers.  She found them in the garage at an estate sale, black with tarnish...can you believe it?  She paid $5 for them.

The bunny plant pot was also found at the Countess sale...I've had the large Rabbit with the cabbage, and the silk cabbage that's in the pot for years.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this tablescape and some of my rabbit habit...I could fill a lot more posts with more rabbits, and I probably will, LOL

Love and hugs to you all,

Joycie

Oh...I almost forgot...thank you, thank you Diane @ Confessions of the Obsessed, for sending me the instructions for linking to link parties.  I will be trying it soon...

Independence Day Tablescape 2013

I should have posted this at least a week ago.  I had the pictures taken, but I'm still worrying about the posts showing up where I want them to be.  I created tabs, to kind of sort my posts in categories...but I can't find instructions anywhere as to how to make the post show up, for example, in Tablescapes, instead of just my home page.  I added a "label" of "Tablescapes".

Well, onward we go...

I had a difficult time putting this table together.  The beautiful Cobalt Blue Reticulated Chargers that I wanted to use eluded me...at least one of them did, for days and days.  I thought I had started early enough to choose what I wanted to use on this table.  Why is everything so difficult?  Three of the chargers were in a curio cabinet in the living room...in plain sight.  Of course, the cabinet is filled with crystal, and all had to be removed to get the chargers out.  I know all you tablescapers dread that "domino effect".  The one where you move something from a shelf you want to use for your table, and it shows the dust all around where the item sat.  This means windexing the glass shelf, and washing all the items in the cabinet.  Seems like I did that pretty recently...how could it need done again?

Okay...where is the fourth charger?  I searched and searched.  Every possible place I might have stashed something that big.  Finally, I told Mr. Piggy that the only place I hadn't checked was the top shelf in the hall closet.  Surely I wouldn't have put it there?  I can't see up on that top shelf...too high...need a stool.  It seemed like dragging a step stool in there was just too much effort.  I was exhausted from looking.  So...thankfully, Mr. Piggy brought the stool in and got up on it to look on that top shelf...and there it was!

I don't know if you know it or not, but if you double click on any of the photos, they will appear in a type of slide show called a "light box"...you can then use your arrow keys to arrow through them. 

What to use for the centerpiece?  My first choice would be fresh flowers, but not in the budget.  I love red Geraniums.  My daughter found this Geranium plant, and a smaller one, at an estate sale. $6...I tried to pay her for them but she wouldn't hear of it.  I put the larger pot on a red plate.    Next, I needed to look for any patriotic decor I might have.  The flags had been in a plastic bag in the garage for years and years.  Put them in the pot, and Yay...it looks good.

   

The red glass candlesticks were bought one year to make Christmas arrangements.  My daughter Kris and I attached white Mums, greenery, and Cardinals, with red velvet ribbons to them.  These two were left over, so I found them in my "red" cupboard, with the red dishes you see.  Those Ruby Red dishes were a Mother's day present from my daughter Kris, years and years ago.  She found them in an antique shop in Mt. Dora, while we were out antiquing together.  I love them!  The clear glass stems with the floral design that looks like a Daisy are favorites of mine.  I have searched and searched for the pattern name but so far I can't identify it.  They were also an estate sale find.  If you recognize the pattern, please let me know!

I had several choices to use for stemware or goblets. Ruby Red goblets, and some very dark midnight blue goblets. I finally settled on these beautiful blue goblets that were purchased at an estate sale.  Creating Divine Order is one of my favorite estate sale companies.  This sale, I call the Countess sale, was conducted by CDO, and the house was a mansion in Winter Springs. The owner also had a home in Italy, was an heiress (I can't recall the company her fortune came from). She was also a Countess and a sculptress, and the whole house was filled with lovely things.  If only I were rich!  The Cobalt Blue chargers were also purchased at that sale.  I don't know much about them, except that they had a label that said "Italy" on the bottom.

The eating area in my kitchen is very small.  The round table has a leaf that makes it into an oval, but then I have no room at all to move around, so the leaf stays in a bedroom closet.  Mr. Piggy thinks the table looks cluttered...oh well.

The red placemats were purchased at a thrift store in Sanford.

The napkins were sent to me by my dear friend Gaye.  We've been friends since High School.  I folded them so that just the stars show.  I like the blue and white look on the red.  The large white round tablecloth was also an estate sale find.  Only $3!

The little star candles I've had for years...tucked in a drawer.  This seemed like the perfect time to just use them.  I didn't have anything to sit them on so that they wouldn't ruin the tablecloth when lit.  While looking for the toe nail clippers to clip the dogs' nails, I found my Americana tile coasters, with the flags on them.  Perfect!

The obligatory "rim shot".  My "stack" started with the Cobalt Blue chargers and next are some white plates I found at Home Goods.  The pretty Cobalt Blue salad plates were purchased on eBay.  The next white saucer that the Ruby Red fruit dish sits on, came from an estate sale.  It's made by Gibson...I don't know the pattern name, but they were only $15 for the set.  Aren't the vintage blue plates pretty?  I love the swirl design.  They are described on eBay as vintage Cobalt Blue Duralex Bormioli Rocco made in France. 

The flatware was another estate sale purchase.  It is Magic Moment Nobility by Oneida.  It's well worn, and is developing a patina.  I paid very little for the whole set.  I love the flower design.

A close up of the star candle on the flag coaster.

I would link with a party, but I'm not sure how yet...so I guess eventually I'll learn, LOL

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July.  

My Ethan Allen Bench Makeover~From Chewed to New

Years and years ago, we purchased an Ethan Allen Georgian Court Cherry Queen Anne style tufted bench.  It was so beautiful.  I wish I had a picture of it when it was new...it was upholstered with peach colored velour.  I loved it.

Over the years, it got to looking pretty shabby.  Many dogs used it as a stepping board to the bed...the dogs are long gone...the bench was covered several times...but the legs always survived with no "dog damage"....until....until....Suzy!  Suzy is a Black Lab that we rescued at the age of 8 months.  She had lived those 8 months at the end of a chain.  So, we have forgiven her for every transgression...(and there have been many).  This poor bench is just one of many things Suzy has destroyed in the 3 years we have had her.  Here is a close up of some of the damage on my beloved bench.  It looks like a family of beavers worked on it, LOL.  I'm just going to sand it down and paint it and then recover the cushion one more time.

You can see the layers of material...and the original Peach upholstery peaking through there.

Another view of the chewing.  She chewed the carved detail off this leg.

Another view of the worst damage.

I should have taken more "before" pics, because all the legs had deep puncture marks.  This was the worst leg though, and although I would have loved to try to stain it and refinish the wood back to its original glory, alas, the damage was just too severe.

So, since the bench has such sentimental value to me....I decided to try to sand it as best I could and then paint it, instead of throwing it out.  I toyed with using the Annie Sloan Chalk paint that is all the rage in Blogland, but since I had some Benjamin Moore black gloss paint on hand, I decided to use that.

As for the upholstering...with so much damage, I didn't feel I was good enough to tackle button tufting, so just using my staple gun to cover the bench top was my decision for the top.

Here are views of the finished bench. 

I think it has been saved for a few more years of use.  Two coats of black Benjamin Moore gloss paint and then 3 coats of Quick clear.  Maybe next time around, I'll change the upholstery, but I had this left over from the last time it was upholstered, and I do love it.

This is the culprit...our SuzyQ!

It's a good thing we love her.  I can't list everything she's destroyed.

I'm still so new, and can't figure a lot of things out yet.  I have no idea how to get this post to show in the "Makeovers" tab...

No Evil Spirits Here - Fu Dogs On Guard

Hello again!

I really never knew anything about Fu Dogs (Chinese guardian lions, known as Shishi; literally "stone lion") or Imperial guardian lion, and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West. They have traditionally stood in front of China Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, the homes of government officials and the wealthy, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).  They were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits.  Fu Dogs will keep evil spirits from entering your home.  They are also believed to bring prosperity.  Here are two of our fierce looking Fu Dogs...very frightening, aren't they?

Female on the left and Male on the right.

The story behind our Fu Dogs - 

Mr. Piggy and I were at an estate sale close by in our neighborhood, when we came upon two sets of these fearsome looking creatures.  They were sooo fierce looking, and so beautiful.  Both Mr. Piggy and I were irresistibly drawn to them separately, as we walked around the house.  Finally, we both ended up side by side admiring them.  Neither of us had ever seen anything like them!  We didn't consider buying them as they were just not something that goes with our decor.  We like traditional/colonial things....but since our whole house is decorated with estate sale/thrift items, you never know what you'll find.  The price was more than we could spend anyway, living on a fixed income. How could something like these work in our house?

They are created in pairs.  The Male has a ball (indicating the world) under his paw.

The Female usually has a playful cub under her paw.

We went home and the next morning...Mr. Piggy said he "Had a dream"...about the Fu Dogs.  He pictured the large ones on the shelves next to our fireplace in his dream.  So I picked up my lap top, and as we drank our morning coffee, I read about all the benefits Fu Dogs can bring to you.  Just keeping evil out of our house seemed like enough, LOL.  We got dressed and went back to the sale, and even though there had been a lot of interest in them....the Fu Dogs were still there.  It was the second day of the sale and everything was half price.  Actually, there were 3 sets, and I wish now we had gotten the third set too.  They were green jade.  After a little bargaining with the estate sale owners, two sets of Fu Dogs were being carefully wrapped and taken to our van.  This was our second experience with CDO (Creating Divine Order) Estate Sales, and again, they took such good care of us.

Here's the second set...much smaller than the large blue ones, although it's hard to tell in pictures.  The proper placement is to have the female on the left and the male on the right as you are facing them.  

The male of this pair.

This Female seems to symbolize prosperity, with a pot of gold.

So....now we look for Fu Dogs at every estate sale we attend.  Not quite an obsession yet, but we are definitely interested in them.  There are so many different ones...bronze, porcelain, jade, and all price ranges.

At a recent sale, we found just a single Fu Dog.  I think this one is a male, as he has the ball under his foot and we couldn't resist that this one seems whimsical...covered with flowers and reclining.  I love the fact that he is a reclining Fu Dog, and love his coloring.

We went back on the second day of the sale to purchase him, and were so happy that he was still there....at half price.  I guess not everyone knows about their "Mystical Powers".

I wonder what happened to his mate?

I put him on one of my latest finds.  An antique Ethan Allen Queen Anne Low Boy that sits in front of the dining room window...(for now).

This Ethan Allen Low Boy was found at a different CDO estate sale, and is very old.  The top needs refinishing, so if I was ever going to try out Annie Sloan decorative chalk paint,  (all the rage in blogging land), and paint a piece of furniture, it might be this piece.  It was half price day, so it was a bargain.  I wanted it for a night stand in the guest room, but Mr. Piggy thought it would look nice in front of the dining room window.  Since he does the moving, this was where it ended up.  I would only paint it if we later decide it belongs in the guest room, where I'm contemplating painting a Hooker Four Poster bed.

The antique Imperial Bonn Germany covered Cheese/Butter dish in the background, belonged to Mr. Piggy's great grandmother.

With his pretty flowers, he doesn't seem very fierce...but we won't underestimate his powers.

I just love him.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Fu Dogs.