Heavenly finds

I have spent time this weekend doing some treasure hunting as well as remembering that Memorial Day is for our military, past, present and future.  Here is what I found:

This little sweetie was right there at the entrance to My Sister's Attic waiting for me to grab him up and take him home!  I think the "tray" is for candles, but a plant, small books, rosary, small jar filled with shells, etc. would look even better than a candle!  Just too stinkin' cute!

I also found these three concrete decorative crosses at My Sister's Attic as well.  Love those because they look old and crusty.  They are older because the hangers on the back are rusted.  I have also coffee dyed another old book which you can see beside the little angel.  See my blog of May 22 here to see how to coffee dye these bundles.  Easy peasy!!

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

But don't forget the reason for this wonderful holiday. . . .

I just noticed the typo in this vintage card!

I am truly thankful for all the men and women who have served or are currently serving our country.  Their sacrifice is truly appreciated!!  By me, especially!  Since I was married to a career military man for 36+ years.  It was a wild ride and times, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  I salute all who serve!

Arlington National Cemetery.

 David's caisson bearing his ashes, May 2, 2005.

David's niche in the Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery.

David loved this country very much and dedicated his life to serving it.  That truly fills my heart with pride!

Designer book bundles

You see them everywhere.  You see them in catalogs like Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs.  You frequently see them in magazines like Romantic Homes and Country Living.  Well, I found out how to make these bundles and it's really easy!!  More on that in a minute.

 First, pick up some old books at your local thrift store.  The older the better.  Old Readers' Digest books are great for this.  Just look for older ones.  They take the coffee stain well.

Remove the covers and break the book into sections.  Then dip all edges but the spine in some strong instant coffee.  Set outside to dry.

You can see they look old and stained.  Then I bound them up with jute.

This picture makes them look lighter than they really are.  They are wonderfully stained and great decorator pieces.  Most will be for sale in my booth at Merchant Square.

For more complete instructions, please visit Karen Valentine's blog, My Desert Cottage here.  That's where I found the instructions for doing this.  Quick, fun, and decorative!  Thanks, Karen!

Weekend finds

Besides attending Sweet Salvage on 7th, I also went to the flea market at Merchant Square on Saturday morning.  Here are a few of the things I found there and other places this weekend.

 Found this great horse head bust at Sweet Salvage.

 This old book is just too aged and beautiful!!  Also found the necklace with the "J" and a "B" on the key!  How did the maker of this necklace know those were my initials.

 Found this great tote at the flea market.  Plan to use this often!  Really roomy!

Aren't these little birdies just too cute?   Love this original painting -- it's not a print.

Destination Found at Sweet Salvage, Part 2

Here are more of the pictures I took at Sweet Salvage on Thursday.  Such wonderful treasures and great vignettes for everyone to enjoy and buy from.

As you walked in the door, this was on the right and it seemed to stretch forever!

Wonderful weathered bench, tractor seat stool, swing frames and that great clock!

Tucked on a shelf was this cute display.

Cute doggie!!

 A bit of the Far East or Middle East in this Destination Found.

A Sweet French Market to browse.

Really liked this pale aqua chair!

Love the driftwood garland and that wood sign that says "beach".  

A touch of the mystical!

Globe balls!!  Wow!  Didn't even realize what they were until I saw this downloaded to my computer.  If I had known what they were, I would have grabbed them!

While waiting to check out, I spied this old wire wastebasket used as a shade for this industrial hanging lamp.  Cool!!!

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures from Destination Found at Sweet Salvage on 7th.  For more pictures, please check out my Facebook album here.  Safe journeys and wonderful new destinations to each of you during the summer months! 

Destination Found at Sweet Salvage in May

Once again the Sweet Gang did a wonderful job in their new digs on 7th.  Here are some of my favorite pics from Sweet Salvage yesterday.

Sweet Kim and her hubby Sweet Man Jim!!  Awesome day you put together for everyone yesterday!  Thanks so much for all you do!  It was another great day.

New sign on 7th Avenue and new awnings on the front of the building.

My favorite display!  Love the colors and French flavor!  So pretty.

How clever is this arrangement??

Loved this light blue chair and the Paris book on the seat!

I love this necklace.  Just wish I had bought it!!

 This burlap skirt on the sink in the bathroom is just too stinkin' cute!  If I had a pedestal sink, it would be wearing a skirt!

A wire wastebasket as a lampshade over an industrial light.  Who thought that up??

More pictures on Saturday.  Took nearly 60 pics.  Check out the album I posted on Facebook here.

Sweet Salvage on 7th is this week!!

If you don't already know, Sweet Salvage on 7th is opening it's doors again this Thursday in their new digs.  They are now located at 4648 N. 7th Ave., in Phoenix.  If you visit their blog here, you will be able to see some of the items that will be in their new Destination coming this Thursday morning!  And they have some new Sweet people that have been added to their already awesome group!!  Check out their blog, check out their Facebook page and let them know you saw my blog post today, write down their new address, and plan to attend this weekend!  It's always a great thing!!

Sweet Salvage is now carrying copies of the latest Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazine!!  If you haven't seen this magazine, you need to get a copy and savor each and every page.  Lovely!!

My copy has numerous "tabs" on favorite pages.  I have tried several of the recipes that are included each month.  Yummy!! and easy to create!  Even some very lovely craft projects!!  And did you note the banner that states "Without Advertisements"??

 

Sweet Kim's pic from Sweet Salvage blog

Just a teaser!!  Go visit the blog!  Let Sweet Salvage know on Facebook you saw my blog post.  Then plan to attend!!

See you there!!

In bloom in the backyard

With my new camera in hand, I set out to take pictures of the succulents and the saguaro that are in the backyard.  After that I watered everyone and will enjoy them.

Pretty white flower cluster on this blue and green succulent.

Tiny pink flowers on this one showing off the rusty roadrunner plant stake.

I love these because of the colors.  And they are under a wire "cloche" that I found at For the Love of Old.  It was originally used as a hanging basket for plants. 

While watering this pot with several small cacti in it, I discovered this one had tiny pink flowers!  How cute!  First time I have ever seen this one bloom.

And the saguaro just keeps getting more and more blossoms all over it!  It is almost crowned with them.  The only side that doesn't have many blossoms in the side that faces north.

The ballerina

I found these napkins pictured on the left below.  They were in the booth next to mine at Merchant Square. I love the shades of gray of the image.  That's why I decided to do some art work with it.

The napkins were perfect for decoupaging on tags and a small (6"x6") canvas!  Added embellishments make them special!  Loved doing these quick projects with the napkins.

 Here's a close up!  These will be for sale soon in my booth at Merchants.

Love old books!

Found these old books to add to my collection -- which needs to be thinned, BTW!!  I love old books.  They show the wear of their readers and are so pretty when using them to decorate.  Check these out!

These books have character and show good use over the years.  Love the worn look.

But in so many blog pics and on Pinterest, I see books with their spines turned to the back and the wonderful time-worn pages showing to the front.  It's a cool look, don't you think?

Miniature gardens

The first miniature gardens I saw recently were at the Lucketts Design House when I visited there in April.  Here are the three mini gardens I saw there.

These little gardens didn't have any real plants in there but they were cute!  The middle garden so reminds me of Williamsburg, VA.  They have wonderful gardens in the historic area.

Well, today I was reading blogs and checked out Julie's Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss and discovered that she had recently created a couple of miniature gardens.  You can check it out here and see how she created this garden.  Also her first mini garden link is in this same blog post.  It looks like she had some help from a mini assistant.  What child (regardless of age ((wink, wink))) or grandchild wouldn't love to create one of these gardens??  Just a darling project for anyone who would love a miniature garden.  Isn't this just too cute!

Julie's picture from her blog

Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss  

BTW, I hope you notice that I do regularly add new blogs that I discover and drop those that don't post for a month or more.  Check out some of them.

Blue glass canning jars

Another nice find at the estate sale on Thursday.  These blue canning jars.  They came with ordinary lids so I bought some zinc lids at Merchant Square for these jars.  However, they just didn't twist on easily.  So, I used my tried and true trick. 

Here are the jars and the old zinc lids.  Love the color and those old lids.  But they don't screw on the jars easily.  So to fix that I grabbed . . .

Some wax paper from the cupboard, tore off a piece, placed it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the zinc lid.  This tip waxes the lid rim and the rim of the jar.  Then those lids twist on so easily!!

Perfect!  I learned this trick many years ago while living in Virginia.  I bought a number of these great jars but the lids just didn't twist on easily.  A friend told me the wax paper trick.  Clever!  And it works!!