Summer Living Room

There is no other time of year that I love more then summer!  I am a summer gal through and through.  I have been know to go outside and sit for short intervals on the porch even when it is 100 degrees or more outside. That's how much I love summer!  

I also adore decorating and changing up things around the house for summer.  I just returned from a long awaited week of vacation at the beach during which I was able to do a little thrifty shopping with my sister in laws.  Since I was chomping at the bit to change up a few things inside, I was thrilled to find out I had today off and was able to get started.  So, if you'd like to take a little tour of my den during one of "my" best times of the year....then come on in!  You are so welcomed!

Our den is quite large and long!  It's taken me years to accept that this is the best furniture layout for this space without breaking it up too much.  

The reason it's taken me years to accept this is that I love to rearrange furniture.  Try as I might and believe me I have, there is no other layout that I like better then what we have shown here.

Here is one of those thrifty finds that I picked up down at the beach last week.

Even the Mr. seems to like this boat.

I decided it would look great front on center on the mantle sitting on top of a few of the Mr's. old sailing books.

My old bamboo mirror always looks great this time of year.

I finally made some headway with the coffee table vignette again.

I liked this set up so much last year that I decided to just put it back the same way again this year.  So much for being unique, huh?

Honestly though, you really cannot beat a tray full of shells...

...and a large hurricane candle with sand and shells can you?

Personally, I would prefer to have a real fern here but I am sure it would not survive.  Most of my inside plants have been suffering greatly since I went back to work.  My ferns outside in the back yard are looking beautiful though.  That's where I've been spending most of my free time lately.  I've always thought of ferns as summer plants.  I love them!

My new lantern is all set and ready for the holidays now too!

How do you like my festive little Longaberger basket?  I've never owned one of those before.  My dept. manager at work gave this to me a few weeks ago.  Isn't it so cute?  I think so!

Thanks for taking the time to stop in for my most favorite time of the year.

I hope you enjoyed your visit.  What about you?  What is your favorite season?

I am joining; 

Tabletop Tuesday

Be sure and click the link above for more!

Have a wonderful week!

Let's get Nautical!

Nautical! I wanna get nautical! Let's get into nautical! I think that's the way Olivia Newton John should have sung that song.  Really yall!

With the Memorial day weekend fast approaching I am thinking of all things nautical.  I am pretty sure I will be working Monday but am hoping for Sunday off.  The Mr. and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend of sailing this past weekend and hope to be able to do more again soon.  While we were out we talked about getting our new grill installed on the boat so we can do more grilling out on the water.  Please feel free to send me all your delicious shiskabob recipes ladies, as I am craving those to kick off the season!

With that in mind I decided to gather up a few of my nautical inspired serve ware pieces to create a display for the screened porch.  This will also keep everything handy in case I want to grab a few serving pieces as I head out the door.

Here's how it all stacked up!

I started over here on the blue table and brought out my plaid runner to work off of.

It sorta has a bit of a nautical flair, right?  Okay,  well, not sure why I brought this out really but there it is.

Next I decided to use the old wine crate that I keep on the porch and have been trying to decide how to decorate.

Then I very carefully (Hehe!) draped one of my patriotic dishcloths inside.

The first thing in was my chip and dip set that I purchased last year from CTS for only $5.99.  Love it!  I cannot wait to bring this down to the club.  It's ceramic so I will have to be very careful.  

Next in was my sailboat dip with spreader dish.  To save all of us a lot of time and reading here you should know all of these items came from the CTS. This was only $3.99.  We do not have one here where I live, so I made a special trip down to one in Augusta last year and went wild when I found all of the great deals on the nautical serve ware.  

This sailboat bowl was sold separately for only $1.99. I bet this could hold a boat load of salsa!

Then I collected up this set of three boats to add in my box too.  They were purchased at $4.99 for the whole set.

Oops! These melamine plates are from Walmart this year.  They were on clearance for $1.00 and I could only find 3.  I need one more!

I am pretty sure the napkin holder was only $2.99 and included the napkins as well.

The votive candle holders were only .64 cents a piece.  What a deal!

And my cups were only $1.69 each.  Now here's the real deal!  Those are all the prices I pulled off of them today as I was unpacking them.  I am pretty sure I got an additional amount off on many of these pieces but cannot remember exactly what.  That's how good of a deal it was and so worth the trip.  If you have a CTS near you or withing driving distance you are so lucky.

I had to move the box to it's final resting place before it got to heavy.  I almost forgot to add in the napkins and napkin rings that I made last year too, or was it the year before?  Oh, IDK!  Anywho, there they are before going in the box.

A little blue bottle of something good and I am all set!  Don't worry this is actually empty but I saved it because I liked the color of the bottle and the taste of the wine and wanted to remember the brand.  I was at World Market a few weeks ago and saw a wine with a Sea Glass label that I wish I had bought.  I think it was a Pinot Grigio, but not sure.  Maybe next trip.

And there you have it!  All set and ready for a very nautical day of dining.  Well, kinda, I still need to find a good deal on some red flatware somewhere.

I've set this up on my bakers rack outside.  If it stays here a bit I may have to redo the whole rest of the vignettes on the bakers rack now too.  But I think I'll wait and see how much I pull from here to go on the boat first.  We shall see!

Speaking of seeing and the boat...

Here's a few glimpses of what we enjoyed out on the water last weekend.  

It was very windy all weekend and we were able to get in a few good sails before getting to tired to fight the wind any longer and calling it a day.

I stretched out in the cockpit for a rest to lay down and look what I saw!

Right over our heads above the top of our boat was a beautiful rainbow.  I couldn't help but think that I guess Jesus wanted to remind us he likes going sailing too!  

Thanks for stopping by today.  I really appreciate the visit.  I am joining a few fun linkys today.

Be sure and visit them too at;

Let's Dish

Outdoor Wednesday

Tablescape Thursday

Seasonal Sunday

And just in case you missed it I am gearing up to host a linky party of my own.  Please be sure and check out my latest post HERE to get the scoop.

Have a wonderful day!

Spring in a Box?

Hi Friends!  How are things in your neck of the woods?  We are super high on the pollen count right now.  Whew wee!!!  I hope you are not suffering from allergies like we are around here!  

I just love seeing decorative vignettes in a box, don't you?  Since I had a box that I fixed up for my Initial Outfitters business that I am no longer using, I decided I would create a vignette in it for my back porch.  I reasoned that I could make it inside and just plop it outdoors on the bakers rack later after the large pollen counts go down.  Good idea right?

I thought so too!  So here's how my box looked after I finished it.

I pulled out all sorts of things from all over the house to fill in every little cubby.

I was focused on using all those elements and textures that I just adore.

And since I heard there was a spring cloche party coming up in blogland I decided to add in one of my small cloches too.

This is a real birds nest with eggs that I found abandoned last year.  I have kept it in a baggie to preserve it.  Don't worry, the eggs have small pin holes and are empty.  I just adore that it is the perfect size for this cloche.

Now for the true confessions part!  Speaking of being the perfect size, and after having this BIG box sitting on my coffee table for several weeks now, I have decided I really don't want this great big box taking up so much space on my bakers rack.  Seriously!  I have another box out there already that is an old wine box and have decided I will spiff that one up more this year instead of using this one.  I know, I know, I'm so contrary!  Haha!

Soooo....I disassembled it and decided to use some of those elements elsewhere.

Like here!  I know it's kind of a kooky vignette, but I am lovin it!

I especially love the old sugar bowl sitting all topsy turvy and askew here next to my garden trough.  I set this vignette up thinking about a story I was told from of a sweet friend of mine. 

 She grew up in a very privileged family with four sisters and tells how her mother used to throw the dirty dishes in the bushes outside when company was coming.  No kidding!  She said, they always had a maid so if the maid wasn't working and company came a calling out went the dishes, half of which never made it back inside.  Can you imagine?  Too funny!  

I pulled the small wreath with a spring bow from my vignette box too.

Then I decided to create another spring cloche using the forget-me-nots that were sitting in my little matching creamer.  I also pulled one of the doilies from the box too.  Sweet!

Since I haven't gotten out any of my other Easter decor yet my newest bunny is stealing the show.  

Or maybe stealing something else, because I think he is quite the busy bunny here in my whimsical vignette.  He looks like he is all prepared to gather up a few pretty pieces of china in his basket to me!

LOL!

Thanks so much for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed it too!

I am very happy to be joining Ms.Marty today over at 

A Stroll Through Life

for a very special 

Egg-cellent Spring Cloche Party.

I hope each of you has a wonderful day!