Patio Party Collection

I really need to get this on for all of the newsletter gals. The Patio Party Collection was one of the featured articles in our May/June newsletter, and I promised I would put more pictures on of the collection, so here they are....

This is great for outdoors, indoors and would be a perfect gift, too! The Patio Party Collection has great citrus colors - perfect for summer - don't you think??

Just look at these colors! I love the bright crisp table cloth - it will make any table look festive for the next party you host! Do you see the ant? They are made of jingle bells - and ring! They are available single, to walk all over your picnic, or they come in a set of four as napkin holders - too fun!

These succulents are the "hot" thing right now. These went crazy at market, and we love them. They look so real - but you won't get pricked by these desert beauties!

This Camper Bird House is one of the many reasons we got this collection in - it is so cute - tell me, what bird wouldn't want to make a home in this colorful camper? Not only do we have the Camper Bird House, but we have a very "tweet" Camper Napkin Holder - you've just gotta see this!

Now, you know with all this citrus theme going on - your going to have to bring it into your wardrobe - so why not with this great orange straw purse????

Who doesn't need a cute fly swatter to sit by the picnic table? You know what, I'm thinking this collection would make a fun gift - especially for that person that has EVERYTHING! Hmmmmmmmmm....that's an idea!

Saving the best for last? I think all of the collection is awesome. When we were unpacking these ice buckets this spring, I thought, "Oh...these are cute." Then I found the little scoop inside, and unwrapped it and was going to put it back inside after I cleaned it up....and then I saw the holder for the scoop outside on the bucket and truly fell in love with it - come on, got to admit this little bucket is cute - huh??? It's available in all three citrus colors - and just as darling as this lemon one!!
There you have it - hope you have enjoyed this! If you don't receive the newsletter, and would like to - just sign up over there to the left of this column. We have news of what's new in the store, decorating advice, notices of Tea Parties, Contests, and Sales. Newsletter subscribers also get extra coupons each month. If you'd like - sign up today!!

Thanking the soldiers

Just thought I'd show you Sandusky County's newest Veteran's Memorial at the county seat - Fremont, OH. There was a big dedication of the new monument across from the county's courthouse in Flag Park. There was a really nice service as well as a sneak peak of the globe monument that will be here sometime this summer. Flag Park looks great, and everyone that came really thought it turned out nice. If you have a chance some day, stop in and take a look! Enjoy the pics......


View of Sandusky County Courthouse










A picture of the new monument that will be placed in Flag Park late this summer












A bench in Flag Park near the monument












Flag Park's fountain












Beginning of the Parade, downtown Fremont

Check out more about the memorial this afternoon on The News Messenger website

Red, White and New

Happy Memorial Day! Wishing you all a great start to summertime! Karrie and I would like to take the time to thank all of the soldiers past and present for all they have done for our country! We appreciate your sacrifice! God bless you all!!

Since summer is just about here, I thought I'd show a few new things, some for entertaining. Last week we received our new purse line in - It is just darling, and we've had a really good response for it! Today I'll be taking some pictures of the summer line that is in and I'll get that posted for you next week (I'm hoping that the newsletter will be going out next week too!!!) Enjoy the weekend everyone!

It's finished.......faux!

As requested by some of you - I have went around and taken some pictures of the walls in my house. Many times we all look at our walls and try to think of what to do and we draw a blank......wall! Check out some of these ideas. I've also included some other walls in the house to spur some creative ideas for you in your home!!


First - this is amazing! Jill can make anything look wood - check it out! The first picture is from the fireplace area in my living room. I stripped the center panel and the top of it.....the second picture is from the outside of my entry looking towards the music room....she painted that - I told you.....can you tell the difference??? - simply amazing!!

















These pictures are from my dining room. The walls were painted gold over grass cloth. Jill just took a wash - a darker color mixed with glaze, and we just "painted" it on then rubbed it in and off with a cloth. It really warms up the room nicely. I don't know if these pictures truly do it justice!














My favorite, my room. I wanted to try a linen finish in my room for two years now. We tried using the special brushes from Ralph Lauren at Home Depot, and some glaze. It didn't work the way we had read to do it, so Jill just brushed the glaze on. I really love what it did to the walls - I'm glad she did it though!!!











Here are some other ideas that you can take and use in your own homes. These were so easy to do!! Although you might not want to do exactly the same thing, you can take these ideas and branch out to something that applies to you and your home!!





My youngest son's room. It is a small room and had a BIG wall. He loved Thomas the train and I really didn't want to paint a Thomas on the wall. I found a great
bedspread in Thomas Blue and Percy Green, and took the four colors out of the bed and measured these squares onto the wall. I love it, and we didn't need to fill the wall up with pictures to make it look good - the squares did it all by themselves. The train picture you see we just hung up, so it's been an "empty" wall for two and a half years! What's great is, when Thomas is no longer wanted - we don't have to repaint the wall with the next fad!!!!






My daughter's room is very bright. We have a beach theme going on in there - it is very fitting for her. I bought some starfish and hot glued them above her closet - how easy is that????










This is by far my most favorite idea. I did it twice in the house - which I would never do - but I had too!! Check this out! This makes such an impact, and it is CHEAP! First off - my husbands office (which I share.....but he had to have one room to call his very own!) Remember - he Loves the NY Yankees. The walls, I painted grey, the carpet has baseballs on it, the back wall - custom Yankee paper? Why no, I just went to a copier with his prized Yankee book and started copying three of every picture in that book. I got home, cut those pictures out on the cutter, and got some
wallpaper paste. Up the pictures went and - it looks awesome!

I loved this so much, that when my oldest son decided that he wanted a Star Wars room.....oh boy! I wanted something that would take this 10 year old into, possibly adulthood - could it be possible??? I looked, and on eBay I found these blueprints of Star Wars robots, ships and speeders - a whole bunch of stuff. I ordered four packs of them and then I wallpaper pasted these on two walls. When people go into his room they don't even realize what it is. I love it!





Well, take these ideas, and let your imagination run wild!! Have fun and get those creative juices flowing!!

M is for the many things I've been doing......

Happy Mother's Day! I can't believe that I haven't blogged in....forever! What a busy time! First off - I wrote this blog on Saturday, May 12th. It's showing the first, because I started writing a blog then....I kept on changing it (because I couldn't finish one!!) Well, let's catch you up to speed.....last weekend was my daughter's first communion.....need a say why I haven't written, or gotten a May newsletter out???? The two weeks before that I was busy tearing down wallpaper, hanging up new wallpaper and painting things. My wonderful friend, and superior faux finisher came over and helped me paint a wash over my dining room and then we (actually she - I watched) did a linen finish over my bedroom walls. Then, she faux grained my wood in my entry to make it look like the wood in the living room - Jill is a wonder!! Then I had my wonderful sister come and help "fluff" and put out ivy and she made a swag for above my fireplace, and an arrangement for the table. This week I will go around and take some pictures for you of everything that we did - I think that you'll enjoy it!! First communion went well, and after the party, our family headed off for Bayonne, NJ.


My husband's uncle was turning 80 and having a big birthday party. We decided to go, and we stayed until Wednesday. For those of you that have no idea where Bayonne, NJ
is, it is right across from New York City. That said, it will be no surprise to you that we took his uncle to a NY Yankee game at Yankee stadium (and yes, if you must know we are Yankee fans). What fun!(Even though we lost!) It was the first time that I had been to the stadium, and our family, his uncle and aunt, and his cousin and her girls, and another cousin all had a super time. Everyone in our section cheered for Harold and wished him a happy 80th. He was just beaming, and still talking about it when we left on Wednesday! Tuesday, we went to see the

monument: "To the Struggle of World Terrorism". This monument was donated by the people of Russia - Has anyone ever heard of this??? I have been asking everyone, and no one has any clue to what it is. It's a gift to the people of the United States,
and I can't believe we never heard anything about it!! It is very beautiful, and if you stand in front of it looking a NY city, you can see where the World Trade Center stood. All around the base is the names of those who lost their lives and the split in the center holds a teardrop between what was meant to be the two buildings. Neat isn't it?? I just had to show you guys this - I hope I told you something you didn't know!!


















After coming back from Bayonne it was crunch time again (you just don't know how many times I tried to get a blog together - and erased them, because I could never finish them). We had a wedding at Put-In-Bay that we had to do today. The weather

was absolutely beautiful and the flowers were so pretty. I thought I'd share some of
these pictures with you too! Enjoy them!!

The wedding was at the Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church on Put-In-Bay. If you've been on the island, but never gone into the church, you will have to. The architecture, windows, and paintings are just
breathtaking!!






So, here it is Mother's Day in a few hours.....all the ideas I had for gifts for the Moms in your life have been erased due to my being too busy and I apologize. But, I figure you all must have it together this week, unlike myself!! To all the mothers out there - thanks! We all really appreciate everything you do! May blessings upon blessings be put upon you and your families!!!