Taking A Back Seat To Shadows

This week we saw a lot of Mr. Sun...

however, we did NOT see our camera screen. It seems that it dropped one too many times....and so, we can not see a thing when we point & click!

(this poses quite a challenge!)

You can imagine, then, that we were pretty tickled when we found that we caught a shadow of this old tractor seat on the desk in front of the store - thank heavens! Now you can join us over on Hey Harriet for Shadow Shot Sunday...where shadows take anything but the back seat!

Pillow Power

So...these Pottery Barn sweater pillows are just really cool - we love the texture & that cozy look that it gives....but we've found sweater pillows that you can make yourself that are far superior to these (we just love it when that happens!)

image from potterybarn.com






The first pillow is from Country Living - the new issue just came out and we loved all of the ideas for old sweaters - the flower embellishment is just too cute!

image from countryliving.com

The next two pictures are from Martha Stewart - we love the details in these pillows - how the sleeves are even used in these - very clever Martha!
Image from Martha Stewart

These puckers are so adorable - can't you think of a million places to put these pillows? We can!

image from marthastewart.com

For a basic sweater pillow, we found instructions on the cutest blog Make It and Love It - cute, cute things over there!

So, what are you waiting for? Get some sweaters & make some pillows....go on....what do you have to loose?

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." ~Edwin Land

Wednesday Words

"Grow old with me,
the best is yet to be."
~Robert Browning

Looking through family pictures yesterday we found pictures of our Great Great Grandparents - Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter. Just look how happy they look...after all those years of marriage - gracious! We thought of this quote immediately!

Wednesday Words are brought to you by our newest love images...just in time for Valentine's day!

Love Somebody? Put it up on the wall for everyone to see!

Good Morning....Glory!

Yesterday we went out to some estate sales.
Found some things...and of course they are all boxed up - however we did get this pretty morning glory print.



Such a happy print - gets us thinking about spring....
ahhhh.... it will happen sometime!

Weighing In On The Shadows

That's right!

It's time for Shadow Shot Sunday and we are checking out the shadows we found in the store today -

Will shadows light or hefty today?

There's only one way to find out - and that is to join us over at Hey Harriet and see for yourself!

It's Friday...and We're In Love

You may remember that we painted the back of the cabinets last fall a bright shade of green...

No more! A lovely shade of pink is now gracing the backdrop of our cupboard...

It's perfect for Valentines...and will swing right into spring with us!

It's Friday....what are you in love with today???

Wednesday Words

"Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong

with each other."

~Rene Yasenek

Ahhhh...young love! This picture is for you Carol! We just love our Dad's cousin & we especially love this picture that we have of her wedding day! Valentine's Day is nearly four weeks away - so we thought we'd bring out the Love pictures!

Wednesday Words are brought to you by our Wall Enhancers and our Alphabet Images every Wednesday.

For the next few weeks - we are going to focus on our Alphabet Images in our Special Valentine pictures that we have.

Love? Get it for your wall...or someone you love!

Wednesday Words

"The worst thing about being a tourist

is having other tourists

recognize you as a tourist."

~Russell Baker

Welcome to Wednesday Words! The best time of the week when we go through all of the great old family pictures and put them up on the web! Today's picture features our grandpa!

When we saw this quote...we knew we had to use this picture!

Wednesday Words are brought to you by our Alphabet Enhancers and our Wall Enhancer Vinyl Lettering...got quotes? Put them up on the wall!

At the Flea We Fled

This weekend we made a quick trip to the Flea Market

There wasn't much to offer until we spotted this..
This oh-so, full-of-details object

Did you guess a lamp?

We don't know about you...but it made our eyes light up!
A little cleaning...perhaps a toning down of that gold - but perfection
(that shade alone was worth the $3!)

As you can imagine...we grabbed the lamp & considered ourselves lucky!

"One man's junk, is another man's treasure."

Do we ever love the guy who didn't like this!!

Happy Monday All!

Getting "The Dish" On Shadows

Come get "the dish" on the best shadows around! It's time for Shadow Shot Sunday...and that means around-the-world fun!

While working around the store today, we found some shadows coming from some of these brown transferware plates that we just hung up.

Do join us, and our wonderful host Tracy on Hey Harriet...where you'll get your weekly serving of shadows!

Hot Products for a Cold January

This week we found some "Hot Products" in Home Decor in our email box.


Imagine our surprise when the first thing we see...is what we are expecting anytime this week! You know, that is the best feeling in the world - you order something months & months ago...and when time comes around - it's on the "Hot" list - yea!!



The next thing we see is so happy - we just had to show you!
With the grey sky of winter - its great to see a cheerful punch of color!
Last year we saw a lot of these colors coming about...and with Turquoise being the "color of the year" according to Pantone - we'll be seeing these bright colors more!

photo courtesy of Manual Woodworkers



The last thing that made us ooooohhh and aaaahhhh was this lamp...more like the shade made from burgundy, olive, beige and gold organza ribbons - isn't that fun? The lamp is hand painted,and, unfortunately, the lamp is $750.
photo courtesy of DB Sources




Well...we don't know about you - but that price isn't quite in the budget! So...we thought a bit, and figured that you could find your own base - preferably from a garage sale, junk store - what have you & "hand paint" it yourself (or spray-paint...however you like to paint.)
Then we make your own ribbon-covered lampshade like they did here.

There you go - a fab lamp...without the fab lamp price!

photo courtesy of Craftstylish

Wednesday Words

"Spaghetti can be eaten most successfully if you inhale it like a vacuum cleaner."
~Sophia Loren

Awww....isn't he adorable? That's Karla's husband being all Italian, slurping up his spaghetti! Now...the quote...could you ever imagine Sophia Loren inhaling her spaghetti like a vacuum cleaner? We can't either!

Wednesday Words are brought to you by our Wall Enhancers and our Alphabet Images. Love quotes? Share them with the world...on your walls!

"New" Year Color Inspiration

A New Year!
Time to take a look at the house & think about a new color on the wall, or painting or reupholstering some furniture....sometimes it's some new curtains or pillows that will do the trick. It seems that after taking all of the Christmas decorations down, it is time for something new!

Shall we have some fun by taking a look back at color trends in 1958 from Better Homes & Gardens ?


We love the colors above in the blue and green pallet of Group #9.
It is quite calming - don't you think?



Group #1 looks like it could go in a lot of homes right now. Look at those teals and, especially, those greys!










Group #2 is the Earth Tone selection for readers in 1958 - we love this color board....we even love all of the fabric & carpeting choices!



Now...how about Better Homes & Gardens

HOT Color Predictions for 2010

Take a look at the paint swatches....there's a lot of similarities to the 1958 color boards.....





It just goes to show you that, once again, what is old is new again!

If I Had A Hammer....& Shadows

Happy New Year Friends! It's that time of year for The Summer Kitchen Girls...Hammer Time (are you all dancing to some MC Hammer right now?) Maybe we should have named this post "You Can't Touch This" ~ after all, you can't really touch a shadow, can you? Hmmm...something to ponder at the beginning of the new year!

Anyway, we are hammering away, getting Christmas out and bringing on the new stuff...and that means hammers, ladders, dust cloths, sweepers - and, you guessed it...

Shadows!

Get more lovely shadows from all around the world at Hey Harriet this weekend - it beats cleaning after all!

All the Best....

As another year begins, we wish you all the best for 2010!

Happy New Year!