The Little Things

They make all the difference, don't they?

I found a couple of these sundae dishes marked down less than $2 each and decided to get them. They fit in so well with the kiwi color I'm loving lately. Walking around the store with these in hand, I realized what cute little vases these would make. With a family of five - just two of these aren't much use as sundae dishes, but they DO make sweet vases.

I love my dresser drawers now! It is amazing how just lining them can make SUCH a difference. This particular liner was found at Target.

It's the little things that count...

Cuteness

This is the cutest little apron! It's even sweeter in person because it's actually more of a toddler size. It's made from a vintage tablecloth and was found on etsy.

Painted Furniture

Few things say "cottage" like painted furniture. This sweet little dresser (the green isn't showing up right) was found in an antique mall this last Christmas. When my mom was visiting us, I took her to see it. I was saving my pennies for it and just wanted her opinion. She decided to gift me with it! I was a tad embarrassed that I'd shown it to her because my intentions weren't for her to buy it. Thank you, Mom!

I love it and it is my favorite piece of furniture. She bought some glass knobs for it and I need to get a few more glass pulls before changing them out. I first put it in my office space, but now I'm enjoying it's new place in the living room. It's just the right size to be very versatile. It also has the old keyholes. I think I'd like to find a couple of little skeleton keys to tie on the front with a pretty ribbon or tassel.

I found the giant jack at HomeGoods this week. I've seen them elsewhere before and always passed them up, with regrets later. So when I saw this lonely one, I had to have it! Reminds me of when we'd play jacks in junior high on the girls' locker room floor. Great memory!

I had fun perking up this simple white lampshade with a little gingham ribbon and vintage/new buttons. So easy peasy and cute!

May Day, May Day

I wish each and every one of my blog readers lived close enough that I could leave a pretty little May Day basket filled with flowers on your front doorknob or doorstep today. Thank you for all of your sweet comments. They are what keep me coming back to blog - although I'm falling rather short of being a good blog poster these days *sigh*. But on a much happier note -
Happy May Day! Visit here for some cute ideas for making May Day baskets.

It seems that so many jam jars nowadays are plastic. How I wish I lived a generation earlier when the details were so much prettier. However, when buying jam the last time, this sweet Smuckers jar jumped out at me. Not literally, silly. I recall these being plastic jars for a while with a plastic rimmed lid and metal inside - maybe because they were the giant Costco jars. Yuck. Anyway, I think I'm going to start collecting a few more of these while they're out there.

LOVE the red gingham metal lids. And those labels - they go so well with my kitchen colors. I thought I'd wash it up and use it to put doodads (or something) in. Then the thought occurred to me, "why not use these as vases?". Now, I know glass jars as a vase is nothing new, but with the label left on - it's even cuter! Can't you see a row of these on a summer picnic table filled with pretty white daisies? What a lovely picture! I didn't have any daisies handy otherwise I would've put some in for this photo. Only problem that I see is I wish the paper label were a little more durable. Gotta be careful when washing it to not get it too wet. Do you have any ideas of preserving the label better?

HoHum

I was getting tired of looking at Peeps every time I brought up this blog page. How about you?

So do our kitchen shelves qualify as 'cottage'? I had other colors mixed in like pink and blue, but for some reason my head likes only two-color combos. More than that and my brain goes on color overload. Why is that? I love in magazines and other people's homes when they can combine all sorts of colors and it all ties in so well and looks beautiful. But not me! I have a block of some sort, it seems.

Anyway, this kiwi or lime green works for me right now. Love it with my ever faithful red and white. Then come the holidays when I throw in my gingerbread collection (it's growing - thanks to my sis-in-law who sent some cute musical stuffed gingers for an early b-day present!) and it all goes.
I found the little green igloo cooler at Goodwill last week for under $3. Love it! Gave it a good washing and it's as good as new.

I need to find a bigger picture other than the little strawberry painting (another thrift find) to properly fill in the space above the stove. Or else another little one or two pieces to fill in.

Other than that, I'm loving the cheerfulness of it all! And it reminds me of summertime with watermelon, cherries, strawberries, raspberries - yummmmm. I am so looking forward to summer again. Oh, right! Gotta get through spring first.