Peonies and Inspiration Vintage Magazine!

Our peony bushes finally blossomed last week, albeit with fewer buds this year.  Nevertheless, I made the most of this time to photograph and cut the beautiful blooms we were blessed with.

Keeping good company with the foxgloves....

On a nearby fence our New Dawn rose climber is growing gangbusters.  I photographed this first bloom last week:

The cut peonies offer such a lovely fragrance to my corner desk in the living room:

I was so happy to receive the Inspiration Vintage Magazine yesterday in the mail!  Have you seen it?  Talented Melinda, from Alabaster Rose Lifestyle, has put together a sumptuous magazine full of gorgeous photos and inspiration.  Many talented bloggers have contributed to create a feast for the eyes.  I love it!

Melinda includes a gorgeous article on playing with peonies, so I couldn't resist showing you a peek next to my vase of peonies.

Be sure to visit Melinda and take a look for yourself.  The magazine is available in both digital and printed formats.

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Kitchen is Painted!

Before the kids are home with me full time for the summer, I've been scurrying to finish projects around the house.  Now I can check off 'paint the kitchen' as one of them!  To be truthful, it wasn't a dramatic change.  The original color on the walls was an ivory that just had too much yellow in it for me.  I wanted a calm, serene, Jeanne D'Arc Living off-white color.  Benjamin Moore 'Dove White' to the rescue!
I just love this color!  It's not stark white, and seems to have a hint of slight gray.

I'm so happy with how my blue and white china looks against this color:

This tool caddy from the flea market got a distressed paint job with 'Marilyn's Dress' by Benjamin Moore.  I wasn't crazy about the red in it (see before here).

Over to the right I changed out some of the towels on the ladder:

Some herbs and fresh irises from the garden are enjoying sunlight by the window:

I love this wooden tote found at an antique mall:

A larger view from afar:

The cupboard shelves...

Inspired by Courtney of French Country Cottage's guesthouse kitchen, I made some curtains for the sink cabinet and window out of canvas dropcloth:

It's hard to see in the above photo with the glare, but this vintage wire piece/turned light fixture provides much needed light above the sink:

Nothing like roses to cheer up a kitchen:

It's nice to spend time in the kitchen now with this soothing new color on the walls.  Maybe my cooking will improve with all this good karma.  :)

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Our Girl's Fairy Tale Wonderland

It's been such a long time since I've shared our daughter's room here!  Here are quite a few photos to make up for lost time.  :)

I found a vintage doll bed at an antiques store not long ago, and prettied it up for her room.  It now makes a perfect "Princess and the Pea" bed for our little girl.

The bed got a coat of creamy white paint, and I added craft store finials to the posts.

You may recognize that I modeled this photo after the cover of my new favorite craft book, "Tilda's Fairy Tale Wonderland":

I used some Tilda fabrics on the mattresses:

The crown came from none other than Rosemary of Villabarnes.  She's so talented!

I used a vintage veil for the canopy:

Rosemary graciously included a lovely cameo when I ordered the crown from her, so I affixed it to the headboard on the bed.  So romantic!

The doll bed is placed alongside our little girl's vintage bed:

An inspiration board hangs above, reminding her to 'Wish':

This dreamy fairy queen made by Abby is just breathtaking:

I know I've mentioned before that the red scroll fabric on the back of this inspiration board came from a cloth shower curtain I got many years ago.  I used it on this board as well as a quilt on her bed, pillow cover, heart sachet and backing to a cabinet.  It went a long way!

I love to use our daughter's first initial to personalize the room, as on the embroidered pillow above and on this shelf:

The 'A' crown was made by Amy!

I covered the paper mache "A" with a doily, as inspired by a Victoria magazine article.  This ballerina cone was something fun to make as well:

The shelf hangs above her bed:

Also over her bed is this ribbon badge I made, inspired by a Somerset Life article by Petite Michelle Louise:

The other corner of the room holds her built-in cabinet space.  This room is tiny, so the storage is much appreciated!

My first Tilda doll sits here comfortably over the radiator shelf.

I finally added wings to the doll, again personalized with embroidery of our daughter's initials:

Some Tilda bunnies add a bit of whimsy:

Thanks for stopping by this fairy tale land!

Oh, and be sure to visit Kerryanne to see her latest addition of Simply Shabbilicious Magazine.  I'm so grateful she featured a sachet from my Etsy store in the magazine - thank you Kerryanne!

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Blissful Whites Wednesday
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