Merry Christmas To You!

I know it's been pretty quiet around here this Christmastime...

I'm Guest Hosting at The Scoop Link Party!

Hi everyone!  I'm a guest host at "The Scoop" link party this week!  Here are all the details: 

Welcome back to The Scoop

The weekly linky party featuring the scoop on the

best posts from around the web!

More exposure + less time = win win! 

Woodland Christmas in the Dining Room

Have you ever been inspired to decorate a room from a scrap of fabric, piece of artwork, or even a pillow? Sometimes I find something out shopping or through my travels that sets of a chain reaction of decorating and in the case of decorating my newly-painted dining room for the holidays, a simple decorative towel inspired a "Woodland Christmas" feel...

The Scoop On Creating a Handmade Christmas - Embellishing Christmas Gifts

Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember looking forward to wrapping the presents I would get for my family members.  It was so fun to get ribbon, bows, and tags and make the gifts look pretty.  I can even recall a time (long before I could ever purchase anything) when I wrapped some tinsel and an evergreen branch up in a little box for one of my older brother's Christmas presents!  I'm sure he was thrilled to receive that :)

Christmas in the Living Room

What a whirlwind last few days of decorating it has been!  I held off until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas, but that meant getting all the decorating done quickly.  It didn't help that I needed to paint all the walls before I could start decorating either!

Decorating with Natural Elements...Highlights of Christmas Pasts

Christmas Living Room 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I've held off decorating for Christmas until this weekend so I'm knee-deep in ornaments and greenery right now, but I wanted to share some Christmas highlights from the past couple of years from my previous home in case you are also decorating this weekend and would like a bit of inspiration...

A Few of Our Favorite Things - Furniture, DIY and Paint Supplies Giveaway!

I'm excited to announce that some of my favorite furniture re-finishing and DIY blogger friends and I have teamed up to share our favorite supplies that we've tested and approved over the countless projects we've worked on over the years and we're giving them away!  

Updating Mirrors with Chalk Paint

Do you ever run across those ornate, gold mirrors at thrift stores, flea markets, auctions, etc and wonder how you can change them up a bit?  I find these all the time and they've almost become staples in the booths and shows where I sell from because they are simple to update...

Details in the Dining Room

As I mentioned last week when I shared my Green and Natural Thanksgiving Tablescape, I promised to share the details, sources, paint color, etc of the latest dining room makeover in our rental house...

Green and Natural Thanksgiving Tablescape

I finished up my dining room just in time!  If you recall, I've been working here and there on the room, but since I'm part of a wonderful group of bloggers sharing our Fall/Thanksgiving tablescapes this week, it gave me the push to get it completed.

Autumn Breakfast Under the Old Oak Tree - Creating a Fall Vignette

Behind our current home is a giant old oak tree that's at least 150 year old and is just beautiful!  Although it's the source of many leaves to rake this Fall, it's also a great setting for a picnic or bite to eat.

The Scoop On Creating Fall Vignettes Tour

I just wanted quickly let everyone know that starting tomorrow morning, there will be a great group of 25 bloggers sharing Fall vignettes over 5 days!  One of the great things about this tour is that there will be a "how to" element on creating beautiful vignettes besides seeing all of the pretty pictures.  You won't want to miss it!

Here is the schedule for The Scoop on Creating Fall Vignettes tour:

Eulalie's Sky Milk Paint and a New Booth

I'm back in the saddle again!  After not painting furniture for a couple of months because of the move and closing my booth in Raleigh, it felt good to work on new project with a new color.  I'm sort of a product junkie when it comes to paint and supplies.  I love to try new colors and brands of paint, wax, etc and when Miss Mustard Seed came out with the Eulalie's Sky color for her line of milk paint, I knew I had to try it since I gravitate to blues.

Country Living Fair & Shopping in Atlanta

Whew!  I'm finally back home after a long weekend away in Atlanta attending the Country Living Fair and doing some shopping around the area.  I'm glad that I finally made the trip down to check it out!  I started out this little business selling at fairs and shows like this so I always enjoy attending them.

Budget Bedroom Makeover for a Rental Home

While I'm still working away on my dining room makeover, I thought I'd share my oldest daughter's room that has been mostly completed for a while now.  It just need a couple of little things finished up before I could take pictures...

High Point Market Fall 2013 Highlights

Gypsy Marketplace

I feel pretty lucky just living about a half hour away from the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world...  With about 11.5 million sq ft of showspace, I still have so much to see and learn at the High Point Market, but I always walk away inspired.  The Market is held twice a year and you might remember my first trip last Spring which I posted HERE and HERE.

Gypsy Marketplace

"Going Green" - Inspiration for a Dining Room Makeover

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that the latest move into our rental had been a challenge and that I was slowly coming around to working on a couple of rooms in the rental house.  While I will not be attacking most of the house, I've decided to do a mini-makeover for the dining room for a few reasons. 1) It is one of the first rooms you see when you enter the house. 2) I like to set up tablescapes, centerpieces and need a place to set them up. 3) It is one of the few rooms in the house that doesn't need a total overhaul (kitchen, bathrooms, carpets) and is easily cleaned up some fresh paint,etc. I plan to show more of the house later, but I wanted to share a bit of what I'm working on in the dining room and some of my inspiration for the room. This is what I'm working with...

Atlanta Country Living Fair Ticket Giveaway!

Ever since moving to North Carolina a couple years ago, I've been wanting to travel down to Atlanta for the Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain, but the timing has never been right.  I'm excited to say that I'm making it happen this year and will be traveling down to attend.  I'm even more excited to announce that I'm giving away a pair of 3-day passes!

Fall in the Dining Room... 5 Easy Fall Centerpieces

Five fellow bloggers and I are sharing "Fall Around the House" today!  In case you missed it, six talented blog friends shared their inspiring Fall decorations yesterday...  Make sure you check them out as they are beautiful!  Fall is one of my favorite seasons as I love the colors, crisp air, fresh apples, and since moving to North Carolina, it's a wonderful break from the hot, humid summer weather.

Fall Around the House... Part One

I've joined an amazing group of bloggers this week to share some "Fall Around the House"!  There is some beautiful autumn decorating shared at six blogs today...

Past Autumns and an Update

I know that's it has been quite a while since I've posted...  I've missed all of you!  When I left you last, my family was temporarily staying at my mom's house until we could move into our rental house in the Greensboro, NC area (a house I had yet to see).

Summer Showcase of Homes - My House Tour

There have been some beautiful home tours this week on the 2013 Summer Showcase of Homes!  Have you seen them yet?  If not, I put together a full list of all the home tours through yesterday HERE.  Today is the last day of the tours and I'm happy to be included among such talented women.

2013 Summer Showcase of Homes

Have you seen the beautiful tour of homes around blogland this week?!  If you're searching for inspiration for your own home or just love to look at houses, this is the week for you.  The tour kicked off on Monday, and in case you missed any of it, you'll want to go back and see the tours that took place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (links go directly to home tours).

Moving, Vintage Wedding, and Being in Limbo-Land...

I can honestly say that this summer has been near the top of the list of crazy summers!  I know that it's been about a month since I posted last.  I had been very busy preparing for the Carolina Vintage Market and after that weekend, I really had to completely focus on finding a place to live in the Greensboro, NC area and get ready for the next big move.  If you've been following along for a while, you'll know that our family has had to endure quite a few moves in the last three years, but this one has been especially difficult and I just needed to unplug for a while and focus on the homefront. Within one week's time, all of our belongings were packed up and moved, we celebrated my youngest daughter's birthday, and had a family wedding for my brother... Oh, and add daily swim practice and meets for the kids in there too!  If you've been following along on my Facebook page, you'll know that our family is smack in the middle of "limbo-land" and currently staying at my mom's house until we can get into our house in Greensboro in August...so there is more crazy to come!

Recent Projects and Market Preview

It's been a while, hasn't it?!  I've been incredibly busy the last week or so... From out-of-town house hunting trips, two hour nightly swim practices for the girls, and the fact that all the kids are home all day fills up quite a bit of my time.  But...I've also been super-busy getting ready for the first Carolina Vintage (mini) Market this weekend.

Introducing...Carolina Vintage Market!

I have some exciting news!  I've hinted around in the past few weeks about having a sale and I'm happy to announce the launch of the very first Carolina Vintage Market (mini)!  On June 22nd and 23rd, Amy from Atta Girl Says, Barb from Farmhouse Decor, and I will be filling "The Hen House" at SuzAnna's Antiques for a "mini" vintage market!

Dresser Makeover with Fabric

I've had a little project brewing in my mind for a long time... It's one of those projects when I just needed to find the right piece of furniture and the time to tackle it.  Over the years, I've seen some beautiful furniture makeovers by applying fabric directly to drawer fronts, etc and after seeing another dresser with linen applied to the drawer fronts on my trip to High Point Market, I knew I just had to try out the technique...

Farmhouse Style Front Porch with Pops of Red

Remember my mom and step-dad's house that I shared a few months back?  They've been slowly adding their personal style to the place through careful shopping and as many DIY projects as they can to save money on furnishings.  They like to curate their home by picking up furniture projects, sewing custom draperies, and finding bargains that they can make over.  While many rooms are partially done, there are still many things that they are on the look-out for and some weekend projects still to go.

Beach-Inspired Bling With Martha Stewart Jewelry

Martha Stewart is at it again...  With many amazing craft products already on the shelves at Michael's Craft Stores, she's adding a new line of Martha Stewart Jewelry to the list as well.  I love getting a hold of new jewelry-making materials so when a big box of Martha's new products came to my door, I knew I was going to have some fun...

Little Honeybee Dresser, Updated Booth Pictures, and House News

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I scored quite a bit of furniture at a local auction that I'm slowly getting through, including this little petite dresser.  I think it was an old washstand and after staring at it a bit, I decided to remove the top wooden piece.  It just wasn't working for me...

Two-toned Dresser and Kitchen Scale Dining Table

After losing a good week of productive time due to giving my back a rest and having a wonderful birthday and Mother's Day weekend...it felt good to get back to work in the garage today.  I can't wait to work on some of the pieces of furniture that I have lined up and I've got lots of ideas to make them look "new" again!

32 Random Things About Me...

Since today is my 32nd birthday, I thought I'd share 32 random facts about me...  I've mentioned before that I don't share too many personal things on my blog, so this is certainly a change of pace for me!  I've read many similar posts on other blogs and I've always enjoyed learning new things about others, so here I go...

1.)  I grew up on a second-generation dairy farm in a small community in Northeast Washington State. I'll always be a farm girl at heart.  For my entire adult life, I've been trying to get back to living on a farm...never thought it would be so hard to do.

2.)  I love to read, but wish I had more time to.  I love books about history, biographies, etc.  My favorite books are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

3.)  Because I was around animals constantly growing up, I was determined to become a veterinarian my entire childhood until I had a part-time job at a veterinary clinic in high school and realized that I'm way too sensitive after having to help put animals to sleep.  I still know how to milk cows, care for livestock, ear-tag, de-horn, and even castrate cattle though!  Not sure where these skills will ever come in handy again unless the execs at Manolo Blahnik want to hire me at their dairy farm :)  I'd work there in a second!

My first time showing a calf at the local fair at 5 yrs old

Tips for Shopping Antique Shows and Fairs

The Farm Chicks Show (in the earlier days) - via Country Living

Temperatures are warming up and antique shows/fairs are found almost every weekend around the country right now...it's my favorite time of year!  Spring is normally a crazy, busy time for me and for the first time in 7 years, I'm not working night-and-day on a gazillion projects for back-to-back antique shows that I'm normally a vendor at in April/May/June.  I have to admit that it feels strange not to be stressed out with piles of inventory in the garage and around the house and weirdly enough, I miss it!  I sort of crave the pressure, but with the house being for sale and not knowing what the future held, I didn't sign up for the Luckett's Spring Market this year.  I had been down that road before...back in the summer of 2010...house was for sale, 6 big shows, packing, moving, a baby that never slept...not fun, never again!  I had learned my lesson...

Luckett's 2012 - Part One

So instead of being a vendor, I'm a shopper at the shows this year and long before I started selling my own wares, I was a die-hard shopper at some of the biggest shows like The Farm Chicks Show, etc. for years.  By being both a vendor and a shopper, I've definitely learned a few things along the way, so I thought I'd share a few tips for navigating these shows/fairs that have worked for me over the years...

A Few Furniture Projects and a Little Setback

After having a blast visiting High Point, I had a busy weekend of shopping a large antiques festival, attending an auction, and re-stocking my booth.  With the house being for sale and all the extra time and cleaning required for maintaining a house that's on the market, finding and working on paint projects was taking a backseat. It's not a great combination...a furniture hobby filling the garage while the house is for sale.  At first, I almost completely emptied the garage, but my second-nature took over at last weekend's auction and I scored tons of great stuff.

20 Kids' Spaces on a Budget

I've always had a soft-spot for designing/decorating kids' rooms!  They are, by far, my favorite rooms to decorate because of the opportunity to use colors, patterns, and creative elements that I won't normally use in other areas of the home.  It's just plain fun to help inject some of the unique personality of a child into their space!  I recently asked to curate a clipboard over on Hometalk of 20 Kids' Rooms on a Budget that is full of ideas to help you transform your children's rooms without breaking the bank.

High Point Market Part 2 and My Loot

Gypsy Marketplace

I hope you enjoyed the little tour of some of the High Point showrooms that I shared the other day.  I promised to post my favorite part of High Point as well as some goodies I brought home!  As much as I loved looking at the new furniture lines, there's a part of me that loves digging through warehouses, barns, etc for the old stuff...