THE SWEETEST CHRISTMAS EVER

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Spending time with loved ones always makes me happy. There was yummy food, a fire in the fireplace,  silly games, kids running around, lots of pictures taken and the most fabulous Christmas gifts given.

This one made me cry.

A calendar of Basset Hounds from Don.  As some of you may know, our 'Barklee' past away this past June.  It is amazing to me how an animal can touch ones heart and become part of the family. His sense of humor always kept me laughing and his barking drove me crazy, but I loved him. He was my 'B'.

On the  paper that the calendar was wrapped in was a little note telling me to go out and find another Basset Hound to touch my heart once again.  While I know another one will not take his place it will be fun to have those long floppy ears and huge feet scampering throughout the house with Fergee. And one can never have too much fur in their home can one?   And have I said that I have the sweetest husband ever:)

I hope your Christmas was fabulous too. Did you get any surprises?

'Till next time....

~Debra

MY WISH TO ALL OF YOU

I wanted to take this time on Christmas Eve to wish everyone of you and your family and loved ones a BLESSED AND VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. 

You have no idea how much I have enjoyed meeting you all and  exchanging  thoughts and ideas with you. . It has meant sooo much to me! You are my very special Christmas present:)

~Debra XXX

A PROJECT FOR THE NEW YEAR - YES ALREADY

Call me crazy, but when I saw this Victorian settee, I fell in love!  While some of you may see a hunk of junk I simply see beauty. Does anyone else see beauty or is it just me. It's ok if its just me, just wait until I am done with it. I have been collecting just the right fabrics, laces and trims to redo it in. (Some of the runners up in recovering it are on the floor beside it on the floor)

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Believe it or not, I was going to start it tonight. But I thought how silly to stress myself out over the holidays. I mean Christmas is in 3 more days and I have a ton of things to do yet. OK...maybe it was  my husband who said "Are you crazy?" I thought for a moment and said " maybe I am" (insert big crazy laugh here!!!) and remembered that I am the impulsive one in the family and  sometimes he keeps me grounded......this time;)

As I was saying, it needs only cosmetic work. The bones of it are great. I am going to redo it in dark chocolate and cream colors because I think it will look pretty juxtaposing the white slipcovered sofa. Then I will add some pretty white pillows to bring it all together.

    It is very old, filled with excelsior and is very prickly.  

I am going to trim it in antique lace.  I can't wait to start it! I started to rip the top fabric off of it which is very uncomfortable and hard and found a blue floral print underneath.
(Wish me luck, I might sneak in at least ripping the fabric off tomorrow. He'll never know;)
Do you have any projects planned for 2010 yet?  Or am I just jumping the gun here:) I'd love to hear.

'Till next time......
~Debra

WHITE WEDNESDAY IN THE LIBRARY AND COLLECTING VINTAGE PHOTOS

Hello!!! Hope you are all doing fine. Just 9 more days left until Christmas. It  seems like we just put the tree up.

This is our library. I have tons of books.  They are stacks everywhere but mostly here. We were given an old door and I asked Don to make me a library table.  I painted it a patina green, placed some vintage photos on top and then added  glass. It is long like the library tables I remember in grammer  school. I found 8 different chairs and painted them all the same color white and didn't pay more than $5.00 for any of them. I love this table. It turned out to be exactly what I envisioned. Because, Don is just that good:)

This is our loveseat in the library that faces the fireplace. So if we are not doing something at the table we can curl up and read a book on here. Fergee thought it was hers.  One day I came down stairs and the feather/down pillows were all over the room and she was laying on the loveseat. I swear she was smiling. I was so happy that she didn't rip open the pillows (can you imagine the mess) that I didn't even yell.  But I did have a little discussion with her and now we are on the same page.

I have always enjoyed collecting vintage photos. There is just something about having a photo of a gorgeous child, a happy couple wondering what story it may hold. I love to pick out certain expressions, clothing, backgrounds. And then find the perfect frame or other use for it. These are on the walls of our 1st floor foyer.

This WONDERFUL woman is my grandmother on her wedding day. I cherish this picture and am so happy that she gave it to me.  She was a mother to me when I was a child.  She taught me how to sew, cook, crochet. You name it she could do it.  She even said to me one day "Honey, it is time to stand up straight and suck in your tummy" lol. She was the kindest woman I have ever known.  I know she is an angel right now - no doubt in my mind. I LOVE memories don't you? Do you ever wonder how lucky you are to have or have had certain people in your life?

This pretty lady in being held by a florists frog.  Do you collect vintage photos? How do you display them? I would love to hear.

Don't forget to visit Kathleen at Faded Charm, Hi Kathleen, for more White Wednesday.

'Till next time......
~Debra

DON'T LET THESE TWO FOOL YOU

                         They are partners in trouble.

"Hey Fergee, I have a great idea!"

"Let me whisper it in your ear so that no one can hear us"

"Oh this is going to be so much fun."

"UH Oh Hi Grammie.... er Bob (yes my granddaughter calls me Bob) we were just sitting here being good".

"And don't think for one minute that we were going to eat cat food......again."

"I mean, do we look hungry?"

"Seriously, Bob, I don't even like cat food."

       "Wow, that was close. I hope Bob bought it. Any way, I only ate the red ones."

CHRISTMAS IN THE KITCHEN

Hello Everyone!

Gee was it cold today. 25 degrees and the wind chill was even lower!!! I love the snow but not the cold if that makes any sence.  

We have about a dozen (or more) Christmas trees. Different sizes, colors, some full, some thin, some tall, some short. I do not put all of them up every year.  Sometimes 6 or 7 sometimes just 3 and they are always decorated differently. I like to have different themes. Last year I did vintage photos on one and snowmen on another and a silver tree with turquoise decorations on another....  Our main tree however, is always a real one and always decorated with glass ornaments many of which are vintage.  This year I decided to decorate the kitchen with one of my favorite trees. A 5 ft vintage like fir with colors of copper and gold. Bulbs, bows, birds, snowflakes and pinecone garland make this spot of the kitchen sparkle. I also added little white lights to brighten the area at night.

Three Vintage inspired trees.  When I see the real deal I buy them but these, even though new, were just too pretty to pass up.  And they match the color theme in the kitchen.

Oooooo  Ahhhhhh

This beautiful angel was not made for the top of a tree so I cut out the bottom and I like the way it turned out. It is so sparkly and wonderful.

These two lovely ornaments came from Walmart:)

                                              Old and new - the perfect match. Can you tell which are new?

This is not my kitchen.  I don't know how this photo got on the post.

 How many trees do you put up?  Is there anyone crazy like me who own as many?

'Till  next time....
~Debra

WINTER WONDERLAND

LOOK at what we woke up to this morning.  About 6 inches of the soft, white, fluffy stuff! It is sooo pretty.

                                       This is our Barn.
It was built in the 1700s and has seen a lot of snow. Instead of housing farm animals, it now houses Don, me and our menagerie. It is a fun place to live.

I topped off all of the bird feeders last night so our feathered friends could have breakfast in the morning. They were very happy when I looked out to check on them this a.m.

This is going down our looong driveway from the Barn.  Not good for my little car in the snow.

This little stream  trickles down from the woods. The more it snows or rains the wider and prettier it gets.

A lovely grand tree.

This is one of my favorite Christmas trees.  It looks so vintage but is not.  And it doesn't need to be decorated to be beautiful although it does have brown bells attached.

I put some greens in my white pitchers on the bakers cabinet.

         My mantel in the library decorated for the season.

Hope you enjoyed my White Wednesday.  I will be by to see all of yours.  Thank you Kathleen at Faded Charm for creating White Wednesday.

'Till next time.....
~Debra

BURLAP PILLOWS ARE ON SALE AT MAISONSTGERMAIN.COM

Hello Everyone!!

Hope you are having a great weekend.  We saw a little snow yesterday.  It was so pretty.  This is just a quick post to let you know that these burlap pillows will be on our site tomorrow.  They are 16", burlap and pollyfilled and sooooo pretty!!! The roses have pearls in the centers. They will be on sale for $28.00.  Thank you for looking!

#MP009 Dark Chocolate with 9 gorgeous roses!!! 
SALE $28.00

MP006 Vanilla burlap with 3 large roses. SALE $28.00.

MP005  Dark Chocolate burlap with 3 large roses. 
 SALE $28.00


Thank you for looking:)

'Till next time.............
............~Debra

Happy White Wednesday

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love it when family gets together don't you? I am glad we don't wait until a holiday to do it. But holidays always make it that much more special.

I found this little park bench on Sunday. It is so sweet that someone loved it enough to replace the second runner with a wavy one. It has just the right amount of chippiness and rust and its size is just perfect.

This is the type of pillows we should have in by the weekend.  They will be in this color coffee, drk chocolate and vanilla.  They will all be a little bit different and will be on sale for $28.00.  If you are interested, just drop me a note so I will have enough for everyone. And just  reminder that everything is on sale at Maisonstgermain.com.

These are three of my favorite suitcases. Just the perfect spot for a little white tree decorated in gold. I have been Christmas decorating and will be posting more pictures soon.  Nicole's tree is absolutely gorgeous this year. I will post that for sure.

Hope you enjoyed my White Wednesday and don't forget to check out Kathleen at Faded Charm for more white loveliness.

Till next time....
....~Debra

The Tooth Fairy

Stella just turned 5 years old.  She came home last week very interested in why people lose their teeth. "Mama, will I lose all of my teeth?"  "Do you call the tooth fairy or does she just show up?" "Do big people lose their teeth too?  Do they grow back like mine will"? "Can I laugh at someone when they lose their teeth?" and on and on.  Nicole answered all of her questions as well as she could and also told her that it was not nice to laugh when an adult loses their teeth.

After thinking about it for a few days, she said to Nicole tonight "Mama, when I see someone big with missing teeth I won't say anything about it." I will just say; I loooove your hair". :) Aren't kids just precious?

I just wanted to share. It is times like this that make me the happiest.

                                                         Stella and Fibi


Till next time....
....~Debra

A WISH, A BIT OF WHITE WEDNESDAY, AND A SALE!

Hello Everyone,

First, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for in our home. We are very blessed.

And it just wouldn't be the same if Fergie didn't wish you a Happy Thanksgiving too.

Being with family and friends...well it just doesn't get better than that.

This week we have a couple of photos from Nicole's house. I love her chippy mantle and the pictures of her gorgeous in-laws.

And her kitty, Logan.  He is the friendliest cat. Isn't he adorable?

And third, I wanted to let you know that our on-line boutique MAISONSTGERMAIN.COM is having a HUGE SALE starting on Monday.  Everything in the shop is on sale and we will be adding new items during the week, including the dress forms above. We have two of them left. And if you are ever looking for something in particular, please drop us a note and we will be on the lookout for you.  We have access to so many different things.

Don't forget to check out Kathleen at Faded Charm for more White Wednesday. She and the other ladies that have joined White Wednesday always have the most beautiful photos.

'Till next time.....
~Debra

WHITE STATUES INSIDE AND OUT

Hello everyone!   Today for White Wednesday I thought I would show you some of our statues from our home and garden.

I just love these two cherubs.  This used to be a fountain but it cracked over the years and wasn't able to be repaired again.   So now it is a planter and better than ever. It ages so beautifully.

This is our newest statue given to me by Don for our anniversary. I believe it is a reproduction of sort of 'The Winged Victory of Samothrace.' It is an quite an interesting story. Anyway, this statue is taller than I am. I saw it one day while we were out and loved it.  Later that week Don (he is the best) and my son-in-law Manuel(who is awesome) went out to get it.  They set it up in the yard to surprise me the next morning. Was I ever surprised! 

In front of my studio. OOHHHMMMMMMMM

A kitchen Angel. Could she be any cuter?

                                        In the library.

Hope you enjoyed my White Wednesday. Don't forget to check out Kathleen at Faded Charm for more.  She has some of the nicest ladies who participate in White Wedneday.

Till next time.....
~Debra