Luxurious Retreat Tips

merry making

We’ve been busy decking the halls (pretty much the same way we did last year…so I thought I’d just give you a link to those pictures instead of taking duplicates.) This year, I’m happy to report, I didn’t injure myself, which made the decorating infinitely more enjoyable. How many cookies can one person bake? Well,…

studio snapshots

Hello friends! I spent a good portion of my day going through my home studio yesterday. A few of you expressed an interest in seeing pictures, so I took a few snapshots with the little Sony Cyber Shot and posted them. If you start at the second picture of my desk and scroll down, it’s…

date night ~ estate sale & dinner out

the loot πŸ˜‰ … after a fun couple hours treasure hunting…we decided on Fiesta Mexicana for dinner… I had the tamale, enchilada, chilie rellanos combo… and Jeff had the Carne Asada… This week for date night we were out for an evening walk and happened to see an estate sale sign. We discovered this treasure…

halloween 2011 ~ part 1 ~ decorating and pumpkin art

~ halloween throughout my house ~ The Halloween celebration started last night. We put on an extra layer of woolies, carved pumpkins on the deck, (also known as the “dock”) and had a camp fire.Β  At dusk, we drove over to Grandview Avenue here in Red Wing, armed withΒ  a thermos of hot, spiced Honeycrisp…

teacup candle

page 16- “Welcome Home” by Melissa Placzek There are several pages where I talk about tea and tea-related treats in my books, Chin Deep in Bubbles and Welcome Home! I remembered this while deciding what to post for Teatime Tuesday. I’ll be posting these little luxuries periodically throughout the next few months so you can…

linen hutch

The Hutch… The page in “Welcome Home” where I talk about the hutch… some of the (but not all of the) linens… and some of the vintage fabrics… and vintage reproduction fabrics… and a selection of the vintage pillowcases (this is about 1/4 of them) I LOVE vintage sheets and pillowcases…especially ones with hand embroidery…

six senses saturday ~ tea party!

tasting: apple cider floats, carrot cheddar curry tea sandwiches with raisins and apple on whole grain sandwich thins (and cut into wedges), cucumber sandwiches, chili and pumpkin filled crescent rolls. smelling: pumpkin crescent rolls baking in the oven, spicy candles burning, and fresh roses (that hubby gave me for our anniversary.) feeling: blessed by the…

autumn decorating

I’m feeling that feeling that comes over me every October. Time to feather the nest! I’ve packed summer away, rolled out the woven throw rugs and wool area rugs, and exchanged summer’s crisp blues and whites for autumn’s tawny earth tones. I sipped tea and hot apple cider while I decorated and took photographs to…

thrift store score

“In all forms of collecting, the hunt for bargains adds zest to the game.” ~Edward James Nankivell, 19th century English journalist a sweet vintage bread basket cloth various vintage napkins a had crocheted pineapple doily linen and crocheted lace pieces lace edged table doily embroidered and tatted pillowcases white eyelet…my favorite! a book with a…