Saturday, April 26, 2014

Arcadia, Florida

Hey there, Gals:

I am sharing our experience at The Oak Park Inn, Arcadia, Florida today. A party of  ten drove south Friday afternoon to spend the night at an Inn that dates back to the early 1900's.
The rooms are upstairs and just delightful. There is an antique market monthly on the 4th Saturday. We shopped all day outside and through the town. I have never seen so many shops filled with treasures in one town.  



The above photo is an example of the merchandise in the boutiques. Notice the birdcages......




I liked the shutter headboard at the bottom left of the photo......



We ate at Mary Margaret's Tea Room. I recommend the Hawaiian Wrap.....



We found some shade next to the hotel. It was 90* by 3:00.....summer has arrived. Several of the vendors are headed north for the hot months of June, July, and August.
If you want to do some walking and looking, Arcadia is a great place to explore.

The only purchase I made today was an item I had seen at the Country Living Craft Show in Atlanta. In October I saw this item for $45. Today I found it for $25.....stop by later and I'll show you what I found.....to be continued......
~Lynda~

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Birthday Peat Pots

Have you noticed all the spring peat pots on Pinterest? I was searching for a quick craft to decorate a birthday table a few weeks ago. I had purchased a sleeve of 14 peat pots from Walmart (under $2). I decided to decorate each one differently.

Below: Maybe a cupcake will help? Stamped cupcake by T!M Holtz placed on tongue blade, added joker by Graphic's Fairy. Cupcake punch by Martha Stewart. Peat pots were dabbed with white gesso or craft paint.





Above peat pot decoupaged with sheet music, pages of books. Rim has flowers and assorted brads. Inside there is a bit of antique lace held in place by candy....which quickly disappeared.

Below a bit of Parisian flare:


Red rose ribbon from Michaels was folded over this pot decoupaged with sheet music. Three buttons from French General were added as well as paper shavings inside, and a stamped tag with Tour Eiffel with a large black feather.....sort of Moulin Rouge style...keep it PG since these are going to middle school.


Above: the pot is not painted, but decoupaged with pages. The tag is covered with Paris washi tape.
The photo of Marie was taken when we toured Versailles in  2011. An added rosette with three red roses over a vintage lace wrap completes this pot.


The next pot was the "beach" theme; filled with shells from the shore, a vintage photo of my sister and I standing in front of our parents was the hit of the party. The students enjoyed seeing us at a young age.


A set of school stamps by Tweety Jill and some vintage style Graphic's 45 school paper made the next pot special. Our mother taught in public school for 42 years. Since my sister has taught quite a few years.....and this surprise party included some of her students, it was fun to use the school paper.


It was getting late when I was decorating these......so this last one I threw together some things I already had decorated. More sheet music, purchased at the October Country Living Fair in Atlanta, was used to cover the pot below. Black eyelash yarn and a tag made this one come together.


These peat pots were interspersed among Gerber Daisy pots. We had purchased cupcakes for the kids.

We are missing sister #3 here.....(she's in Atlanta)


Next time I will buy the large pots.  The youngest sister, Michelle, just made the party. She was in Africa helping widows and orphans for the TAKE HEART non-profit org. See takeheartafrica.org for more info.

Happy Birthday Sister!

Don't just sit there.....get busy decorating some peat pots!

~Lynda~














Saturday, April 5, 2014

Spring Break 2014

Spring has sprung in Florida...in fact, it has been in the 90's(that is what my car said) the last few days....

During spring break we visited Ten Thousand Villages in Orlando.

Park Ave is an interesting place. Small town feeling with dozens of shops all within walking distance.

We had a great time choosing treasures at Ten Thousand Villages. Do you know what fair trade is?


Donna and I check out the scarves.
I dressed in skittles' colors.....



Above.....love the tree hanging....could we make that ourselves? Gheez that is a lot of wire......



Above....the shop from the outside.........

No....we did not stop at the chocolatier....I just like the clock!


I had some great friends and family along! It was a lovely day!

 
When is it not lovely in Florida? We did have some cooler weather and rain at the end of the week.
The flowers are beautiful and the grass is green so no complaints!

How is your spring coming?