Just Charming.....

 I love small towns... especially because I grew up in a medium sized city just minutes from downtown L.A.

When we took our trip up to Central California, I loved the charm that was all around.

I love when people do what they love in their homes...when it's not all about "keeping up with the Jone's"

Here are some pictures of things that tickled me on our trip. Most of these photos were taken in Morro Bay, Ca. 

Sweet Garden art....Vintage of course....

This bronze was at the Natural History Museum...I thought it was striking....

When I was little, we would drive to Redondo Beach (just 5 miles away)  and I would have fun spending my allowance in the shell shop...it looked very similar to this little shop!

This was in someone's driveway. I think it is to tie up a boat...

And I fell madly in love with this siren....I commented on it every time we passed it and I think my hubby and daughter got tired of me talking about her!

I was wishing we were driving this dapper car...maybe someday....

Hope you are enjoying the charm in your communtiy!  Have a great weekend! karen...

This and That (The White Version)

 I wanted to participate in White Wednesday, just didn't want to be left out and I had a whole bunch of white pictures to share!

To start out, this is one of a pair of funky handmade chairs that we brought to the booth the other day...  (cuz you know I have to share something in my booth!)

 Next, I wanted to share Carol's booth. She doesn't have a blog but she has an eye for the chippy and look at that darling baby carriage!

 Here is a darling lace child's dress and a bassinet...

 And many wonderful finds to decorate your home or dress up with!

This is a new vendor at Country Roads... so Frenchie! Love that rusty statue!

And here is the other side of her booth.....

Now, for a change...

We took a much needed little vacation to central Calif and  looked at a little house to possibly purchase.  We just aren't sure if it is regal enough (insert snort!)

The grounds were lovely and we think we could live with these little, ancient, statues .....

I guess we could manage to make-do with this little guy...(snicker)

And maybe we could have a little lunch with these ladies....

This wing might work for one of the kids or grandma....(wink, wink)

And our animals would have playmates....

It's a little property called Hearst Castle....  Sorry for the silliness, I just can't help myself...

The grounds were so beautiful. Here is an area filled to the brim with Hydrangeas, one of my favorite flowers.

 

We had fun visiting Morro Bay, San Simeon and Ventura....just exploring and enjoying and then came home to get ready for a new school year. Sweet girl started college on monday and I started school on tuesday (love my little rascals!)

Hope you enjoyed all the eyecandy and have a wonderful rest of your week!  karen....

Beautiful Whites.....

 As you can probably tell, I love my little booth...  I love shopping for it, styling it and  I even love doing the projects that are needed to bring a piece back to life....

 This sweet mannequin is fairly new, needs some clothes, I am on the hunt for a crinoline and a halloween costume for her....

 I love this chippy planter and these cameo pictures....

 And although this plate holder is really just a whatchamacallit in my mind...it looks great with a plate and a doily....

Today we brought in this wonderful primitive cupboard/china hutch.... I would have loved to keep it, but alas...no room at our inn....

Kate from Salvage Dior was in today fluffing her booth and it was looking so pretty I had to take a picture for you.
I hope your week is wonderful so far!  Please go visit Faded Charm to visit her White Wednesday get together, Kathleen always throws a great party!    And if you are ever near Orange, Ca, Come visit Country Roads and see all the great finds that are available and all the wonderful inspiring booths.   karen....aka rita....

Cherub Sinks, Ladderback chairs and Green Toilets OH MY!

 Here is my newest find and boy did it have a story!  It is now cleaned up and ready to go into my booth...
I saw it at a garage sale and asked a lady about it and she started yelling for her sister to come out and tell me the "story"
Apparently this sink was pulled out of the Chanel store in Beverly Hills in the 70's.  The woman's father was a contractor and was commissioned to re-do the bathrooms in the Chanel building. In this bathroom, he pulled out this Italian cherub sink and a green toilet.
The woman proceeded to tell me " So Dad, pulled out the sink and toilet and immediately installed the  green toilet in our bathroom and put this sink on the shelf for the next 40+ yrs.  Well, when my sister was a teenager, she had a terrible bladder infection and the dr. chastized her because she hadn't gotten in sooner. Well my sister told him ' I didn't know I was sick because our toilet is green!'
and then she finished the story with " So the moral of the story is never pee in a green toilet!"
So now you have it! The story of the cherub sink and the green toilet!
I just love this sink... hope someone else does too!

 These are two ladderback chairs I picked up that once had rush seats...

I painted them with Anne Sloan robins egg and clear wax and added some pretty vintage barkcloth...they are also going to the booth today...

And on a more serious note:

This sweet little girl is Bailey Rose.  She is very sick right now in ICU.
She had back surgery last year for spinal fusion and she ended up with a severe infection. Yesterday they removed the rod but her body is in shock from the surgery and infection and she is on a ventilator and is very ill.  If you pray, or believe in positive thoughts or whatever good thoughts you can send to sweet Bailey and her family it would be much appreciated.  She is very special!

Have a great weekend and remember...don't pee in a green toilet!
                                          karen...
 I am joining Common Ground for their wonderful Vintage Inspiration Party...go visit, you will love it!

White Wednesday

 I have not participated in White Wednesday in so long and I always enjoy visiting so I thought I would share some of the whites I found at Country Roads Antiques. Above and below are pictures of my friend Gloria's space. She has a wonderful eye!

 Her husband was in today adding new things and moving things around....I saw some wonderful architectural pieces getting ready to go in....

 The above picture is my friend Carol's booth....so many pretties and all in creams and whites and  tarnish...my favorite colors!

 This is my little booth last week....

And here is a hat and bust that I just love ......

I hope you are all having a great week!  Go visit Kathleen's blog to see all the other wonderful White Wednesday posts....

Before and After

I found this little bounty of chairs last weekend. A sweet family was moving to Washington state and they couldn't take these with them.... I was happy to help!

There are six of them, all but one are blue,and that one was also missing it's seat. We are in the middle of the redo but I remembered to take pictures before it was too late! Here is one of the many fabrics we found on these cuties:

The lady I bought them from said they were told the chairs were at least 40+ yrs old when they purchased them over 20 years ago. I just think they are darling, they are like cool dining room chairs that can be folding chairs!

This is what they will look like finished.  Except the white one. What would you paint it knowing that you won't be able to match the paint?

Trying homemade chalk paint

 I love my hubby!  I had a weekend of junking planned but ended up with a sinus infection and 3 days of migraines instead. I was so upset!  So, on saturday my cute husband went out to garage sales and came home with 3 tables, 3 mannequins and 3 flower frogs!
The above sofa table is so cute but it had some major stains on the top so I decided to try homemade chalk paint.....

 I used the 2/3 paint to 1/3 plaster of paris and some water mix.... It covered really well and was so easy to use. The picture makes it look kinda lavender but it is more of a grey with blue undertones.  I love the result. It does feel kinda rough when it is finished but I had some Anne Sloan clear wax and finished it off with that and it felt much better. I really didn't get good in-depth pictures because I needed to take it to the booth today but at least you get the idea!

Below is another table he got, it is so darling and perfectly chippy. In this picture it looks very beige but it is actually a greenish color.

I did make it to an estate sale last week and I want to share more with you but summer school starts tomorrow and I need to get ready to get up early and see my cute little rascals.

Those little guys (and girls) sure can make me tired but I so miss them when I am away from them!

Hope your week is starting off well!  karen....