Button, button, who's got the button?

I do, actually!

Lots and lots of creamy white buttons...

... and they're all being watched over by this beautiful little bird, perched on the rim of this petite bowl. Isn't he handsome?

I thought the bowl might look good holding some earrings from my vintage clip-on collection since they pick up a lot of the colors in my little friend...

But a little birdie told me (yes, it was him) that he prefers to be the main pop of color, and I quite agree. This beautiful bird bowl was sent to me last year by a very good friend who wanted to cheer me up. She knew I was having a hard time dealing with my dad's passing and, being the generous, caring person that she is, she sent this little beauty my way to bring a smile to my lips.

I'm sure that any of you who know Claudia from Mockingbird Hill Cottage won't be a bit surprised to learn that it was she who so generously sent this little fellow my way :) (Thank you, Claudia, I love him!)

You might remember that Claudia also posted about PicMonkey last week. Let's just say I'm officially addicted to PicMonkey now. See the photo above?

Look at it after playing with PicMonkey!! OMG, I am absolutely in love with this site! You must go check it out!

It's like eating potato chips. One just doesn't satisfy you. So I "tweaked" another!

Isn't this just too cool?? I hope you all have as much fun as I do visiting PicMonkey! And Claudia, once again, thank you for my beautiful bird bowl! I absolutely love it!

I'm linking up to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home. Be sure to pop over and visit everyone!

Donna

Pretty in Pink

The view from our living room window...

is spectacular right now, thanks to our hoppa crab tree.

It's hard to believe it was only a little over a month ago, during our April 1st storm...

...that it looked like this!!!

Even the bird lamp birdies are enjoying the view!

It's hard to believe that when we bought these trees back in 1982 (we planted two in our yard)...

... they were so small ...

... that they both fit ...

...  into the back of my VW bug convertible (with the top down, of course).

Spring was a long time in coming, but it was well worth the wait!!

I'm linking up to My Romantic Home's Show & Tell Friday. Be sure to stop by and see what everyone is sharing this week!
Also, I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit a lot of you lately. My dad has been in the hospital/nursing home/rehab for the past two weeks and I'm spending a lot of time there. Hopefully, if all goes well, he will be coming home some time next week and I'll have more time to get around and visit. Till then, I hope you are all enjoying spring wherever you are!!

Donna

A bed of roses...

The last time I showed you our bedroom, the bed itself was a rumpled mess (thanks to our Baby!!). I promised to share pictures when the bed is made and, as usual, Baby insisted on being in the photos (she's such a little ham!)

I have a couple of different coverlets or quilts for the bed and this is one of my favorites. Who can resist lush pink roses against a robin's egg blue background? Baby and I certainly can't!

The back set of pillows are covered with white eyelet shams...

... and the front pillows sport vintage Battenburg lace shams...

...with beautifully embroidered rosebuds.

A small accent pillow with roses and pink pom pom trim (from a little girl's department) sits between all the other pillows.

With it's 'sweet dreams' message, bluebird, and pink roses, I decided to indulge the 'little girl' in me.

I thought this photo of Baby was hilarious. To me, it looks like she is climbing out of a (non-existent) hole in the center of the bed!

So after all of the bed-making chores are done....

... it's time to relax and enjoy the long overdue delicious spring breeze coming in through the open bedroom window!

In my next post I'll share some thoughts we've been throwing around  about how to give this "stuck in the 80's, half colonial/primitive, half shabby cottage" bedroom a much-needed facelift!

I'm linking up to My Romantic Home's Show & Tell Friday. Be sure to stop by and see what everyone is sharing this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Donna

The college apartment - pink & green!

September 1st, otherwise known as student-move-in-day in beautiful Boston, home to a multitude of colleges and universities...

Come on in and I'll show you Court's home-away-from-home for the next year. When she and her roommates found this apartment, I fell in love with the floors and doorknobs....

Not to mention the gorgeous windows! Court and another girl will be sharing this room which is set apart from the rest of the apartment by beautiful French doors. (There's a smidge of hubby on the left, assembling the IKEA loft bed...)

If you take a peek outside you'll see U-Hauls, cars, and vans double-parked everywhere. As I said, September 1st in Boston is chaotic due to the vast numbers of students arriving from all over Massachusetts, the country, and the world, to move into their newly-leased apartments!!

Here's the little pink chair that was sitting in my living room last week, now waiting to be moved from Court's living room to her bedroom as soon as the bed is assembled... (I'm just loving the HUGE windows in this apartment... It's so bright and cheerful!)

Yeah! The loft bed is finished (and hubby said it went together very easily, which was an unexptected treat!) Okay, Court, now it's time for you to arrange your study area!

Fast forward a few hours...

Ta dah! Great job, honey!!

You be careful climbing that ladder! And don't forget you're in a loft bed if you get up in the middle of the night half asleep!

Oh, you are your mother's daughter for sure!! I love the psychedelic Paul McCartney on the left and the framed Beatles postcards on the right... That could have been my room back in the sixties...

The Wal-Mart desk, pink Target chair, and green IKEA chair all look great together! I'm loving all the colors you picked out!

Not to mention the $10 green Wal Mart floor lamp... Perfect for those nights when you're up late (studying :)...


(Amanda testing out Court's chair)... You did a great job putting this study area together, and now you definitely deserve to sit and rest a bit. We'll hang the curtains tomorrow...

Court and her roommate decided to move in on separate days, which was a very good idea since there would never have been room for the two dads to be assembling beds at the same time! So this is what it looked like when we left on day 1, with the left side of the room still empty...

But now it's time to head home through the Fenway... We need to rest up because not only do we come back tomorrow to hang curtains, we also start moving Amanda into her new apartment! So many changes happening!!!

Day 2 at the apartment...

The Wal-Mart clearance-priced shocking pink sheers are PERFECT for the French doors! ($2 for a package with two panels - you can't beat that price!).. You girls can keep them pulled aside during the day and close them up at night... I forgot to take pix of the curtains we hung in the big front windows! They were just white cotton tab tops (that were not see through or sheer so that I'd feel more comfortable knowing that nobody could look in on the girls!! ha ha)

I'm loving this apartment... Could I be a city girl? I think there's a very good possibility that I could!

Donna

Pink Ironing... Pink Reading... and Pink Toolboxes!

FIRST - PINK IRONING

Ironing is a breeze on this combination step stool / chair / ironing board. It blends into the 'cottage' nicely with its little pink flowered chair pad and IB cover... The wood was originally stained dark brown, but I took some white paint to it and I like it much better now...


When it's time to iron, I just tilt the top, tighten a few wing nuts and - voila! Instant ironing board... (Flip it over all the way and it's a step stool.)


It sits in the 'awkward' corner (as I call it) of our family room, always ready to provide extra seating if necessary... I've had it for about 6 years now and, boy, I don't miss the days of lugging the old ironing board out of the closet to set it up. This is pretty effortless!

SECOND - PINK READING

You must pick up the latest copy of ROMANTIC HOMES if you love pink! I got mine at the grocery store today... Just look at that gorgeous cover - it's from a wonderful spread on Cathy's home, beautifully decorated for Christmas! You can visit Cathy at Treasured Heirlooms.

THIRD - PINK TOOLBOXES

Back in September, I posted about my pink toolbox, and several people commented on it.

Well, last week I got a "Collections Etc." catalogue in the mail, and look what they have in stock! Just click on the photo to go directly to their website....

Or they have this style as well... Again, just click on the photo to go right to their website.

Now I know you are wanting to see lots more PINK today, so be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, where you'll find her PINK Saturday item as well as a list of all the other participating blogs... Happy PINK SATURDAY everyone!!!

Donna

Shades of pink....

Lampshades of pink that is!


I bought this cute scalloped lampshade at TJ Maxx several years ago for our living room floor lamp... A bit of pink in the living room is a must, right?


This smaller lampshade coordinated with one above and I loved the prism fringe, so it came home with me that same day. It adds a nice touch of pink to the family room.


This little lamp has been around for years! I bought it for Court's nursery (she's now in college!) She eventually outgrew it, so I'm now using it in my office (which is her old nursery... It even sits in the very same spot, next to the window... Just goes to show that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same!!)


And last, but not least, this pair of "vintage junktique" lamps came with these beautiful pink pleated lampshades. They sit on either side of my office bookcase (there's lots of pink here in the office!).

Now if you want to feast your eyes on pink, pink, and more pink, be sure to stop by Beverly's blog, How Sweet the Sound, to see her Pink Saturday item as well as a list of all the other participating blogs!

Donna