Mark Your Calendars - June Events!

May 31st - June 3rd
First Monday Trade Days
Canton, Texas

June 2nd & 3rd
Treasure Spotters Market
401 E. Virginia
McKinney, Texas

June 15th & 16th
Old Red Lumberyard Market
600 E. Louisiana
McKinney, Texas

June 15th - 17th
Third Monday Trade Days
Hwy. 380
McKinney, Texas

June 15th - 17th
Fredericksburg Trade Days
at Sunday Farms

June 16th
Treasure Spotters Market
401 E. Virginia
McKinney, Texas

June 16th & 17th
Buchanan's Antique Market
2460 S. Stemmons Frwy.
Lewisville, Texas

June 23rd & 24th
Red Barn Antique Show
Round Top, Texas



Try to stay cool while shopping these great events!

New favorites in the back yard

We have a new little patio and sitting area in our back yard!

Our back yard is split-level and these great steps sort of led to nothing before this patio was installed.

We already had these two chairs, the metal plant stand and the metal decor hanging on the fence.  The little stool/table and the fern are new.

A very dear friend built us this little cedar arbor several years ago.  We love it and it happily holds my hanging baskets and the metal chandy that I adore.

The other new addition is three newly planted hydrangea bushes.  They are called Blushing Bride - gorgeous.

They grace our step-stone path that leads to the hammock.

I love this time of year!

More on the living room...lighten & brighten

In this post I shared a few simple changes that I had made in the living room in an effort to lighten & brighten.  I have a couple more changes to share as this effort continues...

I found this great tray at the Privet House shop inside of Target - you can read more about this here.  I layered a couple of platters - the brown & white transferware matches the new pillows really well.

Then I found this and had to have it...

I thought it was the perfect fabric!  Chocolate brown to tie in with our leather furniture, a light faint striped background, some gorgeous blues & greens that blend with the dining room...love it!

So we recovered our chair for the third time!  I've had this chair since before Hubby & I got married.  It's made really well and it fits perfectly in our space so we just recover instead of replace.

Here is a zoomed out shot that shows most of the room:

It feels lighter don't you think?

My very own shaggy fabric wreath!

Hi friends - hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I can't believe I have back-to-back posts about Giveaways that I won - I feel like the luckiest girl!  I was thrilled when I heard from Sonya of Beyond the Screen Door that I won her fabulous shaggy fabric wreath kit!!

Here is the sweet kit I received in the mail.  As I took out all of the fabric squares I decided it took Sonya longer to prepare the kit than it was going to take me to make the wreath.  I loved every fabric in my kit!

I purchased an 18" straw wreath at Hobby Lobby - don't forget your 40% off coupon.  I followed Sonya's instructions and used a screwdriver as my tool.  I finished it last night except for the hanger because I'm still undecided on where to hang it.  I love how Sonya has it hanging on a mirror in her post!

For right now, it's hanging in my laundry room using an over-the-door wreath holder.

Look how full it is - LOVE!

If I can make this - anyone can make this!  Sonya's kit makes it full proof.  I think it would make such a wonderful gift.

A huge thank you to Sonya for such an awesome giveaway - go check out her blog - she is crazy talented!

Maison De Stencils

Back in March I was so excited when I saw this post!  I won three 12x12 stencils from Maison De Stencils!  I was already a huge fan of their stencils and had purchased two larger (12x18) stencils for projects.  I shared my cutting board project here and my grain-sack-look coffee table here.

I embellished this smaller cutting board with one of my new stencils - the entire design would not fit but just using a portion of the stencil worked perfectly.

I also worked on this door tonight.  I used portions of several different stencils to create this look. (Please ignore the brooms and such - what can I say, the garage is my workspace).

The Maison De Stencils blog is fairly new and if you haven't already become a Follower you should - it's full of inspiration!  Look for many more future projects using my awesome stencils!

Coast-to-Coast Shopping!

Like most, I have just one hour for lunch during my work day.  Well, today during my lunch hour I shopped Miami, San Francisco, Aspen, Conneticut and Boston!  Yep - I visited The Shops at Target.  I'm sure you have seen the commercial about Target collaborating with small boutiques across the nation.

Privet House was by far my favorite of the shops!  I bought 4 place mats, but really considered several things.  I want to check other Target stores in my area because I felt like a lot of inventory had sold already.

I also loved the Polka Dog Bakery shop of Boston.  I bought a super cute striped collar for Riley.

The candy store out of San Francisco had a FUN display too.

I just love this concept and think Target is brilliant for coming up with it.  I hope they will continue to feature new shops.  Go check it out!

My quest to lighten & brighten

Over the past couple of years I have really been drawn to light & bright interiors.  I love slip-covered furniture, ruffles and lots of white!  That is pretty much the opposite of our living room furniture which is dark, leather and a bit rustic.  It's been a struggle to lighten up - here are a few before pics:

I've taken some simple and inexpensive steps to lighten & brighten (new furniture is not an option) - take a look:

First, I found these great Ralph Lauren pillows at Home Goods.  Not only are they lighter but they seem summery to me.  Then I found these great handmade burlap table runners by North Country Comforts - browse her Etsy shop here.

My table runner needs to be steam-ironed, but I couldn't wait to try it out!  It's a perfect match with the pillows - thanks so much Karen!  I think I'll look for a light-colored throw for the ottoman - always good to add some texture too.   Then, I'll just keep trying to incorporate lighter colors with my accessories.