more vintage finds...

Hi again girls, thought you might like to see what else I grabbed from the swap meet. Apart from the sideboard and mirror I showed you in my last post, I also picked up these.. and I do seem to have a silver thing going on this time..

this is a keeper.. I love the pink inlay and will look good on my dressing table (once I finish it!)

I came across this pair of lanterns and when I purchased them I hadn't planned to keep them. They  are more meant to go in a hallway but I think they'll look really good in my family room. Now all I have to do is get Fred to go in the roof, which he hates!

I just love this silver and glass dressing table set. Aren't the brushes adorable!

I just had to get this pretty pink angel with pink frosted wings... she now sits in lisa's bedroom.

$1 bangle for me..will go nicely with a top I have!

I definately have a thing for cherubs... lol!

Now i'm not into orange or grass green but this jug set just caught my eye.. the colours are more vibrant than in the pics and it's in as new condition.. love the little painted dots at the top of the jug. This will be going on ebay once I get round to it...

I also picked up this vintage scooter to put in the yard.. another to add to my collection of bikes and tricyles.

Not a bad day. I could have picked up so much more but the prices they wanted were not far from shop prices so I really had to search for a bargain. Still I enjoyed the hunt and came home with a few great finds!
HAVE A GREAT DAY!...  Maryann ... and if you're thinking what the hell is happening .. 3 posts in 3 days.. I know, I  can't believe it either!!

changes in my hallway..

Hi there girls, I've been on the look out for a while now for a nice chest of drawers or sideboard to place in my hallway. Here is what I had before....(just temporarily)



They were  a set of 2 low drawers that were given to me but a couple of weeks ago I went to a swap meet with Fred and guess what..  I found  a nice sideboard with 9 drawers, 3 of which are hidden behind the 2 centre doors.

This was not what I originally had in mind as I was after something more ornate and with 'legs' but when I saw this I liked it. It has plenty of storage and I really like the floral pattern on the centre doors and on the top drawers.

I won't be painting this piece (I don't think) as I quite like the mix of timber with painted pieces. I also found this mirror which I absolutely love..

it has a lovely chippy, rusty patina on it which I will be leaving as is but this again was not what I originally had in mind. I had visioned something more french provincial looking but when I tried this cute mirror above the sideboard I loved it. They are so different in styles but look soo good together!  I love the mix of pink,  golden timber and pale gold.

I also had originally planned to put a whole heap of family photos on the wall above the sideboard but I don't think that will be happening either as I quite like the mirror making a statement on its own.
Maybe a pair of sconces instead would look good, we'll see. Anyway as you can see I have lots of photos sitting on the sideboard all in pretty frames. I am a real sucker for a pretty frame,whether new or old, some still need photos to be put inside them!

So much for sticking to 'my vision', but I really like the look of how it all worked out in the end and if I ever do come across that sideboard I had originally wanted, this one will go nicely in bedroom!

take care, Maryann

birdcage... come wishing well...

Hi girls, well I finished it.  I had soo much fun turning this birdcage into a wishing well for my niece's wedding.

She wanted me to line the inside bottom half with the lace. The white base you can see in the birdcage above are actually cardboard bases cake makers use to put their cakes on. I still had some left over from my cake decorating days and they were a perfect fit. I used 2 for a little extra weight and covered them in the lace also.

So I cut out a round piece of lace for the bottom and a long rectangle that goes round twice the circumference as I was going for a gathered effect. I basically lined it like you would a bin. I made a hem at the top and threaded through some thin ribbon to gather it and hold it in place.

I put some roses along the top section and bottom section where the swirly bits were and the beading just above and below them.

I grabbed my invitation and cut out her little " DM " symbol which is their initials, David and Marie, added a pretty crystal button for some bling.. you gotta have a touch of bling!

Finished off the top with some large bows from white ribbon and from the lace which I cut into strips and added one large flower to compliment the littles one.

So there you have it. You could really go to town with this sort of thing but I thought this was enough as she is not an 'over the top' sort of gal.

She was very happy with it and with the baskets.. which made me very happy!

take care, Maryann
(sorry about the quality of the pics but you wouldn't believe the trouble I had uploading these.. for some unknown reason!)

tablecoth to cane basket covers..for a wedding..

Hi girls, well my niece is getting married in a couple of weeks and I happened to be at her mum's place the other day when she walks in. She'd just come back from spotlight with some lace and other bits and pieces.  I found out they were going to cover some cane baskets that will hold her church booklets and were also going to try to line a birdcage to use it as a wishing well.

I knew this might be a little tricky for them as they are not sewers, so I offered my help which they accepted gladly.

the lace I used is just a nylon tablecloth from the bargain barn $6! They used these at her kitchen tea which looked very pretty.

it was a little tricky because where the timber handles are I had to leave a split between the inside of the basket and the frill on the outside so it could go over.

I thought it would look nice to add some ribbon to cover the cane that were holding the timber sides. I actually covered two of these.

today I will be working on the birdcage..

this is the lace she purchased. Very pretty..

These past few days have been just lovely. Winter is nearly over and there is new life on the trees. I can feel spring in the air already..hooray!

If your wondering how I'm doing with my diet, all I can say is..who was i kidding!.. thinking I could lose 8 kg in 4 wks. The first week of my diet it was my hubbys birthday, my mum's birthday and my niece's kitchen tea! well that was well thought out wasn't it! Ok so I had some cake....maybe more.. Since then I've bought a couple of things that might help me reach my goal,  but it's definately going to take longer than I thought, but that's another post!

take care girls, Maryann

on a mission...

Hi girls, bet you can't believe your eyes to see another post soo soon after my last one!

Well you see.. I'm on a mission....... to lose some weight.

I've been wanting to go on this mission for the last 18 months...   but it never happened.

I'm either too busy, too tired, too tempted, too unorganised or just plain couldn't be bothered.

but I think the time has come to get off my B'hind and actually do something about it... and I'm even putting it out there for all to see.

firstly I do have a bit of flab under the arms .. so I'm doing alot of these....

but my main offender.. my biggest problem is this...

my muffin top, my waist.. my gut! sometimes by the end of the day my stomach can reach out as far as my boobs.. (yes, hate to admit it)

not to mention  my B'hind! I'm tired of the jingle jangle when I walk...

so what's the plan you may ask?

Well definately no more of this...

or this!

I suppose I could stand infront of the mirror and just wish it away but that sure as hell ain't gonna happen!

No fairy godmother for me.

so the plan is very simple really .. it's just DOING what I KNOW needs to be done..

no more binging

no more procrastinating

no more going to the pantry looking for something to nibble on

no more thinking about food

no more eating food just to get out of something I really don't feel like doing but should be doing

no more eating more past the point of being full

no more making bad decisions

MY GOAL =  TO LOSE 8 - 10 KGS IN 4 WKS ( approx 22lbs)

not  much really.. I have seen people lose way more than this .. so I know it can be done!

So what WILL I be doing..

definately jogging or walking every day for 15 - 30 mins.

eating a healthy breakfast, alternating between eggs of some sort and meusli, i like heart 1, from goodness superfoods which contains barley max. I know oats are the best but I just can't eat  that stuff.

for lunch and dinner I basically have some sort of protein like fish, chicken or meat with salad or veggies. No chips (fries) or bread or pasta and I stop eating when I'm about 80% full.

If I feel like a snack in between it's either a piece of fruit or raw nuts.

I only drink water or fresh 100% juice.

and I definately won't be starving myself, I don't believe in that. 

So that's it and if you're wondering why I want to do this in  4 wks it's because I have 2 weddings to go to early September. Yesterday I went out and bought a new dress and I am determined to look good in it. 

so now that it's out there I hope I don't make a goose out of myself. I started last monday and I have already lost 1 kg! yay, so far so good!

I think it really is in the choices I make. Will I eat that tim tam and feel good in the moment or will I say no and feel good all the time. There is so much information out there about food and nutrition now I really have no excuse.

take care girls, maryann

ps...will keep you posted

( all pics are from www.123rf.com)