A New Birdcage!

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to the Santa Cruz Flea Market on Saturday and look what I found! A huge birdcage for my finches! The sign on the cage said "$40 or best offer" I offered $20 and we settled on $25! I was thrilled!

It didn't look like this when I found it though, it was black and not very pretty...

I painted it white and it looked so elegant and pretty that I didn't want to put those ugly plastic feeding cups in there so I crafted some holders for two beautiful bone dishes for food and water. I spent so much time on Sunday trying to figure out a way to make these holders. I finally ended up using some plastic plate stands, L-brackets and lot of hot glue, then I spray painted the whole thing to match the cage. I attached them to the cage and I can just remove the dish to feed them. I also put in a small silver coaster for a birdbath.

There is even a crystal chandelier. I used the fork chandelier I won from Linda and added two bobeches over it to cover the fork tines.

I still need to add some perches and of course the birds. The birds are going to be the hard part. Getting them out from the small cage and into this one may be my biggest challenge!

You may remember awhile back I made over another large cage very similar to this one. Here are both of them together. As you can see, the new one is much larger! I'm going to sell the smaller one because I really don't need it any longer. I'm sure I can get more than $25 for that so that makes this new cage free! I know I've said it before...I can justify just about any new purchase! I guess it helps that I only have to justify it to myself and not a husband!

I also made the little seed catcher for the bottom. I used an old piece of linen from a vintage tablecloth and just put in elastic at the top and bottom. It was something practical that I thought was going to make it look not as nice but I actually like how it looks! It softens it up a bit.

Update: I sold the small cage to a local blogger. I had requests from people out of state but I didn't want to hassle with shipping it. Sorry, I hope you all understand!

A busy weekend!

I was so busy this weekend that I didn't get a chance to take any photos for my blog so you'll have to settle with a photo I took of Beau about a week ago. I walked into the living room and found him sitting in the chair with his leg up on the arm rest...it just cracked me up so I quickly grabbed the camera! He really thinks he's a little man, I'm sure of it!

Saturday morning my phone rang at 7:00 am. I knew right away it must be my friend Nelson, he's the only one that ever calls me that early! He was on his way to the Santa Cruz Flea Market and wanted to see if I wanted to go with him. Of course I did! It didn't even matter that I just woke up 15 minutes earlier, hadn't showered or had any coffee! I threw on some clothes and we were on our way with only a brief stop at Starbucks because I don't function without my morning coffee!!! I'm so glad I went because I found something wonderful and that is why my weekend became so busy! It needed some work so I spent most of the day on Sunday working on it and painting it white. It's just about done and I hopefully will have photos tomorrow!!!

It's Lilac Time!

My lilacs are blooming! Since my lilac bush is in a corner of my very small patio area that I can't see unless I'm out there, I picked them all to bring inside!

It looks like Spring-time now in my living room!

I wish you could smell these!!! The scent is amazing!

Here...just lean into the monitor and take a big whiff...

Doesn't that just smell like Spring?

Have a great weekend everyone!

How cute are these???

I found these bird cloches and I love them but I already have too many glass pieces in this tiny apartment! Actually, I think I love the shelf they are on even more but I didn't find that for sale on their website. Isn't it gorgeous??? 

In case you are interested in the cloches, you can find them here at Wisteria along with many other beautiful things! So many of you are always asking me where I find reasonably priced cloches so I just had to share this with you! 

(I have no affiliation with this company nor is this a paid advertisement)

UPDATED:  I just added my living room to HGTV Rate my Space, click here if you would like to rate it. 

Move it Elsewhere!

I found an amazing shop! Actually they found me. Suzanne, the owner of "Move it Elsewhere" emailed me about her wonderful consignment shop and I am so happy she did! It's a very unique shop in that they sell things from senior citizens who are downsizing their homes. It's only open one weekend a month (Fri-Sun.) and I can hardly wait until next month! This shop is HUGE and I saw about a hundred different things I loved! Here's a look around (I should mention that all their prices are 50-65% off the sticker prices) ... I meant to go back and get this cherub plaque and I forgot all about it until I uploaded the photos. It's marked $35 but it was 50% off. Hopefully it will still be there next month!
They had a huge milk glass collection...
Love this...
I also LOVED this....
Lots of vintage dishes throughout the shop...
Lots of mirrors! There were more on the other side of this hallway too!
More beautifull vintage china...
They had a HUGE Scottie dog collection. This is just about 1/3 of it.

Pillows...
A huge Hummel collection...









This copper collection was so beautiful...


Let's go upstairs where everything is 65% off! I loved this area because it's like a big flea market up here. I bought 3 items and they all came from up here. You can click to enlarge the photos to see more detail...

If you live anywhere in Northern California, I highly recommend this shop! I know I'll be going every month to see what's new!!! You can find out when the next one will be held on their website www.moveitelsewhere.com

I'll share my great purchases I bought there next week. I really got an amazing deal on one of them! They also gave me a gift and it's sooo beautiful!

Move it Elsewhere
350 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA

Meet Teddy & Bear

Haha, just to be clear...I did not name them Teddy & Bear, my choice was Romeo and Juliet...perfect names for a Romantic Home, but I let Lauren have her way on this one, after all, they are just birds and I did pick out Beau's name so I guess it was her turn.

They are Society Finches.   After reading the description of them I think I may have a male and a  female.  It said only the males sing and only one of mine seems to be singing....oh no I may have baby finches in the future!      

I really didn't plan to have the birds match the cage.  They are cream and brown and the cage is cream colored with the brown perch...it all looks so color coordinated but it wasn't planned that way. Honest!

My New Couch!

I sold my old couch on Craigslist on Saturday and with the money I made selling that along with a check I received for advertising on my blog I bought my new couch! I love it...no money spent from my regular paycheck and I have a brand new couch!!!
It helps that the couch was such a great deal at only $399 at Ikea! I bought an extra slipcover set so when one is being washed the other can be put on right away. It was only $49...you couldn't even buy the fabric for that price! The fabric is nice and heavy too and it looks like it will hold up well to lots of washing.
It's smaller than my old couch which is better for the scale of my room. It's a lot firmer but hopefully it will break in a bit and become softer with age. I think it really gives the room a beachy, cottagey feel. Hopefully I'll be getting the wood floors my landlord said she may put in soon!
(You can click on any of the photos to enlarge)

How Pretty!!!

Sweet Words and Tea - by Simply Saralee on Polyvore.com

Remember the photo I took of my vintage napkins last week?  Simply Saralee put them in one of her beautiful Polyvore creations!  If you haven't played around with Polyvore, I warn you...hours will pass and it will feel like minutes.  Saralee is the queen of Polyvore (in my opinion)!  Her creations are so gorgeous.  You can see them by clicking on "Simply Saralee" under the photo.  She also has a blog!!!

Also, great news....I sold my couch! I'm going to Ikea to get my slip-covered one tomorrow!!!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

...isn't this the fairest mirror of all? My former mother-in-law's, sister, Cathy gave me this mirror (thanks Cathy). I had planned to add it to my mirrored staircase wall but it was so pretty that I hung it in my dining room. I love how the reflection changes as you walk around the room. In the photo below you can see the blue cabinet in it but when you move a little more into the living room you see the chandelier! LOVE THAT! Mirrors and chandeliers...can't get much better than that in my book!

I also painted my birdcage heirloom white and it looks so much better than the green it used to be when my little finch lived in there. Little Birdie-Birdie is now buried in my backyard...sniff, sniff. I sure do miss him!

Hopefully I'll have a new sofa to show you soon! I'm selling mine and buying a white slipcovered one from...I never thought I'd say this...Ikea! After seeing Kelly's , well...let's just say Ikea was calling my name too!! My navy blue one is just not cutting it in my home that is becoming whiter and whiter by the day and besides it's really too large for the space (I can justify just about anything to myself), so wish me luck in selling it! I've had 3 people contact me already about it.

The Tray Table

I got a few comments and emails about the tray I showed sitting on my coffee table in yesterday's post.  It actually goes with a stand, which you can see above.  Last weekend I took the tray off the stand so I could use it for my huge birdcage.  I just love when you can use things other than what they were intended for!

These tray tables are really inexpensive and can be bought online.  Click here if you are interested.  There is another blogger that sells these tables online but I can't remember who it is so if you know, please let me know and I'll put a link to her shop as well!!!   I don't know about you but I would much rather buy from another blogger than a stranger!  

I'm doing a little Spring Fluffing!

I'm joining Rhoda's Spring Fluffing party today. The timing is perfect because I started decorating for Spring last weekend. I even ended up moving some furniture around.

I put a little moss and eggs in one jar and a nest in the other. It's an easy, simple way of adding a little spring to my coffee table. The cream ceramic finial came from Home Goods awhile back. It's usually on top of my entertainment armoire but I moved it to the coffee table for now.

I can't wait to visit everyone's blog that is joining in so I can get some more wonderful ideas!

Be sure to stop by Rhoda's Southern Hospitality to see what everyone is up to!

Cupcakes!

I made cupcakes for a coworker's birthday and I used my fondant flower making skills that I learned in my cake decorating class.

It was so much fun making these although I must say it's very time-consuming!

I did apologize to him for making such feminine cupcakes but he didn't seem to mind. He took some home for his wife and kids which I thought was really nice!

I have to tell you about this weird thing that happened to me last night...I was driving home from work and I was on one of those high overpasses changing from one freeway to another and going about 55 mph when all of a sudden I see a bird flying right towards my windshield but then I realize it's not a bird, it's a plane! It took a second for me to realize that it wasn't a real plane but a large remote control airplane! It was so scary! I think all the air turbulence from the cars passing under it was making it really unstable because it seemed to be having trouble staying level and looked like it was about to crash any second and it was headed right towards my windshield! Can you imagine if that did hit my windshield with me going 55 mph! Luckily it went right over my car! I called 911 to report it! What idiot would fly a remote control airplane over a freeway!

What I collect

Yvette~The Charm House is having a "What I Collect" Party today.

I seem to be starting a lot of new collections lately and I blame that on blogging! There are so many beautiful things out there in blogland! Hand-painted plates are one of them! They are just so beautiful and most of them are so inexpensive so it makes collecting them easy on my budget (haha...the budget that stored in my head, I really don't have a legitimate budget because I'm not that organized.)

Another collection I've started is soup tureens. This is it though...I'm not buying another soup tureen! Not because I don't like them, I just don't have enough room!

Some of my other collections are chintz, vintage linen and lace, heart-shaped rocks, white buttons, and pretty plates and mirrors. What more can I say...I just love beautiful things!

Please stop by Yvette's blog to see what other bloggers collect!

Visiting my son

After I left the Sacramento Antique Faire last Sunday I stopped by to visit my son, Vince and his girlfriend, Margot at college. He goes to school at UC Davis. There are a lot of adorable homes there and he had been telling me about a block of homes he knew I would love so after lunch we parked the car and walked around the block to look at them.

I can just imagine how beautiful this street looks when the trees are full of leaves...

This was my favorite house...

I hope you enjoyed your walk around the block with me!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Vintage Linens

I did a post on vintage linens on The Vintage Journal blog today (click here).  I mentioned yesterday that I use OxiClean to get the stains out of my linens but you can read about the other important ingredient over there.

Treasures from the Antique Faire!

I finally got some photos taken of the things I bought at the Sacramento Antique Faire. As you can see above I bought another cherub ($25)! I also bought some of that beautiful green moss from Marilyn's booth. I wish now that I would have bought a couple bags of that stuff...it's such a pretty color!

I fell in love with this bluebird ceramic plaque. It looks really old! I think it was around $8, but I can't remember exactly.

Keeping with the bird theme...I bought these 4 napkin rings, only $3 for all of them! That was the best deal of the day!

I bought another piece of chintz for my collection. It's the rectangular one on the top shelf. It was $22

I was so happy to find this wine coaster for $15 at Marilyn's booth. I have been looking for one of these for awhile! I have small coasters like this but they are too small for a wine bottle. This will keep the wine from dripping on my vintage linens! Speaking of vintage linens....

I bought this gorgeous vintage battenburg table square from Tracey for only $12!!! It had some stains in it but I soaked it overnight in some OxyClean and they are all gone. I used to shy away from buying linens with stains but not since I found out how great OxyClean works!

See that birdcage in the background? My neighbor just gave me that! I was thrilled!!! I'll be painting soon, probably white but maybe green???

More gifts from blogging friends!

Last night when I came home from work there were two boxes waiting for me!!! How exciting!!! I opened the first one and it was this gorgeous broken china mosaic heart that I won on a giveaway on Penny's blog~ Lavender Hill Studio

I hung it in my bedroom on my old screen door that I have in the corner of my room. It's perfect to hang my broken china jewelry that I've bought from Joy~Cupid's Charm. When I opened the box from Penny, the aroma of lavender sifted through the air. In the box was not only the mosaic heart peg but a beautiful bar of handmade lavender soap! Thank you so much Penny! I'm so happy to have a piece of your artwork in my home!

In the other box was this adorable white angel from Joy~Joy to the Blog sent me! She said she's had it awhile and when she saw my posts on cherubs and angels she decided to send it to me. It looks old and at one time it looks like it hung from something. I would love to know the story behind it. Joy said she always wondered about that too!

Not only was the angel beautiful but the box and the wrapping was over-the-top beautiful. I took a picture of it before I opened it and then later discovered I had forgotten to put my memory card back in my camera but here's some of the wrapping so you can get an idea. It was wrapped in a beautiful piece of linen with lace around it and a vintage rhinestone pin on top and then it was in a gorgeous box!

Also...last week I received this adorable little birdhouse below made by Katherine~Country Romantic. It's so adorable!

Thank you all so much! I'm so touched by all the kindness there is out there. Isn't it amazing that we would have never "met" had it not been for the internet and blogs!

These gifts helped ease the pain I had in my heart yesterday. Our little spice finch that we've had for about 8 years died. I read somewhere that they only live about 6 or 7 years so he had a long life. I never expected to get emotional over a bird dying but he was such a special little guy! Many of you had asked why I had not painted my green birdcage that is next to my hutch to match my home and it was because Birdie-Birdie lived in there. Now I plan on painting it white and buying some more finches because I miss hearing the happy little birdie chirps!

On the road: Sacramento Antique Faire

Sunday I hit the road and drove from Silicon Valley to Sacramento to go to the Sacramento Antique Faire! It's about a 2 hour drive and I snapped some photos along the way to share with you...not easy to do while behind the wheel at 65+ mph!

This time of the year in Califonia is so beautiful because everything is so green. The wild mustard is blooming along the roads and it's so beautiful!

I arrived at the Antique Faire around 10:45 a.m. and headed straight to Tracey's booth! I was so excited to finally meet her after reading her blog and emailing back and forth with her over the last couple of years. Her booth was gorgeous and she was as nice in person as she comes across on her blog! It was just like meeting an old friend! It was also a pleasure to meet her business partner, the other Tracie!!!

Just around the corner from Tracey's booth was Marilyn's booth. She travels down from Oregon to sell in California!

She had some gorgeous things!!! While in her booth I got to meet Rosa who reads my blog! It was such a pleasure to meet her and her husband!

I stopped taking photos after this point because I had bags in both arms and I couldn't take any more pictures without putting everything down! Next time I'm bringing my cart!

Later, while I was back at Tracey's booth, I ran into Glenda~Many Fond Memories! We ended up walking around and shopping together. It was so nice to finally meet Glenda and she is so nice!!! We only live about an hour away from each other so I'm sure we will be getting together again!

After walking through the whole faire it was time for my long ride home but I had one more stop to make...My son's college is just a few minutes away from Sacramento so I stopped by there on my way home to take him and his adorable girlfriend out for a late lunch! I had such a nice visit with them! What a perfect day it was! I didn't even mind the two-hour drive back home because I was just so happy!!!

I'll share my purchases and some photos of my time with my son over the next couple days.

Pretty things from Flickr

Pretty things, originally uploaded by Romantic Home.

Happy Friday! I'm still planning on going to the Sacramento Antique Faire on Sunday if this allergic reaction I'm having is gone! I have puffy eyes and a rash all over my face and I'm a little too vain to meet fellow bloggers for the first time looking like this! Let's hope it's all gone tomorrow or at least by Sunday!

Who won?

Between emails and comments, there were 379 entries to win the teapot. I used an random number generator to pick a winner and the winner is #48...Jenny from Proud Grandmother of Two.

Congratulations to Jenny and thanks to everyone who entered!   I will be having more giveaways soon!

Lilacs

Photos from Flickr

It's been raining here so much that I haven't had a chance to do any yard work in my tiny little garden.  The weeds are starting to come up everywhere!  I'm usually able to keep them under control but with rain every weekend it's been a challenge this year! 

There are lots of things starting to bloom around here, including my lilac bush.  It's just starting so it may be a few weeks before I can pick bouquets.   The leaves on my hydrangea bushes are starting to come out and I can hardly wait until those bloom!  I LOVE Spring and it's on it's way!!!

Are any of you local bloggers going to the Sacramento Antique Faire this Sunday?  I'm planning on going!   Tracey from Notes from a Cottage Industry will have a booth there!  It will be so much fun to finally meet some other bloggers in person!  

I love cherubs!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you may have noticed I have "a thing" for cherubs and angels! They are everywhere yet they don't seem to be "too much". Haha, well at least not to me!

The one above is the first one you see as you come in my front door. I bought that at Michaels awhile back. The one below is in my dining room on top of my hutch. He was a flea market find!

The hutch even has a cherub lamp...

Here's another cherub lamp in my living room...

Another one in the living room. He was also found at a flea market. Sometimes you'll find him out on my patio...

I would love to find more of these (below)! I've been searching eBay but haven't found any yet. These came from thrift stores...

Here's an adorable little chubby cherub....oops, no..that's just Lauren! She does look very cherubesque in that photo though!Walking up the stairs you'll find my mirrored staircase wall where I've added a few more cherubs...

This little painting below was a wonderful gift from Fabulous Fifi! Even though I have quite a few already, I'm always on the lookout for more at flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores!

A Giveaway!

I found this cute little teapot at Marshalls. Since I already have one but in a different shape I thought this would be a great thing to giveaway! It's my way of saying thanks to all of you who visit here!

Just leave a comment below by Wednesday, March 4th at 9:00 pm PST and I will use a random number generator to choose a winner! This is only open to those who live in the U.S. or Canada due to shipping costs.

Remember if you don't have a blog, please leave your email address so I have a way to contact you if you win!