MY HIPPIE BABY!!!!

HUG A TREE......IT'S EARTH DAY!!!!!

For me everyday is EARTH DAY!  Make an effort, you are only helping yourselves and the future of you grandchildren.

ADDING A LITTLE WHIMSY TO YOU HOME DECOR!!!

I am not a traditional decorator.  My farmhouse is very ecclectic, a little crazy and extremely whimsical.  It is also a lot of fun and a visual feast for the eyes.

I have a lot of necklaces, and some I wear all the time.  I have most hung on the inside of my closet door but the ones I wear the a lot hang at the bottom of the stairs on top of a lovely tin heart.  I started to hang them there one day just so they were handy but as the collection grew I began to love it as a piece of art.

On the subject of art, it does not have to cost a pretty penny to have fabulous art.  My walls are brimming with art in all forms, some found, some made, some heirlooms.

I painted the two Buitoni pictures from an old Italian advertising book I have.  The Maggi poster I found in a Kitchen Shop and I just love it.  I have this picture of pigs on a wire hanging on an anitque bench, I picked it up at GoodWill for $1.50.  The pretty birds and birds were handmade cards I bought from a lovely artist years ago under $15.00 and the last one is an amazing print that my Grandparents received as a wedding gift.  If you like it , frame it.  Here's another hint, I pick up frames all the time and keep them in stock, I get a lot reduced at HomeSense that may need a bit of repair others are from Thrift Shops.  It does not matter what shape they are in I fix them and paint them.

I love the art on Tarot Cards, I also read them.  I have a nice collection I keep on an old cupboard.  I made this Wizard of Oz Tarot Box I also sell Tarot Bags in my Wicked Faerie Queen Etsy Shop.
I don't do a lot of collections anymore, not big ones, they just start to overwhelm my home.  I do have mini ones that are easily moved like my Tarot Cards.

I am a big repurposer.  It is much more interesting to use something unexpected.  In my kitchen the newest acquisition is this incredible little German Kitchen Scale .  I picked it up at Value Village for $6.00 I could not believe it.  I knew right away I was going to use it for fruit.  It cleaned up just beautifly.

I have a lot of old drawers, I know that may sound strange but they all came from my Grandmother's barns left over from her Antique's business.  I had been saving this one for just the right thing.  After I took the Christmas things down and I was putting back my daily dishes I realized that drawer would be perfect for the dishes and it looks just great.

We have a lot of wooden trays left over from Shows we did with our 13 Mockingbirds Reproduction Antiques business.  This little beauty worked great for the cannisters.

My gorgeous Black Chicken sits proudly watching over the kitchen.  She is very large and just the whimsy the kitchen needed.

When you are thrifting don't let things like missing hands on a great looking clock stop you from buying it.  It will look amazing.  Also bits of wood from other things make fantastic candle holders.  This is a piece of an old wooden wheel.

I had a metal chimney rack for years and thought that it would make a good sturdy pot rack, it does and it looks great.  The CousCousier on top was a find for under $15.00.  NIgella Lawson has a vintage one too and I always admired it now I have my own.  This summer I will make a big pot of CousCous for our friends when we dine Elfresco under the sun.

I have a lot of cookbooks and I love to display them, yes I do use them all even if it is just one recipe I am working my way through them.  This spot could have easily fit a Dishwasher but who needs that when I can have a fab book shelf.

One of the most useful things we did was put these two huge shelves in the kitchen.  Not only could I display lovely platters and china they hold all my mixing bowls and other cooking things I use daily without having to search for them in a cupboard.

I like to put something in my home that is unusual.  I mix old with new, after all new will be old eventually.  The antique biscuit tin and the vintage phone sit perfectly well with the new mirror with the adorable little dogs happily looking at themselves.

I use to have a huge collection of wooden utensils, I displayed them in the kitchen in bowls and hung on the walls.  I tired of that but did not want to sell them.  They now fill a big basket in my livingroom. 

A cool piece of architecture looks amazing tucked into a corner, this great piece divides the livingroom and diningroom.

As I said, I do have a lot of necklaces.  I make jewellry so I am always picking up beaded necklaces to repurpose.  I also inherited my Grandmother's amazing collection of Amber Beads and Milifori Beads as well as Cameos and Pins.  They were just too beautiful to keep hidden in a box so I put them in a shadow box, now I see them everyday.  I picked up the necklace stand in a cute vintage shop.  It is made out of old horshoes. 

The candle is a piece from our shop made of an old bed spool, I just could not part with it.  I am not really a doll person but I must stay I am a Fairytale person.  The Ever After High Dolls are so detailed and very inexpensive I could not resist buying my favourites and sitting them on another Thrift find, this shelf for under $5.00.

Even the doors in the hall are pieces of art.  I put the Fairy on the door of our son's old room, my little grandaughter loves it.  The screen door on my office/closet room was a necessity to keep the cats out, they claw the sofa.

Add some whimsy to your decor, tuck things in where it is a surprise to see, like the cute felt bird on the lamp in my office or the flying musical pig.

Be adventurous, do the unexpected.  It is a lot of fun to decorate and it is even more fun when you make it your own.  Express yourself, be bold you will love it.

I will leave you today with the beautiful sunny view I have from the farm.  Finally, sun, I do believe Spring is here.  HAPPY DECORATING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

Today is my Birthday!  I thought I would spend this blog time letting my blogging buddies in on a little more about me, after all it is my day.

I grew up in the best time ever, Peace and Love were abound.  Music was my life, concerts, travelling, meeting the most interesting people.  I thrived in the art community of my hippie family.  This is how I have always lived my life, it has brought me peace and harmony in a world that was not always so.

Love is all you need, I truly believe that.  Having volunteered with Rescue Dogs Match for so long I can tell you that a heart filled with love and kindness shines out of you and makes the difference in the life of an animal that has never known love and kindness, it also works with humans.

I live in my own Valhalla, at home there are no cell phones although I use my computer to blog and moniter the Rescue I am out on the farm in all the good weather amongst the animals and trees. 

It took me a while to realize that " I am walking my own path in life and your approval is not needed."  I have grown wiser whether with age or experience, you make you happy if that is not true how can you make others happy.

Baby, I have no regrets, that is a wasted emotion.  My motto is "Don't look back you are not going that way".

Be true to yourself, yes always wear that crown and walk proud for you are a Queen.  Be your own person not someone somebody else wants you to be or thinks you should be. 

Now for the fun part.  This is my dream birthday party....anyone listening!

Tonight I will dine on Hummingbird Cake and my favourite wine and enjoy the day of my birth.  I wish all of my fellow April 12th. babies ( I 'm talking to you David Letterman) a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!