Frugal Friday

Here's a perfect project for a Frugal Friday Party: an inexpensive and chic candle holder so easy to make that you can even have a couple ready for tonight's dinner...

An empty wine bottle (say yes! to recycling)...vintage music sheet for a graphic element, burlap and raffia for texture and shells for a summery touch...

...White candle wax adds romance...

How cool will a couple of these will be on your next gathering table?...
Let us respond: very cool!!!!!

And that's not all...
Once we were done with this project, we decided that the leftover music sheets were just too pretty to keep in a drawer and very deserving of also being displayed...
What do you think?....

Just an empty can of tomatoes filled with rolled sheets...looking good next to vintage silverware...

...and the cute label makes it very clear who this sweet display belongs to...

Now, before digging in your trash can and coming up with great display ideas, hurry up and visit all the creative minds participating in Wendy's Frugal Friday Party at "The Shabby Nest"

Have a great week end and come back soon, we love having you over!
XOXO

Marcela & Clara

Fun facts, connecting and awards!

Sweet Zita from Mlle Magpie has tagged us!! Oh no! we need to tell 7 things about ourselves...what should we say????...Not an easy task, but lets give it a try:

7 Things about Clara:

1- She graduated as a Ballet Teacher from one of the best Dance Schools in South America...10 years of hard, actually very hard work and dedication!
2- She is (sorry Lulu) the Official #1 Starbucks fan...very simple taste: black coffee with Splenda.
3- She is the Team Manager of 2 Soccer Teams
4- She is a bad gardener. No green thumb at all!!
5- She is EXTREMELY organized and clean...Martha has nothing on her!!
6- She loves the Mall!!
7- She voted for Chris during the American Idol competition.

7 Things about Marcela:

1- She is a Psychologist...therapy anyone?
2- She LOVES coffee, not necessarily Starbucks though. Lots of milk, no sweeteners anymore.
3- She only dated for 2 1/2 months before marrying her now Husband of 18 years...again: therapy anyone???
4- She is even a worse gardener than Clara...
5- Clean yes, organized...NOT!
6- She does not like shopping...unless we are talking shoes!
7- She voted for Adam!

Now we need to tag 7 people willing to share some "secrets" and those are:

1- Jen from Sanctuary Arts at Home
2-Karla and 3- Karrie from The Summer Kitchen Journal
4- Sue from Practicing Random Acts of Kindness
5- Christina from Fabulous Finds Gal
6- Cathleen from Vintage Home Lifestyle
7- Megan from Shabby Blogs

We hope you have fun visiting all these fun, inspiring gals....after reading their blogs, you'll know why we picked them! Thank you Zita for inviting us to play!!

While you are here in Blogland, you can also visit Janet at It's an Evolution...you will love her blog, her creations and her recipes!!! Through her blog we have met some wonderful bloggers that fill us up with daily inspiration. Thank you Janet for the award!!!

About vintage jewelry...

What girl doesn't like a little bling?

How about a vintage bling?...

Vintage jewelry pieces have usually amazing details...

...are very feminine...

and most of them, can still make a statement!...

But lately, Grandma's favorite pieces are not only found in jewelry boxes...they are also found adding glam and lots of charm to every day objects around the house...
Tea Sets...

...Frames...

...Vacation souvenirs...

...and even Photo Albums...

If you are lucky enough to have kept Grandma's pieces, wear them and make her proud, and in case you have fallen in love with any of the pieces shown, here is a little more info:

3 Strand Vintage Necklace $22.00 Sorry, SOLD!

Pink Rhinestone Pin $18.00 Sorry, SOLD!

Silver Rhinestone Bracelet with new chain $42.00

Silverplated set of Tea Pot and Creamer with vintage rhinestones and cameo $42.00

Vintage metal white frame with rhinestones $16.50

Large (13" wide) Sea shell with vintage rhinestones $42.00

One of a kind Photo Album. Holds 55 pictures $22.50

Shipping is $4.00 per order

Remember that:

Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles.

~Sonja Henie~

Red, White and Blue

We enjoy decorating the store for Memorial Day Weekend and 4th of July because it gives us the possibility to play with a fave color combo:
A little bit of Red...

A little bit of White....

A little bit of Blue...

And our Memorial Day Display is done!

There's just something about the American colors...so crisp, so summery....

...so Red, White and Cool!!!

If you are in the So Cal area during Memorial Day Week End, don't miss our store wide sale:

20% off all Furniture

15% off all smalls

Hope you can make it!

This week we are loving...

We couldn't wait until Thursday, the day that we usually post our week's favorites because this week we are really, totally, absolutely loving:

The super cute,

...perfectly shabby-ed,...

...vintage cart that Clara game me for Mother's Day...

Tons of possibilities with this cutie: in the bathroom holding TP or towels, in the bedroom holding magazines...but to be honest I don't want anybody to touch it, so for now is in my entryway holding vintage pretties and just doing what he does best: looking beautiful!!!

Clara's new love is: the perfect piece of furniture for "that wall in the living room". She tried different tables, different arrangements, but this is the winner!

Worth the wait!....she found it...

...she finally found it...the best antique dresser with empire lines and original white paint...

...perfect linens and silverware storage!

How about you?...What are you loving this week?

Go Team!!!

This past weekend was not about thrifting or decorating.
Like many of our weekends, it was all about our girls, not just S and C, but also the other 13 pretty girls in the team. They played the Finals in San Bernandino, in about 100 degrees weather and walked away with medals and the first place trophy after a wonderful game against a very strong team.

It makes Clara and I very happy to know that our girls are part of a nice group of girls.
They are all very good students, high achievers, involved in many extra curriculum activities and they all get along!!!...

A weekend full of girl fun, with no makeup, no cute outfits, not having to worry about their hair...a weekend of pure camaraderie and teamwork.

They all worked very hard and it paid off!

Good job, Girls!

"The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side"
~Margaret Carty~

Aqua fun...

The "Queen of all things white" AKA My Sister Clara, can't have enough aqua shades lately.

You probably remember her entry way makeover...

Well, she didn't stop there. She added just enough aqua to her kitchen corner piece, look at her cabinet before....

...During the facelift...good prep job, Sis!!!

and after the magic touch...

Who said that vintage ironstone was boring?????...Simple, un-pretentious, and clean.

Killer against the new background....

It's safe to say that the "Queen of all things white" it's having a blast with her new fave color...

and her new pastime....puzzles!!!

"When you are through changing, you are through "

~Bruce Barton~

Eye Candy Thursday...

Think left

and think right

and think low

and think high.

Oh, the things

you can think up

if only you try!

~Dr. Seuss~
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

Blog Party Time!!

Today we are participating in the Etsy Cottage Style Blog Party and since Marcela already wrote about the subject on that blog, this post it's all about me and "What makes my heart skip a beat"

This is an easy one!!
I would totally jump out of a moving car to grab white architectural pieces in a garage sale...

I will get out of bed early, very early in a Saturday morning just to find perfectly shabby-ed (is that even a verb????) windows...

I will definitely dive in a dumpster if I can walk away with old wooden pieces to add to my collection of candlesticks...

What can I say?...It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!!

If you would like to share what makes YOUR heart skip a beat, visit the Etsy Cottage Style Blog and sign up using Mr. Linky...fun, fab stuff will be shared there!!

Clara