As a "thank you" for the interview I recently did for the StainTalk blog (You can read it HERE), Carbona sent me a little package. Inside were a couple of samples of Carbona Color Grabber Cloths. (I already knew these worked!) There was also a brochure about Carbona Stain Devils. If you've read my blog very long, you know from THIS post that I'm a BIG Stain Devils fan. So when I saw these Carbona Silver Wipes, I was excited. I've been wanting to try them. Supposedly they work on gold, copper, brass, and pewter, too! These handy little wipes certainly promised to be a lot less messy than the silver polishing creams, but I wondered ... Would they work? I'd just picked up these two ... Keep Reading...
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Focus Matters …
Some of you may remember when this was the view from my kitchen window. (HERE's the post if you want to read it.) I'm so glad that's not the case anymore! This beautiful site caused me to grab the camera and head outside. Not even the slight haze of early evening could stop me! Someday perhaps I'll tell you a fun hot air balloon story, but this day I just stopped and marveled at the whole idea of peace and safety ... and a world so much bigger than me. I was enjoying the serenity and calm when suddenly the balloon started to descend. At least it seemed sudden; I certainly wasn't expecting it. I'd been standing there virtually "zoned out" ... watching life pass by on auto ... Keep Reading...
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My Kind of Playtime: Playing in the Dishes!
Thank you for stopping by today! I hope my fellow Americans had a wonderful 4th of July celebration -- and that my international friends are having a fantastic week! Me? I spent the long weekend crazy-busy preparing for my Vintage Linen & Dish Auction "one-year-of-blogging" celebration to be held right here at My Place to Yours. It's only two weeks away! But can you believe it? The entire holiday weekend spent inside at the computer while the rest of America was grilling and watching fireworks. Only for you, blog friends ... only for you! I hope you're making plans to join us. But today... It's just too dark and rainy at My Place to do justice to the ... Keep Reading...
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Sweet Freedom’s Song
I'm very proud to be an American, but sometimes I wonder "what if..." We didn't get to choose the country where we'd be born, but we do get to choose what kind of countrymen we'll be. I consider myself blessed to have been born in America, and I treasure the hard-won freedoms I enjoy. I don't ever want to take them for granted. Perhaps you feel the same. Or perhaps you're reading this blog and you were born elsewhere. I hope you love your country as I love mine. I hope you try to make your world -- our world -- a better place for everyone. But just as no person or family is perfect, no country is perfect either. Not yours. Not mine. Before I started this blog, I could only call a handful of people in other countries by their first ... Keep Reading...
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Pairing With Pink
It's 5:00 on Friday afternoon of this holiday weekend, and I'm soooo ready for a break! You, too? I'll do red, white, and blue on Monday, but today,let's "think pink OK, I realize these first few pictures have no -- zero -- pink in them, but you reeaally have to see them. I recently had a chance to hang out with my friend Pam who owns From the Garden Floral Events. She was decorating for a wedding that was mixed with lots of vintage charm. Just look at the beautiful locket-style brooch worked in to this gorgeous hand-tied bride's bouquet ... Vintage -- yet modern ... It was seriously gorgeous! But it wasn't pink ... But ... the bridesmaid's bouquet was! Look at ... Keep Reading...
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A STYLISHLY MOODY Table: Shabby Country
This is the final post in the Tables With A Theme series.So far, we've covered: Tables With A Theme: Part 1 - The TOPICAL Table Example of a topical table Tables With A Theme: Part 2 - The COLORFUL Table Two examples of colorful tables Tables With A Theme: Part 3 - The STYLISHLY MOODY Table For today's tablescape, I chose to attempt a table with a Shabby Country mood. Because there's no particular color or color combination associated with that style, I'm taking as much color out of the mix as possible ... and using sepia-tone pics instead. I'm hoping to convey a feel or mood that has nothing to do with whether or not you like a particular color. (Yes, I know brown is a ... Keep Reading...
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Tables With A Theme: Part 3 – The STYLISHLY MOODY Table
Welcome to My Place to Yours! I hope you've had a great weekend and that the week ahead is an enjoyable one for you -- and for those around you! If this is your first time here, I'm really glad you stopped by. And if you've been here before, I'm honored that you returned!For the past two weeks I've been doing a series on Tables With A Theme. If you missed any of the posts, I'll list the links below. In the future, if you ever want to refer to them for ideas, just click on the How to: Tablescapes tab under my blog header, and you'll find them more easily. You might also see another post or two you'd like to check out for "how to" ideas. Tables With A Theme: Part 1 - The TOPICAL Table Example of a topical ... Keep Reading...
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Two-Color Theme Tables … TWO of them!
Welcome to My Place to Yours -- and to another day of playing in the dishes! If you've been following my Tables With a Theme posts, you know that last week we talked about TOPICAL themes. (If you missed Part 1, you can read the posts HERE and HERE). Earlier this week we started Part 2 - the COLORFUL theme -- which I wrote about HERE. Today, I'm going to show you two tablescapes that use color-combining themes. It just happens that I did both of them recently while visiting my parents ... and playing in their dishes! I flew from Tennessee to where I feel right at home with cowboys and pick-up trucks ... and Longhorn cattle -- although I prefer these vintage salt and pepper shakers! You might be ... Keep Reading...
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Tables With A Theme: Part 2 – The COLORFUL Theme
I'm so glad you stopped by today for Tables With a Theme: Part 2 - The COLORFUL Theme Our 3-week series began last week with THIS post about topical themes followed by THIS topical tablescape. After all, if you're just learning how to take a tablescape from "empty" Before to "inviting" After, a table with a topical theme is often the easiest kind of table to do. In my experience, the next easiest tablescape is one that spotlights a particular color -- or combination of colors. But how to choose? There are soooo many colors, aren't there? Sometimes they show up in places that REALLY make me smile ... [pe2-image ... Keep Reading...
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A PINK Preview …
Welcome to the weekend! Seems to me it got here really quickly. Did it for you? I've been having fun preparing my Tables With a Theme series. Last week, if you missed it, THIS Part 1 post was about topical themes. Part 2 is all about the COLORFUL theme. I'll post it on Sunday evening, and I promise I'll include lots of PINKS! Here are a few for you to enjoy today -- straight from Renaissance Man's garden ... Have a wonderful weekend -- and I hope to see you Sunday night for Part 2 of Tables with a Theme. I'm linking to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound. Why don't you join me? ... Keep Reading...
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Heart-Stopping-Beautiful China: Christian Dior "Tabriz"
I'm so glad you stopped by today! I'm going to show you something today I never thought possible ... If you were you reading this blog when we took the field trip HERE to Replacements, Ltd., you may remember seeing this: "I wish this picture were better ... because you'll never get to see it in one of my tablescapes!" Well, imagine my shock -- and excitement -- when I saw an eBay seller offering four 5-piece place settings of "my" Christian Dior Tabriz UNUSED in their original boxes ... for $700 less than the cost of replacement ... selling Buy It Now for the cost of three dinner plates! [pe2-image src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rqrmS0I0pgs/Ui9NR_xGGXI/AAAAAAAARLk/nSGzc2y_Um4/s144-c-o/Color%252520Theme28.jpg" ... Keep Reading...
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Tables With A Theme
UPDATE: Now that the entire series has been written, here are the posts... Tables With A Theme: Part 1 – The TOPICAL Table (scroll down to begin!) Example of a topical table Tables With A Theme: Part 2 – The COLORFUL Table Two examples of colorful tables Tables With A Theme: Part 3 – The STYLISHLY MOODY Table An example of a stylishly moody table PART 1: The TOPICAL Theme I told you in my last post that I had the fun of doing an interview for Carbona's StainTalk blog. You can read it HERE. While they really wanted the "down and dirty" on several subjects, I was surprised that the very first question they asked was about tablescaping; specifically, what advice I would give. This was my ... Keep Reading...
