A Trip, Treasures, and a Tri-fold

Be forewarned:  I'm all over the place with this post.

A bit unlike my usual style,

but I have so much to share with you,
that I'm unloading it all at once.  lol

It begins in the master bathroom.

The bathroom I claimed as my own when we moved here.
The bathroom where I oohed and ahhhed the first time I walked in.
(The bathroom where I stroke the bead board walls periodically just because they're there.)

I'd been wanting to replace this light for the past seven years.

I always wondered why an outdoor light was installed in there.
A couple years ago, I dry brushed it with creamy white to soften the look a bit.
It grew on me after a while.
So, I embraced it and learned to live with it.

After Debbie said she liked it because it reminded her of a lantern on a gypsy wagon,

I reeeally loved that thought ~

And I hesitated about changing it out...

for a moment.

But once the Husband wired this antique sconce I brought home from Michelle's booth at the antique market last month,

I was smitten.

It added a sweet touch of vintage bling to my favorite room in this old farmhouse.

A bit of sweet elegance against the sweet bead board walls.

Yep.  Totally smitten.

~  ♥  ~

We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary last week,
traveling to Lake Michigan through small coastal towns,
stopping at flea markets, antique shops, and fruit stands.
We picked through dusty treasures, dug through boxes of vintage goodies,
and test-squeezed fresh picked peaches before loading them into the car
with sweet juice running down our chins.

We exchanged heartfelt cards over lunch on The Idler, a unique riverboat restaurant in South Haven,
and ate crab cakes, buffalo wings, and artichoke dip.
It was beautiful day spent together.

source

We wandered through numerous antique shops in South Haven and Saugatuck.
While my husband lugged around a vintage outboard boat motor he ended up purchasing,
I couldn't resist these pretties.

There wasn't a price on the china pieces, but after being told they were $4 a piece,
I found myself grinning stupidly while clutching them in my hands.
Vintage beads for my dream catchers and wind catchers were a happy find,
and a faded Simply Shabby Chic tablecloth I pulled from the bottom of a box beneath a table was only $5.





But the pink and lilac tapestry with a black silk border was my favorite discovery of the day.
Four feet of embroidered flowers and elegant flourishes, beading, and sequins
that I unearthed from a pile of linens under an old table.
The embroidery is exquisite and so unique.
It's a beautiful piece of shabby bohemian goodness.

~  ♥  ~

I recently purchased some RASC fabric and asked
a friend of mine to make a couple of Euro shams for me.

I love the 'Somerset' pattern.
I could only find the fabric in white though, so I dyed it a pale lavender-blue.
It's perfect snuggling next to 'Mon Ami'.

The purples and blues are soothing, and 'ground' the room a bit
amid the white and pinks.

 ~  ♥  ~

As much as I'm loving my bathroom and the new shams on the sofa,
this corner of the living room is currently giving me fits.
Big fits.
The "I-can't-stand-to-look-at-it-anymore-and-don't-know-what-to-do-with-it " kind of fits.

Behind that beautiful fabric is a tri-fold door
that needs.....something.

You're probably wondering why the fabric is draped there.

Well, this is what they looked like when I bought them a couple years ago at the antique market.
They looked wonderful with the French-Nordic decor I had in the house at that time.
Simple, elegant, and very French.

This is what they looked like after I waved my magic rustic wand over them.
I spray painted the doors. Then, after spray painting the chicken wire, too,
stapled that to the back of the doors.

So much better.
Cleaner. Brighter. Airier.

BUT
{sigh}
I've grown tired of the chicken wire...
AND the fabric
(and maybe of the doors themselves....?)
They're not just speaking to me any more for some reason.
They're actually driving me nuts.





I hung an embroidered pashmina on one door
and some of my favorite linen fabric on the other doors to cover up the chicken wire,
and to add a bit of soft color there in the corner.

But now it just looks messy to me.

{sigh}

So, I'm changing them up....
...again...
to see if my new idea sings to my soul.

I'll let you know if I hear any music....  :)

{If I don't, I'll just go back to stroking the bead board in my bathroom...}



~  Blessings  ~

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"Prairie Girl"

Although the calendar indicates that spring officially arrived last month,

Old Man Winter was slow to give up his grip here in Michigan,
and when he did,
Mother Nature continues to bless us with an abundance of rain.

Great for greening things up around here,
but not so great for working in the garden.
Great for getting projects completed indoors, though,
like the sweet pink shutters I'm still giddy about.  :)

[You can read about them here.]

So, given another cold, cloudy, rainy day,

I spent it creating a new twist on my shabby, romantic dream catchers.

Inspired by the beautiful fabric garlands that 

Sherry at ShantyGirl

and

Sandi at Wayside Treasures

have been making,

I wanted a rustic, whimsical, bohemian look.

When the sun made a very brief appearance during the afternoon,

I gathered apple and cherry twigs from the woods surrounding this old house,

spread out piles of fabrics on my prairie table...

and the
"Prairie Girl" 
dream catcher was born.

Colorful streamers cascade next to 

dangling seashells collected from the beach,
sparkling glass beads,

shimmering metallic threads,

soft strands of lavender leather,

fuzzy pom pom yarn,

and white, silky feathers.

The soft pastels look pretty next to the beautiful vintage millinery floral garland
hanging on the barn door handle.

The garland was made for me by sweet friend, Rachel at Shabby French for Me.

Prairie Girl is sweet, rustic, bohemian and whimsical.

Each Prairie Girl dream catcher I create is one of a kind.

Each is wrapped in her own quirky, unique, personality.

Each is full of color, sparkle, and captivates with an ethereal, gypsy-like feeling.

Although "Prairie Girl" takes a bit longer to dream into being

because of her thick waterfall of fabric streamers
and multitude of unique, assorted beads,

I love making them and look forward to designing more to sell.

This one, however, just may make her home

catching the morning breezes by my front porch swing ~
where the fabric will flutter in the breeze
and the beads will gently clack together...  :)

But if you know me at all,
I couldn't stop with just one.

A second Prairie Girl dream catcher was adorned with a passion for purple.

Deep purple mingles with turquoise, pink, blue, and aqua with bright gypsy beads.

And a third is embellished with grass green, bright teal, and a touch of rich purple.

So full of happy color,
 I can't help but smile as my hands busily string and tie each one.

Well, a stack of sticks and some pretty, ornate boho beads wait patiently for me on the prairie table,

and a pile of streamers are whispering my name...

Time to create.

~  Sweet Prairie Blessings  ~

PS  These will be for sale in my booth at Doster Emporium
(which is now OPEN!) ~
and I'll be taking them to Allegan Antique Market on May 26, too.
Or if you see one you love, email me!

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