Dining Room Makeover

My vintage tulip print from a garage sale
This rooster weather vane was my gift for playing nurse for 2 months to my family! Roosters have a special place in my heart now that Myah was born in the year of the rooster.
My angel vine loves its new home atop the buffett
I just love this old dresser, I scrubbed it up pretty good and filled it with my candle stash

This picture isn't really good of my pretty curtains but I love them still!
My sister has found yet another thing that she is great at! This is a picture of a barn on Lake Michigan with hollyhocks of course!
Remember my garage sale plates, they bring a punch of color to the buffett
My Grandmothers cruet set, I need to polish it but I kind of like it like this too!

Ever since we moved into our home almost 8 years ago we have been searching for dining room furniture. We have a breakfast nook that we eat in all of the time and I really wanted to make our dining room more inviting. I love having nice dinners in the dining room but there was never anything really special about it. Some of my fondest memories are from when we were gathered around a dining room table with good friends and family, whether we were sharing a beautiful Christmas spread, playing a game of euchre with grandparents, falling off the chair in laughter, catching up with the day to day,or pulling a high chair up to the table for the first time. If our table could talk, oh the stories it would tell!

Last fall we became serious about looking for a table, we looked everywhere, I didn't want to settle for something that wasn't "us". We had done that in the past with other items and we never were satisified. Our room is not very large and all of the newer furniture pieces were enormous, I began to get frustrated. One day I came across this antique set at my favorite antique mall, a booth had been rented just for this piece and it caught my eye immediately, a bonus was the beautiful buffett that accompanied the table. I came home and told Mark all about it, the price was incredible $600 for all it was a Duncan Phyfe style, six chairs, two leafs and a custom table pad, in mint condition. Plus a buffet! I knew it was perfect. I love everything old, but I didn't want something old that was rickety, this was very sturdy. Mark went the next day to "look" at it and then called me and told me to be ready to unload it when he got home! What a guy! It fits perfectly in the room because it is a bit "petite" as compared to the more modern larger styles.

I love the Nester and her window mistreatments were my inspiration for the new look in our room. I came across this fabric at Calico Corners a few weeks ago and fell in love with the fresh look. I have a special place in my heart for tulips so that became my inspiration piece. My sister Melanie has begun painting beautiful pieces of art so I begged her to make me a large picture for my new room. I still need to frame it but it is gorgeous. The large window is something that I got out of the garbage from a favorite store that was going out of business (she let me drag it out of her pile). I have wanted to place it above the buffett but wasn't sure how it would tie in. I LOVE it in here! My $10 old dresser just had to be included in this room after it sat in my hallway for a few days and I realized it was a perfect color match. Notice my garage sale plates and bowl! My makeover cost me next to nothing. I also took a pretty watermelon check and redid the chairs with my staple gun. The best part is that my curtains were hot glued together! Yes I said hot glued! The Nester convinced me that just because I cannot sew does not mean I cannot have gorgeous window treatments! This room is now my favorite, it is fresh, clean but vintage and classy all at the same time. Now who wants to come for dinner?

I Went Back!

I went back to that super cool garage sale and I told Mark not to worry about getting me anything for Mother's Day, I just want money to pick up a few things. I pulled into the driveway and they were happy to see me again. I am going to sign up for their fairy garden workshop with Myah. These ladies are so awesome! They said that they sell their treasures to the stores that I frequent, selling antiques and cool stuff to them. I really hit the motherload!
Here are the fun items that I picked up. My house looks like a bomb went off after being at ball tournaments all weekend and my new treasures are scattered around until they find their permanant home. I am glad today is a rainy day and I can fuss! I am in the process of a doing a really exciting project that I will share with you soon! I am really having fun!
FYI: The cool dresser was $10, the pretty chair was $20 (love this chair, in perfect condition!) Myah calls it her Cinderella chair, wagon $10, flag $3,croquet set $6, plate $3, pretty white bowl $4,fabric $3, books were 25 cents a piece at church rummage sale and Seasons of Cannon Falls snowman was unpriced, I asked the lady how much for it and she said "oh, a quarter!" what a steal!!!

Garage Sale Season Opener

My treasures from the sale, I am making new curtains out of this gorgeous fabric for my office! The table was $3, fabric $3 , plate $1 and trim was $3.
I found this rocking horse at Salvation Army last week, she is getting a pretty makeover! She cost me $19
I picked these up at my favorite second hand store for Myah, I love the Gymboree jeans and suit! Total of $15.00

I went to my first sale of the year yesterday and what a goodie! I followed one little sign for a couple of blocks to find this sale, right on a super busy street! I had seen this sweet little house for many years and there was always cute stuff on her front porch so I figured we must have similar taste. I circled the block 2 times trying to find a spot in her driveway to park, she is right at the corner of an intersection, after the 3rd time I told myself that I would move on if I couldn't fit. Luckily someone had just pulled out and I plowed in! I hit the motherload! As I walked up I knew that this was no ordinary garage sale. It was set up like a little shop inside and it was full of stuff that I love! You would be proud of the self control that I exhibited! I did come away with these perfect treasures. It was 4 sisters who sell cool stuff to the cool stores in the area, they also do draperies, ottomans, etc. So much fun! I want to sign up for one of their classes to make a fairy garden. I am going back today, Mark has me running an errand in that area, poor me!!! They said that not even half of the stuff was out yet!! Yippee! I love finding treasures! I think if I was a millionaire I would still shop this way!

Here are a few treasures that I picked up plus a few other thrifting things that I picked up in my travels.

Crowning Glory

My beautiful vintage tiara on the bottom and my sweet little Prom Queen crown (leaning) are two of my favorite treasures.
This is Myah's tiny little collection, aren't they precious! She is my princess!

I have a confession to make, I am in love with crowns and tiaras. I think I always have been. Whether it be a tiny crown in a bridal veil that my aunt wore in her wedding or my obsession with Princess Diana, I have always been drawn to royalty of any kind. One of the best days in my life was the day I was able to view Diana's wedding gown and tiara. I even picked out my own bridal veil becase it shimmered like a real tiara, so beautiful! I always loved crowns. It is funny to me because no one really knew about this other than my close family and yet I was crowned queen of the 8th grade dance, (I guess my niceness paid off) and then I was honored to be on Homecoming court in my sophomore year and then the greatest honor when I was chosen as our Prom Queen. I am not bragging at all, quite the opposite actually. I just wonder if I was a princess in a past life or something (ha ha!). I am still drawn to tiaras and crowns. I see vintage tiaras in magazines or on decorating blogs and I would love to collect them however they can be pricey and they are hard to find in my neck of the woods. I did purchase a beautiful vintage crown a few years ago when I started taking pictures, it will be perfect when Myah is a bit older, and will keep it on her head, with a tutu, perfect photo op! I keep it in a special place next to my little prom queen crown. You will have to bop on over to my other blog at Myah's Days and see my tribute to proms this week. My sister purchased a set of tiaras for Myah as well and she loves to dress up like a little princess. I thought my blog could use a little bling for a change! Why not go ahead and pick up a tiny tiara and make your hubby treat you like a queen for a day!