Baskets and Bees. . .

Hello my friends,

each time I walk out into our garden I am greeted with an assortment of baskets and plenty of bees buzzing about.

 

The only thing we don't have plenty of lately, is sunshine.  Boy has it been a wet spring!  I'm not complaining, the garden is loving it!

 

BUT

why today of all days?  The crew is here to frame the 'she shed' and it is raining.

Somehow I don't think there will be a lot of 'singing in the rain' going on.  lol!

 

When the garden comes alive, I like to carry the theme into my home as well.

 

So I pulled out my bee sampler that hubby made the frame for last year and placed it on the mantle.

 

 

Then I added one of my cast iron baskets. 

 

 

These baskets are (one) of my newest obsessions.  Noticed I said, one?  :) Isn't this one gorgeous?  I love the colors!! It went so well with the sampler.

 

My friend, Joanne has an amazing collection; and I was totally smitten!  She actually brought two of these home from Virginia for me (what a sweetheart)! The third one (on the left),I picked up at fleology last weekend.

 

 

The rustic beehive was a thrift find.



 

I also love corbels and brought a few home from South Carolina.

This chippy pair have seen better days, but I adore them just the way they are!

 

 

This mantle is very simplistic and I liked it, but felt it needed just a little something more.  (wink)

 

 

So last night I printed some graphics and made a 'bee' banner.

 

I kept the colors very subtle so it wouldn't take away from the vintage feel. 

 

 I laugh at the things that I save.  It's hard to see, but on the Queen bee there is a little tassel type thing hanging down.  It was a tag that came on some jeans I bought a few years ago.  I saved it knowing I might use it on something.  It actually has the letter 'Q' on it.  Meant to be!  ha, ha!

 



 

I think the banner added that needed touch!  Although I'm thinking I should make one more so there would be 7 instead of 6.  What do you think?

 

Hope you are having a BEE-utiful day!

 

 

And don't forget our Garden Party starting Monday, May 23rd!

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

hugs,

Jann

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:
Thoughts of Home

 

 

Share Your Cup Thursday #198

Welcome to Share Your Cup (SYC for short) – the party where you share what makes you happy.

My Fair Ladies. . .

Hello my friends,

 

Have you ever heard of 'frozen Charlottes"?

 

I hadn't until recently.  Oh, I have always seen the doll parts, but had no idea that poor little Charlotte was frozen and that's what they were called until my friends told me.

 

Well, lately I've have been on a bit of a frozen Charlotte

 find frenzy.  :)

Now if that makes sense, chances are you've been following me for some time.  lol!

 

Last week craft group #2 got together at my home and we made wire cloches. 

They all turned out gorgeous and I'll be sharing those with you along with the 'how to's next week.

 

But today I wanted to share my fair ladies.

 

Two cage dolls made from chicken wire.

 

This one I've named 'Sweet Savannah'.  Doesn't her skirt remind you of those full dresses those Georgian and Charleston girls wore?

 

 

She is actually made from a pincushion doll.  I bought two of them at the Fleology vintage sale that I sold at on Saturday.

The pincushions were nasty dirty, but that's o.k. because I knew I was tearing them apart.

 

 

I kept her cage vey simple with just a bit of rust and bling.

 

 

I've also learned that the frozen Charlottes are sought after and that they can be a bit pricey.  I did have to pay up for the little blonde gal I found in S. Carolina.  She looks a bit like a painted lady, but I love her!  I learned on Saturday from a fellow junk lover that the blonde ones are hard to find. 
 Who knew?
 

Maybe it's because they have more fun.  ha, ha!

 

 

 

My friend, Joanne sent me this pin quite a while ago.  That's when the passion began.  This is what is on the agenda for blondie.

 

 

I call this one my 'Garden Gal'.

I had so much fun playing with her!

 

 

I just picked up the handmade lace and keys (used on both dolls) at an estate sale last week.  The millenary flowers were scored in

 South Carolina.

 

 The bird is another Carolina find.  It was love at first sight!

 

 

 Using linen thread I tied fresh Lilacs, dried Lavender, and a couple of seed packets to the wire cage.

 

 

Every 'Garden Girl' needs garden gloves.  These mini's were given to me by my cousin, Betty.  I tucked more millinery flowers inside.

 

 

Isn't her lace shawl divine?  (wink)

 

Oh how I love my 'Garden Gal'!

 

This is a new board I started, so not a lot of pins.  But it has some more fun, fair ladies.

Doll Art

 

hugs,

Jann

 

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:

Bernideens for BTTCG

The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday

Bella Rosa Antiques for Let's Talk Vintage

Share Your Style

Vintage Charm

 

 

 

 

Put a Fork in It!

Hello my friends,

do you have a special birdhouse that is just sitting around waiting to be placed on a pole?

 

Why not put a fork in it?

 

A pitch fork that is!

 

A few years ago my sweet father in law made me this birdhouse.  I painted it aqua, glazed it, and added the tin roof and other

 bits of junk.

 

 

I already have a few birdhouses on poles in my garden so I just kept moving it around trying to decide what I wanted to do with it. At first I thought I would add it to one of the pergola posts.  The roof overhangs in back so that wouldn't work.

 

Then last summer I had an idea.  Why not put a fork in it?

My sis had given me a birdhouse years ago attached to a shovel.  I could do the same thing using a pitchfork.

 

 

I had an old one that I had picked up and it just sort of hung out in the garden.  Now and then I worried a little about one of the grands wanting to play with it.  It hadn't happened, but what a dangerous weapon it could be!

 

Hubby bought these metal pipe brackets and they worked great to attach the pitchfork to the back of the birdhouse. 

 



 

 He used screws that were long enough to hold it well, but not so long that they would cause damage to any birds that might decide to take up residency.  Although that hasn't happened.  :(

 

We stuck it in the ground and it's a fun and whimsical statement in our garden.

 

 

And now I want to announce the date of our next Garden Party.

Monday, May 23rd.

We would love if you placed this on your sidebar to help

 spread the word!

 

 

Our last party was a great success!  So many fabulous garden posts were linked up.

 

Hope you will join us again!

 

hugs,

Jann

 

This post was featured at Vintage Charm  Thank you ladies!

 

I will be sharing with these lovely parties:

Vintage Charm 

Thoughts of Home

 The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday
Bella Rosa Antiques for Let's Talk Vintage

 

 

Share Your Cup Thursday #197

Welcome to Share Your Cup (SYC for short) - the party where you share what makes you happy.

It's what your hosts call "filling your cup.

Let's see what your hosts have been up to this past week.

Jo shared a wonderful project called The Kindness Quilt Project started by Vicki of 2 Bags Full - please check out how you can participate in the project.

Jann shared about her love for lichen which she found in abundance on her vacation in the Carolinas.

In She Shed ... He Said, she showed us loads of fun sheds that were used as inspiration for the shed her family is building for her.

In A Whole Lot of Color, Carol showed some changes she has made around the house and garden.

And now, for the features, chosen by Carol:

Pam of Everyday Living shared a beautiful Mother's Day tablescape in her post, Mother's Day and Our Good,
Good Father.

BJ of Sweet Nothings shared the cute little cart Mr. Sweet bought her when he knew she really wanted a potting bench.

Kitty of Kitty's Kozy Kitchen share recipes for lavender soaps and sugar scrubs and gave me an idea for what I'll be making for a late Mother's Day event at the end of May.

Judith of Botanic Bleu talked about l'heure bleue en mai and how it describes a series of special times and events.

I haven't been doing much in the way of crafts lately, but this cone shared by Betty Jean of Shabby Tea Party caught my eye and I might just have to make one.

Amalia of Handmade by Amalia took us on a tour of Tel Aviv, which made me want to be a tourist in my own city so Steve and I followed her lead and took a walk in a different area of town today.

Thanks to everyone for sharing and be sure to grab our button if you were featured.

What's Not to Like About Lichen?

Hello my friends,

 

I have so many wonderful pictures from my vacation to the Carolinas that I haven't had a chance to share yet.

 

The first week hubby and I stayed in the Sapphire Valley area.  One foggy morning we hiked Whiteside Mountain.

 

I've mentioned many times how much I love moss, but do you know what I love just about as much?  Lichen!

 

So imagine my delight when this hike had

 plenty of both.

 

 

 

I truly felt as though we were in the 'land of lichen'!

 

Look at this.  Doesn't it look like a little fairy is about to appear any moment?  I was wishing that I had packed my gnomes or pinecone elves along for this trip.  I would have had so much fun playing with them!  :)

 

We hiked this high stairway and guess what we found at the top?

 

Thick fog, and . . .

 

 

more lichen.

 

 

 Isn't the world a beautiful place?

 

That's one of my favorite things about traveling.  Seeing all of the gorgeous things God has created.

 

 

I am kind of lichen them a lot.  lol!

 

 

hugs,

Jann