Friday Finds...

Of course we had to spend a day antiquing on our recent vacation, here is our crazy crew on the way out the door...

My Aunt Dorine, My Mom, me, and their BFF since high school, Jane Ann

I didn't do much actual BUYING (no room in the Clampett truck to take anything home, unless I left one of the kids at the beach)... but I did get some interesting ideas I thought I would bring back for you all.  I'm really am going to attempt my own version of these once school gets back in session and I have time to putter (did I really just SAY that?  WHEN do I ever have time to PUTTER???).  ANYWHO... 

Mimi (my mother) saw this adorable table... the top is covered in burlap, with large upholstery tacks (I think that's what they are) around the sides and glass on top.  Totally chic and what a great way to jazz up an old scratched up side table... Really any kind of fabric would look great, but I just love, love, love the texture of the burlap with the glass.

I spied these stunning candle lamps on the way out of a shop... 

can you figure out what they are?

Yep, if you look closely you can see these are just bunch of inexpensive random glass vases, cups, bowls and decanters all fused together and hanging by a chain.  I have about 10 of those cheap florist vases under my kitchen sink. Wouldn't these be lovely on a covered patio?  So pretty, easy and CHEAP!!!  Oh, and I think they were selling them for about $75!

Finally, and I have no idea WHY these grabbed my attention, but I just think they're FUN...

Redneck Wine Glasses

These are just old Mason jars with inexpensive candle holders attached to the bottom... wouldn't these make a fun gift filled with some Skinny-Girl Margarita mix or candy and tied with a big bow?   Now, if I could just find some time to PUTTER.   Heavy sigh...

Semi-Wordless Wednesday... Back to the Beach

I wish.  Not quite ready to admit vacation is over.  

A few more of my fave Hipstamatic pics...

And finally, sunset at Tacky Jack's in Ft. Morgan (not so tacky, huh?)...

Semi-Wordless Wednesday - If You're Lucky Enough To Be At The Beach...

You're lucky enough.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

You know, I have a hard time with the whole wordless thing...

Can't you hear it calling your name?

Just another day in paradise...

Last day to enjoy the beautiful and relaxing island of Amelia... Boo! I sure could use one more day... or maybe ten. The weather has been perfect and I just never tire of sitting by the ocean. Don't my feet look happy?


They should be, they stayed pretty much in this same spot for about 6 hours yesterday...

I'm chilling right now in an old barnwood adirondak chair waiting for the shops to open so I can pick up some souvenirs for the munchkins... staring at this...


There's a lovely breeze and birds chirping and I'm starting to feel like I'm in a Disney movie and one of them is going to land on my shoulder and strike up a conversation...

Trying out a different blogging app today, curious to see if it has better results, it does seem to have more functionality so far...

I have taken about a million pics with my hipstamatic app, so I will leave you with one more this morning before I head in to do a little more shopping damage...



-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Good Morning Sunshine...

If you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough...

Sunrise at Amelia Island, Florida...

Life's a beach... for at least 3 days

Amelia Island Sunrise

Today is PACKING day... OY. I hate to pack, hate to unpack even more. HOWEVER, you will not hear me complaining today because I am going on a trip. Not just any trip, a T.R.I.P.  I'm off to the beach to meet Handsome Hubby at an I.T. (nerd) conference... Amelia Island, to be specific.

Our first visit to Amelia Island was this past summer, and I am THRILLED to have the opportunity to return... oh, and did I mention?  NO KIDS (thank you Mimi and Big Daddy for accepting the crazy kids challenge).  Don't get me wrong, I ADORE my children, but sometimes mama and daddy need to NOT be mama and daddy, if you know what I mean... can we get a WOO HOO?

While HH is conferencing with his other I.T. (nerd) friends, I will be conferencing with a beach chair, my Kindle and an adult beverage... again, can we get a WOO HOO?  I might even sneak in a little shopping or a trip to the spa... or I MIGHT just plant my toes in the sand and never get up.  

If you're lucky enough to be at the beach...

Two Surfers

Sweet Son and his BFF just took off on their first BIG ADVENTURE... an hour and a half drive to the beach to spend the day hanging out with their toes in the sand and their souls in the surf.  Letting them go on the BIG ADVENTURE was a BIG DECISION for the parental units... but we have to let go sometime, and they ARE so convincingly cute. Now the mama's are holding their breath until that little blue Murano pulls back in the driveway tonight... praying they make it back in one piece and that my credit card doesn't end up in the bottom of the deep blue sea.

Wild Air Print

Shell Shock

Thought I would share another easy peasy project we did for Dear Daughter's big girl room... this room has been in the PLANNING stages for two years, but Mommy failed to get off her duff and get it done.  That said, we had lots of time to gather ideas and this was one of them...

Vacationed this summer at the awesome Amelia Island, Florida... now, I am a Gulf Coast girl going WAY back in my childhood, but that blasted oil spill put a damper on our usual trip to Gulf Shores so we had to regroup and discover a new beach on the "OTHER" side of Florida.  Blasphemy.  I want the sandy white beaches of my youth, but I put on my big girl undies and endured the very LONG drive to the Atlantic side.  What a surprise treat Amelia turned out to be!  Different beaches for sure, but LOADED with shells, awesome waves, and just a delightfully sleepy southern town vibe.  Actually THINK my handsome hubby is taking me back there with him on a business trip soon... yippee!  Here is Sweet Son skim boarding on the Amelia beaches... taken with my iphone and the WAY cool Hipstamatic app...

Of course, Mimi and I always have to take at least one day away from the surf, sand, and skim boarding (JUST KIDDING, I tried to skim board ONCE... not pretty)  to visit the local antique shops, and Amelia was a GOLDMINE.   Wandering through one great eclectic shop I came across this:

Pardon the poor picture quality... it was dark in there and I was using my phone camera.

Ok, so I LOVED this... perfect for Dear Daughter's beachy, vintage theme room... but seriously, the price was HIGH at around $100.  Remember how I mentioned there are millions of GREAT shells on the Amelia Island beaches?  My kids spend literally HOURS scouring the beaches for shells... and then there was that day I made Handsome Hubby walk about 6 miles down the beach with me collecting shells in his shirt... oops, forgot to bring a bag.  I decided to snap a pic and HOPEFULLY remember when I got home to try to recreate this idea...

I have been keeping my eye out for the perfect frame.  In my favorite thrift store one day I found 2 matching framed pieces of art... sort of that 70's Home Interiors style... ugly, dreary looking "fake" paintings in some really scrolly french provencial plastic frames.  One dollar each... JACKPOT.  I didn't even need to get canvases for the shells, they could go directly on the old "paintings"...

Dear Daughter picked out a shade of purple acrylic paint for the frames, to match a surfboard we painted in the same color. Got to work painting the frames... no primer, just slapped a couple of coats right on... because these are some form of cheap plastic, without primer some of the old frame peeks through, giving them exactly the vintage look we were going for anyway.  Next I grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and went to town with those million shells we collected... very little time and about $3 later... voila!

Dear Daughter is in heaven!  These are perfect for the "collage" of stuff above her bed (will blog on that later) and they are very special to her because the shells were collected by her family during her favorite week of the year... Mommy loves them because they were fun to make, turned out cuter than the inspiration (in my humble Mommy opinion), and saved me about 97 bucks... yea me!