How did I miss this?

I realized this morning while going through a few old photos that I never posted the few vintage items that I bought at Farm Chicks!  All three are things that I love, which is my new motto in the house:

These items fit well in our 1928 farm house~

~I collect vintage milk jugs

~I have always wanted an old scale

~I was thrilled when I found this vintage egg basket which collapses completely flat!

new etsy shop!

It seems that it is a time of change here at Mimi Charmante.  I have been wanting to do a few things lately and so today, I spent much of my time wrapping up some loose ends and getting a few things finished and ready to go.  I am really excited about opening my new etsy shop - Mimi Charmante ~ home of lovely things.  I hope you will visit me there!  I have listed a few vintage things that I love, some linen and fabric flowers I made, as well as a photograph.  I will be adding more as my other shop closes down, and moving some things from the old shop to the new.  I had forgotten how much work it is...  :)

Please stop by to say hello~  it would be lovely to see you!

Mimi Charmante ~ home of lovely things

Have a lovely rest of your Sunday my friends,

xo

inspiring bedroom

I have had this photo on my desktop for some time now.  I wish for the life of me that I knew where I found it - and if you do, please, by all means, let me know!  I hate posting a photo without giving proper credit, but I really wanted to share it with you because, in my dream world, my bedroom would look like this.  I love the fact that while it is neutral, it uses bits of color as accents.  I also love the romantic bedskirt and window treatments.  I would love to know what color they have used on the walls as it is such a soft grey and would look lovely with our white wood ceilings.  

Citron

I love most anything lemon, and these cupcakes are no exception!  

Have a lovely weekend my friends, and do something spontanious, just for fun!

xo

Beach combing

Although the weather was blustery today, #s 3 & 4 and I went beach combing at Picnic Point Park today.  The tide was really, really low and it was such fun to walk along in our rubber boots, picking up things and combing through the seaweed to find treasures and surprises!

let the festivities begin!

We have a birthday on the farm today.  I love birthdays.  I love the festive atmosphere.  I love spoiling the birthday boy.  I love that for one day each year, my children get a day to feel supremely special, doted on, and loved.  

Today this boy is in the spotlight.  We have a fun day planned and I can't wait!

We love you #3!

Loving... linen flowers

I have been having a bit of a love affair with linen lately, and linen flowers seem to be especially appealing.  Aren't they sweet?

summer play

As today looks like it will be the only nice one this week, we will be spending the day outside playing~

xo

What I just discovered that I had!

I have been busy working on endless projects lately.  I have also been enjoying going to the flea markets with renewed enthusiasm since the Farm Chicks show.  So a couple of weeks ago I bought a little bag of something that I thought might come in handy at some point.  However, since then it has remained in the bag in my breakfast nook with the endless other supplies that I have picked up over the years. 

Well, today after finally finishing my swags (I think I have mentioned that while I am a great starter, finishing is not my strong point...) I thought I would have a look what was in the bag, and see if it was anything I could use on my next project.  Lo and behold, I found what I considered quite a treasure!  I know that there are a few of you that will appreciate this little discovery as much as I do!

I know that there is a name for this - I think it is called tatting.  Does that sound right to you?

Now I just have to figure out how to best use it!

xo

Festive swags

I have been working on some festive swags in anticipation of our Independence Day celebrations. For some reason this year, I am in the mood to celebrate.  I love the idea of a bon fire, good food, friends, and lots of red, white, and blue decorations.  I was at the fabric store and found some fabulous fabrics that I wanted to play around with.  I made flags out of the fabrics as well as some old linen and burlap that I had already.  The boys love that the house seems like it is ready for a party!

xo

Dining outdoors

A friend of ours is traveling through Italy right now with his family.  They have been to some incredible places, but one of his photos really caught my eye.  It was this photo of a gorgeous outdoor dining area~

I have seen quite a number of outdoor dining areas lately that I like, but this one struck a chord in me because right now, I am trying to create a dining area up by our fire pit and have been going back and forth between shade from trees and a large pergola.  While I would prefer trees, the time it would take for them to mature would be long and I don't want to wait years for shade. A friend had suggested a large vine-covered pergola as it would create that shady area I am looking for much much faster.  

I love how tall this one is, and how simple.  Granted, the view of the Italian countryside surrounding it isn't exactly undesirable, but I don't anticipate if I build a pergola like this, I will suddenly have that view as well...  It would be nice though!

Now it is just a matter of encouraging my handsome (and incredibly talented) husband that we really do need this on our property...  Wish me luck!

xo

ps~ if you want to see the incredible residence that they are staying at, where this pergola is located, you can find it here.

The Last Full Day~

{image found here}

Today is the last full day of the school year here on the farm.  They do go tomorrow for two hours, but seriously, two hours?  What is the point?  So today is my day to wrap up any loose ends that I don't want to have to do when the boys are home.  

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I am definitely a type-A personality.  Now, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  But when I started this blog, I started to see myself from different angles.  I started to get an outside perspective on what it might be like looking in. Today for example...

So summer break begins tomorrow, and we also have a guest coming on Saturday who has never been here.  A really special guest - someone I have never met but have a close connection to.  So, between those two things, I really want to have everything just so.  Now, I know that I have mentioned that we have this great property.  We have done a lot of work on it, but it still has a LOT of things that need to be done.  And honestly, if I am not physically working on something (totally overhauling the pond yesterday for example), I am thinking about doing something (today's to-do list goes on endlessly...).  My handsome husband and I feel that we are so incredibly blessed to have what we do, and some evenings, as the sun is setting after a gorgeous summer day, and we are sitting outside just looking around at it all, we remark that it is like we live at a resort, or in a park.  We love it that much.  And I do - really!  But I have this vision of what I want it to look like when guests come, or I have something planned.  And it doesn't involve a lot, to whip it into shape - a good mowing, debris removal, furniture set up just so, toys gathered and into the sandbox, gardens weeded and cleaned up.  Basic tidying, really.  But the type-A part is this - if all of that is done, it puts me in a REALLY GOOD MOOD. Not that I can't be in a good mood if it isn't done.  But I just feel so much better if it all looks "just so"...  And honestly, the older I get, the more I realize that when guests arrive, they probably don't notice that I have cut all the dead heads off of the rose bushes, or weeded the gardens, or swept the entry.  And maybe, as I get older, it won't bother me either.  

I envy those of you who can entertain effortlessly.  Who look forward to large groups of guests, who can just put out good food and know that the food and the company area all that matter. Those of you who are flexible, who just relax and enjoy the time spent entertaining.  Those who actually enjoy friends "dropping over" even if things are a disaster!  

So please, feel free to leave any sage advice on how to become less concerned about having everything "just right" and instead enjoying it all for the joy it brings.  It would be greatly appreciated.  I will be out in the gardens until I hear from you...

xo

Outdoor Inspiration

~three images above courtesy of the Bottom of the Ironing Basket~

I don't know if you know this, but we have a pretty fabulous property.  It is an acre and a half, with an old (1930) barn, a chicken coop, a great playhouse that is (nearly) finished, a fire pit, and all sorts of established trees - fruit and otherwise.  I would say that it has a LOT of potential.  Sadly, what it doesn't have is a resident with really great vision...  You see, I can find photos of snippets of things that I like, and would love to incorporate, but to envision the entire thing as I would like it to be just isn't in me.  (you see, I am well aware of my limitations...)

Right now, in my own personal dream world, I would wiggle my nose - Samantha style (you must be at least 35 to get that reference...) and a large shade tree would appear just north-west of our fire pit - creating the perfect afternoon shade for a wonderful dining area.  Sadly, I can stand up there wiggling my nose all day long and yet, no tree appears...  

I have found various outdoor photos that inspire me greatly.  I love looking at them and imagining how I could incorporate these looks into our property.  Now if only I could get that money tree out there to bloom...

xo

These two really know how to put an outdoor area together~

~barn house brilliance~

I just love the feel of this photo.  I imagine listening to the silence, broken only by bird song~

~duften av erteblomster~

You can never use too much linen~

~modern country living~

I am so in the groove this week!

Yet another little something that I have begun and really truly plan to finish.  Truly.  I am just having so much fun working on all of these creative projects!  Could it be that I know this is the last week before school is out for the summer...?

xo

This room inspires me...

I don't know what exactly it is about this photo, but do you know how occasionally you come across a photo that really inspires you, and yet you can't figure out what part of it gives you that tingle?  Well, this morning, while visiting one of my very favorite inspiring blogs - Vintage - I found this, and fell in love.  Truly, I can't tell you if it is the white, or the dark accents, or the sparkley chandelier, or the cozy sofa, or the trinkets...    I just wish that when I looked at my own living room, I got the same, tingle...

xo

I won! I won!!!

I just received the most fabulous news!  I won two divine pillow cases from the incredibly lovely Katie of Sa-Sea Boutique!  I think that the reason that this is so incredibly shocking is that I actually won a great little notecard set from Frenchie and Flea last week.  You heard me, two wins in two weeks.  

And you may not know this about me, but I NEVER win anything.  Seriously - EVER.  So when I won the notecards, I didn't want to mention it as I thought I would jinx ever winning again. Well, that and I didn't want to rub it in everyone else's face that I won those great cards - even though they are going to go to #3's first grade teacher.  But still, when Katie messaged me that I should check out her blog, it never for one minute occurred to me that I had even possibly won part of her draw!  Oh, the joy!  The difficult part, of course, was going to the boutique and decided on which of the DIVINE pillow cases to choose.  You will have to wait to see which ones arrive - you had better bet I will be posting about that as well!

xo