Ohhhhh I need your help.  I love when the UPS man comes to the door.  That can be the highlight of my day sometimes!!!! Today he came with this large box and when I opened it OMG!!! inside was the most beautiful angel.  My hubby got me this angel as an early Christmas Gift from a beautiful artist Cathy at www.cheswickcompany.com.  I saw Cathy's angel she did for Paula a friend of Laura's at http://52flea.blogspot.com/2010/12/enchanting-winter-nest.html  and I just fell deeply in love with hers.  Her angel is on top of an old vintage birdhouse and is so beautiful.  Something about this little beauty grabbed a hold of me. Cathy custom makes these so they are unique and one of a kind.   Cathy personalized my angel with a heart in her hands since this was a gift from the heart of my hubby.  Now I need your input to let me know if she should hang or sit!!!! She does both.  I took some pictures of her sitting on my new theater seats in the entry way and also I hung her on the old chippy door in my family room over my sectional.  I am kind of leaning one way but I wanted to get some input from you guys on what you think.

Look at all the beautiful detail Cathy does.  I love her feathered wings and this real old vintage christening gown she used for her dress.  Love it all.  I love her vintage look.  I love the little pearl buttons on the heart and the beautiful embroidered stars.



Look at the old vintage rusty wire halo.  Love it and her face is so sweet all hand done by Cathy.

Here she is hanging on the old chippy barn door I have on my family room wall over my sectional.  She kind of goes with that old vintage door!! What do you think????

This is truly such a sweet gift from my husband and beautiful work of art from Cathy.  If you go to her site you can see some of the beautiful work she does.  Thank you Cathy for this beautiful angel.  I will cherish her for years to come.

I did a few changes to some of my Christmas decor to share with you.  I also found these amazing luminara candles that look just like a real flame.  Love them.  Enjoy.



I put a tree in one of my old vintage watering cans from the garden.  I love taking something so ordinary and making it into a unique tree stand for this pencil Christmas tree.  The chippy little garden bench is from my garden too.  A few white ornaments that have a garden theme and this made a cute garden Christmas tree for my entry way.

Took this believe sign and added some greenery with little white lights and it really makes this old chippy window look pretty for Christmas on my buffet.

These are those candles I mentioned.  I found them at Brookstones.  They smell wonderful and they flicker like a real candle.  The picture does not do these little beauties justice but trust me these are better than the real thing.

The actually flicker just like a real candle.  So pretty.

Just love how they give off a vanilla christmas cookie scent and they flicker like a real candle.  So ingenious these new "pretend" candles.

Yep I started already!!!! I decided to start my Christmas decorating early. My daughter does Thanksgiving so I usually can start the Christmas decor early. I also have a Charity Girlfriend Christmas Party at my house shortly after Thanksgiving so if I can get a jump on the decorating that helps alot. I just started so I am sure I will be changing some of this that you will see. I like to play around with things until I get them where I really like them. Here are some of the beginnings:)

My camera does not do this justice it really is so pretty at night lit up.  I used my old garden wagon this year to put my tree in.



I love angels and have them through out my Christmas decor.

A little bling for the door.

Can't have a farmhouse kitchen without a vintage little truck with a tree!!!!

Old theater seats from Jennifer Rizzo at the Flea Market last week end.  I am still looking for vintage throws to lay on the seats.

Love to add the cottage flowers with greenery on this old door in my entry way.

My dining room is coming together.  I still have to do the center piece for the table but I added some simple wreaths and tied ribbon on them to my chairs.  The two simple wreaths on the window are just that simple wreaths I got at Ikea and tired them with white ribbon.  I know it is kind of hard to see them with the way the light comes in that window.

A little bird nest Christmas bling.

I love this old window and it was fun to start to decorate it with Christmas.  The believe sign and greenery lights at night for a subtle glow.  You will have to take my word on this it really is pretty lite at night.

Old vintage skates with greenery

This is probably my favorite when I can just take a simple piece of greenery and make it cute with adding a little bird and some white ribbon to the chair.  Simple but makes a statement.

Again I need to take a professional photography class and get a better camera but I think you can get the idea.  These vintage angels are stuffed with white lights and at night they look really pretty.

This is the mantel during the day.  I love those vintage angels.

I have just begun and I will probably be switching some of this up but I thought I would share with you what I have started.  I hope this gets some of you in the mood to start to decorate early.

I went to the Kane County Flea market this week end and found a great little find from Jennifer Rizzo.  I am sure alot of you know her from her blog http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/ if you do not you must check out her fab blog.  She is such a sweetie and I love to see her at local shows and the flea market.  She always has great treasures.   I was in her booth and then my eyes spotted this great set of old vintage theater seats.  Ohhhh had to have them.  I took my vintage bike down in my entry way for the winter and I was looking for something to fill the spot and I think these little chippy seats with history will do the trick.  I will decorate them up cute for Christmas.  Check these out!

I loved these at first site. Jen was not sure but we think these came from an old theater in Chicago. You know how I love stuff with history in my home.


Of course you know me with my cream and white obsession so the hubs gave these a nice coat of cottage white paint.



I have been playing with some Christmas decor on these cute little chairs.





It is not about shabby cottage chic decor for this posting!!!  Just a little personal post today.  This is my granddaughter Abby and her mom my daughter Jen.  Abby was a unicorn for Halloween.  They came up to trick or treat by Grammy's and Grandpa's.

Little Abby is 2 1/2 and was really into Halloween this year.  She was so cute and learned quickly that saying trick or treat at the neighbor's door would get her some candy.  She caught on to this little tradition very quickly!!!

This is Abby's little bff Aiden.  He was Buzz Lightyear.  I miss my two daughters being little and going trick or treating so it was fun to see my granddaughter love trick or treating. Hope your Halloween was fun.

Today I went a little bit out of my comfort zone and bought this new light fixture for my dining room.  I was set in my mind on getting two chandeliers to swag across the large farmhouse table but then I saw this light fixture!!!! I was drawn to it because you could use old vintage ball jars as shades.  It is a little more industrial than cottage in my mind but I think I like it.  It still gives me the farmhouse vibe and I am hoping to find some wide mouth vintage ball jars at the next flea market to use as shades.  I was thinking of painting it a cream or white.  What do you think???? My hubby likes the dark and says it gives some contrast to the room!!!! Love when the hubs gives some decor comments!!!!! I think he may be right so it stays dark for now.  I would love to hear from all of you on what you think of the light and the color etc.  Thanks for your input. 

I was thinking maybe when I get the vintage ball jars that will help and also maybe some burlap bling on the jar lids.  I might be playing with this one for awhile.

 

Today I was looking around my house and realized that I love to use old bird houses to decorate inside and outside of my home. So I thought I would share a few of them with you. Some of these beauties were someone else's trash and others were finds from flea markets and shops I frequent. I just love to use old worn treasures to decorate and find new purpose in my house. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

These little birdhouses were on stakes to go out in the garden and I thought they would be nicer to hang in my mudd room on the wall to hang our keys on.

I use birdhouses outside too in the garden.

 

Have a great week end.  Thanks for stopping by.