Powder Room Peek

The title of this post sounds kind of naughty- sorry!  

Our powder room is so tiny you can really only peek into it...  

It is the only foray into French style in our home.  

I am mostly an American kind of girl, 

but I have been fortunate enough to visit Paris several times 

and I have been inspired by some vintage Paris prints and post cards.  

I had several of them framed and they set the tone 

for a black and white theme in this tiny space.  

I found a gorgeous, timeless Thibaut toile wallpaper

 that just pulled the whole room together.  

See what you think...

To get to the powder room, however, you must first go through this little hallway

where we have chosen to showcase a Chicago poster.

Both the poster and the chandelier were scored at the Kane County Flea Market.

Then, you can enter the powder room and see the Thibaut wallpaper...

The mirror was an estate sale find 

and the light fixtures are from - wait for it - the Kane County Flea Market!

 Here's a little closeup of the detail on the mirror.  

So sweet.

And the light fixture...

And a little flameless candle 

so I can leave it on when we have guests and not worry about a fire. 

I am a huge fan of flameless candles, as you can read here.  

No smoke, no flame, no danger.

This round mirror was another flea market find.

As was this one...

And this cute little bird on a nest, with storage inside.  

It may look somewhat familiar to careful followers of this blog...

I also own a turquoise glass version of this bird...

The wallpaper depicts various bucolic scenes, typical of toile, and there are cottages!

It's pretty dark in this room, so the pictures are are, too, 

but I think they're nice and glowy.

Nice flattering light for guests, not so great for blogging.

Here are some of the inspirational prints and postcards...

They are undated, 

but there are early autos in all of them, maybe from the twenties?

 

Here's a closer view of the Jardin deTuileries in Paris -

I had a view from this same angle from the balcony of our hotel room, 

on the Rue de Rivoli, quite a few decades later...

Must. go. back. soon.

This is a postcard view, looking up the Rue de Rivoli, in the opposite direction,

towards the Louvre Museum.

And because I really am an American girl at heart,

 I also have a postcard of the house I grew up in, in New Jersey, 

on display in the powder room, too.

The photo below was taken just after the neighborhood of houses were built, 

probably about 1902.  

Our house was the second one in from the right. 

Big, rambling three story houses with porches galore, 

and butler's pantries and barns with haylofts and stables.

Big families filled these house when we lived there in the sixties and seventies-

there were eighteen kids between the house I grew up in and the two on either side!

Notice the dirt roads and the horse drawn cart.

The sidewalks were just being installed.

It was a gorgeous neighborhood then and still is today, 

right, bros?

Must. go. back. there. soon. too.

Thanks for joining me!

Linking up to:

Weekend Bloggy Reading Party at Serenity Now 

Feather Your Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence

Metamorphosis Monday at between Naps on the porch

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Book Club Dinner

I hosted our Book Club Dinner this week 

and I thought you might like to see the pictures...

Come along with me.

Dinner was served on the porch.

It was a perfect evening.  Not too hot, not too cold.

It was still daylight when my friends arrived

and the gardens around the porch were in full bloom.

 I am so grateful to have the kind of friends that appreciate 

the efforts we make for each other! 

These fabulous peonies are from my sweet, generous friend Alice, 

whose fantastic gardens will be the subject of an upcoming post.  

Thank you, Alice.  

These are beyond gorgeous!

I set the table with some spring green favorites.

I just picked up these Moss Green Seneca Driftwood tumblers

at the Kane County Flea market this month-

I needed them the instant I saw them and I got them for a song.

I had a very strong sense of deja vu about them

 and I am pretty sure we must have had these in our house growing up.  

Any of my bros remember these?

I absolutely love them.  

I loved everything about the 70's and these take me right back.

The sterling candle holders belonged to my Mom.  

They graced her dining room table for years.

The china was Mom's. too.  All Haviland and Limoges.

The white plates were her wedding pattern 

and the delicate green floral plates were her mother's.

Sometimes it's actually good to be the only daughter...

The menu was simple and all done ahead so I could enjoy the time with my guests.

Dessert was simple, too. Mandarin Brownies and Chewy Lemon Cookies.

The brownies are made from a mix, but I add a teaspoon of orange oil to them 

for a chocolate orange flavor - my all time favorite chocolate combo.

 I made the lemon cookies from a recipe I saw on a blog- they were deeelicious!

I will definitely make these again!

In this picture, you can see the honeysuckle vines climbing up the porch column on the far left.

They are in full bloom and very fragrant.

Here's the honeysuckle vine along the path.

Close up.

These are so intricate and so beautiful!

As the sun began to set, my friends clamored to use the remote to turn on the candles...

It's nice to have friends who are such faithful readers!

In summary:

It was a wonderful evening with great friends.

Thanks for joining me!

 Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Thursdays Are Your Days at 52 Mantels

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Mission Possible Great Outdoors Party at It all Started With Paint

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours

Uncommonly Yours Link Party

Home and Garden Thursday at Delightsome Life

Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 

Transformation Thursdays at Shabby Creek Cottage 

{Living The Width} at TerpBlog 

Vintage Inspiration at Common Ground 

Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage 

Home Sweet Home at The Charm Of Home 

Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Wedding Shower * Gift Ideas

Laura's getting married!

Aren't they a gorgeous couple?

I went to a Bridal Shower for Laura today and she was absolutely radiant! As always.
And the shower was lovely, hosted by some wonderful friends.

It has been delightful to watch Laura grow up,
from the cutest toddler you have ever seen, all gossamer hair and sparkling eyes,
to the lovely, gracious young lady above.
She is thoughtful, talented, optimistic and delightful.
She writes beautifully and you can see for yourself here, on her blog. 
I wanted to do something special for this amazing girl.

Laura's Mom told me that Laura loves Ranunculus flowers
and so I went with that theme for her card and some homemade wrapping paper.

Here's the card I made using a photo I took at The Chicago Botanic gardens this spring.

Then I printed the same photo out on regular 8.5" x 11" printer paper
to make matching wrapping paper for the little gift I had planned for Laura's Mom.

Then I made a little something special to embellish her gift.
I saw this idea on a blog somewhere, done as artwork for a wall, 

but I thought it would also work well in a smaller version for a gift tag 

that can double as an ornament for their first Christmas.... 

For practice, I made one using a photo of my own darling daughter 

back when she was a cherubic angel.

She's still my angel, but is heading off to college in the fall!

Don't get me started on how completely bereft I'll be when she goes...

 

This is a plain old glossy photo, 

just glued onto one of these mini canvases from Hobby Lobby...

Too easy.  You could do this with any photo.

It can stand on it's own, or hang on a very small wall!

 For this gift tag, though, I wanted a different look.

I deviously printed out copies of the engagement photos (above) from Laura's blog

and reduced them to the size of a little canvas.

I cut the photo to fit the canvas, just a bit smaller all around.

Then I used trusty Mod Podge to glue the photocopy to the canvas.

I brushed a coat onto the canvas first, applied the photo, and then put a coat on the photo.

I let the first coat dry and then applied another.

When the Mod Podge was dry, I glued some burlap ribbon around the edges.
I wrote a little message and inserted it in the back of the canvas.

An easy, personal gift tag and a nice little memento.

I made this one to give to Laura's Mom at the shower, 

because I know how much she misses and cherishes her angel. 

 I wrapped it in the Ranunculus paper and included it with Laura's gift,
so her Mom had a little something to open, too!

Happy Days.


Linking to:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Nifty Thrifty Sundays at Nifty Thrifty Things
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
More the Merrier at DIY Home Sweet Home
CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac
DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff
Tuesdays Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Thursdays Are Your Days at 52 Mantels
Transformation Thursdays at Shabby Creek Cottage
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Inspiration Friday at the Picket Fence
Home Sweet Home Party at The Charm of Home
Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home