Beach House Kitchen & PEACE on the Mantel

Hello from my Kitchen Sink -

I Won! I Am So Happy!

Thank you Roberta at Tresor Trouve

These Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazines arrived so fast and in perfect condition.  

They are incredible and I love them.  

Thank you again, so much!

Check out Roberta's fantastic blog, you'll be glad you did.

Boy has this been a different year and Thanksgiving was really different!  My newly married daughter went to Oregon where her inlaws live, and I missed her cooking right next to me, decorating the table with me, preparing and serving and being my right hand.  I know she was a big help to her mother in law and showed off her talents and made me proud, but I missed her so much and Ryan too.  

Everything else was perfect!

MrBH and son are on a 2-Day motorcycle run and I have the whole house all to myself 

all weekend.   I'm gonna blast the radio on the oldie station and do some gardening and painting -

But first, I've been puttering around inside, sweeping up, clearing off, getting rid of, and prepping for the winter - my favorite season.  Before I get into all the projects I've got lined up - I snapped a few photos in the kitchen and added a few pics at the bottom that I took yesterday -

My little 1940's Kitchen - all original cabinets, galley design - 

The cabinets were all built by the original owner and I swear his wife must have been my height - I changed all the knobs and pulls to old glass ones - 

Our view from the sink and from the kitchen table is the front - I love that.  

Kitchen Table is an old cement garden table  - I see the glass needs to be pushed over to the left a smidge.  I'd like to change the covers on those chairs - it's white vinyl, but kids always told me the vinyl felt so cool on sunburn legs I just keep it on.  Pretty easy to wipe clean too.

This old stove came with the house - she can cook!

Driving Pacific Coast Highway - I couldn't resist...

Love this PEACE Christmas Window - the Peace signs are all silver balls and the Pyramids are all shells - everything else is white and amazing.

Check out this cool huge metal peace sign inside the store hanging over a bed, that's a pillow below it -

Bye for now -

L O V E

I am filled with gratitude today and everyday.

Today, I am calling people that I love just to tell them I love them.  

And from now on, I'm going to do that more often.

I'm also going to write more notes - they're such a pleasure to receive.

Thank you blog friends - I appreciate you more than you can imagine.  

How I Hide My Trash

Helllooo - Come on over, it's a beautiful day.  I'd love to tell you about the Rose Bowl Flea Market last Sunday, and show you the Chandeliers I'm beading - but this crazy Gate made my day!

That's my little old cottage - 

I turn into my driveway - that's the detached garage at the end - and even when the Aggies are blooming and the ivy is thriving, and the green is lush, all I see is the trash.  

I've seen some great ideas in magazines and other peoples homes - we just never did anything.  

The other day we were walking home from our favorite cafe taking a shortcut through the alley when we saw this leaning up against a pile of rubble.  

I was thinking I could use it IN the house somewhere - it is white, I could write something on it, just lean it somewhere - but this is where I really need it.  I just didn't realize how much I needed it.  

In front of the trash cans - a Trashy Gate.

So we put it on a wide concrete stepping stone, secured it to the fence. Done.

And now this is what I see when I come home.  Yes.

And for Free. 

I'm coming back with a post about this magazine rack -

and a post about a lucky find - this Pair of Beach House Arm Chairs -

See you -  Thanks for all the very kind comments about Jen's Wedding.  

Make it a great day - I'm joining Faded Charm's White Wednesday Party

Jen & Ryan's Wedding

Jen & Ryan's Beach Wedding -

The Chuppa is my Grandma's Tablecloth - we had bamboo poles in old french buckets, topped them with chandelier bobeches and an old glass doorknob. I beaded 5 long strands of white beads and crystals for each bobeche and old very long crystals from my other Grandmas Chandelier.   My brother performed the marriage ceremony - which was really special for all of us and so heartfelt - plus he was really funny and made the entire ceremony more memorable than you can imagine.

They did the mixing of the sand -

The Programs - we added a vintage button to each one...

Love this Cake - My neighbor owns the local bakery that is out of this world - I knew they would nail this cake and they did - I was beyond thrilled.  I found the vintage wood Sea Horse at a yard sale $1 - it has a plastic base and I'm pretty sure it was a canister lid - I added the rows of rhinestones.

Jen & Ryan with their Wedding Party - I've known these girls since they were little and I love them so much - that's my son Tony on the far left, and the guys are Ryan's best buddies and brother -

So Cool

But they just had to be real - 

Personalized Water Bottles on the beach -

Bride and Bridesmaids bouquets were Calla Lillys  - Jen's had some special little
momentos sewn onto the braided white satin wrap on hers- and the guys all had minis -

 Candle Holder with the date in vintage rhinestones -

I washed and ironed 150 vintage damask Napkins - added a ring of crystals to each - and boy did they get commented on...

We put Orchids in the glass containers and filled them with sand -

Lori & Tim Prepping while we were on the beach...

We had the entire yard fenced in and hung 44 sets of Ikea curtains on bamboo rods attached at the top - the breezes were perfect!

We had a swag of whitewashed driftwood to sign - it's hanging in Jen & Ryan's home now 

It was a perfect night - 

You can kind of see we had the whole yard fenced in and hung white sheers from Ikea all the way around the yard on bamboo rods - it was so great when the breezes would billow out the curtains -

The morning after...the kids all stayed at a Hotel and then they came home for a brunch with about 40 other friends and family -

Thanks for looking at one of the best days of my life -

Now back to the kitchen blog and a blog about the incredible chairs I got at The Little French Flea Market over the weekend...

Marsha

Jen's Beach Wedding Vintage Rhinestone Centerpieces & Candle Holders

Good Sunday to ya!

Here's what all the Centerpieces looked like for a week before the wedding - it was like living on an orchid farm and little by little all of our regular everyday stuff got stashed making room for everything wedding.

Two days before the wedding we filled the containers with sand so you couldn't see the pots insisde at all - during our 'Morning After' Brunch we emptied the sand cuz I think the sand was suffocating the orchids.  Bought the orchids at the Farmers Market and they were gorgeous!

We had so much fun making these - a few months before the wedding I started to buy up all the glass containers at the Thrifts and we decorated them.  They cost me like 2.99 a piece.   We wrapped them in twine (got a huge bolt at a garage sale for a buck)  then we lined the twine wrap with rhinestone trim, and added vintage rhinestone jewelry and shells to each side.  I've been collecting vintage rhinestone jewels for as long as i can remember - brooches, necklaces, earrings, shoe clips, sweater connectors,  bracelets, and buttons, and didn't know it, but this was what I was saving them for....

Started off with this mess - bringing all the little drawers out to the table to figure out exactly what to do!

Went downtown and bought these bolts of rhinestones

separated and organized everything

painted and decorated the shells too

then decorated all 4 sides of the vases

we used these shorter and taller containers for candles and flowers all over the place

Two nights before the Wedding we set up the tables and started checking stuff out

Our vision was coming alive - I was standing on the band's stage...

NOTE:  About a month before the wedding, we decided to paint the kitchen.  Can you imagine?  We emptied the entire kitchen out, laundry room too, lived with everything spread across the dining room and further, painted and spruced up, then put everything away with 3 weeks left till the wedding.    Crazy, but so worth it!  

I'm blogging that right after this...

Jen's Beach Wedding & Freshening Up The Little Bathroom

I'm just diving in because you gotta start somewhere...

 I've lurked around your blogs during the wedding prep mostly checking in in the middle of the night when many times I awoke in a panic and had to look through stacks of papers to make sure I had paid some bill or turned the sprinkler off in the back.  I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something - all the time.

Jen's Beach Wedding was perfect, I'm a happy Mom and I love Ryan very much - this couple got it right.  We planned and prepped the Wedding and at the same time spruced up this old place on a $0 budget and had the biggest blast of our lives.   We did it all at the same time, that's how we roll better under pressure I guess - no time for being confused, disappointed, or pissed at anything including how much things cost.

I left you at sending out the Invitations about 8 weeks before the wedding.  We shifted into high gear and of course I got some orders for Chandeliers and sold some furniture so I had to continue to take care of biz and while biz has been slow - it picked up - wouldn't ya know it, and we needed the $$$, so late into the night I was beading Chandies, and mr.bh was in his studio wiring em up.  

Once biz was under control, I started with painting the little bathroom.  The vanity countertop was ugly yellowish marble that I painted about 13 years ago and it needed a freshening up too.  The floor was green stone tiles with cement grout and I decided to paint it all gray.  I was unsure how but determined - and figured if paint didn't work - I'd get a rug.

Now that I'm looking at these pics I'm thinking I should add a little color on the raised panels of the vanity doors - yeah?   Hmmm.

I used Porch and Patio paint from Home Depot and got a can of light gray mixed up - perfect at the store, but at home it was too dark so I added some white for a lighter marine gray and it was much better. Phew!  Done.

I used Epoxy paint on the marble sink top - love it, and you would never know, and it takes wear, tear and abuse - 13 years worth.

I used a nice wide brush, and it worked! Much better - don't you think?  

Ok one project down...a ton more to go.  

Photo of the full bath tomorrow - 

AND the Wedding Centerpieces tomorrow...

Every night after dinner we'd meet out on the porch for a much needed glass of wine or a couple shooters to discuss the dailys and plot the plan for the next day.  PS We agreed on most things, disagreed on some things, but the only thing all of us ever argued about was the GUEST LIST. Enough said.

Thanks for not forgetting about me...and if you're here come see our Chandeliers and everything Beach House at the Rose Bowl every 2nd Sunday of the month.

See you tomorrow with our Centerpieces, Candle Holders - and then the Kitchen Sweep Up. 

Marsha