My Shabby White Loft

I dream my loft will look like Fifi O’Neill’s tented ceiling someday.

Photo and styling by Fifi O'Neill

A pretty oyster colored fabric, shirred and feminine.    Alas, I can’t afford it at the time.

Photo by Rachel Ashwell

Then, I saw this billowy white silk WWI parachute fabric Rachel Ashwell used in her new NYC store Shabby Chic Couture.   Lying on my loveseat one evening, I noticed the Tyvek I have holding the insulation in the loft looks a lot like it!

Unfortunately, up close it’s pretty ugly with all the staples and rippy edges.

So, I went ahead and used the only fabric I have to dress the ceiling, several yards of $2.00 per yard Walmart lace left over from the windows on my first house.   It’s attached with a few electric staples here and there.    As usual, I didn’t have a plan, and it shows, as usual.

I sort of got both looks, because I don’t have enough of the lace to finish the job at the time!

I’ve always wanted to use my wedding veil tulle for something special, like a mosquito net across the little bed I plan to put up here that will have storage underneath.    Until then, I think I’ll drape them around my windows.    I love white, and I hope to work with these fabrics until I get a ‘fantasy’ look, not a ‘safe’ look.    I’m quite tired of 'playing it safe' decor.

Before

After

Before

After

What a difference the fabric makes for softening and ‘cozying’ the bare walls of the studio.   I’ll never understand why one sees curtain-less windows in decorating books and magazines.   No matter how stunning the architectural bones, it doesn’t foster a sweet, homey environment.

I’d love a pretty pink rug, too.   Few things cozy up a room like a nice rug.

This is a pretty pale pink rug from Vintage Chic of Troy, NY I can’t have because of my doggies.   It’s a real shame because it’s very hard to find them so dainty and pale.

I ringed the brass canopy I found at Brimfield in September for $18 with paper roses from Delightful Designer on Etsy.

Fun in progress!

Until next time, stay shabby!

A Great Giveaway at Katie's Rose Cottage

Ultra pretty, ultra feminine items are offered from this talented artist--don't miss out!

Her work has been featured in magazines such as Romantic Country.

Lori's giveaway ends 20 March 2010.

Click here to enter!

Les Fleurs Faux

Premium silk roses from the now defunct Patchogue Floral of Long Island

that look like David Austin's 'Abraham Darby'.

Fake florals have come a long way from those plastic things in the dollar store with the plastic drops of ‘dew’.    For what you’d pay for a real bouquet that fades, you can get silk arrangements that last for years.

Here in the Catskills it’s maple sugar time, with daytime temperatures in the high 40s.   But the ground is still as blanketed in snow as it was in January, and it’ll be that way more or less until mid-April.   With a non-existent budget and another month to go before I can even get a tiny cup full of wood violets, I rely heavily on my fake flora.

In case you haven’t had the chance to get to Michael’s or Target lately, I thought I’d bring them to you!

At Michael's--

Pink hybrid tea sprays for $8 each.    Remember, they often give a 40% discount coupon for the following week, so you can go back and get more for less!

Tiny roses and tulips, $8.

Large branches of flowering trees including magnolia, cherry, dogwood.    I think they were $8 - $11.

Single stems of peony and delphinium for $8.   I try to get a stem whenever I go in with that 40% off coupon.

Innocent and sweet daisies.

Hydrangeas, one of my very favorites, $6 a stem on sale.

Sweet topiaries, too, for $10!

They had a peony wreath for $30, about the same as the rose one at Target:

And smaller wreaths of roses for $15 (this was my favorite).

And cups of white roses and pastel tulips for $10.

So let go of your fear of fake for goodness sake!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day!

My Shabby Pink Chandelier Shades

The $15 c. 1960s yard sale chandelier I’m in the process of restoring didn’t come with crystal prisms, but it did come with shades.   They were yellowed, and I’m impatient and poor at sewing, so I just sprayed them with Candy Pink Rustoleum paint!

It’s not evident in the pictures, but they wound up with a hand-dyed look.

The inspiration for it is this ultra sweet kitchen by Fifi O’Neill.

Photo and styling by Fifi O'Neill

It took maybe 10 minutes, start to finish.    That’s my kind of project!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Eighteenth Century Ephemera

A friend brought this reproduction ‘petit livre’ home for me from England years ago.    It’s still filled with my garden notes from the mid 1990s, and lovely engravings of deer and sheep filled manors and mansions straight from an Austen novel…

...remember the letter ‘f’ was used the way we use ‘s’, even though it may sound like a lisp in your head!

Check out my new Flickr badge far down in my sidebar filled with my favorite Rococo artists including Fragonard, Boucher, and Gainsborough.   This one is one of my favorites because she has a little Maltese!

Jusqu'à la fois suivante, restez shabby!

Petite Paper Shoes by Fete et Fleur

All photos courtesy of Fete et Fleur

The blogosphere is a wonderful place. Thanks to Rose of Bella Rosa I learned the source of the pretty pink paper shoe in my last post!

The very talented artist is Nancy of Fete et Fleur, and she very graciously allowed me to feature her work. So detailed, so technically precise! I envy her talent, creativity, and French spirit…and wish I were a paper doll so I could wear them!

She even has an Etsy store with the sweet name Wisps ~ Gathering Beauty.

I’m in love with these bon bon boxes.

Her blog is Fete et Fleur, I promise your spirit will be rewarded if you visit.

‘Till next time, stay shabbily shod!

My Paper Slipper a la Marie Antoinette

I bet I know what you’re thinking…"I’ll never come back to this blog for craft ideas again!"    I didn’t have any thing to reference when I sketched the sole.    Look at how ludicrous it came out!

But, I had a blast making it.   Three hours well spent.

It’s made with stuff I had already.   The crepe paper is a streamer from the dollar store, the German glass glitter is from DorisDotz  (1oz. for $4 plus $2 shipping) on Etsy, the print is No. 110 from Tattered Vintage ($3), and the curly feathers are from a $2 bird from Michael’s.

Before I began blogging, I saved pretty pictures from the web for my own personal enjoyment without thought or care of the provenance.    This is one of them, and again I must write “if anyone knows the artist please contact me so I can give proper credit”.

How did s/he get the flimsy crepe pleated paper rosette so neat and evenly folded?

I don’t have a selection of brooches like lucky Charlene over at My Heart’s Ease  has.   I would’ve used the fleur-de-lis.    I made a circle shape of rhinestones to resemble a brooch or button.    It’s overscale for the slipper, I think I’ll look for something more appropriate.

It reminds me of the slipper worn by this naughty young lady in Fragonard’s “Les Hasards Heureux de l'Escarpolette”, (The Happy Accidents of the Swing), known to Americans simply as ‘The Swing’.    Oh, the verve and frivolity of this sweet painting!    And to think I was taught to not take Rococo Art seriously in college! Serious is boring!

I am sharing this at Treasures & Trinkets Thursday over at My Cottage Charm.

Until next time, stay shabby!