Fabulous and French Guest Room

Here are some more photos of my guest room, this time concentrating on the vignette on top of the bookcase! I kept with my limited color palate of Pink, Green, and White to help it feel more serene. Utilizing found objects such as mother of pearl buttons and vintage embroidery thread make great filler for oh so chic apothecary jars. The tissue paper faux flowers are made from vintage sewing patters and are edged with glitter for extra sparkle. Follow the link below to see more!

A Breath of Fresh Air. . .

Whew! It has been a whirlwind here at Shabby French Cottage over the past few weeks! Check out the changes I made in my very chic guest room! I've revamped, rearranged, and repurposed to create a beautiful place for guests to relax, or for me to curl up with a favorite magazine. On top of everything else, I've started a new full-time job. Needless to say tying up loose ends and saying goodbyes at my old job was a challenge, physically and emotionally, but also starting fresh and learning the ropes with my new job has been quite the feat, as well. 

Garden Art & Antiques

If you didn't know, one of my sponsors is Sycamore Antiques & Architectural Art. I wanted to share some of the photos of their fabulous shop! Click through to the rest of the posts for photos of their fantastic shop nestled among a myriad of antiques shops, specialty stores, luxury apartments, art galleries, and yummy restaurants in the historic Old Towne neighborhood in Petersburg, VA.

Collectible Trend Alert--Religious Items

Recently, several nationally published magazines featured big antique trends for 2012 and featured religious items! I wanted to share some of my collection I recently changed around in my dining room! If you didn't know I collect mercury glass hearts, pressed tin ex voto hearts, and other religious items including hymnals, altar furniture and fixtures, stained glass, and crucifixes. I've even got some organ pipes!

In the kitchen. . .

Folks always ask if I cook in my kitchen! Yes, I do!!! I'm even hosting a Pampered Chef Party in about a week. If you're in the area (near Richmond, VA) and would like to come, please drop me a line on Facebook or via the contact form!

Happy Easter 2012!

Happy Easter! I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus!

Oh--I'm sorry about the Facebook like box...it's only supposed to pop up on your first visit, or each visit after you clear your cookies....I'm working on getting it fixed ASAP, in the meantime, you can just click the X in the box to close it without waiting.

All Spring and Easter merchandise in the online store is 50% off!!! There's still plenty of Spring to use it!

2 Year Blog Anniversary + Guest Post by Nicki Morrow-Winkles

I celebrate two years of blogging on April 5th, 2012! To celebrate I'm having my first guest post! If you don't know Nicki Morrow-Winkles, you need to check out her blog! This chica knows her stuff when it comes to budget decorating!

Read all about how to lighten and brighten your room on a budget after the jump! Also, if you'd like to guest post or have a project featured, drop me a line--I'd love to hear from you.

Spring Desserts with Buttercream Blondie

Photo Credit: Meghan McGarry

Have you heard of Buttercream Blondie yet? If you haven't you must experience her! She is a pastry chef and then some! Today I am sharing some of her wonderful Spring Desserts. There is even a video tutorial on how to make her now famous Glamour Peeps! Seriously make your own Peeps that SPARKLE!

Spring Sale! Save 50% or more!

I've got a sale going on in the online store! Many items have been marked down up to 50% off! All Spring merchandise is 25% off. But wait--there's more! (LOL) Use Coupon Code SPRING25 for 25% off your order of $25.00 or more! No really, lots of good deals to be had, plus more new goodies have been added, and more are coming this week-end.

Amazing Architectural Salvage

 I LOVE architectural salvage. I've got it throughout my home and garden. It is one of my favorite things, not to mention super hot in design right now. Its staying power is two fold--it recycles and it adds charm and character from days gone by that just is not found in modern homes--even many of the top-dollar custom homes.

Downtown Lynchburg, VA + Farmers' Market

Most of you know I went to Lynchburg, VA last Saturday to celebrate my great-great-aunt's 101st birthday! We had a blast. She loved seeing all of us together--there's a ton of us, too! We went to one of her favorite restaurants, Charlies, one of my favorite haunts when I lived in Lynchburg. While I was still in town, I headed Downtown and hit some antiques and junk stores. See posts here. I also went to the Farmers' Market! Here are some photos from Downtown and the market:

Junker's Heaven

Last weekend I went to Lynchburg to celebrate my great-great-aunt's 101st birthday. As I previously lived in Lynchburg for several years, there were a few places I wanted to go while I was there. While I was out antiquing, I stumbled upon a place I hadn't been. Fred's. I'll say it again Fred's. This place should be the Mecca of Junkers. It is a huge warehouse turned Salvage/Thrift store. While the building is obviously dirty and in disrepair as

Mikey Fuller Music

Most of you know by now that I play piano and organ. If you didn't already know that, well, I do! I recently launched a new web page dedicated to my music. On http://www.mikeyfullermusic.com/ you'll be able to listen to some samples, book an event, or learn more about my experience in music. I'd love for you all to pop over and check it out, then pop back here and leave a comment letting me know what you think. And don't worry--Shabby French Cottage isn't going anywhere!

Spring Cleaning. . .

I've been Spring Cleaning, so needless to say the house is a disaster right now! But I hope to be able to use my hall closet for the first time since I moved in, as it still full of stuff I never unpacked plus stuff I sort of shoved in there with no rhyme or reason. I've lived here for over three years now...no more excuses! I'm sharing some photos of some Spring goodies today you may have already seen. . . sorry!

Featured Today on Houzz.com!

I got an email from the folks at Houzz.com letting me know that my work was hand-picked by one of their writers for a featured Ideabook on the homepage of the site! The photo used came from my recent mantle scape.