Magpie Cottage Blog

You must visit a dear friend of mine (whom I have never met) in Iowa who owns the most wonderful antique decorating store, mind you its 10,000 sq. ft. and I am always in awe (seriously) at how this tiny gal keeps it going. It green Oaks and its full of the best antiques and custom painted furniture, dont take it from me though, see for yourself.
Ann has the funnest blog going you will be an avid fan as I am going to be, so here it is:
www.magpiecottage.blogspot.com A blog about running a store, turning trash into treasure, the fun and hasles of a creative life trying to make a living "outside the box".
Now, I hope you'll still be MY fan and return even though my shop is only like 600 sq. ft.
Oh Ann I still dont know how you do it, but you do and you do it so well.

Come take a MINI TRIP TO ...PUERTO RICO

Tonight I was going through the computer pictures and came across a Nice warm beachy vacation a few years ago to Puerto Rico. It was so fabulous...as we went with our daughters family and enjoyed our grandchildren so much. So come take just a little Mini Vacation in the comforts of your warm home, and it wont cost you a thing...

Just picked a few clips...you can see traveling to a tropical romantic island is much different with 4 children under 8 than just Us two! Baby decided not to keep her milk down, so grandpa got it all over his shirt, good thing he is a pleasant grandpa. The water and climate were ideal, Very green although Puerto Rico is a bit scarey. I wanted to share a Walmart with you so you appreciate the somewhat cleanliness here as to there, there were cop motorcycles, and check out the tall guard station in the parking lot...now that makes one feel real safe...Not! Weird weird store there.

Kids love pools dont they along with real sand dollars (its name was Sandy), and an iguana (we named tea bag?). Puerto Ricans are quite comfortable using duct tape on their vehicles!

The blue brick street is in San Juan and so is the Huge cruise ship, I have never been on a cruise, and when I saw this magnificent ship I was speechless!

Traveling with small ones means you take home with you...so the picture at the airport really is all our luggage, from what I recall there were like 17 pieces...too hard on grandma and grandpa!

VINTAGE JEWELRY to be TREASURED AGAIN BY YOU

At Just a Bed of Roses we sell many past treasured VINTAGE PIECES OF JEWELRY. Ranging from beautiful pearls, costume jewelry pins from the 40's - 80's , grandma style clip earring just bursting with beautiful beads, bracelets, neclaces with old chains and so much more. Customers love picking up little pieces for GIFTS or just themselves to enjoy either DECORATING or wearing themselves. From May until Oct. VINTAGE PIECES comes in heavily 3-4 times a week.
I have the most unique opportunity to buy from a collector almost weekly during those months, as she has collected heavily her whole life and she is 55. I would buy from her right now but I hate the FREEZING experience of being in a storage shed for hours in freezing temperatures...I'm trying to avoid FROSTBITE!
You will love our PRICES too, as I am no expert on pricing this old jewelry so most pieces range 3.00 to 25.00 and include a most ADORABLE ANTIQUE PAPERIE TAG of many styles or they are attached to a battenberg lace doily and wrapped up so cute.

Staying HEALTHY still TRYING!

It's just something you do after you reach 50...try to stay healthy. Here are a few more samplings of what we try to do around our home to fight the aging process:

We find that if our home is stalked with these things then it's so much easier to fight the battle, so we always have bananas, apples, lemons , limes and a case of oranges . Plenty of V8 juice along with salad and low fat no fat dressings.

I have been big into the Omega 3's now as the choirpractor says I have alot of inflammation in my legs , arm and neck muscles that's chronic and JOB related (refinishing furniture pieces, shopping lifting, standing and displaying all day long). Almonds bought in bulk are kept in fridge and take 7-8 a day, fish oil pills that dont make you smelly and salmon 3 times a week. Flax oil and seeds are really great, we sprinkle on salad.

Not being a coffee drinker and liking a hot drink I chose to use Pero & it has no calories.

The aquave sugar is like a liquid more runny honey, great in hot drinks and toast. doesnt increase your blood sugar levels.

Darling Husband made the HUGEST batch of SOUP thats healthy yesterday, our son recovering from major surgery got his share and I feel like there's enough to feed the neighbors. It does help with the battle of the bulge though, so I certainly am not complaining AND he is a great cook too! And NO I am not sharing him!

I still have more, but dont want to go into an overload. Am I losing weight...slowly but surely. More slowly than I would like... however I am on the right path, maybe I am the turtle!

What is she thinking? VALENTINES DONUTS & GIFTS

Don't you wonder what she is thinking about THESE DONUTS? Everytime I see her looking at them I have all kind of FUNNY THOUGHTS going through my mind. What do YOU suppose she is thinking?

I DO KNOW what you will think when you COME IN and see these handmade felt donuts in person...you will want to take them home as these really are no calorie and will last more than 3 minutes in the car!

I will take pictures tomorrow and show you more NO FAT bakery goodies...wonderful pink frosted Valentines cookies, cupcakes & cakes!

Plus...you are going to want to buy your favorite Valentine one of our new Granny Smith Apples BEAUTIFULLY dipped in caramel and chocolate and wrapped so pretty. I will show you this week-end and you must see Karens dipped Pretzels.

LETS NOT STOP here though , I will show you wonderful VALENTINE GIFTS EVERYDAY NOW UNTIL VALENTINES DAY right here on this blog! P.S. Just a Bed of Roses is preparing to FINALLY STOCK our Website, plan on SHOPPING by MARCH 1st if not sooner!

"Attic Florals" on a SNOWY DAY

Another BIG storm has plopped itself upon the state of Utah...I hope all of the Sundance Film Festival movie goers are not getting discouraged with our snow and cold temps, I would love to go to town and see if Tom Hanks is hanging around but I don't dare pull out of our driveway!

One great thing I love about being snowed in is that I have endless wonderful baskets of florals, vintage odds & ends & containers so all I have to do is bring my imagination and have the best day doing what I love. Here are a few samples of todays work, I may not finish the others as the darling husband is coming home early to prepare for the dreaded colonoscopy, poor thing!I may be chuckling in the other room as I went through it last year! Oh No, the worst day of my life!

One floral is in an old 60's mailbox I have painted, antiqued and added lucious grapes, hydrangeas, antiqued ribbon and can you see the crystal garland it is a christmas clearance piece, isnt it elegant with the big purplish cabbage rose?

I also took an old shelf, painted it, antiqued it, added a vintage style decal along with many vintage buttons lining the bottom...kind of fun! And what about the silver vintage rolling pin in the old collander filled with beautiful limey greens and green apples, makes your mouth water.

Another piece, not antique, is the dressy apple floral in the beautiful roses tin container and then adorned with a vintage tea dyed doily and lacey ribbon. I always scent the florals with a orangy cinnamon smell, which seems to work for everyone. rhinoculous in beautiful colors are tucked into the container filled with antiquey green colored hydrangeas, and last but not least a most wonderful accent antique paperie tag. Birds are the thing this coming year...just in case you were wondering. Along with CHOCOLATE! You'll have to see what's coming for Chocolate Easter.

My favorite and easiest of the day is the vintage metal tea pot painted shabby white with pink roses and dainty ivy. Around its waist I glued a white heart doily and tied with the crystal garland, then attached an antique paperie tag for personality.

Thanks for letting me share as it is keeping me from eating, which I do best, and so far I am being good.

so BACK TO WORK NOW...Hope to see you in the shop...that is if you can get out of YOUR DRIVEWAY!

WEBSITE OWNERS do you ever do this?

Ever since I opened this website 3 years ago I tend to wear clothes that 'LOOK LIKE MY WEBSITE' I saw these on a little week-end visit to Dillards and I just claimed them immediatly! Well......do you the same?

I'll Drink to That!

My cute little daughter insists I am not losing weight fast enough...and I have to agree with her! I have a love/hate relationship with the scale...you know how that goes don't you?

Here is theNEW plan of attack, at least this is what is helping her, along with a date each day an hour with the treadmill:

Instead of drinking my diet coke/diet dr. pepper I am substituting this refreshing real lemonade drink, just put 3 splenda packets into icy water and 1/2 squeezed lemon...its really really yummy, try it I think you will love it. Can I really give up Diet dr. Pepper...I don't know!

Then the whey protein drink for a meal replacement blended with a 1/2 banana, I will get mine in a chocolate flavor...why would I try anything else??? convenient, low calories high energy...mmmmmmmmmm!

Wish me luck and if this is of any help to you then let me hear from you! Good luck too and dont forget your date with the treadmill, I break it up into two times though, whew!

Okay here goes the PRIMER

Well...here goes the antique iron bed make-over, here it is in the primer state.

You will be suprised at the choice I made in painting it, it was going to be heirloom white for sure, and then like a woman...I changed my mind when I got to looking at the Ralph Lauren metallic paints.

Ta Daaaaaaah! Okay...the bench is done and its a sparkly antique gold paint. It looks great with the pillows from my couch and I hope it looks equally great in the shop (when I can convince some men around here to haul it down there). It has more of the "old world" or Tuscan style to it now, which is I love.

You may ask why I didnt leave it in its antique gold worn natural state, and the answer to that is when it was welded together the welding is all silvery. So it had to be.

I will take another picture when it goes into the shop window, then we can see if it passes the test!

One thing I realized is that really I am a true antique person first and then a shabby girl.

BIGGEST SNOWMAN in FARMINGTON UTAH

Just around the corner from where I own a shop I drove by this old old home with the biggest freshly made snowman. I am suprised there is any snow left on the ground. Lisa at makeminepink.com has been wanting me to build a snowman... so this is for you Lisa!

Roses NEEDLEPOINT PILLOWS had my name on them!

Every now and then I have a need to treat myself with a gift from one of my friends at Make Mine Pink. Sharon the Needlepoint Tuffet Diva @ http://www.c'estchouette.com had these two vintage needlepoint pillows pictured recently on her new banner. I immediatly knew they were for ME! Within a week they were delivered right to my door, with a sweet little box of chocolates. Sharons THE best tuffet maker, you will want to keep an eye on her as she lists her tuffet pillows quite often and they dissapear quickly! I have known Sharon now for 3 years and she is just down to earth fun, generous, & lives a life of service. She has a fun blog too, I could go on & on however Sharon blushes easily...

Antique IRON BED make-over BENCH

Isn't it just to die for??? Isn't it the cutest style of and iron bed you have seen in a long time? I found it at the end of summer and sent it immediatly to my good friend/handyman Joe...he is simply wonderful! This is the magic he did with it. It's in its primitive state right now, isnt the wood storage bench neat? It will need painted for sure, at this stage I am so in love with it just wondering if I can sell it? It's so slow at the store right now, I may be tempted with some very high offers, how's that!!! Just so you know I didn't ruin an old bed, it actually had a broken frame holder, so no worries! Let me know what you think, okay?

80 YEARS OLD my DAD'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Our family feels so BLESSED to be able to CELEBRATE & HONOR Our Dads 80th Birthday & life last evening.

We partied at my sisters newly remodeled updated home which was so much nicer than going to a noisy restaurant. The food was incrediblely good, my dads favorite dessert is coconut cream pie. There was 12 of us as they have five children, I am the oldest. My husband on the left in the white shirt and I'm snapping the pictures. With no kids at this party we were able to have a nice vist, usually tons of children are running around at our family gatherings.

Each child wrote a page about him for keeping in a book. I have to say my sisters and brothers really out did me on this, I must re-do mine.

My dad is a man of SERVICE, CHARITY & COMPASSION, he is just the nicest and has a gift to talk to anyone comfortably. He can be laying nearly dying in the hospital and he wants to know what WE need, what HE can do for us! He is always loving and concerned about us and his grandchildren. He bought a family cabin that we can be together often. He is a spiritual person, LIVES WHAT HE BELEIVES to the fullest and for this I honor his integrity. I cant even imagine my dad not wanting to do the right thing. His profession was 5th grade teacher and elementary principal, so yes...I was suppose to be good so I didnt get sent to the Principals office! Heck, I got sent to the principals office & sent home when I was a senior for wearing LEVIS to school...bad girl!!!

The past 20 years he has had 2 open heart surgeries + more health problems...we thought he would die then, He is just too strong, he works physically really hard and that is probably what has kept him alive.

I think I get my creativity from him as he has a love for making things only HIS PASSION IS ROCKS, yes I said rocks! He makes rock jewelry for everyone and has for years. He even likes to quilt, something he learned from his mother. He wants to live LONGER, we hope he can, but if he doesnt he has lived a BEAUTIFUL LIFE. I could go on and on about my dad...thanks for letting me share my dads milestone with you.

LIFE IS FULL OF UPS AND POUNDS

FAT BE GONE...5 LBS OF IT!(butter) ......I just had to celebrate with You!

I have been exercising and watching what I eat since the day after Christmas .

My new goal is to lose 5 lbs of SUGAR.

Here are two things that I am trying now: One is called green tea extract all natural fat burner and the other all natural starch blocker. The tea is taken in the morning and the starch blocker before a starchy meal.

My daughter and I have been asked to try these by Dr. M.Kennedy @ Harmonichealth.com, so we are curious to see our results.

Couldn't do this without the good old treadmill...I have a date with it every morning BEFORE I get on the computer...eeeew that is a test of How bad I want to get this excess fat off me!

What works for you in losing the extra pounds?

Just A Bed of Roses NEWSLETTER Jan/Feb.

Each customer old or new receives a bi-monthly NEWSLETTER when they come in from Just a Bed of Roses.
I love to talk to our customers on paper just in case we dont' have time or forget to tell them of something new going on here. I personally think it's a great marketing tool even though its a challenge to keep on writing one.
I really can't think of any shops that I have visited that do this, so it's original and that's what I strive to be. Always looking for ways to be set apart, well... I must as my shop is not any too big, so it has to be a bit unique!

COUNTED CROSS-STITCH... Do YOU Do It?

In the 80's I use to love to create Counted Cross stitch pictures, it was the "thing" to do. I was raising my 4 children and would love to just sit down take a break or take it with me in the car and just stitch away...it's not an easy thing to do and my eyes would never work good enough to take it up again. I have an appreciation for all the patience time & work involved.

At a yard sale a few years back I came across this stunning and immaculate stitchery of a country victorian home and garden, (It was extremely inexpensive I might ad) I had it matted in white with dark brown edging, and placed in one of our very old frames which I painted white and made it chippy, it still had the wavy antique glass.

Just wanted to share it with you, this is a new corner in the bedroom. The antique corner cabinet I recently bought from my friend Krista at Re-Creations she acquired from an old home in North Ogden getting ready for demolition last year. This just happened to be the ONLY CORNER available in our home. I beleive this room is overdue for a new color of paint.... only SOMEDAY!

PARIS CHIC florals books & wooden bobbin

Here's a peek at a few more new goodies in the shop with a PARIS CHIC flare...vintage mailbox VALENTINES floral, 1923 ROMANCE BOOK and antique bobbins with vintage laces and paris tags.

Sneak Peek: VINTAGE MEMORY KEEPERS

Ta Daaa...Here are the new vintage MEMORY KEEPERS I have been working on and have been so excited about...you must come in and see for yourself how unique they are and anyway you will have first choice . They are made from jars to vintage recipe & bread boxes etc. and tied with the most exclusive Just a bed of roses tag to die for...You can fill them with your own little vintage trinkets and treasures, bobbles and bangles...what ever you wish.