It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

at Lavender Fields.  I spent the afternoon helping Lori get the store ready for the holidays. She has so many gorgeous items in her shop to style.  I also brought in some of my own creations to add to her collection of Holiday Decor.

This weekend, the Village of Pt. Jefferson is having their annual Dickens Festival ~ featuring costumed characters, decorated streets and shops, Victorian entertainment and food, carriage and trolley rides, a lantern-lit house tour of historic homes and a parade.

It really is such a fun event. The characters are all through the streets and the kids really get a kick out of it.  Check it out if you're local to Long Island, NY.  Hoping for beautiful weather this weekend too!

Matthew Mead and The New General Store

So glad I finally made it out to one of Tricia Foley's The New General Store ~seasonal pop up shops.  A relaxing break from a hectic week. Her home is on such a pretty piece of property on Eastern Long Island. My friend Lisa said "it feels like Vermont". She had beautiful weather for her sale on Saturday.

It was nice to catch up with Lisa from The Polka Dot Pound Cake. And it was really nice to meet Matthew Mead. Such a big fan of his work. His magazine is full of decorating inspiration ~ some great recipes in there too.  He's as nice in person as he is online.

Last night was spent with tea, a slice of my favorite cake (the Christmas cake) from Lisa, and 2 new books to enjoy ~ Matthew's Holiday magazine and Tricia Foley's White Christmas ~ so beautiful.


I also couldn't resist purchasing one of her paperwhite bulbs. They looked so cute in their white enamel. Hope I can grow this one!

Black Friday ~ Cyber Monday Sale

Use code 20BFCM at checkout for 

20%OFF

your entire purchase!

through 11/28/11
This code is good in our ETSY Shop or WEBSITE

Simple fall tabletop ideas

With Thanksgiving just a few days away - here are some easy ideas for centerpieces.

A good base for your designs is some burlap fabric and some rustic wood platforms to add a little interest and height to your centerpiece.

A collection of bud vases in beautiful fall colors are simple to arrange with flowers from the market. Here I took mixed fall bouquets and just separated them creating a very pretty assortment of flowers on display.

Add some mini pumpkins and pine cones from your yard for a natural look.

A tray filled with mini pumpkins (sprayed with a little bronze paint), dried hydrangeas, votives and berries.

Pumpkins on pedestals - surrounded by moss and gilded acorns. 

Dried hydrangeas in a beautiful urn, more of my favorite white pumpkins.

You can also just fill a planter with moss and pumpkins for a quick centerpiece.

Having a buffet? Print your menu on decorative paper so your guests know what the choices are.

Candles in mason jars scattered throughout your buffet tablescape.

Cut some bouquets from your mums outside, place in mason jars tied with burlap.

More creamy white pumpkins with bittersweet.

Love using lifts (cardboard boxes or tins under cloth) for the food platters.

Your guests will love the thought and your efforts!

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love this combination...

rustic wood

burlap

white pumpkins

pine cones

fall flowers

mason jars

So Excited to Announce...

You can now find our products including painted furniture and accessories at Lavender Fields...

a beautiful lifestyle boutique located on Main Street in the Historic Village of Port Jefferson, NY.

Lori creates such a relaxing shopping experience in her shop from the music playing to the scented candles, lotions, gorgeous bedding and cozy pj's you will find in her store. We are very excited about working with her to offer one of a kind pieces. We made our first delivery this weekend!

She also hosts some fun events in her store.
Visit Saturday November 5th for her first ever Vintage Flea Market ~ As she empties her barn filled with vintage finds.

So stop in to see Lori - she is such a sweetie!

A Corner Hutch...

A heavily distressed corner hutch.
My arms are aching today! I stained, painted, dry brushed, waxed, sanded, waxed and buffed this piece inside and out. I thought this one was a good candidate for a lot of distressing.  Shades of Versailles, Old White and a little Graphite finished with clear and dark wax. Will be selling this one. Wish I had a little corner for it but I can't keep them all!

Pine cones and white pumpkins - simple fall decor.

Linking this post up to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Pumpkin - Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Spotted this yummy recipe in the October edition of Country Living magazine.

If you like pumpkin - try it! The kids loved it too. I don't usually make tomato sauce for a pumpkin pasta but the recipe called for it and it was great.  I made a couple of changes to their recipe - I made my own sauce (I just can't use jar sauce) and I omitted sage (only because I didn't have any). Served it with some grilled sausage. Delicious!

Look for the magazine in stores - it's a good one!

A Beachy Affair

This past weekend I was hired to decorate a Bat Mitvah at our local Atlantis Aquarium- such a cool place for a party. My girlfriend and our teenage daughters came with me to decorate the space. I wish I had taken more pics but the photographer was taking family pics in the room so I didn't want to get in their way.

Linens were aqua and cream. The host collected all of the decor over the last year. There were oversized hurricanes in 3 different shapes on the adult tables filled with sand, shells, starfish and colorful beach glass.  We included many shells that the family had collected during their summer vacations on Nantucket Island. A little fishnet went on the center of the tables and were topped with more shells and votives.  I used a paint pen on the large clam shells for the table names - which were various island vacation spots - cute idea!

The place cards were printed on colorful card stock and tied to sand dollars which we placed in a large table top sandbox.

Such a beautiful backdrop of built-in fish tanks. The kids' tables surrounded the shark tank. I'm sure they loved that!

Another very cute idea - the mom had a photo book printed and included photos of almost every guest in attendance. Every other page was left blank for signing. Such a nice keepsake for her daughter's special day!

And I just loved the sign - Friends...are like seashells we collect along the way.

Goodbye Summer

Montauk, Long Island, NY

Sad to see you go...

The kids started school this week and we already had fall - like weather. Which I don't mind too much - because I love fall cooking. This week we made Lentil Vegetable Soup - a quick and easy recipe from Lucinda Scala Quinn - Mad Hungry. Great for busy school nights - and easy for the kids to eat in a thermos on the way to dance, soccer, etc.

photo credit:  Martha Stewart - Mad Hungry Show

Painted Pieces and Irene...

I'm a little nervous about the storm heading our way.

Do we have enough food?
My kids eat. a lot.

Will any of the many trees on our property fall on our house?
We will be sleeping in the basement.

Will we lose power?
Probably, but how many days?

Thinking about everyone in the path of the storm.
Wishing you all safety.

I have shipped out all orders placed this week.

And spent some time working on what I enjoy the most.
Painting.

All newly listed in my Etsy Shop.

But if I don't return your messages,

or ship your orders out in the next few days,

I will have to blame Irene.

Be safe.

This post is linked up to:
Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Local Food Artisans - Dinner on the beach

So happy to have such great local foods on Long Island - I have to share my latest finds. After a date with my husband at the delicious Besito's in Huntington Village, NY we walked around and found this great shop - The Crushed Olive - an amazing tasting shop of olive oils and vinegars. Check out there site - they have some amazing pairing suggestions as well. The dark chocolate balsamic and black cherry balsamic were insane. For now we went with a bottle of the Tuscan Herb olive oil. But we will definitely be back for more!

This morning I stopped at the King's Park Farmer's Market for more of my favorites.

Ciabatta Loaves from the blue duck bakery cafe

Fresh Mozzarella and Mini Rice Balls (so good!) from Papa Pasquale's-Brooklyn - next week I'm going to try their ravioli

Tomatoes from Finks Farm

Everything we need to make some nice chicken cutlet heros for dinner on the beach.

If you live local and haven't visited the market - please do! There are also some great wine, beer and coffee vendors. I will let you know when I try some.

Chalk Paint and an easy DIY centerpiece

I received my shipment of Annie Sloan's chalk paint about a month ago - I LOVE IT! I had this chair in my garage for 5 years - I'm such a procrastinator. It was another curbside find.  When I discovered this new paint I knew this was the perfect piece to experiment on. It distresses beautifully and makes that country french worn finish very easy to obtain. I did prime this piece last summer but that was as far as I got. Priming isn't even necessary with this paint. I gave it a coat of Old White and then a coat of Duck Egg Blue, a coat of clear wax, distressed with a sanding sponge, coat of dark wax and then finished with the clear. I gave it a new seat covered in some leftover painters drop cloth.

Here is what it looked like before - it had a really nasty cushion which I ripped off before I took the pic.

So, I have a garage full of furniture that will receive some special chalk paint treatment.  I hope I will be able to part with them. The chair above is a keeper - my new desk chair.

I also used ASCP on some new boxes my husband put together. When we make these, they are new pine which we hand distress, and apply the finishes to make them look like they've been around for years. If you are handy, these make a great DIY centerpiece for your rustic-chic wedding or event.  So pretty with mason jars, a bundle of dried flowers or you can place a plastic liner inside and arrange fresh flowers in them. They are so useful after the event. They are a really nice seasonal display for your table, or mantle - filled with moss, spring eggs, punpkins or winter sprigs, pine cones and berries. You can even use these in the bathroom to hold soaps or hand towels.

Easily distressed with Annie's chalk paint in Old White and Paris Grey.

These cast iron handles are available in my shop. They add such a nice touch to the rustic box.

Simple burlap and ribbon wrapped mason jars with hydrangeas.

We also sell these boxes on our website and in our etsy shop.  Any size/color/quantity can be done.

Want some more project inspiration?

This post is linked up to the following blog events:

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia