Rubber Band Votive Candle Holder

Do-It-Yourself!

Hi all! I saw this online and had to share. Isn't this a great idea?
It's such a simple, yet great metamorphosis from a plain candle holder to a gorgeous, creative one!

This idea came from Better Homes & Gardens, and it is great for dressing up any table:
"These playful stripes were created by layering colorful rubber bands around a votive candle holder. Simple, right? So next time you are strolling through Office Depot, take a peek at the colored rubber bands and get inspired."

You can do any colors to compliment your fun tablescape or party theme! Enjoy!

Best regards,

Family Stories -- Ma's "Lemonade" Story

Hey, all. One of the new blogger friends at "MomUndecided" (momundecided.blogspot.com) had, on one of her posts, good stories about Christmas with her family -- how our families tell and re-tell the same old-time stories, and we never tire of them. So I shared one of my stories with her in her comments section and she was so kind to say, "Great story on my blog - you should post things like that on here!" So, that is precisely what I am going to do!

OK, on to my story!!! This one is about my mother, Fran, when she was a little girl, living in Astoria, Queens, New York. The family was quite poor when she was young, plus her mother died when she was only five years old. So, when she was little, she and her sisters would go next door to play with the little girl neighbor, only because the little girl's mother would give them all lemon cookies and lemonade. My mother said as soon as they had the goodies, she and her sisters would leave. Isn't that terrible???? I always said, "Ma! That is horrible!!" and she would say, "I know! We were terrible. But we were poor and no one ever baked anything for us. We just wanted those cookies!" Now, mind you, my mother was the nicest, most generous, most unselfish person in the world. That's why her doing this when she was little was so unbelievable! I made her tell and re-tell that story all the time. My son, when he was small, also enjoyed the story and couldn't believe his Gee-Ma would do that when she was little.

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Hope you enjoyed the story -- Thanks for visiting!

Best regards,
Gloria

A Month of Give-Aways at Mom Undecided!

Greetings! One of my new blogger friends at "Mom Undecided" is having a month of give-aways! Check it out at her blog: http://momundecided.blogspot.com
It's a really nice blog, and she has cute kids too! :)

Best regards,
Gloria

CSN Stores Giveaway

Hello there! One of my new blogger friends is having a give-away and she is asking her Followers to invite their Followers! So please stop on by to leave a comment at Keep Calm and Decorate and enter to win a $40.00 CSN certificate. Good luck!

Here's her link: http://keepcalmanddecorate.blogspot.com/

And here's the link to CSN stores: http://csn.com/

You can also look through all of the CSN stores, here's the link: CSN StoresView all 200+

Best,
Gloria

Happy 4th of July!

Happy July 4th to all of us! To the left are fireworks over Brookyn Bridge. (Where I was born and bred!) I would also like to post this quote, which I think is a beautiful passage from this historical man:

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”
~Winston Churchill

My best to all of you,
Gloria

$5.00 Coupon Code for Online Purchase at Victorian Trading Co.

I just wanted to report that if anyone is interested in the Victorian Trading Co., there is a $5.00 off deal for shopping online until July 31st. See below and ENJOY!

Have a Happy July 4th!

Best regards,
Gloria

Take $5 Off Your Online Purchase!
To take advantage of your $5 coupon offer, please enter code C500 in the "Special Offer Codes" box on the order form at checkout (see example below). Expires 7/31/2010. Take me to the homepage!

Anthropologie

Anthropologie! I am sure that I don't even really have to tell anyone about this fabulous online site. (http://www.anthropologie.com/)

I thought I would do one more post about my favorite websites for purchases! I am making my son -- I mean ASKING my son -- to purchase the following Anthropologie item for my birthday (which is at the end of July). Here is what I want for a birthday present:

It's a little sugar bowl (can also be used as a jam jar) -- isn't it the most adorable thing? The colors will coordinate with my canister set in the kitchen. When I add my new valance and put out some other new items I have for the kitchen, I will post some pictures (finally). I won't get the sugar bowl until the end of the month from my son but, knowing myself with doing anything, it WILL be the end of the month before my kitchen is done with a good cleaning, etc.!

And here is something that I have recently purchased myself from Anthropologie:

It is a beautiful little planter urn. And it is SO heavy and substantial! I am not very creative, so I don't really know what I am going to put in it yet... I have some pretty dried hydrangeas that I had in mind for another spot, but I may use them in this. I also have some silk hydrangeas that I could add in it. (Do you think I may like hydrangeas?) Or I could buy a little flower plant to slip in it. Or I was thinking about rolling up a dishtowel or two to put in there -- although it really isn't too big, I don't know if they'd fit! Anyone have any other ideas? Oh, and guess the price... $8.00! Yes, $8.00! They have another in a round shape for the same price, plus a larger one (a tall vase shape) for $18.00. Isn't it worth it? Well, if anyone has any creative ideas for its use, please kindly let me know!

Guess that's it for now -- thanks for visiting!

Gloria

WORLD MARKET

Greetings - Here's another great online store. http://www.worldmarket.com/

I ordered this product from them. Such a great price! (12 for $24.99!)

Footed Goblet Entertaining Set, Set of 12

Hope you, too, can find something you like at World Market. Happy July 1st!

P.S. When I am less LAZY, I will get out my camera and take a pic of one of mine and post it!

Gloria

Victorian Trading Company

I found a great online store: The Victorian Trading Company. They have such lovely things, check it out! http://www.victoriantradingco.com/

June 23, 2010

Hello! I just wanted to say THANK YOU to anyone who has viewed this blog, or left comments, AND especially those who have become Followers! I certainly don't deserve it, since I haven't posted anything since last December! I don't have time because I am TOO BUSY reading all of YOUR beautiful blogs! So many of you have such gorgeous homes, and do such beautiful jobs of refurbishing items (i.e., just even spray-painting an item and making it look so chic, something I would never think of doing!) and you have given me great ideas. The only thing is for me to get off my backside and get my "stuff" in order and take photos and start to post! But I DO thank all of the kind blogging friends out there who have commented and followed. When I do something worthwhile, I will let you know! My best to all of you... Gloria