More dishes ?

I found these cute anchor dishes at Tuesday Morning and debated with myself about buying them - love won out over need.

I didn't argue with myself over these little square dessert plates because I will be using them at my Mad Tea Party.

But, it is difficult to justify the purchase of more plates when our limited cupboard space is taken up with rarely used dishes.

The winning argument of "silly self" over "practical self" was that the anchor dishes are perfect for a beach house and if I passed them up, I would never find them again.

Last week, I did a simple red, white & blue table setting and used the square blue plates for our dessert.

This week I stopped in at Paper Source (never a cheap move) and spotted this anchor stamp.

My thought was, "how cute would anchor napkins be with those anchor dishes!" so I brought the stamp home, made napkins and stamped a couple little bags.

From one Friday to the next, the table setting changed considerably even though the same dishes were used.

I frequently use dish towels for place mats and like the horizontal stripes on these towels.

Of course the wine bottle doesn't exactly go with the anchor dishes so red napkins were used to hide the graphics.

I usually have flowers as the centerpiece, but yesterday I went for a sea theme.

Starfish candle sticks came out of the cupboard, bits and pieces of my shell collection filled up some fish containers I just purchased for my upcoming tea party and the base was another dish towel with horizontal stripes and no graphic.

You might be asking, what about the anchor stamp and the napkins?

Well, the ink on the napkins was the wrong color and the bags just didn't work, but

I just found these cute sailboat dishes (which I couldn't pass up)

and some new pasta bowls so I know the anchor napkins will be used soon.

 I had a lot of fun playing house yesterday.

Once the table was set, I began moving things around the house.

Pitchers from the entry way ended up on the dining room shelf and

wire baskets from the dining room ended up on the entry way cabinet.

The dining room is definitely sporting a blue and white motif and

the entire house is looking ready for summer.

Yes, this little seaside cottage is definitely ready for a Mad Tea Party on Monday.

And, as I sit at the dining room table putting the finishing touches on this blog post, I am struck by the message on the dining room table -

"if you are lucky enough to live at the beach, you're lucky enough" - and yes, I am lucky enough.

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Join me at

Boogieboard Cottage - Masterpiece Monday

Little Changes . . . Everywhere

My goal for today was to work in the garden all day long.

Well, Mother Nature put the kabosh on that - cold wind throughout the day and into the night - so instead of weeding and planting in the garden, I rearranged nearly every flat surface in the house.

Changes began in the entryway with pitchers replacing glass bottles on the cupboard.

An old stool, a biscuit tin and an April Cornell enamel bowl in a corner of the kitchen sport some of my favorite things - numbers, polka dots and checks.

Wire baskets replaced pitchers and bowls on the dining room shelf

while another shelf in the dining room got a simple update to blue and white.

The glass jars that were removed from the entryway found a new home on the mantel.

The fireplace screen was removed until fall and a basket of flowers fills in the hole.

My C collection was moved from the dining room to a side table in the living room.

The vignette on the cabinet in the hall has not changed for months so a new display was definitely in order.

I like the white objects in the foreground allowing Steve's painting of a Bleeker Street door to be the focal point.

I braved the wind (which is still howling at midnight) long enough to cut some roses from the garden.

To the casual observer, my house probably looks the same because the furniture rarely moves, but today, there were little changes . . . everywhere.

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I am joining these fine ladies at

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday

A Room of My Own

On January 4, I removed almost everything from the guest room.

Today, 10 days later, the room is no longer a guest room, but a "Creative Space" for me.

The bookcases have been filled

with books, magazines,

and various supplies

 in labeled baskets and boxes to make things easy to find.

Finally, there is a place to display my creations

and this darling little bunting I just received from Vicky of Life on Willie Mae Lane.

A wire shelf and containers holding books and papers fill up one corner of the room.

I planned to get rid of the dresser because it needs updating, but the drawers are handy for storing paper, stamps, tools, etc.

I also like that the top of the dresser provides space for more storage.

The sewing machine base came from the living room and we used the old dining room tabletop to create a sewing station.

Wire storage pieces hang on the wall and a shelf between the windows holds portions of my hand collections and a few supplies.

A 3' x 4' trestle table we bought from neighbors provides a work station and my IKEA rolling cart allows me to keep the surface free of tools.

The table is large enough that I set out 4 different projects to work on today -  I actually completed 2 of them.

Virginia Wolff said, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."

I won't be writing fiction, but I will be creating - every day.

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Join me at

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

The Dedicated House - Before and After Wednesday

Sunny Simple Life - From the Farm Blog Hop

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday

The Koenigs Create - Wednesday Link Party

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday