Summer Gatherings

What better way to say hello to summer than with a cold pitcher of lemonade, a bundle of lavender, and being surrounded by those you love?

With the girls help (wink, wink) we put together a vintage table setting for a Father's Day gathering.

i love the contrast of the white ironstone dishes with the cream and blue table cloth which is actually a curtain panel.

Lavender and fresh cut lemons remind me of crisp white linen sheets hanging in the warm summer breeze.

This summer the girls and i will be having a lemonade stand with fresh blueberry muffins.

My breadboard is from White Flower Farmhouse.

i've gotten a few goodies from this store and i like to check back often because they are always adding new vintage goodies!

French baskets are one of my favorite things to collect.

Not only are they charming but also functional to tuck things into.

i love entertaining and hope to do it many, many times this summer.

Too bad all of you didn't live closer so we could lounge around and exchange stories.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

until next time,

xo

Cheryl

I'm sharing this at..

My Romantic Home- Show and Tell Friday

Treasures from My Kitchen

Hello Friends!

Sarah over at Modern County Style is hosting a party called Kitchen Favorites so i thought i would share with you a couple of things i love in my kitchen.

What you see pictured above is a French copper ladle.

It was a generous gift that came all the way from France.

It has sentimental value because it will always remind me of my Mom's two French exchange students Justine and Camille.

If you missed Justine's guest post go here.

Another thing in my kitchen i love is this Paris Cafe sign.

Oh, how i wish i was in a Paris Cafe right now.....

i found this sign at a local antique store.

it's not an antique but i love that it's an old shutter repurposed and framed in metal.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite things in my kitchen!

until next time,

xo

Cheryl

I'm sharing this at ...

A Beach Cottage- Good Life Wednesday

A Darling Picnic Bench and Ruffle Table Cloth

Hello Friends!

isn't kid furniture the cutest?

i always find myself gravitating towards it when shopping at flea markets and antique shops. Who can resist buying an adorable little picnic bench, especially with two little girls? i thought it would be perfect for the girls bedroom and envisioned us using it to read, color and have tea parties.

Ever since i saw a picture of a ruffle fitted table cloth i wanted to try and make one for my own dining room table. it was much easier starting off by trying to make one for the girls picnic table first.

Did you know that Ikea is selling linen for $5.99 a yard? i was ecstatic to find that out and thought i would share it with you. They have a pretty grey that i'm hoping they get back in stock soon!

*please note that the table cloth has not been washed to get that nice raw edge and no strings or threads have been cut yet.

I'd like to say thank you to a couple of fabulous ladies for featuring me on their blogs..

Heather @ Inspire me Heather, Brenda @ Cozy Little House, Courtney @ French Country Cottage, and Jami @ Freckled Laundry

Thank you so much ladies!

I'm sharing this at..

Freckled Laundry- Air Your Laundry Friday

Faded Charm- White Wednesday

French Ladder

Hello Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

in a decorating book called French Home there's a picture of a similar ladder and it's called a French Fruit Picking Ladder.

i love this ladder!

it's currently displayed in my home's entryway.

i've also had it displayed in my dinning room before with my grain sacks hanging on it.

The girls are officially out of preschool for the summer. i'm looking forward to those warm sunny Santa Barbara summer days and hanging out with my beach bum and beach bunnies!

I hope your all having a wonderful start to your week!

until next time,

xo

Cheryl

Ruffle Linen Bed Scarf

As promised here is a little more on the linen bed scarf...

it started out as just a piece of fabric

waiting to be turned into something beautiful

linen and ruffles is amongst some of my favorite things

i'm not an expert on sewing and didn't have a pattern or any directions, just a picture from French Larkspurs post. You can find the post here.

I'm sorry I didn't photograph my entire process to give you a proper tutorial but I hope you find my directions helpful. i also hope you feel inspired to make your own!

When i bought the fabric it was already 48" wide which was perfect size for a twin bed scarf.

1. i cut out a square 48" by 48" out of my 3 yards of fabric.

2. With the remaining fabric i cut 8 6" wide strips to make ruffles

3. Then i put my sewing machine stitches to as wide as possible and sewed my 6" strips straight across leaving 4" of thread on both sides.

4. Once you have done that you can gently start pulling on one of your 4" strings to make ruffles. Taking turns of tugging on both sides of the strings and having my ruffles meet in the middle i found worked best. You can adjust the ruffles to how ruffly you want them.

5. After i finished my 8 strips of ruffles i pinned them on all the way around my 48" by 48" linen square and sewed it on.

That was it!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend of dreaming, creating and being inspired!

until next time,

xo

Cheryl

i'm linking with..

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia- Tuesday's Treasure

The Shabby Nest- Frugal Friday

My Romantic Home- Show and Tell Friday

Freckled Laundry- Air Your Laundry Friday

Funky Junk Interiors- Saturday Nite Special

Savvy Southern Style- Wow Us Wednesday

French Country Cottage- Feather Nest Friday

Guest Post with a French Girl

My name is Justine. I have been in Santa Barbara since September,

but, now, it is time for me to go back in my Fabulous country : France.

My experience in SB was G-R-A-N-D-I-O-S-E !!!

I really enjoyed travelling across USA which is an amazing country :)

I am really glad that Cheryl invited me as a guest on her blog :

I literally L-O-V-E it !!!

Most of my pictures were taken in St-Tropez, Paris and Lille.

I hope you will like them and feel the French atmosphere ...

... and - maybe- come to France !!

Old White Country Cupboard

Hello Friends!

Do you remember when i said i had the pleasure of seeing Katie and her sons at the CALM Antique show?

i found this beautiful white country cupboard in their booth. i just fell in love with it! i love the original white paint and how the cupboard door looks like a barn door when its open.

it's in my sewing/guest room right next to my French daybed. it's perfect for holding my sewing and decorating books.

You may recognize the caddy holding 12 mini clay pots from Miss Mustard Seed's blog. My heart skipped a beat when i saw them--i had to to have them! Marian was so sweet to send me them to me in the mail. Thank you Marian!

i'm considering hanging the star above the cupboard with the word "dream" hanging underneath it. i also thought about the word "create" since it's in the sewing room.

What do you think?

i love giving things in my home a new life, like using this little french watering can as a vase.

i also thought i'd share with you a linen ruffled bed scarf i finished sewing last week...

i was inspired by Tracey over at French Larkspur. She did a post on her little girls bedroom and i decided to try and make my own ruffled bed scarf.

i'm still new to sewing so the stitching isn't perfect but i do like the way it turned out. i'll be sharing more of the ruffle bed scarf next week.

i've been away on vacation for awhile and i came back to find out some really cool stuff...

i won a giveaway over at The Old Painted Cottage, my French daybed was featured at Freckled Laundry on Air Your Laundry Friday and Julie over at The Painted Parlor gave me the Versitle Blog award. Thanks ladies!

The next couple of days i'll be busy catching up on everybody's blogs!

Hope your all having a wonderful week : )

until next time,

xo

Cheryl

I'm linking with..

Miss Mustard Seed- Furniture Feature Friday

French Country Cottage- Feather Your Nest

A Beach Cottage- Good Life

Faded Charm- White Wednesday

My Romantic Home- Show and Tell Friday