Sunday, December 31, 2006

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Granny Chic Shopping...


One of my favorite places in Salt Lake City is the intersection of 900 South and 900 East and now it is even better because everything has been redone. Next time you make it into the city, check out The Children's Hour Bookstore, Charlotte's, Hip & Humble and several other really fun places...

Does anyone know where to get these after the holidays?


YUMMY!!!

Cute Kate Spade...


This one is cute Mom... See it here.

A Very Granny Chic Idea... Travel Posters...




These are lovely. Katherine, you should have a fabulous London poster, don't you think? Anyway, these are available at Art.com with lots of other fun vintagey posters.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Great Quotes...

I am just a few pages into You Are Your Choices. I am trying to savor it. But here are a few quotes I just love from the beginning chapters...

You have a responsibility to dignify your life through continuously making yourself better.

The good life is life of moral excellence that leads to happiness.

Wonderful.

Fun Embosser...


See the Embosser and the Tags here.

My Favorite Valentine...


For Valentine's Day one time, Craig gave me this beautiful metal heart and it came in a red velvet bag. Inside the heart, a beautiful chime sounds when you move it. I love it. They were available for about $7 at Tabula Rasa. I hope they will have them again. They make such a beautiful gift.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Fun Art on Ebay....


The Two Crafty Mules ebay store is full of one-of-a-kind items. They make necklaces out of dominos and pins out of postage stamps. They have really cute earrings and their pieces are more than reasonably priced, they are cheap.

Valentine's Love Boxes...


I have several Valentine's Day appropriate boxes listed and available and I will have more soon.
Inside the lid, this one says... Plant a seed of friendship; reap a bouquet of happiness... Louis L. Kaufman

You Are Your Choices...


I am so excited! I recieved my copy yesterday in the mail! Hurray!!!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Granny Chic Item of the Week...


This show is plot driven and the plot is not very good and the characters are weak, but the colors are fantastic and a few of the songs and dance numbers are really great. It's sad that someone didn't spend just a few more hours on the script because this could have been a really great show and in many ways, it was before it's time.
This is one that deserves a redo.
If you love Rodgers & Hammerstein, it is something you have to see atleast once.

Valentine's Bridal Shower...




Valentine's Day is on my mind even though I don't take the Christmas Tree down until 12th night which isn't until January 5th. I want to do a Valentine's Bridal Shower for my neice that is getting married in Feb. These would make cute invites don't you think? Instructions here.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Thanks to Jenni...






Thanks Jenni for telling me about this site. I didn't know about it at all and look what lovely things they have. So pretty...this could be the Granny Chic Cute of the Week!

See them here.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas!!!

I had a very Christmasy morning this morning. It was wonderful to wake up and have the big projects finished. I went to the store just to get a few ingredients for some Christmas baking that I want to do today.
As I finished at the grocery store, a very cute young man helped me out to the car with my bags. A bagger boy, you could say. They seem to be disapearing most places.
Anyway, as we were walking to the car, he asked me if I'd finished my Christmas shopping and I told him that I had. I then asked him if he'd finished his shopping and he told me that he had not, that he still needed to buy gifts for all his friends but he had finished shopping for his family. He told me what he bought for his siblings and Dad, but he got something really great for his mom (it cost $50 he'd spent most of his money on her) and he wasn't telling anyone what it was. He was just so happy and cute. I kept thinking whoever his parents are, they have taught this kid how to really enjoy Christmas. I am so glad that I met him. He made my day.
When I meet young people like this bagger, and so many others that I have met in my neighborhood, it has given me great confidence in the future. What wonderful people to turn the planet over to. I think that they will prepare themselves to solve some of the world's great troubles and bring peace and happiness to many places.
I put this picture up of the Capitol Christmas Tree because I just want to say one other thing and that is that I am so thankful for this country. Americans have so many blessings. As the news crews send in pictures from many troubled places, I am so grateful to be here with my family. It is my great hope that one day all the world will enjoy the freedoms and prosperity that we have here.
I am so thankful for the soldiers that serve here and abroad. So many are missing Christmas with their families. Our prayers are with them. We are thankful for what they do and what they and their families sacrifice for us and we are praying for them this holiday season.

I hope all of you will have a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to everyone who purchased Love Boxes for Christmas, I hope whoever receives them will enjoy them as much as I enjoy painting them.
Merry, Merry Christmas!
Tiffany

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth,
good-will to men!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Friday, December 22, 2006

Forced to look at Faucets...

I find myself forced to look at faucets this morning even though there are a million Christamasy things to do. The old one is cracked and it leaks a bit and you have to really push on it to get the water to shut off, so Christmas or no Christmas the old one must go. To match everything else I have to have white or brass and I don't want to clean brass so I'm thinking white. I wanted something really beautiful and granny chic, but nothing like that matches the specific requirements for sink and color. It's all more complicated that just pick your favorite design unfortunately. So now, I'm thinking this one...

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Thanks Michelle!

Don't miss Michelle's recipe for Mint Chocolate Fudge which is located in the comments of the Parisian Dessert Plates below.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Great Desserts!!!


Five different friends that I can think of have black painted tables. Wouldn't these plates look great on a black painted table? I have seen these plates around several places. They are called Parisian Wallpaper and they come as a set of 4 in this cute box. They are also on sale at Spiegel for $34.00.

Spiegel Sale...

Spiegel is having an amazing sale. These shoes are $19.00 and they come in black! I love them. See them here.

Shawna...

Zara... see it here. I can't lift pictures from this site. :(

Granny Chic Outfit of the Week...

The Granny Chic Outfit of the Week has to include this beautiful blouse. I love this deep cranberry red, it seems to be rare the last few years. I hope cranberry makes a comeback, this shade anyway. This picture does not do it justice. See it here.

Granny Chic Cute of the Week...


Darling, don't you think? See it here.

I adore BOB!



I can't find a decent picture of this book cover, but the book is darling. I just read this today. I love it. Hilarious & very sweet to. I love the part about getting your friend a hippo for Christmas and needing a box big enough "so the ears don't squish." You gotta love a book that thinks of all the practical details.

A Christmas Classic...


Speaking of giving the gift of love, this is a story that captures the spirit. A classic to be read every Christmas and a great gift for just about anyone. The pictures in this version are delightful.

The Trouble With Presents...


I didn't really like this book when I first read it because I am not part of the anti-gift group. I love to try to find the perfect thing for friends and family for birthdays and for Christmas. I really love it. I loved it even the first Christmas we were married and we were so broke that I was wrapping up chewing gum and candy bars.
Finding the perfect gift is a trick however, and I have had some real bombs. I sometimes really mess up with little boys because I don't know what's cool.
Anyway, I think this book grew on me a little because even though I love to give gifts and I love to wrap them up, the trouble is that when they are unwrapped, they are just stuff when you really wanted it to be how much you love the person. In the end, it is just a sweater and mittens or whatever.
And, that is going to be my take on this book, the idea that Mooch is really making an effort to wrap up love and that is a great thing no matter how you do it. However, if you happen to be on my Christmas list, never fear, I won't be getting you nothing.
But no matter how much you like the gifts that you give or receive, I think that for the most part they are a symbol of love and that is the best way to think of them.
So, I am recommending this book even though I really like Patrick McDonnell's other book Just Like Heaven quite a bit more.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Chris Gardner is an amazing person.. and Will Smith better get the Oscar.


Whatever you do this holiday season, do not miss this film on the the big screen. It may be 5 years before Hollywood gets a clue and writes another script like this one.
In these United States and around the world as well there must be thousands of people with stories like this one, maybe not as dramatic, but certainly stories about people who are good, who are decent, who are brave just like Chris Gardner. Hollywood rarely makes these kinds of stories into movies.
Hollywood prefers the dark and the base and the ugly to a story like this that can really lift and inspire people. I don't get it.
If Will Smith does not get the Oscar this year for making this picture, then I am done with the Oscars forever.
Read more about Chris Gardners amazing life here.

My Favorite Things...





I love wrapping Christmas packages and these are a few of my favorite package designs.

Monday, December 18, 2006

The Post Office...


The post office in our town was very crowded this morning. There had to be about fifty people in line when I got there. I myself had about 15 packages to post and a lot of other people had large numbers of things to mail. I planned to be there for awhile. People were pleasant, but they were looking rather gloomy. There was a pregnant woman with a child in a car seat on her arm and a toddler by her side. The woman in front of me was telling me that this was the first Christmas she was going to spend without her husband who had passed last Father's Day. Then in came this woman I know with a little red basket full of Hershey's Kisses and a handfull of dollar bills. She went through the line wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and giving them a dollar to help with their postage. Every single person left with a smile. I don't really know how to describe what happened, but what a gift to give at Christmas. I see two gifts actually. One, the gift of a happy moment and two, the gift of a good example. Amazing. Best Wishes... Tiffany

Friday, December 15, 2006

Arlington...

Thanks to Uncle Paul for sending me the story about the wreaths at Arlington this morning. If anyone would like me to forward it to them, let me know. My intention in writing this blog was just to write about things that are pretty and things that are fun, a kind of cheery hello to friends. However, every once in awhile I must say something serious. I am so grateful to live in this free land. I am grateful for the soldiers whose remains lay beneath these stones and for all of the other soldiers who have laid down their lives for their friends. I am also grateful for many families that I know who have done without a family member for long stretches of time even during Christmas, so that a soldier might serve their country. God bless our brave Soldiers and their brave famililes this Christmastime.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

This will be in someones stocking...


Still no sign of a coat. I would rather keep the old one through another season with the sleeves a tad short than purchase one neither of us will like, but I was happy to find this cute sweater. :)

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Great Quote...

Celebrate people who are in your life-- past and present, close by as well as far away. Thank eveyone who contributes to your sense of well-being and joy, whether you know them personally or not. Every day, think of all the people who help make your life so rich and rewarding.

Alexandra Stoddard from Things I Want My Daughters to Know (One of my favorite books...)

Pretty in Pink...



This is also a beautiful and really fun room from Domino as well. It sort of reminds me of this sweet woman who lived in our town before she died. She was so nice to let me photograph her home and art collection. She was a tiny little person and she had a tiny little kitchen like this one. Her cottage was a little doll house and whenever I pass her home, I'm sad that she's gone and no longer there. I think that she would be happy that the new owners are looking after her roses and making everything even more beautiful.

Look at this beautiful room...


See it on Domino.com Love the colors!

Favorite Granny Chics...

Granny Chics can be found at the great yard sale on the World Wide Web, Ebay. I like to type in vintage anything and I often come up with something fun. Look at this cute fabric which I found by searching vintage +bluebird... one of my favorite searches.

A Jacket for Charity...


I love this style of jacket, and we've had it several times. I like the pink one that Lands End had the best (sold out) and I like the price better than this one (J Crew Kids). Has anyone seen another pink quilted jacket, it's a long shot but... I'd really like it a bit brighter and a bit cheaper.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Monday, December 11, 2006

Don't miss Alicia's review of The House of Seven Gables...

See it on the Pineapple Snow Blog.

The Box I Finished today...


Says inside...
We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
Anton Chekhov
Available for $25. Let me know if you're interested. :)

Christmas House Pictures...






Just a few of the favorite Christmas things at our house. Did I say that I love Mexican Paper Flowers?