Lovely Shabby...

I like this old tin pot. And, I like the whole Shabby Chic thing to a point, a lot of it is much more shabby than chic. The Bella Cottage , however has a few fun pieces that I really like.

Cathy Penton...

If ever there was an artist with a good valentine idea, that is just lovely, it would be Cathy Penton. I love her Valentine ornaments which you can see in Romantic Homes this month or here at her sight. Beautiful.

The Art of Doris Joa...

Really lovely... See it here.

Swallow Ring...

As I had suspected, yellow gold seems to be making the big comeback. Look at Anthropologie's selections in jewelry, almost all yellow gold.

Which brings me to my two theories of jewelry.

1. You must choose between silver and gold, pick a favorite and be married to it. ( I don't like mixing so much).

2. (this is my favorite) Really every married woman needs two wedding rings, to keep current and everything.

Do you think that idea will fly? See the swallow here.

Granny Chic Jewels...

This is an amazing artist, Kim Jelley, selling on Ebay...
See her things here at The Painted Heart...

Wesley Allen...

I love old-fashioned iron beds. I like the ones made by the Wesley Allen company as I looked around at them, but I ended up buying through Fine Iron Beds because they offer the same Wesley Allen beds with a choice of 36 different finishes.

Classic Wedgwood...

If I ever collect another everyday china pattern, it may be this... Wedgwood White. It is a crisp, true white and would go with all my crazy stuff. Plus, the shape has a classic cafe style that I adore and goes with my whole Granny-Chic thing.

I adore this artist!

This is the art of Susan Brown. See her work here and here.

Country Living Magazine... January 2007

Do not miss this issue of Country Living. I finally got my copy today. Where has it been, I do not know. I have been waiting and waiting for it. Anyway, it has the best article about Alexandra's style, and has photos of her ribbon closet, her quilt collection, her lovely bedroom, her color palette (which is also mine, I'm so excited about that). It is so beautiful you just won't believe it!!! And, I forgot to say there is a picture of the famous ribbon tablecloth that she designed a long time ago, but I have always wanted to see and she even tells how to make it.
Also, if you go here, you can see part of the the article (the photographs are not as good on my computer as in the magazine), but also you can hear an audio of Alexandra telling about her new book. It is just beautiful and inspiring. Really, do not miss.
And, not only that, the rest of the magazine is good too; there is a lime green dresser that is so lovely. Oh Happiness!!!

I made soup!

And, it was really good.

Butternut Squash Bisque by Nicholai

2 Tbsp. butter

2 small onions

1lb. butternut squash, peeled seeded & cubed

5c. chicken stock

8oz. potatoes, peeled & cubed

1tsp. paprika

1/2 c. whipping cream (optional)

1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives, plus a few whole chives to garnish

Salt/ Pepper to taste.

Melt butter in a large pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the squash, stock, potatoes and paprika. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 35 min. until all the vegetables are soft. Pour into a food processor or blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pan. Stir in the cream, if using. Season with salt and pepper and reheat hently. Stir in the chopped chives just before serving. Garnish each serving with a few whole chives.

Thanks to Nicholai for the recipe and the cookbook for Christmas!

Granny Chic Book of the Week...

I adore this book. I am officially now a fan of Cath Kidston. Also, if you happen to subscribe to Home Companion and be a pack rat, like me, you can find a wonderful, wonderful article about her in the Feb./Mar 2003 issue.

Best Wishes... Tiffany

Granny Chic Cute of the Week...

Love this site... Johnny Loves Rosie ... See it here.

This is a place I would love to visit...

See it here...

Tiny Cake...

Tiny cake is what you need in the New Year. I am looking at these little cake pans to go with my tiny cake server from Boo. These are a cute 4 inches and they cost $1.95 at Crate & Barrel.

A Picture of NYC for Jenni...

The Radiator Building At Night

Painted by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1927

Sweet's Candy Cherry Ju Ju Hearts...

One of my favorite things is coming to market very soon. Hurray!!!

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

I also got this...

Thanks Mom, I really love these!!!

Look what I got for Christmas! I'm so excited!

Thanks Boo!!! This company is called Magenta Inc.

and they make really cute stuff, see it here.

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.

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

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...

Thanks Michelle!

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

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.

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.