Kitchen Soffit Shabby Redo!

I just finished 2 more soffits today. Well, I'm stil debating what else to put on the one over the sink so that's not totally done. I have 5 more frames with roses fabric but I think it needs something else. I'll be back..............:-)

I decided to change the soffits a couple of weeks ago and today I got one done. This is the one over the stove and microwave. I do them little by little as time permits. I love these shabby roses fabrics so I bought the frames at Michaels and covered them with all sorts of fabrics and just simply hung them up here. Cheap price with a lot of pizzazz!! (Lotta bang for the buck!) I just love this idea. Easily changeable also.

Pretty Shabby Chic Tea Towels

I love pretty things as all of you who have visited my blog or have seen my home know. Not only do I buy for beauty but for function also. "Form follows function" is one of my favorite sayings. It first must function in that capacity for which it was bought. (An example is my wrist watch. I call it my Nancy Nurse watch. It's a very plain Timex with black numerals and hands but with a red second hand. I'll never buy any other watch. I just keep purchasing another one just like this one when it finally bites the dust. Have for years and will continue to do so. It's not especially pretty but it is "functional" and that's what a watch should be first and foremost........and they're inexpensive! But it's form is not displeasing to me at all.)

But let's talk about another common thing that just about everyone in the world has in their home and that's tea towels. Yep, the common ol' tea towel.

Tea towels have been know to wipe away boo boos on kids, dry their eyes, carry flowers and veggies into the house from the garden, ice cubes (don't ask!), carry a child's doll like it's a blanket, dry our hands - or hubbies, which is how they get so dirty in the first place if you've noticed, as I have, that they wash their hands, but dry their hands and arms!, trust me on this one.

BUT they don't have to be ugly or plain. Above are photos of some of my kitchen towels. Some have been bought at garage sales for 10¢! (I once bought a brand new canvas butcher's apron for 25¢ and absolutely love it for it generous size. It almost totally wraps around me to the back!) If I buy something to sell and there are 2 of them and I like them, then I buy 2 - one to sell and one to keep. ;-)

Some of the above towels are older and been washed many times but they are all pretty and not just "kitcheny" towels. I buy ones that have roses on them. Plus those towels in the bath dept. of a store don't have to be used in the bath; the hand towels can be used in the kitchen also. That's where I get some of my kitchen towels. I'm not into kitcheny types of towels with fruits and such on them (although, I'd buy some with cherries on them in a heart beat!), so much as roses or flowers. So in my home this is what the kitchen, as well as the bath, towels look like.

Vintage Floral & Fruit Canisters

Can you believe these darling canisters??!! I bought them several years ago and put them on my kitchen soffit and just about forgot about them being up there. They are from the 40s or 50s I believe as it looks similar to some my grandma and mom had as I was growing up then. But they are definitely cute with the flowers and the fruit in that basket. I thought about painting them but I'm not too sure I'd want to do that as I truly love the way they are now. They're metal and the words, basket and vines look painted on and not a decal. The bottom has "The Tin Box Company of America, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y. Made in Hong Kong" printed on it. But the color is what is so unusual about this set. Pink wasn't on very many things back in the 40s and the green is an unusual green. They're a bit rusty inside but not a dent on any of them, some scratches though but they are so cute.

De-Stashing Romantic Victorian Magazines

I've got more magazine than I know what to do with. Some are over 10-15 years old! Sooooo, to the delight of my hubby, I'm selling some on ebay. I don't think any of them are in print any more so that would make them vintage, right?!?!?! :-) Well, probably not, but it definitely makes them interesting. They have gorgeous rose gardens in them and also decorating with roses, actual victorian homes, truly romantic cottages, ways to decorate and lovely shops I would love to visit. In fact, when we go back to California to visit kids in July we'll probably be going to some of these shops! I can't wait. But you wouldn't be disappointed in looking at these magazines. I've only got these 6 on my ebay at the moment but I have many more to put on in the weeks to come........as time allows. Isn't that always the case??? Hah.

Storage Jars

I've stopped throwing jars away! Not because I'm especially environmentalist but because they can serve other purposes and they're FREE! The thought just occurred to me when I was getting ready to throw some out recently and thought, wait a minute; I can do something else with these. So I have been spray painting the lids pink (what else?!?!) and washing the jars, putting a beautiful vintage wallpaper on the fronts and backs and then putting buttons in them. As I empty a jar I'll be doing more of these and deciding what else I can put in them: roses, little do-dads, furbelows and bigelots and maybe even ribbons. Just so handy and actually pretty also and did I mention FREE?!?!

Also, they are eye candy for your craft or sewing room or can be put on shelves for just looking at. I'm soooooooooo into "eye candy"!! :-)