Going to the Chapel..........

An impromptu stop at Goodwill after Church today, yielded these adorable vintage bridal dolls! When I spotted them on the shelf, I couldn't get them into my cart fast enough! :) They are Knickerbocker, and came with their stands (blue for boys, pink for girls!)

The groom looks a little nervous as he awaits his bride.......

She appears, and she is beautiful, as he knew she would be..........

Always a bridesmaid.......

But look at her pretty bouqet!

Best Wishes to the Happy Couple!!

Note: I am happy you all enjoyed meeting Dottie (see previous post) ~ I certainly enjoyed all your comments!! We have had so much fun with her, and yes, she has caught me off guard a time or two ....... once Brad put her in my vehicle's passenger seat, unbeknownst to me, and I was quite startled, to say the least! LOL! And some of you think she looks like Boy George? That's kind of a scary thought! :) I'll have to do a side-by-side photo comparison!

You will be seeing more of Dottie in the future -- you never know what that girl is going to get into next!

Hello, Dottie!!

I would like to introduce you all to Dottie. She belongs to Brad. Doesn't every 17 yr. old boy have a personal mannequin that rides around in his car?

Here is how Dottie came to be with us.

You all know we are avid Goodwill shoppers. One day, there she was, by the side window in Goodwill. Brad instantly decided to *purchase* Dottie (shhhh! she prefers to think of it as he "chose" her ;)

The only problem was that her clothing wasn't included. And Brad didn't like the clothing she had on. So off came the clothes. Which would be bad enough in itself, except remember that Dottie was BY the window. Which is right by the HIGHWAY. Poor Dottie. Fortunately for her, we were in a store that sells cheap used clothing. Brad decided to find her the ugliest dress there was (in his teenage opinion). So he found this yellow polka-dot number. And that is how she got her name. DOTtie. Finding a lovely hat as the finishing accessory, we dressed Dottie in her new finery....

Then we had to fit her in the car, which was quite the challenge, considering Dottie is permanently and only in a SEATED position. Which is great for riding in the car, but not so great for getting IN the car. We pushed and prodded, pulled and pleaded, and Dottie was settled in for the ride home.
Here she is:

Dottie always buckles up for safety!

We left the window open so Dottie could enjoy the scenery (and so that others could enjoy Dottie, which they certainly did ~ she is quite the attention-getter!)

While Brad was away, Dottie and I became better acquainted, enjoying a lovely spot of tea.

Her favorite thing to do, however, is "Chillin' With Brad". Yo.

Chandelier Makeover *After*

Small Photo Above *Before* -- not too pretty, is it?

But then I painted it creamy white, added pretty prisms, and now it's in our dining room!

And I'm lovin' it!!

:)

Here's a lamp I picked up at the same auction...... now available in my shoppe! I love prisms!

www.ofbluebirdsandroses.com

Today, I'm in the mood to look at some pretty pictures, so that's what I'm going to post. Some of them may be repeats, but these are some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy them too!

Lovely Fabrics from Niki

I was blessed to win this lovely giveaway from Niki of Nostalgia at the Stone House (link on the right of my blog). She included lots of pretty & unusual fabric *scraps* for me, all tied up with lace and vintage pink millinery roses! She also included the sweetest little vintage Christmas card and a card of old buttons!




Here are a couple of closeups of just some of the fabrics she included! Oh, what pretty pinks and blues in this photo!

Look at this sweet little kitty fabric!! The little kittens are clinging to pussy willows! Isn't it the cutest?!

Thank you, Niki, I will have fun creating with all these pretty pieces of fabric!!

Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign.....

Whatever my latest *thing* is, I always get really into it, and that's the way I am with painting signs right now. A couple of years ago, it was shabby rose Christmas stockings. I just kept making them! Who knows what it will be next! Are you like that too?

Here's my latest sign ~ available in my shoppe ~ http://www.ofbluebirdsandroses.com/

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

Pretty Pictures

It's time for some pretties!

Look at this beautiful lamp I found at Goodwill yesterday! It is a vintage hand-painted lamp! It's so pretty and delicate!

I also found the little jam pot, some miscellaneous little dishes, GORGEOUS angel pedestal, and then I included pics of some plates/bowls that I couldn't remember if I'd shared yet.

We've had a fun diversion with the guys, but now it's back to decorating for me!

:)

Hello, Friends! It looks like our boys will have to find their own transportation if they want to go to the Big Apple....

I wish I had a winning headline today, but unfortunately, we did not win. CBS said it was the closest vote ever in their three years of doing Living Room Live. The winner had 36% of the vote, so we couldn't have been too far behind!

We did find out that the winner is a radio DJ who has produced eight of his own CDs, one of which features the song he performed for the competition. He has had his songs played on over 250 radio stations.

So, the fact that we were able to almost knock out someone with that much exposure and following, really speaks to how much your support and voting helped. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate your taking the time to vote for our boys!

We also think it speaks to the talent of our guys. We are so incredibly proud of these young men. Whenever they play a *gig* (dig my music lingo! ;) we get comments from the sound guys, sponsors, etc., about how polite and well mannered our boys are. For that, we are thankful. We are very blessed.

Thank you all sooooooooooooo much!!

The voting is over for this round! Tomorrow morning on the Early Show, they will announce who the winner is. We are hoping to hear them say "Midnight Son"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If so, then Monday they will be in the semi-finals!!!!!!!!!

I am very touched by all of you who took time out of your busy days to vote, to watch the video, and/or to make kind comments to me about how much you enjoyed listening to our boys! I am very proud of the boys, and it is so nice to hear your positive words about them!

Thank you again; I cannot express enough how much I appreciate you all!

Hopefully, I will be posting some decor-type pictures over the next few days. I pretty much stayed up all night voting, so this thank-you made out of a picture of one of my signs will have to do for now..........

Link for voting:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml

And here's a link to their video, which is a little longer than the few seconds that was shown on air...... this is on the official CBS site as well:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3026472n

Thanks; I'm voting my little fingers off! See you later!

:)

A FRIENDLY REMINDER

Tomorrow's the big day! Watch the Early Show between 7 & 9 to see Brad perform with his band, and then go online to vote - Vote - VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please vote as often as you can -- it means so much to these boys (and therefore to me! :)

Thank You for taking the time to help support them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We appreciate each and every one of you for helping them out!

Salts and Signs

I have a small collection of vintage salt shakers. I rarely find the S&P set, usually just one shaker. I think they are pretty ~ here are my three latest acquisitions.

Also, I decided to paint a slate sign for by our front door, and this is the result. (I've replaced our house numbers with computer-generated ones -- I'd like to say it's just for privacy's sake, but it's also because mine came out a little crooked! ;)

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

We're So Excited, We're Flying!!!!

I love this picture of Brad and the drummer Brian, flying through the sky in a shopping cart. It looks fun and young and happy! And that's just what they are, too! Especially hearing about all your support for the upcoming CBS contest!

Here's the voting info:

You'll be able to start voting at 9 am Monday, after the airing of their video on the Early Show.
Here's what you do:

1-Go to http://www.cbsnews.com/

2-Click on the Early Show Tab

3-On the Early Show page will be a ballot on the left, saying "Living Room Live! Battle of the Bands." Vote for MIDNIGHT SON and Submit!

Very easy!

Voting lasts through Wednesday at noon, and you can vote AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE!!

Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!

Mary's Gift

Today, I was delighted to receive the Victoria book that I had won from Mary B's blog....

http://mymothersdaughter-maryb.blogspot.com/

Mary surprised me by not only sending the lovely book, but several other pretties as well....

Lovely embroidered pieces ~ pink of course ~ a pink crocheted doily ~

oh, and look at these adorable little bird candleholders! She sent me two pairs, and everything was sweetly wrapped ~ the book was wrapped in this pretty pink rose drawer liner ~ it was all tied up in pretty velvet and sheer pink ribbons! Mary surely knows how to wrap a package!

Thank you so very much, Mary!!

And, of course, I have to show a pic of our guys performing at our little town's 4th of July festival last night. They were able to announce to the hometown crowd about their upcoming television debut! :) That's Brad on the right.
By the way, thanks so much for your very kind response about our big news. We appreciate your sharing in our excitement! More information about voting will be in tomorrow's post!

BIG NEWS!!

That's my son Brad on the left. You've seen him on my blog from time to time........

This is him with the other members of his band, Midnight Son.

They are going to have their tape played on the CBS EARLY SHOW Monday morning, July 9th!

This is the *big time* for these three 17 yr. olds. They play kind of bluesy-rock, very refreshing!

I would like to ask a favor of all my blog readers, to watch if possible and VOTE for our boys.

They are really good kids. If they win, they get to go to New York and play live on the show. That would be a huge break for them.

Thanks so much for reading this shameless plug for my son! LOL! You all are the best!

(I'll post more reminders as it gets closer)