A Special Guest and a Winner!

Good morning!  I am super excited to introduce a very special guest today!  Cheryl from Fresh Vanilla for C is here guest-posting all the way from southern California!  If you have not already visited her lovely blog please do so!  You will be intrigued by the mixture of dreamy blues and whites with delightful vintage treasures tucked here and there.  And she is sweet to boot!  We live on opposite ends of the country from one another and have never formally met, but through this blogging experience she has become my friend!

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Hi Everyone~

I am so excited to be guest posting here at Rusty Hinge. Maria and I started this blogging journey around the same time and her blog has become so... beautiful and one of my favorite reads. You can only imagine how thrilled I was when she asked ME to be a guest on HER blog.  Of course I would love to, what an honor. So...here I am.

I am not really a person who makes New Year's Resolutions, but this year I did decide to make a change. Like many of you ( at least I think many of you), I like to buy things just to buy things. This is not only with house decor, but clothes too. So, I have decided to Love and Live With What I Already Have!! I have so many great things in my house, but sometimes I think you need to rearrange to make them feel fresh and new. This is my plan.

I am going to share with you some of my favorites that I will be rearranging here and there. Love my ironstone and it is fun to make new vignettes from time to time.

Use jars and fill with flowers (fresh or dried). I happen to love dried flowers so I find new places for them all the time. I have a lot of rose bushes so I dry the roses throughout the year.

I have a lot of blue and white dishes which I have been moving all around. I absolutely LOVE them, but I was feeling like some of them were getting " Lost" where they were before.

Use flowers from the garden to put around the house. This picture is from the summer. No roses right now, but we do have tons of......

CAMELLIAS! 

These are sitting in one of my recycled Lorina Lemonade bottles. I love to use glass bottles as vases. They are interesting and you are using what you already have.

I have a bunch of old books that I have collected and they are really easy to move around and create a whole new look because of all their different colors and sizes.

I also collect blue and white textiles. Whether it is grain sacks or tea towels, I feel like there are always new uses for them. I like them stacked, hanging, in bowls, as table runners, the possibilities are endless. I think the different hues and textures of each one adds to the depth and interest.

These are some of my dried hydrangeas. I am lucky to have an abundance of them thanks to my mom and all her hydrangea bushes. I have put these in an old bucket. They also look great in vintage baskets.

These feathered angel wings are actually a Christmas ornament that I bought this year. I just couldn't put them away with all the Christmas decor so they are now hanging up on an old picture frame in my dining room.

I am not saying that I will never buy anything new ( not realistic), but before I do, I am really going to think about what it is I already have. I really do love what I already have.

I have really enjoyed my time here at Rusty Hinge. Thank you again to Maria for inviting me over. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day~

~ Cheryl

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Thank you very much, Cheryl!  It has been such a pleasure having you!

On another note, we have a winner of the vintage monogram tea towel!  Congratulations Sheila!  Sheila entered a delicious recipe for Cowboy Caviar in The Mountains be Moved Cookbook.  Thank you very much, Sheila!  Can't wait to try it!  Please inbox me your information and I will get your vintage towel right out to you!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone who took the time to donate a recipe to our cookbook.    We have accumulated over 340 recipes from all over the world and can't wait to get it printed.  I am blown away by your kindness and participation in our little project.  We will be selling these cookbooks soon in the shop (they will be priced at a minimum donation of $20), but if you would like to reserve your copy please drop me an email.  It is uncertain whether more can be printed once they are gone and we want to make sure we order enough.  All proceeds will go directly to help Alexandra and her volunteer work in Tanzania.  Also I know the giveaway is over, but there is still time to donate more of your favorite recipes for the cookbook.  The deadline to enter all recipes is Thursday, February 21 - only 10 days away!


It is very easy to enter your favorite recipe, simply go to cookbookfundraiser.com.


Under contributor:  Type your name.

Under email:  Type your email.

Under username:  Type matthewseventeentwenty

 Under password:  Type goodfood


Next click on the link Add a New Recipe, and type away.  Feel free to add as many recipes as you like!



 Thank you so much again!  I assured Alexandra that you wouldn't let her down with this project, and I was right!  You have all done so much.  Thank you, THANK YOU again!




Maria ~Rusty Hinge