Etsy is a great source for ornaments and you'll not be supporting corporate America but a small, often home-grown business. But you do have to order early.
Hillary House Tour
1 day ago
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Ornaments for the Horse Lover
I love giving horsey Christmas ornaments to my friends. We have a "horsey girls" group and we get together every few months. The common denominator is that we all love horses. At Christmas some years we have a gift giving party. Finding a gift that any of these girls will love can be difficult but you can't go wrong with an ornament. And ornaments are great "little gifts" to give.
Etsy is a great source for ornaments and you'll not be supporting corporate America but a small, often home-grown business. But you do have to order early.
Etsy is a great source for ornaments and you'll not be supporting corporate America but a small, often home-grown business. But you do have to order early.
Plaid Taffeta for the Holidays at Hello Dobson
I love finding small companies that make their products here in the US, which are creative, unique, not one of a kind but almost. Hello Dobson is one I just discovered, just in time for the holidays. Others that come to mind are Middy n Me and Devon Bauer. And there's nothing I adore more than silk taffeta for the holidays! See the collections here. The company is based in St. Louis. Great stuff!
Sunday, November 11, 2018
On Target for the Holidays
Decorating this season on a budget? Just want to be thrifty? Target has some great holiday decorating items but you'd better hurry - these are going like hotcakes and it's not even the 15th of November. Here are some of my favorites......And right now most of this stuff is 25 percent off!
I love these black and white toile reversible placemats. You can use these all winter long. The quality is excellent!
If you prefer more color and some red and green, try these:
The Eucalyptus was not my favorite but it looks good in person. See it here.
I love these black and white toile reversible placemats. You can use these all winter long. The quality is excellent!
Add a few decorative pillows on a front porch bench, a sofa, to add some holiday spice in unexpected places:
There are many to pick from on their web site.
The fake greenery is very good quality and it looks very good in person. They offer several varieties and this stuff is going to sell out. I used to go out and cut greenery from the farm but it's such a fire hazard near a fireplace so I am going all fake this year.
The Eucalyptus was not my favorite but it looks good in person. See it here.
I bought this and it looks better in person. Use two pieces for a mantle to make it fuller. Very good quality for the price. See it here.
And I like this one as well:
(Garland)
And lastly, the plates.......
Love Target this Christmas!
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Birdies Slippers
I discovered these a few months ago and have yet to pull the trigger but suspect I'll own a pair before too long. They look so comfortable!
How cute are these?
Founded in San Francisco, the owners have combined beauty, comfort and whimsy at an affordable price.
These have to be my favorite, of course!
And these will be great for the holidays!
You can shop the site here.
Pretty in Plaid
I'm mad about plaid this fall, for the upcoming holiday season, and it appears there's much to pick from this year.
Love this wool sheath from Brooks Brothers. See it here.
Love this wool sheath from Brooks Brothers. See it here.
They seem to be hitting it on all cylinders this season. Love this dress and look at the back. In all wool too!
This cotton shirt is also a classic hit.
And this cute leather wristlet will make a perfect gift for someone on your list:
These tartan mules will spice up any outfit:
I love this tartan tunic for the holidays:
And if you want a real bargain, try these tartan pumps from Target for $30. Love them!
Marie Antoinette's Jewels at Auction
If you happened to have been the lucky person who won the recent billion dollar Mega Millions Lottery prize then you might want to consider making a trip to Switzerland next week as the jewels of Marie Antoinette are going to auction. It's no coincidence that the jewels are not be auctioned in France so that the owner won't be forced to give special deals to the French government if they happen to want to buy them and return them to Versailles.
Since the end of the French Revolution there haven't been too many signs of the jewels that were once owned by the famous French woman.
There are a pair of earring in the Smithsonian that are believed to have diamonds from her collection. A diamond necklace from Antoinette’s collection appeared at Christie’s in 1971 and hasn’t been seen since. Perhaps the most impressive Marie Antoinette jewel to turn up in public was a blue heart-shape diamond ring sold at the auction house in the early 1980s.
Many of her jewels were dismantled. Remarkably, a few were kept intact and have just surfaced on the market. At Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 14, 2018, the Royal Jewels from the Bourbon-Parma Family sale will include pieces that belonged to Marie-Antoinette. How, you ask, did the jewels survive? Well, according to Sotheby’s:
In March 1791, King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children began to prepare their escape from France. According to accounts written by Marie Antoinette’s lady in waiting, Madame Campan, the queen spent an entire evening in the Tuileries Palace wrapping all of her diamonds, rubies and pearls in cotton and placing them in a wooden chest. In the following days, the jewels were sent to Brussels, which was under the rule of the queen’s sister, Archduchess Marie-Christine and which was home to Count Mercy Argentau. The count, the former Austrian Ambassador to Paris, was one of the only men who had retained the queen’s trust. It was he who took delivery of the jewels and sent them on to Vienna, into the safe keeping of the Austrian Emperor, Marie Antoinette’s nephew.
In 1792, the royal family was imprisoned in the Temple tower. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were executed by guillotine in 1793 and their 10-year old son, Louis XVII, died in captivity. The king and queen’s only surviving child, Marie-Thérèse de France, “Madame Royale”, was released in December 1795, after three years of solitary confinement. After learning of the deaths of her mother and brother, she was sent to Austria. Upon her arrival in Vienna in 1796, she was given her mother’s jewels by her cousin, the emperor. Having borne no children of her own, Madame Royale bequeathed part of her jewelry collection to her niece and adopted daughter, Louise of France, Duchess of Parma and grand-daughter of Charles X, King of France, who in turn left them to her son, Robert I, the last ruling Duke of Parma.
During her time, pearls were more valuable than diamonds, so there are lots of pearls....
Since the end of the French Revolution there haven't been too many signs of the jewels that were once owned by the famous French woman.
There are a pair of earring in the Smithsonian that are believed to have diamonds from her collection. A diamond necklace from Antoinette’s collection appeared at Christie’s in 1971 and hasn’t been seen since. Perhaps the most impressive Marie Antoinette jewel to turn up in public was a blue heart-shape diamond ring sold at the auction house in the early 1980s.
Many of her jewels were dismantled. Remarkably, a few were kept intact and have just surfaced on the market. At Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 14, 2018, the Royal Jewels from the Bourbon-Parma Family sale will include pieces that belonged to Marie-Antoinette. How, you ask, did the jewels survive? Well, according to Sotheby’s:
In March 1791, King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children began to prepare their escape from France. According to accounts written by Marie Antoinette’s lady in waiting, Madame Campan, the queen spent an entire evening in the Tuileries Palace wrapping all of her diamonds, rubies and pearls in cotton and placing them in a wooden chest. In the following days, the jewels were sent to Brussels, which was under the rule of the queen’s sister, Archduchess Marie-Christine and which was home to Count Mercy Argentau. The count, the former Austrian Ambassador to Paris, was one of the only men who had retained the queen’s trust. It was he who took delivery of the jewels and sent them on to Vienna, into the safe keeping of the Austrian Emperor, Marie Antoinette’s nephew.
In 1792, the royal family was imprisoned in the Temple tower. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were executed by guillotine in 1793 and their 10-year old son, Louis XVII, died in captivity. The king and queen’s only surviving child, Marie-Thérèse de France, “Madame Royale”, was released in December 1795, after three years of solitary confinement. After learning of the deaths of her mother and brother, she was sent to Austria. Upon her arrival in Vienna in 1796, she was given her mother’s jewels by her cousin, the emperor. Having borne no children of her own, Madame Royale bequeathed part of her jewelry collection to her niece and adopted daughter, Louise of France, Duchess of Parma and grand-daughter of Charles X, King of France, who in turn left them to her son, Robert I, the last ruling Duke of Parma.
During her time, pearls were more valuable than diamonds, so there are lots of pearls....
Wonder where these will end up?
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