Be Inspired #176

Hi Everyone and Welcome to 

Be Inspired

Do you have big plans for Valentine's Day?

How fun to have it land on a Friday, for all of you "date night" peeps. We eat out several times over the weekend, so I imagine we'll do our regular Friday Night, "Movie Night" with some take out Indian Food. Movie Night consists of a Netflix choice and after dinner a large gray cat camping out on my lap for the duration. Miss Wrigley prefers something quiet and romantic, as she hates car chases and loud explosions. However you spend your evening, just let it be with the ones you love!

OK, on to the party. 

Let's check out some of the wonderful links from last week:

The always amazingly creative, Julia, from Vintage With Laces

made this wonderful Junky LOVE Sign

Leave a love note for your sweetie, with these Mini Love Letters

from Kerryanne at Shabby Art Boutique

This Secretary ReDeux started out needing all kinds of help.

The perfect challenge for Karen from Redoux Interiors.

How wonderful are these Personalized Grain Sack Cards?

from Lori at Marvin's Daughters

I'm hoping she'll do special orders!

Laurie from Heaven's Walk found that her fabric stash was taking over her studio.

So she created this Vintage Blue Cabinet, which looks like a real vintage piece.

These are a great project; DIY Column Pedestals 

from Poppy at With a Dash of Color.

Need a special Valentine breakfast? 

Whip up a batch of these yummy Scones and Jam 

from Jeanette at Creating a Life

thanks gals for sharing the inspiration!

Party Guidelines

Please have an individual link back to Common Ground within your post. I'd love to feature you. This is just part of the Party Etiquette.

Please remember to turn off word verification. I've tried leaving comments that didn't go through. I'm sure others have tried also.

Please no direct links to Etsy or Advertising.

Link up to three of your current posts.

Take a minute to visit a few of the other links.

Please be a follower of Common Ground.

Thank you to all of you who come over each week to link up to the party, I may not get to leave a comment, but I try to visit each of your posts. You are a never ending source of inspiration to me and others, so just know how much I appreciate each one of you!

thanks so much for joining in

and making this party so much fun!

xoxo,

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Today's Sponsor

French Bleu Vintage

A little gray on the dresser...

Well, I persuaded Hubbs to move around my boxes and tubs in the storage area at the old house, in hopes of finding my two tubs of Valentine things. When we moved to the smaller house I brought very little "decor" stuff with me, just the basics. So after wading through the Fall and Christmas (there's a ton of it) I gratefully spied the pink and red, and tried to get out of there as soon as possible. If I keep him in the storage room too long it turns into a disagreement. I know... I know ...I'm workin' on organization!

The Entry here isn't large, but it's big enough for my little dresser, a mirror, and a few things that are holiday and seasonal on top. 

I tried not to overdo it, just keep it sweet and simple. 

Little Lefton Cupid Box

My handmade pottery Valentine

Here's a better shot of the entry before Valentine's jumped on it. If you look closely you can see the dresser is a little different color. Actually, the night before we moved I grabbed my can of taupe bedroom wall paint and decided to give it a little gray/taupe wash. I've mentioned that my "antique white" furniture looks really yucky here at this smaller house...just plain 'ol dirty.

So, I just painted some of the taupe/gray on

 and then wiped it down with a wet cloth,  taking most of it off.

The next morning Hubby said, "what did you do to this little dresser?"

I said that it would match the new sofas better with this gray wash,

and I was surprised when he approved and thought it did look better.

So now it blends with the new/old cedar chest and the little accent table. I imagine that this is where most of my "Old White" furniture from the old living room is headed; it will need a wash of gray to work with these sofas. This only took me about half an hour, so that thought isn't too intimidating.

None of those pieces are here at the smaller house. One thing at a time, and this last weekend we packed up all the china and antique dishes from the Dining Room. Gosh, what a big job that was. I'm still not finished, because we ran out of foam and bubble wrap, but we're making some progress and that's what we need to see. The new granite countertops go in to the old house this week. Can't wait to see it!

Wish we'd made the decision to put on granite while we still lived there. (It should have had it when we bought the house, but the previous owners cut corners in the kitchen) But you know how things go, don't want to deal with the mess, or spend the money. Thinking of selling the house has caused us to realize there were some things that just needed to be updated. So now, someone else will benefit from all the work we're doing. I'm OK with it though, I'm letting things go, and realizing that it's not "home" anymore. We're looking forward to the future.

Joining in on these parties this week:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Inspiration Exchange at City Farmhouse

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's

Grey Day at Petite Michelle Louise

Simple and Sweet at Rooted in Thyme

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

The Scoop at Stone Gable

Knick of Time Tuesday

xoxo,

Today's Sponsor

Sweet Harvest Farms

The Marketplace: Etsy and Boutique Showcase

Hi Everyone, Happy Monday and Welcome to 

The Marketplace

Hope you had a great weekend, ours was just the start of many, dedicated to packing and cleaning up the other place. We're "in the groove" and it feels good to be making some progress. When I sat down to choose some links from last week's party, I could hardly stop! There are so many fun Valentine themed goods, as I'm sure there will be today. So, here are a few for you to check out:

Vintage Poppytrail Set of Plates

Gizmo and HooHa

Valentine Candy Cone

Laura Ingalls Gunn

Valentine Clothespin Doll

Cotton Candy Dolls

Vintage Heart Cookie Cutter Set

Mission Jewels

Vintage White Doily Heart

Seaside Rose Creations

Wedgewood Valentine's Day Cherub Plate

Nancy's Daily Dish

Hand Painted Metal Heart

Villabarnes

thanks everyone!

And here's today's Marketplace Sponsor

Sweet Magnolias Farm

 Party Link Guidelines:

This is a linky party that is for items that are FOR SALE only. You don't have to have a blog to link up. If you have a blog post about your items that's great too, but they need to be available to purchase. Please try to link to the individual item that you are selling if possible. Please be a follower of Common Ground and if you have a blog it would be so nice for you to grab the image below to share somewhere on your blog. (not mandatory, just nice). Remember the link is up all week, so please stop back by to check out new items being listed.

Have a great week,

Be Inspired #126: Celebrating Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm sending you a little note today

 just to let you all know how much you are loved and appreciated.

In keeping with the day,

 I wanted to highlight some of the links that shared a romantic,

 sweet, and loving theme. 

I "fell in love" with this wonderful vintage window

 and Valentine's Day Mantel from Bella's Rose Cottage.

This sweet lace confection started out as a felted cuff bracelet,

 but after some contemplation, became a romantic

Needle Case from Kadee Willow.

Jamie from Better With Age
created this fun Valentine-y Heart Banner,
and just look who made a cameo appearance!

Jeanette from Creating a Life encouraged her kiddos to

express their feelings and creativity with this

Valentine Love Note Station

Marissa from Becoming Kindred, with her girls, created a 

Woodland Valentine Mantel in their Dining Room.

LOVE that moss heart!

I just had to share this precious image of one of the latest creations

 from our talented friend Rosemary, from Villa Barnes,

Birdie Crowns

...can it get any cuter?

I've heard that it takes months to perfect 

these yummy looking Chocolate Macaroons.

Jennifer from Town and Country Living

shares the scoop on her first batch.

My mouth is watering just looking at these...

And Hey...

Have you entered the

Give Away with EpicLinen?

just click here

EpicLinen is a young company from Provence 

where you will find clothing accessories, 

and lovely linens for your home.

And while you're in the party mood today,

please visit my other Friday Party Pals:

Hope you'll join in for the party today,

Come link up your inspiring posts, vintage or new.

Please have a link within your post to be featured.

Lots of Valentine Hugs and Kisses,