Find your Passion...

I find love and passion in my husband, children, painting, poetry, gardening and the simplicity of everyday life.

I believe you can fall deeply in love 

with your life right where you are at.

Find your passion!

Photos~courtesy of GKR Photography

 I love this quote, it is directed at "romantic love", but I believe you can be passionate in many areas of your life!

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. 

I say, fall head over heels. 

Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. 

How do you find him? 

Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. 

And I'm not hearing any heart. 

Cause the truth is, honey, there's no sense living your life without this. 

To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. 

But you have to try, cause if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. "

~William Parrish~ Meet Joe Black 

 Fall deeply in love with your,

life right where it is at.

Don't be afraid

Jump in feet first!

and if life tries to kick you down...

KICK BACK!

Photo courtesy of Wheelchair Kamikaze

 Find your passion! 

I will be joining

 My Romantic Home

and

Pink Saturday

My darling friend Lorena has a new blog!

Shabby Sweets

Please stop by and say hi!

 Big squishy hugs,

Olivia

Shabby Rose Mosiacs

Hello lovelies!

Recently, I tried my hand at 

working on a couple of mosiac projects.

I used some pretty vintage rose plates.

I used an old patio table that had a badly painted top

BEFORE

I used plates that I already had.

Some were already chipped and some were just "cheap" and had not sold in my flea market booth.

I used an old towel and hammer to break up my plates.

(Don't forget safety googles) 

Then I arranged them in a pretty pattern.

 After I arranged them, I glued every single piece in.

Next, I grouted the whole table.

After grouting, I started wiping the excess off the plate pieces.

This is the tricky part for me, my table dried quickly so, 

I used sandpaper to get the pieces that were already dry but still had excess grout.

This is my first attempt at a large piece.

Although not perfect, I am pleased that I pushed myself to finish!

My first finished piece was a vintage sewing drawer.

I have always wanted to try mosiacs, but I was afraid it was going to be really hard.

 Mosiacs are "work", but turned out to be easier than I expected!

I'm pretty happy with my budding projects...maybe, just maybe, I will attempt some more!

Have a beautiful and blessed week!

Partying with 

White Wedenesday

and 

Show off your Cottage

xo

Olivia

How to create a Secret Garden

Hello lovelies!

This is my darling baby girl creating in her Secret Garden.

My backyard has an interesting landscape, full of cedar trees, lava rock and some flat spots.

It is not in my tiny budget to pour massive amounts of dirt to flatten it out and plant grass.

Long ago, I decided to create with what I had.

I made this tiny spot for my wee one nestled underneath a shady tree.

Materials to create a Secret Garden:
Imagination
Inexpensive table and chair

Pretty Statue
Pickle Jar to fill with fresh or faux flowers
Pea Gravel
Mulch
A Shady Tree
Books and drawing supplies
 

Now, turn on your imagination and find a little relaxing safe spot in your back yard.
Gather your secret garden supplies and your little one if you have one to help with this project.
I found the little girl statue in my neighbors junk pile.

She was broken and Mr. Romantic laughed at me.

I glued her back together with E-6000 glue and stuffed her full of flowers that I could not kill.

I found pea gravel in the abandoned lot across from us and used a bit of mulch to make it pretty.

A pickle jar is a suitable vase for an outside Secret Garden.

Stuff it full of seasonal blooms from your garden or faux flowers.

 Let your little one help you choose where everything should go.
Let them know that this is their secret garden to create in.

Tag sales, thrift stores and junk piles are the perfect place to find goodies for your Secret Garden.
I found the little table on the back dock for free at my favorite resale shop.
An old shabby pillowcase makes it magical.
We also have fairies that visit our secret garden, but you have to use your imagination to see them.
My darling baby girl is graduating from pre-school this year.
It tugs at my heart that there will be a day when a Secret Garden will fade and big girl things will be more interesting....

Happy Mother's Day to all of my beautiful friends!

I will be sharing this with
My Romantic Home
and
Pink Saturday

Big Squishy Hugs,
xo
Olivia

I love to use white paint

I am crazy about painting items white!

White seems to soften everything and give it a heavenly feel.

I painted this ladder, frames and chair for my flea market booth.

I would love to keep everything...but then I would be out of business!

~giggle~
In other news, my Shabby Chic hammock picture was featured on the
Stylist Home at the Huffington Post!

I was so tickled!

I will be joining all of my other white lovers at

White Wednesday.

I hope you are having a beautiful and blessed week!

xo

Olivia

Shabby Chic Dining Room

Hello lovelies! 

This is my sweet shabby chic dining room!

I have been working on streamlining the rooms in my home.

My cottage is about 1,400 square foot.

I am a huge furniture junkie, but due to the limited size of my rooms, 

I must resist the urge to overload my rooms with clunky furniture.

The vintage secretary in the corner is simply darling to display treasures in and it also works great for laptop storage and cords!

Ruffles are super popular this season...

my budget is TINY, so I used a $1 curtain panel to create a ruffled tablecloth look.

A Shabby cake stand and pitcher of flowers will always grace my table.

The back of my cabinet is painted pink.

I used plain white inexpensive plates to line the back of the cabinet and accent 

my pretty rose dishes.

My chandelier was a $5 junky brass one that I found at a tag sale.

I spray painted it a cottage white and added crystals.

Mirrors and lighting are my favorite ways to dress up my cottage!

 Lot's of fun playing around in my dining room!

Thank you ever so much for stopping by!

I read and treasure all of your comments!

 I will be joining 

My Romantic Home 

and 

Pink Saturday

Big squishy hugs,

xo

Olivia

Deelish Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Hello lovelies!

In an effort to adopt a healthier whole foods diet, I have been eating whole oat oatmeal for breakfast.

Over the weekend, I decided to try out the vanishing Oatmeal Cookie recipe on my oatmeal box.

My family LOVES cookies and I thought this would be a great way to have a "healthy treat"!

This is the recipe I used and I they turned out perfect!

Recipe

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1  cup raisins

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time Time: 08 min

Variations

Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 24 BARS. VARIATIONS: Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Substitute 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate pieces for raisins; omit cinnamon. Substitute 1 cup diced dried mixed fruit. HIGH ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed.

Yield

4 DOZEN

Even my pickiest eaters loved these cookies! 

This recipe makes alot, in two days these cookies had "vanished".

As I transform my cabinets I hope to use whole wheat flour in the next batch.

Thank you for stopping by!

xo

Olivia