~Giveaway~~~

****giveaway****

**"Vintage Charm" necklace**

Giveaway started yesterday April 28th and will end on May 8th.

1.Please let me know if you would like to be entered in the giveaway and 2.if your a follower.

3.Also post about my giveaway or add it to your sidebar and you can have 3 chances to win.

This design is made with all vintage Miriam Haskell pearls, a vintage enamel watch face, vintage turquoise rhinestone and a vintage watch bezel.

Good Luck!!

*****If you've already entered on the previous post, HERE, no worries, your entries will be counted!!

Have a beautiful day!

Sincerely,

~Melinda

Randomness, A New Design, And A Giveaway~~~~

~New Design
"Blue Royal" Necklace with double sided soldered glass pendant~
{All ready for the Royal Wedding! :)}
I'll be up all night for this event, how about you?


Now for the giveaway****

"Vintage Charm" necklace giveaway starts today and will end on May 8th.
1.Please let me know if you would like to be entered in the giveaway and 2.if your a follower.
3.Also post about my giveaway or add it to your sidebar and you can have 3 chances to win.
This design is made with all vintage Miriam Haskell pearls, a vintage enamel watch face, vintage turquoise rhinestone and a vintage watch bezel.

Good Luck!!

I'm linking up today with Tricia from "A Rosy Note" for Photo Feature Friday!
Please join her for the fun!

I'm also joining the lovely Debra at "Common Ground" for Vintage Inspiration Friday.

Sincerely,
~Melinda

~The Beauty Of A Flower & My Room~

I spent the end of last week painting my bedroom which explains the sore arms and stiff back! When did I become so old? :) 
I love this color, it's slate from Restoration Hardware. I like how it adds a more dramatic touch to the room and turned out to be the perfect backdrop for my windows!
Now my older son wants me to repaint his room this color, I need to rest first!
Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and have a lovely week!

 Sincerely,

~Melinda

~Vintage Paper... How Much Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways~~

Hello my sweets, hope your having a lovely week!

I stopped by an antique barn today and found a couple of things I adore, vintage books/paper and vintage skeleton keys. I love going to this place because it actually still has vintage items at an affordable price.

Anyway, here are my spoils...

Gorgeous and HUGE vintage William Shakespeare book of his complete dramatical works. This book is absolutely scrumptious! It's dated 1882, but I'm not sure if that's the publication date or what, but it's pretty old.

It came with 2 other wonderful vintage books that are just as yummy!

 {Just a quick note, these ranunculas were not picked from a nearby park, I actually purchased these from.... you guessed it, Trader Joe's}

I also picked up these fabulous vintage skeleton keys all in their rusty goodness.

I got this beautiful French lithograph years ago at a flea market. It's called "La Petite Logel" by Moreau Ce Jeune. I just love the colors.

This was actually the first time in a long time I didn't edit any of my photos, it was nice not to have to spend all day editing!! 
{All taken photos by me!!}

I'm linking up with the lovely Tricia from "A Rosy Note"for photo Friday #2. Please join us!

Have a wonderful afternoon.

Sincerely,

Melinda

~~The Rose Thief~~

When you see the photos below, you may say to yourself, "Wow, those roses are so beautiful, I wonder where she got them, Trader Joe's perhaps? I know how much she loves Trader Joe's flowers!" 

But I must admit that, no, I did not get them from Trader Joe's, I got them somewhere else, a park perhaps? Yes, I am a rose thief! I took the kids to the park this afternoon and as I was watching the boys, a lovely cool breeze started to blow and with that breeze came the smell of glorious roses. I looked over, and surrounding a huge tree were hundreds of beautiful white roses. They were calling to me on the breeze so I went over just for a closer look... and grabbed my son's backpack and stuffed it full!  I know it was wrong, but can you blame me? In reality, I actually helped the plant by pruning some of those roses! Really, I did! That's what I would have told the rose police if I had happened to be stopped! But luckily, they arrived safely home with me along with lots of ants, aphids, and 1 baby snail, in which my son wanted to keep. NO WAY! Outside he went.

So without further ade'u, here they are.....

Well, what do you think? Pretty huh?

I'm also joining Tricia from "A Rosy Note"for photo feature Friday.
Check out all of the other fabulous participants! 

Have a great weekend all!

Sincerely,

~Melinda

~French Larkspur Feature Now Posted~

Hey sweetie pies, just a quick note to let you all know that the"French Larkspur"feature is now posted. Check out all of the mouth watering photos by Tracey from French Larkspur over at"The Vintage Inspired Home".

Enjoy!!

~~"French Larkspur" Feature At "The Vintage Inspired Home" Tomorrow~~

Hey all, just wanted to give you a heads up that "The Vintage Inspired Home" will be posting its feature with Tracey from "French Larkspur" tomorrow, so please check it out, I know you'll all love it!

This has inspired me to re-do my house. I'm sure hubby won't be too happy to hear this. I've already told him we need to paint the entire house after seeing Tracey's walls. 

Thanks to everyone who left a message on my "bullying" post. Your support has been such a tremendous help!

Thank you!

 "The Vintage Inspired Home"

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Melinda

~~~~~~

Okay, so this is an angry post!!! If you are a mother, than you know exactly how I'm feeling right now. My sweet, loving 1st grader, yes, 1ST GRADE, is being bullied at school and I HAVE HAD IT!!!! The bullies have been talked to and the teacher has also spoken to their parents as well. We thought it had stopped, but apparently not. My husband went on a field trip today with my son and overheard the bullies call my son the same horrible names they got in trouble over before. I can't believe that they have the nerve to do it in front of parents!! What is wrong with our world where people and children, feel the need and feel that it's okay to say hurtful or do horrible things to others? Obviously the parents are not doing their job!!! Teach your children what's right, teach them that it ruins lives when you bully! Yes, I know they only called him names, but where does it end, when they beat my son up? Because if this isn't taken care of and stopped when they are children, it will continue to escalate! Let's STOP THIS NOW!!!!  I will not allow my son to be a victim!!

Thanks for listening.

~Fresh Room~

Happy Sunday all. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

I freshened up my bedroom and thought I would show you a couple of photos. Hope you enjoy.

I finally moved the vintage green door out and replaced it with my 1948 dress form and vintage mirror and bench. It looks so fresh and simple now.

I'm sorry if I've been a bad blogger lately, things have been extremely difficult here lately. Do you ever feel like your faith is being tested? That's how I'm feeling lately. Thank you to all of my faithful and sweet friends, all of your kindness means the world to me!
Have a lovely evening.
Sincerely,
~Melinda

~88 Bella Vintage~

Just a quick note to say that

I added a few new vintage pieces to my vintage shop, 88BellaVintage:

~Vintage Linens~

All freshly laundered in Mrs. Meyer's lavender laundry soap.

Smells wonderful!!

Also, all orders now through April 17th include free shipping in my Alabaster Rose Designs Etsy shop.

Have a great afternoon.

Sincerely,

~Melinda

~Happy Birthday To My First Love~

Today is my first love's birthday! 7 years ago today at 1:17 pm my first was born. This child as well as my second are truly miracles! I wasn't expected to be able to have children. My husband and I tried for 10 years before I was able to get pregnant. So I am so thankful for my boys!

Happy Birthday Peanut, we love you with all our hearts!!!

Excuse the hand in the photo, Nana was trying to fix his hair because she thinks their hair is "way too long"!

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Melinda

**Spring Vignettes**

Hi all, I hope your having a lovely week! It started out warm and sunny here this week and now it's dark, chilly, and rainy. It can't quite make up its mind. Thanks to all who left comments and well wishes on my last post, I really appreciate it! The car's finally fixed, so all of your good thoughts definitely helped.

Here's a few more vignettes from around the house. 

 

I have 2 of these little hummingbird nests that my son found for me years ago on the ground. How amazing is it that a little creature with no hands, only little claws and a beak, can construct something this wonderful! It's truly a miracle!!

 A small view of some changes I did around the house. I can't show you the entire view just yet, hopefully it will be included in a surprise in the next few months.

Some favorite things!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. I'm joining up with Debra from "Common Ground" for her Vintage Inspiration Friday's. Stop by and enjoy all of the other inspirational posts!

Sincerely,

~Melinda

~What were you up to this weekend?~

Well, here we are at the closing of another weekend, and I have to say I am so happy it's over. Our car broke down twice this week and after fixing what we thought was just a dead battery, we found out it was much more, so it will finally be off to the mechanic tomorrow to hopefully be fixed. We only have 1 car between my husband and I, so needless to say this has been quite difficult. My poor husband has had to find rides to and from work and can I just say what has happened to wanting to help others out in their time of need? What is our world coming to when all we care about is our selves? It makes me really quite sad, especially when you can't even depend on your own family. But that's another story and I don't want to get into those angry and resentful feelings!

Think about it...Who can you depend on in your time of need?

Anyway, I painted my dining table and chairs this weekend and it looks so lovely and fresh. Just thought I would post a few pics.

{Vignettes from my hutch}

I wish you all a wonderfully blissful week!

Sincerely,

~Melinda

~Vintage Charm~

"Vintage Charm" Necklace

Now available in my Etsy shoppe.

 

~Designed with vintage watch findings~

 Don't forget to check out the upcoming feature on Tracey from "French Larkspur" coming soon to "The Vintage Inspired Home".

Have a lovely Sunday.

Sincerely,

~Melinda