Shabby French Cottage: October 2011

Double Vision

I was very flattered when Patti from Pandora's Box contacted me telling me she had bought the same tree I had, and similarly decorated it with vintage keys! Here are photos of what she did! If anyone else has copy catted me--I'd love to hear from you and maybe even feature your project here! Leave a comment letting me know! Make sure your email is linked to your blogger profile or just leave your email in the comment!

I'll be starting up with Christmas inspiration and projects very soon! I will start decorating for Christmas just as soon as I'm cleaned up from my Halloween party on the 29th! Hopefully I'll get some yummy recipes or something posted in the mean time!!! I've got a very Vintage and French vision for Christmas decor this year. I might even leave the pink tree in the attic! I can't wait to get started!

~Mikey @ Shabby French Cottage

Joey's Cakes and Confections

A friend from High School has started a fantastic bakery--I had to share his wonderful cakes with you! These for sure aren't Cakewrecks!!! In fact, they belong on a Sunday Sweets feature!

This is just a teaser shot, scroll down to see the rest of this and other cakes!

Find Joey on

The detail is beautiful--look at that monogram!

I love the beach cake! I know I'll be pinning lots of these photos to Pinterest!

How about this suitcase?

Or a perfect cake for a vintage themed baby shower! I love that fondant carriage silhouette!

These flowers look real. I love the hat and box. It amazes me what Joey can do with gum paste, sugar, fondant, and icing! I knew he was into culinary arts and such in High School, but had know idea he had this talent.

Okay, ladies--it's time to grab the husbands--for the 'cool' cakes!!!

Imagine showing up to a tale-gate party with this cake!!!

The detail is unbelievable--it looks so real you could wear it!

Go fishing in style with this fantastic cake! Complete with gummi worm bate!

I'm not sure what occasion warranted this cake, but all I can say is blows me away!

And for all the 80's babies out there (most of blogland it seems) An homage to our childhoods!

Lots more goodies coming your way--Christmas will be here before you know it--so will the decorating ideas from me!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. No compensation was received. All photos used by permission of JCC.

WATTson, I presume?

I promised more info on the light bulb arrangement on my coffee table in my last post. . .

I'm hosting a FABULOUS Give-A-Way--check it out here.

I wanted to bring in a touch of industrial chic/steam punk into the decor for Fall.

The parking deck where I work uses (well, used to use, as they are switching over to LED bulbs) these very bright Edison style halogen bulbs--I love the look and shape of them! When they burn out, the maintenance crew has been saving them for me over the past year or so.

I know, burned out light bulbs--what a strange thing to display! But I love the edgy punch they add to the room--plus they reflect the light so well.

The French wire basket is a thrift shop find.

I've got some that are over a foot long! Those are some cool light bulbs--you could roast a side of beef in an Easy Bake Oven with one of those in it!!!

What is the strangest thing you have ever used for a display or vignette in your home or shop? I'd love to hear what you have come up with!!!

I'll be back soon with more goodies to share! The countdown to Christmas is coming--look for lots of Christmas ideas and inspiration starting soon.

~Mikey @ Shabby French Cottage

Simple & Vintage Halloween

I've shared lots of posts on Fall and Halloween decor over the past month or so and wanted to share a few things I tweaked to get a little more Halloween perk out of my existing Fall decor. Oh--if you didn't know,

I'm hosting a FABULOUS Give-A-Way--check it out here.

I pulled in a rather creepy looking bust of Beethoven from another room to add a gloomy look while remaining pale, yet interesting.

For another touch of black, plus the glorious junk chic look I love, I put some rather larger dominoes in a footed apothecary jar and placed it with a pair of vintage seltzer bottles atop a lovely mirrored plateau for good measure.

I used these lovely antique Gothic fence post tops with dried hydrangea and Spanish moss in an arrangement of sorts on an antique English ironstone platter. Pun intended--if you didn't get the pun--"sorts" or more specifically "jetter des sorts" is French for a spell or casting a spell. Just a little French lesson for today.

To go with the creepy, yet pretty look, I added this set of reproduction jailers' keys.

I love how everything looks together. I may still add a table runner or some other layer to this.

I added another touch of Fall with a realistic faux dried sunflower.

The keys from the creamer ended up on this vintage style tree. Though new, I put it on a vintage ironstone compote and added buttons around the base to soften the look.

I put some of the creepy fabric from Michaels on my settee for a Addamsesque look--this is the same type of fabric I used for my mantel garland. I just draped mine to shape--the velvet keeps it in place. You could use straight pins to hold it if you don't have little ones around!

I added some bows made from black netting with faux dried sunflowers in the center, as well as some faux black grey roses to the garland to tie the black accent into that part of the room.

I also mounded a ton of Edison style light bulbs into an antique French wire basket for a centerpiece on the coffee table--more on those later! Lots more coming your way--don't forget about the GIVE-A-WAY!!! More info here!!!

Custom Poster Give-A-Way!!!

This Give-A-Way is now closed. Thank you to all who participated! . . .and we have a WINNER!!! Congratulations to Lori--better known as "La" over at http://amusingpotpourri.blogspot.com/. She won my contest for a customized poster from UPrinting.com! Lori--you will hear from UPrinting.com soon regarding claiming your prize!

What to print??? Do you have a favorite photo you'd like to see poster sized? UPrinting.com contacted me recently wanting to host a give-a-way on my blog! I am very excited to participate with them. As someone very experienced in graphic design and printing, from designing commercial signage, etc. These guys are right up my alley!

Here are some favorite photos of mine I wouldn't mind as a poster:

A few scenes from my kitchen remodel. . .

me at the organ. . .

and this great shot I took of a dragonfly at Maymont.

Click any of the above for a larger view!

UPrinting.com offers poster printing, photo enlargements, and online printing, which is perfect for me--I don't have a printer at home, and this saves me the trip of running to Staples every time I need to print something. With their 1 business day turn around, I don't have to worry about meeting deadlines!

Anyway--on to the Give-A-Way!!! The winner will receive:

One (1) Winner of an 18”x24” Poster Print

Semi gloss OR high gloss

1 business day print turnaround time *Free Shipping

Restriction: Limited to *US residents 18 years old and above only.

3 Ways to enter:

Become a follower of Shabby French Cottage, and leave a comment on this post.
Like Shabby French Cottage on Facebook, and leave a comment on this post.
Like UPrinting on Facebook, and leave a comment on this post.

Do all three and you have 3 chances to win!

You have from now until 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 to enter. I will select the winner via a random drawing at the end of the contest and contact the winner shortly thereafter.

Rules:

Be sure to leave your name and email address or some other form of contact information in your comment if your blogger profile does not link back to your blog, website, or email. Anonymous users must include a valid email address. To prevent spam bots from stealing your email address, please enter it in a format such as dmfuller [at] liberty [dot] edu. If you are uncomfortable posting your email in a comment, you may email me at dmfuller [at] liberty [dot] edu. Winner will be required to provide name and email address to qualify for prized. Incomplete details will disqualify a winner from receiving the prize. Winners are allowed to win only once over a six-month period. I will not share your contact information with anyone for any reason other than providing UPrinting Winner's name and email address so they may contact you in order for winner to claim their prize.

Disclaimer required as per FTC ruling:

This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive a poster for hosting.

Comments on this post have been disabled and hidden because contest is over.

We're off to see the Wizard. . .

I had a very busy weekend--so thankful for a half day at work today! I started off the weekend going to see Cameron Carpenter at the historic Byrd Theatre in Richmond, VA on Friday night--more on this wonderful theatre later this week! Saturday I went to see Wicked!!! I've been trying to go for some time now.

I snapped the photos above at Through the Garden Gate a while back.

Our seats were great--the front row of the balcony--no tall people to block our view!

For those who don't know, Wicked is a musical about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North. It shares the back story of their lives and another point of view of the happenings of The Wizard of Oz. The music is fantastic and has won many awards--I highly recommend it! The Grammy winning album is available on Amazon here:

Anyway, I saw Wicked at the Landmark Theatre, also in Richmond. Below are a few more photos of the beautiful architecture of the building:

Check back Wednesday for some more beautiful Shabby Chic Halloween inspiration and later this week for more information on the Historic Byrd Theatre and Cameron Carpenter.

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