welcome....

Get ready ladies {and gents}, I am going to talk about something really profound today....

PILLOWS!

Have you heard of One Kings Lane?

Well, One Kings Lane is a online retailer of fine home decor,

accessories, art and even furniture......

They offer daily "specials"to registered users - basically an

email arrives in your inbox daily - you may choose to look or choose to delete.

For a long time, I was prone to delete but on a recent summer day,

the email caught my attention when it featured 

Alexandra Ferguson pillows.

Well, 'cause, One Kings Lane had me at 'pillow'....

I snatched up this little one to place on the bench I purchased at the Farm Chicks Show!

Alexandra Ferguson has a website here and even an Etsy store!

I love the snarky, whimsical messages.....like this one below!

The winner of the Junk Bonanza giveaway is Angela!

Please email me at jillbeth@aol.com with your address so I can

get you your Junk Bonanza swag!

Happy Monday!

Giveaway!

Happy Saturday!

I think you all know I am a BIG fan of the Junk Bonanza - really the best flea market/vintage sale in the midwest.  Ki Nassauer puts on a wonderful show that brings together the best vendors for a great three day event!  I was fortunate to be involved with this event the last two years and am disappointed that I will not be there this year - traveling back to the midwest this fall is just not in cards for me - boo!

However, that doesn't mean YOU can't go!  Ki has generously allowed me to giveaway an awesome Junk Bonanza package to one lucky Forever*Cottage reader!

The giveaway includes: 

* 2 VIP tickets, which allow for admission all three days of the event, including the Early Bird on opening day, two hours before the show opens to the general public.

* A Junk Bonanza tote

* A Junk hat from the Junk Revolution store

and

* A copy of the latest Flea Market Style magazine, rolling off the press around the end of August!

The annual Junk Bonanza brings together more than 130 juried vendors of select vintage treasures, junk and antiques! This year's event, Sept. 15-17, returns to Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. 


To enter this giveaway, please leave me a comment telling me about something fun you are doing this weekend.....cause I am nosy that way!  I will choose a winner on Monday, so come on back!

Little things......like a giveaway!

Some little {and not so little} things:

* I got this sign at the beginning of the summer and it sits on a 

shelf in my kitchen next to my sink.  I have taken

it's message to heart this summer and I am grateful....

My blog posts have been sporadic at best, I apologize,

for I was off enjoying the little things this summer -

bliss!

* I have been keeping a secret...... My Minnesota

Forever*Cottage along with a story about my collections

will be featured in the upcoming fall issue of  Flea Market Style magazine!

I can't wait for you all to see it......the magazine should be out 

on in stores very soon - yippee!  I will share the details

of this dream come true experience in an upcoming post.

* Come back on Saturday for a great Junk Bonanza giveaway.....

it's gonna be good!

What sign do you have hanging in your cottage to remind you 

of what's important in life?

Why I love blogging....with kitchen photos....

Prior to moving into our new 'cottage' we did a fair amount of "tweaking"....

I use the very technical term "tweaking" because what we did not involve any sort of gutting 

of nor construction in the spaces we made changes.  Rather our "tweaking" required lots

of paint, gallons and gallons of paint, stain for the floors and new carpet for the upstairs.

By far, the biggest tweak was painting our kitchen cabinets Benjamin Moore's

White Dove.  

And because I am a blogger and a lover of all things vintage, I wrangled with

ideas to make my 7 years young kitchen into the vintage kitchen

of my dreams!

Turns out,  I found kitchen inspiration when visiting my friend and beautiful blogger

Suzanne of Privet & Holly at her home in Minnesota just prior to our move.

Suzanne has a wonderful butler's pantry with plate racks and the kind of open

shelving I knew I could incorporate into my new/vintage kitchen.

My Suzanne-inspired open shelf!

I snapped a photo of Suzanne's butler's pantry shelf with my iPhone and

sent it to my contractor, who already thought I was a bit kooky in the head after

suggesting removing this bank of cabinets altogether and replacing them with open shelving.

{oh, and for the record - I am NOT crazy about the grandma-like corner shelves!}

In the end, we removed the cabinet doors, backed the interior with bead board 

and added the plate racks to the bottom.  For now, the holes for adjusting

the shelves remain but after I decide EXACTLY where

they will stay, I will fill in the holes.

My contractor charged me $200 to customize this cabinet.  I am

thrilled with the results!  Plates are easy and accessible both for use

and to put away after the dishwasher has run (which sits just 

below this cabinet).

Yesterday, Suzanne visited me at our new 'cottage'!  Here we are in a photo

taken in front of my Suzanne-inspired kitchen cabinet!

And while I appreciate blogging for the inspiration I find in the

beautiful images posted daily.......

Blogging ROCKS for the beautiful people it has brought into my life!

Markdowns taken!

You all drive a hard bargain.....I marked down everything left unsold in my tag sale!

Go check it out HERE!

Tag Sale!!!

Well friends, it's that time again.....

You know the time.....when Miss "I never met a pillow cover I

didn't like" cleans out her stash and offers it up to

all of you who generously take it off my hands....

Then I swear I will be more careful with my purchases.....

only to find myself thinking a few short months later.....

"I should really do another tag sale on my blog!"....

It's a sickness, I tell ya!

For now, I am blaming the move and the new cottage,

which just doesn't have places for everything.

Here's how it's going to work.  If you would like to purchase something either send

me an email at jillbeth@aol.com or leave a comment letting me know what you would like

to purchase.  Purchases are on a first-come, first-served basis.

I will change an items status to SOLD when it is indeed sold {duh?!}.

All prices include shipping.

Payment should be made via Paypal to jillbeth@aol.com.

I will not be able to ship items until next Monday, August 15, just

so ya know.

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions in the comment section, I try

and do my best to describe an item but sometimes I miss something.

So let the fun begin!

Two matching frames that hold a 4x6 photo.

$40 30 for both

Two Pottery Barn 24x24 pillow covers.

BRAND NEW - NEVER USED.

$45 40 for both

Two standard pillow shams in Pottery Barn's 

Matine Toile {yellow}, gently used on a guest bed.

$50 for both Sold

One Full/Queen Matine toile Duvet Cover {yellow},

gently used on guest bed - clean, no stains etc...

$70 Sold

Flour sack pillow with stenciled letters {a Farm Chicks purchase 

from a few years back}.

$40 35

Custom 12x16 pillow covers in beautiful crewel fabric,

never used {oops!}.

$75 55 for both

Now, this is a bit painful to give up but she's a big girl 

and I just don't have room for her in my new cottage.....

this a  Jeanne D'Arc bottle drying rack...purchased

a couple years ago from Tracey at French Larkspur.

$180 125 Sold!

{measures 18" in diameter at the bottom, told you she is a big girl!}

I will be in and out this week, my big girl is having a friend visit from Minnesota

and we are off to show her the Pacific Northwest!  I will do my very best

to check often on the status of items and mark them sold as soon

as I can. 

Happy shopping!

Decorating can be emotional.....

My first baby is turning 13 in a few short weeks.

How can this be?  It seems like just yesterday I was a 31 year old {ancient, I know!}

first time mother.  To be honest with you, when I got married at 24 I

didn't even know if I ever wanted children - for reals!  I was all 'miss career woman', workin'

9-5 and enjoying the double-income-no-kids lifestyle.  Well, I hit the big 3-0

and the biological clock- more like the biological alarm - went off! I was
preggers shortly thereafter.

After 15 hours of labor, a beautiful bald baby girl was born

and our lives were changed forever......

In many ways it seems like her birth happened just yesterday

and in so many ways it feels like exactly 13 years ago....

ahhhh, life!

My big girl visited my parents last week for 5 days which gave me 

the opportunity to do a thorough cleaning and a little re-decorating, giving

her a room befitting the teenager she will soon be.

I soon discovered the reason I had been putting off this task - nevermind

the piles of clothes, mementos, stuffed animals, soccer socks, and other various collections.....

going through her room meant facing the fact that she is growing up......gulp.

Oh sure, I have done 'the big clean out' before, but this time we were transitioning -

I put away the Brownie vest, Girl Scout sash, her first soccer shin guards, photos 

from pee wee soccer teams, lacrosse teams, swimming ribbons won long ago, Webkinz,

Junie B. Jones books and rock collections......the things that represent

the childhood she is leaving behind...

Some beautiful 'before' shots!

I am proud to say that I know my children well.  Cleaning out my

first baby's room shined a bright light on all that I love and know about her....

* She loves to read, anything and everything, from the classics, Harry Potter,

the Lightening Thief, biographies, joke books and teen fiction....

*  She is a collector, of soccer socks, rocks, books, soccer tournament

t-shirts, sweatshirts, friends and lip balm among other things!

* She loves inspiring words - the reason I chose so many to decorate her walls!

* She loves animals - equally the stuffed and real live varieties!

* She loves EVERYTHING about soccer - playing it and collecting

signed stinky shoes from her favorite players, books about her heros 

{Mia Hamm} and jersey's from favorite teams.

* My daughter is resilient - in her room are yearbooks from three

elementary schools, a product of our "bloom where you're planted"

lifestyle......seeing them put a lump in this mommy's throat because

the challenges those moves brought is still so fresh.  My first born

has handled every move with optimism and uses humor to deflate

any feelings of nerves or uneasiness.

Her bedroom is big and has chair-rail that was painted white.  I chose to paint the chair-rail

the same color I had the walls painted (Benjamin Moore's "A Touch of Gray").  The color

is actually a very subtle lavender with a "touch of gray".  Big girl chose lime green

as her accent color.  

She also has a very big walk in closet that I organized - the bookshelves pictured above

are actually in her closet - the other side (not pictured) fit all her clothes.  She is lucky.

I have collected vintage E's forever and have used them in various ways in her 

previous rooms - I chose to mix them with Etsy prints on the walls.  The E over

her bed is from Pottery Barn and the frame is a vintage one that I just spray painted.  

I chose quotes to inspire a 13 year old like - "The glass is half full",

and "you are beautiful both inside and out".....

Ikea helped with lots of stuff......like the hanging light fixture, desk chair,

and bedding! Thanks Ikea - for cheap home stuff and meatballs!

Her bed is a vintage iron bed that I love and she strongly dislikes.  She has her eye

on something more modern but for now, she is stuck with the one 

good old mom loves.....for now.

The pillow on her bed says it all..... this special girl of mine

who is a student, a goof-ball, a giver of extraordinary hugs, a super

good goal keeper, a friend to many, a role model for her little sister,
a daughter to me and her dad......

is well on her way to achieve her BIG dreams!

I am proud to be her momma.....

** Forever*Cottage Tag Sale coming Monday!!!!

Barn House in photos.....

Of course, the Barn House sale did not disappoint. 

I had really missed shopping vintage sales in the Pacific Northwest.....

and every summer away vowed I would not miss another

Barn House sale....little did I know that THIS year I would be lucky

enough to be living back in Portland and getting to Battleground was 

a short 40 minute drive north! Yippee!

There was vintage goodies galore - linens, and jewels and chippy goodness!

Joe and Jermonne have created such a peaceful, serene and gorgeous farm. It was inspiring to walk through their gardens and so entertaining to watch

their many animals in the small pasture they were left with after the larger pastures

were mowed for additional sale parking.

The entertainment was fantastic!

The weather was perfect!

I struggled with my purchases..... but in the end I brought home

a few things I am completely happy with.

Funny story.....I purchased this iron garden cart pictured below.....

It is currently behind my sofa in our great room....it is my attempt at a

non-sofa table, sofa table.....do you know what I mean?  Let me explain.....

I strongly dislike looking at the naked back of a floating sofa.....
but I also strongly dislike most traditional sofa tables.....
I am trying to find something that isn't a traditional sofa table, a vintage piece
that will shine behind my sofa.....

For now, this is it....while it may not stay, I am happy with my
purchase because I love it and know that it will work
either inside or out in my home!  Sort of goes along with
the often offered advice....buy what you love.

After I made my purchase I brought a friend to the vendor's booth, 

proud to show her my treasure.  Well my friend asked me if the cart

looked familiar......cause our mutual friend had sold it to

the dealer out of her home because she was moving!

So....I bought my friends table!

While the shopping was great, the best thing about my day at Barn House

was spending time with friends, both old and new....

friends like this girl,  who inspire me in photography and cooking, and 

this bubbly girl who has a big heart and makes a mean margarita, and 

this beautiful blogger friend from Minnesota who happened

to be visiting her parents in the Northwest and joined me for the

day at Barn House......

And of course, 'the boys', who make everyone feel welcome

and whose own zest for life and love seems to rub

off on the hearts and minds of everyone them.

Good juju all around!