Teacup Tuesday and My First Giveaway!

Today is Teacup Tuesday over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspiration and at Martha's Favorites so imagine my delight when I came out of my house this morning and discovered these joyful little frogs having a teaparty!

Frog Number One had a lovely little teacup and saucer sitting beside him, but instead of sipping tea sedately, he looked like he was about to jump willy-nilly into the lily pad bath!  If you look closely, you'll see that he even had a tiny little "tea sandwich" on his saucer, the kind of "tea sandwich" that only a frog can truly appreciate.  Not cucumber, of course, but a very tasty bug!

Apparently he had his eye on the other "goodies" that were floating on an exquisite rose dish in the centre of the lily pad bath!   Hmmmm ... I wonder what the provenance of that sweet little rose dish is!

One of the other frogs, was enjoying a "cuppa" with a delicate tea cup made of shell!

Those frogs were having such a merry tea party, that things started to get a little riotous!

The lily pad bath was swinging back and forth and I began to wonder what exactly was in those tea cups!  I'm glad to say that everything has now returned to normal out by the lily pad bath.  I suspect the frogs are having a little snooze to rest up from their wild morning tea party.

A merry heart does good like a medicine.

Proverbs 17:22

My First Giveaway:

Today I am announcing my very first giveaway!  I'm so excited about this because I truly love to give presents.  I've decided to have a giveaway in honour of my little frogs and the fact that I recently reached two milestones with my blog:  45 followers and my 50th post!   I have so enjoyed finding my way around blogland and meeting so many wonderful fellow bloggers.  The past two + months have been wonderful.

Now honestly, I have to tell you that the item I'm giving away has very little monetary value, but I do think he's rather sweet and has been a favourite of mine for a long time.

He's only about an inch long and the little lily pad he sits on is about 1 1/2".

So here are the rules if you would like to enter to win this cute little froggy guy:

1.  Become a follower if you aren't already.

2.  Post about my giveaway on your own blog.

3.  Leave me a comment on this post letting me know you have done so and leaving a link to your own post.

I will put all of the entries into a hat and draw the winner on June 30th, so you have until then to enter.  I will contact the winner for a mailing address.

Hope everyone enjoys a WONDERFUL Teacup Tuesday!

Garage Sale Finds, Makevers, and Tea Time Tuesday

I found this delightful little chair at a garage sale a couple of Saturdays ago and was happy to purchase it for $2. My husband was a bit mystified as to why I would want it. He wondered what I would do with a chair that has such a low back on it. I told him not to worry, I would find the perfect spot to use it!

I knew I didn't want it to remain in its existing state of drabness and when I saw what a lovely makeover Lili over at Fearless Nesting did with a small table recently, I decided I would use her ideas for inspiration in my own makeover project.  

My first step was to give it a good coat of glossy paint in a buttery cream colour.

Next, I took fine sandpaper and sanded off areas where the chair would normally show some wear.

Lili recommended a wonderful site where you can download for free some beautiful vintage images, including the lovely tea rose she chose to decoupage to her table. Unfortunately, I don't have a colour printer, so I went looking at Michael's instead and came up with a piece of scrapbooking paper that reminded me of vintage wallpaper. At yet another garage sale, I found a remnant of material that I just knew would go perfectly with the chair and with the scrapbooking paper. I just love the mixture of chocolate brown and soft pink!

I debated different shapes that would go well for the decoupage and finally cut out a circular shape for the centre of the chair back, along with a few other pieces so it wouldn't look quite so symmetrical.  I glued them into position and then applied two coats of high gloss modge podge. And here's the end result:

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out and the fact that it is just the perfect size to fit in our bay window as a neat little reading or occasional chair.

And before I go, here's another little garage sale find that I am extremely pleased about.

It's a very tiny little cup, a tea cup?  or perhaps a demitasse?  I haven't had a chance to do any research on it yet, but it's marked R C with a crown symbol and then Versailles Bavaria.  It's absolutely gorgeous and in great condition although there is a small chip on the saucer.  I have a tea cup collection and I'm so pleased whenever I find something unique to add to the collection.

The funniest thing was they wanted only $1 for it, but were asking $5 for a Hannah Montana key chain that was right beside it!!!  I thought that was just too funny for words.  Nothing against Hannah Montana, or against key chains in general, but I'm guessing my little Bavarian cup and saucer might be worth just a tad more.

And in honour of my new-found tea cup, I am participating today in Tea Time Tuesday at one of the most beautiful blogs I've come across, Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspiration.

Sandy has asked us to include an inspirational saying, quote, or poem.  Here's one I thought would be perfect for such a lovely sunny Tuesday.

The Sun Never Says

Even after all this time

The sun never says to the earth,

"You owe Me."

Look what happens with

A love like that, 

It lights the Whole Sky.

From the Gift of Haviz

Translated by D. Ladinsky