Blog Archives
Mad Tea Party! 🐇♥️
Once again this year, I’m so excited to announce that I’ll participate in a Wonderland themed “Mad Tea Party!” blog hop event organized and hosted by the always lovely Vanessa’s site, A Fanciful Twist!
New this year, we’ll also hop on Instagram!
For more information about how to join, what to expect, and to see links to Tea Parties hosted in previous years, you’ll need to visit https://afancifultwist.typepad.com/a_fanciful_twist/2021/07/into-wonderland-for-our-2021-mad-tea-party.html#comment-6a00d83451d99869e20282e110bc1d200b
You can see my participation in 2016, 2015, and 2014 at these links:
https://whatamberloves.com/2016/07/23/mad-tea-party-2016-blog-hop/
https://whatamberloves.com/2015/07/10/mad-tea-party-2015/
https://whatamberloves.com/2014/07/12/mad-tea-party-2014/
So exciting! Now, to prepare … !!
💚 —Amber
Looksie
Notes to self:
Be authentic.
Be strong, but not rude.
Be kind, but not weak.
Be bold, but don’t bully.
Be humble, but not shy.
Be proud, but not arrogant.
Go to sleep with a dream.
Wake up with a purpose.
#Selfie 🤳🏻
Generally good ideas:
🌿 Be present, not perfect.
🪨 Be love, be light, be peace, and definitely be a little go f*ck yourself when the situation calls for it.
🪵 Enjoy a creative mess as much as idle tidiness.
✨🌿🖤🌿✨
So many things have been happening that I might want to write posts about … so many wonderful things I’ve been documenting with photos, ready to share here soon … new dog, new recipes, renovating an old house across town from where we currently live, adventures, and more …
I’ll be back here with those photos soon!
🤍 —Amber
Little Fairy Garden in a Big Birdcage!
Inside of a big, old metal birdcage that we welded on top of an old base to a bird bath that no longer had a bowl, we assembled a little “fairy garden.” You won’t see the fairies in the photos of this garden, because that is the nature of fairies. They are quite camera shy. We just trust that they visit and enjoy this whimsical little place!
“The World is very Old;
But year by year
It grows all new again
When blooms appear!”
–AmberHH, WhatAmberLoves
National Book Lovers Day!
Well, yes, I do love books!
Story time? In!!
In the event you enjoy unusual thoughts, you might like this post. If you have enough “eccentric” friends, keep scrolling. 🌿 Here it is: For awhile, I’ve had my books stacked in the shelf cubbies. While it’s less practical for retrieving them, I can fit far more books per shelf. However, this afternoon it occurred to me that it looks like my books are “asleep.” Thus, I’ve decided to “wake them up” by standing them all up-right next week. So, there ya go! 🌿 You’re welcome. I’m “waking up books” one day next week. Down the rabbit hole I’ve gone … 💕📚
I cannot decide whether I prefer reading or writing, nor will I.
Do you ever smell a faint scent of something and it brings back a memory? Only you can’t remember the memory, just the way you felt at that very moment?
Also, if one door closes and the other door opens, your
house might be haunted. 🚪💋📕💋🚪#GhostStories
I’m currently reading A Gentleman in Moscow. Next, I plan to read A Secret History of Witches.
What book are you currently reading or have read recently that you recommend?
Your Friend,
AmberHH
Daily DIY: gemstones on estate silver!
You don’t have to read very many of my design/decor project posts to know that thrifting (vintique stores, garage sales, estate sales, etc) and transforming my finds is a favorite hobby of mine.
Recently, I arrived early, stood in line awaiting opening, and found another great deal at an Estate Sale, here in Little Rock, Arkansas! The deal: I found a set of eight (8) silver electroplated vessels, intended to be used for drinks. They were only $1 each, and I knew I needed to buy them, even though they were engraved with a “K” on two sides of every piece.
For awhile, they’ve been tucked away in a cabinet, awaiting my effort to find a local engraver to alter the K into an H.
I changed my mind about going to that trouble, and I decided that it would be much more interesting to embellish the silver vessels with some sort of gemstone cabochons or charm or whatever caught my eye in order to cover the K!
Gem cabochons (16) turned out to also be a bit pricey for what I wanted to do, but I found BEADS! Glorious beads!! Yea!! I just used a quick setting, two part, clear epoxy to adhere them!
The “frame” beads are made of SEASHELL, and the sphere beads are JASPER! Yay!!
So, here they are!! All 8, currently being used as vases in my kitchen! (Wisteria, Rosemary, and Lacebark Elm branches from my yard.)
Some, I lightly cleaned and others I left the patina.
I absolutely adore them! I think they have a very peaceful, ethereal vibe as I sit here staring at them while I type this project post!
Whatcha think? 😊🙌
💞–AmberHH
Our Nest has a Few New Treasures!
Our Home really is my favorite place in the whole world, and it just became a bit cozier!
We purchased an amazing room size rug from Kaufman by Design (on Cantrell, here in Little Rock, Arkansas.)
The whole room feels larger, brighter, more interesting, and infinitely more comfortable! I am so pleased! If you’re local, I highly recommend that you check out the store Kaufman By Design!
I also purchased some gorgeous, shiny new cable knit sweater pillows at Michael’s today! They’re a great addition, aren’t they? Yay!
I also picked up a few of these glass/brass boxes and filled them with reindeer moss and some of my crystals and gems! It’s nice to have them on display in a way that I can fully see them, yet they’re less accessible to our cat, 3 kids, and guests. You understand, I’m sure!
In other news, I recently saw this amazing agate perfume bottle on Pinterest. New goal: acquire stone perfume bottles, preferably of a wearable pendant size! Source of image
So, tell me: What’s new in your world? I’m going to hop around blogland and explore this evening! I bet you’re all creating some amazing things!
If you even mildly liked this post, you might also like these posts of mine even better!
DIY perfume storage using a premade frame
Master Bedroom Tour
Up-cycled NECKTIE Upholstery Vanity Seat
If you might want to try one of my projects, enjoy my post, or like a photo, please consider Pinning it to Pinterest! There is a gray PINTEREST button at the bottom of each post! Thank you so much, friends!
Love Ya Lots and Lots,
~AmberHH
DIY Perfume Storage Display Options
What’s a person to do when they really, really want an ornate unique perfume/cologne display case? How about a pair?? Dare I dream that I found three options:
1) settle and buy a plain little, mass produced cabinet constructed of inferior materials from a big box store that requires a tad of assembly, followed by years of *sighs* that it wasn’t what was really wanted, but now we already own it so it’ll have to do. *sighs*
2) overindulge and spend hundreds of dollars, maybe even thousands of dollars, by buying that amazing little ornate gilded antique wall cabinet/shelving unit that is likely Italian or French in origin from a cute little antique store or high end dealer on eBay, followed by years of searching for a match and eating only Ramen due to the price of such a thing. *ramen for dinner*
3) an inspired idea and quick sketch by wife plus some solid carpentry skills by husband to build exactly what we want for minimal cost: $25/frame at a hobby/craft store by using a coupon, $5 for paint paint, scrap lumber, & leftover fabric from when we built our upholstered headboard for our bed. DIY. Hallelujah! DIY, followed by years of thorough enjoyment and all bragging rights. *bragging*
Easy to follow photos:
See, these new Perfume Boxes in our Master Bathroom coordinate with our Master Bedroom! Yay! See the rest of our Master bedroom at this link: https://whatamberloves.com/2012/09/14/master-bedroom-tour/
Your Friend,
~AmberHH
PS: I LOVE FEEDBACK. What do you think of our little project?
Meditations gazing into Black Candles and Palm Stones!
Whether you call them vignettes or altars or other names matters not to me, because I love arranging and rearranging my “treasures” and “tools” and so forth. The combination of crystals, mirrors, plants, statuary, and more can be quickly and easily set into a display that feels soothing and absolutely magical for me when items are chosen with intention.
COURAGE ✨💞🌿💎🌿💞✨
LUCK ✨💞🌿💎🌿💞✨
GOALS ✨💞🌿💎🌿💞✨
*May you find what you need, as I do!*
Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
SideNote: Enjoy these photos? You might be interested to know I’m working with magical tools! The candles I’m using are BLACK SHADOW TEALIGHTS from Sage Goddess online store. Click through the link, and you may fall in love with the description of them, too! They’re artfully crafted, smell amazing, and are created with intent! The link: http://www.sagegoddess.com/product/shadow-tealights-for-illuminating-dark-magic/
Abigail’s Room, 100 yards of Fabric Later!
It’s been really hot (for Arkansas) during the last few days with heat indexes over 100* and intense humidity, but we’re having some sort of unusual cold front today and tomorrow with temps only in the 80s. It’s so nice! I’ve turned off our AC, turned on fans, and opened the windows for the day!
My 100 yards of sheer “butterfly” chiffon/voile fabric that I ordered online from Ronnie Home Textile for daughter Abigail’s windows and canopies arrived. (Abigail is nine years old.) The fabric is even better than I anticipated it to be from the photos online! It’s soooo soft and drapes splendidly! Abigail LOVES the vibrant butterfly design that repeats up both sides of the fabric!
Then, our project began! Lol! Oh, my!! I totally underestimated just how much time it would actually take ME to cut and sew all of these panels! (We covered one big wall of windows, and made floor to ceiling canopies for the two daybeds in her room! = 15 white butterfly panels that are floor to ceiling length, 4 solid hot pink panels of the same length, and 4 turquoise butterfly canopy panels at 27′ each!) Wow! Not having a proper studio space, I scooted our dining room and laid it all out on the floor and then took to sewing on the kitchen counter. We were destined to eat fast food for dinner a time or two, but the outcome was worth the sacrifice! I made pretty good time, though, and got it all done in less than three days only working sporadically with three daughters underfoot. That three day time period also included making the three long wall curtain rods!
I used glass doorknobs and electrical conduit as curtain rods to mimic the ones I liked at a Bedding and Bath big box store. Theirs were like $129 each for the lengths we needed; we made them for about $12 each! The conduit came in ten foot lengths, we left one full length and trimmed two of them to eight feet, spray painted black satin (in our driveway) to cover the steel and brass, then epoxied the door knobs into the conduit! Yay! Easy, peasey, and saved hundreds of dollars!!
Her room is actually painted a vibrant purple, which only shows here and there. Her room is mostly fabric, now! It’s amazing! I told her it reminded me of the inside of Jeannie’s bottle. She had no idea what I was talking about. Apparently, she’s never seen the show “I Dream of Jeannie!”
In her room, she also has a few other neat features, particularly her neon sign from my dad’s (her Pop’s) sign shop, a purple dollhouse that we’re still working to complete, shelves of photos, … 🙂
So, what do you think of our new 100 yards of fabric we’ve added to her room this week?
I think we’re going to add l.e.d. twinkle lights to the canopies next, and add a few big plants on either side of the white shelving. I’ll update this post with photos when we do!
Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
This post will link with some great blog hops this week!
Pop into the parties at these links:
ArkansasWomenBloggers ~ Sunday Link Up
my1929charmer ~ Sunday’s Best Par-Tay #64
SavvySouthernStyle ~ Wow Us Wedsnesdays #181
FromMyFrontPorchToYours ~ Treasure Hunt Thursday
SweetBellaRoos ~ Pin It Thursdays
MyRepurposedLife ~ Catch As Catch Can #175
FunkyJunkInteriors ~ PJ 259
Jewels Behind the Scenes become the Scene!
My poor, lucky husband is so outnumbered cohabitating with me and our three daughters. He’s such a good sport about it, especially considering that I have the audacity to leave a path of personal accessories in my wake throughout the house intermittently throughout the day.
I wear jewelry everyday. Sometimes, when I remove it, I’m not near my jewelry chests in our master bedroom, so I’ve taken to adorning miscellaneous places to suit my fancy of the moment as I remove it, lately. For example, if one were to feel heated after wearing a heavy stone necklace outdoors to water the garden, it makes sense to remove it when returning indoors. If said stone necklace looks fab adorning a cross atop the fireplace mantle in the dining room, then it is only logical it should reside there. Right? Right!!
And, Earrings dangling from a bowl above a new book that just arrived in mail because I took the earrings off while using the phone look great on the bowl . . .
. . . Furthermore, a black shell floral necklace and an oversized gold floral bracelet hanging from leaf plates on the dining room sideboard because I took them off while clearing the table after dinner should stay on display.
The plan: I have multiple jewelry jewelry chests with jewelry organized by color and theme for each drawer that is only seen by me, unless worn. While it stays protected, it sure is a shame that the beauty of the pieces is largely unseen, thus unappreciated, by my daughters and me while tucked away. So, for at least the next few weeks, I’m wearing a new piece or two from the chests each day and adorning a new spot in the house!
I have a big chandelier in the foyer hanging snugly to our 10′ ceilings that sure looks like it for awhile it may need vintage colored pearls and rhinestone brooches on ribbons and . . . 🙂 What do YOU think? Should I just GO for it? I think I shall!!
Oh! Oh! Oh! Speaking of jewelry adorning things, I almost forgot to show you a little jewel I purchased for a few dollars at an estate/moving sale recently: it’s a heavily lacquered painting on wood that is inlaid with mother-of-pearl/abalone shell! It features three young ladies in an orchard, so I immediately connected it to represent our three daughters in our backyard with their big
walnut, little apple, and 3 peach trees! Love it, love it, love it, I do!
🙂 Looking forward to hearing from YOU!
Your Friend that wore a Batman tshirt with a shiva shell/fossil coral/smokey topaz silver necklace today,
~Amber Hamilton Henson
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