New Blog Sponsor: Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns and Giveaway

I'm so excited to introduce our newest blog sponsor here on The Cottage Home -

Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns!

I know many of you love, love, love downloadable PDF sewing patterns and Tie Dye Diva is loaded with just that! They have downloadable PDF sewing patterns for diaper covers, girls and baby dress patterns, ruffled rompers & more.   These are sewing patterns that are emailed to you and you can print out on your home computer.  Patterns are typically sent within 8 hours, if not sooner, so you can get sewing as soon as you find a design that you want to try!

Tie Dye Diva Patterns are very user-friendly for even the newest sewer.  You can save up to 25% by purchasing a bundle of three or more patterns which makes these sewing patterns some of the most affordable on the market.

Here are some of my personal favorite patterns:

Ruffle Back Romper Pattern for Girls

Sweet Summer Halter Dress Pattern

Ruffled Diaper Cover Pattern

Big Bow Dress or Top Pattern

And for the boys.........

Cargo Pocket Shorts

So those are just some of my favorites, now it's your turn to head over to Tie Dye Diva's etsy shop and let me know what are your favorites.  I just love anything with ruffles on the booty so that Ruffle Back Romper is calling my name!

Today Tie Dye Diva is giving away two PDF sewing patterns to two lucky The Cottage Home blog readers.  

Here's how to enter..........Please leave a separate comment for each entry. You can enter up to four times. Do one or all of the following:

1) Visit Tie Dye Diva's etsy shop and choose your favorite pattern (click HERE to do so).

2) Become a fan of the Tie Dye Diva on Facebook (click HERE to do so).

3) Become an official follower of The Cottage Home blog.

4) Become a fan of The Cottage Mama on Facebook (click HERE to do so).

Giveaway will be open through Friday, July 8, 2011 at midnight (CST).

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Cottage Home blog, please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for rates and more information.

From Texas to Normandy

Yesterday I waved good bye to a new friend that came here via blogging.  Laura McGuire is a tall beautiful Texan, who works as a successful stylist and is about to launch her new business in French antiques.

You can see examples of her fantastic talents as a stylist here

Laura stayed here for a week and together we trailed through  brocantes all over Normandy.  Didn't feel like work at all!  As you know I love hunting for treasure at any time of day but to do it with a friend is even more fun. 

As soon as she arrived the atmosphere was relaxed.  We both like the same stuff so it wasn't hard for me to take her to the right addresses to buy.  We went from one extreme to another - the large open air brocante yard, with sheds, and boxes and shelves to look through, to the sweet little Normandy antique and brocante dealers,  which gave us an excuse to play tourists and take pictures of the pretty towns and vilages.

Once again I have to say how amazing a blog is for bringing people together.  WHAT DID WE DO without internet?!!!

So thank you Laura, for being such a charming guest, I hope we'll meet again soon!

Photos 1 and  2 from Laura

From Grandma with Love.....Cowgirl Princess Quilts and Ruffle Pillows

I love my mom.  I know I've told you all that before, but she really is the best!  So thoughtful, kind, understanding, a good listener and I could go on and on, but I know she reads the blog and I don't want her to get a big head or anything.

She has really been taking a lot of time lately sewing some fun things for my girls and I just had to share her most recent creation with you.

My mom lives in Texas and she said that when she found this Cowgirl Princess fabric she knew she MUST make these quilts for the girls.  

Isn't that fabric just adorable?

Mom made both Savannah and Matilda each a Cowgirl Princess quilt and a matching ruffle pillows.  I love the piecing and framing she did around the border of the quilt.  It really makes the fun cowgirl princess fabric stand out in the middle.

My mom quilted the center fabric with what she calls her "lasso" technique.  She used her free motion quilting foot to make the stitching look like little lassos.  She said she thought something was missing when she finished the quilts so she went back around the center panel with this decorative scallop stitch.  Genius!  I've used this same stitch on the edging of dresses, but would never have thought to use it on a quilt.

The pillows are adorable and are perfect size for little toddlers.  Because she made the pillowcases smaller, she also made an interior pillow to fit inside each case.  My daughter, Matilda, refuses to sleep with any other pillow right now.  This is the one she loves.

I love handmade gifts and I love that my mom takes so much time to make fun things for my girls.  And honestly, even though my little ladies are young, they really appreciate handmade.  They love getting things from Grandma and tell anyone who will listen all about the fun things that have been made for them.

Thanks for the adorable Cowgirl Princess quilts and pillow sets for the girls.  They love them and we love you!  Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaw!!!

PS:  Since I took these pictures, we have since received the most adorable cherry picnic dresses from my mom - I can't wait to share those with you next!

Hunting for a fridge....

Our current fridge is making gun shot sounds in the middle of the night and likely is going to blow up someday soon. Other days it decides to freeze our food, confusing itself with the freezer above. We're excited at the prospect of a bigger fridge and one that doesn't waste energy but we've found that we're having to consider an unscheduled kitchen renovation when we do this purchase. When we moved into our house, the fridge was in an awful location. See how it blocks the doorway?

Skipping over a few gory details about how the fridge was less than sanitary - we got the city to pick it up and my Mom and Dad gave us a fridge that was from the cottage. Instead of moving the  fridge back to the original location (blocking the doorway), we moved it into the eat in kitchen. This new location also meant that we could fit in a dishwasher to it's old footprint.

Fast forward to today and after living with the fridge in the eat in kitchen for three years, we've realized that it needs to move back into the kitchen. But we can't move it back in, because it means tearing apart teh cabinetry. The best location is likely where the oven is. (See the photo below)

And so, we've decided to buy a fridge that will be counter depth and work in this location for when we eventually do a renovation. When that reno happens I have no idea.

And so, we start the hunt for a counter depth fridge. Anyone have one that they can recommend? Do you like the freezer side by side with the fridge or is the pull out freezer drawer a cool thing? The problem with counter depth fridges is that they are smaller - so we're trying to find one that works for a growing family. Would love input.

Ps., I've been entering every single kitchen reno contest I can find like this Merillat "Works like a Dream" contest that I got a PR release for - I'm so entering this contest.

Happy 4th of July!

Quiet Time

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

this Sunday's loot shoot!

"A loot shoot", that's what the family has started calling it when I come home from the brocante fairs on a Sunday morning and take pictures of my  haul.

This morning saw me on the road pretty early, very early actually considering our late dinner last night , and I was rewarded for my determination with some fun finds.

But I'll let you be the judge!!

I have a special fondness for this small oil painting, 

the sort of Mediterranean coastline that speaks to me

Just love the spine of this cookery book 

'La Veritable Cuisine de Famille par Tante Marie'  

{Real Family Cooking by Aunt Marie}

 a beautifully monogrammed metis sheet

 a remnant of mattress ticking

a huge pile of Villeroy and Boch plates, black on cream

a couple of nice old glass bottles, besides a wonderful fishing basket and

some old French keys

a fun mix of old cutleryand some great enamel pieces including this hand-wash station
and box with lid.

Nearly all of this will be listed today in the brocante store - I know, I know I keep promising that but today it really will happen - but if there's anything that catches your eye, you are welcome to drop me a mail directly.

I hope that you're having a fun weekend, wherever you are