Fall is Around the Corner

The pear green background on these five needlepoints is pretty awesome~ but I really like the fall colors in the bouquets. I may not be ready for fall yet~ but it sure feels like it is in the air around here.

Vintage Green Perfection Takes Time

.....I am sure it took plenty of time to stitch this needlepoint and then it took even longer for me to finish it and create a pretty pillow~ do you remember~ if not ~read this~ I hate to even mention is is fireplace weather again in South Dakota~ and again out of season ~ it is after all August 29!

"Getting Organized"

Getting Organized has taken on a new look! From being strictly functional to being functional and stylish has become the latest and greatest way of getting and staying organized. Pretty and stylish organization means that you no longer have to hide everything away in back room closets and filing cabinets. Instead, old locker baskets painted pink and stylishly chic organizers help you get organized in creative ways.
By using decorative boxes, vintage baskets and embellished magazine organizers, you can carry your decorating theme throughout your home, office, and even your laundry room.

Storage boxes filled with odds and ends, office supplies or ribbons and trims can fit into the décor in any room. A repurposed basket or box can beautifully organize your odds and ends while keeping them out of the way. A vintage metal file box hand painted with pink roses keeps your papers safe while adding romantic charm. Elegant wooden boxes painted with flowers store photos, CDs and letters in plain view.A vintage china plate might hold a stack of favorite napkins on a table or open shelf. A pretty pink basket can store clean dishtowels by the kitchen sink. A white wicker basket keeps guest towels or magazines, or perhaps organizes your craft space. Vintage nursery jars can hold cotton balls and other necessities while a refinished side table can keep your address book and notepaper handy.

When you need to organize, forget about boring boxes and folders that will keep everything out of sight. Instead, look around you for creative ways to accent your décor and store everything you need within arm's reach.


Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday August 28, 2009 as we present "Getting Organized"

Cest Chouette will not have any tuffets, poufs or pillows for this weeks theme~ Please visit all the participating Boutiques at Make Mine Pink~ Thank you

Photo Contribution 1:Business in the Bag | Photo Contribution 2: Cozy Cottage Gifts and Decor| Photo Contribution 3: Pale Pink and Roses

Each year, hundreds of thousands of women and children are forced to leave their homes and seek safety and healing in shelters across the country. This year, you can make a difference in the lives of a few of those women and children and remind them that their sisters are thinking of them. They are not alone.
Make Mine Pink and Quilt 'n' Stitch Marketplace are joining together to launch our much-anticipated Pink Slipper Project, and we hope you will join us.
What Is the Pink Slipper Project?
Inspired by Tery Grahl of Enchanted Makeovers.org, The Pink Slipper Project is an endeavor to warm the hearts and the toes of those who will spend this winter living in women's and children's shelters. We are going to provide hand-crafted slippers to as many of these women and children as possible.
Our goal is to work closely with with Enchanted Makeover’s shelter projects, providing warm slippers to the residents of each makeover project, along with as many other women’s and children’s shelters we can provide for.
Not only will these slippers help keep the recipients warm, they will be a daily reminder that someone cared enough about them to make something special just for them, which goes a long way in the healing process.
The slippers don't need to be pink, but they do need to be warm and, of course, new.

To read how You Can Help with the Pink Slipper Project~ go to the Pink Slipper Project Blog

Please join the Pink Slipper Project today by writing and telling us how you can help. info@Makeminepink.com From your soul to the soles of women and children in need, you'll be helping women everywhere make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends.....

This morning the divine Mr. C'estChouette said, "Let's go to the Farmer's Market." Well he has been gone all week so who am I to turn down a Saturday morning date with him. I knew he had an ulterior motive ............see this chair....
... well it no longer has a seat~ in fact it is barely holding together at all. I use an antique Victorian footstool(no ordinary footstool will do) where the seat should be and a blanket or throw to cover the worst of the broken-down arms. I love this chair and simply cannot part with it. The divine Mr. hates this chair and wants it gone gone gone! So he was shopping for a new chair for me!
Not finding what he needed he suggested we hit a few antique stores~ again~ who am I to turn him down~ antiquing is a pretty cool date on a Saturday morning.
Off we headed to one of my favorite stores ~Belsnickle~ it is the needlepoint Mecca~ but not the kind I use. Why? Because the needlepoints are attached to awesome chairs, benches, footstools and settees~ nothing to do but admire them (some day I will buy them all and put them in *that* needlepoint room.... after we add a 100x100 foot addition to the house~ I can dream, can't I?)
But sitting there just waiting for me~ my friend had these 6 wonderful needlepoints~ woohoo~ yellow tuffets are on their way..... (still no new old chair though)

"The Secrets of Mother's Jewelery Box"

What did Mother dream about after she tucked her little ones into bed at night? What did she secretly yearn for while listening to the secrets of her heart? If there was a way to find clues to the mystery of our mothers, it could be tucked inside the treasure chest called her jewelry box.

Amongst the treasures, barely concealed amidst a sea of costume jewelry, lies a small rusted key. You can’t help but wonder if it’s a diary key that can be used to unlock mother’s most secret dreams, or a key to another box where even more secrets and mysteries lie? Our imaginations run away with us. When no one's looking, almost as if a child again, you try the key in the lock of her jewelry box. The drawer unlocks and it’s disappointing for a moment, that the mystery is so easily solved. But then you slide the drawer open and new mysteries and the memories of her fill the room.

Vintage rhinestone pins, clouded with age but ready to be shined and repurposed. Pearls yellowed over the years. We're unable to resist gently nibbling them to see if they're real. Mother's favorite lace gloves she wore to church each Sunday or to occasional weddings, rest under the tray, as if awaiting another special occasion to bring them out. A vintage silver bracelet, the one she let you try on when you were a little girt but was much too large for your childish wrist. Mixed amongst the treasures, you might find a few mother of pearl buttons, saved in hopes of finding a special use, or a few stray cuff links of Dad's. Mother was always sure there would be a use for that one cuff link. A tarnished locket with his faded photograph brings back a flood of memories. Vintage buttons are scattered throughout, each one reminding you of a dress Mother wore.



Mother's jewelry box is a treasure trove for little girls and grownup daughters. No matter our age, our imaginations become colorful and childlike when we open her box of secrets.. As a child, we’re convinced that somewhere in the magnificent box lives a fairy who can tell all the secrets that lie amongst these treasures, and if we listen hard enough, we’ll hear the stories it can tell.

Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink

Please join the Boutiques Make Mine Pink's Friday Shopping Event, shopping with a twist, on Friday August 21, 2009 as we present "The Secrets of Mother's Jewelery Box"

**C'est Chouette will not be particpating in this week's themed shopping event :-(

Photo Contribution 1: Rose Blossom Cottage | Photo Contribution 2: Pale Pink and Roses | Photo Contribution 3: RME Boutique

Cozy seaside cottage decor provides an opportunity to repurpose discarded furniture and decor that no longer fits in your home or day to day lifestyle. Items that have been well-loved because of the special memories they hold or just because of the way they catch your eye will fit in perfectly in your home away from home.

Cozy seaside cottage style conjures up visions of pure white with accents of blues, greens and painted white furniture. A French blue
metal flower vase in the center of a painted white dining table or a side table, painted a sea glass blue is placed beside a bed to hold your favorite books or magazines. If you look around, you’ll see a scattering of casual pillows in shades blue and white, tossed onto a white slip covered couch or accent chair. If you look closer you might see a pillow tucked in with with pale pink roses, bringing a new look to the seaside cottage.

Well loved quilts and vintage chenille spreads grace the beds, none matching yet, in the cottage, all seeming to fit in together beautifully. The bedrooms are serene, without much clutter. A simple rose print against a white wall seems as if it’s always been there.Casual dining is on the daily menu at the seaside cottage. Mismatched china left over from sets over the years fills the white china cupboard and is brought out for the daily meals. Vintage white ironstone or mismatched china grace a weathered sideboard. A quilt often used as a makeshift tablecloth or for an ocean side picnic.

Each corner of a seaside cottage is filled with the beauty of the sea and favorite memories. Clear glass vases filled with seas shells. Sand dollars sparkle like the sea fill a treasured Rose Covered bowl and add seaside romance. Jeweled sea glass, polished smooth with time, and other decorated treasures that you might find when walking on the beach, sit upon the shelves and mantel, their quiet song of the sea filling in the empty spaces of the seaside cottage.

Please join the participating Boutiques at Make Mine Pink shopping with a twist on Friday August 14, 2009 as we present "Cozy Seaside Cottage.

C'est Chouette will not have pillows to offer for this theme, so sorry.

Photo Contribution 1: Cottage Flair | Photo Contribution 2: Victoria Rose Cottage

The Girls, The Boy King, and Me

A week ago~ the girls and I headed to Watertown SD to see the Tut exhibit~ the girls loved it. I loved it too, but longed for the real exhibit that I saw in New York in 1978 (yikes ~ was it that long ago??) Granted, these are reproductions, some nicely done and some needing improvement, but they are a good representation of all the gold and opulence the surrounded the Boy King. The girls said it was worth the trip and giving up a Saturday ~ so I am happy.


Queen Nefertiti has given rise to the tradition that she was one of the most beautiful women of antiquity~ but as Kirstie pointed out~ "Not with one eye!!!"

The Goss Opera House is in the restoration stages ~ but beautiful nonetheless.

And the Winner is...

The randomly picked number is: 83
The Lucky Winner is: Jazzcat365