Girls Weekend

Every year my mom and I get away together just the two of us. (I'm very fortunate to have two moms). This weekend we are off for some flea market, garage sale and everything in between shopping. It will be a wonderful break from my every day routine... if you know what I mean.

                                                          
While I was looking for a pretty flea market picture to share, I came across Mandy's fabulous blog blog.mandylynne.com. She is an incredibly talented photographer and artist. I spent too much time last night looking at all of her gorgeous vintage style photographs and reading her fun blog when I should have been sleeping. I wanted to share a couple of Mandy's pieces with you in case you don't know about her.

You can find more of her artwork at her etsy shop Skippy Designs.

                                                         

Have a great weekend!

Enjoying The Great Outdoors

 We are lucky to have three zoos nearby all within an hour's drive or less. Each one has something special about it. The other day we made our fist trip of the year to Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City. It's the smallest one and has great views of Lake Michigan.

Here is Daddy bird sitting on his egg in a giant nest.

 The gardens are beautiful, I'm loving this color combination.

                                          Not really beach weather yet so we had it all to ourselves.           

Once the nice weather makes its way to the Midwest we are ready to be outside as much as possible. I'm thrilled it's finally here, but I really have to get motivated to get some inside projects done. Maybe writing about it will make it happen. Blogging can be helpful that way right?

My 6th Photo

Jamilyn from Living It At Home  Sandra from Sawdust And Paper Scraps and Janet from The Gardeners Cottage tagged me to participate in the “6th photo published on your blog game.” The object is to use a photo from when you first started blogging. I started Sixty-Fifth Avenue a few months ago and when I look back at those first posts it makes me want to change everything I wrote. Heck, I even want to do that ten minutes after I post something. So in case you didn't notice, writing is not my strong point and putting a post together still doesn’t come easy for me. Blogging will only make writing easier right?

Ok, now on to the photo game...starting with your first picture used in your first post and counting up to six. Here is mine...

I was hoping #6 would be a pretty after picture but it wasn't. My picture is the footboard of our daughter's big girl bed after it was stripped. Here are a few more pictures to show you how the story ends.

When I found this bed at an antique shop my search was over. I loved the shape and the little posts on the footboard.  As you can see it has a twin and I wasn't able to buy just one so I took both and sold the other one on good old Craigslist.

After some creamy white paint and an applique for the headboard and footboard this is how I envisioned it to be.

My husband and I hand painted the monogram with the faux ribbon and frame hanger. I was inspired by a picture in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.

So there you have my 6th picture and a mini post about the little ones big girl bed.

Now I need to tag 10 bloggers to present their 6th photo.  If you want to play along...what is your sixth photo?

Butterflies and Dragonflies
House Notes
It's The Little Things
Living the Dream Take 35
Pine Tree Home
Scientific Housewife
Savvy City Farmer
Morning T
Jam-n-Jilly
This Blessed Nest

Linking to these Parties.

We Have A Winner!

The winner of these pretty bud vases is.....

                                                                  

                                                    #12  Mindy from Princess of everything!!  
                                                     

Thank you to everyone that entered, this was so much fun!

                                                                                                      

Stone Cottage

When our daughter was a year old, all she wanted to do when she was outside was collect rocks. And now that she is four she is still loving her rocks. So when I asked her what she wanted to name her playhouse, without hesitation she said Stone Cottage. I thought it was a perfect name!

As you can see Stone Cottage is quite tiny. The table and chairs were found at a flea market and just needed a little sprucing up. I gave them a couple coats of exterior white paint and they are good as new.

We didn't measure anything before hand and got lucky because the table just fits through the little door.

Whenever I come across old frames I buy them up to use for future projects. This one was only a dollar but ugly and brown so I painted it pink and used some leftover chalkboard paint. This was an easy fifteen minute project...you can never have enough chalkboards!

I want to add two battery powered lanterns on either side of the chalkboard.

I'm loving these from Pottery Barn Kids but for $39.00 each I think I'll keep looking. Any ideas?

The big old lilac bush we inherited is just about in bloom....I think tomorrow will be the day.

And the Redbud tree is in full bloom with the perennials starting to coming up.

Spring is really here! 

Spring Time Give-away!

I am so excited to be having my first give-away here on Sixty-Fifth Avenue! Spring flowers are blooming, so what would be more perfect than giving away this set of seven bud vases with iron stand.

Wouldn't this be beautiful on an outdoor table, windowsill or mantle?
The generous sponsor for this giveaway is a company called origincrafts. They are an online store featuring decorative accessories and accents in many themes including Coastal, Country Rustic, French countryside, Tuscan, and more. Stop by and take a look at all the wonderful things they have to offer.

 To all of the Anonymous readers, I just realized you have been unable to leave comments. That is fixed now, sorry about that. Good luck to all of my wonderful readers, I really appreciate you coming by and leaving me the sweetest comments.

To win this set, there are two ways to enter:

 1. Leave a comment...if you're new here and would like to become a follower that would
     great but not necessary to win.

2. Leave a second comment telling me you blogged about the give-away.

The contest ends Thursday April 22nd (midnight) and I'll announce the winner, chosen randomly the following day!

Good Old Coffee Table

Oh, beat up old coffee table we love you so. You have sustained lots of abuse in the last four years and you're still going strong. With every new nick and scratch you are more beautiful to me. I hope my husband thinks the same thing about me when I'm old.

We bought it at a little antique shop in Union Pier Michigan. The place I dream of owning a little summer cottage one day.

Not one screw or nail to hold this baby together.

Here is the first flower cutting of the year, ya hoo! This is all that popped up so I brought them in and put them on a clock that I found without any hands.

I used it like a candle holder during the fall and winter but I'm loving the springy dafadils there today.

 

Nothing like a beat up old coffee table...

Linking to Emily A. Clark's coffee table link party

Measure Up

You never know when you might stumble upon the next great find so I always carry a small tape measure in my purse... just in case. Especially when you have a small house everything fits like a puzzle. So when I came across these figural tape measures in County Living magazine I was in love.

                                               They started out as novelty items in the late 1800s.

Most are only a few inches high.

Picure from Worth Point

Wouldn't this dress form be a great gift for someone who sews?

 

E-bay

And don't forget about the dog lover.

 
Have you ever seen anything so cute? It would be so fun to have one of these little guys next time I find another piece to my puzzle.
 
First two picture from thimblesociety

Friday I'm In Love

In springtime, love is carried on the breeze. Watch out for flying passion or kisses whizzing by your head. ~Terri Guillemets

Have a beautiful spring weekend.

Blooming Playhouse

Last year we started our search for a little playhouse. We wanted to find something that wasn't plastic and didn't cost a fortune. After lots of looking and reading reviews we found one we loved and it fit our budget too.

         updated 4/9 the tulips are open

It took Mr. 65th avenue almost the whole day to build and the next day he put together a deck to set the house on. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it.

The dutch door is my favorite part. It even has a working doorbell.

The flower boxes have been fun to change out for the season. I had evergreens and berries in there for Christmas and winter.
The spring pansies will survive our climate until we can plant annuals around mid May. Midwestern gardeners have to be very patient!

The tulips are just starting to open and we are so excited!

We were at an outdoor mall last summer when we saw the gardeners pulling out hundreds of tulips and throwing them away! I hated to see them go to waste so I asked if we could take some home and we ended up with a big bag full.

After reading up on bulbs, I stored them in the garage until fall and planted them. And it really worked!

I'm going to transplant my hydrangea and put it next to the house under the red bud tree. I think it got too much sun last year in the front and didn't do so well. Hopefully this will be a better spot for it.

I'll share a couple of pictures of the inside once I clean it up and finish a little project.

                                                    
 Sharing this at todayscreativeblog  tipjunkie cottagedreamers bluecricketdesign poshpieces

Faux Mantle

Pretty tulips were a nice surprise from the little one this morning. They are the perfect touch for our spring mantle.

   

Sadly, we don't have a real fireplace so a mantle was on my want list to fill an empty wall in the dining room.  It never stays the same for long; I'm always having fun changing it up.

And speaking of the dining room, new paint is on the list of things to do. Now I just need to decide on the color. With our house being a small bungalow, the main rooms flow together. I have the living room and kitchen painted the same oatmeal color and the dining room has always been different. Now I'm thinking about doing the same color in the dining room too.

What do you think, too boring or good flow?