Displaying pretty towels

Have you ever purchased a pretty linen, but weren't quite sure what to do with it next? One of the easiest ways to display a vintage linen is to layer it with other pieces. Using contrasting colors is a great way to add color to a room and draw attention to your special piece.

I started by using deep Burgundy modern day towels. These are thick and fluffy and have a very rich feel to them.

Then I layered a gorgeous, vintage hand crocheted towel over it. This one has beautiful work on both ends that is just magnificent. I could have left it as is or...

...put a sweet hand embroidered guest towel over it to add color and personality. This could have also been a Southern Belle, cute little animal, or other florals to add the "mood" you're looking for in your powder room.

What appear to be "His" and "Hers" towels are really pillowcases. Who says you have to use linens for their intended purposes. Everyone who came into my powder room commented on the cute towels, but no one guessed what they really were. This is a great way to display pillowcases that are too delicate to actually sleep on, or just too pretty to keep hidden.

I removed the fancy Victorian towel and just left the pillowcases for a simpler, cleaner look. Either way, they add vintage charm to modern towels. I love using linens in unique and unexpected ways.

We have a Winner!

I'm happy to announce the we have a winner for the chic & shabby pink runner! What fun to meet so many new friends and catch up with some "old" ones. The photo of the angels with the flowers was on the eBay listing of a Southern Belle coverlet. It was so hard to wait for the listing to be over to draw names, but I wanted to make sure everybody got a fair chance.

The correct answer was, "Make time in your day to smell the roses." Every one's name who answered correctly was written on a pretty post-it note and sealed shut. I dropped the names into this pretty pink vintage hat. It's so cute, and just perfect for a tea party with its millinery roses and and rhinestones.


I purchased this pink hat at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California last year many months before we knew we would be moving to Texas. I haven't had a chance to wear it to any tea parties yet. I'm glad I was able to use it for the drawing!
And the winner is...(drum roll please)...Michelle R. from Leander, TX! Yea!! She is a very sweet lady that I just met through this blog/contest and am very honored to have made a new friend. She's a devoted mother and wife who loves old linens, shabby chic, Mary Englebreit, and antiquing. Visit her at Rose Garden Romantic I hope she enjoys her new runner!


Here's a last peek at Michelle's vintage runner with sweet pink flowers. I've just about finished wrapping it up for her and will be mailed tomorrow. I can't wait till she gets it. Congratulations Michelle!

Free Drawing ~ Shabby Pink Flowers Runner Give-a-way

To enter for your chance to win this pretty table runner, just visit my Ebay store and look for a listing with a picture of an Angel and Roses and tell me what the picture says on it. I'll give you two hints: It will be near the bottom of the listing and it will appear on 4-15-08. Email me through the listing or through this blog. Your name will be dropped into a hat, and randomly drawn on 4-23-08 and if you're picked, you win this lovely runner!
~No purchase necessary~


This lovely vintage runner is all hand embroidered with the prettiest pink flowers and scrolling spring greenery. It's all done on snow white cotton fabric and trimmed in a yummy pink hand crocheted lace that goes all the way around it. This is a very lovely and dainty design that would look fabulous in any cottage chic decor.

These sweet little blossoms remind me of the flowers I would draw in the margins of my note book at school many, many years ago. But these are much nicer and must have taken hours to do. The work is very well done, and I love the crocheted trim. So pretty!
This contest is just for fun, but you have to hurry. The listing ends on 4-22-08 (and the name will be drawn on 4-23-08), so be sure to look for it and drop me a note. Be sure that I have a way to contact you if you're drawn. (Any info you provide will be strictly gaurded and used ONLY if you win). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

The Bag-bag: uses for damaged linens

I like to be organized, but I also like things to be pretty. Having Bag-bags (those sock like cloth tubes to hold plastic grocery bags) are great to have around in the kitchen, laundry room, and garage. When you come home from the store, just stuff the plastic bag in the top, and pull it out the bottom when you need it. Great idea!!

However, I didn't like the ones that are commercially available. They're ok, just not my style. So, I thought, why not make my own? For this pink one, I used an embroidered pillowcase that had too much damage near the middle, but the embroidery was still in excellent shape. And it had the added bonus of a pretty crocheted trim.

I used some pretty fabrics that complimented each other, some satin ribbon and a vintage earing.

This is a vintage clip-on earing that I stitched onto the center of a pink satin bow. I'm a little bit of a magpie so everything has to have a little sparkle on it, even if it's a bag-bag.

I made this one out of a battenburg lace pillowcase. Again, there was too much damage in the middle, but the pretty opening was fine.

I love the fabric on this one: minty green, soft pink and peach roses. Just gorgous. And I used a shiny rhinestone button for some bling.