Miss Mustards Seed's Inspiration Story

I have been blogging for little over a year now. Like any other bloggers; blogging is a journey for me. At the beginning I did not have any specific intention first time I post my story. I was just looking for a place where I could record the creativity in me. I was an artist and at the time I painted a lot. I thought through blogging I could tell a story about and what behind the art that I created. But painting is not the only hobby I like to do, I like doing many things involving art, craft and design. One lead to another I started to post stories about what I love most like  my vintage china collection, journal art, home decor, cooking,  fashion even my deepest emotion when I about went through a vascular surgery. Now this blog has grown and I think  is still growing. 

In the past there were moments that I was not quite sure about blogging anymore. There were moments that doubt started entering my mind. I was not sure why am I blogging. I lost the purpose of  blogging and where it will go. These feelings came when you see other people's beautiful and successful blogs. How dynamic their blogs are. How beautiful when they composed the words in telling their stories and how beautiful those pictures tucked amongst paragraphs. 

I know blogging is not easy and it takes a long time to develop one. I know because I am in the middle of this blogging journey myself. As a beginner blogger; I think it is important to take  blogging e-course as many as you could. I took blogging e-course Blogging Your Way of Decor8 6 months a go. I think learning from blogging experts is important because not only you will gain technical aspects of blogging but what equally important or may be even more important is the motivation, the drive, the why you want to blog, what it takes to blog successfully, etc. These expert bloggers will tell you the same story of struggle that you are going through at the beginning of blogging. But they have interesting story and mission to share so they kept on going. They built followers and readers and people want to know what they are doing post after post and  story after another.  When I read other successful bloggers' story I learned that they are all share similar story and their advice to us beginner bloggers are; 1. to keep blogging, 2. to be true to yourself, 3. never quit. Eventually your blog will becoming like your personality just like who you are. And with all my heart I truly believe it. And my blog is slowly becoming me, my personality.

I think reading other people's blogs occasionally is very important because you will be inspired and gain an insight about what makes them so motivated and how they go about to do it and what it takes to make a successful blog. And I think this is important to keep you inspire and to be motivated to post your story regularly. And there are tons of bloggers out there for you to be inspired about. 

Here I want to share with you Miss Mustard Seeds 'The Secret Ingredient To A Great Blog'

In this article and on the paragraph You Are Special she wrote;  'You don’t have to be a grammarian, spelling champ or term paper whiz to write a blog post.  Just write the way you speak and let go of the insecurities about it.'

And on other paragraph You Don't Have To Be Anyone Else she wrote; 'You don’t have to measure yourself against the success of others.  I think women do that especially.' 

I remember when I took an e-course blogging from Holly Becker of Decor8, she taught us to NEVER QUIT. And those two words is stuck in my head until now. I can only suggest you take a look at Decor8 e-course. If you are a beginner blogger like myself I can only suggest you taking this e-course, you will not be dissapointed.

Marian is the driving force behind Missmustardseed success. What inspired me is that her beautiful vintage furniture that she madeover herself. Her story is a true inspiration to me. You can read her story {here}

About Marian {Missmustardssed}

Sources; Missmustardseed

So far blogging has given me so much joy and satisfaction; it is the extention of my day to day feeling of happiness that I know I can share to the world through blogging.  It can be as simple as telling a story about drinking a cup of tea, sharing my vintage finds, or sharing an emotion about my health like I have in the past. The readers out there are your friends, whether they are there or not to read or listen it is not important; let's pretend they are  and that is what  makes me happy.

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Thank you for reading and have a lovely week-end, Everyone !

Friday Vintage Fashion Splurge

These are my Friday picked vintage fashion wear.

 The wrap is effortless chic Marilyn Monroe. The structured dress is  elegant. The geometric green and black dangling earring and the pink tourmaline & gold rhinestones earrings are unique in shape and in color. The black satin peep toe shoes is classic and pretty with gold ornament and black crystals on the side. The beaded pink hand purse is so lovely ! I just love that black clutch with the antique jewelry clasp; upon closer look the jewelry is just stunning with intricate gold and encrusted green stones. So beautiful !

Am I 'dreaming' as I am looking at this picture again and again ?

Sources;

1. Gold & Light Green dress {here}

2. Pink Beaded Purse {here}
2a. Tortoiseshell bakelile purse with antique jewelry clasp {here}

3  Mink Wraps {here}

4. Chanel Earrings {here}

5. Badgley Mischka Black Satin Peep Toe Shoes {here}

6. Laura Munder Dangling Earrings {here}

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Happy Friday Everyone !

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends.

Thrifted Side Table Lamp Dilemma

I am in the middle of decorating our bedroom and been looking for table lamps. I found this one at Goodwill yesterday for USD 9.00. I thought it has a good solid and elegant base that I love. I am not in love with the finishes but that is why I am searching for the right kind of finishes that I could DIY myself. The lamp shade is in good condition and I like the cream color.

So let's take a look at the lamp itself.

I am not crazy about the tassle but it came with it and for the moment I just leave it hanging there.

These are some samples of what creative individuals did with their table lamps.

Source; http://pinterest.com/pin/263601384409687596/

I kind a like this chabby chic finish ! Because it's neutral color.

Source: http://diyhomestagingtips.blogspot.com/2011/08/salvation-army-chic-my-two-new-table.html

Source;http://www.raisingcolorado.com/2010/09/how-to-paint-a-ceramic-lamp-and-change-lives.html

I also like what Kate Riley did with her table lamp. Silver considered to be neutral color too !

Source; http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/03/from-bronze-to-silver-lamp-transformed/

You can easily spray paint them with Krillon spray paint like these ceramic belly table lamp.

Source; http://www.homedit.com/belly-table-lamp/

Or these !

Source: http://www.mrkate.com/2012/04/22/diy-colorful-thrift-store-lamps/

Okay, I have a pretty good samples of what I am going to re-vamp my table lamp. Of course I have to know what the color of my bedroom decor like wall, bedding and other elements in the room first before I jump in and change the color of the lamp. What do you think ! Can you help ?

Thank you so much !

Lazy Ellya's Lemon Tart

This Lemon Tart is super easy to make and the Meyer lemon taste is easy and light in your palate after heavy meal. 

I made this Lemon Tart for the party I had the other night {here} and this time I added Dark Chocolate ganache since I happened to eat them with chocolate cake in the party and thought the taste was even better with chocolate. 

::Recipe::

Lazy Ellya's Lemon Tart

Cut 1 large Meyer lemon into 8 pieces and place (skins too) in a blender with 1-1/2 cups superfine sugar, 1 stick butter, 1tsp vanilla and 4 eggs. Mix and chop them all up in the blender machine. Pour into your favorite store-bought tart shell. Bake at 350 deg. for 40 minutes.

(Note; I have tried as above and with skins on it tastes little bitter for me but many of my guests like it.  Next time I made another one without skins and with 1-1/2 Meyer lemons instead 1 Meyer lemon.) I also made with half Truvia sugar and half regular sugar mixed in package that available in grocery store but I do not like the taste of Truvia. So it is entirely up to you. It's just that it has much less sugar calories. But thought both method tastes as good.

Chocolate Ganache

~ Dark Chocolate morsels

~ Milk or Soy Milk

~ 1 tbsp butter

Mix them all up in a pan and low heat. Keep stirring so it wont burn. If thickens can add milks to thin it since you want to swirl it on top of your cake. I do not have measurement on this one just eye ball it for how much ganache you need for the cake you serve.

Good luck !

And thank you for reading !

Cocktail Party for Friends in Delray, Florida

Steven {hubby} & I have been wanting to have a cocktail party for our Florida friends for a  long time. Finally we did it last Friday evening. Most of our friends here in Florida have not seen our home since we have been moving in for almost 2 years now. We did some complete renovations and re-do of bathrooms, took down the popcorn ceiling, complete renovation of the kitchen, repaint the entire home, put crown mouldings around the ceiling and floors, changed the wall to wall carpet to laminate floors in the two bedrooms, etc.

We love coming here just to spend 1 week each month during the winter months from October/November to March/April. Steven loves to play sports outdoor, he is an avid tennis player and loves playing golf with his friends. I love flea markets and thrifting around this area. And of course we love meeting our friends and dining out in the evening.

For this party; I already plan the menu a head from New York. When we arrived here I started to get organize like buying platters for dishes, how are going to serve food, etc.  We did not have much since this is our second home. But I love setting up a party !

I knew I am going to put the finger food displayed on our dining table. Since I did not have large table cloth; I bought 2 yards inexpensive simple cream color material {USD 4.50 per yard) from  home decor fabric store. It was perfect for a table cloth. The center-piece was  spray rose flowers arrangements in a tall glass vase surrounded by upside down wine glasses with candles sits on the top. I put one petal flowers inside the glass in the bottom.  I really love this center-piece, especially at night when the candles lid up ! It was pretty !

Hosting a party is not an easy task. But if you plan way a head it will be much easier. And that is what I did.

I got these wine goblets from Goodwill for USD 0.99 each. They are tall, short with different type or design on the glass. It is nice when they are all a little different. Goodwill is a good store to buy things like these for party decor. You just use your own imagination. You can get vases, candles, bowls, food platters, serving spoons. Go there with lots of creativity, you will get cool stuff!

That's my parents in-law !

I put an array of cheese on a slate tile that I bought from Home Depot for USD 1.50/each. It is a nice and unique way to display assortment of cheese since the slate tile color are mostly black and the cheese are mostly white in color. I wrote each cheese's titles on a small cards and put them next to the cheese. I love this style on how to display cheese in a party. It is fun and pretty on the table with other finger food.

That's the number of our unit; 914 !

The highlight of this occasion was that an old friend from Jakarta, Indonesia came to visit from L.A. We went down memory lane together, smiling and giggling about all the things we did together when were living there many years a go. We were trying to remember all of our friends and mentioned bunch of names and wondered what had happened to them. So it was a lovely moments with Tina {on the left of picture}

I am glad the party is over and everyone enjoyed the food and got to know each other.  Now the journey of decorating our Florida home is continuing.  

Thank you for reading !

Decorating Center-Piece {Grouping Gilded Colorful Glasses}

I am very sorry for I have not posted any stories lately. Since hurricane Sandy somehow things has gotten really busy with me. All the things that I have listed to be posted were suddenly disappeared in my head maybe I, somehow a little shocked for living without power in such cold weather for almost 2 weeks. And suddenly we flew to our small home in Delray Florida. Slowly things are getting back to normal and I am eager to share stories, and pictures with you.

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As usual I love checking out things for the home at Home Goods near by our home in Delray, Florida. I love Home Goods because the merchandises are quite inexpensive and you can find unusual things there. This time I scored these colorful European glasses cost USD 2.99/each for the small ones and USd 3.99 for the tall ones.

I tent to decorate things in a 'group.' Pictures hung together on the wall as a group and so does these colorful glasses. I knew that they would be pretty to display them together as a group.

Do you see the Renaissance motifs that I hand painted and displayed on the wall as a group ?{last seen here}

I found the brass pear in blue  while a go at Goodwill and I found the orange one at Salvation Army in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida last time we were here. {last seen here} I am sure I will find another brass fruit somewhere in the future.

Vintage mirrored tray bought in Etsy and also available in Ebay.

What is your easy decoration around the home lately ?

Thank you for reading ?

Hurricane Sandy + Macarons + Ginger Tea

Hurricane Sandy is on it's way. I did buy some canned food, water, and other things in anticipating hurricane Sandy in case we will loose power. It said that it will hit our area Long Island, New York by Monday night. So today Monday morning is starting to rain and strong wind gust outside.

I am in the mood for a cup of Ginger Tea home made by me {here} and I still have macarons that I made a while a go {here}. I sat and relaxed while listening to my favorite artist Chris Botti and read some magazines.

This is a quick post, a moment in the act post ! I hope people of Long Island  like some of Steven's family whom are living on the Long Island shore will be safe.

Thank you for reading !