The Pearly Story Behind "Dusting in Pearls"
I always feel like a walking paradox. I can get out in the garden with my shovel and sledgehammer and love every dusty dirty minute I'm out there. I spend the majority of my life dressed in my "grubbies". Yet there's a part of me deep down inside that still likes "the frillies", "the pearlies", and "the sparklies"--all the pretty things. Maybe it's all the great classic Hollywood movies I watched as a kid. I don't know. All I know is that I can be dirty and sweaty and still want to put on heels when it isn't practical; buy the prettiest apron even if it will get dirty; and don pearls when all I'm going to be doing is dusting and vacuuming the house. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't have to. I've decided to claim it, celebrate it, and have fun with it... and create some "pearly" goodness along the way.
When I first got married, I had to quit my full-time job because of health problems. I would bemoan the fact by saying to Hubby, "People are going to think I sit around on the sofa all day eating bon bons!" Hubby would always reply, "Where in the world did you get that idea? And what the heck are bon bons????" Last week as we were grocery shopping together at Trader Joe's, I stopped Hubby in the freezer aisle, pointed to a box of frozen bon bon's and said, "THAT'S what I've been talking about all these years!"
Recently, I shared this with my sister who enlightened me as to where I got this image. She reminded me of an old cartoon with a couple of pigs and a bazillion baby piglets. The husband pig was required to chase after the piglets and do all the housework while the wife pig stretched out on the sofa eating chocolates from a fancy box. My sister and I had a good laugh about how we both have issues with worrying that others think we're sitting around eating bon bon's all day.
Well, imagine how tickled I was when I discovered Soap Cafe with "yummy" soaps that look like decadent desserts. And they have a box of "Chocolate Soap Bon Bons"!
This is just a small sampling of what is available from
Soap Cafe. Head on over there to see the rest. But I advise you not to visit on an empty stomach.
Pearls are my favorite accessory. It doesn't matter if it's a string of pearls, pearl earrings, or pearl bracelets--I love them! When I can find a beautiful and unique pearl accessory, I am doubly delighted. In my hunting, I have discovered the amazingly beautiful creations by Laura at WanderLustre. Laura recently wrote the following profound words on her blog:
"'Art is not a Luxury' carries several meanings for me. On one level, I think of my own need to create art. It is not something to be saved for a free moment, but something that is essential to my own well being and that therefore needs to be given a similar priority to keeping my house clean or my cat fed. On another level, I think it also speaks to how sharing and owning art can enrich a person's life, and that one should allow themselves to spend money on artwork that they really love."
Those resonate with me on so many levels. Now, let me introduce you to just a small sampling of Laura's work at
WanderLustre:
In my quest for calorie-free yummy goodness, I discovered the adorable creations at The Fakery Bakery. Paula at The Fakery Bakery makes good-enough-to-eat Felt Foods and also has a line of Sweet Treat Jewelry . About the new line of Sweet Treat Jewelry, Paula says:
"Not only can you play with our foods, now you can wear them too!!"
Even though I would have loved these when I was a little girl having Kool-Aid tea parties and learning to love the color pink, I think that I love them even more as an adult! Why? Because I can appreciate how truly beautiful they really are.
Sugar cookies are so yummy and they are a weakness of mine. Imagine my sheer delight when I discovered wear-able sugar cookies that have no calories at Lilley Handcrafted Loveliness. There's lots of other almost-good-enough-to-eat creations too. Here is just a sampling of what's in store for you when you visit Lilley Handcrafted Loveliness. I highly recommend visiting the Lilley Handcrafted Loveliness blog as well.
When I was a little girl, my mom had a dining room set that included some chairs she had recovered in an aqua-blue color. Ever since then, the colors aqua and brown take me back to fun nostalgic memories of being a little girl. That's where this set of coordinating apron and oven mitts took me when I saw them. I was back in the kitchen dreaming of being a domestic diva someday... actually, I was probably just licking the brownie mix off the beaters.
...comment number 2! That means that Elizabeth (who is blueviolet at The Noble Wife) wins the Bird in Bamboo Zen Art Print that she loved so much from Kootie's Closet! Congratulations Elizabeth!
Thank you to everyone else for entering this fun giveaway. Just so you know, Kootie's Closet still has a couple of days left in their "September Special", so if you fell in love with something you saw as you were entering this giveaway you could get it that way too.
So I got thinking the other day, "I wonder what pink telephones are available now other than pink cell phones?" So I did a quick search on Google and, lo and behold, up pops a hit for Target (one of my favorite places to find a bargain). So I headed over to their site to see what pink telephones they had. And I am tickled pink (pardon the pun) with what I found.
Let me assure you, I have NO affiliation with Target, and I'm not getting paid to feature these products or put up the links. I just thought they were too adorable not to share. Just click on any of the images to go to the Target site if you want more information or you want to send Santa there as a hint for Christmas.
First, the Crosley Pink Princess Phone. Doesn't it come in a lovely shade of pink? (This is my favorite shade of pink, by the way. I call it "ballet slipper pink".)
Then I found this to-die-for phone that I would LOVE to have--the Crosley 1950s Pink Pay Phone! It would look great in my kitchen (hint, hint to Hubby).
Although this phone is in a brighter pink than I prefer, it is still darling and would look great in a french style boudoir--the Crosley Kettle Classic Pink Desk Phone.
And finally, for the true over-the-top diva extraordinaire... the Southern Telecom Fur Phone with rhinestone-studded receiver! Does this say "Austin Powers" or what? Yeah, baby!
I think the thing I love most about authoring this blog is that I get to go on hunts for beautiful things to feature. In my most recent hunt, I discovered the work of Caroline at Pink Lemonade Boutique Bags. What I love about her bags is that they are billed as "diaper bags" which means:
"Perfect for mommies on the go, this spacious bag features 3 fully lined pockets perfect for holding your keys, cell phone, and wallet with extra room for a bottle or sippy cup or whatever you need to keep easily accessible."
"This is the perfect bag to use now as a day-trip diaper bag and transition to other uses when your baby gets older. "
Is that just the best or what?!?! Actually, there's something even better about these lovely bags... they're so gorgeous that even a non-mommy (like myself) would love to carry one!
How gorgeous are they? Take a peek at just a sampling of divine pink bags Caroline has created. There are many other colors available too--I just love pink!
I was impressed when I found this line, because the D-Lux 57 line of aprons is built on a very special idea:
"Cooking never looked so good. D-Lux 57 introduces a new fashion line of aprons. The high quality aprons are 100 cotton and fully lined to protect clothing when spills occur. Bib style aprons have a flouncy skirt that will add a little flair to housework. This two pocket apron has adjustable neck & waist ties. Teenagers will love these Tween aprons. They are just the right size for the young cooks in between a kids and an adult size. Great for gifts or just some Mother/ Daughter time together. All D-Lux 57 aprons come with a coordinating fabric keepsake pouch. They can stack neatly on a shelf or they will keep your kitchen drawers neat and free of tangled apron strings. Years down the road they become wonderful keepsakes, full of memories of baking cookies with Grandma, gardening with Mom or helping Dad outside at the barbeque. Several fun fashion prints to choose from. Made with Love in the USA."
Isn't that really special? So here's a sampling of some of their darling aprons (all are available in the three sizes mentioned above).
Okay, if you haven't figured it out by now, I have a real passion for retro-anything! So imagine my sheer delight when I discovered the online store
Kootie's Closet featuring lots of paper goods that have that retro design style I LOVE!
When I emailed the shop's owner, Kai, to ask her if I could feature her wonderful shop here at Dusting in Pearls, she responded with an enthusiastic "YES!" and the wonderful suggestion that she would like to sponsor a giveaway (the first here on Dusting in Pearls!). And the prize? Kai has offered the winner
any item in her paper goods inventory in the online store as the prize! How cool is that?!?!
To enter this giveaway:
1) Visit Kootie's Closet online and browse the entire paper goods inventory to find the item you would love to win.
2) Come back to this post and leave a comment stating the item you'd love to win. And that's it! You're entered!
A random drawing for the winner will be held at noon (Pacific coast time) on September 27th. The winner and their choice of prize will be announced in a post here at Dusting in Pearls the afternoon of September 27th. [See the end of post for full rules and guidelines.]
Here is just a small sampling of the wonderful goodies you have to choose from at Kootie's Closet:
"Kootie's Closet Giveaway" Rules and Guidelines
Entries on this giveaway will be excepted up to 12 noon on Saturday, Sept 27th. Each person will only be counted once so duplicate comments won't help your odds (sorry). If you don't have an email link connected to the i.d. you use to leave the comment, then you'll have to check back on the day of the drawing (Sept. 27th) to find out if you won and then contact me via email so I can get your postal address privately on behalf of Kootie's Closet. If you do have an email link connected to the i.d. you use, then I will contact you off the blog as well as announce you as the winner. Basically, it's the standard blog giveaway rules that are out there in the "blog-o-sphere" already.
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