French Farmhouse Table Setting, Blueberries, French Transferware, and a Dreamy Whites Online Shop $200.00 Gift Card Giveaway.....

Hello!

I hope you are all enjoying your week!

First of all I would like to thank each and everyone of you who left such kind comments on my blog and facebook page about my daughter Bethany's haircut.

Bethany says thank you too.

Giveaway information....

Today I am hosting a  giveaway!

The winner will receive a 200.00 Gift Card to my shop dreamywhitesonline.com.

All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post....

For additional entries.....

and if you would like extra entries you can post about the giveaway to any of your social networking sites.... such as twitter, facebook, and or blogger...

You must leave a separate comment for each site you post about the giveaway too...

Winner will be chosen by random number

Giveaway will end August 20th.

Anonymous entries please make sure you leave an email address with your entry.

Thank you!

**Giveaway is open to all international readers**

On another note....

 I have to apologize for taking forever to get this post up....
My daughter, Nicole helped me with the table setting.....
I want to say Happy Birthday to my sweet Nicole.
Nicole turns 17 tomorrow!
Happy Birthday Nicole!

I ended up having to retake pictures and decided to change up the table setting more then just a little bit.

The trick to getting those blueberries to float is....

If you are just adding blueberries to water, then if you pop the 

blueberries into the freezer then they will float... : )

However if you are using a drink like Lorina Lemonade that contains carbonated water.....

grain sack aprons found in my shop

Then they will float forever.....

I used an antique french bar glass carrier to hold the hydrangeas in.

I was hoping to find a few more blue hydrangeas in my garden for this particular table setting...

I ended up finding mostly green hydrangeas.

Almost all of my hydrangeas have turned green, it happens every year at about this time....

I do love the green color too...

I threw a blue and pink striped grain sack across the table.

I love how this french transferware plate looks paired with this rugged grain sack....

I added blueberries to these antique french jam pots instead of flowers....

Mix and match vintage silverware for a farmhouse feel.

I chose to use this darker blue french transferware instead of the light green transferware,

I wanted a little more contrast with the green hydrangeas.

I didn't want everything to match.

I will be adding french transferware plates to my shop over the next couple of days also.

I will be adding new items to my shop all week!

I will also be holding a sale until September 1st.

Select items will be marked down starting today.

 Giveaway information in case you missed it at the top of the post....

Today I am hosting a giveaway!

The winner will receive a 200.00 Gift Card to my shop dreamywhitesonline.com.

All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post....

For additional entries.....

and if you would like extra entries you can post about the giveaway to any of your social networking sites.... such as twitter, facebook, and or blogger...

You must leave a separate comment for each site you post about the giveaway too...

Winner will be chosen by random number

Giveaway will end August 20th.

Anonymous entries please make sure you leave an email address with your entry.

**Giveaway is open to international readers**

Thank you!

Dreamy Whites Online

You can find me on facebook here...

You can find me on twitter here....

Locks of Love, Jeanne Oliver Designs, and more....

 

Hello,

I hope you are all having a great week....

I first have to share a picture I took of my daughter today....

Bethany got a haircut today....

She is donating her hair to the Locks of Love.

This is the second time she has done this...

About four years ago Bethany discovered that kids her age might not be as fortunate as she is....

She wanted to do something to make them feel better...

and that was cut her hair and give it to someone who is less fortunate.

She told us then at age 8 she was going to grow her hair long, and cut it again once it was long enough.
I really didn't think she would do it again...

If you haven't ever heard of the Locks of Love you can find out more about them by going here...

It is a great organization and if you or your child is planning on getting at least 10" of hair cut off it is a great way to give 

something special to a child that is very ill.

On another note....

I received a beautiful package in the mail today from Jeanne Oliver....

It actually was for Miss Bethany....

We had a hard time wanting to actually open the package....

It was so beautifully wrapped.

Jeanne knew that I wanted to order a bag for Bethany, so she could use it to hold her art supplies....

She sent us the perfect bag...

The Ruffle Messenger Bag....

It fits Bethany perfectly and and holds all of her art supplies.

Thank you Jeanne for your generous gift....

Bethany loves her new tote.

 And you are all probably wondering who won Jeanne's Camera Bag...

I am sorry to keep you hanging....

The Winner is Meg....
Congratulations Meg!

Meg also has a very cute blog called

A Barefoot Day!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway....

Thank you Jeanne Oliver Designs for sponsoring such a generous giveaway.

We all love you Jeanne!

Jeanne's Blog

Jeanne's Shop

Speaking of giveaways....

I hope you get a chance to check out Jennifer Rizzo's blog today....

Jennifer is having a giveaway link party...

Jenniffer Rizzo

Be sure and check out her home while you are over there.

You will find out she is blessed with many talents....

I will be back next week with those table setting tips....

Enjoy your weekend.

Take Care,

Maria

Dreamy Whites Online

An Unfinished table setting....Secret Garden Cottage

Hello...

I hope you are all enjoying your week!

I first want to thank all of you for the facebook love!

You guys have always made me feel so welcomed no matter where I go....

THANK YOU!

I wanted to share a few pictures of a table setting I was trying to put together...

Usually it takes a couple of times for me to get it to where it looks right.

I have a tendency to do everything either too simple or too cluttered.

There isn't ever a happy medium with me...

I thought I would show you the first table setting I came up with..

It turned out pretty boring.

That is why when I was asked by KT Merry to be apart of her editorial shoot,

I was rather nervous.

It honestly ended up being one of my funnest experiences, that happened because

of having a blog.....

I learned so much by working with these two talented girls...

Sara taught me a new way to wrap vintage silverware....

I used to work as a waitress in this very small restaurant in Hot Springs, MT

when I was in high school....

I have always been wrapping my silverware like we did at the restaurant.

Last year I had posted a french farmhouse inspired table setting where I used blueberries in my drinks.

I was so disappointed in how that turned out, because the berries would always sink to the bottom of the glass....

I recently learned a trick on how to make these guys float...

I will share that tip next week with my follow up post.

Thanks to KT and Sara

As you can see it looks very unfinished, but the truth is this was what I first came up with.

If you are working on something in your house, whether you are rearranging a room, trying out a new paint color, or

seeing if you like the table setting you came up with...

take some pictures of that area or room and put it on your computer.

You might be surprised how much this process will help you see your home or project with a different view.

I always have to take pictures and then see it on the computer screen and then make changes.

I have been doing this ever since we moved into this house,

long before I started a blog.  

This process has helped me tremendously.

Photographing a room helps me see that maybe I need to edit or add something...

Next week I will show you some changes I made to my table setting, 

and share some of those tips I recently learned.

On another note...

I want to share a link to a blog I think you will LOVE.

I have always loved Jo's home, and especially love her farmhouse kitchen.

I actually haven't ever seen the before pictures of her kitchen though, until the other day.

My sister is doing some remodeling on her home,

and we were both looking through Jo's blog for inspiration.

I think you will be inspired too....

We are hoping my sister's husband will be inspired by her kitchen makeover too : )

Secret Garden Cottage

Have a wonderful week!

Take Care,

Maria

Dreamy Whites Online

Blackberry Pie.....My Mom's Pie Crust Recipe...Facebook and Twitter

Hello,

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

Well, I decided to sign up for facebook and twitter over the weekend.

I am a little nervous about this, but I think it will be a lot of fun....

KT Merry and Sara Roeder both convinced me to get signed up : ) .

My sister Liz, will be helping me run my  twitter and facebook accounts.

Liz does all of the sewing for my online shop, so she is very knowledgeable as to what is going on.

You can find me here on facebook

and you can find me here on twitter....

Now onto the blackberry pie recipe......

My sister, Monica shared the blackberry filling recipe with me....

I had planned to share this recipe last year and never got around to it...

We are in the middle of blackberry season here, so we picked some blackberries on the ranch to make blackberry pie.

We bake a lot of blackberry pies every summer....

I love this picture of my son Austin, I love that his little hands are stained with blackberry juice

and so are his lips : )

This is about the easiest recipe ever....

For the filling you need....

Blackberry Filling

1. Cup of Sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

4 Cups of Blackberries

1 TBL. butter

Mix all ingredients together and add to an unbaked pastry shell.

{I like to 1 1/2 times this recipe so I have plenty of filling for the pie)

The recipe for the pie crust is a recipe my mom has used ever since I can remember.

I have tried so many different pie recipes and really this one is my favorite.

I am from a family of 10 kids, so this recipe will make 6 single crust pastry shells....

so if you are making berry pies or fruit pies, where you need a bottom shell and a top layer, the recipe will 

make 3 berry pies....

You can adjust it according to your needs.

Even with having just five kids, I always make the full recipe.

Pie Crust

6 Cups of Flour

3 Cups of Butter

4 tsp. of salt

1 1/2 cups of water

Mix Flour and salt together

cut butter into the flour (until the mixture resembles corn meal)

add water

gently combine your flour and water together (just until dry ingredients are moistened)

divide into six sections, and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Add your berry mixture to your unbaked pastry shell....

Roll out another layer of dough and place over the top of the berries.

Pinch the two layers of dough together.

Be sure and cut in air pockets, and I also like to sprinkle a little sugar on the top of my crusts before putting them into the oven.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes on 425....

I always loosely cover the edges of my pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

I take the foil off the last 5 minutes of baking.

My favorite dish to use for baking pies in is the Emile Henry brand.

I really love using their bakeware.

If you would like to read more about Emile Henry and why their bakeware is so special, you can do so by clicking here.

Do you have something you love to bake in the summertime? 

If so please feel free to link to a recipe from your blog in my comment section.

On another note...

We are headed to the fair this week.

I had to share a picture of Bethany with her steer from last year.

Bethany had grand champion 4-H steer last year.

I probably won't be back until next week.

I  would like to thank Marni Katz from the inside source for featuring our bedroom in 

an article about recycling architectural salvage.

On a final note.....

Please make sure you enter my Jeanne Oliver Designs Camera Bag Giveaway if you

haven't already....

Jeanne is completely sold out of the camera bag....

One lucky winner will be getting the last camera bag, before Jeanne's new fall collection comes out.

I added a few new items to my shop over the weekend, but since we have the fair this week,

I won't be adding any new items until the beginning of next week.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Take Care,

Maria

Dreamy Whites Online