Cowgirl Up #47 with Bliss Ranch

Happy New Year and Welcome to Week 47

of

The Cowgirl Up! Link Party!

1 Party, 5 Blogs 


Our guest host this week is

Bliss from Bliss Ranch

I'm Bliss, and needless to say I'm quite honored to be guest posting for Anita and the Cowgirl Up link party gals.  They all have a style that I could get comfortable in... sipping coffee, a glass of wine, or just cracking open an ice cold beer.  You can find me sipping and blogging at Bliss Ranch.

Our ranch sits on 25 acres with a lake at one end, woods and field on the other and a house in the middle.

It's a little bit country.....

Heading out of the driveway

Top Links from Cowgirl Up #46

I really hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

We had such a wonderful time at the ranch.  We visited with our country neighbors, attended a Christmas service, a dance on Christmas evening, and went to meet our neighbor's new mini donkeys, Dash, Red and Buddy. They were too cute, wanting to cuddle, and get attention.  It was wonderful, except I can't do much blogging from there with no WiFi.  I have to say I missed all of you. 

I know I said we would not have another Cowgirl Up until January, but since I'm back in time, we WILL have a NEW cowgirl up this Monday night at 5 pm. Please come along and link up a new project.  

Here were our top 3 links from Cowgirl Up #46.

By far, the most viewed link was 

Southern Abbey, who shared her experience washing burlap.

Guest room tweaking

I added a few little things to my guest room, just in case you stop by for a visit.   

As you can see the be BEFORE photo below, the shutters behind the bed add interest, but I thought I still needed a focal point.

Artwork Above a Bed

When I finished sewing the bedding for my bedroom and making the slipcover for my French settee, click here, I wanted something a little more striking for that space above the bed.

This is a difficult space to work with, since most artwork isn't wide enough to look good above a bed.  I found exactly what I was looking for - a detailed relief of a Parisian Architectural find from Ballard Designs.

Merry Christmas Dear Friends and Cowgirl Up

English - Merry Christmas

French - Joyeux Noël 

Texan - Merry Texmas.

Okay, before you get all over me for saying that we don't use the word "Christmas" here, I was just kidding. In Texas we actually say "Merry Christmas Ya'll!"

What the Turtle Taught Me

Have you ever had a defining moment? One that changes you forever?  I didn't even realize what an impact this event had on me, until years later.  

It was Christmastime, I was about eight, and I had added a specific watch pendant to my Christmas wish list. When Christmas morning arrived, I kept my eye out for the pendant I so hoped I would find under the tree.  I had opened all of my gifts, or so I thought, but it was not to be found. Then I saw a small box that had been hidden behind the tree.  I opened it slowly, hoping beyond hope that my little necklace would be inside.  As I wrapped it, I found what was clearly a jewelry box, YES! But the watch pendant I requested was not inside.  

French Country Cottage Guest Post

I'm pretty excited today, because I've got a special surprise for you. Wait a minute, you've probably read the title of the post, so you already know the surprise.  (Could you just pretend not to know for just a minute and humor me?)

I have always adored a certain Frenchy blog.  This blog is always stunningly gorgeous. My mouth drops open just about every time I pull up her blog, and I think it's a good thing she doesn't live nearby, because I would want to get a peek at what she is doing, not content to wait until it shows up on her blog.  (Yes, I would be the nosy neighbor, Gladys from Bewitched, looking through binoculars to see how she does it.)

So here she is, Courtney from French Country Cottage!!! 

Hi everyone!!

My name is Courtney and I write the blog French Country Cottage. 

I am so thrilled to be posting over here at Anita's beautiful blog today! 

We live in a 1940's cottage in beautiful California 

that we have been fixing up bit by bit over the years.

I thought that I would share a few of my favorite rooms and posts today.

I love vintage treasures~ and you can find me shopping the thrift stores looking for the next find.

These tables are new favorites ~ I love their worn paint and shabby finish.

Standing with the CT families

Praying for the families,

Cowgirl Up #46 with Guest Host Home by Ally

Let's party!

Welcome to Week 46

of

The Cowgirl Up! Link Party!

1 Party, 5 Blogs 

Our guest host this week is

Ally from Home By Ally!

Hi! I'm Ally from Home by Ally and I am SO happy to be here guest hosting for The Ivy Cottage and the Cowgirl Up Linky Party! What an honor! These ladies are such a great inspiration and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be here and sharing my passion with y'all!

Home by Ally started roughly a year ago with a serious passion for all things pretty. I have always had a love for home decor and repurposing the old and new, furniture included. My great uncle, grandmother & mother have always been insanely into home decor with my uncle owning his own interior design business in North Carolina. 

Cowgirl Up Highlights Week 45

I love all of the inspiration from Cowgirl Up, and I have been known to steal borrow ideas from the wonderful links.  

I meant to post this last night, but due to internet issues, I was unable to post until today. The cable guy already came to my house at noon, and is coming for a second trip today.  He seems likable enough, but I didn't really want to see him again.  The internet signal comes and goes, so it's kinda like skipping rope.  Sometimes I have to wait for the rope to come around again before the page will pop up.  Ahhh, the glamorous life of a blogger...  


Here are the top three links from last week.

21 Rosemary Lane shared this festive entry way.

Debra at Common Ground showed us her gorgeous dining room all decked out for Christmas.  (On a side note, congrats to Debra for her feature in Romantic Homes magazine in the January 2013 issue!!)

12 Christmas Ideas

I thought about making another Christmas project for you, but who am I fooling here, I have Christmas shopping to do.  So what's the next best thing?  How about a review of previous Christmas posts?  This is one of the reasons I refer to myself as "The Lazy Martha"!

Let's look at a recap of previous Christmas posts.

Vintage Bedding Details

Ever since I found my antique French linen bed spread for my room, I have been looking for more wonderful vintage bedding for my house.

I found a set of 4 matching vintage pillowcases all with hand crocheted lace edging.  I thought these would be perfect for the girls room, since I need 3 pillows here, one for each bed.

Happy Holidays in the Dining Room

My daughter has been lamenting that it doesn't feel like Christmas because the house isn't decorated, and we don't have a full-sized Christmas tree this year.  (Not my fault, REALLY. It's the table we inherited from my MIL... the table that knew too much that is in the way. We'll have room for a tree next year.) 

I knew about the tree problem, but I was as surprised as you were to hear that our house is not decorated for Christmas.  I mean REALLY?  What have I been doing for the last month? 

Santa's Workshop

In the midst of all the Christmas glamour, all of the beautiful decorations and fancy gifts, 


Sponsored post

it's easy to put our focus on pretty things and parties, and gifts.  It's sometimes hard to remember that this is a time of reflection, it is after all a HOLY DAY.  

Homespun Christmas Party Features

The Homespun Christmas Link party was so much fun for me!!  Thank you to everyone who participated and all of the readers.  I loved this party and you made it so special.  I wanted to share the top four links from the party with you.

There they are in order of clicks.

Fern Creek Cottage  - Love her gorgeous living room.

Cowgirl Up Week #45

Let's get our party hats on!!

Welcome to Week 45

of

The Cowgirl Up! Link Party!

1 Party, 5 Blogs  

And this week, for our second GUEST HOST!



Meet Mimi from Blue Roof Cabin

  Hi I'm Mimi.  I am thrilled to be Guest Hosting for the Cowgirl Up link Party this week. 

My blog Blue Roof Cabin is all about sharing my passion for all things DIY.  Whether it's building from scratch or re-purposing old castoffs into functional new pieces.  Not long ago I found a couple old doors at a local Salvage yard and turned them into this

my Dining Room Banquette

and this my Kitchen Island.

Cowgirl Up #44 Highlights

Oh the inspiration I get from Cowgirl Up each week!  I wanted to share the TOP 3 most viewed links from last week.  This is a way for me to give additional exposure to bloggers who link up projects.  

The most viewed link was from Decorating Tennis Girl, who took us on a beautiful holiday home tour.

A Spoonful of Merry Christmas

Joy to the world, and Merry Christmas.  It just has an even nicer ring to it when it's stamped on silver.

I love silverware and I love to talk, so it such seems like a great marriage to me.  SILVER + WORDS = FUN CHRISTMAS decorating. 

Homespun Christmas - Handmade Holidays

It's the second installment of Homespun Holidays. 

I'm so excited you're here today.  It's really an honor to be hosting with

Kim of Savvy Southern Style 

Ann On Sutton Place 

and

Yvonne at Stone Gable 

I consider myself craft-challenged, and you regular readers know where I'm headed here.  Yes, it's time for this week's installment of...

Anita's clumsy craft.  

I've been thinking for a long time about making some little stockings (like the ones Ann On Sutton Place makes) so I thought why not make them for our party?  I have made lots of things from grain sacks, so I had lots of fabric bits left over, just begging to be used.     

Homemade Snow Globes

I recently saw some beautiful little homemade snow globes shared at our Cowgirl Up party made by Homemade Modern. I thought to myself... I can do this!!  

Before I tell you how I made them, I've got to point out my vintage French crate from Decor Steals.  I know, I know, it's gorgeous!! Wish I had bought more when they had them.  So back to my little snow globes.

Cowgirl Up Link Party Week 44 with Fern Creek Cottage

It's Week 44 of 
The Cowgirl Up! Link Party!

  

And this week, we have 5 BLOGS  

and our first GUEST HOST!



Meet Lisa from Fern Creek Cottage

  Hi, my name is Lisa. I am so excited to be guest hosting at Cowgirl Up this week!

Our
family just moved to Texas this summer and we are having so much fun
exploring this great state! I hope to get a pair of pink boots soon and
become an honorary cowgirl. ;)

The
white library table was one of the first pieces of furniture I painted
and it got me hooked!

Cozy Inspiration Spotlight Blogger Home Tour

Have you seen the wonderful blogger home tours at Cozy Inspiration?    

If you haven't heard of Cozy Inspiration, it's authored by Brenda of Cozy Little House.  She recently started a blog about blogging, and she knows blogging; she's been a blogger since 2009.  On her blog, cozy inspiration, she serves up good advice for newbies, and seasoned bloggers alike.  Recently I've been learning about SEO and feedblitz at Cozy Inspiration.    

So back to these wonderful home tours.  In between blogging ideas and inspiration, Brenda showcases the homes of bloggers. I have been enjoying the gorgeous homes, and today, I was so surprised to find a sweet email from Brenda, letting me know she had selected my home for her spotlight tour today.  The best part?  It was actually her idea, seriously! I didn't even have to arm wrestle her or anything.    

Please go say hi to Brenda.  Here's the link below.

Blogger Spotlight Home Tour at Cozy Inspiration  

A Homespun Christmas - Vignettes

It's the first day of our Homespun Christmas Party!

The host for today is 

Kim at Savvy Southern Style.  

I love Kim's style and I am never disappointed when I visit her blog. She's got a keen sense for what works, and uses old ingredients in new ways.  Let's go on over there and see what's she's got for us today.

Savvy Southern Style

Christmas Vignettes

Oh and don't forget to come back here December 7, for 

Handmade Holidays

at 

Cedar Hill Ranch

I'm making something special for you.