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Showing posts from February 26, 2012

Decorating Around My Transferware Collection + TWO Giveaways

I know many of you have seen this photo of one of Charles Faudree's dining rooms.  This is among my all time favorite dining room photos, and provided lots of inspiration for my own dining room. (photo: Charles Faudree) I miss the dining room I designed at the house I just moved from. Actually it is the wallpaper that I miss.  I spent several weeks finding just the right bucolic themed, toile wallpaper to showcase not only some of my red transferware collection as shown below.... ...but that would also look beautiful with another transferware pattern many of you know I adore and collect, which is a brown polychrome; Rural Scenes.   I was on a mission to find the perfect paper for my transferware because I decorate so much around my collections.    I did finally find the perfect paper by Kenneth James. The gold background was a perfect backdrop for both my red and brown polychrome collections, and the reddish brown toile looked perfect with either of my collections

Homemade Irish Cream & A Vintage Thing A Ma Jing

Tis' the season of all things Irish and here at the Roberts' house we've already begun our St. Paddy's Day preparations. A few days ago I shared with you all Irish Potato Rings .   Today I'm sharing more Irish-ness:  Shawn's recipe for homemade Irish Cream and pretty ideas for serving it up. I never knew how easy it is to make this from scratch, but it is very simple to do so and tastes as good as, and dare I say better than, the famous Bailey's brand. To prepare this yummy concoction you will need one willing Irishman, preferably with attire to match the spirit: and the following ingredients: Shawn's Irish Cream 1 1/3 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey (Use this brand!, you can add more or less, to suit your taste) 1 teaspoon Instant Coffee granules 1 cup Whole Whipping Cream 2 tablespoons Chocolate Syrup (Hersheys is fine) 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract (it's best to use real e

Irish Potato Rings

Okay, so this blog is mostly about English Transferware but if you've followed me from the beginning you know that I reserve the right to be random.  I'm married to a fierce Scotch-Irishman so this time of year is always festive as you can imagine!  I have been preparing some posts for St. Patricks Day, including a pretty green transferware tablescape and some of our own versions of  Irish recipes, like Shawn's Irish Cream and my Shepherds Pie (I found there is some controversy as to whether it's English or Irish but since I'm part English and Shawn's part Irish... it's both at our house).  As I was doing a little research, I came across these extraordinary silver collectibles unique to Ireland and thought I'd share:  The Potato Ring. Source: DandDAntiques So what the heck is a potato ring, you ask.  And, what was a potato ring used for?   Potato rings are silver stands which were used with a wooden bowl placed on top of the ring, or