master"PIECES" of my LIFE

table scape

so we had some friends over for dinner the other night & took pictures of my table before i forgot and got busy cooking, drinking, entertaining, etc.  i do it every time and i'm happy i remembered this time around.

i used my usual wedding china, citation lace by lenox.  our waterford crystal and my grandparents glasses from spain as water glasses.  

the flatware and the candelabras i inherited from my parents.  i love using them and i do every chance i get.

the silver serving pieces are pieces i'll be selling at the paris flea market sooner or later.  right now i'm having fun playing with them.  

the main reason i had fun with this table scape though is all the little succulents i'll be selling next month at paris flea market.  i've collected a bunch of mismatched sugar bowls and creamers and with a little succulent and some spanish moss, voila! they look adorable.  some are glass some are ceramic and some are silver and i love them grouped together.

as i look at these pictures i realize i took them before i put the napkins out.  i remembered the napkins and something else in the shower (apres photos) and i can't remember what the other thing was already.  clearly not that important anymore.

bon appetite! 

 

sweet valentines

 

 

happy valentine's day!  just wanted to pop in and spread some love.  the amaryllis our friends gave us over the holidays opened up today with perfect timing.

 

 

isn't she a beaut?  you would think i timed it or something, but in reality i was a bit worried i planted her too late.  i didn't get to her until the beginning of january since the packaging it came in was so pretty i just let it sit under our tree through the holidays.  we've been watching her grow and grow and grow and we even joked it would bust through the ceiling like a magic bean stalk... you can't tell from my picture but the stem is REALLY long; i actually staked the stem the other day 'cuz she started to topple over.  worth every little bit of work if you ask me and it was actually very little work with such a pretty reward. i've always wanted to force one of these bulbs since martha stewart is a big fan of them but just never made the effort.  i think it'll be doing it again.

here's a little touch of {loVe} in my home:

 

 

the little altered compact reads: "it is at the edge of a petal that love waits".  i made it a few years back in either a class or challenge or maybe simply from blog hopping inspiration; i can't quite remember.  but she's sweet & comes out to play at this time of year.  it's not a huge decorating holiday but i still like to inject some details throughout the house here and there.

here are a few pretties i made for vintage creations and sold:

 

 

 

 

here are a couple that didn't sell, but doesn't make them any less pretty:

 

 

 

with that i leave you with this sweet gent:

 

 

 

 

paris flea market

so my second month with the paris flea market was this past weekend.  once again crazy busy.  this time i sold more than last time.  of course i still want to sell more next time.  so much fun it hardly seems like work to me.

can't wait for next month!

"knock knock"

"who's there?"

"maryjo."

"maryjo who?"

"i know, i wouldn't remember who i was either".

it's been 4 months since i last blogged and i won't even attempt to explain or excuse myself.  i'll simply back track and share in subsequent posts.  right now i have some exciting news to share.

my etsy shop is up & running.  i already had my first sale!  you can check out my vintage creations on etsy here.  if your curious here's the beginning story of vintage creations.

i have also become a {flea}.  not of the pest variety but of the PaRIs FLea MarKeT sort.  the PFM is located in livermore and opens once per month for four days (thursday thru sunday) only on the first weekend of the month.  it's running right now, where you can find home furnishings, collectibles and accessories in an eclectic mix of vintage, french country, paris apartment, cottage, rustic and shabby styles (and once in a while a genuine antique!) with a past.  you can read more about it here and here.   

 so i've been super busy creating and being inspired.  can't wait to see what the future brings! 

vintage creations

so~ as many of you know i stepped away from my workshop business a couple of months ago and one of the main reasons was to focus my energy on my new business endeavor.  i've been wanting to do something like this for a few years now and with the support and positive energy from the charitable divas i've stepped out with my new business ~ vintage creations by maryjo materazo.   my official coming out was at our boutique last week and it could not have gone ANY better.  

what is vintage creations you ask?  it's handmade items to decorate your life or to give as gifts to decorate someone else's life.   everything has a vintage twist very a la maryjo.  i have paper & burlap magnet boards, wine charms, burlap wine bags, tags & cards, picture frames, pre-made scrapbooks & scrapbooking kits, thrift store upcycled trinket dishes, ornaments & more.  here's a peak of my product showcase at the holiday boutique last week.

my product mix will be determined by my findings and inspiration from day to day. so i'll always have new & different items.  i'm available to do home parties & vendor events plus i'll be setting up my etsy shop shortly:  http://etsy.com/shop/mjvintagecreations.

let me know if i can add some vintage charm to your life!

made with love

the charitable divas have been hard at work with events three weeks in a row, which brought me to make some handmade crafts for these events.

some halloween happiness:

quite a few paper magnet boards:

and a few more picture frames:

last but not least burlap magnet boards:

the best part?  most of these items have sold.  BUT this means now i have to create much more for our upcoming holiday boutique on thursday, december 2nd here in danville, benefiting adopt-a-familly.  more details to follow.