Willoughby Portraits

I shared these darling portraits with y'all yesterday that I purchased off of the local yard sale site. I fell in love with them the first time I saw them. I was so excited that I was able to purchase them. I have been trying to research these darling portraits with very little information but thanks to a wonderful bloggy pal, Ann B. that is you!:), I now know that the one portrait is Miss Julianna Willoughby. She is the work of artist George Romney. I believe that the boy is by George as well though I can not find info on it. He has a sticker on the back that is partially missing but it starts out with "Master Will....and then that is all there is. I am thinking it is suppose to say Master Willoughby.Though they are not originals I believe that they are original oil prints and if they are then they date back to 1910s-1920s!! I wish there was a way to know for sure but I guess since I do not know I will resist altering their frames!:0 

For almost three years now this wall in our dining room has been blank. It is one of the first walls your eye goes to once in the front door. I have tried hanging several things here but they all came down as soon as I put them up.

Now I can say that this wall is complete!

I decided that there needed to be something else on the wall between the two portraits so I placed this wooden sconce on the wall and then just for fun added the frame and moss ball. Turned out I really liked them there.

I love to imagine the life that these two portraits have had if indeed they truly are almost 100 years old. I wonder where they hung in their previous home/homes. 

I hope that the previous owners would be happy to know that I just adore these portraits and that they will continue to be well cared for!


Hope your week was a grand one! Be sure to stop back by tomorrow! I will be sharing Antoinette's reveal! I took pics this afternoon but it was too late in the day and so they came out too dark so I will be retaking them in the morning.

Linking up to the following link parties:

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Treasures

I went shopping today. It has been awhile since I went shopping and actually purchased things. I have been trying to be really good and get only things that I HAVE to have and just can not live without. Well today HomeGoods was really bad for me!;)

Look at this awesome rustic tool caddy! As soon as I saw it things that had already hopped in my cart quickly hopped right back out. I knew this was a piece I HAD to have!;)

Next up I found this cute Guest Cottage wooden sign. The lettering is not quite the styling I was hoping for but I figured I would bring it home and try it out since I had been hunting for one for awhile now. I think it is a keeper. Wait till you see where I put it.

Next up I found this cute little plate rack and I say little because even though I thought it was big when I got it home it would not fit most of the dishes I had even the small ones. Hmmm, maybe why HomeGoods got them. I did though luck up and had some pretty little white plates that fit. I am still messing around with the decoration for it and the space it is in. I will share that soon as well.

Then the boys and I headed to look at these beauties that were posted on the local yard sale site. Needless to say they ended up coming home with me too!;) I told you today I did some serious shopping!;)

When I saw those precious pictures I had visions of them going here on the blank wall in the dining room but now I am torn. They would look fabulous going up our stairs with a mirror hanging in the middle as well. Decisions decisions! Also if anybody knows anything about those portraits please let me know. The gal who was selling them tried to research them as did I and we came up with nothing other than they are very old. The paper on the back of one was gone and on the other it was super thin and falling off from old age.

So there are my recent treasures. Be sure to share your treasures for Treasure Hunt Thursday!

I am linking up to the following link parties:

Feathered Nest Friday

Inspiration Friday

Potpourri Friday

Treasure Hunt Thursday #41 & Highlights

Welcome to Treasure Hunt Thursday#41! I appreciate y'all taking the time out to come over and party. We had a lot of wonderful inspirations out there this week like every week. I know I say that all the time but its true! Y'all are a bunch of talented gals. 

Decorate With A Little Bit showed us this awesome space she transformed! My favorite parts are the door and hanging ladder!

Savage Whimsy made an awesome table out of old chippy corbels. I girl after my own heart!

Martina over at Northern Nesting showed us how she transferred an old worn down dresser into a show stopper!

Thank you to all you join us each and every week! If you have been featured please feel free to grab the "I've Been Featured" button to display on your sidebar.

Now on to this weeks party! As with all parties there are the normal rules. You must link back to From My Front Porch To Yours in your THT POST. Just common courtesy. If ya don't link back ya don't get to party. Only link up to your Treasure Hunt Thursday post and NOT your blog homepage. Please No advertising and PLEASE NO MORE than 3 links from the SAME party goer. If you find your post deleted it is not because I am a meany, I just have to make sure the rules are being followed. You can save some of your posts for the following weeks party! Also be sure to visit at least the link before you and after you to just say Hi! It makes partying all the more fun! If you are new around here I would love it if ya become a follower!:)

The Finishing Touch

Right before Christmas I shared our guest bath mini remodel. I have to say it is still my most favorite place in our home even if it is a tiny bath room!;)

I had been trying to hunt down a boxwood wreath to hang in the window but had no such luck. I was even going to break down and order the set of four small ones from Ballard but they were sold out. I figured between Michael's and HobLob I could at least find a boxwood candle ring that could pose as a wreath. No such luck so I had to make a wreath instead. 

All I did was hot glue some greenery from a garland to a small grapevine wreath. I would have used florist wire but I ran out and I wanted the project done like last week.

Though it is not boxwood I think it turned out pretty darn nice! I had enough to make two so now I am trying to decide where to hang the other one.

And before I go I had to share a pic of my assistant for the day. It usually is her brother that is supervising and she is rather elusive but today she decided she wanted to be a part of the wreath making. Her favorite room in the house is the guest bedroom!

Hope your day was a good one!


Linking up to the following link parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays

Open House Party

Dining Room Fluffing

This morning I spent some time fluffing the dining room decor. It had been the resting spot for all the everyday decor I pulled out of the closet after Christmas. It was easy just to walk in here and look at what was on the table rather then running back and fourth to our master bath.

I love this print! I have had it printed out and ready to frame for awhile now but just never got around to it. 

Took the plates out of the larger herb crate and brought out the smallest herb crate to hold the antique silverware.

I also brought back out my favorite bust form and crazy bird nest wreath thingy that I purchased at HomeGoods about two years ago. I love the little round frame but have yet decided what to put in it. 

Here it is all put together. The large whit mirror came back into play. It had been waiting patiently in the hallway. Now the Eagle mirror and shutters are in the hall way. Not sure if the cute artichoke votive holders will be staying or not. I had purchased them last week yes again at HomeGoods. I swear they should start paying me to shop there!:) What I really wish is that they would start a frequent shopper program or have coupons!! Now that would rock!

Anyways, here is another teaser of Antoinette! She is almost ready for her full debut. I just have three drawers left to wax and then to finish the other side of her.

Hope your weekend is going well!

Linking up to the following linky parties:

Sundays Best

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Tuesday Treasures

Table Top Tuesday

How To Make a Favicon

Have you ever wondered how websites/blogs get those cute little images to the left of their web addresses? Those little images are called Favicons. I wanted one but I did not want to pay somebody to make me one so I researched on how to make my own and now I am sharing my findings with y'all! My blog is on Blogger so I have no idea if this will work with other blogs hosted on other sites or not.

First ya will need to find a graphic you want to use. I like going to The Graphics Fairy for all my graphics such as this. On the right hand side of her page you will scroll down and see this box. Click on it and it will take you to all the categories of images she has which are all FREE.

Now keep in mind there are tons of fabulous graphics to choose from but keep it simple. Images such as this will not do well. You will be making the image into a tiny little square and you want your readers to be able to tell what it is.

I decided on this image.

This next step will vary on process depending on what type of computer you have. We have a Mac so all I do is click on the image right off of the page and drag it to my desk top.

Here it is on my desk top.There is no need to click on the actual image to gets its true size because it will be wayyyy bigger than you actually need it. For standard computers I think all you have to do is cut and copy it straight from the page it is on. Not sure though cause I have not used a standard computer in over 7 years.

Next up you have a choice of two FREE online photo editing programs. I will show you how to make your Favicon with both so be prepared for LOTS of pictures.

The first program I am going to show you is Pixlr. I stumbled across this program last weekend when redoing my blog. It is a great program and again it is FREE! Once you are on the home page click on Pixlr Editor.

It will then take you to this screen and you want to open the image you chose and had saved to your desktop or wherever it is you save stuff like that on your computer.

Select the file you want.

It will appear like this. Sorry it is not rotated but you can get the idea. There are too many pics and I am to lazy to go back and fix this one!;)

Next up click on Image and then image size.

This is what will pop up.

You want to uncheck the Constrain box and then enter in 100 width and 100 pixels. This will make your image square which it HAS to be.

Here is what your image will look like if you did it right. If you are having issues with it not letting you make the size 100X100 it is because you did not unclick the Constraints box. Trust me I know this from experience!;)

Next up ya want to save your image to wherever it is you save stuff like this on your computer.

You have the option of renaming it if you want. Leave in the JPEG format and the quality does not need to be adjusted either. Just click ok.

Next up go to your blog. I am using my custom furniture blog to show you how to do this since I had not changed mine out on there yet. See the orange Favicon?

To get rid of it click on Design.

Then off to the left you will see the Favicon section so click Edit. I managed to not take a pic of the next step but it is pretty much self explanatory. You will see a choice to download your image so click on it and download your image. That simple.

Once you have done that this is how it will appear. Notice your new Favicon! Be sure to hit the save changes button before you leave the design page otherwise it won't save it more than likely. 

Now if once you go back to your blogs main page and you do not see your Favicon up in the window no worries! Mine did not show up till three days after I downloaded. I read that sometimes it takes up to a week and sometimes it shows up instantly. Just be patient if it is not there right away.

Next up I will show you how to make a Favicon using Picnik. Picnik is another FREE editing program but after April it will no longer exist but we still have over 2 months to play with it so I figured it was worth sharing since it is the program I have been using for my blog.

Just download your image like you did before.

Then click on Resize.

Uncheck the Keep Proportions box. Then adjust your numbers to 100X100.

This is how it will appear.

Next up just click on the Save option and save it to wherever you want on your computer and follow the previous steps for getting it on to your blog. Note when the resized picture pops up after being added to the Favicon on Blogger it will appear larger and fuzzy. NO WORRIES! It is suppose to look that way. I was all ticked the first time I saw it but again all was good.

So there ya have it! You too can have a fun favicon in front of your web address!
Though a lengthy tutorial this is a fairly simple project but if you would just rather have somebody do it for you and you have your image chosen I will be offering up my services for just $5 a Favicon. Really though I BELIEVE you can do this too!!


REMEMBER: It may not show up right away. It could take up to a week.

Hope this tutorial was helpful!

Linking up to the following link parties:

Metamorphosis Mondays