Gabrielle Messina Just a Girl

First Holy Communion: The Dress

First Holy Communions are a pretty big deal in this family. This year, I've already been to a few and my little lady's is coming up this weekend! She's been learning and growing in her faith and is so excited to take this next step. She's had Religious Education classes for the past few years, but this year, she seems to grasp it all.  There's lots of dresses out there that are really pretty, but I wanted hers to be a little different than those. It needed to have a special touch, one that was a little more personal. I wanted to create a dress, but since sewing up a dress from scratch is completely out of the question, I nixed that idea and nixed it fast!  What I could do though  was turn an ordinary dress into something special. I could do a bit of altering; takeing away a bit of this and adding a bit of that. 
I think God was shining down, because I found this dress on sale for $27.00!! It was the only one left and just happened to be a size seven! I snatched it up not having to think too long or hard on that one! The price tag was over $150.00 originally! I knew this was something I could work with. I removed the ties along the back(that I didn't happen to take a photo of) put them to the side. I could use them to make sort of a belt or sash and turn the dress into a one of a kind.  I dug deep into my lace stash knowing exactly which trim I was in search of. I had salvaged it from a shirt that I had stained years ago, knowing it would be perfect for something....  It's this beautiful delicate mesh with embroidered flowers. The trim hangs about six inches and I had at least a yard  to work with. I was able to sew it in tiers to so it would have a layered look on to the ties that I had removed and with a few hook and eye closures, had made a belt/sash/cumberbund.... not sure what you want to call it! 
I found a veil a few years ago at a flea market. It's delicate and falling apart. It's perfectly simple.I tied the dress with a pale pink silk ribbon and an old floppy flower. Now it's ready and awaiting her big day.

Now, I'm praying that my peonies will open by this weekend so I can make an arrangement for her big day...

French Settee Revamp

Good morning, friends! Today I'm linking up with Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday  I've been wanting to share with you the vintage French settee I revamped a few months ago. I picked it up for a song almost a year and a half ago. And while there are people who could have built an entire house in that time, I needed to live with it for a while and work up the guts to tackle it. I think it sat in almost every room of my house before I had a clue what I wanted to do with it.  
The very first thing I did was apply gold leaf to the entire frame. It was a very long process that left my kitchen littered with gold specks. I think the cracks in the wood floor still have some glistening gold in them....  

This seems to be the only photo I can find right now of how it came home with me in it's very raw and deconstructed state. It's a very old piece. The burlap of the seat was torn in numerous spots which meant the slightest bump sent excelsior; the grassy, straw-like stuffing used in very old furniture falling all over the floor. Someone had painted it this chalky blue; which wasn't all bad, to a large portion of the frame but the original gold leaf still remained on all the legs and back of the frame. If you're a regular reader, you may have seen bits of the settee in pictures from past posts. Here's a close up of some of the floral detail. You can still see a bit of the blue of it's past life peeking through. I found this amazing cut velvet pink damask fabric. Now, because I am not an expert on upholstery and the fact that the fabric was not wide enough to cover the seat and would need to be stitched, also, that the excelsior would need to be replaced with foam, I brought it to a upholstery shop. A girl knows when she's in over her head. It came back to me looking luxe and feminine. I rearranged some furniture in the house and the settee is now happily residing in our bedroom. 

Lovely New {{Old}} Items

I've just started to list a few things in my etsy shop. They're things from my personal collection that I'm letting go. I still love all of these items, and they're a bit hard to let go, but I can't hoard all these beauties for myself forever! Take a peek if you wish! 

Some Spring Things

 

I can't say I've done too much Easter decorating this year, but the mantle is looking spring- like in it's candy colored hues, so I thought I'd give you a little tour of the spring things going on here at our home. This large bunny I've had for a handful of years. He's from an old candy store that closed down. They used to use him in their window display each year. How I wish shops like that were still a dime a dozen.... This old iron piece I've had in the garage and decided to bring it in and  use it as sort of a fireplace screen for our "flip switch" fireplace. My husband said he would weld some small legs onto it so that it could be the proper height.

 

Andrea sent me this beautiful pink mercury glass egg! Isn't it lovely? And the wrapping too, it was a bit of Spring itself.....  From one Italian girl to another, she knew I'd love this big, beautiful tin, of which the contents have since been eaten! It was filled with biscotti....   With the exception of an Easter tree all decorated on the kitchen island and few faux chocolate bunnies scattered through the house, this little egg display in the corner in our kitchen just about sums up my minimal Easter decor for this year. Have you decorated for Easter?

I should be back very soon. I have a piece of furniture I made over and want to show you.... Happy Spring! 

 

 

Good Luck Charm

It's really the littlest things in life that prove to bring us comfort, isn't it? A warm blanket, a steamy cup of tea, a tattered toy, a reassuring phone call from a friend. It brings comfort to think at the end of the day, these things will be there to take even the slightest edge off  of our day. I wanted to make a little something for a friend to do just that; to take just the smallest trifle of stress off of her day. It's such a small token, how I wish I could do more...  A friend who's made many trips to and from doctors with her sweet child; her faith unwavering and her spirit so strong with the sweetest smile.
 I decided I wanted to make one of those moist heating pads that you can heat up in the microwave. Only I wanted a a prettier version and one that carried a message. I found a beautiful vintage postcard in my collection and printed it onto fabric and then went about creating a pillow case for the heating pad to slip into. The pad itself is filled with rice, lavender buds and lemon essential oil... it's smells divine! 

I used velvet on the back so it's soft against skin and while not in use as a heating pad and because it smells so lovely,  it can be used as an over sized sachet.I hope she will enjoy her gift and if it can provide the smallest bit of relief of a rough day, then it's doing just as it should. 

 

Jetset

Every year at about this exact time, when I've about had it with the cold winter days, I begin to wish I was jet-setting to some place nice and warm....

                                     . 

Of course, in my head I'm flying high in a golden plane like this one and toting suitcases that looked like these.
                                   

And when we'd arrive, I'd put on a suit like this ....

And looks as fantastic as these sunbathing dolls!
And just where am I off to, you say.... The Island of Capri!

All pictures from my Pinterest Board

Around the House Today

Hello, hello out there. My posts seem to have months separating them, but I'm here today. I shined my sink today and that's reason enough to snap a few pictures of the kitchen, isn't it? My little guy has already destroyed it and it's not looking so pretty....
Among other things on my "house wishlist" are rounded cane backed barstools and a antique chandelier, but there's always something more important for our funds to go. It's smelling pleasent around here thanks to the freshly washed duvet cover drying over the bannister.With three little ones around, we have stools everywhere and when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it. After all, stools will be at every sink for the next few years. It's sort of like a long term investment, without investing all that much....  It was covered in forest green vinyl(lovely, I know) and last night, proved to be the perfect time to reupholster it. A few weeks after I found the previous one, I stumpled upon this one. The man I purchased it from said a local company that manufactured stoves made these as well. That explains why I found more than one without even looking! They are cast iron and made like little tanks.... just ask my big toe. Another reason I love vintage so much. Made well and made in the U.S. of A. Everything today seems to be disposable. This one was covered in red velvet, equally as lovely as the forest green...One last stool was covered last night, this one for the girls' bathroom. I used a hand towel I had on hand as the fabric. Perfect for a bathroom, I think. It's a rather simple stool.... A bad iron piece from the 80's that was in my bathroom as a kid is more like it, but it does the job. It has been in there previously, but someone laid a wet towel on it and the fabric became mildewed by the time I discovered it.  Well, that's all for today folks! Sort of feel like I don't know how to write a blog post anymore, so if the quality was lacking or I rambled too much, forgive me! 

Because it snowed.....

Because it snowed here yesterday, I got all the Bavarian inspired ornaments listed in my Etsy Shop and even made a snowman too! I hope you will take a little peek! 

Bavarian Christmas Ornaments

It's been so long since I've been here. I wonder if anyone is out there? Hello.... check, check, 1, 2, 3. Well, if you are, hello, so glad you've stopped by. Autumn is in full swing around here, and forgive me for not posting anything Halloween-ish, but I've got sugarplums dancing in my head at the moment. It's been raining and cold here all day and I've got no desire to step outside when it's this toasty inside!  For the past few months, I've been completely and utterly enamored with Germany, it's culture, traditions, foods; desserts and chocolates mostly. But, for years, it's been their Christmas items...  ahhhh! The Germans really know what they're doing when it comes to crafting the most exquisite Christmas ornaments! Often, the most expensive ones of all too! For years and years I've wanted to get to a true Christkindlmarkt in a Deutschland town. Not the one in Chicago, not the one in Pennsylvania, but an authentic one in Bavaria. I'd sip hot spiced wine, and walk in wonder from stand to stand.  In my craft room, I've been taking in a bit of Bavarian inspiration and making some Christmas ornaments that I hope to have listed in the next few weeks. Here are a few peeks for you!

German Fruit and Cream Cake

With the warmer weather approaching, it's nice to have a few recipes on hand where no oven is needed! Who wants a house as hot as it is outside? This is one of my all time favorites for the summer season. I thought I'd share it with you too....

You'll need:

*16 oz. heavy whipping cream

* 1 lb. Ricotta Cheese

* 3/4 cup sugar

*11 oz cream cheese

*1 tsp vanilla

* 3 packages of soft lady fingers

* Fresh fruit

* a spring- lock pan

 

*Combine Ricotta, Cream cheese, vanilla and sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.

*Beat heavy whipping cream until it turns to whipped cream and then combine with cheese mixture.

*Next, take your lady fingers and "line" the outside rim of the pan along with the bottom(just sort of squish them in there) You should now have a cake bottom and side.

* Put about a third of the cheese mixture in the pan and cover the lady fingers.

*Next, you'll need to make another layer of lady fingers to cover the filling. This is you're middle layer of the cake. 

*Slice strawberries, blueberries, or kiwi and layer them on top of the lady fingers, generously.

*Top with the remainder of cream and cheese mixture and spread smooth.

*Set in fridge for at least 5 hrs. or overnight.

*Add sliced fruit or berries to the top just before serving!