My sewing machine will be getting a make-over pronto! I love this idea and rather than buttons, I think I'll adorn my girl Singer with some lovely vintage jewelry bits, I do love my bling! I adore creative minds and I have sat in front of my girl Singer for countless hours...never did I think of dressing her up with a lovely make-over! Thank you Quilted Cupcake for the inspiration!

What do you have or use on a frequent basis that you can gussie up?

Make sure you enter the Giveaways currently available...see the the links at the top of this post!

Hi Sweet Friends! I'm always happy to offer a giveaway, but I'm especially happy about this one! The lovely Lisa Leonard creates stunning and gorgeous jewelry and I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to host a giveaway and introduce those that may not be familiar with Lisa to her amazing line.

Lisa's philosophy when she creates her pieces is simple, she makes lovely pieces that can be worn with jeans or your little black dress. She wants each piece to be meaningful and each piece is a work of art that is hand cut, hammered, polished, drilled and assembled with care.

Lisa also does custom work and this is the perfect way to celebrate your children, a marriage, anniversary, birthday or any special event!

Lisa also has a gorgeous blog "it's the little things" that I instantly fell in love with...I think you will too! It's packed full of goodness, amazing images and her kind and gentle spirit radiates throughout.
One lucky winner will receive a $75.00 gift certificate to use towards the purchase of any item at her divine online store. To enter please go to her site here and then leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite piece is. Please keep Lisa in mind for that last minute Christmas gift you need, who wouldn't love one of her charming pieces?

Want an extra chance at winning? All you need to do is post about this giveaway on your blog linking it back to French Charming and leave me an additional comment letting me know. The winner will be announced 1/9/10.

I wish I had more time {click}...I wish I had more time {click}...I wish I had more time {click}!

Karyn: I haven't any time...I'm frazzled and way behind on my blog visits.
Wizard: What do you mean you haven't any time?
Karyn: I mean I don't have any time, this is a crazy time of year...and some people with very little time do rude things...don't they?
Wizard: Yes, I guess you're right.

Wicked Witch of the West: You cursed brat! Look what you've done! When people visit you, the least you could do is return the visit you wretched woman!
Karyn: No, no. It's not intentional, I don't mean to offend anyone, I'm just so very busy!
Wicked Witch of the West: Well, my little pretty, I'll suck ALL your time away and you'll be lucky if you have one reader left before I'm finished with you!
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North: You have no power here! Now be gone, before I drop a Blogger on you!

Wizard: You must learn to multi-task better and you should improve your manners! Never mind that you work full time, commute two hours a day, keep "The Italian" happy, take care of a home, plus all that crafty wrafty stuff you try and squeeze in! You should consider yourself lucky that I'm granting you an audience tomorrow and saving your sorry ass by bringing another fabulous Giveaway to your loyal readers!
Karyn: Thank you wise and gracious Wizard! Shall we show them a little sneak peak?
Wizard: Now you're thinking...I knew there were some brains in there somewhere! Now work on your manners!!

See you tomorrow Sweet friends...I have a lovely Giveaway that I just know you'll love, please forgive me if I haven't returned your visit...I'm trying!

shoe photo via: audrey hepburn complex

Hi Sweet Friends...I hope you're sitting down because this is one super fabulous giveaway!

What's more classic and timeless than pearls? They add class and elegance to any outfit and the wonderful folks at Pearl Necklace Source.com are generously offering a $100.00 Gift Certificate to their fabulous store to one lucky winner! To enter you need to go to their site here and then leave me a comment on what your favorite piece is. To be entered twice, post about this giveaway on your blog linking it back to French Charming and leave me an additional comment letting me know.

Thank you Pearl Necklace Source.com for allowing me to host this fabulous giveaway. Good luck everyone. The winner will be announced on 1/1/2010...what a great way to start out the new year!

As a side note, I want to thank all of you who left comments on my previous post, I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment and for helping out families in need. God Bless you all!!

Help others? My company recently hosted an event for the Salvation Army and collected more than 80,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and $101,000.00 in cash donations. Although these are amazing numbers they are down from the previous year and the Salvation Army has a 40% increase in need this year.

In a combined effort with Feeding America, we will donate one non-perishable food item to the Salvation Army for each comment left here now through Sunday at midnight. By simply taking a moment to leave a comment you can help a family in need this Christmas Season!

Thank you sweet friends and please feel free to pass this along and have your friends stop by as well, every comment will make a huge difference to a family in need!

The deadline has now passed and the comments are now closed, thank you to everyone!

I incorporated a vintage crystal from a deconstructed 1930's chandelier...

Some vintage style rhinestone buttons....

Many of you may know that I am crazy about cupcakes, I love baking them, decorating them and because I'm a repurposing freak, I even love finding ways to repurpose the baking cup liners. Thanks to my good friends at Country Living, I think I've found my favorite Christmas craft project ever, so far anyway!

To create your very own baking cup Christmas tree, you'll need to drill a hole in the center of a 3" wooden disk. Insert a lollipop stick into the hole and secure with hot glue. Spread glue over top of disk, sprinkle with glitter; let dry. Cut an X into the bottom of small to large baking cups. Insert lollipop stick through largest cup, push to bottom of base, and hot glue in place. Slit next cup along one side and up to center to facilitate sizing, wrap around bottom cup. Glue sides of slit cup together, then glue into place on "tree" to prevent shifting. Continue to hot glue subsequent cups in graduating sizes up to the top. For trim, hot glue 6-mm tinsel type colored pipe cleaners to paper cup edges. Glue a bead to treetop, cover bead with glue, then sprinkle with glitter.

The only thing better would be a tree made out of pink baking cups!

Hi Sweet Friends... Thank you again for your prayers and well wishes, I adore each and every one of you! Now that Papa Calentino is doing better I fell like it's appropriate to share some pretty with you. One of my favorite things about Christmas are the traditions and my grandma used to always decorate her home to the hilt and I remember one of my favorite traditions of hers were her treat filled cones.


Aren't these adorable? I just love the vintage feel and they are so easy to make! You can use ready-made ice-cream cones or you can make your own with the recipe here. Whether you use pre-made or home-made cones you'll need to drill 2 holes on each side of the cone with a wooden skewer. Take care to apply gentle pressure to avoid cracking. Brush with icing and dip in colored sugar or nonpareil decorations. If you don't plan on eating your cone...I highly recommend that you go crazy with the glitter! Let it dry thoroughly before slipping a pretty ribbon through each hole and fill with treats.

I received a lovely award from the very sweet Blondie of Blonde Episodes who is as gorgeous on the inside as she is on the outside. If you don't know Blondie head on over and say hello, her blog is full of vintage goodness and you will leave there a complete fan!

I'm supposed to pass this along to 8 fellow bloggers and it's not that I'm a "rule breaker"...I just find it impossible to choose. I'm inspired by all of you, so please take this gorgeous award and link it back to the lovely Blondie.

I hope you all are having a fabulous week, thanks for stopping by!

Cone photo courtesy of Country Living

Hi Sweet Friends! I wanted to let you know that Papa Calentino made it through his surgery yesterday. The surgery was much more extensive than they originally anticipated and they had to remove a portion of his stomach, small intestine as well as a portion of his pancreas. I'm so thankful that he made it through and your continued prayers for a full and speedy recovery are greatly appreciated. I'm so grateful to all of you for your sweet words, thoughts and prayers! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!!

I wanted to share with you an amazing Christmas story that I read yesterday over at Blondie's Journal's. Jane's wonderful post touched my heart and warmed my soul!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week and I'm enjoying seeing all of your beautiful trees and Christmas decorations, you have the most amazing handmade and vintage treasures!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hi Sweet Friends... Subsequent test show that "The Italian's" father has cancer in his stomach and he will undergo surgery tomorrow.

The doctors are very optimistic that they can remove the cancer and with chemotherapy he should make a full recovery. The doctors have also said that it's very likely he will be able to come home for Christmas. That would be the best gift ever! I'm so thankful to all of you who visit and leave such lovely comments and I'm sorry if I haven't visited with you or gotten back to you, things have been a little hectic lately.

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and I'm looking forward to visiting with all of you to see what you've been up to. Please keep Papa Calentino in your prayers and hug those you love just a little tighter tonight.

Love and (extra tight) hugs to you all!

Hi Sweet Friends! I want to thank all of you for your anniversary wishes...your sweet words make my heart swell with gratitude. My heart is also bursting with pride. I don't share too much of my personal life here, but I'm just so proud of these two people who mean the world to me and I wanted to share with all of you!


This is my gorgeous niece Jennifer and her husband John. They are a lovely and vibrant couple and I adore them. They just bought their first house and get the keys tomorrow! I'm so excited for them and they have been saving to do this for the last two years. They bought a beautiful 5 bedroom home and I hope that means they are going to fill it with children. I can't even imagine what gorgeous kids these two will have...just look at them!

Thanks for stopping by today Sweet Friends! I'm so behind with visiting my blog pals...I'll catch up with you!!

Hi Sweet Friends! I'm celebrating the 17th Anniversary of my 29th birthday and wanted to celebrate with a giveaway!

I've been working like a mad woman trying to finish up the tote bag that I will be giving away but I still have a bit of work to do, mainly just some final embellishments (lots of bling) but it's far enough along that I think you will get the idea of what the finished bag will look like. One of my favorite icons is Marilyn Monroe and wanted to make a tote bag in honor of Marilyn.

Aside from the bag not being completed, my photos stink and I promise it looks better in person! The bag features one of my all time favorite photos of Marilyn and the photo is flanked on both sides with two of my favorite quotes by Marilyn. One says "I am not interested in money, I just want to be wonderful." The other says "Beneath the make-up & behind the smile, I'm just the girl who wishes for the world."

This is the first time that I have used photo fabric and oh my...I LOVE IT! It's what I used for the Marilyn image as well as the quotes...fun stuff! My head is swirling with so many ideas on how I can use it and all the different things I can create!!

I'm officially old because I actually forgot how old I was. I was telling "The Italian" that I couldn't believe I was going to be 47. I got the familiar eye roll and head shake (that typically means that I just said or did something stupid) He informed me that I will be 46. Awesome...I'm a year younger than I thought I was!! lol

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment and for a second entry become a follower of French Charming. If you are already a follower, just let me know in your comment and I will enter you twice. I will announce the winner on 12/15/09.

Thanks for stopping by today sweet friends!

I just knew that I would find lots of ways to use those bottles I've been saving and here is yet another clever way to use them...

I'm crazy about this look and the contents can be changed out according to the season. Don't you just love the crystals that adorn the bottles? I think the window sill in the kitchen is getting a make-over pronto!

I think I'm in love and besides, Toby needs a little sister! I hope "The Italian" is reading this! *wink*

What are you hoping Santa will bring you?

Hi Sweet Friends! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and that it was filled with the love of family and friends. "The Italian" and I had a wonderful time at his parents home and I wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for "The Italians" father. We received some wonderful news yesterday that the mass in his stomach is not cancer...Praise God! Truly wonderful news and we are most grateful. We are hopeful that he will continue to improve and gain strength and be able to come home soon.

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it's full steam ahead with Christmas preparations. A couple of years ago we bought many beautiful Christmas ornaments but if I ever decide to put up more than one tree I would love to have a tree in this theme...

Source: Pottery Barn

I'm such a sucker for gorgeous packaging, whether it's a gift or a product. I came across Nice Package and they offer a nice variety of clever and vintage style packaging products.


Congratulations to Marsha of Sassy Mini Dolls There were 63 entries and Marsha was comment number 3. Marsha will be receiving a bounty of gorgeous journals, stationery and greeting cards from Brush Dance.
Thank you to everyone who participated and a very big thank you to Brush Dance for providing all of the lovely giveaway goodies.

I'm off now Sweet Friends to start catching up on all of your blogs!

Hi Sweet Friends! As promised here is the very first French Charming Holiday Shopping Guide. No need to get all dolled up and drive to your local mall, hunt for a parking space, navigate through a sea of people and worse yet come home beat with aching feet. Get yourself a nice hot drink, crank up the Christmas music, prop your feet up and get ready to shop for a unique or one of kind treasure with a few clicks of the finger...easy breasy right?!

This all came about when I asked my blog pal Johanna of Good Girls Studios if I could feature her amazing revamped jewelry for the holiday season. Then I thought that I would like to support any fellow blogger who owns a shop by featuring their shops in a Holiday Shopping Guide.

I'm doing a "special feature" on Good Girls Studios this go around along with the shopping guide of many lovely shops to follow in this post. I'll be featuring a couple of shops per week through Christmas, if you would like your shop featured, just email me and it's done!

Here we go!




This is definitely an awesome way to get things started if I say so myself! Isn't Johanna's work fabulous?! I came across Good Girls Studios months ago on one of my many Etsy perusing sessions and it was love at first sight. If you've been reading my blog for anytime, you know that I am a repurposing freak! I just adore her eye for detail, her quirky yet lovely elements that she incorporates into each piece. You can see see the love and attention to detail in each of her amazing pieces.


Speaking of quirky and fabulous...here's the Backstabber No. 8, I featured another Backstabber in a earlier post and I'm so taken with these. I don't know about you, but I have never looked at a pocket knife and thought that it would make a fabulous necklace...that's one of the reasons Johanna is so amazing! I think I need this to survive in "Corporate America" it just screams don't mess with me!

Head on over to Good Girls Studios and find someone on your list a lovely treasure and I dare you to leave without getting yourself something! Ready for the best part? If you purchase from Good Girls Studios and mention French Charming you will also receive a surprise FREE ring that will coordinate with your purchase plus you'll get FREE SHIPPING worldwide! How fabulous is that?!!!

Now on to the Holiday Shopping Guide ...

Lori with My Faerie Window has the most fabulous Lollishop with an incredible array of Elegant Whimsy, Fanciful Creations, Romantic Inspiration, Vintage Treasures and Artistic Elements.

A vintage paradise is what you'll find at Fabulous Finds & Co. featuring vintage clothing, handbags, shoes jewelry and more!

Serendipity Vintage has a large variety of vintage sewing patterns from the 1940's through the 1970's. The perfect gift for a sewer or a lover of all things vintage.

Wanda Lee is a very talented artist and her work is featured on a line of beautiful cards. Her cards feature Tea Time, Perfume and Floral Themes to name a few.

Jen with The Crafty Home offers a wide variety of lovely and affordable home decor items, many that make my French Charming heart skip a beat! You also have to see her hand painted Silhouettes.

I'm lucky to own several different styles of cards by Kara Rosenbery Co. Each style is hand drawn by Kara herself and she also does custom orders. Stationary makes a lovely gift and your cards will be hand packed with love by Kara herself!

The super sweet Amy of Bunny Rose Cottage has the most fabulous hand crafted treasures that will make you swoon! She also has a couple of lovely vintage dolls listed on her Etsy site right now.

The lovely Karen of Dragon Fly Interiors has a fabulous array of tea and coffee sets, dinnerware, gifts and more. She also has a shop that offers gorgeous lanterns that you can check out at her Lantern Shop.

Susan with Paperhill is not only a lovely lady, she is very talented and her Etsy store is packed full of gorgeous handcrafted treasures and gorgeous vintage finds.

The lovely Blondie of Blonde Episodes Vintage Gems offers fabulous vintage finds. Just look at this gorgeous 1960's vintage dresser set!

Tamerie is not only a talented slipcover artist she recently opened a her shop This That And The Other Market Place and offers beautiful pillows, Christmas trees skirts, stockings and more.

Can you say GORGEOUS! I just love the work of this talented artist You can get an 8 x 10 print of this stunning painted lady for the ridiculous price of only $15.00! This make a lovely gift alone or in a vintage frame?! Get yours at her Etsy store J. Beaudet Studio.

Be still my wanna be French Heart! Isn't this pillow stunning?! Stefanie with Rose Petals and Rust has a huge selection of vintage treasures. I bought a beautiful enamel box from Stefanie some time ago and was so pleased with my purchase!

Robelyn is one of the funniest and one of the best repurposing artist around. Her Etsy shop red-neck chic offers an array of repurposed art. One of my favorite things she makes are stunning hand bags and she uses fabric from the most unusual sources...no vintage robe, coat or even a vintage couch is safe around this incredibly creative artist!

Gypsylulu has a delightful Etsy shop Gypsylulu's Delights and offers vintage treasures, jewelry, gorgeous tassels and this amazing Mardi Gras Gypsy Jacket pictured here.

Bunny with the Paris House (need I say more?) has a treasure trove of fabulous gifts including antiques, fashion, jewelry, beauty products and more.

Have a little one on your list this year? You must see all of the lovely crochet treasures by Lynn of Lynns Lovelies. She also has treasures for us big girls too!

The Lazy Peacock specializes in vintage and antique wares. She recently traveled to Europe and has new treasures from flea markets in France and the UK that she will be adding to her shop...ohh la la!

Julie Ann of Splendidly Sweet has the most adorable handmade goodies
and more! Her lovely tags would be the perfect way to adorn you Christmas packages!

A Scrapbook of Christmas First is delightful book and is filled with stories to warm your heart and simplify your holiday and is co-authored with 5 vibrant women authors and can be purchased here.

If you would like to be added to the Shopping Guide, leave your shop name and link here. Have fun shopping sweet friends, I just know you'll find many lovely treasures!

We will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday at "The Italians" parents home, "The Italian" is one of 10 children and with all of the extended family it's always full of love and plenty of laughter. "The Italians" father has been quite ill for the last couple of months and has been hospitalized for nearly 3 weeks, I would be most "thankful" if you would please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. It just won't be the same without him there and I will miss hearing him offer the prayer before the feast.


I'll leave you with this....

May your stuffing be tasty,

may your turkey be plump,

may your potatoes and gravy

have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

and your pies take the prize.

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

stay off of your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!