Make Mine Pink Friday Shopping Event July 2nd, 2010

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday July 2nd 2010 as we present "A Summer Retreat"

Once summer arrives, I know it's time to plan a visit to my favorite summer retreat. That's where I go to enjoy all the simple pleasures of summer in the ideal setting. Whether I stay for a few days or for a few weeks, I always feel like I've traveled back in time to my childhood, to carefree days that ask nothing of me except to be enjoyed.

Here I don't have to follow the rules of decorating. I can put all my favorite items together, in whatever fashion I wish. Old pieces of furniture and accessories that no longer fit into my décor at home combine perfectly here. Somehow they make everything look welcoming and homey. On lazy afternoons, I love to stretch out on an old couch, now slip-covered in white, surrounded by cushions that would be called "mismatched" anywhere else. Here they're the perfect accessory for long summer days with nothing on the schedule. A summer breeze coming through the open window makes the lace curtains sway and I take a deep breath of the fresh summer air.
 The shelves and tables are filled with my favorite summer things. Glass vases filled with flowers I picked on my morning walk. Vintage framed prints that remind me of a quieter, gentler time. My favorite books and magazines close at hand. Each carefully chosen because of the peace and comfort it adds to my summer sanctuary.

Mealtimes are always casual occasions, served on pieces of mismatched china. I don't even set a table when company comes. We carry our dishes - some vintage pieces with pink rosebuds and some more modern - out to the patio table. As the evening cools, we linger over tea and pleasant conversation.

A summer retreat should be an escape from your everyday cares and concerns, filled with all your favorite summer things. However you envision your summer retreat this year, you'll find everything you need to create one of your own at Make Mine Pink.

Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink

Photo Contribution 1: istock photo

MMP Friday Shopping Event June 18th "Shades of red, white and blue"

Please join us for shopping with a twist on

 Friday June 18th 2010

as we present "Shades of red, white and blue".

When I think of the colors red, white and blue, I'm reminded of Fourth of July parties, picnics and fireworks. Our annual Independence Day celebrations are always filled with family, friends, laughter and fun. My favorite summer foods are cooked on the barbecue, almost as delicious as the company I'm in. On that day, I feel like the whole world is celebrating with me.

Everywhere I look, I find so many beautiful combinations of red, white and blue. Whenever I come across them, they make me smile with fond memories of those celebrations and family times. There's the vintage apron hung on a hook and waiting to be used when company comes for dinner. Its cheery red roses are still bright against what used to be a vivid blue, but has faded with

time. When I open the linen closet, blue and white checked linens – once my mother’s finest picnic linens, still bearing traces of childhood Fourth of July picnics – always catch my eye. In the kitchen, white vintage china decorated with tiny red and blue rosebuds sits elegantly on a shelf I've painted white.

Even when I don't intentionally plan to decorate in those colors, red, white and blue find their way in, catching me by surprise. I've hung a white canvas with big red roses on a wall that's been freshly painted in a pale robins egg blue. It just seemed right to put it there. My red and blue glass sun catcher, floating in a window framed with white lace curtains, sparkles in the sunlight. On the table, my treasured velvet strawberries inside a vintage blue bowl. The tiny cracks in the glaze, giving away it’s age.

What is it about the shades of red, white and blue that tells us they belong together? Maybe it's the history behind them. Or maybe it's our own memories of the happy times. All I know is, when I'm surrounded by shades of red, white and blue, everyday is a celebration of life, freedom, and love.





Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink


Photo Contribution 1: The Quilt Shoppe | 2: Cameo Kids Boutique  | Photo Contribution 3: Esprit de Joie

MMP Friday Shopping Event May 21st "A Spring Garden"

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday May 21st 2010 as we present "A Spring Garden"

Every year I look forward to the first flowers of spring. A garden filled with spring flowers always makes my heart beat a little faster with delight. Those first flowers inspire me to fill every corner of my home and yard with signs of rebirth and new life.



To the garden growing outside my window, I add a vintage planter filled with cheerful spring daisies. Their smiling faces welcome friends, old and new. I hang a ceramic plaque engraved with a friendly message among the tulips and the daffodils. On a busy day, it reminds me to rest a while and enjoy the spring flowers. From early in the morning until sundown, spring birds fill my yard and heart with their songs. They flit from tree to tree, looking for the perfect spot to build their nests. I could spend hours watching them carefully perch on the dainty teacup bird feeders I've set out for them.

When the weather is warm enough, I love to host a tea party outdoors for my granddaughters. On cooler days, I sip my tea indoors by a window overlooking the garden. I love to breathe spring into my home by adding floral touches throughout. I cover my table with a cloth sprinkled with dainty spring flowers and leaves. A floral Victorian cake stand makes a perfect centerpiece for the grand occasion – the arrival of spring. I set the table with vintage teacups and saucers encircled with tiny rosebuds for drop in guests.

In my sitting room, a beautiful handmade pillow rests on the sofa, which I have slip-covered in spring colors. Another pillow covered in bright pink blossoms sits proudly on my bed, now made afresh with spring linens. On the hall console I fill a crystal bowl with spring-scented potpourri and enjoy the fragrance of the season as it fills the house. At my desk, I write notes to friends I haven’t heard from in a while on notepaper filled with butterflies and spring spring flowers.

A spring garden is nature's announcement that the world is coming back to life. With its arrival, I feel more vibrant and alive, making me want to bring spring into every corner of my life.


The boutiques at Make Mine Pink can help you create a spring garden in your life.


Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink


Photo Contribution 1: Mary's Cottage Treasures | Photo Contribution 2: Cameo Kids Boutique | Photo Contribution 3: C'est Chouette

"A Few of our Favorite Things"

Whenever I come across one of my favorite things, I feel a sudden flutter. Do you know the the feeling? It's a little thrill that tells me this is something special. Maybe it's a memory that the item brings to mind or perhaps it's just the way it catches the sunlight. Maybe you’re not really sure what it is about this particular item, you just recognize the pleasure it gives you when you see it.

Whimsical treasures always stir that feeling in me. Faux pastries iced with lace and trimmed with vintage laces, pink polkadots on cupcakes and tiaras on clocks, things I only imagined in places I never expected. Vintage china pieces hand painted with roses, just like the ones my grandmother used to set, create that same inexplicable feeling of delight. Table linens in particular, remind me of the special teas I shared with her so many years ago.
 
Almost anything with a pretty scent is on my list of favorite things. Beautifully wrapped scented soaps, displayed in a ceramic bathtub, covered in roses. Sometimes I'll tuck and extra fragrant bar into a drawer to add a bit of fragrance to my clothing.

In the bedroom, armfuls of flower-covered pillows are piled on the bed - the more the better. Dainty hankies draped over the shade of a favorite bedroom lamp, create just the right lighting for a summer night. A crystal vase placed on a table in the center of the room sparkles in the sunlight and makes me smile when it catches my eye.

Favorite things come in all shapes and sizes, colors and scents. Whatever stirs that little flutter in you, you're sure to discover it at




Make Mine Pink.
Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday April 16th 2010 as we present "A Few of our Favorite Things"

Photo Contribution 1: The Pink Rose Cottage| Photo Contribution 2: GaiL Friend Designs| Photo Contribution 3: Angel Heart Designs