What's cookin' at RoseBlossomCottage.com

Introducing pretty Keepsake Recipes you can print yourself. And best of all, they are easy, easy, easy recipes. Perfect recipes to whip up when you have company on short notice. Or when you just don't feel like cooking much (that's me but I love to eat!).

January's recipe is Buffalo Stew. Not really sure why it is called Buffalo Stew because there certainly is no buffalo in it. Call it whatever you want, just call it good! We use this recipe a lot and we leave it on the stove for most of the day. You can't walk by it without filling a bowl. Trust me on this one.

Of course, since this is a keepsake recipe, we had to pretty it up for you. What more fitting way to usher in the New Year than with an angel bearing good wishes. From our extensive Victorian antique collection of ephemera...pretty enough to give. We thought of a few ideas and would love to hear from you for more:

• Gather the ingredients (sans the ground beef) and send it with the college kids.
• Put them in a large basket with some gourmet bread or crackers and give as a housewarming gift
• Arrange them in a large soup bowl and give to a friend that needs a pick-me up.

Just go to www.roseblossomcottage.com and look in our Victorian Romantic Prints category. There you can download a high quality print. You can't beat the price...1 penny.

More to come...next month's keepsake is a sweet from our new gal at the Cottage, Veronica, and is called Cupid's Cherry Delight. (Doesn't that sound wonderful!?)

Madeline has made her Grand Entrance

It was love at first sight and I knew right then that she was meant to be a part of our lives. She floated into the room and just stood there, a splendid beauty with her gorgeous gown and sparkling jewels. A coquette to be sure in her French blue ball gown, billowy vintage tulle, and pink millinery roses. Of course, even though she is sheer perfection, a few pieces of Broken China jewelery will make her the belle of the ball.


Jeannine from Days Gone by Creations has outdone herself with her handiwork. She is currently selling her gorgeous display pieces at an antique store called Collectiques in Pennsylvania. Just drop me a line from our website www.roseblossomcottage.com and I will gladly direct you to her. I know for a fact that Madeline has some beautiful sisters!

I have decided to put her in the cottage so she can inspire me. My sweet little cottage was a Valentine's Day gift from my husband. That little cottage means a lot to me and Madeline's addition will make it all the more special.

Grandma's Simple Jewelry Cleaner

We got a phone call yesterday from a lovely lady in a part of Texas that we didn’t even know existed. She was kind enough to share an old fashioned recipe for cleaning silver jewelry. Now that is a sweetheart!

Her grandmother had a step by step approach that is pretty simple and definitely eco-friendly:

*Get a little bit of salt and a little bit of baking soda.

*Add a little water to make a paste.

*Use an old toothbrush and scrub it on.

*Rinse.

That’s what I love about Grandma. Pretty basic, and a little elbow grease. Don’t know about using with pearls, opals, or other soft stones, but it works just fine with Broken China Jewelry charms and the like.

Of course, wearing it frequently is the best way to keep tarnishing away!

What’s your favorite way of cleaning your jewelry?

It's just that easy.

I was working on cleaning up some files and getting a little more organized for the upcoming holiday season when I came across this wonderful file. I had been hoarding some pictures of my favorite pieces designed by lovely, thoughtful women. Hearing their wonderful and touching stories was such an honor. It continually reminds me so much of the beauty of family and friends, and the love that binds. These inspiring pieces are just a little glimpses of what others have designed. Many of these were gifts so we hope that we aren't spoiling anyone's surprise!

I had also collected them not only because they are so very special but because we were working on making an order form that would make it easier for you to design your own unique engraved pieces for gifts. Then it occurred to me that several of the core pieces of the engraved charms related well to coins: dimes and pennies. And as to the font, it's usually script or block. And finally, the months of birth. Now how easy is that?

So we just need to know three things:
a) dime or penny
b) script or block
c) birth month(s)

So go get your coin purse out, a pencil and paper, and start your own design. It's easy and just in time for the gift giving season. Now who doesn't love getting something with their name one it and made just for them?!

Ideas & How to's for DIY Jewelry

We thought that we would share our little informal how-to that will be posted later on our website. Send us your ideas of how we could improve this little article or some more ideas on what can be put in these frames or any other ideas that you might have. We would love to hear from you!

Photos, Postcards, a child's refrigerator art, holiday themes, a photo of your favorite pet, a love letter...all become jewelry ready to grace the beholder in this versatile frame necklace. A longtime customer favorite at RoseBlossomCottage.com for making showing off things that mean something to you. A gift for grandma, a remembrance of a treasured summer vacation, or a lovely project for young ladies to adorn, the ideas are endless. These are so easy to do:

You will need:

A frame necklace (click here for choices)
Your favorite photo, postcard art, letters, scrapbooking art, cards, etc. We recommend that you copy and/or shrink them if needed on your printer.
Scissors
German Glass Glitter (opt.)
Glue (opt.)
Jewelry findings/flatback crystals/charms... You can even use parts of old jewelry. (opt.)

1) Purchase your favorite pendant shape (we even have the new copper toned that would look fabulous for Halloween and Thanksgiving). All come with black cording.

2) Assemble some pieces of ephemera, scrapbook materials, postcards, photos, greeting cards or whatever you would like. Open up the frame and lay it down to get an idea of what you think would look best. Don't be afraid to cut on the angle. Not everything needs to be straight up and down.

3) Use a pencil to outline one side of your frame and then trim it to fit in the frame. Consider putting another choice on the other side. Embellish with glitter (we love German Glass Glitter- Fine or Very Fine.) also available on our site. Don't get carried away or it won't close!

4) Embellish your cord and frame with crystals, bells, charms, or old jewelry parts.

5) Give as a gift or show it off yourself. It is a masterpiece and needs to be bragged about and you can tell everyone that you did it yourself!

It's a Matter of Shopping

Despite the heat, Charlene and I were able to get out and shop the countryside looking for new treasures. It is such a pleasure to meet shop owners. You can tell that they love their shops as much as we love RBC. When we first got into the antiques business back in 1992, we were under the impression that shop owners are competitive and don't share with other owners. That couldn't be farther from the truth! Many we met have long since become wonderful friends and we are thankful for their insight and wisdom.

We wandered into one delightful shoppe courtesy of Miss Charlene's great eye was Keeping Up with the Jones' in Odem, Texas. What a precious shop with treasures of every kind (the owner, Sandra, was gracious enough to let us take her picture. The ladies there were just treasures!). This shoppe is a home that has been lovingly made into a customers dream. Packed with everything that you can imagine for the well appointed home. I picked up some lovely dishes for Broken China Jewelry that you will see soon. We spent almost an hour and a half just going through it several times and we still probably missed seeing some things. You know that kind of shop, don't you? Would love to hear your favorite brick and mortar store!

Patty & Belle

Just a short post today, but I had to introduce you to two new bracelets. One is custom designed Broken China Jewelry Bracelet for Patty from Pinkhugssweetshoppe.com. She picked some wonderful antique pieces while we were at Cape Cod so it has been a couple of weeks since she's seen her little piece of confection. I so like showing what people design with our pieces and will try to make a habit of sharing. She did a great job didn't she?

The second bracelet is made of carved antique mother of pearl buttons and we named her Belle. She was definitely a labor of love and I wish that you could see her in person. Each sweet iridescent button was handpicked, set in silver and joined one at a time to create what you see. One thing about using antique mother of pearl is that the luster is so intense and pretty. Miss Belle has a bigger sister (I won't tell you who got her...but it is someone you know...ahem...ahem...) and she will have another sister soon. Look for Belle on the website soon.

Our next post: How to make a bracelet into a necklace. Come back for a great idea!