Well, I can't speak for others, but I love tea parties. There is nothing like sitting around with my girl friends, eating little crustless sandwiches, scones, etc., drinking teas and chatting about life. It is relaxing and joyful. This is something that has grown to be a favorite pasttime since a friend invited me to a tea & tour program at a local, historic hotel. The elegance of the whole day just left me wanting more. And it is so girly, which I am not. But I loved it and now have a girly sitting room to go with my tea things.

I have a clawfoot tub that I love. But I have noticed that reproduction claw foot tubs abound as do the more modern take on stand-alone bathtubs. They are all the rage, but what else are good marketers going to do when home building is a bust and people aren't spending money, but create something "new" that everyone must have to be cool?

I don't have a fairy garden, in fact a garden of any sort would be nice. In old house fix up terms, I haven't got that far on my list yet.
Diane

Diane- I'm so glad I'm not alone on this! I'm not really girly on most things, but I do love my tea :) I would love to have a claw foot tub and I'm looking for one for the remodel. They're so elegant. As for the garden, maybe a few roses in front would really inspire you. I love old fashioned roses. They only bloom once, but they're so pretty and smell divine! I do sound girly on this post. (LOL)

Lavender if you wouldn't mind, could you just post wandering thoughts daily for me? You inspire me LOL

We have a huge garden and I have to edit it...but how fun to edit by adding non plants in the form of a fairy village....wouldn't DS love that!

You know I now have claw foot tubs coming out my ears LOL so I have to learn to love them in any form. I am excited about decorating around them. I've seen them done in gold and silver leaf and it's fab....wanna come play in one of the bathrooms...you may bring all the tea cups you wish LOL

Igloochic- Sounds like a plan! Maybe when there's four feet of snow over here :)

Over in Garden Junk they have great ideas for gardens for little boys with gnomes and leprechauns, one gal is even doing a Humpty Dumpty display!

I love the tub on the front of that magazine. Great faucet and floor tiles are cool. You don't usually see pink and green accent tiles on a floor.

Maybe the girly-girl feel I've been craving lately is a reaction to all the economic news. I just want to crawl into my fairy tale surroundings and kick back in a claw foot tub with a cup of tea in my violet tea cup :)

Igloochic- Did you see the post on armoires in the bathroom? There's a website on "Furnishing the Linen Closet" that should look great with your "claw foot tubs coming out of your ears" (LOL)

I am a big fan,of all of those wonderful things. I don't have a fairy garden yet but I do have a fairy sculpture in one of my gardens. I have always loved fairies.

Scoot over girlie, I'm right there with you! I think my love for girlie things is because I was such a tomboy. If my mom searched for me, I'd be in a tree!

Now I just love looking at teacups, etc, and plan on putting in a Fairy Garden..maybe this winter since the plants will be dead in the front flowerbed.

I would love to see the cover of the magazine that you all are talking about Beautiful Baths..is it the current issue??
I love clawfoot tubs also--plan on remodeling a 1964 bath that has a HUGE built-in grey tub..ugly...and BIG..will start in the spring--so any ideas I can get now would be wonderful.
You all are the best..
Susan

ahhhh a tub with tea......you don't have little ones do you lav? heh my cup would be tipped and i'd be scalded in all the wrong places.
\

This is why i drink wine....

Lavender-lass, have you recently started buying decorating magazines or looking at decorating sites? Frou-frou has been around for a good 12 years, maybe more. I used to get Romantic Home and frou-frou was just about on every page, as that was the concept of the magazine. I stopped my subscription when Eileen Palin stopped being the editor and the magazine started getting to 'plain & simple' for my taste.

Country Living and Victoria were also magazines with a lot of frou-frou. I love it! ;o)

How about putting your claw foot tubs right outside among the fairies garden & have the best of both world ( tea would be nice too). :-)

I too notice a trend toward comfort based decorating (fluffy blankets, slipcovers, etc..) Maybe the uncertainty & turmoil of our current economy brings out the nesting instinct in people. When life goes bad I want to hide under the biggest fluffiest ruffliest quilt, not one of those severe modern coverlet, you know. :-)

I love frou frou & all things girly - thank God I have a little girl to satisfy my needs for frill ;-)

Thank you all for the great responses!

It's true, frou-frou has been around a long time in some magazines (I miss the old Victorian magazine) but lately it seems to be showing up more in "regular" magazines. I think Bellaflora is right, when it's time to hide out, it's much nicer to do it under the "biggest fluffiest ruffliest quilt" you can find...great description :)

I do not have little ones, unless you count my kitties, but I think wine is an acceptable alternative to tea, especially in a crystal wine glass (LOL)

Poshspace- Great time to remodel your bathroom, lots of wonderful ideas out there. The magazine is the current issue of BHG's Beautiful Baths. I'm not really a huge pink fan (more of a lavender fan with a little pink) but it's so nice to see cheerful, fun colors again!

Cooperbailey- Fairies are fun and I love the idea of putting some fairy things in the garden. The nieces love it and with all their Tinkerbell stuff, they can dress up and play in the garden. We had a small garden this year, but plan a bigger one for next year.

Oakleyok- I'm with you there. I wasn't really girlie when I was young either, so maybe we're making up for lost time :)

>I miss the old Victorian magazine

Do you mean Victoria? It's back, although sadly not what it was.

Yes. I do miss the old Victoria magazine and you're right, it's not the same. They used to have more gardens, decor, and such great recipes. I remember one time they had four pages dedicated to different types of honey. I wish I had kept more of the old issues.