Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Merry Christmas!

Do you have those odd things that make you "feel" like it's really Christmas? I love walking through malls draped in Christmas decorations, old Christmas songs, and a handful of Christmas movies, but more even than watching my kids decorate our own Christmas tree, its the odd's and ends that always make me feel like the holidays are really here.
Shopping in Antique malls during their holiday open houses with Christmas carols playing, Satsuma oranges, Oysters, the smell of pine needles and roses. 
Odd combination, I know.
 

But a beautiful combination just the same.

 
I have a serious oyster addiction.
 

I love the Christmas decorations and candy canes. But for some odd reason, the combination roses and pine or holly, hit me in the feels every time. Strange, I know. I have no idea why.

 
But I love them, roses and pine, such an odd couple, but oh so beautiful together.
 
 
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

Saturday, December 19, 2015

The last few finds for 2015

Honestly, who wants to go into  mall the last weekend before Christmas? Unless of course it is an Antique mall.
 
 I actually snuck out early this morning and did something I have never done before. I hit the December Nashville Flea Market. It was a crisp and cold, sunny and beautiful morning. I had no business killing time at the flea, I have a long pre Christmas "to do" list and a very messy house that needs my attention. But, I just wanted to go. I will end up getting up extra early tomorrow morning to get the last of my house work done, but I think it was worth it.
 
There was less than half the number of vendors that you usually see, and I noticed that a lot of people were charging more than usual for things like Jadeite, trying to price gouge desperate people out shopping for the collector on their list I suppose. But I ended up walking away with a couple fun treasures at good prices.
 
This green bottle caught my eye right away. It has the most beautiful bubbles caught in the glass and is made by "The Standard Bottling Co" Milwaukee Wis. My mom is originally from Milwaukee and I spent a lot of time there as a kid so I thought it was a fun find I could not pass up. I spent 8.00 on it, a lot for me on a bottle, but I really liked it. Then I got home, did a quick check on Ebay and found the exact same bottle listed for 35.00. Um, wow, I guess I got a good deal this one!
 
 
Yet another tray, I have several, but can never seem to pass up a pretty one if it is in good shape at a good price.


I finally found the Pyrex creamer for a price I was willing to pay! I got both pieces for 5.00 But then got home and compared it to the sugar bowl I have,  the creamer is actually red. The one I need is pink. Oh well. The search continues.


I love this milk glass sugar shaker! My kids are cinnamon sugar addicts so this will be our new cinnamon sugar shaker.
 
 
As soon as I got home from the flea, I put on a pot of my "magic broth" everyone has been sick in my office the last couple weeks, everything from stomach bugs to bad colds with bronchitis, to the flu. I have neither the time or the desire to be sick so I have been washing my hands constantly and drinking my broth and orange juice. That with my immunity oils and maybe I will be able to stay healthy. If my team does not start getting better soon, I may ban them all from my cubicle!
 
 
On my way home from the flea, I also stopped and picked up some pretty winter berries for my vintage Milwaukee bottle.
 

I love how it looks!
 
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas week!

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Finally, my kitchen chairs!

Finally, after two months of looking at flea markets and antique stores, then about six weekends spent  working on them,  I have the chairs I was looking for to go with my antique farm table!
 
Forgive the garage shot, I was excited about finding the chairs and did not think to pull the garage door down. Yes, our garage needs a good cleaning.
 

Those seats...ugly, hard, rotting 1960's? vinyl. Not the original seat covers. They were still under the vinyl, a funky old red fabric I could no longer identify. It was nasty and had to go. The seats were in pretty bad shape on two of the chairs. Lucky I have a handy husband, he made new ones. Three of the chairs were in pretty good shape overall, I found a few flaws and damage after I started cleaning them up, pretty easy fixes. But one needed some real help. See that stray one off in right hand corner? It was the odd one the vendor threw in for free, It gets attention next!
 
So a little TLC and some feed n wax later, they were ready!
 

The wood turned out much darker than I anticipated. And the feed n wax brought out some red in the wood that I did not notice before. Oh well, again, you don't collect vintage and expect everything to match perfectly.
 

The wood may not match as well as I had hoped, but the shape of the chairs I think goes so well with the table. I love how they compliment each other!



And comfortable? Yes, these chairs are very comfortable, I doubled up the cushion on the chair seats, and the curve of the back hits your shoulders just right.
 
 
I love them! Bruno approves as well.
 
They fit in so well with the rest of the kitchen style. In my house nothing matches, but everything seems to go together nicely.
 
Perfect spot to sit with a cup of tea and look at the newest Rare Seed Catalogue that just came in the mail, oh and it is so pretty!
 
Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!
 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

I am a winter weather hoarder....

We had beautiful weather on Thanksgiving day. But this week, we are feeling a bit of Winter bite!
 
Years ago, when I first started to get into growing heirloom vegetables from seed, I asked my Father in Law, a farmer all his life, some questions about soil quality and other tips. He happily answered, but told me to go pick up the Old Farmers Almanac and follow it.
 
 
And I have picked one up every year since .
 
According to the old Farmers Almanac, we are in for a snowy winter, which of course sends me to the pantry with my notebook and a pen. In the South, the threat of an inch of snow can cause panic enough to make people clear the shelves of bread, milk and toilet paper. I am not one of those people.
 
 I plan ahead.
 
I inventory the pantry, follow the one in use, one on the shelf rule. Fill the freezer, keep an extra pack of toilet paper, the large bag of dog food and check the forecast daily. It is not rocket science people, snow and ice storms are seldom a surprise anymore.
 
Yes, I am that annoying person stopping into Kroger the night before a snowstorm, breezing past lines of people fifteen deep with their grocery carts over flowing with groceries as I quickly run through the self check line with my Oreos, cheezeits, ice cream, good cheese, summer sausage, crackers, fruit and orange juice, because I have learned to watch the weather and never let my pantry get low between November and March.
 
When we get snowed in, It is a party, and we don't run out of toilet paper, or bread. Although, sometimes we run out of orange juice and ice cream.
 
So bring on Winter! I am ready and really looking forward to it! I could go for a couple days snowed in. Because another nice thing about living in the South? The snow never lasts more than a couple days!
 
So go out and buy a copy of the Old Farmers Almanac and have a great week!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, November 28, 2015

When something catches your eye......

I have been collecting long enough to have learned that if something really catches your eye, grab it. I have never collected for profit, everything I have I brought home because I either had a use for it or I just liked it.  I think if you see something that you love and have the money in your pocket to buy it, do so without worry of what the return may be on it.
 
But lucky for me, a lot of what I have collected proves to be worth more than I paid, and that just makes it more fun for me.
 
Which brings me to my story.....
 
When I was wandering the Flea market in September I spotted a box purse in one of my favorite vendors booths, I know nothing about box purses other than they exist, but this one caught my eye, I loved the little birds on it. But, I passed on it with every intention of coming back. My goal that day was to come home with chairs for my kitchen table, and not knowing what I was going to end up having to pay, I was being careful with my cash. Of course I ended up finding my chairs for much less than I expected to have to spend, took a quick spin through the rest of the flea market and headed to my car to pick up my chairs.
 
I totally forgot to go back for the box purse. And I did not remember it until that Sunday afternoon. I was disgusted with myself, but, figured it was not meant to be and let it go.
 
Although I did not really let it go. When I headed to the November flea market on Friday, I immediately headed to the Antique shed where that vendor is always set up. and sure enough, the box purse was still there! But...the vendor was not, I was too early. So before leaving I headed back up there and got my purse. I even talked her down a couple bucks. It was not until I got home and did a quick google that I learned my cute box purse was a popular collectable!
 
Enid Collins was a Texas artist and designer that sold these adorable box purses in the 50's and 60's. Some are pretty gaudy ugly all are funky cool and most are worth a pretty penny, I saw a purse much like the one I picked up for 15.00 listed online for 40.00. Some of her purses were listing for as much as 400.00 and had bids on them! People apparently love these purses!
 
I sure love mine!
 

 
It is in excellent condition, even better than I thought after I cleaned it up a bit.

 
Perfect on the inside, a stray ink mark here or there, but nothing serious.



I don't plan to use it as a purse. When I first saw it I thought what a cute box to store my ever growing collection of essential oils! Still going to use it for my essential oils, but I will be very careful not to spill oils in or on the box itself.



There were not nearly as many vendors as there usually are, even in November, so my only other find were these darling Fire King TEA mugs, I did not even know there were tea mugs, I have never seen them in my travels, and I must have just looked over them online. These are so cute and the price? Two bucks for three cups, yup, I will take that. They sell for A LOT more than that online!
 
 
I plan to use them for tea tomorrow morning!
 
Dropped off another Hydrangea box arrangement at Creative Village just in time for small business Saturday, I doubt it will sell as fast as the last one, but I hope it sells quickly! This will be the last one I sell until Spring, I will have to focus my time on getting the Hydrangea boxes ready for rentals at Riverwood Mansion.
 
 
 
I had a fantastic Thanksgiving with family, and am really enjoying the rest of this long weekend! I hope you are as well!
 
 
 

 

Sunday, November 22, 2015

The week before Thanksgiving.....

The week before Thanksgiving and it was a crazy busy one!
I took Friday off  to get a head start on Christmas shopping and run my Thanksgiving errands so I am in pretty good shape for this week, I may even have my Flea market chairs finished before Thanksgiving! So in my travels Friday I made sure to stop into my favorite Good Will stores and the local Southern Thrift. Not much to be found but I did come away with one treasure from Southern Thrift.
 
A 1930's Wesson Oil Beater Crock!
 


I almost passed it up because I did not want to spend 7.99 on it. I know, that is not much for a crock, which is why I changed my mind after I thought about it for a minute, and anyway, I can always use another crock, right?
 
I am glad I grabbed it, after doing a little research I found out that they were mass produced by Red Wing Pottery in the 30's but I don't see any markings so I will do a little more research on them, looking around online there were none for 7.99, the cheapest I found was 23.00 plus shipping, and the most expensive was 49.00 plus shipping. I don't know how well they sell, but seeing those prices made me feel pretty good about my find.
 
And it fit right in with my other crocks, it was meant to be!
 
I am moving right along on the rest of my projects, Chairs should be done this week, and another flower box should be ready to go to Creative Village in time for small business Saturday. I still need to hammer a few Christmas spoons, the Christmas tree idea I was working on looks like it is going to be a flop so no more time wasted on that. But I am pretty happy with what I have done.
 
This week should be nice a quiet, kids only have school for a couple days and I should be able to get all the rest of my errands run in time to put down a pretty nice dinner on Thursday!
 
 
I hope you have a peaceful easy week!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Some flea market treasures

I am realizing that again, I am just two weeks away from what will probably be the last time I hit the Nashville Flea market until Spring, and I did not even get around to posting last months finds!
It was a gorgeous day, so wonderful and relaxing wandering around. I did not find a ton, some flatware to hammer and a couple small odds and ends, I even passed on the pink Pyrex creamer I have been looking for since last year, it was just too beat up and came with the sugar bowl (missing the top) that I did not want to drag home with me. But, I did find the most important thing on my list. Chairs for my Farm table! I think I got a good deal, Five chairs, 32.00. Not bad. Of course one is in pretty rough shape and the seats for two of them were totally shot and had to be rebuilt. But I felt like the wood and the shape of the chairs was spot on. I was not looking for perfection anyways, why collect vintage if you just work to make it look brand new? I have learned that lesson.
 
But they are getting some work. New upholstery, a bit of sanding and a good rub of feed-n-wax.
 

 I typically use coconut oil on my wood projects, but for the chairs, I felt they needed a really good dose of moisture and I wanted a bit of wax as well for shine. One of the ladies at Creative Village swears by it, and I did like it for this job although it darkened the wood much more than I expected. Oh and that subtle orange smell? Divine!
 


Love the shape of these chairs! I feel like they mirror the curve and shape of the table legs. As you can see, wherever I am, Bruno is not far behind supervising my work.
 

Here is a close up of the wood after a light sand and a heavy rub of feed-n-wax. The wood has more of a reddish hue than before, but I love that rich color it turned!



Here is a sneak peek of what they should all look like when I am finished! I will have to show you all of them in another blog post! I covered the seats in, yup, you guessed it. Cotton drop cloths. Again, I figured they will get dirty and I wanted something cheap and easy to rip off if (when) I change my mind and want something new. Plus, I loved the color and texture of that fabric next to the wood.
 

But the chairs are not the only thing to come home with me! My first dots Pyrex bowl! It is the smallest size, which I love the most. I also found my first Fire King Diamond bowl at my favorite indoor flea market last weekend. Again a small one, but honestly? Those are the ones we use the most.
 

Two more Swanky Swigs came home with me, I LOVE this size. It is the perfect juice glass. These were again from the indoor flea market, I swear, I find the best stuff at the same price as the Nashville Flea Market there.


And then there is this "eye sore" as my daughter calls it. But I needed a new glass for my bedside water, this one is a good size and bumpy so it is easy to hold onto when my hands are covered with lotion. Plus, I love the orange and red! It is kind of 70's funky! My daughter does not agree. And that make me laugh!
 

And oops! What is this? Another tree? Why yes it is! My fab flea marketing friends Deb and Tobie found this gem for me in their travels. It is the smallest one in my collection and I LOVE it! I wanted a tree for the kitchen, and this one is a perfect fit!
 
Sad thing? I know I found a few more things at both the Nashville and the indoor flea market. But, I cannot for the life of me remember what? Aside from a green jar (used for my essential oils) and some flatware to hammer, I am drawing a blank. Although, if I think about it, obviously they were such perfect finds that they blended right in with everyday life almost as if they had always been there. Things have a way of doing that in our house. OH! Like the thing I just remembered, a white small Fire King restaurant ware oval platter. I have been using it so often, I forgot that  I just got it. AND the orange Fire King mug that has become a part of daily life. Darn, I do get used to things fast.


We got our first hard freeze on Friday night, just as my Dahlia's started to bloom (very late I might add) Jack Frost comes along to snap them but good. Oh well, frozen or not, they sure are pretty.
 

 
I will miss my California Giant Zinnia's. Farewell until next year my beauties!
 
Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving? Is it really just two weeks away? I feel like I have gotten a very late start planning, I only just picked up my Turkey yesterday. For someone like me who is usually planning ahead for things like that. It is unusual. But, I have to remember to give myself a break, it has been a very busy year, And I know I will be able to pull everything together for  Thanksgiving day! Of course, taking off to run errands  and (gasp, Christmas shop) this coming Friday will help.
 
Ouch, I was not thinking about how I need to finish the hydrangea box and Christmas tree and Christmas sentiment spoons I am working on to bring to Creative Village before Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. As in the day after Black Friday. I may not get to sleep much the next couple weeks.
 
I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Creative Village: A short tour

I cannot believe it has been almost an entire year since I began selling at Creative Village, wow, time has really flown by!
 
In honor of my one year anniversary, I thought it would be a good time to take a pictorial tour of our little boutique! When I joined a year ago, I was the twentieth "artist" to join the group, today, just a year later, there are more than forty "artists", I have to admit I feel very strange referring to myself as an "artist" really, I feel more like I should be described as a crafter.
 
Creative Village is a tiny little boutique in the heart of the Old Hickory area in Nashville, just down the road a bit from the historic home of Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage. It is a darling little shop in a very cute area, I love the little neighborhood it is in with its little 1940's homes. Darling! With more than forty artists, the little shop is stuffed to the ceiling (literally) with lots of different handmade items.
 


Here is a view from the back of the shop looking toward the front door, see what I mean, tiny, but very full!
 
 
I love the creative way the shop displays everyone's items, it is so much fun to look around!
 
Here is my main "corner" I have products tucked all over the store, but the majority are together in this area under the Old Hickory sign. I love that sign.
 


As you can see, we already have the Christmas stuff out! The "Scrolling Puzzle Guy" is responsible for all the sweet little deer, this one had to come home with me and I have to admit, the Rudolf sign may be next if it is still there the next time I come in!


I have some of my photography there as well, but we have several people selling their photography there also, some very talented photographers, I love the pictures of the horses!
 

You can find handmade signs and pottery as well.


Several artists have Christmas ornaments there right now.


The most fun upcycled jewelry! These are made from bicycle tires!
 

Babylove soap, the best handmade soap I have found. My son is addicted to their "Old Hickory Bourbon" scent, and it does smell amazing!
 

All sorts of creative craft products!


More from the "Scrolling Puzzle Guy" My daughter LOVES his puzzles, they are adorable, he does a great job!
 

The little felted wool acorns that I brought home with my country mouse Stanley a couple weeks ago are from a new artist as well. Her felted wool creations are amazing!
 
 
Ok, one last shot of my pretty flowers before they sold! And I am still in love with this table, if I had the room for it in my house, it would have to come home with me.

 
Hope you enjoyed my little tour of Creative Village, if you are in the Old Hickory area of Nashville make sure to stop in and check them out!
 
Hope you are having a fantastic week!




Sunday, November 8, 2015

Flowers that never fade

I am full speed ahead making my upcycled aluminum hydrangea center pieces for the wedding venue that we will be working with after the first of the year, everyone seemed to love my "demo" so I decided to make a smaller one to try and sell at Creative Village, just to see if there was any interest.
 
Well...there is interest all right. I dropped this little beauty off at the shop around noon on Saturday, by three o'clock Saturday afternoon, it was gone! Sold right away! I was tickled!
 

I snapped this quick close up before we headed to the shop to drop it off. I was stumped on what to pair with the hydrangeas. After seeing some burlap roses at Hobby Lobby, I decided that they would be a perfect match and decided to try making them myself. Super easy, I will change my method next batch, but not by much. I was amazed at how easily they went together.
 
And I LOVE how they looked!
 
Making hydrangea flowers may be my new obsession!
 
 
Once a Creative Village, I spotted a new addition from another artist, the cutest little coffee table topped with vintage wood rulers, it was adorable, and my hydrangea box looked just perfect on top of it! I though, they looked like they were made to go together. But, it was only meant to be for a little while any my arrangement was off to live with a new owner!
 
But I am thrilled that people like my little creation. Not only does it tell me that I am on the right track for the table centerpieces for the wedding venue, but now I also have another item to sell! I posted a picture of the this box on Facebook and had two friends place orders for one.
 
My poor husband, he is going to have to get a few more pallet boxes put together!
 
But, after he found out how much I made on this little box, I suspect he will be fine with whipping a couple more little boxes together for me!
 
Not to mention this little hobby is a lot quieter than hammering my herb markers and sentiment spoons! I know he appreciates that!
 
It has been such a busy week, heck month, no, lets just go with year, I find myself looking forward to January, when work should be quiet and it should be quiet at home as well. I could really use a couple quiet weekends...to make hydrangea flowers.
 
Maybe Old Farmers Almanac will be right about the weather and I will get a couple snow storms that I will be able to craft my way through!
 
Off to start another week! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!