Saturday, February 25, 2017

Mementos.....

After my mother in laws passing last month, we are just now beginning to sort through the contents of her house. The house itself is staying in the family, so we do not have the huge task of emptying everything out and getting it ready to sell, but we all have things left to us and each are also taking some memento's to remember her by.
 
Her house was built in the 60's and of course she had a lot of mid century there, knowing that I love all thing's vintage, she left me some things specifically.
 
Like her vintage rhinestone jewelry. So pretty!



She also knew how much I loved McCoy frogs, so she left me her two McCoy frog lotus planters. Love them!
 
 
And this lovely Occupied Japan cottage Tea set. This originally belonged to Grandmother Adeline.
 



 
After a little research, I fond it is missing the matching butter dish and covered cheese dish.
 
Yup, already been out on Ebay looking for the missing pieces. They will all be back together soon!
 
Such a sweet set!
 
We also have this beautiful chalk drawing done by a street artist of her in the 50's when she was a nursing student in New Orleans. I have always loved this drawing of her. She was so beautiful.
 
 
Working on some sign projects for the Antiques and Flea market next month. Always lots of fun trying new things! Hopefully I will have one ready to show you later this week!
 
Hope you are enjoying some beautiful winter sunshine this weekend!
 
 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Not taking it easy anymore.....

Nope, not taking it easy anymore.
 
I have been hammering away furiously every night so far this week in order to get all new stock ready for the Flea/Craft market on March 11. With the noise from me blaring Metallica while I hammer away, my neighbors are probably going to be really happy when I finish up this weekend as well. I wear ear protection when I hammer, so I gotta turn my tunes up....loud. I should probably put my music on my ipod and use my ear buds.
 
I am still using a boom box. Yes, I am still an 80's girl at heart.
 
In my defense I try to finish hammering before 7:30 and I keep the garage door closed...so at least the noise is muffled?
 
Maybe?
 
No one has complained...so far.
 
 
I should have all the new herb markers finished this weekend and then I will jump right into sentiment spoons, signs and maybe even a new flower arrangement or two?
 
Hopefully?
 
Call me a cockeyed optimist, I am sure I can get it all done!
 
Hopefully?
 
Hope you are having a quieter week than I am!
 

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Take it easy....

So far 2017 has been pretty darn busy.
 
I have been pushing myself to stick to a "de crap" the house schedule, as well as get cranking on new stock (failing there), along with juggling every thing that we have had come up in the last two months. All of that along with a nasty cold virus that hit everyone in our house in the last two weeks, has me feeling, well....a little worn out. So this weekend, I decided to take it easy.
 
Well....as easy as I take things.
 
So today, we went to have breakfast and visit with my sister and brother in law, bought flowers at Trader Joes, then just headed home. Not a lot of errands and running around (ok, mostly because I got that done last week) and  then we just puttered around the house.
 
And it was a lovely re charge. Something about just puttering around the house on a cloudy rainy day with an old movie playing on the TV that works so well to re charge ones batteries.
 

I arranged flowers, baked some more English Muffin bread, made crab salad and Blood orange lemonade, then baked cupcakes.
 
 
 
I may also have gotten a few loads of laundry done and made dinner, but it was all at a leisurely pace. May sound like a busy crazy day. But when you get all of that done at "puttering speed" it does not really feel like much.
 
Bruno was a bit unhappy with me, he would have rather that I sat on the couch and watched movies with him.
 
 
He spent his day parked on the couch, on top of his blankets with Bogie and Bacall movies playing. Ah, the life of a pampered Pug.
 
But this is going to be my last "take it easy" day for a little while. I have been asked to join a couple other Creative Village artists at a booth for a new monthly indoor flea market and craft show in our neighboring city of Lebanon TN on March 11th. We are going to give it a try before committing to doing more this year, but I have to admit I am pretty excited! Looks like there is the possibility of this being a really great little monthly market!
 
Did I mention it was indoor? Oh yes, that is certainly a bonus.
 
So the hammering, glass grinding and flower making will kick into high gear again starting tomorrow.
 
But I certainly enjoyed my "take it easy" day!
 
Hope you get to take it easy this weekend as well!
 
 

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Those random odds and ends.....

I love to read.
 
I am always flipping through magazines, reading articles online and of course I typically have a book or two in process at any given time.
 
Which is why I cannot for the life of me remember where I read the article about spoon pins. Southern Living? Martha Stewart? I am sure it was a magazine, no idea. But when I saw the article and read the story? I was charmed and knew I needed to have one to add to my vintage pin collection. Granted, my vintage pin collection consists of vintage rhinestone pins, so the spoon pin is a bit of a departure, but, I love a little variety.
 
What are spoon pins? Glad you asked. They are tiny replica's (some less than 2 inches long) of flatware patterns given away as a sales hook or included as a gift when you registered for your wedding china and flatware back as far as the late 30's and into the early 60's from what I could find in my research. Some were made of very cheap metal, but many were sterling silver.
 
So because I am lazy and like instant gratification...I checked out Ebay, and found hundreds.
 
Is this not so cute?
 

Look! A tiny gravy boat in the bowl of the tiny spoon!
 
 
 This one is sterling, just about two inches long and set me back a whopping 12.00 including shipping.  SO CUTE! I have already worn it a couple times and each time I have had someone comment on how cute it is and ask what it is. Seems like everyone that asks is just as charmed by the story as well. I think it is such a sweet idea.
 
You just never know what random odds and ends catch my attention.
 
Hope you are having a wonderfully random week!

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Another box bag?

Yes, another Box Bag. Ebay score.
 
I swear, this will not be a huge collection.
 
But, I have to admit, there is at least one more on my "Wish List" That I would like to have. I really like the Collins of Texas box bags, but they tend to be a little on the pricy side, my absolute top limit of what I will spend is 30.00. Which, unless I just get lucky, like with the owl box, limits my options, and also forces me to get boxes in less than perfect shape. But I am ok with that. I love a little restoration project. So when I saw this mushroom box bag come up on Ebay for 25.00, I went for it. The box itself is in great shape, a little dirty and scuffed up but really just missing some of the jewels. I see this style bag listed for 95.00 and up often, so, for 25.00 I was willing to do a little work and scouting around and find some replacement jewels.
 


 Must be because I am a 70's kid, But I have a thing for Mushrooms and owls.
 
I gave it a good scrub, a very light sand and just a light rub of stain. Ran into Hobby Lobby and found some " jewels " These will probably be replaced when I find something a bit closer to the original jewels. But I am happy with how they turned out for now.
 
I love how they look all stacked together!
 
 
They are such a handy size for storing small stuff, I keep my essential oils and accessories in these. But I was thinking, how hard would it be to make a knock off?
 
Not too hard. Again, in Hobby Lobby. Found this cute lunchbox and thought it would be a good example to experiment on.
 
First things first, sanded it down and gave it a light stain.
 

 
Pick your decoration,  decided to go for a wood decoration instead of a classic Enid Collins painting.
 

I think it turned out pretty well!


 
 Worth doing again for sure. After finishing this, I decided that a recipe box with a vintage spoon top handle would have to be my next project!
 
Anything I can do to incorporate vintage flatware right?
 
So, back to Hobby Lobby I go!
 
We have had such a crazy week, both my kids caught the nasty head cold I had last week, my son bounced back right away, but my daughter missed three and a half days of school she was that sick. Poor kid, she is finally bouncing back as well. Lets hope this is the end of our current drama streak.
 
Time to kick it into high gear and start working on projects again!
 
Have a great weekend!
 
 






Sunday, February 5, 2017

Feeling a little blue....

We are talking color preferences here, not moods.
 
Normally, I am not really drawn to blue. Cars, housewares even clothes. I have very little blue. Don't get me wrong, I like blue, but I just never seen to be very drawn to it.
 
But lately, I find that blue is jumping out at me.
 
For example, yesterday, before we dropped into Creative Village to drop stock, we did our usual run through my favorite indoor flea market. Not a lot to be found, but this little chippy blue plate caught my attention.
 
 
Its got a couple pretty good knicks in it, but I paid so little, it does not really matter. Anyway, who does not love a pretty chippy blue plate?
 
It appears to be a good quality, The pattern is very pretty.
 

 
I love it. Perfect size for some homemade English Muffin bread. Pinterest recipe and a total winner! So good!
 
 
 
I also found this lovely blue Glasbake bowl at the local Goodwill. I actually got this a couple weeks ago. But it immediately went into my kitchen workhorse stable and I felt like I had had it forever. I forgot to get its picture.
 
 
 These coupled with the beautiful blue rose Limoges plate and the turquoise Pyrex dish in the last month make four blue purchases.
 
I guess I got a blue thing going on.
 
Not that blue is the only thing I am looking for, while Ebaying , (I did miss the flea market this month after all, so  I figured I was due a little online shopping) found this fabulous orange Hazel Atlas  pitcher that just needed to come live with me, 16.00 included shipping, a little pricey, but not too bad as far as I am concerned.
 

 
I think anyone that collects Jadeite would LOVE to get one in Jadeite, but the Jadeite is a bit outside my price range, so I will be happy with my Hazel Atlas instead.
 
The only other thing I picked up yesterday was this cute  little dish. I think it is the bottom of a fridgie. But it was the perfect size serving dish  for some rosemary nuts I  whipped up today for super bowl snacking!.
 
 
Another Pinterest recipe.
 
 
So good!
 
Things seem to be calming down a bit around here finally. My son chose and signed on to a great college to  play football, I seem to be winning the war with my head cold and the general drama that has been following me around like a dark cloud lately seems to be breaking up.
 
About time!
 
Enjoying a beautiful sunny mild day here in Middle TN this weekend, this weather could sticks around for awhile as far as I am concerned!
 
 Hope you have a great week ahead of you!
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Some fun new stuff!

I cannot believe it has already been a couple of months since I brought anything new out to Creative Village!
 
Life has been pretty crazy lately, I had planned to get all of this out there this past weekend, I had quite ambitious plans for Saturday. Flea Market, Creative Village, Dance/Fashion show....well....the one thing I did not plan on...getting a cold. UG, felt totally drained and my sinuses were working in overdrive. I am feeling a little better today, but I am still down with it, seems like  everyone is. My plans for this coming weekend are not nearly as ambitious, still need to get rid of this darn head cold. Not fun. I do not get sick very often, and I really hate it when I do.
 
But, head cold or not, a trip to Creative Village cannot be put off any longer!
 
I really like these spoon/pallet wood "signs" and the ones with the Old Hickory Village zip code sell very well.
 
 
 
One of my personal hero's...Julia Child. Just love her, what an amazing person she was.
 
 
I see more Julia Child quote spoons being created in the near future. She was quite funny.


And a little love for this Valentines day!
 

 
And speaking of love, who wouldn't like a Valentine ornament?
 
 
And finally, I finished the first two broken vintage Fire King pendants.
 
 
 Love how these turned out, but I am really excited to see how the next couple I am working on turn out. Doing a slightly different design on the next couple. It is so much fun working with glass. But I have learned...if it is cold your glass is going to be brittle and flake and chip. Ummmm I work in a garage. I have to wait for nice days or turn on the space heater. I hate the space heater. Oh well, do and learn!
 
Everything is heading out to Creative Village this weekend!
 
Hope you are having a great week and looking forward to a great weekend!