Mantle Re-do for Spring

A few weeks ago, I asked my Facebook friends for ideas on how to redo my mantle for spring.  For the past four years or so, I've been going with the Primitive look but have lately decided it's time to switch over to a more romantic and nostalgic feel.

This is how it looked after I finished taking down everything after Christmas.

I had a brainy idea to paint this metal can white...but that was as far as I got.

I painted the can white a couple of months ago and hung the Easter eggs last month.

Today I finished it up and I love it!  It's hard to get a close up of the whole thing as it's a pretty long mantle and a short distance across the room but you get the idea.

I was so thrilled to have found these blue jars at yard sales this past weekend.  I picked up some cherry blossom branches at Michael's.  It's such a pretty contrast!

A Vintage Gift: Vintage Thingie Thursday

It's time for Vintage Thingie Thursday again...Yippee!!! Please visit Coloradolady for more Vintage Wonderfulness!

I've written a couple times about gifts I've received from BookCrossing friends (see label list on sidebar for "BookCrossing"). Today I want to show off what a special BookCrosser named Southernfryed sent to me a few weeks ago!
Southernfryed sent me this beautiful handkerchief that belonged to her grandmother. She enclosed a note telling that when her grandmother passed away, she found this handkerchief in a box all ready for her grandmother to gift out to someone. Her grandmother put the pretty lace edging on it in green and white.

You may remember that my very first Vintage Thingie Thursday post was about my Great-Grandmother's dishes. Southernfryed's gift was the perfect addition to my display of her dishes in my hutch! I'm assuming that they are both from approximately the same generation (my Grammy Annabelle was born in 1915), as Southernfryed is about the same age as my mom.

What a special gift this is! I was excited just to get something vintage and neat but then to read her card and realize the special significance of the gift---wow, I'm just honored!

Have a wonderful Vintage Thingie Thursday!

My First Limoges!! Vintage Thingie Thursday

Dear Thursday,

I love you. Thank you for existing. It is because of you that I can experience Vintage Thingie Thursday---my most favority of all favorite things to do in BlogLand.

Your Friend,
Sarah

So...guess what!!??!! I found a Limoges today. I really have no idea what that means, as you will soon see, but I'm excited anyway!!!
So I totally feel like I've arrived with all of my Shabby Chic blogging friends now that I've got this gorgeous plate! I've been reading about and viewing all these beautiful pictures of porcelain "stuff" from Limoges, France on everyone's blogs, and have really not known what that even means or why it's significant.

Today my daughter and I were out hunting and gathering (for antiques, that is) and we came across this gorgeous plate with a tag that said "Limoges". That's significant, I said to myself! So I bought it. It was $7.95.

When I got home, I looked it up online and learned that Limoges is a city in west central France that is known for it's porcelain, as well as for other really great stuff like oak barrels. When a piece is marked Limoges, that means it was made there but could have been made by any one of numerous manufacturers in the area.

Turns out my piece was made by Tressemanes & Vogt sometime between 1907-1919. This happens to be my favorite time period at the moment, The Edwardian Era. Woot! Lucky Me!
My piece is hand-painted and signed by the artist. I've seen ones like it online tonight selling for anywhere between $40-$175. Mine is, of course, in the higher appraisal bracket so shall we start the bidding at, say, priceless?

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday everyone! Hugs and Kisses to anyone who can help me pronounce Limoges. Right now, it sounds kinda like "La Mot Cheese".

Vintage Sealing Wax: Vintage Thingie Thursday

I've missed participating in Vintage Thingie Thursday the past couple of weeks so I'm excited to be back today! Visit Coloradolady for more Vintage goodies!

A couple days ago, Lynzie (10) and I were discussing her upcoming birthday party. (It's actually not until the end of January...!!!) Each year, she's pretty creative about picking a theme to bless her friends. One year she did a fairy garden tea party with grape Kool-Aid in the teapot. Another year, she had a costume party and everyone came dressed up. (She was Batman).

This year, she's decided on a full-blown Revolutionary War era tea party. I won't go into too much detail as it will make for some really great blogging later on, but one of the things she mentioned was that she wanted to seal her invitations with a wax seal. She started describing the process to me and I began to grin as I remembered something.

I went to one of my art cabinets and grabbed this sealing wax set that I'd picked up at a yard sale when I wasn't much older than she is now. I was so excited to sit down with her and show her how it worked and let her play around with it too.

Long story short, my sealing wax set is rather VINTAGE (for a nice way to say it... :) Some of the sticks wouldn't even melt and the ones that did caught on fire and dropped flaming drops of wax onto the paper. Before we could get the seal stamped, the wax would turn brittle and crumble. More often than not, it would harden as we put the stamp down and then I'd have to heat it up to dig the wax out of the pretty rose and fleur de lis designs!

I did a little searching online to see if I could figure out approximately how old this set is and where it came from. The box indicates it was "imported exclusively by Marcel Schurman Co., Inc., San Francisco" and that it was made in England.

Turns out, Marcel Schurman is the original founder (and father of the current owner) of Papyrus stationery stores. From what I can see, it looks like the set is from the early 1950s.

We've resolved to buying us a newer set of wax before time to send those invites out!

Never Be Afraid to Burn a Candle...

I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my new linking party! Read through for details!

For a creative thinker, inspiration can come at the least likely of times. It can sneak up on you when you're not expecting it and begin to weave it's way through your thoughts. One thing is for sure about inspiration: it makes itself known and demands to be fed.










Last Saturday, I was blessed and inspired by a post I read at a new-to-me blog, My Place to Yours. The author talked about the importance of not waiting for "someday" to arrive but, instead, to seize the day while it's here. She used the illustration of a pink candle sculpted like a rose that she'd been saving in a drawer rather than setting it out and burning it---and enjoying it. Please take a minute to read her post here. You will be so blessed!











She challenged each of her readers to do the same--to find that "pink candle sculpted like a rose" and burn it. (Of course we don't all have that exact candle but you get the idea...) Here is my story of my rose candle:

When my mom bought Whitey's Carmel Corn a few years ago, we went through the gift shop upstairs to make some order out of it and get things displayed and ready to sell. Amongst the faux flowers and assorted trinkets (the previous owner was a florist, I believe), we found the cutest little candle sculpted like a rose. I have a feeling that it is probably a fairly old candle---probably from the 1950s or so, from the look of it.

As mom has changed her displays up there over the past couple of years, the candle has moved from one spot to another...but has never been purchased. Recently, mom gave me a couple of boxes of things from her gift shop and that candle was included. When we got home from our visit with her a couple weeks ago, I set the boxes in the hallway to go through later. A few days later, my little daughter, Avalon, came toddling through the kitchen with that candle in her hands. Afraid she'd take a big ol' bite out of it, I took it away and set it on the counter. Later on that day, as I was cleaning up, I mindlessly tossed it in a sack in the hallway---the yard sale sack.











Fast forward to last Saturday as I'm reading the above-mentioned post. As soon as I was done reading her candle story, I knew which one I'd want to feature. But wait! Where did I stick that thing anyway? Suddenly, it dawned on me. (That's how long it takes sometimes to come back to consciousness when you've got as many things on the brain as I do!!) I began pawing frantically through the yard sale sacks in the hallway, hoping the candle wasn't in one of the ones that my husband had already donated to the church.

Luckily, I found it...and this is what I did with it:



I blew it out after a few minutes, of course, as I want to make it last awhile. I was reminded of a great lesson this week. My mom has a saying that goes something like, "Never be afraid to pick a flower even though you know it will wither." My new saying is, "Never be afraid to burn a candle..especially if it's been sitting around for 60 years!"


GIVEAWAY: I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my new Wednesday linking party. Click HERE for up to 5 chances to win!

Linking up today with Susan at My Place to Yours and...

Pyrex, Strawberries and a Mystery! Vintage Thingie Thursday

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've done a Vintage Thingie Thursday post! What a busy summer! When you're finished reading mine, head over to Coloradolady's blog to find more participants in Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Today I'm featuring a little mix of things I've acquired over the past few weeks. First of all, I'd like to show off a gift from my Mom (remember, I told you how great she is in this post). My mom has been excited about building her collection of vintage Pyrex bowls for awhile now so I know this was a special gift for her to give me. When I came home to visit last week, she picked out one of each of her best bowls and gave them to me so I'd have a set! Is that awesome or what??!!



I love you Mom! Thank you!!!




Next up are a couple more additions to my strawberry collection! You might remember, I featured my slow-growing collection in this post. Well, I've found two more great pieces...

While we were home visiting Oregon, I found this cute strawberry teapot at a yard sale for a dollar! It WAS in perfect condition...but some dingbat (named ME) didn't wrap it up safely and it fell and got chipped up. It's still cute though!

Secondly, I found this little Avon bottle at my neighbor's place (I live next door to the thrift store!) It originally held bath foam and is meaningful to me, 1. because it goes with my collection and 2. because my mom sold Avon when I was really little and she has happy memories of her time as the Avon lady.

Lastly is a little mystery item! My mom gave me a bunch of knick knack thingies out of her gift shop while I was down visiting and the item below is one of them. I've got a pretty good idea as to what I think it is but I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what exactly it is or can offer some ideas on how to use it! It is very heavy (crystal, I think) and has three places molded into it where it seems one would stick something in them to use it as a stand or holder of some sort.

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday, everyone! Hope this is a great day for each of you!

A Sunday Afternoon: Vintage Thingie Thursday

Yesiree! It's that time again...Vintage Thingie Thursday! Every Wednesday night, when it suddenly dawns on me that the next day is my favorite blogging day, I say to my husband: "Guess what tomorrow is?" He says, "Vintage day!" Yep, he gets excited for me too! If you have the chance today, go on over to Coloradolady's blog and check out Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Today I am showing off something very special to me! When I was a little girl, my mom, brother and I, went for a walk one day and found this plate at a yard sale. We thought it was very special and ended up giving it to my great-grandmother, Grammy Irma. She hung it in her kitchen and it was always my most favorite thing in her home. When she passed away in 1999, this plate was the only thing I wanted from her things. It has always hung in whatever kitchen I've had, these last 11 years.

Last year, I was snooping around in a thrift store and found this framed picture of the same scene. There are minor differences, but it's obviously meant to be the same picture. There are no markings on the picture at all but the plate does have a silver and red sticker on the back that says, "Japan" and the numbers 5956 are written below it. Along the bottom of the back of the plate are written the words, "A Sunday Afternoon".

I looked all over online tonight but can't find any information on it at all. I'd be interested to know which scene came first: the plate or the drawing. I'd also like to know if there are other things out there to go with it--perhaps a figurine?

Thanks for stopping by today---hope you have a wonderful Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Folksy Finds: Vintage Thingie Thursday

Yahoo! It's my favorite blog party of the week: Vintage Thingie Thursday! Visit Coloradolady to see everyone's special vintage posts!

I'm extra excited today to be showing off a few of my "folksy finds" from the last week. My husband gave me a couple hours and $20 and told me to have a good time...so I hit the Salvation Army! I'm not hard to please :) Some of my treasures included a set of 12 linen dinner napkins that had never been used, a set of 12 vintage glass dessert dishes that I plan to use for jello, and a surprise vintagy treat that you don't get to see until Christmas time!

Today I thought I'd focus on the things I found that were in my "folk art" theme that I love so much. First of all, I found a neat little kitchen plaque with a cute rhyme about homemaking. It reads: My Kitchen Prayer--God bless my little kitchen, I love its every nook, And bless me as I do my work, Wash pots and pans and cook.

I love the old fashioned cook stove, geraniums and checkered tablecloth. I even have a chair that looks just like the one in the picture!


The second and third things I found that are sorta folksy are this hot chocolate mug and soup bowl.











The cup is definitely vintage and reminds me of something...(help me out here, Mom!) I'm not sure if the soup cup is vintage or not but it's got that same sort of feel so it will do! It translates to Creole Soup in French (I think...). To cook creole style, one would use a spicy sauce made of tomatoes, onions and peppers. It's likely this cup will see more clam chowder, potato soup or broccoli and cheddar than anything else!

I've saved the best for last! I'm so, so very excited about this one! I have been a collector of a certain style of figurines for awhile now but have known nothing about them. Some people call them Hummels but I know that they're not. In fact, the artist is named Erich Stauffer and the figurines are put out by a company called Arnart. I was so excited to discover this adorable musical figurine sitting amongst the knick knacks at SA! It is in just perfect shape and plays the tune, "Jack and Jill" beautifully. I've been trying to find one online to read more about it but can't find anything similar. I just think it's the most adorable thing ever and feel very blessed to have found it!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Kewpie Baby: Vintage Thingie Thursday

This is my fourth time participating in Vintage Thingie Thursday and I have to say that the last month of participating has been a very informative one! I've been inspired by so many creative bloggers and, therefore, have a new vision and excitement about making my home a cozy and beautiful place! Thank you to every single one of you bloggers who take the time to feature unique and special posts each week! I'm afraid I've become sort of a blogging junkie lately...but there are worse addictions out there!

Today I scrounged up $3 in change to go visit the thrift store next door. (Yes, lucky me, I've got a thrift store LITERALLY next door!!) I was telling my husband yesterday how it's actually kind of fun to give myself a low budget when I go out thrifting because it makes me be more choosy about what I buy and my purchase seems more special to me that way. While I'd usually like to take along a little more than three bucks, I was able to find a few neat things on today's pocket change!

My favorite find today was this adorable Kewpie doll with a handmade bonnet and blankey. I just fell in love with it and had to have it! Lucky for me, it was half price so I was also able to pick up some vintage ribbons and a couple cute decorative diaper pins that I plan to use for scrapbooking.

I imagine some talented Granny made this for her granddaughter...wish I had a Granny around to knit or sew for me! I'll just need to learn on my own, I 'spose!

There are many fun and talented participants today in Vintage Thingie Thursday so take some time to check them out here!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: My Strawberry "Stuff"

It's my favorite day today: Vintage Thingie Thursday!

I decided to pull out all my strawberry stuff and see if you all can help me to identify and date it! I have been (very slowly) collecting strawberry themed items as they make my home seem so cheery and relaxed. I suppose I'm sorta partial to them to since one of my mom's favorite stories about me is how I'd call them "bah-shoos" as a baby. I can not find a correlation between that baby phrase and the word "strawberry" but it must have made sense when I was little!

The only item that I can identify by maker and date is the hand-painted wooden Munising bowl. According to information I found online, this bowl dates from sometime between 1940 and 1955. Apparently, they're popular and collectible and I probably shouldn't have been tossing my keys into it for the last few years as my once pristine bowl, (which I thought had been recently painted and was not worth more than the $1 I paid for it at a yard sale) is now missing some of it's green leaf paint.

Last week I found the little recipe card holder at our local Salvation Army. It's a handmade block of wood with a clothes pin attached and a cute toll painted strawberry design. Not only does it fit with the theme I'm trying to collect for my kitchen, it also is a functional piece that I didn't really know I needed until I found it! The recipe card features a great chili recipe that I got from Weight Watchers--I'll tag it onto the end of the post for you all!

I don't remember where I found the little sugar bowl or the strawberry printed cloth but I'm assuming it was sometime during my yard sale adventures of the last few years. I have found several "look alike" sugar bowls on ebay but they are all separated into pieces and the base is always a separate piece. This bowl is attached to the base and looks to be a little older than those I've seen online. The cloth has raised felt strawberries and doesn't seem to actually be vintage. **UPDATE: one reader just suggested that my "sugar bowl" was actually a jam jar with similar ones being found on ebay. She's right! Although I did not find my exact jar on ebay, there are several there that are similar. Thanks for the tip---is it obvious that I'm from the "packaged foods" generation?? Who woulda thought there'd be a specially made vessel just for holding jam!! Ha!!

The platter looks very similar to both the Mikasa Strawberry Festival and the Sheffield Strawberries and Cream designs but is not exact and is unmarked.

I thought some of you might like a challenging treasure hunt for the day so make sure and let me know if you can identify any of these pieces!

Before I close with the chili recipe I promised, I'd like to show you all the picture of baby Liam in the blue jammies I blogged about last week.

Unfortunately, I've not had a chance to sew him some masculine receiving blankets as I just found out he was a boy...well, the day he was born!! So, he's got sister's flowery blanket on---but he's okay with it...he knows he's a manly man!

Thanks to all who sent well wishes! We're so glad to have a new little boy in the family---even if they do outnumber us girls now!

Thanks for visiting my blog today for Vintage Thingie Thursday! To see more vintage items from other participants, click here.

Jan's 6 Can Chili

1 can fat free refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pkg. chili seasoning mix
onion, green pepper, other veg. (opt.)

Mix all together and cook on stove or in crock pot until hot! 2 Weight Watcher points per cup.

Vintage Thingie Thursday: My "Special" Books

Today I'm featuring two of my special treasures: my Louisa May Alcott books that my husband bought for me a few Christmas's ago!

My mother first introduced me to Alcott's Little Women when I was a little girl and she's been a favorite author since. Imagine my surprise and complete delight when my husband surprised me with these two antique editions of Under the Lilacs and Jo's Boys.

This version of Under the Lilacs was published in 1898 and the edition of Jo's Boys was put out a year later in 1899. I love the pretty flowery designs along the cover and spine. Inside each book, opposite the title page, is an illustration.











Jo's Boys features a sculpted profile of Alcott with her signature and Under the Lilacs has a picture of characters Ben and Sancho from the story.

One of the reasons why I love to collect old books is that I like to imagine where they may have come from. Inside the cover of Under the Lilacs is a stamp which reads: "Chester Thorn, Agt., The Saturday Evening Post, 24 East Taylor Street, Kokomo Ind." Inside Jo's Boys the following is written in beautiful calligraphic handwriting: "Thula May Faulkners Book, 1901".










As I'm sure you can imagine, I'd love to complete this collection! I'll be keeping my eyes open for more in this beautiful set!

To see more Vintage Thingie Thursday posts, click here.

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Grandma's Dishes

I'm very excited to be participating in my first Vintage Thingie Thursday! Hosted by Coloradolady, this is an opportunity to show off neat vintage items that you have around your home. Being a thrift store junkie and a proud pack rat, I've got all kinds of great stuff to feature!

Today I'm showing off my Grammy Annabelle's dishes. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what year or on what occasion she acquired these...I just remember my Mom telling me that they'd someday be mine. Lo and behold...and ta da!!! They're now resting safely in a hutch in my living room. (Well, actually, they're the subject of my husband's latest photo shoot right now...then they go back in the hutch).

I've yet to find out much about them but I know that they were made by Blue Ridge Pottery, Southern Potteries, Inc. sometime between the late 1930's and mid-1957. The design is called "Pinkie" and I'm having a really difficult time finding many more in the set! Currently I have about 5 dinner plates and 5 bread plates.

For more Vintage Thingie Thursday posts, visit Coloradolady's blog today!