...FINALLY!!!

Friday I received an email from a local thrift store that today would be 50% off everything in the store. So, I thought this might be a fun and relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning. WRONG!!! They opened at 11:00. I got there at 10:49 to discover a line down the sidewalk of people waiting for the doors to open. To be clear...this is a THRIFT STORE, not Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving, but you'd never know it.

I stayed in the comfort of my air conditioned car for the remaining 10 minutes before the store opened. Big mistake. By the time they opened the doors, I was 97th in line. That's right, I was the 97th person walking through the doors. All the shopping carts were taken and it was a mad-house. A stampede to buy used crap. I've never seen anything like it.


So, I attempted to head for the housewares aisle, but quickly realized that 50 of the 97 people were camped out in that very aisle. The very aisle where I would find Pyrex. *sigh* I ventured down the next aisle over and GUESS what I found????

A GLOBE! I have been wanting a globe to decorate with for years, YEARS! I love the way they look in these rooms I found on Pinterest...

And here's MINE!

And the best part...it was only $2.24!!! Yay!!! I can't wait to scour more thrift stores to buy more for my collection. Yippie!

I also found some cool Pyrex and Fire King that I'll be posting to Etsy as soon as I clean 'em up a bit.

to recover or not...that is the question

Last week I scored this groovy orange velvet chair at a pre-yard sale. I love the size and the shape and it's surprisingly comfortable. For about 18 months I've been looking for a vintage chair that I could recover for my bedroom. This chair is certainly vintage, but I'm not so sure about the color and the fabric. Here she is:

As you can see, it has a couple of stains and the fabric is a little worn in some areas, but all-in-all, it's in great condition. I like the shape of the legs too, which if I recovered, would be painted.

My bedroom is gray, yellow and white. Now, there's nothing wrong with a little splash of orange, but I'm not sure if this is the piece to do the splashing.

Here's another look:

As you can see, Lizzie and Louie (seated) have taken to the chair almost immediately. In fact they got into a fight about five minutes after this photo was taken. And now, three days later, the chair is covered in cat hair. Yet another draw back of velvet.

Also, can you see the dusty rose color chair in the background? It's a cane chair that I scored for free. I actually have two of those that desperately need to be recovered and the frame needs to be repainted. I hate the dusty rose color and I have WAY too much brown wood in this house. I've seen a ton of upholstery tutorials online, but I guess I'm just afraid of biting off more than I can chew.

So...back to the orange... should I recover or leave as is (cleaning it of course). Thoughts?

Etsy shop now open!

Oh boy am I nervous...I've been wanting to open an Etsy shop for years and years. And I just DID IT! Yippie!!! Click here to see my shop!

I'm going to focus on two things...vintage finds, primarily Pyrex housewares and also handmade items.

I've just listed two items:

Vintage Pyrex coffee mugs:

...and a very large, Pyrex casserole dish:

 

How cute are they? If you, or someone you know, collect vintage Pyrex...let me know what you're looking for. I scour thrift stores a couple of times a month and can watch for a special piece. I'll post more tomorrow! Thanks for your support. :)

...if you've got it...display it!

It breaks my heart when I think of a beautiful collection of dishes that are hidden away in the cupboard. Or worse yet, packed away because their lucky owner doesn't have a creative way to display. A friend asked yesterday how she might display some of her dishes including a collection of cake plates. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's a great question. So, what's a girl to do? Scour Pinterest...that's what!

Depending on your style, there are a bunch of great ideas. I'm loving this open shelf concept. It's clean, crisp and kind of utilitarian:

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Or you might be a lucky dog and have a beautiful built-in:

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This would be a fun way to display mis-matched coffee cups:

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This is a nifty way to display a teapot collection. Looks like basic IKEA shelves:

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I especially love hanging plates on the wall. It's fun to create a gallery similar to this:

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Here's another example. Love the vintage plates:

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For larger pieces like a cake plate, serving platter or pitcher, try displaying in an open hutch like this:

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 Another possibility for large pieces is to create a beautiful mantelscape:

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So, there you have it. Lots of fun ideas to display your dishes! Of course it means you have one more thing to dust! ha! Enjoy.

...thriftin'

I'm really loving the look of cloches...you know, the glass dome placed over an object such as a plant or piece of fruit.

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Pretty, huh? Sometimes the glass cloche is placed directly on a table surface, or sometimes it rests on a wooden or glass base. I've seen these over the last year or so at Pottery Barn, West Elm, Ballard Designs and more. They can be a little pricey...like this beauty from Wisteria:

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They have three sizes ranging from $79 - $99. Holy moly...that's a lot of moola for a glass dome.  Needless to say, I haven't bought one.


Until last week...when I spied a glass cloche at the thrift store. For $4.84. That's right...less than $5. I knew immediately it would come home with me. Now, in all fairness, it's a bit smaller than the above cloches, but it's so darn cute and just perfect for a small object, in this case...avocado...

Pretty cute huh?  Go thriftin'! You just never know what you'll find!

pin worthy

I love front porches. When I bought my very modest bungalow 18 months ago, one of my first requirements was a front porch. There's just something comforting and welcoming about a front porch. Which brings me to this delicious porch...

 

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I mean, really? Can you imagine coming home to THIS every day. I swoon! I just keep looking at this photo and I love all of it. The only thing that makes me sad is that I don't have the keys to open that front door. And speaking of the door...oh how I adore the pale aqua door with white trim and the oiled bronze hardware. OH MAN! Makes me want to paint my front door! I love the container garden and the lanterns and the painted wood floor and the rug. UGH. I die.

When I bought my house it had the green outdoor carpet that looks like astro-turf. GAG. I ripped it up immediately, but the concrete didn't look so great, so I had charcoal gray outdoor carpet installed. I love it. I have a white house with gray trim and the gray carpet is super pretty. Here's some before and after:

Then about a month ago, I brought my patio chairs to the front porch to create a cozy seating area:

Looks better than the astro-turf, right? I've since added a few container flowers and plants. It's getting there. It's nothing like the beautiful photo at the top of this post, but this porch is all mine. Come join me on my porch...I'll make lemonade!

...mason jars

If my personality could be summed up by an object, my personality would be MASON JAR. I love, love, love mason jars of every size and color. I can't seem to get enough. Every time I go to a thrift store, I keep my eyeballs peeled for mason jars. They are just so functional. As you can see below, they make a lovely window vase on a rainy morning. I just love that they are so utilitarian. I use them for everything from drinking glasses, to vases to storing craft items. You can usually find them at thrift stores and yard sales for less than a dollar a piece. Pick up a few today. You won't be sorry. Oh, and of course they can be used for canning (duh), but since I don't cook, I find other ways to use them. Yay!