White Wednesday September 28, 2011

 I'm really enjoying this new display in the corner of my kitchen. I have used an old salvaged window, a gorgeous vintage doily, and my favorite antique shabby white chair. Loving how the design in the chair along with the chippy paint and lace doily just scream "vintage!" I have a total of $7.25 here! You can see more of this vignette and lots of similar beauties in my previous post, What A Shabby Weekend.  

Chippy paint+three shades of white+ornate scrollwork+lace=vintage love. 

May today be merry and bright, and may all your Wednesdays be white!

What a shabby weekend! September 26, 2011

Its raining (again) so what better time to blog about my shabby weekend. Of course I am not saying I had a bad weekend---I'm referring to all the "shabby-looking" second hand treasures I lucked into! I found just what I needed to complete my Halloween tablescape which will be my next post (you'll get some sneak peaks here.) But enough of all this, let's get to the good stuff!

Oh could it be? MORE vintage ironstone? This time with the prettiest little
 fruit patterns on each piece (13 pieces for $3 at an estate sale). I can just turn
the cup around and stack up the plates to hide the patterns
when I want them to blend in with the rest of my collection.
I  know I will be using these a lot in my summer decorating, but for now...

"Come sit a spell for a cup of tea, we'll conjure a tale just you and me..."

Sweet little tarnished silverware .25 each

Flea market finds: a set of 1886 salt and pepper shakers (marked Stanhome) for $1
and a similar set from 1881 (marked Rogers, also $1).
Loving how the tarnish adds a creepy feeling. I think
I may shine one set up and leave the other to show how its
aged beautifully.

I went to hunting this weekend hoping to find a ratty lace tablecloth that I could
stain up for a spooky-looking Halloween table. I ended up
finding this one for $1 at an estate sale and I will probably use it a lot because its
just too gorgeous to be used only as a Halloween prop.

It was a vintage lacy weekend. This late 1800's/early 1900's lady's lace collar
 was an absolute steal at .25. 

To think someone took the time to hand stitch such a pretty pattern

Here is the end of a long handmade table runner. Ripped and stained just enough
to add a touch of Halloween. Lovely lace at the edges.

Quarter goodies: Lots of old lace
for crafts (90 yards originally marked at .15!). Pretty, old
scarves and a petite pair of leather gloves from the 1930's.

Pearls, leather and lace---Vintage!

A ceramic Baroque period shoe planter (church rummage sale, $1) sits on a old
yard sale doily I bought over 15 years ago. 

This old container of Propert's leather cleaner (made in England)
 still has the contents. ($1, estate sale)

A little $3 stool from my favorite consignment
 shop (Second Hand Rose Furniture) is going to get a makeover
with new upholstery, trim, and some leg work, but it will work nicely
 as a display stand for now.www.mysecondhandrose.com

Stool being repurposed as a display table

It was $3.00! Why are people still spending
 thousands on retail furniture with so many
gorgeous old pieces just needed some tlc???

I found this ironstone pitcher for $3 at an estate sale when I just had that feeling to do one last quick walk-through. I filled it with dead Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) and Black-eyed Susans for Halloween. I stacked it on some plates I found at the same sale for .25 each.

This one is very old, (unmarked) .25. I love the fall colors.

Old plate, marked Lafayette Porcelain, .25.

This is one of my favorite new kitchen displays for fall. I am using the shabbiest old chair that we found  for $5 in the basement of an antiques shop in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky last year. This summer we also bought two large old windows for $2 at a yard sale and I am just now getting around to displaying them. I have adorned this one with one of my favorite vintage doilies (.25 estate sale) which serves as a faux valance. 

Here is this week's White Wednesday post. Look at the detail in the chair and doily. Chippy paint+three shades of white+ornate scrollwork+lace=vintage love. 

This beautiful copper strainer ($1, yard sale) adds a
touch of fall color to this corner
of our kitchen. An old 1940's cookbook
(a cherished gift from my mother-in-law, K) is opened to show
 two yummy-looking pumpkin pie
recipes 

A French country flower bucket was one of my favorite
weekend finds for $3. I topped it off with a pumpkin of  French
variety and then another small ghost pumpkin to tie in the whites

All this old lace and flowery dishes, and copper and tarnished silver, and chippy paint, and French inspired things... I  guess there's no doubt I'm just a little bit of a vintage, hopeless, romantic dreamer, and I love every minute of it!

 If you enjoyed this post you'll want to be sure to visit in the next 

couple of days as I will be posting my fall and Halloween table.  

I have several more finds from this weekend to add, but looking at those red potatoes and thinking about that homemade pumpkin pie in the cookbook is really getting to me, so I guess its time for dinner! 

Bon Appetit!

Linking up with:

boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com

  coastalcharm.blogspot.com

vintagewannabee.blogspot.com

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

September 23, 2011 Halloween Wish List

The interior Halloween decorating is about "finished." Of course that is a weak and faulty opening statement for a blog post, as we junkaholics will openly admit that our decorating is never finished since we are constantly on the look out for more junk to add to the collections! Speaking of junk, I was able to hit the flea market one good estate sale so far this weekend, and I can't wait to show you what I found. My next post will have all kinds of new finds and decorating ideas to blog about, but tonight I thought it would just be fun to search the internet for some dream-vintage Halloween items that I'd love to find on my treasure hunts and create a post about them. There are so many things I love that this post could go on forever, so I've just broken them into a few categories that I feel make the perfect Halloween. Many of the items on my wish list can currently be found on Ebay or Etsy if you are interested in them. I get so excited looking at all of the wonderful websites and blogs which focus solely on vintage Halloween! A lot of the old things I want are quite expensive so I am going to rely on my tried and true method of luck to help me find these for quarters somewhere, someday. Maybe I'll just make a list and leave it in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin on Trick-or-Treat!

Dear Great Pumpkin... I'll take it all!

You gotta have treats for Halloween...

So sweet.... and so pricey, selling for about $50. Not too many
of these hanging around I suppose...

And costumes...

Very old masks and creepy costumes

And scary stories...

Always on the hunt for Halloween books from any era, new or old. This
one is from the mid-50's

And creepy noises...

Halloween noisemakers and toys are hot items. Vendors probably won't be
swayed to come down out of the $15-$50 on these
 but you might luck into some at a yard sale for cheaper

And lots of old decorations...

Misc. Beistle decorations

Beistle die cuts...who knew? Anyone who is alive can remember these paper/cardboard cut outs that were "must haves" in Halloween decorating long before the days of sticking faux crows in vintage birdcages and glittering pumpkins in Martha Stewart style. And when I say, "who knew?" I really meant it, because I decided to search for some of these on Ebay last year and was shocked to find many of them selling with up to 20 or more bidders paying anywhere from $5 to over $100 for a single decoration depending on the era and popularity of the image. I was just looking to incorporate more memories into my Halloween decorating to share with my family and to fit in with the vintage look I love. I had no idea they were so popular! But what's not to love about them? For many of us, these decorations were synonymous with school fall festivals, class parties,  and fond memories of childhood Halloweens when many a spooky jointed skeleton would meet us as we knocked on a stranger's door asking for a  "trick-or treat."

Here are some more of the Beistle Co. die cuts from my generation. My mom hung

these on our windows and doors each year and my teachers also had them on bulletin

boards in the classroom. My husband remembers the same ones from his schooldays.

Love the old honeycomb decorations too!

 And cupcakes...

As I mentioned in my Fabulous Fall post, my mom was awesome (she still is) at creating memories and traditions, and she always made a huge deal over Halloween and holidays.  One thing she did without fail was make spooky-themed food and treats, especially yummy cupcakes. Each year she topped them off with some of the toppers in the pictures below. Since she was also a vintage junkie and collector, a lot of the toppers she used were already oldies when I was a kid. My husband and I were looking at some of the pictures of various toppers and we each have memories of different ones from school fall festivals and elementary school classroom parties as well. 

And of course you just have to have games for Halloween parties!

I've been hunting for some old Halloween games to actually play
at our Halloween parties.  I was really excited to find that some people are selling
printable versions that you can make yourself, so I know what I'm doing next week!

And spooky lighting...

More vintage blow molds (not to be confused with modern ones you can buy at Wal-mart)

And an antique "How to Halloween" instructional guide (that's what I call them) like this Dennison's Bogie Book!

 A first edition Dennison's Bogie Book from 1912, valued at about $2000 (I'll take any edition). These Dennison books are historic little jewels in that they have everything you could imagine a  Halloween from 100 years ago to be like. 

...And lots of imagination and creativity!

So this is why I love the internet and modern technology even though I am a romantic dreamer of vintage times and vintage things. You can still enjoy looking at all the images and reading and learning about these books and other memorabilia online until that lucky day when you can get your grubby little fingers on whatever it is you have been looking for! And I am hoping that time might come for me at Court Days in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky during the second weekend of October. This 100 year old flea-market/trade festival has just about everything, including vintage Halloween (and Christmas)!  I got pretty lucky last year and I'm already getting the feeling that this year is going to be awesome! 
http://www.mtsterlingcourtdays.net/


 Until then, happy haunting, and happy hunting...and no doubting the Great Pumpkin whatever you do!