Celebrating Tabletop Tuesday!

I thought I would take you on a little tour of the top of my barrister bookcase in celebration of the 150th Tabletop Tuesday over at Marty's wonderful blog, A Stroll Thru Life. I've recently been working on a re-do in this little third bedroom, affectionately known as the Mom-cave, so hopefully soon I'll be able to share the whole thing. 

The bookcase is literally a treasure-trove for me... it's among the pieces I inherited from my grandmother, and I've filled it with all manner of pretty thrifty finds and vintage family pieces. I really like the layered, "collected" look when displaying these kinds of pieces - it makes me happy to know that wherever my eye lands in the display, I'll be looking at something that's been handed down, or acquired through a happy thrifting expedition. 

At this end of the top shelf are a beautiful blue glass vase found while thrifting...

...a blown-glass pumpkin won in a Facebook comment contest...

...and a pretty peacock figure that was a gift from my husband. 

Moving along you can catch a glimpse of my framed Blue Jay (it's the To/From tag off of a larger gift bag!)...

... ivory scrolly heart... 

... a little salt-clay salamander made by my daughter when she was little... 

...and of course a framed photo of my beautiful girl - she's 19 now and a freshman in college! 

I have a lot of blue pieces for some reason and tried to weave them throughout the display rather than grouping them together in a clump. In the next section I've layered a blue bird bud vase that was painted by my mother-in-law (along with a couple strands of blue, pearl, and silver beads)...  

...and a blue glass vase on which I painted a little Bible verse and some soft blue and white roses. 

I've also recently become smitten with what I call "courting couples," shown here on a fabulous green lamp base (it's obviously no longer a lamp - I just love the shape and design of it!)... 

...a sweet figurine...

...and a miniature teacup. 

At the end of the row we are back to blue with a beautiful Depression Glass banana bowl in the Moon & Stars pattern, a gift from my mother-in-law. 

Finally, on the wall above all of these pieces is a lovely landscape painting I found while thrifting. It's in a thrifted wooden frame that I painted in the ivory accent color I've used throughout my re-done room.  

So that's my tabletop tour - congratulations, Marty, on 150 weeks of one of my favorite blog link parties! Here's to many more Tabletop Tuesdays! 

More soon,

No no no no n- well, okay

Have you ever got "stuck" with something on Ebay because people were bidding against you and darn it - you just weren't going to let them have it cheap?
No? Maybe it's just me... 
Anyway, recently while scouring a flea market I came upon a Christmas tree figurine from Precious Moments that plays "Silent Night." Now I am not a fan of Precious Moments figures - I do not collect them, I don't even particularly like them. 
But I saw this tree, and the color palette was soft and "shabby," if you know what I mean. And I thought, maybe I could just collect one piece of Precious Moments - a piece that doesn't depict the big-headed, teardrop-eyed children that just don't appeal to me. 

(The photo above is courtesy of PJ's Precious Collectibles on Ebay - who by the way is a wonderful seller of Precious Moments figures if you are looking to buy them.)
But the asking price was $25, and this was a thrifting trip, and that was just too much money.
So I came home and looked it up on Ebay, and watched a few auctions. And while I was surfing Ebay, I came upon this little piece: a little car with a Christmas Tree tied to the top, and a worrisome little puppy anxiously looking out the car window. 

It wasn't $25, and it featured free shipping. And, seriously, I really thought it was adorable. So - against every fiber of my being, I bid on a Precious Moments figurine. 
And was immediately out-bid. Well!, I huffed. Not about to let someone snatch this out from under me so cheaply, I entered a maximum bid just to be sure that the other bidder wouldn't get such a grand bargain. Only this time, I became the high bidder at $15. And over the next few days, I stayed there, wondering if someone would come along to outbid me. To save me from myself. 
They never did. 

I did use my penance time wisely, by researching the piece I had bid on. I learned it is part of a Christmas Village series called Sugar Town, pieces for which were manufactured in the mid-80's through mid-90's. I decided that it didn't really make sense to own just a car from an entire Christmas Village, and that if I won the auction, I would need one more piece to put with it so at least I would have a little scene. 
The Sugar Town series is not short on pieces - I narrowed my options down to something under $10, which meant I would get a mailbox, railroad crossing sign, fire hydrant, split-rail fence, or other small item to suggest that the car was part of a larger universe. 
The day I won the auction for the car (at $15 with free shipping), I also did a "buy it now" for the split-rail fence ($9.75 with free shipping). 

So if you are doing the math, you have just realized that I spent $25 on Ebay on two pieces of something I do not collect, all because I did not want to spend $25 at the thrift store on something I do not collect. 
Fortunately, my pieces arrived safely (both on the same day!) and they really are adorable. 

I still do not collect Precious Moments, but now I have two pieces. 
Maybe I need the little lighted Sugar Town Chapel, so that Sam the Puppy has a reason to be driving his little car.  

Blue-and-white is light and crisp - perfect for after holidays

I went another whole year in 2012 without really doing anything to "vintage up" my living room - I've been content (though not blissfully happy) with the rather contemporary stuff that's in there, which we bought lock-stock-and-barrel out of a furniture store display area when we first moved into this house in 2008. (Sort of the Garanimals approach to furniture shopping...) 
It's not awful, but it's not shabby, it's not romantic, and it's not vintage. 
In fact, the only vintage piece in the room is also the focus of today's post: it's my grandmother Verdie's side table, which I love and which has actually worked well with its contempo room-mates because of the dark wood finish. After I put away all the Christmas things, I decided to go for a blue-and-white theme with this table. Here's a picture of the table from another post. Isn't she gorgeous?

And here is the overall view of the new blue-and-white tabletop vignette:   

First item to note: I switched out the lamp for a recent thrifty find - I found the tall crystal base for a dollar, and the shade (already beaded) for $3.99. 

Here are a couple shots of the beautiful tablecloth, with hand-stitching done by my great-grandmother Metta - she was Verdie's mother. It does need to be ironed, but, I skipped that step ;) 

I continue to enjoy using my collection of past issues of Victoria and Romantic Homes as decorating pieces - they always seem to come through with just the right color scheme! 

Perched atop the magazine stack is Mr. Duck - I don't know how old he is, but he has wonderful patina and he will even hold a few tiny treasures. We got him for a dollar at an auction - no one else was bidding on him but he sure caught hubby's eye! 

A few other notable birds: a pair of Blue Jay figurines - the smaller one is from the Whitehall Society, and the larger one is from HOMCO - and, their funny little cannon-firing friend, a gift from the Graphics Fairy, in a matte-finish painted frame. 

Finally, for just a little pop of pink, I'm using some silk carnations in the hand-turn bud vase made some time ago by Mr. Piglet. 

I find it really amusing that I haven't heard a peep yet from Mr. Piglet about this revamped tabletop... I know he's aware I put the Christmas stuff away, but he hasn't even noticed that I'm using an entirely different lamp! That gives me the giggles for sure - I wonder how much more "vintage" I can sneak into this room before he finally says something! 
I'm sharing my blue-and-white/bird-themed tabletop at Tabletop Tuesday. Be sure to click through to Marty's lovely blog for lots more on display! 

Homemade treat trays

Here is my first project of the year! I used a couple of pretty vintage floral plates, thrifted candlesticks of different heights, and some E6000 glue to put together these sweet little treat trays. Now mind you, I have NEVER had occasion to use treat trays like this... but, I'm convinced that's only because I've never had them before. 

I plan to make up a reason to use them soon! This project was so easy there's really no tutorial needed, but I will say the trickiest part is centering the candlestick on the bottom of the plate. So, eyeball it carefully... or, "measure twice, glue once"... or, whatever your centering mantra may be... and give it a try! 
I'm sharing these pretty servers with Suzanne for Vintage Thingies Thursday, Transformation Thursday over at Shabby Creek Cottage, and Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming. Thank you to these lovely ladies for hosting such wonderful link parties each week!  

Fun thrifty finds

Happy New Year, everyone! Are you taking a deep breath now that "the holidays" are over? I know I am... I spent New Year's Eve quietly at home with Mr. Piglet, and spent New Year's Day taking down most of our Christmas decorations. (I couldn't quite bring myself to take down the garlands yet - it makes me happy to look at them, so I think I'll give them til the weekend.)  
In addition to the lovely gifts I received for Christmas from my family, I also had a very nice holiday season of thrifting. I thought I would share some of my favorite recent treasures. 
A tall clear glass lamp base...

Star-motif napkin rings...

Cute crocheted wine cozy in Christmas colors...

Shoebox full of vintage ornaments...

Manor house/cottage collector plate by Gibson...

Noritake Belmont dessert plates, set of 4...

Mikasa Ribbon Pink pasta or soup bowls, set of 4...

...and, four Rose Chintz dessert plates by Johnson Brothers. 

And now I need to STOP shopping for awhile! LOL  How about you? I hope your holiday season was absolutely wonderful, and I wish you the very best for a happy and healthy new year! 

More soon, 

Wishing you a very happy new year!

It's the little things: scented drawer liner

When I was about 10, my dad's mother - my grandmother Helen - gave my sister and I a white four-drawer dresser to share. She had put scented liner in the drawers, with tiny blue roses all over it. I have looked a few times over the years for scented drawer liner - specifically the kind that's padded, with tiny blue roses all over it - but with no luck. Until a recent thrifting expedition, during which I found THIS: 

A fabulous vintage box, with a full roll of the padded, scented liner, intact! 

Look at those fab retro graphics - 

And those sweet roses - pink instead of blue, but the same pattern and the same soft padding - 

It even still carries the scent. And the price? Just 95 cents! My daughter has given me permission to line the drawers of her antique dresser. I think I might also line some bookshelves. Or maybe my barrister bookcase. (*squeal!*) 
I am linking my treasured  find with Vintage Thingie Thursday at Suzanne's blog, Colorado Lady.