Gathering mode

I must be in "gathering mode" - I've been shopping like crazy, hitting the thrift stores and hunting down bargains on Ebay, and having absolutely wonderful luck! (I consider myself lucky that in addition to having the "hording gene," I also seem to have the "purging gene." I can be brutal in getting rid of stuff - do NOT hire me to clean out your stash!) I'm so excited to show you some of my recent finds!

First, after last week's encounter with a local Ebay seller who had some beautiful Rose Chintz plates, I stumbled upon another auction for over 60 pieces of this lovely pattern - all with what I believe to be the original vintage backstamp. A few items were listed as chipped or cracked, but most of the lot was to be in good condition - so I held my breath and took the plunge as the first bidder, and won! A very large box arrived for me on Saturday, and it contained my Rose Chintz treasure: 

Now all of this is not for me - I will be keeping a few pieces, and offering the rest for sale as soon as I can go through it all, touch each piece, look for chips, cracks, etc. - but by and large, it seems the auction description was spot-on with only a few pieces that are truly unusable. (But even those would make lovely props in a vintage vignette!) I am thrilled! 
Also from Ebay were a large lot of colorful cloth napkins - some for crafting and some for the table: 

And this pretty little original oil painting featuring a bold red teapot and dainty green cup. It's only 8 x 6 inches in size, and I'm now on the hunt for a suitable frame: 

This auction was also a great deal: a bargain price for a set of 6 dinner plates in Homer Laughlin Eggshell Georgian "Countess," free shipping, and a motivated seller who accepted my "best offer" AND even sent me one extra plate! I am IN. LOVE. with this pretty, pretty pattern! 

Next up are the thrift-store finds. I nabbed this sweet serving bowl for just 79 cents at the Goodwill: 

And I paid just under $20 total for these three treasures at my favorite antique mall, the Brass Armadillo, where it was 15 percent off day!  

Here they are in closeup - first, a sweet little bust standing about 10 inches high. I had one of these years ago but it got broken and I've been looking almost 10 years for a replacement at a great price.  

Next, a pair of white bread plates in mulberry transferware - and the most informative backstamp I've ever seen! I'm now on a mission to learn more about Miss Clarice Cliff - it seems she was more of an art deco designer for various English potteries, and did not like these formal "transferware" patterns. I, however, simply love them - especially in red or mulberry.  

Finally - this pretty table runner in Spring hues of pink, lavender and soft gray. I think this may find its way into the next vignette on Grandma's table!  

Whew!! That's been my fun for the past week - oh! And, I have finally taken the plunge and put a few things into an Etsy shop! You can find it here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintedPiglet  All dishes for right now, but working on expanding as fast as I can! 
I hope you have had some moments of thrifty joy this week - what have you found lately that you absolutely love?? 
More soon,

Taking time to turn the pages

Okay I admit it - here we are a week before St. Patrick's Day and I've just now gotten 'round to decorating Grandma's table. That's because I absolutely fell in love with the Valentines version, and I didn't want to put away the little tic-tac-toe set! 
But I finally decided to change it up, and here is the new arrangement:  

The book is a little over-whelming, perhaps, but it completely deserves center stage because it's absolutely stunning. More on that in a moment. 

I don't have (and didn't want) a lot of the traditional St. Paddy's decorations... I'll be honest, Leprechauns kind of give me the creeps ;)  Shamrocks are pretty but I felt like a vintage version would be better suited for the look I wanted. So I decided to just go for a green-and-white theme. 

Here is the little grouping just behind the book to the upper left in the picture: 

I've used my two green fluted vases found on a recent thrifting adventure, along with some Dollar Store silk carnations: 

And a tiny print courtesy of The Graphics Fairy in a diminutive silver-toned frame: 

Under the whole setting is this pretty white crocheted table runner - yes, I kept the romantic pink tablecloth (I couldn't bear to put it away!) but decided to try to mask it for my green-and-white tribute to the Emerald Isle. The pretty hanky also picks up the green-and-white theme, while lending a touch of pink. 

Around the other side of the table, we have the omni-present Mr. Duck...

In front of another pretty print from The Graphics Fairy. I thought this Irish girl was lovely! 

The book I'm using for this display is a real treasure - I picked it up in the bargain section at Barnes & Noble recently: Castles of Britain and Ireland, by Rodney Castleden (no pun intended, I'm sure!). 

It's hard to get a good shot of an open page because of the lighting, but it features beautiful photography and a bit of informational text about the centuries-old castles of England, Scotland, Wales, & Ireland. This spread shows Cashel Castle, a.k.a. The Rock of Cashel or The Rock of St. Patrick. 

The book is a little more in proportion to the table when it's closed, but having it open encourages one to flip through the pages - which I otherwise might forget to do! 

I'll be linking this happy little table to Marty's Tabletop Tuesday party over at A Stroll Thru Life! 

More soon, 

Featured at Dollar Store Crafts!

What a nice little surprise this week to discover that my "quick, cute centerpiece" project had been featured over at the Dollar Store Crafts blog! 

I had entered the project in the "30-minute Challenge" contest, and although I didn't win it's quite a thrill to see one of my projects "up in lights" at a blog filled with such creative projects! Wondering who won the Challenge? It's Suzi from Suzi's Crafts, who shared a cute, colorful night light cover! 
More soon,

Swooning over Johnson Brothers Rose Chintz

Remember my happy little tale about acquiring Old Country Roses last Fall? Well I am SO excited to report that today I had a similar experience with Rose Chintz by Johnson Brothers!

Here's what happened: This morning, while procrastinating during "get ready for work time," I noticed an Ebay auction for dinner plates in Rose Chintz, another pattern I have been really in love with but slow to collect. The auction showed three dinner plates available for a reasonable price per piece. The downfall, as always, was the additional shipping cost, which made the total more than I wanted to spend. 

But I did wonder what the combined shipping would for all three pieces together, so I set out to "ask seller a question." In doing that - SURPRISE! I learned that the seller was actually local - so, I quickly messaged her to see if she would allow me to pick the plates up in person and avoid the shipping charges, and she said yes! Suddenly, the price for all three plates was well within my budget AND I could make arrangements to meet up with her and get them this very day! 
I completed the purchase through Ebay, but didn't pay right away. Instead, I met this delightful gal in a grocery store parking lot and traded cash-for-plates. (I wonder if any law enforcement officials took photographs? LOL) So now I have three dinner plates and four dessert plates in this classic Johnson Brothers pattern. 
It's probably kind of silly to get this excited over dishes... but here was the message I posted on Twitter just before I set out to pick up my treasure: 

Squeeee indeed! 

Sunday painting

I have a small collection of what I used to call "amateur paintings," all picked up for a couple dollars or less at area thrift stores. Later I learned another expression for them: "Sunday paintings," meaning pictures created by people who took up painting as a hobby or weekend pursuit. My collection centers around landscapes and still-lifes - barns, houses and floral arrangements. Here are a few of my favorites: 

I even tried my hand at painting one - yes, on a Sunday: 

Since I recently re-painted the Mom-cave, I've been trying to be really particular about how I arrange them. Slowly but surely, I'm getting many of them up on the wall. 

I recently acquired this charming little beauty - the colors and subject were lovely, but it was missing a frame. 

No matter, a few weeks later I spotted this 11 x 14 frame at a different store for just 99 cents. It has the routed edges on the insides so the canvas will fit down inside. 

Today I took on a different type of "Sunday painting" and just applied a few coats of my off-white acrylic craft paint to the 99-cent frame. I put it all together and really love the result: 

The tabletop above is still a work in progress, but I do kind of like the painting in its frame next to the creamy white pitcher. 
Are there any type of  "other people's artwork" that you like to collect? 
More soon,

Hydrangea dessert plates - swwoooon!!!

Oh! And did I ever show you these blossoming beauties? I picked these up on a visit to my favorite antique mall a few weeks ago... they cost more than I normally like to pay for plates, but they were soooo pretty... and I only bought four of the 8, and when I got home immediately wished I'd bought all eight of them. 

Aren't they beautiful? They would be dessert plates, I think - too small for luncheon plates... 

I was NOT going to buy them, at $4 each... but my enabler husband said, "Do they make you happy to look at them?" Of course they do! And he bought them for me... so, maybe I can ease my guilt by saying they were a gift!  More soon,

New thrifty finds

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? 
Well I haven't been to London to visit the Queen, I can tell you that! 
I feel like I've been in a sort of self-imposed exile from all of my decorating, vintage treasures, and good ol' junk-hunting. Do you ever get side-tracked into another area of interest that pulls you away and suddenly you realize you've been neglecting something for awhile that used to make you really happy?
Yep, that's me. A couple weeks ago I allowed myself to get sucked back into the world of politics - reading and commiserating with like-minded pol-junkies about some the stuff going on in this beloved U.S.A. of ours, and quite honestly it depressed me to the point where I withdrew a bit from reading and commenting on all my favorite beautiful blogs. 
Add to that a new blogging project that I launched (well, am 99% ready to launch - no, it's not a political blog! LOL)... and well, I've just been MIA around here for bit.  I'm happy to say I did a little junking today and came away quite happy: I spent less that FIVE dollars! Here's what I picked up.  
A set of two deep-green fluted vases, each about 4 inches tall, 79 cents each: 

A sweet little plate featuring my favorite Spring birdies for $1.99: 

And this 11x14 frame for 99 cents, with the routed inside edges so I can fit a painted canvas inside it. I'll be painting it off-white: 

Also, before I went on hiatus a few weeks ago, I found this gorgeous covered casserole dish for $1.99. Now I need a "covered casserole" like I need another hole in my head, but this thing has SUCH a  pretty shape, was in pristine condition, and the colors and scrolly design are really pretty. You can see the backstamp in one of the photos below - it is the Signature Collection, Queen Anne pattern, made in Japan. 

Alongside it were cups, saucers, berry bowls, bread plates, luncheon plates and a sugar/creamer set, all in the same pattern, for 79 cents per piece. I picked up 4 each of the bread plates, luncheon plates and berry bowls   - trying to leave some for someone else to discover, and trying to stick to buying what I knew I might actually use. (I actually tried to sell all these pieces on Ebay after I got them home, but no takers. That's okay - I wanted to keep them anyway!) 
How about you - what have you found lately? 
More soon,