Spring is blooming... indoors

The weather has been really frustrating around here for the past 10 days... upper 40's to mid 50's and rainy, which actually means cold and damp. That means our fruit trees are going to bloom really late this year, but I was getting desperate for a little Spring cheer in the house. So I snagged an idea from Wendy over at The Shabby Nest, and brought some budded branches inside. It only took a few hours before the warm house coaxed these branches from our pear tree to open and provide a very pretty "show" in front of the dining room window. I have really enjoyed this vase full of blooms all week!



A couple days after bringing those branches in, I noticed that a good portion of my one lone lilac bush had been broken off at the base, either by animals or high winds. This really "hurt my heart" (as my daughter used to say) because lilacs are among my absolute favorite Spring flowers and we only have the one shrub. Not about to admit defeat, I clipped off some greenery and the one piece that seemed to have some buds on it, and brought that inside to force as well.



This sprig hasn't bloomed yet after several days, but I am giving it plenty of time - the buds had just appeared when the branch got broken.



And, here is the neat vintage green-and-gold vase I'm using. I'm not sure of the maker, it belonged to my grandmother and simply says "Made in USA" on the bottom.



Meanwhile, neither the pear or apple tree, nor the remainder of the lilac bush, appear any closer to blooming outside than they did ten days ago. Hopefully we'll have some warm sunny days really soon!

More soon!

Daffodils in bloom

It's an absolutely beautiful and perfect day here in Iowa today, bright blue cloudless sky and headed toward low 70's - and, what could be more cheerful than these soft yellow Daffodils blooming in lemony clumps all over my yard?? I have got to plant more of these this fall and mix in some early bloomers as well. Just sharing a little garden cheer with you today, I hope to be enjoying a little "motorcycle cheer" as well. (Here's a link to the write-up on my other blog about the ride we took on Sunday, just in case you want to live a little vicariously. LOL)







More soon!

Easy zipper pouch

Even though I totally should have been riding my motorcycle today, I decided instead to take on a few small projects that I've been thinking about for awhile. A couple of them were just spray-paint projects,. but my favorite is this cute little bag I made using Kate's super-simple zipper pouch tutorial.



Seriously adorable!!

My little pouch is made up of some favorite scraps: green corduroy from a blazer/jacket - I left the flat-felled seams intact because I really love the look of them...



and lining made from a too-small shirt I bought at Goodwill just because I liked the toile fabric.

The crochet trim is a scrap from a grab-bag of old sewing notions I recently picked up while thrifting.



The whole project took me a little over an hour - I have decent sewing skills, but I don't have the patience to make anything too complex. I also don't have a "zipper foot" on my vintage sewing machine, so there were a few tense moments getting past the zipper pull ;)

But, Kate's tutorial was spot-on simple, and I am IN LOVE with this little pouch. I am not even sure what I'm going to put in it - I just knew I needed it!


More soon -

More thrifty joy

Just thought I would show you a few of the treasures I've found while "junking" lately - I haven't really been looking for anything specific, just the "I'll know it when I see it" type of stuff.

First, I went to a church rummage sale in my neighborhood and boy, do those ladies know how the meaning of "priced to sell"! I bought this Fall tablecloth for a dollar (I might make some pillows out of it - not sure yet!)...



...and this pretty gold wire-and-bead box (in which I'll be storing some floral notecards) for 50 cents.



Moving on to the Goodwill, I found this gorgeous (and heavy!) blue glass vase, about 10 inches tall, for $1.99...



...this blue Depression Glass toothpick holder in the Moon and Stars pattern for 59 cents...



...and this urn-style vase in a sort of "polished pewter" faux finish, also about 10 inches tall, for $1.99. (This one will be getting a makeover!)



Finally, up the street at the Salvation Army thrift store, I found this pretty faux-silver bon bon dish for $1.59...



...and these darling little heart and cherub figures. They stand about 1.5 inches tall and there are five of each, all ten figures for $1.59. I am not sure but I think possibly they are figures from a Valentine-themed Tic Tac Toe game.



More soon!

My favorite cupboard: Heart of the Home

I wanted to share my beloved barrister bookcase, which is full of keepsakes from the estates of my mother, grandmothers, and mother-in-law, as well as some of my own thrifting finds. The cabinet itself came from my grandparents' home, along with two others which now reside with my brother.



Along the top, a few notable treasures include a blue Depression glass banana bowl in the Moon & Stars pattern, a couple of favorite blue vases, and - yes, that IS a picture of a bird firing a cannon!



Also on the top shelf, a plastic urn I spray-painted filled with Goodwill flowers, and a "natural edge" pencil cup turned by my hubby on his lathe.



The first interior shelf houses my (very) few pieces of Royal Albert Old Country Roses...

a collection of bone china animals...

and a stack of thrifted (and Ebay) dinner and luncheon plates.

Most notable on the second shelf are a short stack of vintage table linens, and my most recent thrifted treasure: a Lefton rose chintz teapot (sans lid) for $1.99:

Finally on the bottom shelf, a few favorite figurines and other goodies.

Now here's my secret: I had to pull furniture away from the cabinet to take its picture, because it's really crowded in the ol' mom-cave these days. Here's how the corner usually looks -

More soon,

Aqua round-up

A look that I really love, that I'm seeing a lot of these days amongst shabby and romantic style blogs, is a little infusion of aqua among all the white linens, chippy wood, and milk glass. I decided to go around my own home and gather up some aqua elements, to create a tabletop vignette that celebrates this particular combination that's soft, yet crisp, and sooo pretty... all at the same time! Here's what I came up with.





















More soon!

Romantic address book re-do

I've been on the lookout for a larger-format address book (because I'm in complete denial about needing eyeglasses) and I recently found this lovely 80's/New Wave version complete with totally blank inside pages just crying out for a re-do.



For the new cover I chose this pretty floral fabric that I had on-hand.



I removed the inside pages from the book, and using Fabritac I applied white felt (to create the feeling of padding under the cloth cover) to the front, back and spine.



Then I laid the book open onto the wrong side of the fabric, and using Fabritac I simply began gluing the fabric down with some care taken to create tidy corners.



I actually intend to choose another fabric for the inside covers which will cover the raw edges you see here - but, I haven't decided what to use yet so for now it's incomplete.



I closed the book and thought it looked great, but still needed a little detail on the cover.



I used one of these small metal label-holders used in scrapbooking, inserted a printed label proclaiming "Addresses" that I made on the computer, and added a couple of small faux crystals in the holes on either side. (The label-holder is secured to the cover with Fabritac.)



I love the finished look - romantic and entirely suitable for a cottage writing desk, don't you think?



More soon!