Vintage China

 For several years I've enjoyed collecting random pieces of pretty vintage china when I find it at a garage sale or thrift store. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know about my eclectic violet tea set. Other than that the only full set of china I have is a set that Mother gave me that originally belonged to my great-grandmother.

I have treasured Granny's china and enjoyed displaying it and using it, but the pattern is not one I would have chosen. I like a delicate floral pattern. In fact, my favorite piece (other than the violet dishes) is a sweet little bread-and-butter plate I picked up for 50 cents about 3 years ago.

Imagine how thrilled I was this morning to discover a full service for 8 of that very pattern at a Salvation Army store we just "happened" to go in!

The set included dinner plates, soup bowls, salad plates, dessert bowls, and cups and saucers, plus a serving bowl, a cream pitcher, and sugar bowl. There were only 6 cups, but 8 of everything else (except the serving pieces, of course.) The price marked was $52.10. The dishes were all stacked on a counter so I thought maybe they had been spoken for. I asked the lady behind the counter who told me she had just put them out.

Lyle had given me some money a few weeks ago that he said I was to spend on something just for me. I had been hoarding it for just such a time. As I stood deliberating over it, the manager announced over the loud-speaker, "Our special today is 25% off brick-a-brack items..." That's when I noticed that the price tag was labeled "brick-a-brack!"

"This would be 25% off?" I asked the lady.

"Yes," she assured me. "It's labeled brick-a-brack, so that counts."

"I'll take it!" I declared.

She offered to wrap it and box it up for me while I continued to look around.

I went to find Lyle. "I just bought a set of china dishes," I told him. He knows my fondness for pretty china.

We were casually wandering through the furniture department when I spotted a hutch.

Lyle said, "I guess you need that to put your dishes in, don't you?"

It was marked $80. Mmm. I didn't really want to spend that much.

"Furniture is 50% off today," Lyle told me.

"It is?!" I guess I had been so tuned in to the "brick-a-brack" special that I tuned out everything else.

 So I got my dishes for $38... and the hutch to put them in for $40.

My "new" dishes coordinate nicely with Granny's china (which includes service for 6) so now I have enough dishes that I can have up to 14 guests and still set a pretty table! Before, any time we had more than 2 people for dinner I had to either use every-day dishes or paper-ware.

Naturally I had to come home and rearrange the living room to fit the hutch in just so, and then arrange all my pretty dishes in it. What fun!

How about a cup of tea?

The John Wayne Room

We stayed last night at a cute little vintage-y motel in western Colorado. The kind they used to call "motor courts" where you park right outside your bedroom door. This one had a western motif with log walls, and each room had a different western theme. Lyle had reserved the John Wayne Room for us. Not that we're big John Wayne fans. (I'm not sure I've ever watched a John Wayne movie, come to think of it.) I asked him why he chose that theme and he said he didn't know... there just weren't many left to choose from when he was making the reservation. Mainly it just means there are several pictures of John Wayne adorning the walls.

As we stepped into the lobby we were first greeted by a large black lab dog barking and growling at us. Since we're "dog people" we could tell she wasn't really threatening us, but more just letting us know she was there. The proprietor wasn't far behind the dog, scolding her and apologizing to us.

She welcomed us warmly in a stereotypical country/western style. "Now, the John Wayne Room is just over here," she said, showing us a map. "It looks like it's next to the lobby, but it's not. It's next to my bedroom, but don't worry, ain't nothin' goin' on in there, so it'll be nice and quiet for you."

She pulled a box set of DVDs out from under the counter. "And here's ya some John Wayne movies to go with the room." Seriously. The room comes with movies to match the theme. Is that not just too cute? (I regret to report that we didn't avail ourselves of the opportunity to experience at least one John Wayne movie, but alas, we were too tired to stay awake that long.)

"Now, if you need anything, I'll be here the rest of my life, Lord willin'."

I just love staying at places like that, even if they aren't all modern and luxurious. What fun!

Flower Arranging

Saturday morning Laura and I attended the monthly ladies meeting at church. Laura wasn't too sure she wanted to go, but when she found out that a friend of ours was going to be demonstrating flower arranging, she decided that sounded like fun. We were each supposed to bring a bud vase and a pair of scissors.

First, our friend (a former florist) showed how to arrange a dozen roses. I picked up several tips from her. She told us that roses need a fresh cut every time they are out of water because the stems "seals" back up within 10 seconds. So it's important to cut the stem right before you put them back in water. I had known you were supposed to cut them again, but I hadn't known about the "10 second rule" or understood why. She also showed us how to weave leaves of fern together to make a nice base for the arrangement. And then how to arrange 6 roses around the bottom of the arrangement, then 5 in the middle, and then one at the top with greenery as she went along, and  adding filler last.

After the demonstration we were all invited to make our own arrangement using one rose and whatever greenery and filler we wanted. It was interesting to me to see how different everyone's arrangements looked with just one rose. And it was fun to get to take our arrangements home with us.

My Special Find

Back in the 'nineties, when Victorian-style decor was popular, I subscribed to a crochet magazine that featured patterns for doilies and other similar lacy things. (And just so we're clear, I do mean the 1990s... because I guess Victorian decor was popular the first time around in the 1890s, wasn't it?) I still enjoy crocheting doilies and include a few in my home decor even now, though I don't have one draped over the back of every chair and every other available surface.

One issue of the magazine, in the fall of 1995, featured these beautiful lace parasols. I wanted to try my hand at making one so bad, but alas, I had no parasol frame.

The magazine gave this not-so-helpful advice:

"One of our readers was rummaging in her attic and came across a couple of old umbrellas. The fabric had practically disintegrated but the frames were still in excellent condition. At this point, she had an ingenious idea. She removed the failed fabric and replaced it with a crocheted pattern. Result: several stunning new parasols. How about that?"

Isn't that lovely for her? I directly went and rummaged in my attic, too, but unearthed no old umbrellas, disintegrated or otherwise. Reading further:

"Actually, the problem here is twofold. First, you have to find a suitable umbrella frame. This you can do by digging deep in your own closets (or attic, if you have one). By looking in dark corners of antique stores or visiting flea markets. You could also spot your special find in store carrying Oriental objects. Chinese-style umbrellas often have wooden frames covered with easily removable painted oilcloth."

So... I've been stuck on Step 1 of The Problem for these 17 years. I've had several different attics and closets during that time. Dark corners of antique stores and flea markets have yielded nothing. (Though, admittedly, I haven't been looking all that hard.)

This past Saturday afternoon Laura and I decided to make the rounds of the thrift stores here in town, just to see what we could find. As we were parking in front of one of the stores, I noticed this "beauty" in the window. I immediately remembered my crochet pattern, so I was eager to examine it more closely.

It's covered in paper, not oilcloth, but yes, it would be easily removable, being already torn in a few places. And how 'bout that little square of yellow fabric in the middle? Very odd.

"That wouldn't keep you very dry," Laura mused.

"No," I explained, "it's for shade from the sun." And then I told her what I had in mind for it. Now that this kind of decor is out of vogue, I'm not sure what I would do with a lacy parasol, once I finished it. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what I thought I would do with it, back in the day. Hang it from the ceiling? I have no idea!

"Use it for a photography prop, of course," Laura suggested. She and her friends love to do portrait shoots of each other.

Great idea! But is it affordable? I didn't want to spend a whole lot on a project that I may or may not get around to ever finishing.

The price tag was a modest 99 cents! And then when I got up to check out, the special for the day was 75% off, so I got "my special find" for a quarter. How about that?

So I'm ready to take on the Step 2 of The Problem:

"And now we come to the second half of the problem. Unless you get very lucky, chances are your frame will not match the frame in our patterns (the number and length of rods will probably not be the same). That may mean serious adjustment of the pattern. So a word of advice is in order: leave the parasols to the experts! If you are a beginner or improver, have a go at the fan for a nostalgic touch."

Having been crocheting avidly since I was about 12, I do consider myself an expert. Whether or not I'm up for this challenge remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted.

Which of the two parasols do you think I should attempt?

The Antique Buggy

Imagine, if you will, a young mommy in the late 1960s out for a walk with her baby. In your mind, what does that baby stroller look like? Maybe bright and plasticky, with shiny chrome metal bars and such? Yeah, me, too. (Go ahead. Google "baby stroller 1960s" and you'll see what I mean.)

Whatever you had pictured, it was probably not this, huh?

 Believe it or not, that picture was taken in 1966... and the dimpled little charmer? Yep, that's me!

You see, by nature and of necessity, my mother has always been quite frugal. When she needed a stroller for her firstborn baby, she and Dad went to the auction house to look for a bargain.

Alas, there were no strollers to be found. The only thing available was an antique wicker baby buggy circa 1925. Since it was forty years old and so shabby, they were able to get it for $10. Mother declared she liked it better than a stroller anyway, so they brought it home... and plopped me in it for many a happy walk.

I think I remember Mother telling how she used it to cart her wash from their apartment to the laundry room on the premises. She would set me in the back, and put the basket of clothes in the front.

 It was a very generous buggy. Plenty of room for two happy tots. In the picture above, aunt Rachel and I are considering how I should scoot over and make room for her.

See there? This arrangement works out nicely!

 Here I'm sharing with my twin cousins. The girl twin gets to ride in the buggy with me, while the boy twin demonstrates his strong muscles by "pushing" us. I wonder how far he managed to get us on the grassy surface. Looks like some wise adult had probably lifted the buggy over off the sidewalk to slow his progress. Runaway babies would not be good.

 And then, a year or so later, we had twins of our own! Girl twins. So Mommy pushed the baby sisters in the buggy while I pulled a wagon for the puppy to ride in. I wonder how far we got with that set-up? Looks to me like that puppy required a good deal of cuddling and not so much riding in the wagon.

 Not quite two years after that we got a baby brother, and he had his turn in the buggy. Some teens from our church came by to help with the little ones, and took us all for a walk. I remember we girls had strict instructions to hold on to the buggy and not let go.

Regrettably, I couldn't find a picture of my youngest brother in the buggy... because yes, the following year, there was still another baby. Probably we didn't have a camera, or maybe couldn't afford film for the camera, during his buggy-riding days.

After that, the buggy went into storage for many years.

And then, in the 1990s, my mother got it out again. By then it was too wobbly and delicate to be used in any practical way, but it made a perfect photo prop for those grandbabies!

My firstborn baby...

...and then my second one...

...followed by nine cousins over the next few years.

Mother finally relinquished the buggy to my care not too long ago. I am very happy to have it in my living room. We've had a "family" of porcelain dolls cuddled together in it for awhile. I think I'd like to put something different in it now. I'm not sure what, but I'll think of something.

So, for this week's Vintage Thingy Thursday, that's the story of the second half of the life of my antique wicker baby buggy. I'd be very curious to know the stories it could tell of the first half of its life, wouldn't you?

Christmas Week Fragments

Let's see... it's Friday... so that means I can post a bunch of random disconnected twaddle and call it a blog post, because that's what Friday Fragments is all about, right? So... here we go...

You'll be happy to know that Bernadine and Beauregard Bearsaltandpepper now have company in the Downstairs Northwoods Bathroom. The new inhabitants aren't directly descended from the Bearsaltandpepper family line, but they are distant cousins way back. They brought their own sleeping bags, and they've decided they are quite comfortable and will stay awhile. We haven't yet discovered what their first names are, but the Mrs. does like to read by flashlight while the Mr. cuddles his teddy bear. (This darling figurine was a Christmas gift from my own Mr.!)

Speaking of the Northwoods... and reading... I just finished reading Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss. Great story! I'll be posting my review later, but for now, suffice it to say it's making me want to visit Alaska. But in the summer, please.

This is plenty of winter for me! Our front yard has looked like this off-and-on for a couple of weeks now. I'm willing to give it another week or two, but then I'll be ready for spring. *sigh* You can take the girl out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the girl, I guess. At least it hasn't been all that cold... which is why the snow has been on-again/off-again. It keeps snowing. And melting. And snowing. And melting.

A beautiful Christmas Eve bouquet from my daughters has been a good reminder that winter doesn't last forever. The fragrance of fresh flowers smells like spring every time I walk into my office and notice the arrangement on my desk.

Plus. The days are getting longer now. Have you noticed?

I've been staying busy, though, as always. This week my goal has been to get my lesson plans ready for the upcoming winter trimester at our homeschool co-op. I have 6.5 of 8 done, so I'm making good progress.

I also want to clean out Fibber McGee's closet (aka the catch-all closet in the family) sometime this weekend. Maybe today?

Now that the pre-Christmas rush has dropped off, I've been working up some new colors for spring in my mug cozy line for my Etsy shop... including a series with adorable cupcake buttons! I'll be listing them shortly after New Year's.

If I don't manage another post again before Tuesday, have a Happy New Year celebration!

Christmas with the Bearsaltandpeppers

Bernadine and Beauregard Bearsaltandpepper here, but you may call us Bernadine and Beauregard Bearsaltandpepper.

You probably haven't met us before, but you may know our more famous cousins, Brunhilda and Borris Bearsaltandpepper. They even have their own blog. While we love reading about their antics, we don't have any such ambitions. However, when Miss Karla asked us to do a guest post showing some of her Christmas decorations, we couldn't say no. After all, it gave us a chance to venture out of the downstairs "north woods" bathroom where we live-- which badly needs to be dusted, by the way-- and see all the pretties in the upstairs living room. And goodness knows, she hasn't been doing a very good job of blogging this month!

 Our first stop was at the Christmas barnyard on top of the "school shelf." The barn and trees are ceramic, but most of the animals are from Becky's Schleich collection. We are kinda out of proportion to the other animals, but that's okay, because they aren't exactly in proportion to each other either. I mean, those chickens are practically as tall as the calves.

 Next, we popped over to visit the Sarah, Plain and Tall village on top of the piano. This special set was a gift from Miss Karla's friend, Kay Conner, who has been in heaven for several years. We are even taller than the buildings there.

Here we are, swapping howdy-dos with the Precious Moments people. Miss Karla has had the shepherd boy with his lambs, and the little Santa pets on the bench for many years. The little girl reading to her dolly and the little boy warming his backside by the wood stove are "new" to her this year. Can you believe she found them at a garage sale this summer for just $1 each? The lady was selling them real cheap because they had broken off their bases. That didn't bother Miss Karla any. She just glued 'em back together. She's frugal like that. Plus she's always loved Precious Moments figurines.

 Our favorite stop was getting to worship Baby Jesus in the stable. This is Becky's toy "Timothy" set. Of course, we know that there weren't any Bearsaltandpeppers in Bethelehem. At least, the Bible doesn't mention it if there were. But since this is the Reason for the Season, we wanted to worship, too.

 Just for fun, we stopped by Santa's workshop, which he set up on the edge of one of the bookshelves. The Victorian hardbacks in the background don't exactly fit in with the North Pole theme going on, but whatever.

 Time for a quick cuddle on the couch with Miss Karla's Christmas throw pillow. Her kids gave it to her for Christmas a few years ago because the cute little pets look an awful lot like Cookie and Tabitha, the real-live animals who live with us.

 Our next visit was with the Freaky Dolls on the mantle. They were given to the girls several years ago by their great-great-aunt (originally belonging to the great-aunt we used to live with-- but that's a story for another time). The girls like the dolls and enjoy putting them on display each Christmas, but they call them the Freaky Dolls because they move. You see, they are mechanical and their arms move in and out... and when visitors first notice them they usually say, "Oh, that's freaky!"

Time for a cuppa Christmas cocoa! Miss Karla got this beautiful Christmas cup-and-saucer from Miss Farrah at the tea-themed gift exchange during the Christmas Baking Day a couple weeks ago.

The Cook family received this pretty basket with a trio of holiday cocoa from some other friends. The basket was so pretty that Miss Karla has made the family wait until Christmas Eve to enjoy the special cocoa. That's today... so it's time!

And speaking of time, now that we've had our adventure, it's time for us to scuttle back down to the bathroom to "settle our brains for a long winter's nap!" Maybe we'll see you again sometime.

"Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good-night!"

Beautiful Hand-Stitching

 This past spring when my mother fell and broke her ankle so severely, I knew she would have a hard time "just sitting" for 2 months while it healed. She likes to be active and doing, and has never been one to sit idly.

Instead of sending her flowers I tried to think of a gift to help her wile away the long hours of being immobilized. She has always enjoyed embroidery, so I chose an embroidery kit for this set of pillowcases. I thought the lacy ferns and Queen Ann's Lace flowers were so pretty. Mother's favorite color is green. Not only that, the kit was on sale, which I knew would satisfy her frugal heart!

I selected the skeins of DMC floss the pattern called for, and took the kit along with me when I went to stay with her. The minute I presented it to her, she sent me off to hunt for an embroidery hoop in her sewing room. I never did find the one she described, but I found one that would work, so she got started on them right away.

Being such a detailed, intricate pattern, it turned out to be quite time-consuming. But that was okay, at first, because Mother didn't have much else to do besides just sit. She was still working on the second one when they came to see us earlier this month (though she had been back on her feet for a month or two by then).

She finished that second pillowcase while they were here, and then she presented the set to me! I hadn't meant for her to do that, but she said they went with my quilt so nicely that she wanted me to have them.

I have to admit, they really do. I think they are beautiful! She does such exquisite stitching.

Thank you, Mother, for re-gifting your gift back to me.

My Romantic Prairie Bedroom Makeover

This spring my homemaking focus has been on completing the bedroom makeover that has been in progress for several years. I finally have it put together the way I had envisioned it, thanks in large part to major contributions from my mother!

Three years ago I started planning how I would like my bedroom to look. The walls are knotty pine and I liked the pioneer cabin feel of that, so I decided not to change them. Saved a ton of work right there. Also, the carpet is in good shape, and fortunately for me, it's my favorite shade of sage green. So I decided on a rustic-but-romantic style in keeping with what was already there, and my own country-girl personality.

Not too long after that my mother asked if I'd like to have "Granddaddy and Grandmother's bedroom suit" which included a double bed frame, a pretty mirrored dresser, and a "chester drawers." Without even thinking about it, I immediately said, "Yes! Of course I would!" I wasn't sure it would even all fit in our bedroom, but the entire 25 years we'd been married I had never had "real" bedroom furniture. Sure, we had a bed frame to keep our mattress and box springs off the floor, but no headboard or footboard. And only odd tables or night stands to set things on. Clothes were stored in the closet in bins.

Anyway, Mother had inherited this beautiful set of furniture from her parents. She didn't really need it, and of my brothers and sisters one sister also didn't need it, and the others are too tall for the bed. They need king-size beds. Even at that, Lyle had to do some cutting and welding on the bed frame to make it long enough for our queen-size mattress.

We were able to pick up the furniture on our trip in March. When we got home and had time to get it set up, I was thrilled with how well it fit our room. The Irish Chain quilt my mother and I made fit the bed perfectly.

I had originally thought I would crochet a curtain... but it wasn't turning out like what I had in mind, so for now I decided to just go with sheers (and a mini-blind for privacy behind the sheers). I talked Lyle into putting up a bookshelf above the window for my collection of vintage novels, in lieu of a valance.

I added other little touches of personal and family treasures for accent pieces, including my vintage suitcase on my nightstand-- and a shabby little stepladder topped with an old packing crate that belonged to my other grandmother for a lamp stand.

So for now, our room is done. And it makes me happy. I smile every time I walk in there. I'm sure I'll make adjustments right along, as that's the nature of home decorating.

Oh, and one last thing! I wasn't sure what "style" to call this room-- as it's not quite "cottage style" yet not really "cabin style"-- but I came across a new magazine last week called Romantic Prairie Style. "That's it!" I thought as I thumbed through it. Would you believe most of the rooms featured in the magazine had knotty pine walls?

Too bad I don't have a better camera, or photographer--or both!--to do my beautiful room justice. (But you can click on the pictures to make them larger if you like.) And if you're not quite as enthralled with it as I am, that's okay. It's my bedroom and I love it! That's all that matters, really, isn't it?

Treasures in My Suitcase

I had hoped to have some nice pictures of my "Pioneer Cottage" bedroom makeover to show you by now... but the sun is still not cooperating. We've had some breaks in the clouds and some warmer temperatures, which is nice, but still no crystal clear days with bright sun. So my room pictures will have to wait.

However, the flash picture of my night-stand/suitcase turned out okay, so I thought I would show you those treasures for this week's Vintage Thingy Thursday post.

The suitcase is from my childhood... and it was vintage even then. My mother had a knack for finding really nice garage sale treasures, and she would save them for Christmas gifts. I think we were probably "poor," but we didn't know it. One year, she got this nice 3-piece set of Samsonite luggage and gave my sisters and me each one piece. I think she made us pajamas or something and "packed" inside them as part of the gift. I was about 9 or 10 that year. And those were our suitcases whenever we traveled.

I hadn't used suitcase in years, and somehow it ended up back in Mother's attic, but last month when we were in Arkansas I got it back. If you look close on the lower section right by the clasp you can see the red plastic label-maker tape with "Karla Denise" carefully spelled out on it. I don't remember why I didn't add my last name. Maybe I thought I shouldn't waste the tape since my last name would just change when I got married anyway!

The powder-blue gloves draped on top of the suitcase are from Mother's "going-away" outfit from her wedding. She wore a brown suit with a blue hat and gloves.

The vintage post cards pinned against the back wall are from a batch I found in the first house we bought about 20 years ago. They are from the early 1900s.

The stack of little books behind the lamp includes my diary from my teen years, my grandmother's diary from her teen years, and a little Gideon New Testament I received years ago when my children were little and we would go to MOPS once a month.

My sister-in-law made the "tussy-mussy" in the middle for me in the 1990s when Victorian decor was so popular. I stitched the "Count Your Blessings" sampler just about the time we got married in 1985.

In the front section is a vintage lamp I found at a garage sale a couple years ago, and some of the vintage hankies from my collection. Laying on top of the hankies is a mint tin with a Victorian picture on it that my mother brought me from England in 1995.

The little leather-bound dictionary is a family heirloom. It was presented to my great-grandfather by my great-grandmother in 1911 for his birthday before they were married. I absolutely love having it. I'll have to show it to you in more detail later.

The little black shoes are mine from when I was a toddler. Turns out my aunt Rachel coveted them at the time. She confesses that she actually still does. Sort of.

The glasses? Um. Yeah. They are for my vintage eyes. So they really have nothing to do with treasures, except that I do treasure my eyesight and the ability to read!

I hope to show you more of my "Pioneer Cottage" bedroom soon!

Vintage Sugar Bowl

I am just dying to show you my bedroom makeover, but until we start having some sunny days around here I'm having a hard time getting pretty pictures with natural light. I'm trying to appreciate the spring rains but I have to say the sunshine will be very welcome when it finally comes.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you the latest addition to my mix-and-match violet tea set. I haven't been actively looking for pieces to add to it, because I have enough cups and saucers now to host a pretty good size tea party.

I was browsing a thrift store a few weeks ago and spotted a violet sugar bowl. I didn't have a sugar bowl!

It even had the lid with it. I've seen other sugar bowls at thrift stores and garage sales that are missing their lids. As I picked it up to examine it, I realized it went with the snack plates sitting under it, and they were priced as a set-- $6 for 5 plates and the sugar bowl. 

Now I ask you-- what would one do with a set of five snack plates (complete with rings for the cups to sit in-- but no cups) and a sugar bowl, except add it to an eclectic tea set? I couldn't pass up a deal like that, could I? Of course not.

The plates are shell-shaped and I thought they would match the one snack-set that my friend Denise sent me awhile back. It turns out that these plates are slightly bigger and the pattern is a little different. This isn't the first time I've added to my set thinking one piece matches another piece I already have, and then they turn out to be different. That's one aspect I enjoy so much about this collection.

I've also added a couple of vintage violet greeting cards that I came across among some old family letters. And my sister-in-law recently gave me a beautiful vintage hanky with embroidered violets to add to the display. (I had taken this picture before she gave it to me.)

I wonder what will be added next? A cream pitcher would be at the top of my wish list, but we'll see.

Since it's Thursday, I'll join in with Vintage Thingies Thursday @ Colorado Lady... and hopefully by next Thursday I'll have some pictures to show you of my "new" vintage bedroom furniture.