First Blooms

I came home from work today and spotted a few patchesof crocus blooming in this chilly weather.  I guess it must havebeen the brilliant sun that made them brave enough to poketheir little faces out.  After all ~ they've been waiting as long aswe have for a breath of spring.Here is how I found them blanketed with fall foliage.

But in my eyes they are really more stunning than that, so with alittle tweaking in Photoshop, I think this is the glory they deserve forbeing brave enough to be the first blooms of spring.

 

Fleur de lis

This is what I started with ~ found at a yard sale last fall. 

I really had no idea what I was going to do with them until thisweekend when I decided to tackle a French makeover.I started by taking the pictures out and painting the frames black.

While the frames were drying, I scanned the internet for a couple

French designs I could use on them.  I settled on two

different versions of the popular fleur de lis, one of which Ifound on The Graphics Fairy.  I downloaded them to Photoshop and used the magic wand tohighlight all the black areas.  Then I sized them down to fit my framesand  printed a practice sheet on white paper.While it would have been easier to buy parchment paper, it waslate at night and I was on a roll, so I tea-dyed some card stock paper I already had to obtain the vintage look I was after.  I let the paper dry overnight, ironed it to get the ripples out, andthen printed off the fleur de lis designs.

After cleaning the glass, I laid it on the paper so I could see exactly

how I wanted to center the design, traced around the glass,and then cut it out.

I lightly distressed the black frames, and then applied a layer of 

polycrylic.  When dry, they were ready to put back together and here is the finished product.

They would look nice mounted on the wall or sitting separately on a black rod iron easel. 

 This was my first attempt at anything French cottage.  It's notthe style of anything in my home, but I wanted to have a varietyof decor options at my Open House in May.  I may try some pillows next.

Linking withGorgeous and Fun for Being Creative~Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday~Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Monday~Making the World Cuter for Making the World Cuter Monday~The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday~Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday~My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures

Maple Leaf

I found these sweet salad plates last night at Goodwill while out

getting groceries.  It is so handy to have a Goodwill near your

grocery store ~ makes getting groceries so much more enjoyable, especially

if you save the Goodwill stop for last.

I only found 4 plates, but anytime your find an even number of plates

at Goodwill, it's a plus.

They aren't from England or France, but I couldn't resist their

sweetness.  They were made by Homer Laughlin here in the USA.

They are the softest shades of cream, pink and green ~ my

favorite combination, with scalloped gold edges.

I guess I wasn't paying very close attention, because I was very 

surprised when I got them home and discovered the pattern is

called "Maple Leaf".  I thought those were little pink flowers.

I paired them with one of my favorite dinner plates, my mismatched

vintage silverware, a vintage doily for a napkin and a pink goblet.

I purchased them for my Etsy shop, but even doing this post, I find

myself getting more and more attached to their sweet beauty.  It 

will be hard to part with them.  I must find a way to keep from

falling in love with everything I buy.  Woe is me ~ what's a girl to do?

Linking with

How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
~
Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
~
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
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Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays 
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House of Grace for Twice Owned Tuesdays
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Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Brown Transferware and the Great Clean Up

I wanted to share with you the brown transferware I found at theScott's Antique Market last weekend when it was here in Columbus. 

I purchased this lovely set of "Athol" Mellor Taylor & Co. dishes

for only $30.  I really only wanted to purchase a piece or two for my hutch,but the dealer obviously wanted to be rid of it so she offered a price I couldn't resist.  There are 6 each dinner and salad plates, 5 soup bowls,3 saucers, a serving bowl, a beautiful butter dish and what looks likean oversized sugar bowl. 

Some of the pieces were rather stained with use, but she told mehow to get the stains out, so I wanted to pass along that information too.I realize many of you may already know how to do this, but I actually heardit from three different sources last week and this information has madethe difference between my buying and not buying vintage dinnerware.  Although Ipersonally do not mind some pieces  for "display only" looking old and stained, I don't want them to be pieces I'm going to eat off of.Here is a "before" picture of what some of the plates looked like. 

These very stained plates were at the bottom of the pile and I didn't see

them until I unpacked them at home :)   I don't always love surprises.  Itwas time to see if this remedy really worked and I'm here to tell you it does.You start by soaking the plates in 40% hydrogen peroxide for several daysor as long as it takes the stains to lift out of the plate. 

I purchased a gallon of the mixture at Sally's Beauty Supply and it cost

around $10.  I also purchased a 14 x 14" plastic container with a lid fromJoann Fabrics.  I think maybe it is probably meant to hold scrapbookpaper, but I wanted it large and deep enough to hold several plates ata time, so it served my purposes just fine. 

After soaking the plates for several days, I take them out and scrape off

the excess solution with a spatula and set them on a disposable aluminum foil cookie sheet.  Be sure to wear plastic gloves when you do this!

Then I pop them in a low oven set around 220 degrees and bake them

for an hour or so.  I am told the baking pulls out the rest of the stains.When the hydrogen peroxide has pretty much baked off, I turn offthe oven and allow the plates to cool slowly.  After bringing them toroom temperature, they are ready to wash in hot soapy water.Here is a picture of plates that I have already done and the servingbowl that still needs to go through the process so you can see the difference. 

It will take a few weeks to put all the pieces through the solution/baking

process, but in the end, I will have a lovely set of brown transferwarethat I can not just display, but also use.Unfortunately there were no teacups to go with the saucers in thisset, but I think the saucers will look pretty in the fall holding acandle or a pretty mini pumpkin, or even this pretty pin I madeout of tea-dyed bits and pieces of fabric and lace leftover from thevintage eggs I made.

The dinner plate with this set is slightly smaller than the average dinnerplate, so I'm looking forward to using a larger solid plate underneath andthen stacking the plates high for interest and texture.Look for these plates to make their debut sometime this fall whenthey are all cleaned up and ready to "strut their stuff".

Linking with

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday 
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Frou Frou Decor for Fabulous Friday Finds
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Southern In My Heart for Inspiration Friday
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French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

  

Vintage Eggs

I saw the cutest idea over at The Vintage Nest last week and decided to 

give these cute eggs a try.

Lynn gives a complete tutorial on her blog, so I won't repeat all the directions

here, but be sure to visit her blog if you decide to make them.

She also tells you how frustrating they are to make and I can vouch

for that fact.   I did find that instead of getting up to wash my hands every

few minutes, I kept a wet wash cloth nearby and that saved a lot

of time and frustration.

What I like about this project is that each of my eggs came out different,

and mine look totally different from Lynn's.  They each take on

a unique personality depending on the materials you use.  Besides

the materials that Lynn advises, I tore up a couple doilies and I 

like the feminine touch they added.
~

I didn't have a beautiful silver piece to put my eggs in, so I 

used a vintage muffin tin instead and nestled mine in  moss.  

I tried not to make my eggs specifically for Easter, but stamped words

on them that would allow them to be used any time of the year.

Lynn was ambitious and made  a set of eggs for a giveaway, herself, and a 

set for her Etsy shop.  I didn't have quite that much patience, so mine are going 

to my shop.  Maybe next year I'll make myself a set.

 ~

This little sweety is my favorite.

Linking with

The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday
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Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Monday
~
Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday
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A Collection of This and That for Simple Pleasures
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Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday
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I Love Pretty Little Things for Friday Pretties

 

Thrifting Finds

I just wanted to share a few fun things I've been collecting for myself.   Usually I'm on the lookout for my Etsy shop, but these are just for me.I found the vintage silverware at the Scott's Antique Market lastmonth when it was in town. 

I found a booth that had four good sized boxes of silverware, so I startedgoing through it piece by piece.  I was trying to find enough piecesto make a matched set for eight.  Well ~ that didn't go to well ~ so then I started looking for eight forks that matched, eight spoons that matched, and eight knives that matched.After about a half hour, a lady came up and in less than five minutes, shehad picked out eight place settings with none of the pieces matching.So ~ guess what I did too?  It still took me longer than fiveminutes to pick out my mismatched pieces, but I came away witha set of whimsical silverware and very black fingers. 

Next, I started looking for mismatched glass vases or containers

to display them in.  It took a few trips to Goodwill and an Etsy buy,but now I have my three mismatched glass containers tomatch my mismatched silverware and I'm loving it all together.

Now I must admit, I don't know much about glass or how to

tell if it's vintage or crystal or just cheap glass, but I do know what I like when I see it.To this happy trio, I added a sweet vase  and teacupI found at Goodwill, and a small bunch of white tulipsfrom the grocery store on clearance for $1.

Since I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, I'll probably takethis sweet little teacup and plant a flower in it.  It'sjust too pretty not to use in some way, and I thinka violet might just the thing for it. 

Nothing in this grouping was expensive or a collector's item,but I love it all the same for it's elegant simplicity andthe way it makes this corner of my kitchen a little brighter.

Linking withFaded Charm for White Wednesday~ All Things Heart and Home for All Things Inspired ~Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday ~ Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday~French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday 

An Upscale Thrift Store

 I stopped at a new thrift store yesterday while I was out running errands.It was run by The Ohio Cancer Society and it was quite a surprise.Everything in the store was very nice and a bit on the pricey sidefor a thrift store.  Not the bargain prices you'll find at Goodwill.I heard a sales woman telling someone it is an upscale thrift store.That explained a lot. They even had set up a chocolate fondue fountainand lots of yummy Valentine treats for the customers.I was about to leave when I found this lovely tulip arrangement.

 

And the price was right ~ it was only $15.

It was missing a few tulips, like someone had come along and

snippped them off.  But that didn't matter to me ~ I loved

it at first sight.

So I snatched it right up before anyone else could.  The

sales lady said it had just come in that day and I

felt blessed that it was going home with me.

The tulips were in a beautiful pot with ivy at the base. 

 On the way home, I stopped at Michael's and picked up new tulips

to replace the missing ones and the squiggly sticky thing.  I

stuck them in and it was perfect ~ well, maybe a little large

for my small dining room table, but I love the way it commands

attention when you walk through the room.

And I love the way it makes the whole room seem like 

spring has come. 

 

Linking with

The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday

~

Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Monday

~

Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

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A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday