Pink Roses

not again...

Her: Mom you are NOT taking pictures of hydrangeas again are you?

ME: (bending over with my camera in my hand) ummm, maybe, why?

Her:Mom you've already blogged about Hydrangeas

ME: Well I've never blogged about this English chintz pitcher I bought at the Garage sale for $2.00.  Could be my best deal EVER.

Her: Can't you take a picture without the Hydrangeas?

ME: No, there's a chip in the top...why do you think I got it for $2.00...and since when are you the "blog police"?

Her: I'm just saying you could use another flower

ME: No, this pitcher was MADE for Hydrangeas...

You see we don't always agree, my daughter and I, but I think YOU will agree, that $2.00 was a deal!

at the flea...

It was a nice day at the flea market today...the CHIPPY girls had some amazing things going on in their booth, as usual... today the babies had bodies, but no arms...

silver with pearls, a classic...

silver with dominos, fun loving...

baskets of croquet balls...

decorated bottles under a cloche...brilliant...

a close up...

vintage fun and games...

and some repurposed jewels...

...these girls have talent! 

lemonade set...

I received this milk glass lemonade set from my friend Mildred last weekend, it belonged to her mother.  The set has a pitcher and 6 glasses...

I spoke with Mildred this morning and we talked about her mom, who is currently living with her, in the care of hospice.  Mildred's mom has been blind for 30 years, but for the past few days she is having visions, and can see people and colors, and describe things in perfect detail.  Mildred says her mom never forgets to thank her, even for the smallest of things, like a sip of water. 

I hung up the phone and was inspired with the grace and strength and kindness, in which her mother is spending her final days.  I was hopeful with her gift of "seeing" color once again.  I am honored to have her lemonade set, and will cherish it forever...Thank You Mildred.

not much...

Not much exciting happening here...I'm on my 10th load of wash, trying to get the "jungle" out of her clothes...it's like his worst Boy Scout camping dirt...times ten! I had to wash the Vera Bradley duffle bag twice :).

I bought this planter at a garage sale on Friday...it was only $1.00, and I loved the polka dots, but I thought it might be too 1970's avocado green...

I filled it with Hydrangeas, and it's got a nice pop of color... I guess everything can't be about pink roses!

I'll be gone for the next 3 days, I'm taking Christopher for his Freshman college orientation.  I'll be attending a parent orientation, and Elizabeth is coming too, so she can see his college campus and just be a part of it all.  She also owes me a shoulder to cry on...I may need it!

Show & Tell Sunday...

Today's Show and Tell topic is Trash to Treasure.  If you are like me, often times you bring things home from Garage Sales and flea markets with the intention of making something out of it, but it never actually happens!  As I was trying to decide what to show today, I became painfully aware that I have a lot of unfinished & unstarted projects!

The project above did get finished, quite a few years ago, and I have really enjoyed it.  I bought this silver teapot at a garage sale for just $5.00...of course it was black with tarnish when I found it, but with some silver polish and hard work, it shines like new. Its not hard to wire a lamp (they sell everything at Home Depot), but I took this teapot to a lamp store and had it wired, because I didn't want to attempt drilling through silver!  I had this in my dining room once upon a time, but now it sits on my desk next to my computer, and I see it everyday.

You can make a lamp out of almost anything...once you start, you then envision everything with a lampshade on it!

Here is a current work in progress...

I bought these 3 tacky plastic art/picture things at the Goodwill store for $1.00...they are 8" x 10"...diamonds in the rough.  The center plastic flower part snaps off, leaving just the frame and the lattice backing.  I started by priming them with white spray paint...

I was thinking of covering the lattice portion with a piece of chipboard, and then making a collage with vintage elements.  I want to make something to decorate Elizabeth's dorm room at college next year, and I need her help in deciding on colors.  She will be in a suite with 2 of her sorority sisters and I though of doing one for each of the girls...incorporating their initials or a monogram.  They may end up being more like something from Anthropologie ...funky and bright...with the frames painted in cheerful colors (that would probably look best on plain white dorm walls). I have so many ideas for these, but the final decision will be what Elizabeth wants.  I'll show  you the end result when I finish :).

Today it is Analise's turn to host Show and Tell...so head over to her blog for more Trash to Treasure!

Lucite purses...

I started collecting Lucite purses in college, but it wasn't what I wanted.  I wanted to collect Victorian style vintage beaded evening bags but they were way too expensive for my student budget. Almost every weekend my boyfriend (who became my husband), and I went to the flea market.  I was at the University of California, so we either went to the Alameda Flea Market (which was every weekend in those days), or to the Berkeley Flea Market held on Sundays at the BART station.  One weekend I found this purse...

It reminded me of Cinderella for some reason...maybe a purse version of her slippers...anyway, I fell in love and it was only a few dollars so I bought it.  Over the next 4 years of college I collected dozens of purses...I tried to buy only clear, or clear and white, although I do have 1 pink, 1 blue and 2 tortoise.

Now they are hard to find and expensive, so I don't buy them anymore.   It was a college collection, and I still love them, but part of the fun was finding them for a few dollars each!

I would use them for special occasions, and always lined them with a hankie...

and made sure not to carry anything too personal inside!

These are just a few of my favorites...I display them in the bookcases in my living room.

I also have a collection of white wicker purses...

but they are in a box somewhere in the basement...I'll have to dig those out another day!

ready for the prom...

The Junk Gypsy prom that is!  I found this skirt at the Nashville Flea Market last month for $10.00, and had to buy it...you just never know when you'll need it :).  I dressed my mannequin the other day and added a little bit of ribbon and a flower from an old hat...

All of my Aunts loved it when they came over for the Graduation party last weekend...they didn't understand why I had a mannequin in the dining room (so I can see it every day) , but they got it...it's a girl thing!

Show & Tell Sunday

When you're a packrat like me, you have lots of stuff, and I'm always looking for ways to store it.  I have things stored in hatboxes, cigar boxes, candy boxes and tins.  I find that when I put something away, I tend to forget about it...so I like to store things in jars where I can see what I have.

Here are some of my jars, as you can see I have a huge variety, some old, some new...most free!  From tiny baby food and spice jars, to industrial size jars, there is a size for everything.  I will confess that I have been known to buy a product in the grocery store based on the jar, knowing it would make great storage...especially jelly and pickle jars...

In my grocery store there is a deli department that makes sandwiches, and everyday they throw away lots of BIG jars that contained pickles and olives used for the sandwiches.  I get all of my big jars from them for free...they even wash them out for me! 

I have found lots of old jars with fun graphics at garage sales for 25 cents...I don't mind a little rust...

Some jars are organized with just one item, and some are a hodge-podge of stuff...

I have 4 bookcases in my studio filled with stuff...I try to display it nicely...

  and I'd love to tell you that it's all perfect...

but that would be a lie... when I'm working, the floor and my worktable are a mess.  You will never see my studio featured in a magazine...unless it's called "Creative Chaos"!

My goal is to one day have the whole thing clean...if that happens, trust me, you'll be the first to know : ).

sewing tin...

One of my most prized possessions is my grandmothers sewing tin. It's just an ordinary metal tin...

...but I always feel so close to her when I open it up and look at the things inside.  I got this tin from her house when she died 13 years ago, and have looked through it a million times.  My other grandmothers sewing tin was very practical...lots of brown and black, things for mending and repairing work clothes.  This tin was more about sewing for beauty and fashion.  My grandmother had beautiful colors of seam binding and lace, pearl buttons and dressmaker details...

and unlike my other grandmother, this one traveled all over Europe, and she had needles from England, French and Italian thread...

stamps and coins from places like Zambia and Tanzania...

I look at the buckles and buttons and try to imagine the outfits they must have come from...

After all these years of looking at this tin over and over, the other day I found a surprise.  There was a folded piece of paper that had a length of cream colored embroidery floss wound around it.  I looked at it, and for the first time noticed that the paper looked like a piece of notebook paper.  I unwound the floss, and started to get excited...I recognized the handwriting...it was a letter my grandfather had written to my grandmother...

He started it "Dear Honey".  I was shaking as I read the letter...my grandfather died in 1969, when I was 8 years old.  I felt like I had found hidden treasure that had been right in front of me all these years.  I showed this to my mom when she was here.  In the letter he wrote " I just wrote the baby"...he was referring to my mother.  My grandfather worked for an oil company in Africa, and sent letters to us, and to my grandmother when she was home in the United States visiting.  My grandmother had kept this all these years in her sewing tin wrapped with thread.  Now her little sewing tin is a treasure chest...and it is priceless...at least it is to me!

postcards...

A few years ago a friend of mine gave me this metal photo holder to use for my postcard collection.  It was black and had a tiny little round ball on the top.  I replaced the little ball with a large wooden finial, and spray painted the whole thing white...

I use it to store all of my postcards with pink roses...

I am showing this because the topic this week for "Show and Tell Sunday" is all about showing how you "store your stuff"...craft supplies, collections...whatever.  Visit Cerri's blog for more information.  I am going to try and organize some of my "stuff" and take some pictures to share...if nothing else, I will get inspired by the way everyone else organizes :)...come play along on Sunday!