Herbal Essence

 

My sister-in-law came to dinner last night and instead of the usual hostess gift of a bottle of wine, she presented me with a bouquet of herbs from her garden and a single rose. I placed the bouquet in a blue glass canning jar, since it seemed to befit the humble herbs better than a crystal vase.

The herbs bundle consists of rosemary, parsley, mint, and basil. It smells so sweet and earthy, all at the same time.  Coupled with the addition of the fragrant rose, the combination is a feast for the senses.

 

 

 

Thank you, Linda, for your thoughtfulness…..

The Perfect Sale

 

I was hoping that there wouldn’t be storms forecast for Kathy’s Vintage Market Day in Mansfield, Ohio this weekend, and sure enough- the weather cooperated. While there was no “perfect storm,”  there was, instead,  “the perfect sale” on Saturday.  Kathy joined forces with a group of friends and held the first annual “occasional sale” for her Nostalgia’s Cottage business.

Kathy is, in her own words, “a collector of many things who was born to junk” and she says her personal style is cottage/beachy/shabby chic. She and her gal pal, Terri, buy old furniture and great vintage junk, then paint or re-purpose it to  resell at flea markets.

When I arrived in Mansfield early yesterday morning, I found oodles of merchandise on display and I just didn’t know where to begin looking! Once I started my pile of bargains though, I just kept adding to it. Here are some of the things I purchased at the show.

Kathy creates these adorable “button bouquets” and plants them in all kinds of vases. My earth toned bouquet is a silver bud vase tied up with eyelet ribbon.

Aren’t these little “flowers” just so cute?

 

Kathy and her junking partner, Terri, found a huge collection of clocks and parts while on one of their excursions. I selected a few clock faces and gears to display in a small compote dish. 

 

I also found this red timer amongst the pile of clocks she had for sale. I set it in my kitchen on the black hutch, where it contrasts well with my display of white dishes.

 

 

 

Creating paperweights was a recent project for Kathy. This one is on the same table as my button bouquet.  What a sweet combination.

 

 

I can always use another narrow mirror for parfums or miscellaneous bathroom items. This will probably get a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze.

 

 

 

The color of this pair of shutters just made me smile and they’ll be perfect in the blue guest room behind the twin size iron headboard.

 

 

I love the gentle arch and the chalky, gray-blue color.

 

 

I’ve been looking high and low for a reasonably priced silver coffee/tea set. This one fit the bill just perfectly. Although an oval tray came with the set, I set these pieces on the large sterling tray I found last fall. Remember it- the one that weighs almost 13 pounds?

 

Here are Kathy and another fellow Ohio blogger, Patti, from Crystal Rose Cottage. Patti and her husband drove up from Zanesville. It was so fun to finally meet her in person. I briefly met up with Lori (La) from A Musing Potpourri. She was a whirlwind shopper and I didn’t see too much of her! Plus, she was with friends and they were off to the flea market in town. Hopefully, we’ll get another chance to meet up and chat.

 Kathy and I are still hoping that a group of us will be able to meet and enjoy one another’s company sometime this fall, when activities slow down and there’s a cool bite to the air.  It’s something to look forward to since there were so many girls who couldn’t make it to this show.

Hope everyone stays cool in this hot summer weather! I’m linking up with several parties. Please pay their hostesses a visit on their appropriate party days and show them some comment love.

 

 

 

                            

 

 

 

 

                                           

The weather’s been hot, but I got cool finds…

 

I hit one of the best yard sales ever on Wednesday, and on Thursday, and again on Friday. Every day there was more new stuff being brought out. And everyday, I kept going back to see it.  It was a continuation of the sale I visited here.  The owner owned a consignment store and was a home stager, but she was getting rid of all of her stock. Wow! She had furniture, lamps, accessories, and more.

 

 

 

I usually order my lamps when I go to the High Point Furniture market, but occasionally I have need for something right away. This was the case with the chrome desk lamp I found for $8.00. It’s a touch on/off lamp, with dimmer capabilities and it looks to be brand new! 

 

 

 

I added this wooden cigar box to the tabletop, as well.  It was  25 cent purchase.  Although it’s standing on end now, it could easily be used for storage of small trinkets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiding behind a stash of someone else’s goodies in the garage were  two large mirrors that I knew I had to have.  They’re four feet tall and about two feet wide, and although they are now burnished gold, I definitely plan on painting them. Not sure what color yet, however.  They are heavy wood mirrors and they will help fill the wall on either side of the baker’s rack in the great room. They were a great price at only $17 each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the star of the sale was this rattan table and four chairs for $32.oo. Yup- you read it right! For the entire set! Not bad at all, wouldn’t you say?

The finish will be darkened up with stain a little, and I’ll make new seat cushions, too. More new jobs for my “free” time. I like the idea of covering it with a scrunched  throw and adding candlesticks and a bowl of  alphabet/number balls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the simple design of the tabletop.

 

 

 

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There were other purchases, but I’ll be saving them for later. Look for one at Barb’s Rooster Party.  Instead, you get to see a couple of things I found at a smaller sale last weekend.

 

 

 

I found this large silver plated ladle at a neighborhood yard sale for a mere$1.50. I guess I need to break out the ol’ toothbrush and silver polish once again.

 

 

 

 

 

It was definitely Christmas in July finding this wine chef Santa.  Complete with a wine bucket, wine list, a goblet, and some breadsticks, he cost me two whole buckeroos!

 

 

 

 

And this pair of brand new chairs was FREE to me, courtesy of the hubs!!!   Mr. S was having a tent sale at his store and he unearthed them from the warehouse.  My plans call for some rub and buff to age them up in the appropriate places.  I have just the spot for them under a sofa table. Great for extra seating at parties.

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I’m linked up with some of my favorite parties again this week. Please visit their hostesses and share in the fun. I’m sure you’ll get to see a lot of fun finds.

 

                                                                                      

 

 

 

Cloche Call…

 

Oh my! It was a close call tonight. I almost missed the cloche party! I have been so busy organizing all of my newly purchased furniture and accessories from a fantabulous yard sale, that I neglected to put together my cloches!  I rushed to put together  a few ~ Sorry that I didn’t use a lot of ingenuity this time, but I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them, anyway.

 

 

 

 

This black, wire cloche in one of the guest rooms was a thrifted find from a favorite shop in Tipp City. It was very simple, so I added a small crystal doorknob from my collection as a topper. I just used a little dab of E6000 glue to hold it in place.

I placed it over a blue and white luncheon plate that was a yard sale find. Although it isn’t blooming any longer, the African Violet adds a nice touch of greenery.

The knob fit absolutely perfect into the top of the cloche. It must have been meant to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top of the cedar chest needed a little something to make it look homey, so I used another wire cloche and featured two blue love birds and their nest. The cloche sits on an old round mirror base and lends a nice reflection of everything inside. The nest is an old strainer filled with moss.  I purchased the mirror and cloche from my friend, Kathy from Sylvia’s Vintage Daughter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A simple cutwork doily sets the basis for this pedestal cloche on the dining room table.  I set the  cloche on a glass and wood tray and added a few accessories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The candles are lit for a bit more ambience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple, yet elegant…

 

 

 

I actually thought that the dinner bell, topped with a sweet little bird, looked like a cloche, too.

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I have so many pretty yard sale purchases to show you. Look for them on Monday for Rhoda’s Thrifty Treasures party.

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Make sure you stop over to Marty’s party where I guarantee you will find oodles of beautiful and inspirational cloches. Her party-goers go “all out” for this meme.

My Tobacco Basket Looks Smokin’….

Yesterday, I told you that I was planning on incorporating the tobacco basket that I bought last summer into a re-do of the top of the entertainment units in my great room.

 

The basket has been stored in the garage for about a year, so it needed a good cleaning to remove all the cobwebs from its nooks and crannies. It was not until I gave it a spray bath with the garden hose that I was able to get them all out. I let it dry in the sun, and since it was another hot day here in Ohio, it dried pretty quickly. I wasn’t satisfied with its dull look, however, so I sprayed it with a clear coat finish. I was much happier with the way it looked after that.  It was so humid out that the lacquer took a while to dry. While I waited, I worked on the vases I purchased over the weekend. You can read about them in this post.

 

 

This is the inspiration photo for using the tobacco basket in the great room. It came from the last year’s cover for the June issue of Traditional Magazine.

 

 

This is the smaller of the two vases I bought. I liked the pattern on the body, but hated the gold neck. So, I painted it with my go-to spray paint-  oil rubbed bronze.

 

Here you see it all taped up and waiting to dry.  Classy background in the garage, huh?

 

This is the before picture  of the  reddish brown, metal vase.  It was just calling to be painted.

 

 

 

 

 

I sprayed it completely in ORB.  What a transformation!

 

 The top of the entertainment unit before I started my re-do was pretty darn bare since I had edited it to use some items for another room. I was left with a very boring and empty top, and since the room has 18 foot ceilings, the wall above the unit looked really bare. This is where the tobacco basket came in.

 

I centered it in the middle unit and placed a copper tub in front of it. The newly sprayed large vase went on one side and a single candle holder flanked it on the other.

 

This candlestick was a thrifted find last fall. Originally brass, it got a coat of ORB to make it look more contemporary. The candle is wrapped in birch bark.

 

The tub is actually a beverage holder that I bought on clearance at Target a few years ago.

 

On the left bookcase is the armillary, placed on top of a bamboo trunk. It gives the unit more height and its arm points upward to the featured tobacco basket.

 

It’s a rusty, iron piece that came from a going out of business sale.

 

The spools are from a collection that I purchased at several different yard sales. They were so reasonable. The interestingly shaped one on the left was the most expensive one at $3.00. I bought the framed picture in the background at another shop that went out of business last year.  Gee, was the economy that bad?

 

The smaller vase sits on the right side bookcase alongside a trio of small suitcases.  You can see that I left the body of the vase exactly as I found it and I only sprayed the vase’s neck. It added much more contrast than the previous gold color.

 

Here’s a close-up of the three suitcases.

 

I made the moss ball last week while sitting at my new table in the laundry room. I hot glued sheet moss to a 5” styrofoam ball and placed it in a simple iron vase.

 

 

This is the finished look. Don’t you think it looks smokin’ hot?

I played around with re-arranging various accessories for the better part of the day. Why does it always take so long? I kept getting up and down the ladder to see every adjustment. Klutzy me even tripped backwards onto the floor two times from the bottom rung. I have to remember NOT to place baskets and suitcases right at the foot of the ladder! 

The only thing I hurt was my pride, but I did knock over a lamp on the end table nearest the left bookcase. It, in turn, hit a glass vase which broke into smithereens. The vacuum cleaner is still awaiting me…Tomorrow is yard sale day and I have a great one to go to. It’s more decorator items from the same household where I bought my  two vases last week. Can’t wait!

Won’t you please stop over and visit the following blogs for their parties to see what inspiration you can find.

Lots of eye candy here!

 

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Pay Gina a visit to see some great transformations.

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This is one fun place to see a lot of ideas.

Stop over and pay Debbie a visit!

 

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Here’s Artie’s new party! Go check it out.

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