Vintage Thingies Thursday - Taking it Outside

It has been so pleasant outside the last couple of days. Let's wander around the backyard today.

Right off the back porch is a vintage #10 oil can long ago painted pink and filled with red vinca. Next to it is a crumbling cement planter with lion heads.


On the other side of the steps is an old rickety ladder disguised as a plant stand.

A couple of galvanized washtubs hold red begonias and impatiens in shades of pink.

Sitting under the yellow day lilies are a vintage watering can and a #4 oil can.

Under the pecan trees is a birdhouse that needs some human attention.
Look what is peeking out from under decades of ivy growing over the garden fence?

Care to have a have a glass of iced sweet tea with me in the shade of the back porch before you head over to Suzanne's?

Tuesday Tidbits - Studio Redone and Another Prize

It was called to my attention that I had not shared the efforts of the redecorating of my studio. Here are some pictures of the before. The wall color was actually darker than in these pictures. Truly a dreary place.
Notice the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Lovely ambiance.
Now the redone room. A bright, cheery room in which to sew, craft or work at my desk.

It is so nice in this room now, Ashley is always hanging with me.

No more bare bulb. Instead, a ceiling fan.

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Julie of Jane's Apron had a giveaway. I love blog giveaways. She created a zippered pouch from a place mat. How cool is that? If you are interested in how to make this pouch, go here for a tutorial. It is really simple.

She filled the bag with some wonderful goodies.



Julie has a cool shop on Etsy. Check out the items she has to sell here.

Thanks for a great giveaway, Julie.

New Toy

This was delivered to our door on Tuesday.


We had been using a point and shoot digital that was almost ten years old. Going from the old camera to the new was like going from dial up to cable modem. WOW!

Now I can take pictures like this:

Now I'll be snapping pictures of everything!

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Wall Art

It's Thursday and you know what that means. A showcase for things old, retro and vintage. Make sure you get over to Suzanne's to see all the wonderful things people are sharing this week.

Since I have lots of wall space to cover, I am always looking for things to hang on the walls. You know the feeling when you find something you know will be perfect in your home? That is the feeling when I saw this pair of pictures last week at an auction.
The frames were in bad shape; beat up brown wood. But a light sanding and some black spray paint fixed the problem. The black frames now make these pictures pop from the wall.

Below is a some chalkware I got at another auction. When I started bidding on this, Hubs looked at me and rolled his eyes. I told him, "You just wait. This will be perfect in the hallway by the front doors." He was still doubtful but he has learned to trust my instincts. I'm sure you all remember these pieces from the 60's.

Here it is after I have added some ivy. I may need to do a little tweaking with the arrangement.

Remember this sack cloth from last week?
I asked you to guess how much I paid for it. That question might have been a bit misleading. It cost me $0.00 - nada - nothing - zip. Handed to me on a silver platter. Well, actually a Wal-Mart bag, but to me it was a silver platter!

My dear neighbor and friend, Anne, is 86 years young. As with a lot of people her age, she hates to throw anything away. Her children have no interest in the antiques and vintage pieces she has "stashed" over the years. It seems like every time I go visit, I'm coming home with a sack of goodies. I think the some of pink and green is going to become an apron for her birthday.

The person guessing closest was Mannequin. She guessed that I paid fifty cents for all. I will be emailing her for her address so she can receive a small prize. Thanks to all who guessed.

Don't forget to visit our wonderful weekly host, Coloradolady, to see all the other vintage things being shared.

*Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.

Finished for Friday - TA-DA!

I'm finally posting my Finished for Friday post. It has been a busy, but very productive day.

Here is the results of my decluttering of our upstairs room. I can not tell you how relieved I am to have this job completed. If you did not see the before pictures of this room, you can see them here. Trust me, it is not pretty.

Bright and early this morning, I was out laying a lot of the stuff from the before of this room (and more stuff from other places in the house) out in the yard for a sale. Below are pictures I snapped of some of the stuff before people started arriving.

All of my cleaning efforts and yard sale prep netted me $300. Not bad, eh? The sale is to continue tomorrow, but there is not very much stuff left.

As for the *storage* room, Hubs has already started prepping the walls for painting and we are now referring to the room as the second guest bedroom. Some of the money made from the sale will purchase the bedding that will be used in this new room.

Finished for Friday is hosted by Lit and Laundry. Check out what others have finished this week here.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Textiles

Last week I shared treasures that I found on a weekend of flea markets and auctions. If you missed that post, you can see it here.

While at the local flea market, I found some wonderful linens I would like to share this week.

Here is Belle using her parasol as she walks through the garden. Her twin is on the other end of this piece. Look at the detail of the embroidery. My momma called these type of linens dresser scarves. Today I think we would call them runners. The edging on this piece was not hand made. I wonder if someone added it later as it almost feels synthetic and is very frayed. Do you think it was worth $1?
This is a table cloth that was probably used on the breakfast table as it is too small to cover the formal dining table. The edging on this piece was hand crocheted. Again, I paid $1.

These runners have the embroidered design on both ends. It is the same design on both runners even though they are different sizes. The edging along these pieces is crocheted as well. If you are saying that I got these for $1 a piece, you are correct!

There are six of these blue work napkins. They were manufactured and not hand made. When I picked these up they were so yellowed, some were even brown. I had doubts as to whether they would come clean, but for a spot on a couple of napkins, they are pristine now.

Here is a closer look at the detail of these napkins. I would like to tell you I got all six of these napkins for $1. The vendor wanted $1 a piece! For these dirty, stained things? We dickered and I finally paid $2 for the set.

You vintage fabric lovers are not going to believe the next pictures. Three pieces of sack cloth! I love the piece with the wishing wells.
Oh, look! Three more pieces... The blue and red plaid in the middle almost feels like flannel.

I spy with my little eye...three more pieces of sack cloth. My favorite is the paisley.

I was tickled PINK to get these four pieces. The piece on the far left is so unique with the combination of red and green watering cans and flower pots.
Any one care to make a guess as to how much I paid for all thirteen pieces of sack cloth? There is a little over a yard to each piece. I will tell you I did not purchase these at a flea market.

If you leave a comment and guess the correct amount I paid for this cloth, I will send you a small surprise. Should there be more than one correct guess, I will draw the winner from my vintage Girl Scout beret. The winner will be announced on my Tuesday Tidbits post.

You must skip on over the Suzanne's, our wonderful hostess for VTT, at Coloradolady to see all the other wonderful vintage items being shared.

*Clicking on each picture will enlarge it.