Pretty Clutter

I really try to keep clutter to a minimum in my house,

except in my studio.  There, I live happily among

all the pretty things waiting to be put in my shop...

and some other things that are there just to make me smile.

We had snow today!  

And after having sick boys home all last week,

it was a good day to make extra coffee, 

light a candle, and work in a cozy, warm spot like this!

But... there was the buzz of a wet saw in the

background as bathroom reno number two continues. haha.

Random Thoughts

Sitting beside me on the couch as I type.

1. We had a great thunderstorm this morning.  Dark as evening, lightning and thunder, pouring rain.  Then the winds blew it all away and the sun came out.  Loved it.
2. I'm dabbing into spring cleaning a bit each week instead of blocking off a solid few months. haha.  This week I wiped down all the doors inside the house.  All 25!  Why do we have a crazy amount of doors?  Good grief!  Each closet has 2 bi-fold doors.  A few have 4 doors!  I'm happy to say that they are done and all those six panels dust catchers are fresh and clean.  Tomorrow I'm planning on making all the light fixtures clean and sparkly.  I should be completely done with spring cleaning by Christmas! ha.
3. If you love vintage linens, I'm slowly putting some in my etsy shop. I don't know how many people use dresser scarves or table runners these days but some of these would be very sweet repurposed into throw pillow covers or tea towels.
4. We're packing up the Jeep over the Memorial Day weekend and heading to Pennsylvania to visit Taylor and Lauren!  It will be our first trip to their new home and we are so excited!  Well, not so excited to ride 6 hours with the guys, but we'll see how it goes. haha.  I'm especially excited to be the company instead of the hostess, which seldom happens!
5. When we get home, I'm looking forward to planting my little veggie garden!  The Mister tilled my little planting beds last weekend so everything is ready to go.  Maybe if I get myself ahead of schedule, I can get it planted next week, but I will be surprised if that happens.  Meanwhile, my blackberries have blossoms! 
6. The boys have a three day weekend starting tomorrow!  I'm looking forward to not having to pack lunches tonight and sleeping in a little in the morning.  Maybe that's the reason for the glass of wine tonight....it's the weekend here already! :)

♥

Three Tiered Tray

I've had a fun day in the studio, just me and my power

tools!  I'm turning a box of old enamelware dishes

into new and exciting creations!

♥

Original Watercolor H B Tschudy

This was a fun find at an auction several months ago!

I just now got around to giving it a closer look and investigating

the artist.  H B Judy, as he signed a lot of his work, 

was Herbert B Tschudy, 1874-1946, an American artist born in

Plattsburgh, Ohio.  He's known for his watercolor and oil paintings

of landscapes and I can see why!  This lovely, peaceful scene in muted

colors is what drew me to the piece in the first place!

There's a little white house in the middle of the trees where

the road curves.  Love the fences, too.

If you can't live without it, I've put it in the shop!

Just click on the link in my sidebar.

♥

You Rang?

I got a fun Christmas gift!

It was a Ring Door Bell.  I kept seeing the

commercials for them and thought it would be

a great way to keep an eye on my etsy packages that

I put out on my porch every day to be picked up.

So, I asked Santa and he actually put one under the tree. :)

I'm alerted on my cell phone whenever there is any

movement on the front porch, whether they ring the

door bell or simply leave a package.  I can swipe my phone

and see live what is happening whether I'm at home or not!

And I can talk to anyone there, if I want to.

Here you can see my UPS man making a delivery while

my boxes to go out are waiting for the USPS man.  The camera

 has a wide span...you can even see his truck out on the street! 

Kinda fun, but nice for security reasons, too!

♥ 

Song Sparrow Treasures Sale

My little online antique shop is celebrating it's 1600th sale!

And how appropriate that it landed on the 16th day of August

in the year 2016! haha.  You can get 16% off your entire

purchase for the next week by using coupon code 

1600CELEBRATION

Click here to visit.

♥

Girl Power

I spent the weekend working on making a guest room 

out of our spare bedroom.  It had been used as a storage

room...an attic, really....full of projects waiting for me

to tackle, boxes of auction finds to be put in my shop,

our Christmas tree, extra furniture, etc. 

I worked all week on emptying the room!

I had some honest discussions with myself on what

projects I would seriously do in the future and which

ones probably wouldn't ever happen.  A few boxes of

things went to the thrift store and a few boxes of things

were listed in my etsy shop.

Then the fun came!  I did some online shopping for

mattresses, night stands, a dresser, bed linens, pillows, etc.

Overstock.com is my favorite for that kind of thing!

This weekend I put a fresh coat of paint on the walls

and steam cleaned the carpet.  Then I got out my girlie

power tools and put together a dresser.  It was a huge 

thing with 8 drawers, a tracking system, and hardware.

Fortunately it came with good instructions. haha.

Hopefully this week all the deliveries will be made and

I can finish putting it all together!

♥

#vintage

I had to show you my new shirt.

It's so me, isn't it?

I got it from a cute little etsy shop

called New England Nesters.

I'm thinking I need to wear it to the next auction,

just in case it isn't obvious why I'm there. haha.

♥

Outside or Inside

The weather has been perfect lately!  No humidity, blue sky,

sunshine, gentle breezes and cool nights.  It almost feels like fall

  instead of late spring!  I've worked out in the yard for hours weeding, planting, repotting, pruning, 

and watering.  So fun! I've gone to the garden center and filled a cart or two... my favorite spring

 activity!  We're all stocked with  flowers and veggies.

The only trouble with working outside all the time is what happens

inside the house with all that neglect! haha.  I've done the minimum

of laundry and cooking.  I've gone to auctions and all of my 

purchases are still waiting to be photographed and listed in

my shop!  Good thing it's going to turn miserably hot and rain

all next week.....because my studio is waiting for me...

Oh dear.  haha.

♥

Chalkware String Holder

Here's a fun little thing I got at the auction last week!

This little chef holds a ball of twine and it is neatly

distributed out a hole in his mouth.  The earliest string

holders, in the 1800's, were cast iron cages that were mounted

on general store and post office counters to tie up packages.

In the early 1900's they became more decorative and common

in households, too.  They were made of chalk, or plaster, so

they usually have some wear on them if you find one today.

This one is from about 1945.

He will probably end up in my etsy shop, eventually.

But for now, I'm enjoying him hanging on my pantry door.

He kind of looks like he's eating spaghetti, doesn't he?

♥

Kitchen Puttering

My bread board collection is growing.

The middle one came home with me yesterday.

I love how distressed it is and the hanging ring on the top.

I scrubbed the heck out of it so it's clean now.  Still,

I doubt if I'll ever use it.  I just like how it looks.

I cleaned out this part of my kitchen cabinets...dusted,

rearranged, purged, etc.  Surprisingly after over a year

they weren't dusty at all.  It's the floors that are a 

constant disaster here, yet I chose to play with

dishes when I cleaned today. lol....stepping over

dust bunnies and crumbs...maybe this evening 

I'll get to the floors. :)

These antique English plates from 1913 came home with me 

yesterday.  I seem to be drawn to brown transferware

lately.  I thought they looked like autumn!

Won't they be pretty for Thanksgiving dinner?

They even have quails on them. 

I did manage to get a few new items listed

in my etsy shop today, a few sales packaged

and shipped.....and 2 loads of laundry done.

The boys had the day off, so we're bedhead and

jammies today.  It's been lovely...as long as we

don't look in the mirror....hahaha....

What did you do today?

♥

Coffee In A Beer Mug

I love vintage stuff.  Ironstone, especially!

So when I saw this over sized mug on Etsy, I

 just had to have it!  Pretty color, pretty design...perfect!

I thought those were pine cones when I bought it but when

the package arrived I looked a little more closely.....

Hops?  Lol...of course!  Why didn't I notice that before?

But I don't mind.  You can drink coffee from a beer mug, right?

I don't really enjoy beer...maybe I'll put some White Zinfandel in

it some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

♥

Spring Giveaway

This sweet Mr. Bunny needs a home!

He would be perfect for spring, a nursery,

or baby shower.  He's large...stands almost 13"

tall!  He would make a lovely centerpiece or addition

to your Easter buffet table!

I'll ship anywhere in the world!

 If you would like to have your

name added to the drawing, leave a comment below

or enter on my business facebook page, HERE.

Comment on both places to increase your chances!

Drawing is open now through Wednesday, March 16th.

Winner will be announced Thursday, March 17th!

♥

Vintage Domino Pendants

I enjoyed a few days in my studio creating these

pendants from vintage dominoes and scraps of old

greeting cards and calendars.  There's even an old

postage stamp in there!  And, they're reversible! 

I've listed 25 of them in my etsy shop!

If you're interested, click HERE!

♥ 

Vintage Dictionary Illustrations

So, I was feeling a little creative last night.

I'm always bringing home vintage dictionaries from the

auction trash and decided to use one in some

kind of repurposing project.  

This was a Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1947,

with nicely yellowed pages, and charming

hand drawn illustrations.

The spine was broken, so don't worry about me cutting

 it up.  It was begging to be useful again! :)

I've had this duck for decades, back when ducks were 'in' along with

hunter green and burgundy....so 1990's! 

 I covered him in the illustrations using Modge Podge and a little paint brush.

I applied two coats over the whole thing and let it dry overnight.

Who knew applying something vintage would bring him into the 

21st century! haha.  I intended to put him in my etsy shop,

but I'm having a hard time letting go.

I'll enjoy him a few days and see how I feel then.

He's large...would make a gorgeous centerpiece on a dinner table.

Maybe in a tray with fall colored leaves for Thanksgiving?

Or a wreath of holly around his neck for Christmas?

Hmmm.....

♥

I Should Buy Stock!

Another supply of packing peanuts came today!

I had to stand on my tip toes so you could see me

behind the bag! haha....and it gave me a chance to

try out my tripod for my camera.  I got it for Christmas

and I just cut the tags off of it!  I know, I know!  Crazy.

Some of the cats scattered when I walked through

the house with this thing!  I don't know what 

they thought it was!  The Abominable Snow Man? ha. 

♥

Random Thoughts

1. The Red Buds have sprouted their seed pods!
2. After a week or two of cool, beautiful, fall-like weather, we are back to the normal August heat and humidity.  It was nice while it lasted!
3. No nascar this weekend.  I know, I know...most of you just don't get that feeling of withdrawal like I do.... haha.
4. There's a full moon tonight!  I'll have to go outside with my camera after dark!
5. If you're in the market for an antique French Provincial chair, I have one going into the shop soon.  Just need to edit some photos. Lovely needlepoint roses.  Tempted to keep it! 
6. After the endless rains of spring and early summer, my tomato plant has recovered and it looks like I might actually get a few tomatoes after all.  By a few, I mean less than 5...haha....if this heat stays through September, it would help a lot!

♥

Reusable Grocery Bags

Some of my cloth grocery bags had seen better days and

needed to be replaced, so I looked on Etsy to see if

there were any unique, pretty ones to buy.

I found these in a little shop called Bella Mia Totes!

You get to choose the fabric and she makes them 

special just for you!

And they are huge!  Twice as big as the standard ones!

That means fewer trips from the car into the house!

And they are nicely made with strong handles.

If you need any totes, go visit Jamie

at her shop!  Click HERE.

♥

Random Thoughts

1. I've always liked pink roses better than red.  Throw a few lavender ones in there, and it's even better!
2. It feels like September outside.  Cool mornings, no humidity, blue skies.  Such a tease!  I bet we swelter again very soon. ha.
3. There are fair weather friends and then there are the ones that really care.
4. My little etsy store is celebrating it's 1000th sale!  And in a quirky, fun kind of coincidence, it's facebook page just got 1000 'likes'! Isn't that fun?  We're celebrating with a sale, too, if you are interested.  Either site will give you a coupon code.
5. I'm craving peach pie.  Might have to do something about that soon!
6. We've taken everything out of our living room.  Sold some things, gave some away...shopped on overstock.com in the clearance section and found some very lovely new things.  I'm getting very acquainted with the UPS man this week..haha  Seems like one thing comes every day.  If you haven't shopped that clearance tab, I highly recommend it.  Free shipping, too!
7. Thanks for all of your sweet messages about Nugget.  It really meant a lot!  It was a little sad yesterday to go to the grocery and not by two bunches of kale, like I've done every week for 8 years! Aw.
8. Giving myself a pedicure this evening.  I'm thinking red will be a nice change from the ocean blue glitter that is on there now. :)  

♥

Reclaimed Wood Breadboard

I have been drooling over this breadboard for a while now.
It's from the Miss Mustard Seed blog, one of my favorites!
She's so fun and inspiring and I love her style.

When my son Taylor decided a few months ago that he wanted
to get into working with reclaimed wood, I knew exactly
what I wanted him to make for me!

I sent him a picture and he brought over a gorgeous big old

heavy piece of oak.  It looks like it was a wide stair tread or

part of a barn in it's former life.  I drew the pattern I wanted

with chalk and he cut it out and gave it all a good sanding.

I gave it one coat of Miss Mustard Seed's Hemp Oil

and this is how it turned out!  Isn't it cool?

I've already requested a small one to layer with it, maybe

in a lighter color.  I'm thinking clear furniture wax instead

of the oil will give the lighter contrast I want.

He's eventually going to open an etsy store

and when he does, I'll be sure and let you know!

♥