Saturday Morning Yard Sales

It's finally here! The eagerly anticipated Saturday morning yard sale season! It's been a long winter with only an occassional estate sale to keep us warm. My bf Beri and I spent many hours this winter in front of her fireplace with a glass of wine dreaming of sunshine and sales. We longed for the days when we wouldn't quit until we were out-of-money or out-of-room in the car.

We woke Sat morning to warm weather and the paper loaded with ads. Neither one of us are morning gals, so it takes plenty of coffee and usually something chocolate to get us going this early. We set off with high expectations and $20.00 in our pocket.

Since it's still early in the season, we didn't quite fill the car. Here's a few of the treasures we found.

-A wire minnow basket

-A metal hotdog cooker for over the fire

-A lattice picnic basket

-A super cool large Redmon picnic basket with sparkly handles

-2 flower iron decorative pieces

-3 pretty vintage hankys (one with my middle initial)

We also took a tour for you of our all-time fav shop in Boise called "The Shabby House" which will be featured here next Sunday for "Sunday Show & Tell". They were having their "Springtime in Paris" event with wine tasting and fabulous vintage treasures. You will absolutely adore this shop!

Before I go, take a look at Beri's adorable front yard (with a name like Beri, you know she loves bears).





Almost forgot. This was the cutest mailbox we've ever seen!

Sweet dreams of sunshine and sales!

Di

Mirror, mirror on the wall................

TGIF! Who else is sooooooo glad it’s Friday? This week seemed to go on forever as the weather in Boise is still cold and windy and only teases us slightly with a small dash of spring between the hail and wind. I’m looking forward to yard saling with my gal pals tomorrow and hopefully finding some treasures to share with you in future blogs.

Another fun and inexpensive item to decorate your cottage with are vintage mirrors. You can find vintage mirrors at yard sales and thrift stores for anywhere from $2.00 to $20.00. Don’t let their condition or color sway you to pass one up. You can lightly sand and paint any old mirror a pretty new color, and wood glue can reattach loose pieces. I even found a beautiful 1940s gold mirror at a yard sale for only $5.00 that would have easily sold at the antique shop for around $100.00. It had several small pieces of the gold nicked in a few places. With the magic of a gold paint pen, I touched-up the nicks until they became invisible. Mirrors also expand your living area and create the illusion of space (important for tiny cottages like mine).

Here are a few vintage mirrors I have around my house.







This square mirror looks hip hanging over my hutch. (Boy did the maid do a crappy job cleaning this mirror. Wait a minute, I am the maid! I should be fired from all housekeeping duties immediately!)



This round porthole mirror hangs over my bathroom towel bar and is flanked by candlesticks.

This mirror has a beautiful beveled edge and ornate top. I lightly sanded it and painted it black.

Happy Friday, and leave a comment if you can!

Di

Show & Tell Sunday-Vintage Jewelry!

Hello!

It's time again for Show & Tell Sunday. This Sunday's topic is vintage jewelry.

My beautiful Mother (Betty) and I decided to show off our collection of vintage jewelry while enjoying pasta, wine, and cheesecake after shopping on Fri night.

My Mom is a generous, loving person who ALWAYS takes care of everyone else. She's also an artist and is working on the drawings for our first Children's book we are planning on self-publishing at the end of this year.

We're both wearing our vintage necklaces (and received compliments on them). Betty has on a beautiful gold cameo, and I have on a sparkly art deco silver necklace with diamond.

I only have this one piece of vintage jewelry given to me by my Mother. And Betty only has a few pieces, so we decided some serious shopping is in order to add to our collections!

Here are the rest of Mom's beautiful pieces given to her by her late brother Jimmy.

Fabulous Fork!
Butter never looked so good!

For a complete look at all the fabulous jeweled collections, head over to the Little Pink Studio at

http://littlepinkstudio.typepad.com/little_pink_studio/
Cheers to the Sunday Show & Tell Group!

Have a great week and see you next Sunday!

Di & Betty

Dreams...........................

Everyone has a dream. A dream can be as grand as being president or as simple as signing up for a class you want to take. You may not even be aware you have a dream. It could show up as a longing to do something your good at or an empty feeling in your heart that something’s missing.


Dreams get sidetracked in the daily scheme of life. We may have good intentions of following our dreams, but work, kids, commitments, or even dusting the house steal our time away.


I’ve always loved to write. I was one of those strange kids that actually liked English class. Creative writing is my favorite. My Mother even saved all of my early stories from Grade School. My dream is to have a Children’s book published. I’ve just finished a new manuscript and am sending it out this week to several Children’s publishers. I came very close to selling my last manuscript, but competition is tough and Children’s publishers receive around 20,000 unsolicited manuscripts every year. But you’ll never know if you don’t try.


My book is titled MORTIMER’S MIDNIGHT MISHAP and is a tall tale of a tiny mouse who doesn’t like to be little. I feel he’s ready to leave the nest (my computer) as he’s been reviewed, rewritten, and revised. So wish Mortimer luck as he heads out of Boise to New York, Boston, Atlanta, Bellevue, and even Honesdale, PA. I’ll keep you posted on his progress.


And if you have a dream, take one small step today toward achieving it. Believe me, the dusting can wait.


Take care,

Di

P.S.-Aliki is feeling a little down that Mortimer is leaving us. He’s enjoyed having another furry pal around to play with. Sitting on the princess chair is making him feel a little better this morning (along with several doggie treats).

Show & Tell Sunday-Vintage Hankys!

Hello!

It's time for Show & Tell Sunday. Every Sunday a bunch of fun, creative bloggers get together for an old fashioned Show & Tell. This Sunday's topic is vintage hankys. Show them if you've got them, and show what you do with them. Thanks to Analise at Sugar Sugar for hosting this week.

I only have a few hankys, but found a fun way to make them into pretty flower cones perfect for upcoming May Day or Mother's Day. I used Stiffy fabric stiffener, rolled them into cone shapes, and then embellished them with ribbons, glittery letters, and pompoms. They look charming hanging from an old weathered white window on the fence filled with Spring flowers.

For a complete look at all of the fabulous hankys, go to Sugar Sugar's site @ http://leesiebella.typepad.com/leesiebella/

Grab a cup of coffee and something chocolate and enjoy!

This one is made from a pretty red and blue flowered handy with red pompoms and has a sparkly letter "D".

This one is made from a pretty white hanky with yellow embroirered flowers and is tied with a pink polka dot ribbon.

This cute guy is made from a blue and white circus hanky and has blue rickrack, a red pompom, and red ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have a moment, check-out my blog for fun ideas on decorating with vintage items!

Di

Decorating with "Tres Bien" Eiffel Towers!

Nothing conveys romance and glamour better than the iconic image of the Eiffel Tower. You can bring a little bit of France into your home by decorating with vintage or new Eiffel Towers.

I have quite a few of these treasured towers acquired from flea markets, garage sales, Target, and even one from the Goodwill on Haight-Ashbury Street in San Francisco. My husband was pleasantly surprised that among all the expensive boutiques on Haight-Ashbury, I spent most of my time and money (not much money) at the Goodwill store!

Here are a few in my collection:

This one sits high above my kitchen as a model train whisks by in the background to far away exotic locations. The tiny plastic people go about their business headed for the local cafe to munch on croissants or ride their bikes leisurely along the Seine River.

This tiny tower is a small vintage charm from a bracelet and is dwarfed by a kitchen scale and stack of red tea cups.






This small silver tower is actually a Christmas Tree ornament that now resides year round on the lazy susan of my dining table.

Eiffel Towers look especially charming in the garden strung with twinkle lights or entwined with a pretty purple climbing Clematis.

This black tea light tower gives a soft glow on starry summer nights.

To temporarily transport yourself to Paris, check-out the following websites:

http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/

http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

If you'd like to experience life in rural France, check-out my friend Gail's blog. I met her via ebay when I bought some of her wonderful vintage French items for my antique booth. She lives in a mountainous area of France and is remodeling a to-die-for old French stone house.

http://auvergnelife.blogspot.com/

I'm off to bed to dream of nights in Paris. "Bonne Nuit".

Di

Cool Old Clocks and Painted Fireplace!

I love to collect vintage clocks and can’t seem to pass one up at a flea market or yard sale. I currently have around 15.

How many is considered an obsession?











They don’t even have to work to be functional. Mine are all set for 5 o’clock, so it’s always happy hour!

Group them together on a mantle or shelf for maximum impact. They have "timeless" charm!

Fabulous Fireplace!

I transformed an outdated oak fireplace with uninspiring white tile into a fabulous focal point with paint, stamps, and jewels.

You can to!

HOW TO DO IT:

Paint the fireplace -

• Clean the wood
• Lightly sand the oak
• Apply a coat of primer. Let dry.
• Apply two coats of paint in a color to match your décor.
  

Decorate the tiles-

• Clean tiles/let dry
• Apply craft paint to your fav chunky stamps
• Carefully place stamp where you would like it on the tile. Lightly press. Let dry.
• Add jewels, beads, etc wherever they look cute using a hot glue gun

Have fun!