some new-old decor for my home

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of stopping in The Half Full Nest. I didn't get a chance to truly look at everything as it was near closing time. The store is in a historic church and filled with both old and new items for the home.

The only thing that really called out to me in my quick look around was this vintage teapot. I love both unique teapots and owls, plus the color is good in my kitchen.

A favorite store I've mentioned on my blog before is Vintage Art & Findings. I hadn't been in there in a long time and the shop owner, Mary and I always have a lovely chat. I was overdue for a visit! Her shop is filled with lots of vintage and one-of-a-kind altered and repurposed art items. I found this pretty altered tray that I placed in the white frame in my kitchen. I think it's perfect for transitioning into fall. (I'm not hurrying summer along by any means!)

Mary made this piece from an old screen. The photo isn't the best - it's much prettier in person.

I had been looking for just the right thing to put on the narrow wall space by the front door. I believe this is it!

Couldn't resist this stack of vintage flash cards....

and this doily art.

I kept holding it up in various places in my house and nothing seemed like the right place. Do you ever do that...buy something just because you're drawn to it, but having no idea where you'll put it? I don't do that as often as I used to: in this later stage of my life I'm getting rid of more stuff than I bring in. BUT. I really liked this piece and knew I could work with it.

I held it up to a window and thought, "aha!" 

That's where it's staying for now.

Have a good week! 

finds and fadings

Sharing some of my latest finds with you...

Aren't these plates perfect for fall? The thrift store only had two each of these dinner plates and salad plates, but that's OK. They'll look pretty as part of a place setting on the table. They're made by Vernon Kilns (USA). 

A pretty hand-painted pitcher...

Mini hobnail sugar and creamer...

Another owl to add to my collection, but this one is different. Instead of a figurine, it's a vintage clip and quite heavy. Found in my favorite antique shop.

This was my best find, by far.  A brand-new Dooney and Bourke wristlet! Still had the original price tag of $75. My price was $13. :-)

These aren't thrifting finds, but they're still bargains: wire magazine holders from the Target dollar section. They were $3 each. I snagged the last two. The navy and aqua colors are perfect for my office. I just need to make labels for the fronts. 

Meanwhile, being the end of August, the gardens are fading. All my potted annuals are history (except for one hanging pot of petunias in a shady spot) and some of the perennials are starting to dry up.

The end of August is when Sedum starts showing its beauty and since I have it planted in the butterfly garden, it's nice to have something blooming while the Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan are fading away.

I just cannot get over my coleus this year. This pot started out as four small plants. At first, these plants weren't doing well. The leaves started to shrivel up and were crispy. I tried a sunny spot, shady spot, more water, less water...nothing was working. One of the plants even died. I was just about to give up when I decided to move the pot to the other side of the house. I don't know why this was the "magic spot", but wow! Next year I'm planting coleus in the ground in this spot.

I had to run into the grocery store while I was out this evening and I found mini mums for $2.99. I bought two yellow and one purple to plant in the planter box that previously held basil (now harvested and made into pesto and frozen). I guess fall really is coming. I'm one who wants to hold onto summer just a bit longer.

monkey update ~ and hello to autumn

 Thank you for all your good thoughts, prayers and lovely messages for my cat, Monkey. He's doing much better after several cold laser treatments on his bladder. That technology is amazing! He's still not 100%, but he has one more laser treatment next week. This morning, I was in the backyard and happened to capture this photo through the screen. That's Zippo (my 16-year old kitty) on the left and Monkey on the right. Kiss-kiss!

 We said goodbye to a beautiful summer and autumn slowly slipped in, leaving us with stretches of blue, sunny skies and fields tinged in gold. Temps have been in the 70's. Just perfect.

 Most of the summer perennials - purple coneflower, black-eyed susan, phlox - in my gardens are drying up now, which always makes me kind of sad. Now the autumn sedum takes over.

Every fall, I photograph the color change of my neighbor's maple tree, simply because it is one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen. It ends up turning a bright orangey-red. I noticed this morning that the leaves on top and on the right (in the photo) where the sun hits are just starting to change. Can you see it?

As for fall decor around my house, I'm keeping it simple. The front porch got the obligatory pot of mums...

and a new welcome mat from Target. I might add some pumpkins in October, but that's it.

 

 

In the living room, I decorated the buffet with the old window that I had outside all summer (rescued years ago from a rehabbed house in my neighborhood). The runner is really a scarf. I was going to donate it since I never wear it, then realized the colors matched the colors in the bird wall hanging. Ta da! The two vintage books in the middle are from our recent getaway to Galena. One is a scrapbook of brief sermons and poems and the other is the poems of Henry W. Longfellow.

Of course, every vignette looks better with a kitty.

 

The console table in the living room entryway...

Edited the day after the original post...I was just looking through the photos on my laptop and saw that I missed posting the photo of the ladder bookcase in my living room. So, here it is.

 

In the kitchen, I kept the china cabinet simple, too and added just a few decorative fall items that I've had for years. That little painting in the background is from one of those paint-and-pour classes I took last year. I know...it looks like I had too much pour and not enough painting instruction. ;-) In reality, I only had one glass of wine - and no instruction. My friends and I were not too pleased with that venue. But, I digress.

Some of the owls from my collection in the downstairs family room came upstairs to add a touch of autumn whimsy to kitchen shelves.

 

 And, that's it! The living room and kitchen are the only two rooms that I change up a little bit. How about you...do you go all-out with fall decorating or just add a few autumn touches here and there?

 

the cutest home decor in an unlikely place

I was picking up some groceries at Meijer (grocery chain here in northern IL) the other

day and walked past their home goods section. Bright yellow markdown tags

 and orange clearance tags caught my eye, so I decided to see what they had.

 Who knew they had all kinds of cute stuff, such as these chalkboard label canisters

 with pretty aqua tops? 

I'm totally crushing on these owl bookends, but holding out. Maybe if they mark

them down a little more?

I've seen similar vases on the Anthropology web site - for a lot more money.

Pretty yellow pitcher and bowl.

 

Great assortment of cool clocks.

 

Owls, pigs, and birds!

 

 Even demijohn bottles.

 And then there's this mirror. I've had my eye on this mirror for over a year. The colors

are perfect for my living room and I could picture it on my fireplace wall. But the 

$110 price tag always kept me from buying it. Now it's marked down to $70. Still

too much money for my budget. Wheeelll...the other day I was at a friend's house

and I was telling her about this mirror. She said she had a 15% off coupon (through

a Meijer credit card - which I don't have), plus she gets a 10% discount through her

daughter who works at Meijer. She asked me if I wanted her to pick up this mirror for

me, using the discounts...hello! So now the mirror is sitting at her house and I have

to go pick it up tonight.

I'm just hoping that the mirror is the right size. It might actually be too small.

Time shall tell! 

new stuff and extreme winter weather

I've found some great stuff at Goodwill lately ~ and the bonus is that I had a 30%

off coupon for most of the items!

A pretty scarf in the $1.49 bin ~

A brass candleholder, a vintage honey bottle, silver tealight holders ~

 

 An aqua Pyrex bowl ~

These cool decorations from Target (are they bookends? That's what I'm going

to use them for) that still had the original price tags on them ~

 

 Cute tin rooster - another brand-new item with the original Pier 1 Imports

price tag on it ~

A tall, wooden Santa that was 50% off ~

 

I also ran into Barnes and Noble today as all their 2014 calendars, planners,

and Christmas cards are now 50% off. I didn't need any cards since I only sent

out a few this year and still have plenty left, but I always buy a new planner

for the year and a calendar (this year it was the Chicago Cubs) for Brian.

But then I saw these little note cards and was smitten. I have this this thing 

for pretty note cards and you all know how much I love owls. I was thinking

that they wouldn't necessarily have to be used for writing little notes. I could

also use them on a homemade card, in scrapbooking, or even put in a little

frame for a decoration.

We had a ton more snow come down the past couple of days. I swear, it

didn't stop for 48 hours straight. Good thing it was a light, powdery snow. My

back can't handle shoveling the wet, heavy stuff. 

 

 Now the bitter cold is setting in. It was -13F when I got up this morning. The

high temp on Monday is forecasted to be -16F. How's the weather in your area?

Go ahead, those of you in wonderful, warm climates - rub it in!