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! 

eating my words, weekend fun, and monday at home

In my Valentine's Day post, I spoke about how I don't receive flowers on Valentine's Day anymore ~ but that it didn't matter because true love was more than that. Turns out, the joke was on me. Brian came home from work with roses! I was so surprised, I blurted out, "For me?!"

The weather here in northern Illinois has been gloriously and amazingly warm the past few days, with temperatures in the 60's and lots of sunshine. Normal temps this time of year are 30 degrees - and we usually have snow, too. Walking around the yard, I spied tiger lilies already coming out of the ground. A month early. Exciting, yes - but also scary, as this warm weather won't last, of course. I'm afraid the returning cold will kill the emerging plants.

The middle of February usually finds me, my mom and aunt taking our annual winter trek to the antique mall by my house. It's a great place to spend a fun day while escaping the winter doldrums. Instead, we spent the day in another town that we love to frequent in the nice weather. We spent hours outdoors, walking up and down the main street, popping into our favorite shops and then having lunch at our choice Mexican restaurant. Of course, everyone else had the same idea and the sidewalks were crowded with young and old alike - and a lot of friendly dogs, too. 

 (me and my mom)

(my aunt and my mom ~ sisters)

I bought a couple of inexpensive things while we were shopping ~ found this cute teapot in a resale shop.

And bought this little ceramic heart in another shop (not resale, but only a few dollars). 

Today was a full day spent at home. I was going to run a few errands and then I remembered the kids were home from school today as it's President's Day. I knew the stores would be crowded. So, I decided the errands could wait until tomorrow. I don't have many days where I'm home the entire day, so this was actually a treat. I got a lot done in the house today, including washing the living room windows inside and out, and then cleaning the wooden blinds that cover the windows, too. I also vacuumed, dusted, cleaned bathrooms, did laundry, baked mostly-healthy brownies, made a veggie stir-fry, loaded and emptied the dishwasher twice, and brushed all three cats outside. I also did my yoga practice and PT exercises for my knee. (I have a torn meniscus.) Speaking of my knee, I'm finally going through with the arthroscopic surgery on March 1st. I was originally going to have the surgery in November, and decided to wait 'til the end of winter. Only nine more days - yikes! Though I'm at the point where I just want to be past it and on my way to healing. 

I had to move the spider plants that were on the ledge in the pass-thru to a safer spot. Mr. Monkey - sleeping on left - decided spider plants were fun to chew on. I replaced the spider plants with two different ones. For whatever reason, Monkey doesn't bother these. I'm probably being too brave with putting glass candle holders in the middle. Crossing my fingers that the cats will be cautious if they jump up there.

While I was rearranging stuff, I changed the decor in the nook above the microwave. Keeping it real with the pans left on the stove.

With spring weather on my mind, I've picked up flowers at Trader Joe's the past two times I've been there.. I know I've said it before, but their flowers are the best. They're inexpensive and they last a long time. This little bunch is leftover from the original bouquet that was 1-1/2 weeks old. Still going strong.

And here's another bunch that's five days old. The Wintry Blend coffee hasn't been used much lately. ;-)

These are the mostly-healthy brownies I made. I tweaked Nigella Lawson's flourless brownie recipe seen here by using 3/4 cup organic pure maple syrup instead of processed sugar. Guess that was a mistake because even though these look good, they don't taste so great. They're very grainy because of the almond meal. I bet the almond meal would've broken down more by using the granulated sugar. However, I don't eat processed sugar (as much as possible)...so I put the brownies in the fridge and will eat one here and there if I have a chocolate or sweet craving. 

Wishing you a joy-full week!

vintage thrifting finds

 From my thrifting haunts the past couple of months...

1950's Queen Anne (England) tea set ~ pattern is Caprice. 

I think the curves and colors of the teapot are gorgeous.

 I have a fondness for small vintage prints. This one is called Flemish School Flowers and is a silk print, handmade in Italy.

 Even the back has pretty paper on it. Originally sold by Marshall Field & Co. I have such good memories of Marshall Fields. It's where I had my first job as a teen. It was my grandma's favorite store and she loved shopping there with me ~ especially since I had a discount!

 A stack of Nancy Drew books ~ loved these as a kid! I still have a bunch of books from when my boys were growing up. I need to buy a small bookcase for the downstairs family room and fill it with just children's books.

 Glass containers are great for storing leftovers (buh-bye to toxic plastic!), especially when they're vintage Pyrex dishes. I was thrilled to find this one with a lid in perfect condition.

 A vintage magazine stand ~ thought it was even more charming with the decoupaged flower print on the front.

Have you found any thrifted vintage treasures lately?

 

around here

I'm writing this post at 10:00 PM on Thursday night - thankfully, upstairs and safe -  after being in the basement family room for a couple of hours due to tornado warnings. We had thunderstorms all day with brief pauses where during one of them, I went outside to take some photos. I love spring and finding the promise of new growth after a long winter.

Sedum in the butterfly garden...

 

Chives in the herb garden ~ and, of course, the lemon balm is already popping up too, as you can see in the background...

 

The tiger lilies in the backyard around the composting bin are loving the rain. I swear they grow at least an inch a day!

 

Lilac buds...

 

Since I can't play in the dirt outside yet, I bought some succulents and planted them in teacups, two new mini vintage planters (the deer and the chick), and a milk glass container. How do you like that gorgeous teapot? I recently found it - plus matching teacups, saucers, little plates and a creamer - at Goodwill. The milk glass container was also a Goodwill find. More on all that in another post.

I did some painting today, too. My aunt had given me a painting last fall when she was packing her house to move out-of-state. I loved the painting itself, but not the frame. Auntie had painted the frame red, which - to me - clashed with the painting. I got a small jar of Americana Decor chalk paint (the color is Serene) at Hobby Lobby and gave it a whirl. I'm not much of a crafty person, nor am I a DIYer, so I was a little nervous at first.

Here's the painting after the first coat. Much better, don't you think? I just now noticed after uploading this picture to my blog that Clementine is photobombing this photo. I shouldn't be surprised - usually one of the cats is doing so. Anyway, I have to give a thumbs up for this paint. It went on very smoothly, gave great coverage without having to use a primer, dried quickly, and had no odor at all. Now I just have to wax the frame and then decide where to hang this painting. At first I thought it could go in the living room, but the light blue frame clashed with the aqua accents in the room. Blue overload! I think I'll wait and hang it in our bedroom after we paint and re-do that room. (And that's another huge, looming project.)

I'm turning the laptop off now and reading for awhile before I go to bed. I'm in the middle of "The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy" by Rachel Joyce. She's the author of, "The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." Are you familiar with that book? Brian and I read it last year and we both loved it. So when the author came out with this sequel, we couldn't wait to read it. I've had the book on my amazon wish list since it came out, but the price has been too high to buy the book. I kept checking my library's web site and was thrilled to see last week that they got the book! Brian read it first - in two days - and he said it was excellent. I'm halfway through and loving this book. One of those that's hard to put down and has you reading way past your bedtime.

goodwill finds and a new chandelier

 I've calmed down since my last post. I'm not freaking out or tweaking about

Tim getting things done anymore. I decided to let it go...whatever will be, will be

and all that jazz. I can only control so much, right? Lovely Balisha from the blog,

 Never Enough Time had left a comment that "kids always seem to put off things until 

the very end...I know mine always did. They do seem to come through with flying

 colors. I read somewhere just this week... that if we worry too much about how our

 kids handle things...it shows that we don't have confidence in their ablility to work

 things out on their own." Such wise words! So I guess you won't be surprised to hear 

that Tim's done a lot of packing. And picked up his drum set today. Still working on

his car though. Let it go...

When I was at Goodwill the other day, I found two great black tops for fall, a pair
of dark-washed Levis that  fit me perfectly (which is pretty darn amazing -  I have a
 very hard time find jeans that fit me well), and some pretties for my home.

Love these green and blue glass candlesticks - the colors are perfect for the

living room - but I'm not going to keep them on this window ledge. I've been playing

around with placement and new vignettes.

I have a fondness for pretty teapots even though I'm more of a coffee drinker.

This one's a Marjolein Bastin teapot. I believe they used to sell these at Hallmark.

Now you can find them on eBay and etsy. I only paid $3 for mine though. And that

first Sarah Jio book you see - Morning Glory - that's the author's newest book that

isn't going to be out until November 26th. This is an Advanced Reader's Copy, but

that doesn't matter to me, especially for 89 cents!

I love white dishes, especially white plates. And I won't eat off any dishes made

in China, so I was thrilled to find these Johnson Brothers (England) ironstone plates. 

They were marked at $1.99 each, but when I got up to the cash register, the employee

noticed that one of the stickers on the plates was green. And it happened to be "50% off

green sticker day". She said that she'd then ring all the plates up at 50% off. Woo-hoo!

It gets even better...I also had a 25% off coupon for my birthday. So I got the plates

for 75 cents each! Such a deal, I'm telling you.

I don't collect pigs or creamers, but this vintage creamer was so cute, I just 

couldn't pass it up.

 I know this isn't exactly a chandelier in the crystals-hanging-from-it type, so what

would you call it? Whatever it is, I like it. My mom bought it years ago from a little

shop on one of our outings, but eventually got tired of it and gave it to me. It's

been sitting in my basement for a few years and I finally got Brian to hang it in

my office/Phil's old room. 

This room has been - and still is - a work in progress. I know I need art

work for the walls. Heck, I don't even know if I'll keep this furniture arranged

as it is now. But, at least I got the chandelier hung! Do you think it needs to

be a little bit lower?

Speaking of (slow) progress on this room, we finally got blinds for the windows.

Next up: curtains. We take baby steps.

Tim and his friend are out in the garage, working on the car. I can't tell you how

many hundreds of times they've been in and out of the house today; the door

constantly slamming. Do you think I'll miss that?