« January 2009 | Main | March 2009 »
It may not look like it, but I didn't do much decorating for Valentine's Day this year. This, in fact, is the only decorating I did, but I think it kind of makes up for the lack of decor in the rest of the house.
Almost all of these valentines goodies came from the Heart to Heart swap hosted by Sarah.
Thanks, swap partners! I love it all. And thanks especially to Sarah (who made this adorable doll) for being a great hostess. Happy Valentine's Day to all.
| | |
|
Hey, did you see Hallmark magazine? I saw it in passing at the grocery store, and I came straight home and made a valentine decoration (on the left) that's pretty much identical to the one on the cover. Happened to have the valentine and the stand, which is (I think) an old receipt holder. Got two of them free at the Swap Shop, the annex at our town dump where you can swap your junk for someone else's.
I've been seeing this valentine everywhere this year. Was it reproduced somewhere? Or is it the world's most common vintage valentine? Can I be just a little snippy and say mine is the real thing? I think I'm done being insufferable now. At least I hope so.
This valentine is signed "To Grandma from Mary Elizabeth."
Cute on the outside ...
Even cuter on the inside.
Bluebird. Pink flowered dress. Sigh.
Vintage lollipop holder from a yard sale last summer. It was nice of Target to make lollipops that look old-fashioned, too.
And a valentine that, year after year, is one of my favorites. Couldn't you just pinch those apple-dumpling cheeks?
| | |
|
Finding this teapot at the thrift store Wednesday made me pretty happy. It's a Cronin Pottery Blue Tulip teapot. It's not rare, but I don't run across the pattern all that much. It's also pretty hard to find a teapot without a chipped spout or some other kind of damage, especially at the thrift store. Tulips are such a great motif. I need to do a post on all things tulip-y some day.
Do you remember the die-cut birds? Well, I still love them, but now I love umbrellas. I had an epiphany (one of my favorite words) regarding my love of die-cuts. They're like Colorforms! Colorforms are the greatest toy ever. I liked playing with them, but I really loved putting them away, matching up the little shapes perfectly with the outline of where they were supposed to go. It would come as a stunning revelation to my family and close friends that I was a wee bit obsessive even as a child.
After cutting out a remarkable variety of umbrellas (some of them are going in etsy), I made a few tags and cards and a little picture. The green flowers were supposed to be intentionally crooked, but they're not quite crooked enough, so they look accidentally crooked and I need to move them a little, not that I'm obsessive or anything.
I think the little blue one is my favorite. I'd like a real umbrella just like it.
| | |
|
It's been ages since I bought anything at the Dreadful Dollar Store. I don't even go in every week any more because Pete, the proprietor, looks so sad when I leave empty-handed.
I found the towel at the Dollar Store last week, though, and I almost didn't buy it. I think I was just shocked to find something I liked. But the towel kind of led to a re-do in one corner of the dining room.
Crocheted dress hanging on the knob of the made-over cupboard.
Toy coffee percolator.
Toy teapot.
Dog wondering if I'll take him for a walk if he stands between me and the camera and looks wistfully out the window.
Pete was quite pleased with my purchase, as was I. He mentioned that he's got a "lot of stuff" coming in. "What kind of stuff?" I asked. "Oh, lots," Pete said. "Little of everything."
I can't tell you how many times I've had exactly the same conversation with Pete. Or how many times I've gone back to that crazy store, tempted by visions of "lots of stuff."
EDITED AT 3:30 P.M. TO SAY - I should clarify that the Dreadful Dollar Store is a secondhand store where everything is a dollar - not a Dollar Tree kind of store. (And its real name isn't the Dreadful Dollar Store; that's just an affectionate nickname.) I did indeed visit again today, and Pete was right - he did get a lot of stuff in. And, well, there's a lot of it. And none of it came home with me.
| | |
|
I got a lot done this weekend, but it wasn't necessarily photo-worthy stuff, unless you really want to see photos of clean laundry, the Christmas lights taken down and a couple of scary cabinets cleaned out. In the course of cleaning out one of the cabinets, I found a metal picture frame, so I made another tray with a piece of vintage fabric.
Right now a couple of dogs are sitting on it, but that's likely to change.
Just to continue the dog theme, here's a linen I have hanging on a rack behind the dog figurines. More filet crochet. The human figure doesn't resemble me in the least - aside from the gender differences, I hardly ever wear a jaunty cap or carry a walking stick. The dog looks a little like Carson, though. Especially the bouncy, running-away part.
In what analysts are calling another bad sign for the economy, I replaced my dwindling stock of Clinique with (gasp!) less-expensive, over-the-counter cosmetics. (I also went to Target this weekend.) On the downside, the powder does not come with a powder puff. (Because that would have cost the manufacturer, what, maybe three-tenths of a cent more?)
On the upside - and this is a big upside - it fits perfectly in my vintage crochet compact-holder.
The sun and the high temperatures (above 40!) apparently affected my brain, because while I was in Target, I bought some seeds. It's a little early even for windowsill gardening in my neck of the woods, but I'm trying to be optimistic.
| | |
|
Blue bird.
Green bird.
Mix-n-match birds.
Lovebirds.
A bird in a bush.
A bird in a frame.
A large flock of birds. (Some have flown over to etsy.)
This is what happens when I find myself with a stack of wallpaper scraps and access to a die cutter. I intended to cut out some other things, but the birds were so much fun I couldn't stop.
| | |
|
The doll quilts handed down to me by my mom and grandma weren't treated like family heirlooms. They were playthings. They were used to tuck in dolls and cover teddy bears, and they've got the wear to show for it.
It makes them just that much more lovable.
The fabric on this little nine-patch quilt is faded and thin, and I've stitched a few of the squares back together.
It's hard to make out the pink print, which is adorable: ducks holding umbrellas, on a background of polka dots and lollipops. (That's a good blog name, isn't it? Polka Dots and Lollipops? It just sounds so cheery.) The sashing, by the way, has figures that remind me of Little Red Riding Hood.
The green squares have bouncing lambs.
This redwork quilt didn't get made, but I hope to remedy that. Some of the squares had already been embroidered - probably by my great-grandmother - and I stitched some of the others. I love the turn-of-the-century kids.
And the goofy rabbit.
And the little baby rabbit.
The squares take no time at all to stitch - maybe an hour. This gives me hope that I can get this quilt finished reasonably soon. If you don't see it back here soon, feel free to give me a nudge.
| | |
|
Reasons why I love this fabric:
1. It was all stained and crumpled, but I soaked it this weekend, and dried it and ironed it, and now it's fine.
2. I think it's feedsack.
3. It's printed with swirly little dress forms and spools of thread.
4. What reason would I need other than #3?
Books that are on my nightstand:
1. "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency" by Barton Gellman. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Great reporting. Has a tendency to elevate my blood pressure to dangerous levels.
2. A stack of mysteries by Ngaio Marsh, a British mystery writer who is every bit the equal of Agatha Christie.
3. A book of short stories by Ann Beattie. My favorite contemporary writer, even if her last novel made me want to say to the main characters, "Get over it! Grow up! Stop whining! Nobody cares!"
4. "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith. If the author's name is familiar, it may be because you've watched the movie "The Hundred and One Dalmatians," and she wrote that, too.
Why I love "I Capture the Castle" so much that I can't return it to the library even though it's overdue:
1. It features a pair of sisters who live in the ruins of a castle with their brother, their handyman, their brilliant but troubled father and a kindly stepmother named Topaz.
2. The first paragraph includes the words "tea cosy."
3. It's as if Jane Austen came back to life and wrote a novel set in the 1930s.
4. Again: What reason would I need other than #3?
What my new piece of fabric has to do with "I Capture the Castle."
Because the sisters, when they need advice, talk to the dress form that lives in their bedroom. They have named her Miss Blossom:
"We are a bit silly about Miss Blossom - we pretend she is real. We imagine her to be a woman of the world, perhaps a barmaid in her youth. She says things like 'Well, dearie, that's what men are like,' and 'You hold out for your marriage lines.' "
I am not one given to recommending a book lightly. I am afraid people won't love it as much as I do, in the same way I worry that my friends don't love my dog as much as I do. (It's not possible for anyone to love my dog as much as I do. Even my dog's mother.)
But really: a dress form that gives good advice. This may be my most favorite book ever.
| | |
|
