Fabric flowers

It may be too early yet for real flowers, but we can beckon the season with some made from fabric!

These were made by a friend, she made them from an old quilt.

Love them!

These were made from the same quilt.

Such fun spring decor!

I made these ones, the ones on the left and right were made in the same style.

The quilt I used had lots of different patterns within it.

I made the ones in the middle from burlap and scraps of fabric.

Each flower has 4 circle layers, and is finished off with a button in the middle.

Spring is in the Air

Here in Moundsville, WV, the snow is finally melting, and Spring is in the air! The winter wasn't bad, until February, and then it hit with full force. After several weeks of brutal cold and snow, the highs in the 40's are feeling like a heat wave. What is that hill you ask? That is the Grave Creek Mound, built by the Adena Indians around 150 BC as a burial ground. Our town MOUNDsville was named after it, and it is just down the street from my shop, within easy walking distance.

Inside my shop, we are concentrating on Spring too. After a long winter, the brighter colors are so refreshing and uplifting.

Several customers have told me they are looking for turquoise decor right now. It pairs well with red, or yellow, or even brown.

These are displayed in a suitcase, or perhaps it was a typewriter case, or held a musical instrument. The green tone floral scarf threw over the back softens the hard edges and dresses it up a bit.

Here again, a vintage scarf adds to the look.

I hear the birds singing outside my window as I type.

They may indeed be singing "Oh Happy Day"!

Burlap Sacks and Old Windows

Old window frames....

Plus old potato sacks....

Equals some pretty cool, (and country!) wall decor.

This one is hung in our display window.

Hard to get a decent photo there, due to the glass, the reflections, and...

well... to be perfectly honest, the dirty windows may have something to do with it.

In my defense, it's been too cold to wash the windows.

But since it's supposed to be in the 50's all week, 

it may be time to break out the cleaning supplies and do a little spring cleaning!

Old Man Winter Chair Makeover

I painted this chair last fall. I forgot to take a "before" photo, but it was a plain ole brown chair. It had already been  painted over with brown paint, which had worn down. Sometimes wear is pretty. In this chairs case, it wasn't.

I spray painted it with a burgandy paint, not sure what I was going to do with it afterwards. But as soon as the paint dried, I knew.

Look at the face in the middle of the chair back! When the chair was brown, I hadn't even noticed it. The burgandy paint really brought it out. It made me think of an angry winter cloud, breathing down fierce, biting winds, whipping snow across all the land.

You know - Old Man Winter!

I finished painting the chair, took it to our shop, and posted it on our Facebook page. It was sold within hours, to someone who saw it on the page. 

We were having a somewhat mild winter, with spurts of bad weather here and there, but plenty of nice days in between. But we are making up for it now! It's been bitterly cold for several days now, with several more in the forecast. When the temps hit negative numbers at night, with highs in the single digits, our water at the shop froze up. We had to have it turned off, and decided to just leave it off until the weather warms, hopefully next week. So, I am home, crafting. I hate to close the shop, but honestly, hardly anyone comes in when Old Man Winter is rearing his head. So, I'll take advantage of this unexpected time at home, and get more inventory ready. Spring is just around the corner!

Vintage Doilies and Linens

I bought a box of beautiful doilies at a recent auction.

 Just look at those colors!

When I was young, I thought doilies were a bit embarrassing. SO old fashioned & grandmotherly. I have never thought of myself as "hip". But doilies? Even I knew those were horribly out of date.

Then, as the years went by, I started seeing them in a different light. The work that went into them! I inherited my moms & grandma's when my mom passed. And we also have some that had belonged to George's mom.

Once in while, I would open the boxes, tenderly looking through them. And admiring them. And even getting a couple out to use.

And, of course, owning a crafts & antiques shop means having ones I pick up at auctions on hand. To sell to those of you who appreciated them sooner than I did.

I have now reached the older & wiser point in my life. I love doilies, and am not afraid to say so.

I was so excited to buy this box of them. They actually were divided up into 5 boxes at the auction, and sold as choice. I won the first bid. When the auctioneer said, "How many do you want?", I said, "All of them! I want all of them!" And a few people in the audience groaned, because they had missed out on getting the beauties for themselves. Before the evening was over, I did sell 4 purple ones to a man who said he was going to be in trouble with his wife if he didn't take those purple ones home.

I usually think of doilies as setting on a table, with a vase on top.

Or maybe some silly chickens.

Whoa! Bright colors! That silly chicken is almost camoflauged!

But they are also beautiful when used to drape over edges.

I love how they soften the harsh lines of the box.

So pretty mixed in with china plates.

 

They add so much charm anywhere you put them.

I love these turquoise ones!

I wish I had the patience skill to embroider.

How sweet is this?

As much as I like these ones from auctions, I did not take any of them home. I will enjoy them while they are in the shop, then be happy when I see someone buy them, and give them good homes. Anytime I want to decorate with doilies in my own home, I will pull out the family ones. 

How about you? What are your thoughts on vintage (or new!) doilies and linens?

A broken furnace

This could have been me one day last week. I got up, and the house felt chilly despite the wood stove cranking out it's heat. I looked at our thermostat, and the house was 67 degrees. The furnace was not running.

Oh no.

I went downstairs, pulled the filter out, and it started running again. Whew! Just a dirty filter!

That evening, George met me at the shop, and instead of going home, we decided to go out to eat, and see a movie.

Our nice evening came to an abrupt halt when we got home though. The furnace was off again. And the fire in the woodstove was out.

We discovered the batteries in the thermostat had corroded. We cleaned that up, put in fresh batteries, and turned it back on. Yes! Heat!

But this morning, I got up. The house felt chilly. I looked at the thermostat. The house was 67 degrees. The furnace was off. I felt like I was in a real life Groundhog Day!

Oh no.

When George gets home from work, he will look into it further. Hopefully we just missed something. Like a mouse. In the fall, he took the furnace door off to do a little checkup before winter, and discovered a couple mice had climbed up into the furnace guts where they.........well, let's just say they met their Maker right there inside the furnace.

It's relatively warm for winter right now. 30's today. 40's tomorrow. But we are supposed to be back in the single digits by the weekend.

The woodstove is great, but it only does so much. We need that furnace! 

Vintage baby treasures

How precious are these vintage baby clothes, and quilt? Say it with me now... "Awwww".

A little closer view of the quilt. I always wish these treasures could talk and tell their story. Who made the quilt? Mommy? Grandma? An aunt or close family friend? Was it a boy or girl? What was the baby's name? What year was the baby born? And wouldn't you love to see a picture of the baby?

Ah. Well. We will just have to use our imaginations I guess. 

All we know for sure is that they are absolutely precious.

All of these are for sale in our shop.

What sweet decorations for your home!