White Elephant Shop

Hello friends!  I'm here today to talk about a White Elephant.  Specifically, a fantastic antiques store nearby with that name.  You can visit them here.  On a whim and a supportive nod from husband I ventured to visit this store's outlet on Saturday.  I walked in the door and... yippee!  Everything in the outlet is 50% off the listed price, and there's even a special room with 75% off treasures.  If you can brave this unheated special room, with its' drifts of snow for character, you may just find your heart's desire.

This serving bowl had me when I walked into the store:

  

Two lovely china pieces with my favorite color combination:



A pretty white gravy boat(?) and a rustic whatchamacallit (pitcher?):

This old white platter (on bottom in photo) has lovely rim detail, as well as subtle crazing and aged wear on it.  My husband chuckled when I told him I liked it that way:



Lastly, these 3 heavy oval platters will come in handy for serving:

These finds fit right into the French Farmhouse look I'm going for in the kitchen.  There will be a future post when they're put in place.

I'm linking to White Wednesday and Vintage Inspiration Friday to share these treasures.  Be sure to visit the White Elephant shop if you're in the area.  It's located on Rte. 133 in Essex, MA, where there are a great assortment of antique shops downtown.  Not to mention the famous Woodman's for fried clams.  Yum!



Vintage in the Kitchen

Happy Vintage Inspiration Friday!  Thought I'd share glimpses into my kitchen.  I hesitate to show its' current state, since I plan to make changes this spring.  Think of these as the 'before' photos.  The style of this room is French Farmhouse, with vintage chairs, black & white tile, and plenty of baskets.
Linking to Debra's great party...see you there!

Here's our kitchen table, used for breakfast.  The 2 vintage black chairs were free from my Mom's neighbor (via trash day).  They will be painted white soon.  The enamel pitcher and bowl came from flea markets, as well as the old white tablecloth.  I sewed the topper tablecloth out of a pretty blue toile fabric, and used vintage fabric from Brimfield Flea Market to cover the chair seats. 

My favorite platter on the shelves with a tiny lavender sachet.

A chippy cone holding some white embroidered napkins, hanging next to a window.  I don't dare show you the accumulated snow outside that window (another 11 inches today!).

Dreaming of spring...

White... With a Touch of Pink

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I'm sure many of you are up to some crafting and planning for St. Valentine's day.  I love this holiday because it brings romance to light, while keeping my mind off the cold and snow. 
White is my favorite color for decorating, as it is for many of you.  It is timeless, classic and romantic, and allows the addition of accent colors as the seasons and holidays change.  Right now...a subtle touch of pink.
Thought I'd share some touches of pink in our home against a romantic white background.  I'll enjoy visiting your homes while linking to White Wednesday,  Show and Tell Friday and Pink Saturday this week.
 
A paper scripted rosette, in pale pink, made by Angela Harris from her Etsy store:

    A candy box I covered with scrapbook papers, doily hearts and crochet trim:

A Valentine for my valentine:

Some tags showcasing my favorite accent colors against white, along with a glittered heart in a tarnished bowl.  Hope this cherub on the right doesn't have a 'heavy' heart:



These sola shell flowers from a craft website are so pretty and can be used year-long for decorating:

How are you bringing romance into your homes?



Vintage Blue and Whites

I'm feeling 'blue' being surrounded by so much 'white' (snow).  By this time each winter, I am really ready for spring.  These vintage blue and white treasures are cheerful in the meantime. 
I'm linking with Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday party and Cindy's Show and Tell Friday this week with some new and old photos (the old pics contain flowers to help us dream of spring). 

Favorite tea cups found for a bargain at Brimfield Flea Market (set of 4 for $4!)

More Brimfield treasures...

(blue and white plate)

(blue flowered platter)



Local Flea Market pitcher and tiny tea pot:

 

French books:

Thrift store Wedgewood vase (only $2 because of small crack I discreetly hide):

I saved the best for last.  A beautiful Catholic Sacrament certificate from 1913.  It is inscribed with a young fellow's name upon his First Communion.  I love the reverence in which the Sacraments are depicted, and keep this treasure near and dear to my heart.  

  

Have a great weekend!

White (Wedding) Wednesday

As I finished restoring our living room to a peaceful winter environment, I was struck by how much the winter white reminded me of a wedding.  That inspired me to include a few romantic touches into the room.  I topped this white buffet with an old lace runner and a sparkly white 'MAISON' banner across the vintage barn window.  The Victorian candlesticks on the right are antiques we received as a wedding gift.  

I stamped an 'S' and 'B' for our initials, as well as our wedding day (9/13) on a tag, and included some Parisian inspired stamped tags as well.  We honeymooned in Paris and Versailles over 7 years ago, and would love to return someday.  The 'La Maison du Roy'  is a menu from one of the incredible restaurants where we dined. 

I kept these white sparkly pointsettias around after using them in our Christmas decor.  They were also reminiscent of romantic wedding whites, so I displayed them in vintage silver containers next to our wedding portrait. 

I leaned some honeymoon photos and a Parisian postcard nearby.  Now this shelf holds fond memories of the start of our blessed marriage. 

I guess St. Valentine season is in the air!  Hope you're enjoying the romance of it, too.
I'm linking to White Wednesday to see more romance...

A dash of pink

As Valentine's day draws near, I can't help but get excited about adding a (tiny) dash of pink into our home.  I've been enjoying this time indoors (during our blizzard week) to make some Valentine creations.  I'll post those later, but in the meantime here are some other peeks of pink. 

I leaned this scrapbook paper against the wall as I was crafting, and liked this impromptu combination:

Here is a peek into my daughter's bedroom, where pink is a welcome color.  These photos were taken last summer as the room was being redecorated.  I had fun sewing all the pillows, including these little hearts and the embroidered 'A'.  I try to personalize her bedroom, as well as my son's, whenever I can.  Someday I'll share those rooms in a post (when they're tidied up).

"Two hearts....beat as one..." (love that U2 song!):

Here's a pretty slipper I got from Stampington.com, and dressed up with a paper crown rosette.  She's our Queen, after all!

Enjoy your weekends!  I'm linking to Beverly's Pink Saturday.

Urns and a bargain wreath

Last week I showed photos of our dining room with winter whites.  Here are some taken of our living room.  It is still a W.I.P (work in progress), not to mention it's the playroom for our children.  Therefore, I avoid taking photos of the floor area.  :)
Here are my flea market urns with some pretty wallpapers and old book pages to fill them up:

They sit on a desk in the corner, where you can see our snow out the window.  So pretty!  We're supposed to get 12-18 inches more tomorrow.  Yikes!

Last week I used a JoAnn's gift card I got from Christmas (thanks Mom!) to purchase this gorgeous white wreath - 75% off!  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the white feathers are sparkly.  Perfect for January.

My white table with the loving Madonna and Child rest below it.

There's a tiny cracked robin's egg in the small dish on the table.  We found it in our yard last year.  For now, it reminds me of spring that will (eventually) come. 

I'm linking to White Wednesday - see you there!