Inspiration Cafe Features Fox Hollow Cottage

I want to wish you all a warm, safe, love-filled Thanksgiving shared with loved ones. 

 

I'm inviting you over to the Cafe today to meet Shannon of Fox Hollow Cottage.  Shannon has been decorating her home with thrift store finds and we love what she's accomplished! 

You will definitely want to meet Shannon!

"And since Christmas is quickly approaching, we are loving the great ideas shared in her 'Decorating with Thrift Store Finds {Christmas Edition}' post." excerpt from Inspiration Cafe

Just pop on over to Inspiration Cafe today for more and be sure to say HI to Shannon while you're there.

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Home Beautiful

 Happy Monday My Friends! 

Hope your weekend was wonderful.  I was able to spend time with a friend, get some needed time away from home, and do some thrifting. 

What a perfect weekend!

Aren't these fun and springy? 
The flowers are for my son to give to his bus driver. 
She is so cheerful and good with the kids...she deserves them!

Before I show you the rest of what I found this weekend, I want to share this excerpt from a book with you.  I hope you enjoy it.  No new projects today, but soon!

The book is "Don't Stop Laughing Now!
Stories to tickle your funny bone and strengthen your faith"
~ selected by Ann Spangler, with Shari MacDonald

HOME BEAUTIFUL

by: Marsha Crocket

I used to think ony a few people really possessed the gift of creative decorating. I was equally certain I wasn't one of them. After all, my kitchen cabinets hold more plastic action-figure cups than lovely goblets. I've been known to let my children and husband turn the living room into an exercise room. My bedroom is not a haven of rest or an oasis of love (unless you get a thrill from stepping over the stacks of file folders, magazines, and a basket of unfolded clothes next to my computer).
      On the other hand, my neighbor, Sally, seems to have a natural ability for creating beauty. For a long time, I explained away her beautifully spotless house on the fact that she stayed home and had only one child. I chuckled at the ease of her life. My house would look like that too, if I didn't have two chidren and a job!   I told myself.
      But then Sally opened a day care in her home and had six kids in her house every day. This I had to see!   So measuring cup in hand, I headed to Sally's in no time flat to borrow some sugar. That's when I got my first clue about what to expect: Hanging on her front door was a cute little blackboard with a "Memo to Parents." On it was neatly written: "Today's Lunch -- homemade vegetable soup, orange slice smiles, and whole wheat crackers. Today's Snack -- peanut-butter-and-jelly stars" !?
      I guess Sally saw me coming up the walk because she opened the door before I could close my mouth.
      "Cute sign," I commented. "I just need a cup of sugar. I'm making...uh, clown-shaped snickerdoodle cookies for the girls."
      "Oh, some special occasion?" she asked, as if she really had made these things before.
       "No, just one of those fun things we like to do now and then."
       I looked around. I heard children laughing -- but didn't see them or any mess in the house. "What happened to the kids?"
      "They're in the playroom. You're welcome to go see what I did in there."
      I went down the hall with a sense of foreboding and looked in. It wasn't a room, it was a park. Sally had actually painted an outdoor motif on the walls, complete with sky, puffy clouds, grass, and trees. Little white park benches perched against two walls, with a rack full of books in between. Next to the silk tree sat a picnic table covered in a red-and-white checked plastic tablecloth. Jars of Play-Doh stood at attention in the center.
      "It's beautiful in here, Sally. But I bet the kids can really make a mess of it, huh?"
      "Oh, they know the rules: 'Put away before you play,'" she replied.
      I couldn't take it any more, so I asked her for some sugar, thanked her, and headed toward my front door -- the one with the leaves stuck in the spiderwebs at the corner of the doorjamb. I went inside and looked around at my home, the one with crooked curtains, four pairs of shoes in the living room, and a red stain on the dining room carpet. The girls were playing with Lincoln Logs and Barbies...in the kitchen.
      With a deep sigh I said to my husband, "Honey, I think I'll move in with Sally."
      "No, you can't," he said with a teasing grin. "Who would clean up this mess?"
      After living next to Sally for eleven years, I'm finally learning I can't be Sally, or Martha Stewart, or anyone else for that matter. I agree with author Primo Levi, who wrote, "I live in my house as I live inside my skin; I know more beautiful, more ample, more sturdy, and more picturesque skins; but it would seem to me unnatural to exchange them for mine." I think maybe I do have what it takes to create beauty. It's just that I have to be more comfortable with my own style, my own likes and dislikes in my home.
      This realization called for celebration. So I poured red punch into four plastic Batman cups. My family and I raised our glasses and toasted who we are in Christ, and I reveled in the miracle of this "home beautiful".

This story makes me feel so happy.  Especially to know that I'm not the only one out there who looks at others' "picture perfect" homes and feels a sense of inadequacy at times.  It's reassuring.   I spent the weekend hanging out with my best friend.  We didn't do anything other than hanging out and a bit of thrifting.  It was good for me to get away from home for a weekend.  I wasn't overwhelmed with the feeling that I should be working on some project.  Yay for me!!!  I did find some fun items at a "For Youth" Thrift Store.  Everything just happened to be 50% off when we went!  The five wicker baskets (pictured above and below) are lined with plastic inside so you can put your flower pots into them, they were $1.00 each.  They will look lovely on the porch or the back deck, with spring flowers in them.  Yes, I am determined to ring in spring!

This little green and white striped vase was $1 and it has my two favorite colors, no less.
 I can just picture it with a bouquet of fresh flowers in it!

This piece was $1.50 after discount.  It is flat on the back and has a wire hanger attached to it...just perfect for hanging some flowers from my back fence.
 I can't wait to get it up there.

I found five matching woven placemats for $3.  I love this look. 

All of these plates are new except the blue Wedgewood in the top right corner, it's one of two which came from my grandma, and I really wanted to incorporate them into my plate wall so I hunted for more plates with both blue and green in them.  I love what I found including the one in the center from Sweden, and the little one, top left, is an Oregon plate.  I think they will all look really wonderful together. 

Now I can't wait to pick up some plate hangers at the dollar store and get these plates on the wall!

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Green Themed Plate Wall

It was a good weekend for us. 

How about you?

My Mom and Dad were here for the weekend.  They were able to see the little guy playing basketball and we did some thrifting after.  We went to a little town called Mt. Angel, Oregon.   

We visited a place called the White Corner Store there.  This store had the most amazing things.  There were little themed vignettes with like colors all displayed together.  I love these type of displays. 

This photo shows the Black, White, Crystal and Silver!!!
My daughter was having fun with Grandma's new camera and the panorama feature.  Can you tell?

If you are ever in the Mt. Angel, OR area, you should stop by the White Corner Store on E. College Street and say hi to Diane, the owner.  She was so nice to talk to.  Not to mention she had the coolest things! 

She had a green and blue display that had some of the most darling pieces tucked into it.

I found my new green plate there!

It depicts a foxhunt scene and on the back it simply says "ENGLAND":

Then My Mom and I went to Goodwill and I found these:

I think I might have enough to start a plate wall. Why is it so difficult to find attractive green plates?  I'm getting there though.  Take a look at what I did, trying a couple of different arrangements, and tell me what you think. 

I kind of like the second one where I take out one of the three solid green plates to make it more balanced.  I just couldn't get them to fit any better with all three green plates in and I tried them in every possible pattern I could think of.  Hmmmmm....I'm going to play around with them some more.  I have a couple of blue print plates also...maybe those will look good mixed in.  We'll see...

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Do you take cream and sugar with your coffee?

Wouldn't it be nice to sit with a friend and share a big warm cup of coffee or tea?

To share stories, and laughter, and just keep each other company.

No rush; nowhere to be.

Just friends, and the heat of the coffee finding it's way through the mug, to warm your hands in that pleasant sort of way.

We can sip from great big mugs that fit perfectly in our hands.

Talk about nothing really, or our deepest feelings, if need be.

Quiet moments like this can be kind of rare around here.  Every minute accounted for;  so much to do.

Makes little things, like this cream and sugar pair, hold so much significance for me. 

I long to linger over coffee with a sweet friend ~ soon. 

I found these adorable little cream and sugar servers at my most recent thrift store foray, when we were searching for the perfect wire basket to use as our light fixture in the new LAUNDRY.  I just couldn't pass them up.  Not to mention they go perfectly with all my white ceramics and pottery!

They make me think of special times with special people.  :)

I hope you are able to find time to spend with your special people regularly.   That they don't live too terribly far away. 

And that life allows you some time to just linger...

{This is dedicated to you, Nikki.  Miss you terribly.}

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Tripod Lamp ~ Restoration Hardware & Pottery Barn Beware!

Have any of you seen the Restoration Hardware Source Book?  It has some really provocative home furnishing photos...I highly recommend it.

The minute I heard they were coming out with their own furniture line I went to their website and ordered the catalog.  This catalog is 600+ pages of vintage inspired, rustic, neutral, dreamy goodness...all shot in a moody, masculine and yet somewhat ethereal fashion. 

Oh the power of staging, lighting and good photography.

I have to admit ~ there aren't too many items in this catalog that I would turn down.  I would definitely have to pair them with some light and bright walls, textiles and accessories though.  I'm just not totally sold on the dark, somewhat gloomy, altogether masculine look they have going on. 

Here is one of the pieces that caught my eye:

"A REPRODUCTION OF A BRITISH SURVEYOR'S TRIPOD , CRAFTED OF WOOD WITH SOLID CAST BRASS ACCENTS."

TABLE LAMP $350
FLOOR LAMP $1175


I don't know about you, but that's waaaaaaay out of my budget.  Ha.  I have not paid $1000 for ANY piece of furniture...not one thing. 

Then, we found a Spotlight Floor Lamp in Pottery Barn's January catalog, priced at a mere $599.

Okay, I know that I'm giving myself away as a cheapskate  seriously thrifty person now.

You probably already know we like to shop thrift stores, yard sales, junk stores and flea markets.  Every so often we head out with a mental list of things we are hoping to come across.  I had my chandelier shades on my mental list for months before I finally found 6 matching shades for 99 cents each.  Wasn't really confident I would ever find them.  That's how I felt about finding a wooden tripod also.  So, I just about fainted when Scott casually walked up with a wooden tripod in his hands and said, "Hey, look what I found...".

 YEP.  Serious.

He found an old, wooden, tripod easel with extendable legs for a whopping $3.99 at our local GW store.  Sometimes it seems like the stars align in our favor!  At this point our fellow GW shoppers were gawking at us...I do believe I might have let out a little squeal.  I actually grabbed Scott and hugged him (he didn't complain) and told him how completely fabulous he was.  I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "Wow, I guess Sherry really wanted an old, wooden, tripod easel."  Sometimes Scott just doesn't share my vision.  It's not his fault...he's a visual person...I just needed to show him. 

When we got home, I grabbed my 20 pound Restoration Hardware catalog and flipped through until I found the picture of the tripod lamp (see the pictures above).  Scott was impressed.  Well, actually he said the price on those lamps was "ridiculous"!  But he quickly ran down to a place in town that has a bunch of "junk" for sale ~ for next to nothing ~ and picked up this beauty for a buck:

It was dismantled in a flash so he could use the parts for our tripod lamp.  Once he's got it, he's unstoppable.

Alex helping drill the hole for the lamp workings.

Scott getting it all put together.

It's not as "chunky" or fitted with "solid cast brass" but it definitely has the right vibe about it.

The lampshade came from GW also...it was $2.99.  It appears brand new...it had a small smudge on it.  It isn't quite the right size or shape but it will do until we can get the perfect one.

The new lamp fixtures are a rusty brass and the tripod metal is a matte nickel color...also slightly rusty.  Hey, I heard it's okay to mix your metals now...if you do it correctly.  I wonder if rusty brass and rusty nickel can go together?  I might have to put a darker stain finish on the wood to get it looking just the way I want.  We decided to live with it for a couple of days to see what we thought would look the best.  Should we spray all the metal pieces a uniform metallic finish?  What would you do?

Turned out pretty nice for a $3.99 lamp, $2.99 shade, approximately $3.00 in miscellaneous hardware, and a $1 junk lamp.



Looks pretty smashing here in my craft room...  ;)
1.

 What outlandishly expensive item would you recreate if you could?

Sherry

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Glass Wine Bottles Lamps

Since Christmas fell on Sunday this year, Scott and I both had Monday off to do with as we pleased.  I love those days when you have nowhere to be and nothing pressing to do.  One of the things we absolutely love to do together is thrift store cruising.

There are certain items we consistently search for to finish our DIY projects.

We also search for little extras to spruce up our home. 

Or things we just don't want to pay retail for, especially if we can find them at a thrift store for pennies on the dollar. 

I try not to do much impulse buying. 

Sometimes I have this mental list of things to watch out for. My wish list.  Things to create my own version of something beautiful I've seen in a catalogue.  Something way out of my price range.  It's not everyday that I stumble upon something on that mental list...sometimes it can be months or even years! 

On this day we were done with our thrifting and just needed to check out.  It had been a successful stop.  We had several little items for our projects, plus a few other needed items like sheets to match our son's new bedroom colors.  Our drive home would be about an hour and a half, so I decided to make a break for the restrooms before checking out and hitting the road.  As I was walking down the hallway to the restrooms, I noticed a big metal cart with miscellaneous items headed out to the retail floor... 

Grabbing my full attention were these beauties:

I wish I knew how to make my own wine! 

But really, I have a whole different life planned for these beauties.

This smaller bottle was 2.99 and the other six were 3.99 each.

We stopped at the local department store and grabbed a couple of Bottle Lamp Kits.  They were $5 and some change each.  I also browsed the lamp shades, but didn't find any white drum shades that I liked within our budget.  That's okay...we'll go out thrifting again soon and see what we can find to tweak and make "perfect" for these.

The bottle lamp kit comes with several rubber "corks" that fit into the bottle opening....ours had to be shaved down with an exacto knife to get it to fit just right.  No biggie.  I added a lampshade just to see how it would look.  Not bad, but not quite what I want either.  This one is tapered and I want a drum shade.  This one is woven and I want white linen...maybe.

It looks pretty darn good for $9 and some change.  Lamps similar to these retail for $129 in the Ballard catalogue, and Pottery Barn has some for $99.  

We chose not to drill a hole into the bottle for the cord.  It can hang down behind the bottle where it shouldn't be too conspicuous.  We didn't want to risk drilling into the bottles AND this way we can remove the lamp fixings and use the bottles for something else later on.  Like wine.  ;)

I can't decide if I want to put our lamps next to the bed in our Master bedroom, or on end tables in the living room.  I guess I can figure all of that out once I find the perfect shades!

Not to mention, I still have four large bottles and one smaller bottle to play with. 

I just love a creative challenge. 

Although, I have to say that these bottles appeal to me just as they are.

Just look at them!!!

Sometimes Thrifting feels more like heading out on a Treasure Hunting Expedition!

Have you found any treasures at thrift stores recently?
Or maybe at yard sales or on Craigslist?

I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for stopping by to check out what we've been up to.  We are so glad you chose to visit.  Thanks so much if you are already a follower.  We are thrilled to have you here!  


Have a beautiful week.

Sherry

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