Thriftin' and Porch Sittin'

                   I'm in love with vintage silver and silverplate!!! I use          it, alter it, recycle and upcycle it!!

This is a recent score from the thrift store- multiple sizes of Paul Revere repro footed bowls- they will look lovely filled with floating flowers, lined up in size order down the table, or in a group.

The tea kettle is too badly worn on the inside to use for tea - (altho I wish I could use it!), so it will be upcycled with vintage flateware "chimes" and chandelier prisms.

The little measuring scoop above  I am absolutely in love with- I'm guessing it is one and two tablespoons - haven't actually checked the accuracy yet! But, I will use this - it's kind of unique.

Scored two large iron wheels for my garden - rusty farm equipment is too good to pass up when the price is right!!!! I'll show you them both later - when the garden is fully weeded!!LOL

 

Here is my daughter's dog, behaving very well, surveying the property from the front porch.

This was the other day, after I lugged those wagon wheels to the garden, and before the hay was cut.

I joined Luna on the porch, with a glass of iced mint water, and a good book - The Dirty Life- about a city girl who became a farmer - hhhmmmm!! It is a really good and quick read - with some yummy recipes included!!

A view down my porch - the rusty child's wagon leads the parade of vintage watering cans- one can NEVER

 have too many watering cans....................

What I've Been Working on Lately......

Here are a few of the things I have been creating, some for the shop, some for gifts, some just because I wanted to!!!!
These gift tags are going to the Broadway shop, Julianna's, and I have another batch soaking in coffee, to use for myself !

The snowman's buttons are from my dwindling collection of vintage abalone and mother of pearl buttons.This snowman is made out of vintage, felted, tea stained wool.Some of the others are made of cotton batting or cutter quilt remnants.

These "zen sticks" are a result of  me playing around with my leftover beads and stones, after receiving a similar one from a "bloggy: friend. .They can be quite pricey to make, especially when using semi precious stones!
I received some  lovely calming beads from "faerwillow"- you can go to her blog and check out her etsy shop to purchase some of hers!She has some gorgeous ones!  My daughter promptly christened mine  zen sticks- they are a new age version of the old time worry beads. After having faerwillow's for a while, I can attest to their usefulness!! Mine are made with 20 gauge copper or silver coated wire. One of mine has a red jasper ring - jasper promotes harmony- we'll see if it's true!!! The other two are a beachy feel. These will just be gifts or giveaways.

The little bead bracelet spells out Broadway Gobblers - for the local high school team.

My feather tree is just a tiny "Charlie Brown" tree, made with a wood skewer, wrapped in floral tape, with faux pine branches, topped with a primitive rusty star. The pottery flower pot sits in a thrift shop votive candle holder made out of a slice of tree.

 I was harvesting herbs last week- and made this little hanger of curly willow (or Harry Lauder Walking Stick, not sure) with similarly scented herbs - lemon thyme, rosemary, and sage.

This bunch of lavender in the vintage silverplate urn may make it to the shop - altho I kind of like it!!!! The urn was a yard sale find - for 50 cents - since it had a broken handle!!! I fixed it!!!

Here's my vintage drying rack in the basement-the rack was also a yard sale find !

The upcycled teacup server and Christmas pedestal servers are already in Julieanna's.

The quilted table runner was one I made years ago out of vintage quilt blocks, machine quilted by Anne Weber of Ashburn, Va.

This last little piece was just me fooling around with a tin pie plate, after seeing Kimmie's tutorial on her bottlecap quilt! The reverse side looks better than the front, I think!!! The front is gessoed and decorated with bits of  clock innards. Not sure what I will do with it now tho......LOL

Now, off to make yet another cup of hot tea with honey, in an attempt to get rid of this cold!!!!

Tea on Tuesday

It's Tuesday and time for tea with Kimmie and Patty, and whoever else wants to join the party!!!
I started out with tea on the front steps, and then the rains came - again!!!!
So, I grabbed my favorite pottery mug and scurried back inside.
This is my little reading corner, in the guest/computer room. I am drinking Yogi green tea triple echinacea. It has in it, among other things, organic green tea leaf,lemongrass, spearmint,echinacea root,licorice, elderberry, and kombucha.

The tag on the tea bag imparts the wise words: Wisdom, character, and consciousness conquer all.

This mug, made by Bay Pottery, Broadway, Va was the one that started me on my thrift store search for pottery! It was a mere 50 cents, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm not just hooked on Bay pottery, but all kinds- my kitchen cabinets are starting to overflow!!I love the look of mix and match hand made pottery in a place setting.
(By the way, EVERYTHING in the reading corner pic, was "rescued" from a thrift store or yard sale!Except for the little heart quilt on the wall - that is the first quilt I ever made, I had no clue what I was doing -don't look too close!It is made from all the dresses and nightgowns I made for my daughter when she was little)

I hope you all decide to join us for Tea on Tuesdays- just show us what you're having and link us up!