Recent Vintage Finds

It's such a beautiful day here. I hope it's beautiful where you are too. And if it's not, maybe you could seek shelter in a quaint little antique shop nearby? :)

Here are some of my recent finds I thought I'd share today. I have to say some of these are my most favorite finds, ever. At least for now hehe. Isn't the image above so lovely? It's a leaf from an 1896 calendar and I adore the colors. And check out those green vintage sparklies - love them!

This engraving entitled "Expectation" takes my breath away. Love the border around it and the beautiful woman...wow. What do you think it is that she's expecting? And those trims...yummy, especially the pink and white one.

More vintage sparklies and the most stunning blue linen I've ever seen, all hand done. Paid too much for that, but justified it by telling darling daughter she could carry it in her wedding and take care of something old, something borrowed, and something blue, all with one item :)

A sweet little white ruffly lace hanky...

Some more gorgeous old trims in lovely neutrals....

I was so excited to find these old books with their beautiful covers. The turquoise/gold one is French and printed in 1853. The other is German printed in 1860. They both have handwritten inscriptions on the inside in the most beautiful cursive. Love to ponder who these may have belonged to over the years...I will treasure them!

I bought these vintage old stock velvet ribbons from here in these luscious colors. Can I just say how much I L.O.V.E. these??? They are so incredibly soft, I can't stop touching them. I made the bookmark with some of the blue and some vintage sparklies...just by following the lovely and talented Miss Andrea's tips found here. Thanks for sharing your wonderful idea Andrea!

Have a stupendous week!
xxx

Plant Potties and My Garden of EDEN

Well that's a silly title for a post but let me explain.

Firstly, I find myself suddenly and inexplicably enamored of old chamber pots. Yup, that's right - I'm talking about those potties people used to have under their bed back in the day. And for some bizarre reason, when I find them they are usually way over-priced in my opinion. I mean let's be real here, this is a USED item, and in this case USED means, uh...well, you know. So shouldn't you be paying me to haul it away?! But I digress...

Recently I managed to find a few chamber pots that were reasonably priced because they were a bit chippy. I decided to use them for potted annuals. Makes for a great conversation piece, and who knows, maybe the pots' previous contents will make for extra healthy plants, yes?

OK so enough of that.

Secondly, I must show you whose lovely face appeared for the first time this morning:

Yeah ok, "so what" you may be thinking. It is June after all, everybody's roses are blooming {at least in the northern hemisphere}. And look at those tattered petals Laura, seems you've got a certain insect there who needs to meet his maker.

Well let me tell you about this little sweetheart's beginnings. Last year in late August when all the flea markets were having big sales we picked up a huge old rusty-white arched trellis for a song. I pictured it laden with my favorite rose, the climbing Eden...only problem was, by that late in the season nurseries here didn't have ANY roses left, let alone the coveted climbing Eden. Now I have to admit that when I'm on a mission, patience is not my strong suit - so I turned to my old pal Ebay, purveyor of all things which cannot be found. Would you believe, I found a seller who sold me two bare-root Edens at an incredible price, then shipped them across country to me stuffed in a priority mail envelope (yes envelope, not even a box). In a fews days time these babies went from a nice temperate humid environment at sea-level to our hot&dry, desert-like mile-high Colorado garden. I plunked them in the ground on each side of my charming trellis at the worst possible time to plant roses, the hottest month of the year which is quickly followed by our pesky early freezes and snow in September. And those two little troopers not only survived but thrived, and are well on their way to fulfilling my dreams of my own little garden of Eden. So that my friends is why my heart did a little back flip this morning when I saw this first sweet {if a little imperfect} bloom. Gotta love an underdog :)

Cheers,
Laura
xxx

Hand Towel Moods

Hello and happy June! Oh how I love this month. We've been traveling and enjoying this beautiful time of year and after a lovely and much needed break from work/school/sports/schedules etc, I can say with absolute confidence that my new dream job is "Lady of Leisure" haha. Dream being the operative word there {sigh}.

I recently found this pretty little vintage embroidery table runner while flea-ing. Isn't it sweet? I wasn't really in the market for a table runner so I'm using it as a guest bathroom hand towel.

I love to use vintage towels in there and change them out with my moods. That means I need a lot of towels :). Yippee skippee, another reason to go junking {as if we all needed a reason}!

Cheers,
Laura
xxx

A is for Aprons, and Giveaway Winner!

Each Spring I am so excited to see the lilacs bloom. These are french lilacs, and their blossoms are large and a beautiful creamy white. I adore their heavenly fragrance and know that the blooms are short-lived, so I stop and smell every chance I get...ahhhhhh...yummmm....now THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout hehe. Take a hike winter :)

Well my goodness girls, thanks for being so kind and tolerant of my never-ending apron posts. I found the cutest random number generator here created by Polly over at Counting Your Blessings so I gave it a whirl to pick a winner for my little apron giveaway. The number that came up was 17!

That means Lori of Pink Faded Roses is the winner of the hanky apron and apron pattern book. Congratulations girlie - send me your addy and I'll get them right off to you :).

Now hold on a minute, a post wouldn't be a post here in the ol' attic without a picture of an apron now, would it? :oP... So here you go, my latest creation made from a vintage embroidered pillow case:

These are fun to make - I got the basic idea from this tutorial and then kinda put my own little twist on it. Sweet and utilitarian - i.e., completely washable and therefore usable! Why not give it a try...cause, well you know, 'A' is for aprons and all that :).

Don't Tell Me She's Still Talking About Aprons!

Why yes... yes I am as a matter of fact :o)

And here's why - I'd like to say thank you to everyone for the lovely comments left about the apron I made for a swap. They truly meant a lot to me, each and every one. So I thought I'd have a little apron giveaway to say that your kind words were so very much appreciated! I'll send the winner the sweet vintage apron above...found it at a flea market and it's made from hankies, isn't it beautiful? I love the blue tulip print.

I'll also include this apron pattern booklet in case you'd like to create some vintage style aprons of your own. They're just too darn cute, aren't they? I think they would make great gifts for the cooks in your life. I haven't used any of these patterns so the booklet will come to you complete, with instructions and patterns to make all of the aprons pictured and in any size.

So if you'd like a chance to win, just leave me a comment on this post and I'll draw a winner on Monday, May 4th at 12 noon MST. I'll send it anywhere in the world, so good luck to one and all. And thanks for visiting my little bloggette :)

Laura
xxx