~ A "New" Cabinet for ME ~

Things stay pretty much the same around my house. I have lived here for twenty years ~ so things are for the most part DONE.

But I have never been happy with my storage space in the kitchen!

For that last ten years I have had a primitive cabinet ~ not a good primitive cabinet ~ a serviceable primitive cabinet sitting on top of this long pine table.



The wall behind it has always been bare ~ a rare thing in the house of antiques dealer. All in all, the set up was workable, and I could store a lot of stuff....BUT I didn't LOVE it.

I've had these cool 8ft. tall shutters sitting in "The Piles" in my garage ~ doing nothing useful for many years.



Here they are on the wall ready the "new" cabinet to go in front of them.

The little piece is one of the cabinet doors from the old primitive cabinet....it is going to end up on top of the new cabinet.



Above is the "new" cabinet ~ in the middle of its beauty treatment. It was a curbside find from this spring ~ also unburied from "The Piles" in the garage.



Now with a lot of help from Mr. Anything Goes Here, this over 5ft. long cabinet is in its new home holding many of my favorite things.....ironstone compotes and glass cake domes among them.






It was worth ALL the effort. At last I LOVE this space.....

and several things have gotten cleared out of the garage. Ah, sweet progress!

White Wednesday

These white garden items have been hiding behind "The Piles" in my garage ALL summer. Finally I can see them again.......THAT is progress!



Around the terrarium you can see part of my flower frog collection...



And another spiral flower frog is on a stack of clay saucers...



Aren't these the cutest little bunny garden markers? The sign in the background is an old garden shop sign that says Flower and Vegetable Plants.

Maybe it's been good not to see my collections for awhile~ NOW that I see them again, they are very special to me again!

I love those MULTIPLES!

It is with delight that I join the MULTIPLES Blog Party.

My antiques business is ALL ABOUT multiples...most of the time that is my main criteria for buying something...

Can I get a lot of something....hose nozzles, tomato baskets, printers letters, whisk brooms....on and on....

Also, I look for common items that will look interesting in groups...below are some examples. Enjoy!!! Which do you like best?

Some More Ridiculously Easy Photo Holders

These photo holders are THRIFTY and very easy to do. If you haven't seen my tutorial on wire wrapping go here.

Then look at the simple, everyday, around-the-house things you can use...




hose nozzles... and door knobs...



and...a couple of different kinds of cabinet latches and locks....



and, I bet you have a couple of ideas of your own you'd like to share, right?

Tools of the Trade

Aren't the tools of gardening earthy and honest ~ with enduring beauty?

At a recent Estate Sale I had to buy the plant tags because my first eight years of education were at "The Pines School".

In the 1950's my parents sold hand tools just like these in their Home and Garden Shop......but didn't use them...far too "dainty" for 3 acres of of professional gardening.

White Cloche Wednesday

I know some of you put your "summer" decorations away this time of year.......I don't. I just add some autumn colors to my displays.



This cloche with coral and milkglass is sitting on an old wooden Christmas feather tree stand...



And behind it is a collage I did called "Time in a Bottle"....



Which includes one of my favorite sayings...

Another Ridiculously Easy Photo Holder

Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile knows I love making photo/picture holders out of ordinary things. Today I am using some old door knobs that I had hanging around in the studio {basement}.

I used the set-screw hole to thread the wire though before wrapping it around the knob.



If you need a wire wrapping tutorial or a refresher course hop on over to this post. Other than that it is pretty easy.



I was getting ready for a show ~ and I didn't have photos handy ~ so I used my price tags to show you were the photos go.

Only thing to remember is to use flat bottomed door knobs so that your picture/photo holders stand up straight.

All The Pretty Colors ~ Estate Sale Finds

I love the colors of all these recently purchased Estate Sale items.



pretty reds and blues with yellows and greens...

old Christmas light reflectors, a tea tin



pen nibs..



handmade felt artichoke pincushions..



student watercolours, and a vintage toy shovel...

I LOVE being an antiques dealer.....

and if you like seeing what I find...

It's Feeling a lot like Autumn

This is my recent favorite post because it is about decorating...with what you HAVE...no money spent!

I don't know about you, but in the late summer I just can't help myself...



I have clean up the flower beds, put down new mulch, cut the dead tree limbs...



and freshen up my outside decorating with summer's spoils...



even if the arrangements last only a few days they make me happy while I'm outside working....



and look at that lovely hydrangea... after doing pretty much nothing for two years ~ finally it's blooming!

White Letter Wednesday

The house didn't look like much. New-ish. Ordinary. Small. It was the only game in town last Thursday.



but this lady liked her old stuff...



and my favorite find was this stack of old letters and postcards...all with that graphic old lettering..



I haven't looked through them yet...the anticipation is so sweet. Don't you wonder what's it there?

Estate Sale Finds as Still-Life

This is part of my haul from recent Estate Sales.... grouped on my kitchen counter so I can enjoy them ~ briefly ~ before packing them off to be sold....



... four flower frogs {from 4 different sales}, 1909 postcard with BEAUTIFUL handwriting, fancy vintage pin, old fly swatter




apothecary jar, two crosses and two rosaries, little business address books,



a herd of steel pin nibs, old screen-door spring {inside jar}, bill holder {pointy thing},




and the funny monkey-face-looking-things are sprinklers.

Was Pink, Now Green, Tiny Table

Now it is green and redone... with a little tape measure edge...



but this tiny table has had a hard, hard life. I found it on the side of the road.

I took it to shows {just to put things on} for a couple of years, until it finally just fell apart. I told Mr. Anything Goes Here to throw it away a couple of weeks ago....



but, he rescued it instead... glueing it all back together.

I didn't like it any better than I had before, but since he went through all that work {even though I told him not to} I decided to paint it a pretty green.



Look at its slightly pink and very dirty top.



Transformed into a distressed, "shabby chic" top.



Now at shows it can hold up things with pride, and someone may even want to buy it!