vintage cloths and table games

While playing Blockhead (thrifted game) 

with our grandsons,

 I had time to enjoy the patterns on this tablecloth--

 thrifted, too--of course!

I have a drawer full of these vintage clothes. 

I really like 'em!

If you notice, in the first picture
there are other games stacked in the background.
You can't see Racko, but it was there.
It's one I played with my grandparents--and now I'm playing it
with THEIR great-great-grandchildren!
I've found many vintage games for fifty cents or less.
They're wonderful entertainment when the
grandchildren visit.
(To see more of this particular visit, click HERE!)

what would YOU have done?

 A friend gave us these two vintage (antique?) tools.

This is what WE did with them.

What would YOU have done?

a couple of bracelets...

Thrift store or garage sale finds that I've had "forever".

Decided to wear them with this 

more-recently thrifted skirt...

would you ever....

Would you ever wear this pattern and plaid together?

I did...then wondered if it worked.  

I decided it did. For me.

It's not the FIRST time I've mixed pattern and plaids--

take for instance this pillow made of fabric from wallpaper sample books...

I ♥ these plaid tin containers--small part of my "tin collection".

(almost) free and (very) easy

REFRIGERATOR COLE SLAW

1 lg. head cabbage 1 lg. onion 1 1/4 c. sugar 1 c. vinegar 3/4 c. salad oil 1 tbsp. dry mustard 1 tsp. celery seed 1 tsp. salt Shred cabbage and onion. Put remaining ingredients into blender. Cover and process on "beat" until well mixed. Pour into small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Pour over cabbage and onion and allow to set for 3 hours. Stir cole slaw and refrigerate. Will keep for 5-6 weeks if kept refrigerated. Yields 8-12 servings. My dear friend loaded me up with vegetables this morning.  (In exchange, I prayed for rain for their beautiful--but dry--garden.)  I came home and shredded the onion and cabbage.  I had the other ingredients on hand.  I'd never tried this recipe before, but it tastes wonderful.  Found it here. Aren't garden-fresh vegetables wonderful?   What's your very favorite?   This is the necklace I put on at noon to dress up my "everyday" outfit and meet friends for lunch. I have matching earrings but I think it would have been a little much... Thirfted, of course!

basic, light, simple, thrifted

Basic, light, simple and thrifted.

A $3 outfit
for a very hot day.
Even earrings are too hot to wear!

Women's summer fashion in a nutshell: 

Wear just enough to prevent chafing.
No more, no less.

Got this from Kristen who got it from Annie....

I was outside to do this ^ when I saw this...

This little thrifted birdie appears
nonplussed by our
current heat wave!

domestic architecture?

 I probably should have quit before I started!

 After seeing the Domestic Architecture at The Polohouse,

 I thought I'd take a look at some of our own.

 Mostly, I now realize I don't have a proper camera

and that I need to do a better job
of dusting and polishing!

 I also realize how very much I admire

The Polohouse!
When I "grow up", I'd like to have
half the style of that place!

This (below) may be the most intricate pattern
I could come up with around here.

However, the picture turned out dull and lifeless,

and I didn't take the time to redo.

All this furniture was purchased second-hand.

It's quite a hodge-podge!  No particular style prevails.

some things

Some things I just can't pass up!

I don't have space for even One. More. Book.

BUT

some things I just can't pass up.

Fifty cents!

At the flea market where we stopped to ask directions

to the Van Wert Garden Walk last Saturday...
If you haven't read Miss Read, you must!

What things can YOU just not pass up?

another wooden bowl

This $.99 wooden bowl was one of only a few items I found at thrift stores

along our vacation route.  Here it sits one of the books (4/$1) I also bought.

The book is full of colorful illustrations/paintings.

(You may remember I have a stash of wooden bowls of various sizes...)

color blocking in buffalo

Examples of color blocking in 

beautiful Buffalo neighborhoods!

thrifty in buffalo

 

Arriving in Buffalo, we found ourselves in the middle of the

largest "Taste Of" in the United States!

Crowds jammed the streets; the day was beautiful.

We took a FREE tour of the beautiful City County Building 

that included the 360 degree view from the observation deck.

 

This is me!  Hoping to win a year's worth of Sugardale products!

We also enjoyed a FREE sample of Sugardale ham.

Delicious!

We sampled FREE coffee

and later some FREE Lipton tea - my flavor was

Citrus Sangria. 

Later in the day - a FREE walk taking in the beautiful gardens

in a historic neighborhood.

 I sat on this bench for FREE, resting my aching knees
while my husband fetched the car.

We THOUGHT of staying in a hostel--but decided we weren't THAT thrifty!

plain jane and charlotte moss

This is what I'm wearing today...I'm pretty much a Plain Jane, I realize.  Give me a well-cut straight skirt and a comfortable tee, and I'm good to go.  I'm wearing some drop earrings and will probably throw a jean jacket over my shoulders 'cause the auditorium I'll be sitting in is VERY air-conditioned!

In a totally different vein, here are a few quotes from Charlotte Moss Decorates that grabbed my attention...

• Every last detail fascinates me
• A beautiful room, one with a certain magic, summons you, makes you want to sit and stay awhile...the objects call out to you to touch, inspect, get to know them.  These rooms make my heart race.
• There is a place in all of us where creativity brews.  Tap it.  Let it go...don't fear it; I promise you it will never let you down.
• Small rooms or dwellings discipline the mind; large ones weaken it. (Actually, this was a Leonardo da Vinci quote that she quoted.)
• Trust your instincts.  Trust your eye.  Trust yourself.
• Decorating is a personal art, and your house is your studio where there are no boundaries.

I may be one of the few who is plain in my dress but comfortably cluttered in my decorating style....I DO admire Charlotte Moss' attention to detail.  I also realize that sometimes one person's detail is another person's clutter.

resorting

I'm resorting to old photography methods - taking picture of myself in our hotel room mirror.  Before checking in to our church convention at Sawmill Creek Resort, we checked out a couple of thrift stores.  This white top (badly needed) was 1/2 price for a grand total of $1.  It is light-weight & cool.  Fits comfortably.  I like the cut of the neckline!

I also purchased these four blank cards at $.10 each.  (I made the choker necklaces beside them in the Craft Shack when we lived at camp several years ago.  Now and then, I remember I have them and enjoy wearing them.)

...the view out our window this morning.

the big reveal

Here are the two whimsies/irregularities.

Until Jacquelyn suggested it in yesterday's comments,

I never considered the possibility that

this unit was one of two designed to stand together.

(A second one MIGHT have mirrored this one and stood to its left.)
I just BET  that's the explanation...

This is how it looks this morning.  

I think just about everything on the shelves was thrifted

except for the Better Homes & Gardens (red & white checked)

and the Betty Crocker cookbooks.  

Both of these were wedding gifts forty years ago!

yesterday...today

 Yesterday he worked...

Today I play...arranging and rearranging.  

(Probably not done yet!)
A $2 yard sale find, its two irregularities
were NOT noticed at the time of purchase!
Can YOU see them?
We decided to "let them be" and call it "whimsy".

my country 'tis of thee

 Would you believe I have a small "treasure trove"
of 4th of July/patriotic items--

 SOMEwhere!?!

I didn't start soon enough to figure out where they are.

I was lucky to have this mug

in my kitchen cupboard!

Thrifted, of course.
I really need to do some serious sorting
and make notes of where things are.
***
Meanwhile, I'm VERY thankful for my country
and pray that the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy
will continue to be valued and protected.

curtain call

Here are the curtains I found at the thrift store last week - 

"remodeled" and hung on our kitchen windows.
To see their "rick-rack" hem, go here.

They'll help keep out the heat of the summer sun.

(Shutters are the reason for the lower shadows.)

Bird cage - garage sale find!

(I find myself gravitating quite naturally
toward these colors.  Not sure why...)

Here's the third of the three skirts
I also "thrifted" last week.
I call it "white",
but obviously it's tan.
I'm wearing gold beads and a gold belt
with some tan heeled shoes
for church this morning.
So I guess that's a
"curtain call" for the red, white & blue skirts, too!