ORGANIZING THE BASEMENT

Hey! I haven't been around here for a little bit. Just busy around the house. One thing I've been doing is slowly reorganizing my storage cabinets in the basement.

Candles, anyone? I'm always picking up candles and holders at thrift stores and yard sales, "just in case"!

Pitchers and milk jugs, vases and planters, and stuff:

Coffee mugs and demitasse cups:

It took me a few weeks, off and on, because there are two double-wide cabinets and our unfinished basement is cold! So yesterday I decided to warm up at the thrift store and came home with a basket of goodies!

Oh, my! I just realized that I need to make a new blog header!

REDNESDAY

I give up! I think I'll change the name of Rednesday to "SnowDay"! For the third week in a row, we're having a major snow storm on a Wednesday; well, this week it's a two-day storm on Tuesday and Wednesday. What did we ever do before computers!

Methinks this guy won't even bother to come out of his burrow this year!

I'm all cozied up to my virtual fireplace (which is my Africam live cams, where it's a toasty 86F/30C right now!), ready to show you my reds ~

Mister got me this cute little Chinese teapot a few weeks back at the thrift shop. It's glowing with red spots (not pink, mind you!).


He picked up this very dirt-embedded crazed pitcher last year. I don't think I've shown it yet. No markings, but it reminds me of some Homer Laughlin ones I've seen. The container to the right is the shape of one of those refrigerator dishes, and it holds my oatmeal and Cream of Wheat packets.

Lots of red here ~ coleus and sweet potato vine cuttings that I've been too lazy to pot up. Also a few plants that I'm trying to have hang on until Spring (if it ever gets here!). This is the side of my pantry shelves that's about 3 feet/1 meter from the South-facing back door.

Last photo ~ two metal sifters. The one on the left, a Bromwell, has a red knob. The smaller one on the right Mister picked up at a thrift store - they were going to throw it out! So he got it free! I love the shabby paint and the advertising.

STILL LIFE

Thought I'd share a photo of the top shelf of my sideboard. I don't have a lot of blue, but seeing the orange in the tray made me think of the dishes and glasses ~ so there you have it!

VTT: THE LAST OF MY DEC'S, AND HELP FOR AMANDA

First, and most important, is the story of 27-year-old Amanda who lost her husband, 4-yr-old son and 8-month-old daughter in a house fire last week. Her 12-yr-old step-daughter survived with her. Go to Kristie's Notes to read more and donate if you can.


Yesterday, I promised that I'd show my sideboard decorations and here they are in all their vintage splendor! First, a view of the whole thing ~ (click on each photo to see a larger version)

Now the top shelf ~ (red bowl is Midwest of Cannon Falls, musical tree by Kurt Adler)

On the middle shelf ~

And, the bottom shelf ~

Now for a few close-ups ~
This isn't vintage, but pretty none-the-less!

VTT - PLATES, MILK JUG, CANDLE HOLDERS

Welcome to this week's edition of Vintage Thingies Thursday!

ETA: You can't fix a typo in your MckLinky title! LOL! I typed "just" and it should have been "jug"

First, I'm going to toot my own horn by directing you to the button on the right of my blog to go see the "Very Cherry Crafts!" that I am selling!

I will start with two little bread plates made by Syracuse China, restaurant ware, in the Dresden pattern. I love the Syracuse patterns because they're so bright and flowery, and most of them have Primroses on them!

This pair of milkglass candlestick holders are made by Anchor Hocking and have a sunflower, or daisy design on the bottom. Don't know why they made them like that - you can't see how pretty they are!

This vignette on the shelf over my computer includes a white hankie or glove box (I keep stamps in it), a green "D" handle (Anchor Hocking) Fire King mug, and a beautiful English milk jug with a cottage and garden scene (no maker's mark). Oh, and I guess the rocks are considered "vintage", too! The one on the left is Mica - the stuff that decorates vintage Christmas houses and ornaments, and the right one is smooth like a little egg!

Please visit Suzanne's to enjoy everyone else's vintage items! Have a great week!

VTT - Thrift Store Goodies!

It's good to be back - I missed last week - first time all year! Here are a few (really good!) thrift store finds from this past week:

A small Fire King "Spring Wreath" casserole.

A Fire King "Wexford" candy dish without lid, 7 in./17cm. I guess you could say I have a Wexford collection - tall vase, water pitcher, 3 tumblers, milk jug, creamer and sugar.


This cute bread tray marked Made In Japan. (10" x 6" or 25 x 15 cm)And . . . a beautiful blue Hall milk jug (5"/12.5cm) for only $4.00!

Thanks for viewing! If you haven't already, click on the VTT picture at the top of this post to see move vintage goodies!

VTT - PITCHER THIS!

Okay, I had this post typed and ready to go, then changed my mind. Isn't it great that we women are allowed to do that?! So let's view some Pitchers!

This pretty blue pitcher was a wedding gift to my parents in the late '40's. My mom apparently didn't like it because it was in the attic the whole time they were married! It says Italy on the bottom.
This trio is Anchor Hocking "Wexford" pattern. A 64-oz./1.89-liter pitcher, an 18-oz./.53-liter milk jug, and an 8-oz./236-mL creamer. I also have a covered sugar bowl, a storage jar, and punch bowl/cups.
I have no idea the age of this, but with the lattice and clear green, it reminds me of summer!
A few more "summery" ones - I love these old colorful pitchers, but they're so heavy I wouldn't call them practical.
This is a Haeger pitcher, probably milk. I haven't been able to find info on it yet.
On the bottom of this is printed CERVE, Italy. It has that chalkboard-like feel to it!
These last two are "seasonal" pitchers. The left one has maple, oak, and ? leaves on it, the right one is candy cane striped!
I didn't realize until today how many I had!

Now, let's see what the rest of the gang is showing today over at Suzanne's!

Easter Decorations

I'm getting out the Easter decorations! I have all the candy and trinkets purchased. Mister always tells me I don't have to get him candy for holidays, but the look on his face when he doesn't get some . . . well! Last year Teen said she doesn't need an Easter basket anymore, but the past few weeks she's been talking about what she wants in it!

My deck didn't get much work done on it over the weekend - Mister only replaced the three steps. He said his brother will help him with the rest. I hope it doesn't take too long.

I used to have two hand-blown, painted glass eggs that were my grandmother's, about 4" long and 6" long, but lost them in the house fire six years ago (see "house fire" post in the Labels column to the right). They were beautiful! This photo is a similar one from Google.

Here are a few of my current decorations. My big bunnies are in the purple bathroom. The water pitcher is probably Victorian era.
I made this little scene with the lighted flower shop; the gazebo from my fairy garden; a 3-piece set of preacher, pianist, and singer (see gazebo); and a bunch of "villagers" that were hanging ornaments, but I cut the strings off.