Cold Weather and Warm-Hearted Friends

Like much of the country, we have had our share of snow and cold weather this winter.  And earlier this week, found ourselves in the deep freeze of the polar vortex.  brrrrrr  
But a sweet package arrived to brighten my week.  A lovely pair of handmade kitchen goodies from the talented quilter, blogger, and pattern designer, Stephanie of Loft Creations! (Who, by the way, now has her very own book!)
I just had to share a picture of them in front of the vintage bread sign hanging in my kitchen.  Look how awesome they go together.  And the little pear applique on the hot pad is all vintage fabrics...too perfect.  :)

 

And in an effort to make peace with all the snow, I've put together a few vintage fabrics that remind me of snowflakes.

These are all from the 1950's.  The design is sort of a Penn-Dutch, geo-floral that was quite popular at the time.  I've always liked them as they were reminiscent of the Spirograph designs of my childhood. And although similar, they were each unique, like snowflakes.  :)

Stay warm, everyone!  Only 10 more weeks until spring! (ugh, can that be right?)lol

Vintage Metal Stool Industrial Chic Make-Over

This is a story about a little black metal chair that sat in my Gram's kitchen for as long as I can remember. It was the perfect size for children and my sister and I would fight over who got to sit in it on pizza and cards night.  It eventually made its way to my house and sat collecting cobwebs in the garage for way too long.  So this weekend, armed with a can of brushed nickle spray paint, I decided that it deserved an industrial-chic make over.
As I was cleaning off the dust, I noticed that black was apparently not it's original color. The underside was a bright aqua blue and had the name of the company and retail price was stamped on...Cosco Model 1-B for $2.25! LOL

If aqua matched anything in my kitchen, I may have considered repainting it in the original color...but it didn't. It covered easily and took less than half a can of paint.

After several light coats she's now sporting a new industrial-chic look. (you can also see a bit of my giant bread sign in the background)

Now she sits in a corner of my kitchen, waiting for kids to fight over her again. :)

Yellow Pottery Collection

I recently started a collection of yellow pottery to use in my kitchen.  I knew I wanted yellow as an accent color in the room and when I found 3 inexpensive vintage planters at the antique mall in the perfect shade, I knew a collection was born.  :)

I've been able to find several more since that day at flea markets and antique stores. So far, they have all been $10.00 or less!  I love the planter shapes and use them to hold all those little items that seem to appear on our kitchen window sill (extra keys, restuarant gift cards, pocket knife, etc.). 

I also made a new curtain for the window.  It is just a faux roman shade, since there is already a working shade mounted to the window. I know the photos are bad, but its impossible to get decent lighting in this room for pictures.

And this past weekend I braved the 98 degree heat and ventured out to the Lawrenceburg flea market.  No fabric finds this time, but I did score a fantastic old store bread sign from the 1930's.  Its BIG...and in yellow! It will be perfect for the kitchen. It has some rough corners, so I want to make a frame for it, but I'll show you pictures when its finished.
Stay cool everyone and have a great week!

Kitchen Linen Gift Set

I've been "scrap busting" again! This week I made another kitchen towel and pot holder gift set for a friend of mine. Its part of a belated anniversary/house warming gift.

I used several of my older Amy Butler fabrics along with linen. I don't know the colors of her kitchen, but I know she likes earth tones, so I'm hoping these will blend in. :-)

We've also been doing some demo work on the new house. We have removed all the carpet and trim moldings in the bedrooms and hallway, I have the master bedroom painted, wallpaper has been removed from the hall bath, and the hardwood flooring is acclimating in the house and waiting to be installed. I'll have a few very boring photos to share with you soon.

Stay warm, everyone! Its frigid here...brrrrrr

Vintage Alphabet ~ Irons, Jewelry, Kitchenalia & Keys

Time for another Vintage Alphabet party! This month's letters are I, J, and K and I had a hard time deciding what collections to feature...so, I'm showing several. :-)

Let's start with the letter I.

"I" is for irons: This is a trio of old irons that make me very grateful for my Rowenta. I think the one in the back is the oldest of the bunch and has a wooden handle and its own trivet."J" is for jewelry. Here's a grouping of some of my favorite vintage pieces. And "K" is for Kitchenalia (you know, all those fun old kitchen gadgets).

And one more "K" collection, Keys! My grandpa had a ton of old keys. I just love all of the different shapes.

Well, that's it for my alphabet collection. Be sure to stop over at the Etsy Cottage Style Blog and see what other collections are being shown or share some of your own.

My Tiny Kitchen ~ and A Little of This and That

Whew! Who would have thought it would take sooooo long to finish such a tiny kitchen? I'd still like to make a new valance for the the window, but haven't found the right fabric, yet. I'm torn between giving the small room a punch of color, or keeping it more subdued and blending with the adjoining living/dining room.
Here's a list of the materials that we used: Colonial Gold Granite countertops, Cabinets from Home Depot in Dove White, Kohler Smart Divide sink, Brushed nickle hardware and faucet, Wall color is a very light tan called "Hominy" by Martha Stewart from Lowes.

Now comes the "Little of this and That" part of the post. First, some fabulous fabrics. I think I'm finally ready to part with this beautiful GlenCourt curtain panel.
And I also came across these great 1950's barkcloth pieces as I was reorganizing the stash.
Its kind of a deco wave on a leopard spotted background. The small green piece sold quickly, but there is also a larger piece in brown listed on the website. You can see all the newly listed items here. And I have a few pictures of some of the sewing projects I've been working on. This first wristlet may look familiar, as the fabric is the same gorgeous ocean blue linen that my drapes are made from. I made yet another wristlet from the cute powder blue chidren's fabric, but added a fun detail to the back. A vintage yoyo flower and appliqued leaves.

Here's the front...are we tired of seeing this fabric, yet? LOL I've also been making some vintage fabric bookmarkers. I thought they would be nice as freebies to include with orders. I'll try to get a picture of them soon.
Well, that's it for my miscellaneous post today. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!