Friday, June 27, 2008

Call for Talented Vintage Lovers

Oh, I almost forgot, Mom and I would love to be able to bring in some talented ladies who can share some of their creativity or expertise with others in our shop through demonstrations or special events. We would love to be able show how people can bring beauty into their lives and live blissfully. What we would be looking for would be anything from scrapbooking and collaging with vintage ephemera, finding the right way to bring vintage cottage style into your home, cooking with heirloom recipes, ideas for entertaining with vintage themes, or even how to clean/restore linens or china. Just different things that can get some creative juices flowing in our customers every day lives while also having a lovely time. If this is something that you would be interested in doing please let us know (1-513-897-0061)! You can feel free to pass out your own cards and sale some of your own creations in order to gain exposure yourself.
Thanks,
Kerry

P.S. Artists you might also be interested in participating in Waynesville's Second Sunday Strolls-- http://www.secondsundaystroll.com/

For your cottage porch...

Well, in my last post I confessed my newly discovered penchant for spray paint and I wanted to show off a couple of the pieces that I have gotten all gussied up for the garden or patio. Silly me forgot to take a before picture but believe me, they were certainly not living up to their potential before--I hope that you will like what I have done with them! I just don't think anything says spring and summer outdoor living quite like prettily painted metal garden furniture--especially when it is vintage!


Isn't the vintage pail adorable? I just love this beautiful shade of blue...I think it is ocean breeze by Krylon.


The paint on this is pistachio by Krylon.

Kerry

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Vintage Make-over

Isn't it amazing how just one little thing can make such a difference? The right shoes, earrings, purse, etc. can make all the difference in whether your outfit is fabulous or just doesn't quite work. It is the same with your home. The right things, brought to their full potential, are needed to make your possessions and your home stand out. In the case of this cute little gossip bench that Mom and I picked up a little upholstery fabric was all it needed to become a star. Take a look at these before and after pics to see what I mean:







This is something that is so simple and easy to do and I think it can make such a big difference and I promise this is not that difficult to do. Sometime, I will try to post some basic instructions. I have to confess that until very recently Mom and I would have been scared to try to tackle. I guess we believed that whole beauty is pain idea or something, but it doesn't always have to be pain. After getting up the nerve to recover Mom's dining room chairs, we have realized this is not a scary project at all. This bench took maybe twenty minutes and basically all I needed was some new fabric (yay for The Fabric Shack!), a little elbow grease, a tape measure and a good old staple gun.

And you know something else, taking on this project earlier at home has enboldened me with other things like, for instance, cleaning up vintage metal patio furniture and painting it all sorts of fun colors. So tackle something you have been wanting to do but have been just a smidge to intimidated to do. The Lord made a wonderful world for us but sometimes he wants us to help in creating our own bits of bliss. Believe me the beauty that surrounds you will be very pleasant, but so will the feeling you get knowing what the chica in you can do.

Kerry

Friday, June 20, 2008

Natures's Beauty

The other day Mom and I were out visiting with her wondeful mom, my Grammy extraordinaire, and she pointed out to us this tiny sweet baby bunny. It had been carefully nestled amongst her flowers in her cottagey flower bed in front of her porch by its mother while it went off to forage for food. I managed to get a picture of this precious creature without scaring it off (thank goodness for zoom!) and I thought I would share it with you.





Yesterday, Mom and I had another special moment with one of God's creatures. While we were sitting behind the counter, a hummingbird flitted in through the open front door. It explored our front room and then came into the counter room and floated just in front of us, about two feet away from us for a few moments before flitting back out the door. We certainly enjoyed its visit!

Kerry

More treasures!

Here are some more treasures! Aren't these just darling!











If you would be interested in any of these items, please don't hesitate to contact us or drop by! Our shop's phone number is 1-513-897-0061 and our store hours are Wednesdays through Sundays Noon-5pm EST. Some items are only available for pick-up but we are always happy to ship when possible and for items being shipped, we accept Visa and Mastercard or Paypal.

Kerry

Newly discovered vintage treasures!

Hi everyone!
It's been awhile since we have posted, but hopefully it was worth the wait when you see some of the scrumptious finds that we have just brought into the shop. Believe me, we've got many goodies to share over the next few days! The items that I am posting today came from the estate of a lady who was clearly a kindred spirit who loved to surround herself with beautiful things.
The first two pictures are of a pair of gorgeous shell wall niches. I believe that they are plaster or some sort of composite. Aren't they just gorgeous? The blue coverlet is new (to us!) too.





Kerry

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Terrific Timely Tips from WWII booklet

Mom and I were out and about collecting goodies for our store and boy did we find some wonderful goodies at the estate of a 95 year old woman who still had many of her mother's belongings. Many of these items will be added to our inventory soon but they are just so neat that I wanted to share some of them with you!

One of these goodies is a great promotional Swans Down cake flour booklet filled with wartime recipes called "How to bake by the Ration Book". This little booklet features recipes that make do with less. For example there are cakes with little or no eggs or sugar and biscuits with only a tablespoon of shortening. Not only is it interesting to see how creative people were with what they had but these are recipes that are just as good for us today helping both our waistlines and our wallets.

Here are a couple of recipes for you to try:

One-Egg Wonder Cake

2 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
1 cup Sugar
2 tsp. Calumet Baking Powder
1 egg, unbeaten
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 or 1/3 cup shortening
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift together three times. Cream shortening, add sugar gradually, and cream together well. Add egg and beat very thoroughly. Add flour, alternately with milk, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add vanilla. Bake in two greased 8 inch layer pans or in greased large cup-cake pan in moderate oven (375 degrees F.) 20-25 minutes. Spread with topping...


Wartime Drop Biscuits

2 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 tsp. Calumet Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon melted shortening or oil

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift again. Add milk and melted shortening. Then stir quickly and lightly until all flour is dampened. Drop from tip of teaspoon in small mounds on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in hot oven (450 degrees F.) 15 minutes or until done. Makes about 18 biscuits.

Bon Appetit!
Kerry

Friday, June 6, 2008

Creative Ladies

Kerry found Clara Estelle's boyfriend online. It was a male hatstand the same age and design as Clara Estelle. He was just too cute but also too expensive (aren't most men) so Clara Estelle is still single. I started thinking (dangerous for me) when we were deciding whether we could afford him and I thought--you know I would rather have sisters for Clara Estelle. I would name them Barbara Jean, for my mother, Clara Estelle's sister; and Violet Elizabeth, one of my favorite aunt and also my mother's sister. (My mother came from a family of five girls and three boys that survived childhood). My mother and aunt are soooo talented and creative. At seventy six, my aunt built herself a shelf with a closet rod for her guest bedroom with scrape material that I think came from curbing. She brings lots of things home from her walks with wonderful creative ideas for them. Both my mother and aunt sew just beautifully. My mother rarely bought a dress for herself or me when I was growing up and our clothes were very fashionable and beautiful. They both have a very creative eye for decorating too and I love both of their houses.
They came by their gifts from my grandmother, Ruth Benjamin (my great grandmother gave all of her girls boys' middle names so I think our quirkiness comes from her as well), who could look at a dress, go home and make a pattern out of newspaper and then sew it up. She taught me how to crochet and was starting to teach me how to tat but I never got to finish. She made most of the lace on my dresses when I was small. She made lovely quilts by hand and I got the last one she ever made as a wedding present. So if I ever have the opportunity to buy other hatstands like Clara Estelle, they will be named in honor of my mother, aunt, grandmother,etc.; depending on how lucky I am in finding them, and in honor of all the other creative women out there.
Stephanie

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Second Sunday Stroll

Today is our first Theraputic Thursday for ladies and tomorrow is Fantastic Fridays also for ladies. The passes, which I wrote about in the last posting, are available in most of the participating stores. The pass is good for specials at each participating store Thursdays and Fridays until August 28, 2008. You can use the same pass all three months. The passes are free so come and visit us. This month the theme is Garden Party. Clara Estelle has a new vintage hat just for the occasion and she and Bindi have cookies and goodies for you to enjoy. We also have a little gift for those of you who make a purchase and show us your pass.
I think I will bring Bindi to the store sometimes this summer so that you can meet her as well. I will also post pictures of her; her biological sister, Betsy; and her adopted sisters; Gabby and Oreo. Yes, you counted right--that's four dogs and Kerry will post their story in a future post and how we came to adopt them.
This Sunday is Second Sunday Stroll. Second Sunday Stroll is held every second Sunday in the month (of course) from May to August. A number of artists and artisans will be here in Waynesville demostrating and selling their work along Main Street and High Street. There is also entertainment at the gazbo--"Rick Street" and also the Miami Valley Dance Academy. The Framing Place and The Canada Goose Gallery will be hosting open houses. This have been alot of fun in the past and it's a great time to just stroll around our very quaint little village and enjoy yourself. Stop in and meet Clara Estelle in person. Sit on our porch or back on our deck. We look forward to your visit.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Ladies' Day Out

A number of the stores, including us, in Waynesville is participating in Ladies' Day Out which will be held every Thursday and Friday in June, July, and August. Some of the stores wil be open later for this event. If the ladies have a pass (more on how to get those coming at a future date because all of the details have not been worked out), the participating stores will each have certain promotions or discounts for those ladies. There will be snacks at the stores, etc. The idea is for you ladies to have a day out. Waynesville has something like 50 different antique and gift shops and some of those shops are antique malls so there is lots to see. There are also excellent restaurants in town too. We have a different theme for every month. June will be "A Garden Party"; July will be "Red, Whiite, and Blue"; and August will be "The Beach." Trendy Bindi's will be taking 20% all items marked with a flower sticker, such as our teacups, teapots, table linens, and garden items, if you have a pass. So come and join us for a great time!! We look forward to seeing you!!