So Glad I Stopped!!

The neighborhood Goodwill is walking distance from the Xavier Ct. House, but I don't go there too often. But....tonight on the way home from work I decided to stop......not sure why, but I did.

Locked in the "special" cabinet I noticed a bookend. Only one, not two. But definitely worth asking to have the cabinet opened.

A chalkware bookend!  With a darling Asian man leaning toward where the books would be.

 

A few little chips, and nicks, to be expected....but to me the most amazing thing is his ponytail is just perfect!

I love the shoes!

There was one more thing that I brought home today from the Goodwill....

a little demitasse cup and saucer!

A little stained on the inside, but a good soaking I think might help.

Total for the Goodwill today......$8.00......$6.00 for the bookend and $2.00 for the demitasse cup and saucer.

The demitasse cup and saucer......sweet... but the bookend priceless!!

chris

The Backyard Freshened Up

Last week I posted about a new umbrella I bought for the backyard at the Xavier Ct. House..... you can read about it here......

You know how it is... when one thing gets gussied up, sometimes the other things around it look, well, a little drab...I was loving the new umbrella, the aqua, the bright print, but it did make the rest of the yard look...drab!  I was out running errands this weekend with daughter number 3 and in our travels happened to find 4 aqua colored cushions that we thought might work in the backyard.  50% off and home they came.

Unfortunately, they were a just a little too big for the bench...fortunately for us the cushions had zippers.....so daughter number 3 took out the foam cushions and cut them down to size. Perfect!!  But kinda boring!

Soooo...I got to thinking about the little bag that the umbrella came in... the one you are supposed to store the umbrella in...we had the extra foam from trimming down the cushions.....sooooo.....

I decided to make a pillow for the bench seat.

Patio furniture cushions are fairly expensive, so I try to get several years out of my cushions....it was certainly time to retire the ones from three years ago!!

So tired and faded looking!!

And now fresh and inviting!!

I have enough fabric from the umbrella case to make two pillows for the chaise lounges!

Linking up to Share Your Cup Thursday with Jann at Have a Daily Cup from Mrs. Olson

chris

Liebster Award

The German word "liebster" translates into English as "beloved" or "favorite." This award is given to new and up coming bloggers

that have less than 200 followers.

Thank you so much Heather who blogs at Vintage Grey for this honor!! 

In order to accept this award, I must..

1. Link back to the person who gave it to me. 

2. Post the award to your blog.

3. Give the award to 5 new and up coming bloggers that have less than 200 followers

Congratulations to my lovely picks of such beautiful and creative blogs:

Tammy's in Love

The Checkered Apple

Kitschy Vintage

Gilded Junque

Stitch and Bake

4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know they have been offered this award. 

5. Share 5 random facts about yourself.

I work with robots

I love going out to breakfast and always order one buttermilk and one swedish pancake

I LOVE Carmel

I love the Grateful Dead

I wear flip flops all year long..well almost!

Thank you again Heather for this award!! 

 

chris

 

You're A Grand Old Flag!

My Dad and his sister in 1919, celebrating the 4th of July, in La Jolla, Ca.

My Dad is wearing a children's version of a WWI uniform and proudly waving his flag! My Dad served in WWII and was so proud to have served in General Patton's Army!

So thankful for the men and women who serve our country!

chris

Mr. Math Plays Along!!

Mr. Math and I went out to breakfast yesterday and on the way home we stopped a garage sale....not Mr. Math's favorite thing to do, but it was right on the way home and I promised we only had to stop at one.

It wasn't billed as an estate sale but there where a few estate type items at this garage sale...AKA vintage!

two vintage stationary boxes with labels you can add to your notes!

the pink, blue and white box held little umbrellas, and lanterns

I hit the mother lode of vintage magazines!! I brought home 76! Sunset, Women's Day, Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens. A few from the late 1950's and the rest from the 1960's.

of course the ads are terrific!

Betsy McCall paper dolls

I do have two favorite magazines out of the lot...

the July 1962 issue had an article on Caroline Kennedy and her pets

and Better Homes and Gardens from April 1957...

the month and year this young thing was born!!

Mr. Math just smiled as I piled my purchases into his car...and then he started to sneeze..allergies you know....to the vintages magazines stored in a garage...he actually pulled over and had me move them to the trunk!

Enjoying looking through my magazines! The articles are great, but the pictures are the best!

chris

Is It Wrong?????

To knock on a stranger's door and ask if something is for sale?

Well, right or wrong, I did just that while out for my walk tonight.  I was walking along on my usual route and just happened to notice something off to the side of a driveway......

at first it looked like a fish shaped terra cotta pot that someone had painted....on a second look it seemed someone had made it into an umbrella stand.

I knocked on the door and asked the woman who answered if she would be interested in selling the terra cotta pot....she said she wasn't using it and if she could get a couple of dollars for it she'd be happy! I told her I would be right back with my wallet....she said take it with you now and the next time you walk by drop off the $2.00. I took it home, it sure was heavy, but brought her back the money right away!

I will use it with my new.........

Umbrella!

 I picked it up at Cost Plus this past weekend, on sale and a 10% off coupon. 

I will spend the weekend working in the backyard and moving umbrellas around!

chris

Goat Hill Farm Part Two!

A few more pictures from this past Saturday's trip to the Goat Hill Farm Antiques & Artisan Fair. 

the black & white purses have vintage
brassieres sewn on them..too fun!

  

join me for an ice tea? What an amazing view!

Isn't this a fun vintage camper? The colors of their wares match their camper!

a quiet patio area

Flea Market Friend and I

one of my purchases, a chalk ware nun

and a vintage spoon rack, that now holds my vintage hankies

total spent at the fair....$30.00... not too bad!!

chris

Goat Hill Farm!

This past Saturday, one of the Flea Market Friends and I went to an Antique and Artisan Fair, held at Goat Hill Farm, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We parked at a small mountain school, and took a school bus to the fair. The fair is held twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. You can read more about the fair and how it came to be here.  I wanted to share a few pictures with you...

the front porch at goat hill

I love red, white and blue and I love this chair!!

This booth used old typewriter keys, vintage zippers, buttons and other vintage sewing notions in the jewelry designs

The vendor also made rings and bracelets

Lots of vintage suitcases

This was one of my favorite booths....the color just gets me! And the rope handles...can you see this in a beach or lake house?

I came home with a few purchases....

I could not pass up this little plate with the pixies... I paid $8.00 for the pixies three!

I will share a few more of my favorite pictures and the rest of the treasures I found tomorrow.

chris

Inspiration.....Done!

Last week I talked about an ottoman I had that needed a little TLC. You can read about it here.

This weekend I worked on making the slipcover.  I had to add a 5" border to the patchwork I had already put together.

I made a casing for a piece of elastic and pushed it through.

I had a little too much fabric on the bottom, so I tucked it in and stitched it. It's a good thing you can't see the bottom!!



I love the way it turned out! It was easy to do, and I was able to use things I had on hand!

Overall, not too bad....no pattern and just a picture in my mind's eye!

chris



Jasper Giraffe

I am sharing another one of my favorite books.........Jasper Giraffe.  It's a book about a young Giraffe, named Jasper..Jasper is sad because he never gets any mail.

Polly Parrot is the Postmistress and all the animals in the jungle come to collect their mail at the post office

Jasper was so sad because he never received any mail, that one day he was not paying attention and tripped and fell

All day long the animals came to get their mail or to post letters they had written...and Polly Parrot told all of them about Jasper and his fall

The next morning the post office was full of mail...for Jasper Giraffe

And Jasper could not believe that all the mail that Polly Parrot delivered was for him!

Polly Parrot had told all the animals that Jasper had broken his leg, but it was only a scratch!

Jasper was so happy, he had many friends

I just love these books about mail...sending and receiving... I think I will work on sending out a few letters out this weekend!

I am linking up to Li'Vintage Story Books

chris