A COUPLE OF NEW/OLD CONTRAPTIONS

Bob came home recently from a yard sale with this sleeve board, a $2 purchase.  It took me a minute to realize how it was used, since it had rather a complicated apparatus.  Then I knew I had my Mother's old ironing board, and it dawned on me.

 It was designed to be screwed onto the end of the ironing board, then when not in use to iron sleeves; it could be flipped up out of the way.

 The large ironing board was my mother's only board purchased when she married in 1937 for $3.75 -- she ironed every week on it for her entire 55-year married life.  When I closed my parent's house, I couldn't part with it - so many memories of her ironing everything including the household cleaning rags!  The newly acquired sleeve board has this great patent date of Feb. 17, 1903.  In their day, both boards would have been padded and covered.

 Since I won't be ironing fancy, little sleeves anytime soon; this is where I put the sleeve board.  We always need more book shelves to house Bob's collection of engineering stuff.  

 We've had this store paper roll holder for awhile, but it just recently made its way into the house.  Bob's sister gave it to him in pieces - he just recently restored it.  Their family owned a grocery store for years; so along with the string dispenser, the appeal is there!

I have to admit I'm attracted to this type of thing, also; but where am I going to put them??????

I'm sharing our junk with the following parties this week:
Better With Age for Give Me the Goods Monday
Hickory Trail for Efforts & Assets Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House Party
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

AMBER GLASS BOTTLES

This is a collection that I never intended to start -- it just happened!

About 20 years ago when we were closing out my parent's home, I found this big bottle in my Dad's garage/workshop.  For some reason, I was attracted to it and brought it home.

I love the way it looks with my brown transferware.

Next at an estate sale we found a cardboard box in an attic with about twelve of these Luyties' bottles with homeopathic pills in them - never had been opened.  

Our son, the science teacher, was interested in the compounds listed on the labels; so we gave him the box of bottles.  I kept these three.  The labels really are interesting!  Are you ready for some 'Strych. Phos.' to cure your mental disorder? -- Three to five tablets every three hours.  That should cure something!

Then we started picking up amber bottles at yard sales - they really are cheap - usually about $2.

This past weekend Bob found this bottle with the two little handles and lid with a hole in it.  There are no markings so we don't have a clue what it was for originally.  The Clorox bottle on the lower left below is quite small.  I'm used to Clorox in a big gallon jug!!  Then the fruit jar on the lower right I found at an estate sale a couple of years ago - it is embossed with Wan-eta Cocoa Boston.  In one list in my research, I found it listed as 'rare' and worth $125.  Really??  I doubt it -- I paid 50 cents for it!

The tall bottle below is a Fleishmann's liquor bottle - probably either had gin or vodka in it originally.  The two small jars were snuff bottles.

The number of raised dots on the bottom are to indicate the strength of the snuff.  Both of these bottles have four dots.

I've now become quite fond of amber glass bottles, and am always on the lookout for more -- inexpensively, of course!

I'll be joining in the following parties:
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Better with Age for Give Me the Goods Monday
Hickory Trail for Efforts and Assets Tuesday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

BLOSSOM WEEKEND

Our small town comes really alive one weekend a year -- Blossom Festival.  The Festival was started 75 years ago to celebrate the blooming of the fruit trees in the many orchards around the area.  We had a late freeze a couple of weeks ago, so the blossoms were fairly scarce; but this is my cherry tree blossoming like crazy. Guess it didn't get the memo about the freeze!  The lack of blossoms in town didn't keep the citizens from celebrating.  A lot of families have their family reunions on this weekend to attend the parade, the craft shows, rodeo, carnival, 5-K run, art shows, etc. etc.

Over the years, it has become quite the attraction for the high school and middle school bands in the state of Colorado to come  on this weekend for music competitions.  There are two days of concert and jazz band judging, then on Saturday there is a 3-hour parade down main street -- lots of marching bands, a queen and court, floats, politicians, restored antique cars and tractors, and school kids.  I forgot my camera, so the only picture I have is this one that my friend, Lynne, took of my grandson, Wyatt.  He is the one carrying the trophy, as his elementary school won first place for their float.  It carries a nice monetary prize, too, so they were really excited.

Back in the 1950s, I attended the girl's boarding school that was located here in town.  Blossom Weekend was a big thing as we were allowed to go to town (under the Nun's supervision, of course) to participate.  I loved going to school here since I didn't have any siblings.  I immediately had a whole bunch of sisters.  We arrived as Freshman in high school as 12-13 year olds, and became teenagers together.  We have remained close, and celebrate periodic reunions.  Four of my classmates were here for the weekend; and we ate, laughed, and enjoyed the weekend activities together.  On Sunday after church, I had them over for brunch and more reminiscing.  (60 years ago while attending the boarding school, I never thought Bob and I would move here 32 years ago to raise our kids.)

I intended to eat on our porch, but it turned cold, so we ate inside.

I made three kinds of mini-quiche; meat sandwiches with toppings, fruit, coffee cake, Madeleines, etc.

My granddaughter, Caitlin, popped in to regale us with stories about how much fun her teenage group had at the carnival on Saturday night.  After my classmates had left, she said that we sounded just like her friends - I don't think she had ever thought of her Grammy as a teenager!!
And, here we are -- combined we have a bunch of grandchildren to talk about.

Girls with Grandmother Faces

We had a great time!

I'm linking into the following parties:
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday
Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

GUEST ROOM TOUR

  I've been on a mission to update the linens in the guest room this Spring.  Previous posts about the pillow cases and the curtains may be viewed here and here.

Remember this Waverly fabric from the 1990s - it was everywhere (and is still available at my local JoAnn's!).  I bought yards of it in 1997, and made the master bedroom drapes out of it.  I soon tired of those, so I repurposed them into the guest room dust ruffle.  Now, ten years later, it is past time for a change.

 This time I went neutral, so in the future I can change out the other bed linens easier.  I love to sew; but, for some reason, I don't like to make dust ruffles!!  I now have neutral bed skirts everywhere, so hopefully I don't have to make any more.

I just finished this big, blue denim pillow with the red piping and flange edge. 

Now, on to the mini-tour --

This room is pretty large but full of family furniture and several collections we have amassed over the years.

The barrister bookcase in the corner is full of everything from Easter, Valentine, and patriotic items to antique sewing things to macaron boxes from Laduree in Paris.

The walls contain part of our collection of early 1900's sheep prints (so hard to photograph because of the glare - sorry!).

Guests always comment about how fun it is to stay in this room with so much to check out.  Secretly, they are probably thinking, "How can they live with all of that stuff."
I've always said that I don't decorate, I accumulate!

I'm joining the following:
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's it Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday

DROP CLOTH CURTAINS

I know I'm late to the drop cloth party, but decided it was time to try them out as a fabric choice.  I read extensively on the web about using them before I started.  I ended up purchasing two of these drop cloths from Sherwin-Williams.

 After the research, I was prepared for all of the ironing necessary; but that turned into nothing more than a little steam pressing.  What I didn't expect was after five trips through the washer and dryer, the hems were frayed in spots.

 So, it was necessary to go ahead and sew normal hems -- one inch on the sides and three inches on the bottom rather than just using the narrow hems that were there.

 In the end I think this worked to my advantage; because with the heftier hems, the curtains hang really well.

I'm really pleased with the weight, color, and texture of the drop cloths. And, of course, the price can't be beat.

I knew these panels needed to be simple, as there is a lot going on in this guest room.   The mini-makeover of the room is continuing!
IT'S TUESDAY, IT MUST BE SNOWING.  Yes, for the 5th Tuesday in a row, it is snowing in Colorado.  

I'm joining the following:
Primp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

BURRITO-ROLL PILLOW CASES

 Burrito-roll refers to the technique -- not what is inside my pillowcase!!!   I first learned this method for making pillowcases at the Houston Quilt Festival in the 1990s.  I've made scads of them since then for gifts and for personal use.  They can be made in less than an hour, and it's fun to choose the three coordinating fabrics.  They are especially a great gift for a sick child, or one with sleeping issues, or just because; as the variety of cotton fabrics available for kids goes from dinosaurs to princesses and everything in between.

 There are tutorials all over the web for this technique.  A good one can be found at The Crafty Gemini (click here).  The great thing about this method is that all seams are enclosed with no raw edges by just sewing three seams!

I'm in the process of a mini-makeover of our guest room that includes these new pillowcases.  

By the way, this was the view of our backyard from the guest room this morning -- Colorado at its best -- the morning after a snowstorm with the blue sky and the sun shining!  Love it.

I'm linking to the following:
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday
The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
A Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday

IT'S IN THE CARDS

I often wonder how things have survived through many moves and purging of households.  For instance, why do I still have two sets of Old Maid cards from my childhood in the 1940s?  But, here they are -- still stored among all of our stuff!!

Back then, there were no video games, iPods, etc. and there wasn't even TV.  We spent a lot of rainy/snowy days playing board games and cards.  

This particular set was based on matching sets depicting popular nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

After taking turns matching sets, the one left holding the single card was declared THE OLD MAID.  As girls, did we grow up thinking it wasn't a good thing to be left an old maid with a frown on our face --

or would it be better to be an old woman who lived in a shoe with lots of kids, but a smile on our face?

My second set of Old Maid cards is missing its box, but all of the cards are there.  The subject matter of this set is much different, but also really lacking in today's political correctness.

 This flirtatious old maid has a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face!

And, we have Gloomy Gus and the Kranky Kluck.

Then, we have the Nosey Newser and the Tooty Tutor.

Thank goodness, most of us didn't pay much attention to any lesson subliminally offered!!! 
I'm sure the reason these cards have survived purging at our house over the years is the appeal of the 1940 graphics.   

I'm joining the following:
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Have a Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday

A PILLOW, MORE PLAID

Since winter isn't really over in Colorado until Mother's Day, I figured I had time to sneak in another wool pillow.

This is an old cotton patchwork pattern and technique that simulates woven ribbons.  I thought it was worth a try to adapt with wool and plaids.

I added some machine embroidery and quilting to accent the pattern.

On our recent junking trip to Denver, I found a Pendleton gray plaid skirt for $3 at a Goodwill to include in this pillow with scraps from other Pendleton and Ralph Lauren thrifted skirts.

I also found a great blue and red Pendelton pleated plaid skirt for $2 at a Disabled Veteran's thrift store.  It has about 4 yards of wool fabric in it that I'm saving for a future large project.

I've been looking for awhile for a larger wool throw -- we really use these all winter long, and I wanted one big enough to cover from my chin to my toes.  Found this Pendleton one at an antique mall in Littleton.  

   

It was a good trip -- as always, I had my plaid radar up!!

I'm linking up with the following:
Vintage On a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
A Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday

IN LOVE!

It's no secret that we love wooden boxes around here.  And, among our favorites are small, handmade tool boxes---

 especially those with brass trim and great brass handles--

 and unique latch systems--

 and a brass escutcheon with patina--

 and neat nested interior trays to corral some of our antique tools.

 This little gem was discovered on our recent junking trip to Denver.

No question, this one had to come home with us!

I'm linking up to the following:

Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday

Primp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Homespun Happenings for Rustic Restorations Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop Tuesday
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday