BUCKET BRIGADE

Alison at The Polohouse threw out quite the challenge for her monthly party, Favorites on the First, for February.  We were to blog about our favorite container.  As I looked around our house, I was overwhelmed with containers.  Guess we have been  accumulating more than our share of containers over the last 55 years - all vintage or antique.  There are scads of baskets and  totes.  Then there are the tool boxes, tackle boxes, tin document boxes, wooden graduation boxes, metal candy boxes, writing boxes; even two ballot boxes.  There are huge old trunks, children's suitcases, and blanket chests; plus a vintage Coca Cola cooler, a chicken coop, and an egg carrier.  Then I saw all of the old drawers and small drawer units that I use for display and storage.  PLUS, there are the soup tureens, pitchers, bowls, crocks, and apothecary jars.  How can I choose my favorite container?  In the end, I decided to go simple and show you my five wooden buckets.

Here they are marching down our dining room table -- not containing anything at the moment!

They are workhorses, however.  At Christmas, they contained an amaryllis, a poinsettia, and a wonky, Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

They have been known to hold fabric scraps, utensils, fruit, or our loose change.

The little red one below usually holds my clothespins; and the lidded one on the left held my mother's clothespins.

I had to throw in the following picture that was taken 42 years ago of our son when he was three.  He was helping his 'Grammy' (my mother) with the laundry - his job was hanging up the cleaning rags to dry.  See the bucket with the clothespins!

I love the patina on every single one!

In addition to The Polohouse I'll be displaying my bucket brigade at the following parties.  Please check these blogs out and thank them for hosting.

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Have a Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Knick of Time Interiors for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage On a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

WICKER INDOORS?

I've been enamored with wicker for years.  Consequently, we have wicker on both our front porch and our screened-in porch.

Lately, however, I've been thinking about a wicker chair for inside.  The search began -- since I really didn't need it, I set my sights high on natural wicker in EXCELLENT condition thinking I would never find one to my liking.  Also, I wanted one with some sort of skirt on all four sides.

A couple of days after Christmas, we were killing time looking through the local antique shops; and I spied it.  Even though the skirt was short, it did go around on all four sides. The price was right, so home it came.  It didn't have a cushion so that was my project for this week.

I chose a black corduroy upholstery fabric from Hobby Lobby with a plaid cording.  I wanted to keep the cushion cost under $10.

I'm pleased -- something a little different for us.  Our house is getting more casual in our old age!

LINKING TO THE FOLLOWING:
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party Tuesday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

MORE BEAUTIFUL BROWN TRANSFERWARE

See that big brown transferware platter on the top shelf?  It was a surprise gift from a friend recently.

 It's huge.  It's heavy.  It's old.

 It is beautiful in its simplicity.

What's not to love?

Thanks Maryvonne.  I was surprised and thrilled beyond belief.

I'll be showing off my platter at the following linky parties.  Check them out for more inspiration.

Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday

Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up Tuesday

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Primp Junktion for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday

PYROGRAPHY

Pyrography is a craft that involves burning designs into wood or leather with a wood burning tool.  It was popular in the early 1900s to make decorative objects for the home and as an artistic pastime.  The Flemish Art Company produced a pyrography kit that contained various flammable fuels, brushes, carving tools, burning points, and practice boards with a prestamped design.
We have a couple of examples of pyrography that we picked up at yard sales about 20 years ago for a couple of dollars.

This coat rack has a poppy design that was colored with water colors.

It has really pretty copper hooks.

The other piece we found was this handy little table.  It's a great size to move around when a place to put a drink is needed.

It is Moorish in design, but the wood burning pattern is cherries.

It is rather crudely made probably out of basswood.  Pyrography kits often came with premade designs for picture frames, glove and handkerchief boxes, and bookcases.

It's interesting to think about a homemaker 100 years ago doing a craft to beautify her home -- what would she think about the blog world and all of our projects?

As a child I always wanted a wood-burning kit, but my parents wisely never bought me one.  They can be quite dangerous -- I probably would have blown the house up or maimed my fingers.     I'll just enjoy the two vintage pieces that we have.

I'm linking up to the following:
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

CHECKING OUT CHECKS AND OTHER REVISIONS

The year, 2012, was full of expensive projects around here -- a new roof, new outside paint job, partial fence replacement; then the washing machine, water heater, my sewing machine all decided to wear out and needed replaced.  Plus, my faithful recliner was declared threadbare, and needed reupholstered.  Hopefully, this year will just involve some small things to keep our home updated.  

First, on my list is new bedding and window treatments for the guest bedroom.  I can't decide what I want, so right now I'm checking out how I feel about checks.  It appears everything out there is white, light, and minimal.  Am I the only one craving color, dark, and layering?

Just auditioning at the moment -- so I brought in Bob's 1960's wool jacket and my mother's 1940's beaver cape.  (Told you that we hold onto everything!)

  One 30-minute project I did complete this week was a new pillowcase for my neck pillow on my reupholstered recliner.  I used this piece of menswear cotton flannel check from my stash.   There isn't a before picture - it was too horrible to photograph! This little baby pillow was a shower gift to my mother before I was born.  It has traveled the world with me, and I'm rarely without it.  It makes a great airplane pillow.  Do you think I am attached after all of these years?

 In an effort to update the little things, I also did this 1-hour project this week.  This chandelier provides great ambient light in our living room, but poor thing was stuck in 2003.

It was a bit 'frou-frou' for our now more casual style.  So, I removed the cord cover; cut the beads off the shades; then spray painted the fabric with ordinary flat black paint.

I have more small updates planned around the house, but for now I'm involved in another revision.  If any of you have been involved in publishing, you know that deadlines are usually short -- as in "drop everything else, and do it now" short.  I have one of those deadlines, as I edit a condensed version of one of my books for publication into a booklet form.  I'll be back when I'm done pouring over the book!

I'm joining the following:

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday

Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party Tuesday

Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday