DECORATING WITH MEANING

I've never claimed to be a decorator -- I'm an accumulator!  After 54 years of marriage, we have accumulated a lot of stuff.  WE, as in Bob and I -- he is just as bad as I am.  I don't think we are hoarders, as we make an effort to keep it all clean, organized, and tastefully displayed.  That's always been our family joke -- it's o.k. as long as it is done tastefully!!  I'm sure there are those who would disagree in our level of taste.

Here is an example of one of my accumulations, and an effort to decorate with meaning.

Growing up, we had a family friend who was a traveling salesman who peddled Solitaire Coffee and was also quite the jokester.  It was always a fun day when Al popped into town to canvas the local grocery stores with his wares.  I looked for a long time before I found an old Solitaire Coffee jar.  

I wanted one to house part of my accumulation of things numbered '15'.  I've always thought '15' was a special number; after all, it is the day of the month that I was born.

The number 15 Bingo card, the cash register number, and the number 15 cue ball all bring up fun teenage memories.

A house decorated with meaningful objects is imperative for us. We love the feelings they evoke.

For anything to occupy space in our house, it must be either useful or meaningful -- it doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful.  Sorry, William Morris, meaningful trumps beautiful any day at the Salmagundi household.

By the way, an unknown fact -- I'm a Solitaire card playing addict.  As an only child, I learned to play Solitaire at the age of 7 to keep myself occupied.  I found college kind of boring, so entertained myself with Solitaire; and to this day I play probably about 20 games each day (except now on the computer).  Now, you know my real addiction!

Please check out the following parties that I'll be linking up to this week.
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday
Jann Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

HICKS FROM THE STICKS OFF TO THE CITY

We took a couple of fun days off from just hanging around the house, and went to the big city -- Denver!  

The first day we met our son and went to the new History Colorado Center.  It has only been open a short time in its new facility, a block south of the old Colorado History Museum on Broadway.  It was enjoyable, but a little slick and high tech for our tastes.  We missed the old museum that was packed so full of artifacts that you could actually FEEL the history.  We will go back, however, when more of the new exhibits are open.  One of the temporary exhibits was Colorado - past, present and future; - all done in Legos.  Fun, fun - my favorite was the row of the tiny, blue porta-potties done in Legos, but all of the Colorado landmarks executed by the Lego artists were great!

We then hit our favorite antique mall on South Broadway, had Colorado Hacienda Mexican food, and checked into our hotel to find we had been upgraded to a suite at no extra cost - a nice surprise.  It doesn't take much to please us hicks!

  On our second day, we went to the Old Glory Antique Fair in Clement Park.  Clement Park is right next to the infamous Columbine High School - always a sobering moment when you remember what took place there.

But on this day, it was all about junking and antiquing.

After 50 years of antiquing, we don't buy much anymore (sorry, dealers); but we love checking everything out for trends and seeing what people are buying.

 We saw several industrial carts -- all in the $500-600 range, which makes our $20 cart from a yard sale a REAL bargain.  Read about that score here.

 This was a great seed box, and I've always wanted one; but way out of our price range.

 Lots of industrial and farmstead goods.

 We laughed about this chicken coop - another winter on the farm and it would have been a pile of splinters.  And, in our opinion, was pretty pricey at $65 for that kind of patina!

 After a morning of sun, we headed south and stopped at our favorite antique mall in Colorado Springs; then home.  In my childhood, we would go to Denver from the farm 3-4 times a year to shop, eat, and observe.  It's still a thrill for me!

So, what did I buy?

 I keep saying I'm going to quit buying brown transferware, but I can't seem to pass up a nice specimen like this tureen for $12.  It has a hairline crack in the lid, but still pretty on the shelf at that price.

In my continuing search for items with the number 15, I found a cue ball, a bingo card, and a cash register indicator.  Part of my discipline is that I will not spend more than $10 and preferably under $5 for these things.  Don't ask what I'm going to do with them -- I'm getting quite an assortment, but the fun is in the search.


Please check out the following blogs that I'm linking to this week, and thank them for their efforts.
Southern Hospitality for Monday Thrifty Treasures
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday