Variety with Vignettes

If you're a clean surfaces sort of person, vignettes are probably not your style. And I absolutely respect the idea of minimalism-- nothing to move and nothing to dust.

But I've found such fun things at thrift stores, flea markets and antique malls, I do love a good sideboard vignette. It's a great way of taking many different items and connecting them together.

Today, I'll show you just a few of the nutty and colorful combos I've put together in the house.

First we'll go into my bedroom. The post is late today because I was actually doing a cleaning marathon-- trying to get some of these things tidied up as my friend Josette's coming to visit over the Fourth. This is the quirky collection that's on my 40s hamper top...

Art nouveau style frames (featuring a young Gregory Peck!) and scent bottles have been paired with a nouveau bust of Scheherezade, who's styling one of my garage sale hats. Behind her is a vintage mirror I'd painted up, to reflect light and add interest. It's weird, and way colorful, I know. But I think somehow it works.

Now this is on top of one of my dressers...


The dolls were my mother's and my great aunt's. Paired with a set of thrift store vintage figurines, and a 30s lamp, they're all from about the same time period and the colors seem to connect. That's one of the easy ways to tie different items together-- color. The right color makes all the difference.

Like here. You might remember, I got this 40s bleeding heart still-life print just a few weeks ago for a couple of bucks at a flea market. I've put it on one of the shelves of my clothes wardrobe, along with a vintage box of soaps and my grandmother's perfume bottle...


That peachy-pink connects all of them visually, I think. And so somehow they really seem to go together.

This shelf showcases a vintage dresser box I picked up at the Salvation Army, along with my great aunt's candy dish and a perfume bottle my mother had gotten me...


Again, color seems to tie in the candy dish and perfume bottle. And it's amazing what colors get brought out in a print, depending on what it's sitting next to.

The last shelf is pretty simple. Just another perfume bottle, some home-grown photography in a K-Mart frame, and a lovely little box one of my coworkers had kindly brought me from India.


Now here, this is the table I've been working on for Josette's arrival. I've been trying to work with the fairies-and-chintz theme I'd showed you a week or so ago on the mantle...


Lots of pattern here! More, actually, than I usually tend to do with things-- which is why I've gone for the shiny aluminum bowls and cups.

To tie in the chintz plates from the mantle, I fit one last plate into the centerpiece display, along with some cheery birds...


The candlesticks and central bowl, with the fairies on them, were Salvation Army and Red White and Blue finds. I'd gotten them separately over time, though they do match.


Lastly, I thought you might like to see this little vignette in the entry way. The lamp and plate seem to really go together. The colors, the general style...

I had forgotten how old the plate was... 1906! Back from when Pittsburgh didn't even have an 'h' in it!...

Well, that about wraps it up for me today. I've been working for about 7 hours straight on things here at Waterhouse and need to grab a little dinner. (Not on the plate above.)

Hope you all have a terrific remainder to your Sunday, and that I'll see you again soon!

Otherwise, keep cool and have a great week!

Ahoy, Thar Be Treasure This Wednesday!


Begin comedic pirate voice/

"Aye, scurvy lasses and lads! This be Treasure Chest... er... Box Wednesday, so gather round as this blogging wench shows ye this week's booty!"

/end comedic pirate voice

(Ahem)

Actually, the main treasure this week is in the form of a gift I'd gotten my dad for Father's Day. Ye Olde Dadde is partial to items reminiscent of the sea and its tales. So over time I found a couple of items that I thought might shiver his timbers...


The sailing ship lamp here is spelter and probably dates from the early 1900s. It still has a bit of its bronzed patina to it, but some of it's worn away... I thought it had character....


I also liked how the base of it is molded to look like a swelling wave.

And then here, I'd found a lovely little storybook with a variation on the Little Mermaid tale, "The Little Sea Maid"...


Delicately tinted illustrations and a poem made this quaint, unusual item just right to send with the lamp. It's also probably from about the same time period.

I believe Dad was pleased.

Now as for thrifting this week, mostly I ended up cleaning up from a flood that hit late last week. So I had time for only a little leisure. However, I did find this cute lavender lamb planter...


And a piece of shell pink milk glass-- this one's a sugar bowl...


It seems strange I'm finding so much of this right now when it was impossible to find outside of antique stores about a year or so ago. But, these things come in cycles, for some reason. Sometimes you see a ton of one type of thing, and six months later-- not a single piece.

Anyway, that's the main plunder for this week!

But before you go, I did want to share with you all a bit of good news, I'd had...

I'd entered a fiction contest for short humor pieces at Humor Press, and actually came in Second Place! Can ya believe that? I about fell over when I saw the notification in my Inbox.
Hope you all have a booty-ful week yourselves! Arrrrgh!

Music to the Ears with Thrift Store CDs


Interested in trying a particular musical group, but don't want to pay much to take a risk? Looking to expand your music collection, but don't think $1 an MP3 download is very thrifty-minded? Like having a tangible CD in your possession, just in case you PC hard drive goes soft?

There are plenty of great reasons to scour thrift stores and other resale stores for used CDs!

With the introduction of MP3 players, increasingly CDs are showing up at the thrift stores. And while they aren't always today's most recent gotta-have chart-topper, a thrifter willing to take the time and go through the CD shelves might just find a hit or two, anyway.

Chalk it up to the fleeting music passions of youth, or changes in technology, but peer through those music racks and you'll find everything from 90s boy bands and music icons, to easy listening, new age relaxation albums, classic rock, country favorites and Christmas staples.

And the prices can be very affordable. Typically at thrift stores, the CDs range between $1-$3, and $3 can mean a double-CD album. So when you compare it to some downloading prices, where you can pay $1 a song, well... just do the math and you'll see how much you could save.

But if you find a CD that catches your fancy-- there are a couple quick-and-dirty points I want to share with you, so you make sure you're happy with your purchase:

  • Open the CD and check to see if there really is a disc inside. It's a recent trend that people have been stealing the CDs and DVDs out of their cases at thrift stores. St. Vincent de Paul has rectified this problem by holding all CDs and DVDs up at the front cash register, and they'll give them to you when you bring the empty case up to purchase. Goodwill and Salvation Army, in my area at least, have not started doing this. Yesterday, I spied a Cheryl Crow and an Alanis Morrissette that were completely empty-- their discs having long gone in the pocket of some thoughtless thief. So don't buy a CD only to find the critical disc is missing. Check 'em out before you buy! (And bring the empty cases to the attention to the cashier, if you would. It will prevent someone else from suffering the same fate!)
  • Hold the disc up to the light to check condition. I've had very good luck with the condition of my thrifted CDs. So far everything from No Doubt to Phish to Paul Simon have been pristine. But that doesn't mean all thrifted CDs have been treated so well. Just check to see how scratched a CD might be before purchasing. There's no telling whether the CD sat happily in its case between playings, or was used as a drink coaster. Better safe than sorry!

And happy listening!


Also, happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Until we meet again this Wednesday, folks... Have a great one!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Mini-Thrifting and CBS Pumps Pros of Secondhand


Did you know, you smart secondhand shopper, that you are a part of a growing trend in "hip" and sensible resale shopping? Well, apparently so, according to CBS News, anyway.

I was watching the evening news the other night, when the piece came on, discussing a couple of different ways people are able to get great, high-end items at bargain prices. The ones they mention include:
  • Having clothes swapping parties (trade friends for wardrobe items they no longer want, and refresh your own wardrobe at the same time)
  • Visiting thrift stores
  • And hitting consignment shops
You start to suspect the world is suddenly on to what we knew along-- that thrifts, and other resale meccas are a great way to find terrific items at a good price!

The thing that struck me most, however, was how the news broadcast appears to spin it to the Gucci, Sachs, and other big-name-label crowd. Are we really getting the Gucci gals at the Goodwill... and the Sachs fans at Sally's?

Which prompts me to ask-- do you folks hit the thrifts, yard sales and flea markets for designer labels or other high-end items? I've found a few bigger name vintage purses in my travels, but I chose them originally because they were an eye-catching style and of noticeable quality.

If so, what sorts of things do you look for?

Now me, you all probably know by now I buy a lot more decorative and household items at thrifts than I buy clothes. And there was just a little bit of thrifting in that area this week...

These 40s/50s Turner floral prints!...


I got the pair at the Salvation Army thrift store, at just $3.99 a piece. Stylistically, they remind me of the soft colors of my Victorian postcards...


I'm such a sucker for a nice red rose!

But, hey, blue's lovely, too-- like with these pansies and forget-me-nots...


When you think about just how much it costs these days to have something framed, it's amazing to find two pre-framed prints for that price in this shape. So I was a pretty happy gal.

So tell me, folks-- have you found any goodies lately? And if so, what have you uncovered?

Or maybe you'll pop back again Sunday for our next post. I'd love to see you then.

Green Thumbs and Purple Bruises


Well, I never said I was Martha Stewart, did I? And the differences between us are noticeable.

For one, I never spent any significant amount of time under house arrest. But more important to this post, even though I love to decorate and garden, I am definitely not perfect at it and I have no problem admitting it.

For instance, I get distracted with non-decorating and gardening things-- y'know, life and stuff-- and nature tends to get away from me. This is what happened recently. I've been plugging away in my spare time, writing my novel, and suddenly I discover obscure jungle tribes have moved into my backyard.

They're swinging from the vines. They're hiding in the shelter of growing thatches. They're making rude slings and taking out local wildlife for their din-din...


Okay, so maybe I exaggerate a tad... But not much.


Yup, that was my backyard earlier today. Lamb's Ear on the left deciding to discover it's Manifest Destiny and take over as much space as possible...

Mossy phlox having phloxed for distance...

Morning glories I planted seven years ago-- and removed (I thought) five years ago-- still making a play for turf and self expression...

Dead branches lying deadly... Plants which planted themselves in some personal quest to impose their taste on me waving hello...

Dandilions as big as, well, non-dandy lions...

Yes indeedy. Something had to be done!

So in an attempt to combine today's post-plus-chores, I took all of you with me on this quest for de-jungle-ification. Here, I seem to have upset an ant colony who felt my structural reorganization of their apartment complex was inappropriate. Much of what looks like dirt here are actually teeny ants!...


Regrettably, I think they may discover at the end of the day, during the course of weeding I might have actually bagged and disposed of their buddies George, Adam and Mildred...

But sometimes sacrifices must be made.

In happier news, I found that the climbing rose I'd planted a year or so ago-- a Ginger Syllabub-- is growing and is absolutely gorgeous...


I'm hoping to train this to grow over my arched trellis.

I also found that these Sweet Williams (at least, I believe that's what they are) have planted themselves...


I don't know where they came from originally-- I didn't plant them-- but they show up in some location in the yard every year...


I had planted the ancestors of this foxglove-- two different kinds-- but just where it decides to pop up each year is always a surprise to me....


I believe this is a Camelot foxglove. I like their bright pinkish purple spires, so I pretty much let them go wherever they want to be. If they show up somewhere strange in the yard, I just leave them. I figure it's better not to get too bossy with such a pretty, yet poisonous, plant! :)

I also found I had a rather nice Don Juan rose-- lovingly nicknamed "Johnny"-- here in the center of the yard...


Johnny's always quite the eye-catcher, with nice smelling flowers that are fairly disease-resistant.

I have two other red roses. One is this rose that was in my backyard when I bought the house. I didn't plant it, so I'm not sure of its name...


And then there's this climbing rose which only blooms once a year, but this year, it has been outdoing itself. Look at this nature-made nosegay of blooms!...


This... I don't know what it is. It's sort of furry-- and very bright pink...


With it blooming so happily, I couldn't pull it up. But it beats me what it might be. Maybe one of you wise folks here knows?...

So in the interest of Before and Afters... Here we have Before... The tangle of the jungle...


And here we have a shrubbery-trimmed, weeded and de-Tarzaned After shot...


I still need to trim back the rose bushes, put down new mulch, remove some dead topiaries and a million other things... but it's a start.

And I even have a soft Lamb's Ear bouquet to show for it!...


Time, I think, for a nice glass of ice cold tea!


And otherwise, I hope to see you again this coming Wednesday when we talk about other thrifty finds! Have a good one!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Garden of the Queen of Hearts


You know, it's funny. Some weeks of thrifting, it seems like all the finds are disparate little bits-n-bobs with stories of their own. And then some weeks, treasure after treasure, it feels like an overarching theme seems to come together, straight out of the bag.

This last week, the thrifting really did seem to be of one big tale. One of red roses, loves won and lost, and a young lady down a very curious rabbit hole.

Let's start with those roses here. With this pretty rose-printed, vintage pitcher...


The pitcher was a find from the Christian Layman Thrift Store in Greensburg. And amusingly, the glass came from the Goodwill in Greensburg... they're a pretty close match, no?


I've seen glasses in thrifts that match this pitcher, but I've never picked them up before, because I know I don't really need them. But then when the pitcher showed up, for only a couple of bucks and in such good shape, I just couldn't say "no."

Unlike the poor, penniless pierrot here...


...Who is leaving against the wishes of the ballerina with the vise-like grip on him. You can see this a little closer here...


He has no money to support her. She doesn't care. Ah, tragedy! (As if her ballet career wouldn't be lucrative enough for the both of 'em. :) ) The print is done by an artist I'm not familiar with, named Webster. And based on the frame and general style, I'm guessing it's from the mid 1930s. This came from the L&L Fleatique in Jeannette. I liked it in particular because I've seen a lot of deco prints like this with nymphs in them, but never a couple.

Then, amusingly enough, this decorative box was uncovered at the Goodwill...


Now this couple seems to be having a much more positive time of things! The box was originally from TJ Maxx-- in fact, the sticker's still on it! And not only can you look into your heart-- literally-- but also see the big picture inside...


I just thought that was fun.

And lastly, when you think the Queen of Hearts, what else comes to mind? (Well, that old Juice Newton song is going through my head, and probably yours, too, now.... )

(Sorry!..)

(But no, that wasn't really what I was going for... )

At the Good Samaritan thrift store, I found this Disney Alice in Wonderland plate...


Sitting there in the garden of chatty flowers, Alice has a brief respite from the Queen of Hearts and her violent demands. I like how the plate has a watercolor look to it. It indicates on the back, it was produced in the 90s...


So-- not old, but a pleasant curio curiosity.

Anyway, that's the thrift for this week, friends!


Otherwise, hope your week is filled with its own wonders, and perhaps I'll see you again on Sunday!

Against the Grain with Funny Recipes from Riceland Rice


Rice: a staple... versatile, filling and-- in spite of its mild-mannered exterior-- still able to raise eyebrows with the best of 'em. That's what we'll see here today as we take a peek between the covers of this 1970s Riceland Rice cookbook.

Prepare yourself for a world where political correctness just meant you'd pulled the lever the whole way down in the voting booth...

Where multi-culturalism meant putting cheap souvenir travel figurines next to the plate...

And where high cuisine looked like a crime scene on CSI.

Welcome to Riceland Rice...


We peel back the cover and immediately notice that ideas of what's in good taste have, um, changed a bit since the 70s...


From the cheerful stereotypical coolie mascot brandishing bowls of perfectly-cooked long grain rice, to the company's tagline, "Riceland Rice: Velly Nice!", I suspect their marketing firm spent most of their R&D time brainstorming during a Charlie Chan film festival.

But that's not the only good taste in question here. Because today's tastebuds might just find themselves swimming for shore over this "Tuna Time-Saver"...


"Meetings all day? No crisis about dinner with this casserole ready for the oven! And, its creamy, bubbly goodness and browned cheese topping will soothe your shattered nerves."

Personally, my nerves would not be soothed by a main dish that seems to be not only drowning in a swamp of cream of mushroom, but smiling about it.

Is it just me, or doesn't it look just a bit like a whole clown-car going down for the count under a tidal wave of white face paint?


Also, notice the random conch shell, the fish-shaped serving dish holding oyster crackers, and the potted plant on the table. They're there to say to the reader, "This is seafood. It's natural and festive. Pay no attention to the fact that the main dish is gurgling for a lifeguard on its third time going under."

This proven 70s decorating technique of Using Many Decorative Items on the Table to Distract From the Fugly Main Dish is leveraged again here, with "Robin Hood's Chicken"...


While less visually off-putting than the Tuna Time-Saver, certainly, I really can't figure out why this is called Robin Hood's Chicken. I don't recall any tales of Robin Hood robbing from the rich and then making a skillet casserole. But then again, I'm not perhaps as well-read as I should be in this historical time period.

Perhaps after a full-day of plundering and pillaging, Robin and his Merry Men enjoyed sitting around Sherwood Forest with a nice fry-up containing the free-range Nottingham woods chicken, peas, carrots, rice from a country they didn't know existed yet, and ketchup.

Or perhaps Robin just stole the meal from a lost nobleman who'd picked up take-away. Hard to say.

Should you decide to make this dish, don't forget to decorate the table in a smirking Robin Hood toby jug, an Errol Flynn feathered hat and some arrows!

Well, maybe rethink the arrows. The guests may get ideas once the indigestion kicks in.

And speaking of guests and indigestion, here we have the "Riceland Rice Oyster Ring"...


"Oysters take on new glamor and new taste in this exotic main dish.. yet it's simple as A-B-C- to make."

Yes, those are some glamorous oysters there. If "glamor" means looking a bit like something that needs to be lanced by your favorite health care professional.

You know, in most of these photo spreads, I've felt the surrounding decor has been over-the-top and unnecessary. But here, I have to take that back. Those three tiered glasses of mixed drinks really say something.

They say, "You might need a few toddies before attempting to dip in to this oyster ring. Blurred vision here is an asset."

I agree with them.

And while we're talking about blurred vision, no, this dish isn't really blurry. It's supposed to look that way. It's "sensational Indonesian Chicken-Shrimp Superb"...


My readers from Indonesia, feel free to pipe up here with your feelings on this dish. Does it remind you of your homeland? Just like mother used to make?

Um... no, I didn't really think it did.

But the cookbook says:
"Cooks in Asian countries are masters at combining unusual food combinations for sensational flavor. Here, shrimp, chicken, peanut butter and seasonings make a delicious and subtle blending of complementary flavors... A real conversation piece!"

And that conversation probably starts something like, "Oh, my, Gladys-- is that Crunchy Jif I taste?"

Note: don't forget to add dancing porcelain figurines to the table for color and interest... Also random oyster crackers to give your guests something to do while they push the main course around on their plates.

And now, let's head back to the U.S. with "Ham 'n Rice Unique"...


What makes this unique is its exotic blend of American cheese and, um, American cheese. The Crime Scene Investigation Unit will discover the precise molecular composition of that blend, once they conclude that it's okay, foul play had not occurred here.

"No, no, sir, we've determined that this wasn't the remains of a stabbing victim. This is just ham, shortening and tomato soup. Also a blend of American cheeses."

"Good work, men! Now bag it, tag it and send it off as leftovers."

Why is it, though, that so many of our casserole dishes from the 50s-70s looked like high-speed car crashes? Was it to assure us that what we were eating really had passed on?

Well, we'll find no answers here. And probably not with this next dish, either-- in the American Frontier, where the men were men and the "Frontier Beef Stews" used Worchestershire sauce from England...


The stew itself actually is one of the better-looking meals in this cookbook. I just wanted to show you that the next time you're looking for an attractive table centerpiece, look no further than your husband's gun cabinet!

From buckshot to beautiful in seconds!...

(Note: The Thrift Shop Romantic does not actually endorse putting weaponry of any kind on the dinner table... She is simply a smart aleck. Thank you. -The Management)

Now, I hear you folks saying to me, "Well, rice is nice, Jenn, but it's so... WHITE. I'd love to use it, but what I'd really need is to camouflage some of the other ingredients in these recipes. How can I do that?"

Fear not, my friends-- Riceland Rice has got you covered! Now you can "Tint it different colors!"...


From adding food coloring to make it any shade of the rainbow, to coloring it with maraschino cherry juice or carrot juice to add that extra flavor, "dress up a meal" in a kaleidoscope o' ricey color!

And how does that work out?

Well, just take a gander at the Bayou Country Creole Shrimp below, with rice simmered in tomato and cayenne pepper...


The tomato-cayenne makes the rice a nice and natural pink-- and really showcases the athletic abilities of the shrimp leaping through those sliced green peppers below.


You know, down in the bayous, they train shrimp to leap through hoops as a part of a miniature traveling circus show. It's gotten very popular over the years. People go down to New Orleans now for the jazz, Mardi Gras and synchronized shrimp swimming...

Little known fact.

But what if your guests can't eat shellfish and other meat? Or what if they just object to dining on something that's been trained to do splashy aquatic performances for crowds?

Well, then you serve them this "Glamour Vegetable Platter"...


Yup, it's that "glamour" again. Sure, many folks might think of glamour being a Hollywood film premiere, a major awards ceremony or an artistic magazine spread.

We Riceland Rice readers know it's really grated sharp cheese and mixed veg over cooked tomato slices!

Well, I'm afraid I'm all glamoured out for today, friends. I mean, this much exotic entertaining... this much sparkle and flavor... I just need to go and reevaluate my whole perspective on rice-based cuisine.

And I hope you all had fun today, as we went against the grain with everything we thought we knew about rice.


Otherwise, I hope you'll swing by this coming Wednesday as we succumb to Pyrexia, we go a bit deco and we wend our way along Route 30 antiquing.

Hm... think now I'll go make a casserole! Where's the ketchup?