In the Pink for a Post-Holiday Vintage Tablescape

This past weekend's bitter and snowy weather found me inside tackling all those little things I had been putting off: taking down the tree, packing up all the garland and cardboard village homes, and encouraging my very zealous kitten, Harry-- who wanted to be a part of it all-- to find himself some other more kitten-appropriate hobbies. 

I even spackled some long-lingering cracks in my diningroom walls. It's almost embarrassing when I think about how long this project had gone undone! 

But my favorite activity of the weekend was definitely transforming the diningroom decor from Christmas Lite to springy pink good cheer.
The pink, burgundy, blue and green tablecloth was a long-ago thrift store find, as was the marble and crystal candelabra which I'd painted a pearl pink.

The pinkish purple goblets were purchased years ago from either TJ Maxx or Marshalls. And as you can see I'm using the beautiful opalescent "American Sweetheart" pattern depression glass plates I got via a friend and thrifting...

On the mantle, I coordinated with a rose-printed lace mantle scarf and some of my favorite lusterware plates.

I think these all came from the Red White and Blue Thrift Store, though not necessarily at the same time.

In particular, I love the shape and pattern on this one...

This little pink luster plate is one of my most recent finds.
And I figured I'd add in this nice luster bowl I'd gotten at the Goodwill in Indiana, PA a while back. It had been so dirty when I got it, you really couldn't appreciate its pattern and shine...
A little color goes a long way to soothe the winter blues-- particularly if it's got some winter pinks and winter greens along with it!

Do you folks do any decorating post-winter-holidays, or are you pretty well sick to death of the thought of decor after all the Fa-La-La-ing Festivities?

Treasure Box Wednesday: New Year, New Thrifty Discoveries

With the winds died down, the snow in more gentle spurts and a big case of cabin fever, I finally got the chance to hit some thrift store in a mini-adventure with my eager, ever-thrifty father.

One of my very favorite items of the weekend has a rather funny story with it. 
My buddy Scoobie has a friend who is a glass fanatic like myself, and she goes to estate sales and thrifts in search of her treasures. One of which, she passed along to me through Scoobie, as the piece just didn't quite go with her stuff. It's an opalescent pressed glass plate in the "American Sweetheart" pattern, done from 1930-1936 by the MacBeth-Evans Glass Company.

Given my love of opalescent glass, I was absolutely delighted.

Then I went to a Goodwill in Irwin on Sunday and saw, in their case, its twin! It was marked $2.50, but they were having a 50% off sale. So my collection doubled in the course of a day.

The cute little unmarked vase below came from Antiques & Uniques of Bellevue. They had gotten in someone's collection of McCoy, Hager and other potteries, and I couldn't resist this piece with its art nouveau tulip pattern...
It had a few issues around the rim, but the overall design was too lovely for me to pass up.

Then there was my last and most surprising find of the weekend. This was at the Goodwill Outlet in North Versailles, parked in one of their giant bins...
I recognized it as being fairly old pottery, with that matte finish organic feel found in some of my favorite McCoy pieces. It turns out this is likely an unmarked Brush Pottery piece, from the early 1900s. 

Brush Pottery was affiliated and eventually bought by McCoy Pottery. It ceased production around 1908 due to a fire which wiped out its facilities.

And yes, those are little mushrooms and wood knots on the side of the piece.

Anyway, that marks my treasures for this week's Treasure Box Wednesday. I know I've only been posting once a week, and that's because where normally I'd have used Sunday for a second post, my dad now lives in the city, and I've been spending the day on adventures with him.

I hope to figure out a new posting schedule soon so I can get back to two posts a week. I'll let you all know once I sort it out.

OH! And one last kinda of fun thing I wanted to remember to share, even if it is a little bit off-topic... 

I just learned a short story of mine has officially been included in the Lewis Carroll Society of North America's magazine, The Knight Letter. It's a little humor piece called "Lewis Carroll Tests Out Jabberwocky." I have it online here on my humor blog, where it was published originally, if you have a moment and would like to read it.

Hope you all have a great (and non-slippy-and-slidey) week.

Snow go!

Darn it, Old Man Winter, you are seriously interfering with my quality thrifting time and motivation!

While on Sunday, my father and I did brave the icy temperatures for a mini-jaunt around the route 30 stores-- (Dad got an unopened season of MacGyver DVDs for... get this... fifty-cents!)-- otherwise life has involved going from home to work to home again, with some heavy-duty snow-shoveling in-between.

I have been trying to convince myself the shoveling is an important part of a 2011 calorie-burning regimen.

Of course, here in Pittsburgh, we haven't gotten hit with the white stuff anywhere near the way my further Eastern buddies have.

How have you all been faring? Do you have any winter landscape photos you'd care to share with us here?

My cat Alice was watching me shovel this morning through the glass front door. A gust of wind sent snow careening into me-- and sent Alice recoiling back from the door, even in the warmth of the house. Apparently Alice and the snow may both be white and fluffy, but the similarity ends there. :)

Oh, and while I remember, you folks also might enjoy my recent humor blog piece "What's Your Snow Removal Style?" Are you a Winter Warrior, A Free Spirit, the Guilt Shoveler or a 'More Power' Enthusiast? Find out-- click here.

Take care, stay warm, and well wishes for warm beverages for each of you!

--Jenn

Treasure Box Wednesday: Thrifting Christmas

Last weekend my buddy Scoobie and I finally had a chance to enjoy a make-shift post-Christmas Christmas, as our schedules aligned, the general holiday hubbub had died down, and we were recovering from eggnog coma and whatnot.

This meant Christmas gift exchange, and Scoobie kindly allowed me to share with you some photos of a few thrifted gifts I gave her.

She's not adverse to pre-owned items, particularly when it's in her Western kitschy theme...

A few items included a flour canister with a Native American transfer on it.... (She says she'll use this in her kitchen)...

A number of souvenir foil-inserted coasters from Arizona, featuring colorful mesas...

And a painted cactus napkin holder. You can see the last two items a little better here, in my pre-gifting glamor shot. :)
She also let me share with you a thoughtful gift my friend (and more recently, Scoobie's mutual friend) Josette sent her. Josette has this eerily wonderful knack for paying close attention to what folks collect and gifting the perfectly dead-on item...
This Remington cowboy themed decanter will be great in Scoobie's Western bottle collection.

Can I get a "Yeee-haw"?

Galloping off into the New Year...
--Jenn