Treasure Box Wednesday: Posies and Placesettings

As we take a step or two into May, this week has been one filled with pleasant little surprises. Two of them, of the floral variety.

Folks who checked out Sunday's post on "Good Cheer"-- the early 1900s booklet of Edwardian positive thinking-- already know about one of these finds. But my haul of highly-decorative books of advice actually came in bulk. There were six all together-- and here are four of the most heavily illustrated...
I know I'd told a few folks on Twitter how I was going with one of my friends to the Fiesta outlet. She was looking for a few things in particular. But before we even made it into their parking lot, we were pleasantly sidetracked by a small local flea market.

When you see unexpected flea market aisles, and you have the time, it seems almost foolish not to at least get out and peruse! How could we resist?

And that's where I found a number of early 1900s postcards-- same style as the books, really!...
It was a nice mix of Christmas (which I strangely don't have very many cards celebrating), and general correspondence from the period. The "To My Dear Old Pal" cracked me up a bit. I think today's card would be worded a little differently.

Then at home, I have been playing around with some of my Anchor Hocking Moonstone hobnail pieces in the form of tablescapes...
I'm happy with how well the opalescent white shows up on colored tablecloths. When the light hits it just right, you can see a tinge of blue-green or red, depending on the angle. Jadite candlesticks, green hydrangeas and a Smith Glass iridescent vase complete the look...
I only have two plates so far, but as you folks already know, no good collection is ever built quickly. (Or rather I should say, 'no budget-oriented collection'.)

To carry the green and white theme over to the mantle in that room, I used some thrifted white cherub planters I had, another green hydrangea and candlesticks in a palette that's the reverse of the ones on the table...
So, that's what I've been up to this week, folks. And with that, the Treasure Box closes again until next Wednesday.

Take care!

You Gotta Have Heart: Impromptu Valentine's Decor

Vanished! Gone was the garland and angels and bright bejeweled fruit... The Shiny Brites and Santas and the horns that go toot.... Away went the hozwanglers and the zangdoodles, and the tootonkas and trees--

(I'd no idea how many hozwanglers and zangdoodles I'd picked up at the thrifts this year. Took me forever to put 'em away.)

And as I looked out on my hollow halls, my empty mantle, my wistful walls, where once there had been happy shiny Christmas decor, well...I'm afraid my own heart felt two sizes too small.

(Sniff)

Okay, for, like, FIVE SECONDS. Until I put that heart into some serious Valentine's Day decorating!

It started with a fake potted rose or two I'd put away before the holidays.

Then some little rose topiaries. And this nifty little 1950s Valentine's girl planter I got from the Good Samaritan Thrift Store back in August.


And then some, er... more...velvet roses. (Apparently, I pick up velvet roses the way some people pick up extra packs of toilet tissue.)

I added a flock of white thrifted cherub vases... (Cherubs come in flocks, you know.)


And cards, cards, cards! These vintage Valentine's cards were a set I'd bought back in July at the Pottery City Antique Mall in East Liverpool, Ohio. There was a ton of them, all for about $4. I'm glad I'd thought ahead.


What I like about them in particular is they appear to be all of the cards collected for different members of one family.

We have the husband...


The wife...


Son...


And Mother...

For the table setting, I broke out my pink glass dishes, and made a minor investment from Target for the beaded heart-shaped placemats. The candlesticks, candles and the previously mentioned cherub vases all were things I'd already had, purchased over time through thrift stores.


And just to get truly carried away with the spirit of things, I changed the shade on my vintage cherub lamp to a red rose embossed one I'd gotten for $1 from the U.F.O. in Greensburg.

Now I enter the dining room, and there's really no chance for the post-Christmas blahs to take hold. And it's another sunny day in Whoville!

Anyone else do any decorating for Valentine's Day? I'd love to hear about it.