Hoorays, Bouquets, and Happy Mother's Day

Every time I decide to tackle a new little household project, it's always prefaced with 1/3 "Am I going to actually be able to do this myself?" and 2/3 "Are the DIY gods going to let me?"

I mean, anyone who's ever done anything around the house knows: what you think might be this quick, tiny task can easily snowball into needing some completely unexpected specialized tools... Or, oh, retaining wall support... Or some contractor named Rocco.

And you look at the cracked plaster around you, and the exposed wires and the water shooting out of your pipes and wonder, "How did this happen when I just wanted to install a new light switch cover?"

(Okay, I exaggerate. But it does feel that way sometimes.)

So, I've had this plug-in crystal chandelier pendant lamp for a while I've been hoping to hang. And there seemed no more appropriate place to add it than in my very French blue sitting room.

But given it required ladders and drills and potential issues with a possibly-plaster ceiling, I was hesitant.

I pretended it wasn't sitting there waiting for me.

I chose not to notice it as it winked in the light to get my attention.

So today was the day I summoned my nerve, energy (and put Rocco on standby) and decided to hang it.
You know how silly you feel when you've been putting something off for months and then get it accomplished in under a half hour without issue?

Ah, but... Look! So shiny...
This was, by the way, a Target find. A Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic piece I stumbled upon and snatched up a while ago. I'm seeing less of her items lately, so I'm supposing the Shabby Chic trend is at the end of its run-- but I think sparkly never really quite goes out of style.

I also moved my favorite roses painting into a prime, centralized spot within the fire surround...

As it's a faux fireplace anyway, it's safe there, and the painting seems to add a bit of needed color. Anyway, it had to move it from its original spot, because I finally found what I'd wanted for the room's large far wall...
...A courting couple tapestry courtesy of Ebay. (For whatever reason, I got a crazy-good deal on the piece... and I was delighted how large it was, when it arrived. This is definitely why it pays to price compare!)

Below, you'll see what happened to those pretty Victorian illustrated books I got last weeked...
The colors in the vignette all seem to work well together, and the books were just too decorative to hide away in a bookcase.

I was also pleased to incorporate the crystal flute my mother had gotten me long ago...
I took flute lessons for eight years growing up, but this delicate glass instrument hasn't gotten the attention it deserved until now.

It's sort of wonderful to me that I happened to have found the right spot for it on Mother's Day.

And speaking of Mother's Day... For all you mothers out there (er, I mean that in the very best way), I send to you my most sweetly-scented bouquet of the season...
The lilacs are budding overtime this year. Just inhale that delightful perfume!

Wait, you can't smell it yet? Well, how about we get a little closer?...
Don't worry, the nose prints on your computer screen will come off with just a spritz of window cleaner. :)

Anyway, best wishes to all of you! Coming up this week, we'll have Treasure Box Wednesday as usual, and then Sunday, I believe I'll take you to the annual Regent Square Neighborhood Yard Sale!

If you missed last week's Treasure Box Wednesday, click here to check out a tablescape and some other goodies.

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!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Romantic Reads for Winter Weather

The flurries are in the air, the roads are slick, and the last of the pine needles have been swept away like Old Man 2008. So what's a vintage gal at heart to do when the winds blow and there are drifts instead of thrifts?

Why curl up with a good book, a blanket and a nice toasty beverage!

I've spent a share of the last week myself revisiting some old leather-bound friends. And you know, the funniest thing happened...

When I opened up the Treasure Box for this Wednesday's post-- what did I find inside? But a list of some of favorite romantic novels to share with you today!

Now, I suppose I should explain-- I use the term "romantic" here more in the spirit of the classic Georgian and Victorian novel-- and less like something with a 100% probability of a painting of Fabio on the cover. (Yes, I'm sure Fabio's a super-nice guy; he just didn't have a cameo in any Dickens or anything. I mean Hard Times was not about him being unable to believe it's not butter.)

And while what we read educates us and even reflects how we feel about life.... It can also influence our moods, transport us to new worlds... and even make us long to bring back just pocketful of it all into our real lives.

Those are the sorts of books I've been thinking about... The ones that linger.

My favorite of all time is still Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. At the time I first read it, I was doing a lot of traveling for work, feeling a bit existential and powerless in my everyday life, and Jane-- Jane was my heroine! Jane seemed to have all the Gothic romance bells and whistles-- orphanages and cruel teachers, sickness and friendships, mystery and suspense, desolate landscapes, plucky heroines, deep secrets, intriguing anti-heroes, mysticism and magic... I read it, and for the first time in my lengthy reading life, I recalled thinking, "Hey, there might just be something to this classic novel stuff!"

I went on to read Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte-- one I think well-worth a read, though disturbing in its lack of obvious moral compass. I mean, if anyone is in need of serious anger management counseling, it's the story's lead, Heathcliff. And why, Catherine, too, could be in therapy for months with her codependent behavior.

But talk about windswept moors, and mansions, hauntings and craggy hills! Fans of melodrama and the macabre would do well to open its cover.

On a lighter note, what about a different Jane-- Jane Austen? With loves won and lost, confusion and conniving, politics and polite society, (from Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Predjudice to Northganger Abbey), any of the Austen novels make a light, pleasant read for a winter day.

And you know, sometimes with that cocoa in hand, it's east to feel a bit like a kid again. So the romantic reader might also find the fun in the tales of Frances Hodgeson Burnett-- like The Secret Garden, or The Little Princess (in earlier editions called: Sara Crew or What Happened at Miss Minchin's).

Another writer worth a read is T.H. White. Whether it's his Sword in the Stone series about the humorous exploits of young King Arthur, or whether it's Mistress Masham's Repose (White's continuing story of Johnathan Swift's Liliputians!), these reads are a pleasant way to spend the day.

I hope now that 2009 has stepped onto the stage, and it's back to the daily routine again in spite of sleet and snow, you're able to find some things you enjoy, a warm place to enjoy them and possibly... quite possibly... an old friend to enjoy them with.

Even one of the papery kind.

• If you missed last Sunday's post of repurposing Christmas decor for everyday use, click here.

Otherwise, I hope to see you this coming Sunday!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Good Books on Snowy Days

The days have turned colder, and many of us across the U.S. have seen our first signs of those little white flakes. (No, no, not dandruff-- those other little white flakes.) And in times when the wind blusters and howls, and the cold winds cut through the jackets, there's nothing more appealing than thoughts of a comfy chair, a nice hot beverage, and a good book.

So since I didn't go thrifting this last week (no thrifting?!- GASP!), today I peered into the Treasure Box and found these lovely Victorian books to share with you.

I'd written a post on Victorian pulp fiction a while back (you can read that here if you're interested), but there's such a wide range of beautiful covers to share, one post really couldn't contain them.

I mean, just look at The Fortunes of Fifi...


With a title like that, you just know there's peril and adventure ahead for the plucky heroine! And look at the art nouveau curves to the cover, and the soft pastels. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

Or this tiny little chapbook of "The House of Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne...


The intricately done cover has a strikingly-detailed ingraving inset right into it. You can see that closer here...


And here-- call me "Ishmael!" Okay, so maybe literature has room for two Ishmael's...


I have yet to read this particular one, but I suspect it doesn't involve a white whale. If it did, it would probably be pictured behind the charming art of the lady with the letter on the cover. (And wouldn't she be startled!)

I've had this colorful copy of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage for a number of years...

The curving vined roses are always a real pleasure to see.

This copy of Maggie Miller picks up similar colors in its palette, with the red of her Gibson Girl tie, and the bright bonnet using all the vividness of the time...


Mary Holmes' Meadow Brook is another read ready to showcase the idealized girl of its time...


With her large hat, bouffant hairdo and trim suit, these girls were a standard around the turn-of-the-century in art and on household items.

This copy of Tales from Shakespeare involves an almost William Morris style pattern of pine cones, pine needles and spring daffodils....

It's a real shift of the seasons.

And lastly, we have this small children's booklet for Easter...

"The Secret to a Happy Day," it's called.

Here's hoping you uncover the secret to your own happy day, whatever it may be-- for this day, and throughout this week...

Perhaps it's a good book?

• If you missed Sunday's post sharing versatility, vavoom and very scary possibilities of vintage tuna recipes, click here.

See you for the next post on Sunday!