Treasure Box Wednesday: Crazy Hats, Cool Grapes and Crystal Settings

If you put the Mad Hatter in a room with Bob Mackie and Queen Victoria, that chapeau is possibly what you might get for your efforts. Insane, isn't it? That French lady bust will never forgive me for messing up her coiffure with such a feather-and-felt monstrosity, but it made such a humorous and lovely display.

It was found a few weeks ago at the Red, White and Blue at Bellevue (no, not the mental hospital-- different Bellevue) and it was also half-off. The lady at the register relayed this good news to me and then followed it up with, "So, what are you going to do with it?"

I mentioned displaying it, but I didn't think describing tormenting a very proper-looking art nouveau bust with it would really make my case for sanity.

Further in the thrifted world of vintage accessories, I'd found this deco-styled monogram handbag at the Salvation Army...


I will actually use this-- I don't care whether it's my initials or not. I think this will work well with a little black dress for an evening out. Now all I have to do is thrift the right guy, right?

Also in recent thrifting is this shell pink grape-patterned glass from the Indiana Glass Company. This was made around the 50s for Napco...


I liked the delicate pink shade of the glass. And in other grape-patterned glassware news, I found two parfait dishes for my friend's mother's milkglass gift basket. (Which is getting bigger by the week!)

According to the cashier at the Salvation Army Superstore, she remembers either peanut butter or jelly being a purchase with this giveaway item. Anyone else recall that as well, or is this urban thrift legend?


Lastly in the world of thrifty goodness is this thrifted still-life painting... I might just hang it in my office at work.


But wait-- don't go yet! Since I've been working on it, I thought you might also like to see my late-summer table setting...

The placemats are capice Shabby Chic mats I got a year or so ago. The plates are all my crystal Waffle/Waterford Anchor Hocking depression glass, and the candles and candlestick holders were all thrifted many moons ago from stores lost to time and memory...

I like the little fairy figures in particular because they have a bit of an art deco hood ornament thing going on in their styling...


And here you can see the mantle in the same room, with the marcasite-styled frames. They carry over the same feel as the crystal depression glass plates, I thought.

And there you can see my new-old yellow-green art deco clock discovered for $15 a week or so ago...

I thought that worked well with the yellow-green tablecloth and placemats!

Well, that's it for this Treasure Box. If you have a moment and want to check out Sunday's post on some antiquing spots to Pittsburgh's north, click here.

Can you all believe the Back To School season is right around the corner? I suspect for those of us without the wee ones, it would be wise to avoid all shopping malls unless absolutely necessary. It's looking a bit scary out there. Hope everyone is enjoying the last hurrahs of Summer!

New Ideas, Old Hat

Ms. A., over at Livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com, once asked if I’d write something on vintage hats. It was such a fine suggestion, and with hats such a part of the ol’ spring-Easter tradition, I was excited to tackle the topic...

Only I realized I didn’t have anything to SAY about vintage hats.

Oh, it’s not that I don’t USE them in my decorating. I do. In fact, in my thrifting and antiquing adventures, I pursue a good vintage hat like Audrey Hepburn on a bad hair day.

But, ya know, I try to be REALISTIC about these things. And you just can’t get 500 words out of: “I put them on a flat surface. I hang them on a knob.” See? That’s thirteen words there. And as far as originality goes, that wouldn’t even make copy for the classifieds.

You guys deserve better than that.

So it started me pondering on more creative techniques for actually using my hats-- in a non-head-gear-related way, of course. I sat down and really started thinking outside the hat-box. So to speak.

Now one way I HAVE used vintage hats in the past-- which you all have probably already seen by now-- was as a topper for my Shabby Chic-influenced Christmas Tree. That one was a Red, White & Blue acquisition and I think it only cost me a buck or two.

But again-- been there, done hat. So I admit, as I started brainstorming ideas, I MIGHT JUST have gotten little carried away...

How about a hat-based centerpiece?

Or taking my haughty French sculpture down a peg or two? (She hasn’t spoken to me since)...


How about as a whimsical shade for thrift store lamp?

A quick fix for a lack o’ wreath?


I started envisioning things like a decorative mobile made of colorful vintage hats!... Hats hanging from vintage scarves to create a window display!... Hats spanning a single dramatic feature wall!...

(Ahem.)

Once ya get your thinking cap on, there’s almost no end of possibilities.

And vintage hats are still fairly prevalent in thrift stores. So, whether you work them into an interesting vignette, use them in some strange and whimsical way, or even, yes, wear them, these bonnie li’l bonnets can top off your decorating inexpensively.

Hats off to that!