Thrift Goes Antiques Roadshow

You all may know, I occasionally do some writing for the online magazine The National Thrifter, over at www.TheThriftShopper.com, home of the national database for charity thrift stores. Usually, it’s a story related to various crafting you can do with thrifted items-- and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to have my articles included. They’re good folks over there, and if you haven’t stopped by, it’s certainly worth your time. Not only can you search for thrift stores by zip code, but you can read reviews (or review stores yourself) and there’s also a fun little forum where you can chat with other thrifters and share your excellent thrifted finds and thrift experiences.

Well, it turns out, TheThriftShopper owners were invited to Antiques Roadshow in Orlando as part of a Press Pass, getting to speak with the various appraisers and discuss how thrifting has become a way people have uncovered amazing antique finds.

Cookie, editor of the National Thrifter, was telling me about this upcoming event when I joked that, hey, maybe she’d get to meet the Keno brothers-- you know, those twins who get so jazzed about appraising furniture? I always know when they’re on that someone either has something really BIG and important, or what they have is an utter fake.

So, I mentioned her potential Keno meet-and-greet thing, and then promptly forgot all about it.

Cookie, however, didn’t forget-- and in fact, took it one step further. And I am now the proud owner of a very personalized autograph from one of the Keno brothers, Leigh!


That last bit, which is a little hard to read, reads “Happy Hunting!” The whole thing pretty much cracked me up.

Now, if you all would like to read about what the Roadshow folks have to say about thrifting-- and even see Cookie get an appraisal of her own-- click here to go to the first of several National Thrifter articles on the Roadshow experience.

It’s fun, informative, and nice to get a peek behind the scenes of the show.

And what’s on tap here next week? I’ll be sharing with you some readers’ trash-to-treasure stories!

And if you didn’t get to go on the other blog feature for this week-- the mini tour of my home, Waterhouse-- click here.

Secret Garden-- In the Dining Room

I believe I’d mentioned last week that not only was I having my best friend from First Grade coming to visit over the Fourth of July weekend, but also that she had recently gotten married. And since it had been a quiet, simple wedding, I thought it would be nice to make the décor extra-special and festive.

But rather than go the Traditional Wedding route, with all the typical bells and… well… whistles, I thought I’d extend the outdoors inside into an English Garden Party theme-- appropriate for the Fourth, but girly enough for a post-wedding celebration.

Many of the items were garden-oriented decor I brought inside for the occasion-- like this little gazing ball, which became the centerpiece for my mantle decor.

New to the occasion were these happy chintz paper lanterns from the Victorian Paper Company.

Instead of using standard streamers, I thought it would be fun to use ribbon and swags of silk hydrangeas and morning glories to trim the mantle, mirror, doorways and light fixture.

For the table setting, I decided on a plastic Shabby Chic picnic tablecloth I’d picked up a few years ago at Target. And I brought out my new pink Depression glass-styled plates I’ve been collecting at thrift stores and rummage sales this last year.

The chair covers are actually Shabby Chic tablecloths (also from Target) which I’ve tucked and secured in the back with a vintage pin. I do love my dining chairs, but I thought the dark wood wasn’t as appropriate for a shiny-bright garden celebration, and the Shabby Chic floral would be.

By way of a gift for my friend, I thought it might be nice to start her off in her married life with a good scrapbook-- she’ll undoubtedly have a lot of lovely memories she’ll likely want to preserve, and it seemed that setting her up with a full-blown scrapbooking kit would be a pleasant, positive way to begin things.

Nothing more fun than giving someone all that they’d need to embark on an exciting new craft!

And for those of you who already scrapbook, you know: wow, are there a lot of wonderful papers and stickers to choose from! Each one seemed nicer than the next, and deciding really wasn’t easy. I went a bit vintage garden with my choice, and also tried not to make it so girly and frou-frou that her husband would tire of seeing it.

Well, gang-- I apologize that this week’s blog is so short. I’ve been running all over tarnation the last five days (Upper AND Lower Tarnation to be specific :-)

We took in a new exhibit at Phipps Conservatory...

We went on antiquing adventures in East Liverpool, and Columbiana, Ohio...

We even blew up some zombies at Dave & Busters... (No photos of the zombie eradication-- I KNOW you’re disappointed about that one...)

So with all that, I’m a bit weary, and must bid you farewell. But definitely come back next week when I plan to take you on a bit of a house tour, and you’ll get a chance to see some of the rooms in my home (”Waterhouse”) that you’ve never gotten to see before!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Be My Guest

Some people celebrate the Fourth of July in patriotic duty. Some celebrate with grilled meat and beer. And some folks celebrate the holiday by setting fires and blowing stuff up.

(Me, I try to keep the high explosives to a minimum.)

Instead, I traditionally celebrate the holiday with my two dearest friends, in a joyous long weekend of shopping, tourism, non-stop chatter, and a knockout lunch at the Frick Cafe.

My first best friend from the Beginning of Time (well, first grade, believe it or not!) comes to visit me every year over the Fourth. And I never cease to appreciate how extraordinarily lucky I am that she and my other best friend who lives here in Pittsburgh get along so well. I imagine in another few years, we’ll believe we ALL went to first grade together. That is how lucky I am.

Anyway, this year there is an extra-special reason for celebration, because this visiting friend has also recently gotten married! (YAY! Woo-hoo! Congratulations!) So in addition to the normal guest preparations, I wanted to do something a little special for her and her new husband.

One big gift to her husband is not making him come along to endure this particular weekend; while this fellow is very kind and indulgent, I can only imagine having to hang out with us three chatty females would undoubtedly feel like a Chick Lit Holiday in Hell for him.

The ACTUAL gift , however, will be in a posting I’ll share with you after my friend’s visit. (I don’t want to ruin the surprise for her, you understand.)

What I will share with you today, however, are some of my favorite tips for guest preparation.

The Towel Basket. Have you ever been to visit someone and have NO idea what towels you’re allowed to use? Or how many you’re allowed to use?

Well, I try to avoid my guests having to deal with that, by designating particular towels, readily available, just for them. They’re different than my normal towels—these are floral-printed and match both the guest room and my bathroom. And I try to make sure there are plenty of them that the guests can use at-will…

…And not worry whether they’ll have to go all Oliver on me and ask, “Please, mum, may I some more?”

The basket itself was just one from the Family Dollar that I sprayed white. I used to leave it in the guest room, but I’ve found it’s less confusing to put it in a designated spot in the bathroom. In this case, on the matching pink table shown here.

The Guest Tray. I made this little guest tray as a way to welcome my visitors to the house, and help them feel more at-home. (You can read how it was done by clicking here.)

I leave it on the guest bed, so it’s easily visible. And I load it with various goodies that a person might enjoy but hesitate to ask for during a visit. So this includes some bottled water, a decanter and cup, a dish of the guest’s favorite sweets, and some nibbles.

Hanging Space. Guests shouldn’t have to live out of their bags, so with closet space in my Victorian home at a premium, I’ve got this little hanger on the back of my spare room door, allowing them to hang up a few key items.

It was made out of three old glass doorknobs, a pine board, some decorative molding and some white paint. I added the satin hangers as a special touch. They were about $0.79 at the thrift store.

Pillows Aplenty. Just like potential for the Great Towel Shortage, some places you go--hotels included--just don’t seem to have enough pillows or blankets. Well, this is not an issue here at Waterhouse. If anything, there may be TOO many.

Decorative pillows, shammed pillows, regular pillows-- choose and put aside whatever you don’t want. Same with blankets. I’d really rather guests have too much of what they need than not enough.

Allergy Awareness. I have a number of friends with serious food allergies. And I think one of the really important points of being a good hostess is not having your guests DIE during their visit.

I feel strongly about that.

So when planning meals, I always like to verify in advance what my guest can, and cannot eat-- likes and dislikes, too. It makes for a better visit all around-- no surprises!

And what’s on tap for next week? I’ll show you the special decorations, table settings and other preparations from my Fourth of July Weekend Extravaganza Brou-Ha-Ha! Then it will be safe to let the secrets out!

Oh, and if I’m a little bit late in posting, forgive me; there will definitely be a feature, I’m just not sure how it will shake out time-wise with getting my friend to the airport, etc.

Have a bang-up Fourth of July, everyone!