Treasure Box Wednesday: Kaboodles of Victorian Kittens

I apologize for the e-silence lately, folks. Having decided to independently publish my novel, I've been working hard to get it into the right format, edit it up so it's typo-free and send it on its way to be a Real Book. :) That's temporarily left me with little time for thrifting and blogging.

However, over Memorial Weekend, as my buddy Josette came to visit, we did get to some antique malls out in Ohio, and in Columbiana, OH, I did finally commit to purchasing this charming Victorian print of kittens in chaos...

Having just gotten my furry friend Alice through Kittendom, and little Harry one month away from being a grown cat, I can really identify with the mayhem these fluffy felines in the print are causing on some lady's vanity table.

I'd had my eye on this print for a while-- actually, before I ever adopted my own fuzzy wonders. But the time was right, the print was on sale, and I figured almost immediately where I would hang it. I replaced a thrifted vintage mirror with the print, right in my aqua entryway.

Oddly, it looks like it's been hanging there all along...
So, that's the Treasure Box for this week. Posting might be spotty in the next seven days or so due to wrapping up the novel, but after that, I should be back to normal here on The Thrift Shop Romantic. Thanks for sticking around! With the impending re-do of my third floor office/attic space, I promise, there will be many goodies to come.

Treasure Box, or, um, maybe Litterbox Thursday

With my dad now in hospice for his cancer, needless to say, I have not really been thrifting much lately. I've been playing a lot of Scrabble with him-- (we experienced our very first Scrabble draw, where I was left with a Q and he, a U, and we finally had to use teamwork to finish the game)-- and other general visitation.

So I regret I have no treasures for you this week. I can only offer you a couple of shots of Harry-- the furry little bugger who is a treasure to me, and who surprised me this last week with his antics on top of my refrigerator where he is so not supposed to be.

I figure with whole web sites like the marvelous www.cuteoverload.com dedicated to the kind of cheerful pet shots that merrily lower your IQ just by looking at them, you might forgive me this week for including these.

I'd caption this one: "If I hold really, REALLY still maybe she will think I'm a fridge magnet."

And this one: "Oh no.... Busted!"

I hope you all have a furry nice rest of your week!

Best Wishes for a Restful and Rewarding New Year!

Maybe your New Year's Eve guests look a bit like this after bringing in 2011 with a bang... 

Or maybe a little rest and relaxation is in order to start the year off right. 

Either way, The Thrift Shop Romantic would like to wish you a very happy, safe and contented holiday. 

I will be back in the new year with more thrifted goodies, more treasure hunting roadtrips, more funny recipe books and decorating, more craft projects of varying success levels, and-- don't worry-- not TOO TOO many photos of kittens. :)

My cat Alice, however, would like to take time out of her kitten coma to remind you all to please not drive and drive this weekend... If the coppers get you and you lose your license, you won't be able to get to the store and buy your pets kibble.

Thank you. :)

I'm Dreaming of a Shatterproof Christmas

IIIIIIII'm dreaming of a
Shatterprooooooof Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the bright orbs glisten
And kittens listen
As IIII'm pleading, "No! Down! Noooooo!"

I had a sneaking suspicion that decorating the tree this year was going to be a bit... different... than other years.And I had barely assembled my nifty artificial tree when-- "BOINK!"-- Harry the Five Month Old Kitten appeared within its branches to demonstrate the reason I had thought going "shatterproof" in terms of Christmas ornaments this year was a pretty darned good idea.

It was nice of me, he felt, to put up this giant climbing wall for him.

"Tree kittens? I don't see any tree kittens! Where?"

Then there was the little question of adding the garland. I had some... um... help this year, but I suspect this kind of help will be more useful when it comes to taking down the tree instead of putting it up.
However, what I didn't suspect was that after a certain amount of requisite batting and climbing and biting, my furred buddies would lose interest entirely in favor of a few empty ornament boxes and a bit of Christmas ribbon. And I would be allowed to actually decorate the thing, and keep the decorations on...And it's still standing this morning!

I know. Shocking, right?
My optimism led me to decorate a tiny pink tree to put on top of my refrigerator, out of the reach (maybe) of touchy-feely paws.

I had found at Tuesday Morning some glass Alice in Wonderland ornaments from the same artist that did my dishes. So with them, and some mushrooms, top-hats and teapot ornaments K-Mart had had (completely unrelated to any Alice theme) I pulled this colorful little jobbie together.

You can see the White Rabbit, Queen's card men and a jingly little mushroom here...

And the Hat, Alice and the Cheshire Cat dressed as a snowman here.

Lastly, one of the teapots and the Hatter himself...
After all this, I guess I don't need to tell you, we were all pretty tired out...
Thank goodness for Trader Joe's shopping bags. They have a million and one uses.

Take care folks, and I hope you all aren't shattered from too much pre-Christmas activity.