Vintage Monday

My first vintage Monday....I am so excited. First of all thanks to our hostess Joan at Anything Goes Here. I can't wait to see the other posts. Hope that you like my pics. These are from my 1960's Tree. Every ornament would have been on someone's tree in the 1960's. This tree first made its appappearance a few years ago. I had found two dozen vintage ornaments at a Christmas church fair for only a dime apiece. They became my inspiration for a new themed tree. They were plastic with bright pieces of felt and rather garish. I loved them. Additional ornaments to the tree came from a friend that was cleaning out her grandmother's house. I came home one day from work and found a box on my steps along with a note that said "I found these ornaments at my Nana's. They were bright, bold and tacky.....so I thought of you!!" Thanks. (I think) They did make a perfect addition. Most of the plastic/felt ornaments say Made in Japan.If you will notice, the painted eyes on the elf quartet are a little scary looking but that is what makes them so fun. I have over 4 dozen of the "peek in" , my unofficial title for them, ornaments like the blue ornament with the nativity scene. Of course the tree needed the large C-9 light bulbs. Those had to be the new reproduction ones that were UL approved. It also goes without saying that my 1960's tree is a tinsel tree, silver, of course. I think my ornaments are fun and I am glad to share them with you. Next Monday will be my ornaments from Germany ..... that are a good 50 years older than today's post. See you all next week. (My favorites are the two poodle ornaments and the red felt angel with the wax face standing next to the Christmas stocking. The sticker on the back of the stocking says Krees fifteen cents.)

My retro kitchen

Hope that everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day. Thought I would do a little non-Christmas related blog. (Because from now until the 25th, my blogs will be Christmas!) As some of you might have noticed I changed the look of my site. I think this one better reflects my style.....girly girlish while still being retro. Speaking of "retro", I thought I would take you on a tour of my kitchen. The red chair and the blue stool were fabulous lawn sale finds a couple of years ago for only $2.00 a piece! The curtains on the lower middle windows are made from a vintage tablecloth cut in half. The top curtains are made from 2 dish towels, again cut in half. To cover up underneath the metal cart, I used a small square vintage tablecloth. I had found the vintage red frames a while ago and knew what I wanted to frame. I went on ebay and found an old menu that had the exact blue and red of my kitchen colors. I kept the original and framed color prints. I didn't want to cut the menu in half. The large red fork and spoon are definitely kitschy and you either hate them or love them. I love them! The rest of my 1853 home has a different look and feel from the kitchen.......but this is where I cook and live. Come join me for a cup of tea.

Family Room Redo

This summer, my daughter experienced a road trip to Maryland from Maine. Just because I am the mom and the fact that my daughter had never driven further than Boston....I really couldn't relax the whole week my daughter was away. So of course that meant I needed a project to keep my mind from worry. The family room had been the first room done when we moved into the house in 1993, it was time for a change. I wish I had the before pictures of the room, but think green and harvest gold stripped wallpaper, heavy wooden cornices over the windows, heavy drapes, and dark harvest gold paint on all the woodwork. My house was built in 1853 and the first owner, a judge, had used the room as a study. That is where I took my decorating cue from, making it again look like a "studious" study. The floor to ceiling shelves were laden with books, antiques, my pottery collection....way too much stuff. I decided for a complete change, the paper came off, walls and ceiling were patched and painted as was the woodwork. If that wasn't change enough, the shelves got decluttered and replaced with some new fun collectibles. Here is a look at how it turned out.

Ilove the lamps. The one on the Eastlake piece is from the 50's. It was so dingy when I found it, I didn't even know it was cream color. The lampshade is a .50 cent lawnsale find. The other lamp, an early 50's find, is a table and lamp combo that makes a perfect end table. I got that at a church sale for $8.00. Actually, the whole room was done in less than a week and for real cheap. The ceiling paint was a simple flat paint, cheaper than ceiling paint, the wall paint was an "oops" paint from the local hardware store, the woodwork paint I already had. The drapes I made from a $1.00 a yard fabric.....I couldn't have bought 4 pre-made 93 inch panels for any less. The large pillow was also $1.00 a yard fabric and the trim was a total of .75 cents. It matched perfectly. The little pillow was actually covered in a different fabric and when I went to redo, got a nice suprise that the original pillow underneath (a lawnsale find for .50 cents) was already a perfect match. I just added some of the trim to make it coordinate even more.

The room went from a dark, heavy, and over stuffed room to light, bright, clean and crisp. The first thing my daughter asked when she returned home....."didn't sleep much did you mom."