vintage — Page 28

A Little Something

November 5, 2012 at 8:26 am by Claudia

The headline here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage continues to be:

MHC: Trying to Exist on an Extremely Frugal Budget of

Next-to-Nothing.

You think I’m kidding? I assure you, I’m not. And I’m sure that many of you are doing the same thing. But even a budget of next-to-nothing might sometimes allow for a wee purchase. Just a small one. I have to do this kind of thing every once in a while because it makes me feel a little better. No, I’m not shopper who buys things in order to feel better about myself and I’m not feeling sorry for myself. But there are times when I simply need to buy a little something and I set a limit of $20.00.

This month – November – is the month of my birthday.

It’s a big one – one that I’m in denial about, one that I’d much rather avoid.

It’s looming.

So I just might need a little pick-me-up. Because life has been depressing as of late and I have been immersed in a feeling of hopelessness.

I dropped off some things to donate to Hurricane Sandy relief yesterday and stopped in at a favorite antique shop.

I came home with these.

I love old glove boxes. I often see them in solid colors. These faded prints are harder to find. Marked down to $4.50.

Adorable McCoy pot in my favorite color. Actually, this is a Nelson McCoy pot which pre-dates the McCoy markings.

See the NM mark? This is a smallish pot with a nifty design. I haven’t purchased anything McCoy in quite a while, partly because I only have so much room here at the cottage and partly because I’m trying to live as frugally as possible. (See headline.) Interestingly, the day we discovered Mabel (my Featherweight ) which is my early birthday present, I had this very pot in my hand, ready to purchase. As I stood at the counter, I decided that the Featherweight was purchase enough and I handed the pot back to the owner of the shop. I also saw the glove box that day.

Fast forward several weeks and they were still there.

They were waiting for me, don’t you think?

I’m happy to say that the total price for these two items came in at well under $20.00.

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The winner of a copy of Mr. Churchill’s Secretary is Regena Fickes. I’ve already contacted her. Congratulations, Regena!

Happy Monday.

Vintage Wire Laundry Basket

October 8, 2012 at 12:22 pm by Claudia

A year or so ago, I was obsessing about those vintage wire laundry baskets that are collapsible. You know, the ones you see everywhere in Blogland? I loved their industrial look. I watched several go for more than I was willing to pay on eBay. I saw some that were too pricey on Etsy. I tracked down a reproduction basket. They seemed to go for a minimum of $75 (rarely) – more often they were well above $100. Each time I bid on one, I would get my hopes up only to see them dashed as the price climbed on out of my range.

I gave up.

The other day I was looking at Craigs List, as I often do, and I saw a listing for ‘Collapsible Laundry Basket’ for $50. The seller lives in a town about a half hour south of ours. I immediately emailed her but didn’t hear from her right away. I figured I had lost out as it had been listed for several days. Yesterday morning, I got an answer back that it was still available.

I told Don he had to come with me. He did.

Here it is. It still has the Allied tag on it, making it certifiably vintage. It’s quite large. Probably too large for our little cottage which is already crammed full of stuff. And I probably had no business buying it. But…come on…do you blame me?

I love it.

The seller’s name was Claudia. Yesterday was her birthday. She took us on a tour of her gardens. We talked gardening, politics, nesting – she lived in California for years, so did we. She’s talking about inviting us for dinner.

It was meant to be.

In the meantime, I’ve seen that Pottery Barn has a reproduction for $149. There’s a vintage basket listed on Etsy for $190. Moda Home has a reproduction for $90.

I think I got a great deal. It’s the real thing and sturdy as can be. It has the patina I was hoping for.

Now I have to decide what to do with it. For the moment, it will sit on my right when I’m sitting in my blogging chair in the den. I would have photographed it there but it was too dark today. What should I put in it?

Quilts and throws?

Magazines and books?

Or yarn for all my soon-to-be Obsession Scarves?

No sense using it for actual laundry. Our stacked washer and dryer are in a closet in the bathroom. We don’t have a pretty laundry room. But go ahead, ask me how much I want a combination laundry/mud room. Don’t bother, the answer is ‘a lot!’

I’m going to let you guess what option I’m going for at the moment. Maybe you can leave your guess in the comments?

Speaking of Etsy, I listed another scarf today:

That turquoise color, by the way, is a bit more of a teal/turquoise color. Sometimes it’s very hard to capture the subtle changes in these gradient yarns.

Update: Sold Out.

Linking to my pal Brenda’s Tweak it Tuesday.

I have a book review posted today, as well. Just scroll down one post for a chance to win a copy of Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know. It’s very funny, trust me.

Tweaking an Old Display Shelf

September 11, 2012 at 9:31 am by Claudia

As the days turn crisp and cool, I’ve moved back into my old blogging station – the den. I was using the yellow chair in the living room for several months as that was where Riley was and I needed to be right by his side. As I sit here this morning, sipping on Peet’s French Roast, shawl wrapped around my shoulders (it’s that nippy!) my eye keeps landing on this little wall vignette. (I bought the Lost Lamb print from Debra of Common Ground.)

For those of you who are newer readers of this blog, I tweaked this display shelf a few months back. It started out like this:

I really liked the carved edges of the shelf – sort of scallopy – but I didn’t want to use the mirrors. So I painted the shelf, did a little distressing and then cut scrapbook paper to fit over the glass. Very simple. But what a transformation!

It’s amazing what a coat of paint and some leftover paper can do. This shelf displays my newish miniature pottery collection. What is it about all that is tiny that I love? I am immediately drawn to miniatures. And since I love pottery and have tons of it here in the cottage but have limited space, these smaller pieces seem like the perfect thing to collect.

I want more.

They are not easy to find. But that’s the challenge, isn’t it?

I’m linking this post to my pal Brenda’s Tweak it Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.

A Little Something

Vintage Wire Laundry Basket

Tweaking an Old Display Shelf

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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