Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1566 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Tired

December 21, 2011 at 6:00 am by Claudia

I’ve been posting every day for a couple of months now. Haven’t missed one. I won’t miss one today, but I’m cheating a bit. Today, my friends, I’m tired. I’ve got nothing. The way Scout looks, with eyes at half-mast? That’s the way I feel.

Our Christmas is very simple, but it still requires some shopping. I’m just about finished. Still have to gather together the ingredients for the Christmas Coffee Cake I make every year. Really, on a scale of 1 to 10 – 10 being having to buy lots of presents, go to lots of parties, worry about making Christmas fabulous for the kids, etc. – our Christmas is about a 1. So I’m not complaining.

I’m just tired. It’s been a stressful few months for my family.

And I want to apologize to all of you who have commented on this blog for the first time, who are new readers or followers. I’m so behind on visiting you and responding to your comments. I’m usually on top of all that, but I’m really behind. I promise to make that a priority in the next few weeks.

See? I’m tired, but I’m still smiling.

Defending the Small House #6

December 20, 2011 at 7:00 am by Claudia

{Living Big in 1200 Square Feet}

Welcome to week number 6 of Defending the Small House. Today’s topic: Displaying Collections in a Small House. Most of us collect something or other; many of us have multiple collections. How do we show off our beloved collections in a small space?

I collect china and pottery. And I just seem to accumulate more and more. I can’t help it! I collect hand-painted china, china hat pin holders, Roseville Pottery, Fiesta and, my largest collection, McCoy Pottery. I have many pieces of McCoy, scattered throughout the house. How do I display them?

Tip #1: Find furniture pieces that will hold your collections, whether they are cabinets, shelves, boxes or something else. Grouping collections together in a cabinet or on shelves will make a big statement. I have a few cabinets that hold and display my china.

This cabinet is in the kitchen.

This cabinet is in the den.

Putting the china and pottery in a cabinet protects the pieces and also brings pieces made by different manufacturers together so that they have more impact. This particular cabinet has a mix of McCoy and my good china, as well as some hand-painted pieces that I treasure. By the way, the interior of this cabinet used to be the same color of wood as the outside. It was too dark in there. So I painted the inside a pale pink. Now the china doesn’t get lost in the dark interior of the cabinet and the pieces really pop.

Tip #2: Use your collections to create vignettes, like the one below. The birds are singing, they are on the piano, and the little white bird is perched on a dictionary of musical terms. Everything works together to make a sweet vignette.

Tip #3: Display your collectibles in like groupings. What does that mean? Well, for example, here I grouped together 3 McCoy bird planters – 2 the same color and one in a contrasting color. This group makes a statement. To top it off, I added a bird nest that I found in our yard.

You can also display things in color groupings:

Here I have 3 pieces of McCoy in yellow and a Fiesta pitcher in yellow. That makes a statement.

And here I have 3 pieces of aqua McCoy Pottery, alongside my good china, which has an aqua rim. If you were to look on the shelf above, you would find 3 more pieces of aqua McCoy grouped together.

If you collect something like vintage kitchen utensils or rolling pins, you could hang them on the wall in a group, creating a striking, graphic look.

Tip #4: Think up. Boy, do I ever ‘think up.’ I have a lot of pottery displayed on the top of my cabinets. This is the hutch in the den that you saw earlier. I used to have this Roseville Pottery scattered around the house. But when I grouped it together and placed it on top of the hutch, it all worked. I have a special fondness for these pieces and they make sense together. They are also nicely protected up there.

Here are some more examples of thinking up:

On top of the white cabinet in the living room, also grouped by color.

On top of the kitchen cabinets.

On top of the white china cabinet in the kitchen.

This works especially well with pottery because it tends to be large. Because of that, it doesn’t get lost up there.

Tip #5: Smaller collectibles pack more of a punch when grouped together. I have some collections that are small in stature. I group them together.

I collect egg cups:

The vast majority of them are on this shelf unit that I found in an antique shop. Grouping them together tells the story of the collection. And it makes me smile.

Look for interesting pieces on which to display your collections. This shelf is a favorite of mine; I picked it precisely for this purpose and I think it enhances the egg cup collection. The rest of my egg cups are on a sweet little shelf in the den:

My husband’s jumping jack collection is displayed by our side door.

See? Hard to keep a frown on your face when you see these! Grouping them together tells a story.

Same with my bakelite flatware:

I also have a few mini collections. These are the beginnings of new collections. All grouped together to make more of a statement.

Miniature pottery.

My bride and groom cake toppers.

Tip #6: Don’t hide your collections. Live with them. Use them. I’m very visual. I love seeing my favorite things around me. I don’t rotate my collections, storing some of them away, while others remain on display. No way! I’m proud of my collections and they say a lot about me. Heck, collecting McCoy Pottery set me on a new path with color and it shows in my decorating.

I use my pottery to organize things in my studio. I put fresh flowers in my vases. I use my china. I tuck one type of collectible in another type of collectible. I don’t know about you, but I love nothing more than exploring someone’s collections. If I visit a home for the first time, I immediately gravitate toward collections and books. And sometimes, the books are a collection.

Tip #7: Don’t think for a moment that having a small house means you can’t display everything. You can. You should. As long as you find a way to group your pieces so that they make a kind of sense, your home will not look cluttered. Group by color, group by size, group by type of collection – as long as it makes sense, it will work.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope these tips are helpful for you. Make sure you visit Brenda for her take on displaying collections in a small house.

And finally, Happy Holidays to everyone – if you celebrate Christmas or Hannukah, please have a wonderful, magical holiday!

We’re going to take a couple of weeks off from this series. We’ll be back on January 10th.

On Hunting

December 19, 2011 at 9:00 am by Claudia

On my mind this morning: I had to write this. It’s from my heart.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know I am a vegetarian and strong advocate for animal rights. This time of year makes me cringe, as it is hunting season. Every day I hear rifle shots in the distance. It makes me sick to my stomach. I hate it. Every time I see some local guy wearing camouflage clothing, I want to grab him and give him a piece of my mind, beg him to think of the animals who have a right to live along with us, and frankly, tell him there must be another way to prove his masculinity other than shooting an innocent creature. No one is this area has to hunt. Those days are long gone.

And do not tell me that hunters are doing the noble thing and saving deer from the agony of starvation, that they are helping to thin out the herds. Bull. No one who hunts does it for that reason.

I live my life from a simple premise. We are all equal. I’m not just talking about humans. I am not superior to any other animal. We are all creatures sharing this planet. What gives anyone the right to hunt another – whether human or animal?

And it’s not a fair fight. A rifle or a bow and arrow used to stalk and hunt a creature who has no defense, no equivalent weapon, does not a fair fight make. What’s noble about that? If you need to shoot a gun that much, go to a target range and fire away. Stay away from innocent animals.

Don doesn’t hunt. I wouldn’t be with him if he did.

If you ever want to hear me lose it – mention hunting, or bullying, or hurting children in any way, or harming any defenseless creature.

I could say so much more. My heart is heavy as I hear those rifle shots. I am haunted by the thought of those innocent creatures being killed for sport.

This may not be a popular post, but it is the way I feel. And you know that I write from my heart.

How I wish we were more evolved; that we lived with love and compassion for all living things. That we treated every living creature the way we want to be treated.

Tired

Defending the Small House #6

On Hunting

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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