These plates fit that description for me.

Shaped as Christmas ornaments, they have a beautiful silver finish at the top and a hole which I’ve used to hang some of them on my tree in the past, or on a garland above my entry.

It’s the pattern on them that I love so much.

You guessed it.  Birds.

Red birds.  In four different patterns.  On an aqua plate with touches of white, brown and green.

Listening to the voice in my mind as I type makes me think I must be awfully predictable.  Aqua, red, birds, dishes.

Oh well.  You love what you love.

The pattern above might be my favorite.

Or it could be this one.

I haven’t unpacked these in two years.  Last year I had a 4 month old baby and I did the  bare minimum.  The year before that morning sickness hit hard during the holidays and I didn’t get them out.  As I carried the box upstairs this year I wondered if they were as pretty as I remembered.  I was not disappointed.  Nor was I sorry that I bought more than twenty of them when I first saw them.  They make me happy.

They’re spending the month stacked neatly on my kitchen counter because I can’t bear to put them behind doors.

What is your favorite thing to unpack each year?

Hopeful Homemaker

I miss the ocean.

My house gets dirty faster than I can clean it.

Painting is therapeutic.

I felt like changing this mirror.

Here’s the before:

What do you think?  I like it!

Hopeful Homemaker

A couple of years ago I picked up an old wicker rocking chair for $5.  It’s been used here and there, but most recently it’s been sitting in the basement.  Not much to look at.

The wicker table was a thrift store find.

A trip to Home Depot yielded three cans of Rustoleum spray paint in Spa Blue.   It reminds me of a piece of Pine Cone Hill furniture, or an Adirondack chair out of a catalog.

It’s just what I was hoping for.  I’m pleased with the results.  Don’t you love what a little paint can do?!

I know where I’ll be sitting when the little ones enjoy a backyard picnic tomorrow!

Every spring I feel like our cherry tree turns the backyard into something of a paradise.  My blue wicker is the finishing touch that begs you to go sit beneath it and inhale the lovely scent of the blossoms while you lose yourself in a good book.

Wish you were here to join me!

Hopeful Homemaker

Shared at DIY Day and A Silly Little Sparrow

Today I’m guest blogging for May Arts, and it’s all about how to use ribbon to throw a beautiful, festive party.

Click here to read it!

Jennifer

So far I really like them there.  Every time I walk into the room, the beauty of that spot makes me feel happier, lighter.  I love the way the colors all work together, the aquas, white, and cream.  The vintage frame used to hang above our bed.  I like it’s new home.

The child sized blue chair is one of my most favorite vintage pieces.   It’s getting a little rickety, so I rescued it from my children to keep in my own room.  I think it’s happier there.

Doesn’t it just make you feel like spring might actually arrive?  It does for me!

I’m excited to pull this room together and share the whole thing (that is, if I can find the time to finish it and if the sun will come back so I can photograph it).

Either way, I’m loving my jars!

has found a new home.  I washed the vintage blue canning jars and decided to give them some time to glisten in the family room.

I always find that during the winter I favor the look of empty containers.  The shape itself becomes art to me, and I don’t feel the need to fill it with anything.  The potential of the vessel suggests such abundance.  Yes, empty containers in the winter speak to me.  They remind me to have an open heart, to be ready to receive the abundance that is just around the corner.

I added some empty vases in shades of blue and white.  I’m sure that this vignette is temporary; I’ll want a simpler look eventually.  But that’s the beauty of decorating by simply moving things around.  You can always reinvent and there’s no obligation to keep things any certain way.  It took all of three minutes.

For now, however, I love the way the jars catch the light.   They seem to brighten the room on a dreary winter’s day, and for that, I am thankful!

And I wonder:  will I ever get tired of blue and white?  It always makes me happy.  What colors make you happy?

And, crazy woman that I am, I loaded up 8 children (yes, all 8 of them) and went.
I arrived on day two, and I was one of two, yes two, customers there.  I’m guessing that a lot of stuff went yesterday, but the advantage to going today was that most items were at least half of what they were yesterday, and all the things marked $5 were now $1.  All of yesterday’s $1.oo items were free today.

For $35, here’s what I scored:

The “watch children” sign is at least 2 feet square.  It makes me laugh out loud!  Don’t you think that a woman with 8 children should have a sign like this?  I’m not sure yet where I’ll put it, but I believe it’s found an appropriate home.

I got the set of vintage blue canisters for $5.  They’re in great condition, and they’re my color!  I also scored some vintage glass jars, most of them blue and one that is clear.  Two of them are really big, one of which came with a vintage metal lid on it.  The large ones were $5 and the other four cost only $1 each.  I’m so excited to clean them out and put flowers in them.

This set of vintage plastic letters was wrapped in saran wrap and I snagged them all for just $1.

They’re about 12 inches tall, and should be fun to use somehow.  I know I’ll use one of the J’s for sure, but because I have multiples of all of them, shout out if you see one you could use!  I’m serious here, I think that someone besides my two sisters reads this blog, so speak up!  In front of the letters is a vintage glass shelf that was in the “free” pile, so I snagged it.  It has potential, I promise.  Remember my pink mirror.  Hiding somewhere in all that stuff is a shelf and two candle holders that mount on a wall which were also free.   Paint can fix anything!

In addition to these things, there was a box of little glass medicine bottles with droppers.  They’ve never been used.  I grabbed it for $1, knowing there will be something great to use them for at some point in time.

Also from the “free” pile, I grabbed some old sports equipment: youth football pads, an old football helmet, a batting hat for baseball, an old football jersey, and an old hockey goalie mask.  I figure at the very least I can clean them and put them in the Halloween costume box, but I also think that the hockey mask might look cool in one of my son’s rooms.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of some of the huge, cool old signs that were hanging in the building on this guy’s property.  They were fun to look at.

And thus ended my one hour thrifting spree with 8 children in tow.  Now I’ve got to get cleaning!  Hope you’re having a great Saturday!

These are the things I’ve been drawn to:

What colors have been calling your name lately?

I’m linking this post to Melissa’s Inspired Room.  Check out what others are inspired by and add your own!
Have a great day!

Hopeful Homemaker

I just wanted to share a bit of beauty with you.

There are those days when leaving the flowers at the store is just too much to ask of a girl.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Jennifer

My vintage cement swan planter stands at the edge of the room.  I spotted this a couple of years ago in a local shop and just loved the graceful lines of it.  I haunted the store, hoping it wouldn’t sell, until I’d saved enough money to buy it.

The couch is my old living room couch which is now 8 years old.  When we moved into our house, I took a deep breath and some scissors and made a white slipcover for it.  I put the cushions that were made for the back of the couch in the basement and instead used three large down pillows covered with vintage white shams.  Doing that gave it new life.  This week I also gave it new accent pillows.

The flowered pillows I made, and the pink ruffle pillow I added because I decided I wanted a dash of bright pink to go along with the robin’s egg blue and white scheme of the room.  I also added a flowered fabric from my stash to the coffee table.

To the right of the couch, I used to have a small white table.  It was a little too short, so I swapped it out and moved these two antique tables in.  They truly are gorgeous.  I LOVE the paint and the detail on them.  I think they’re one of my top three favorite vintage pieces I own.

I would really like to use these tables in some amazing spot, but the fact of the matter is that they don’t stand a chance around my kids.  I’d give them less than 24 hours to be broken.  They’re not poorly built, just fragile in design.   Therefore, they must stay in a corner for a while longer.

They actually look nice in this corner.  Their height is better than what I previously had, and their color matches the theme of the room.  I added a stack of some favorite books (which just happened to also be blue), a couple of my favorite vintage childrens picture books  and a pitcher of flowers.  I like that corner much better now.

This room also houses my favorite piece of furniture, an old dresser that has been refinished and had mirrors added.

Above it sits one of my favorite metal pieces, a huge urn filled with artificial flowers.  I love the drama and formality it adds to the room.

Next to it, and above the antique blue tables I have framed some of my favorite Marghab linens.  First, the cord and tassel pattern which takes my breath away when I consider that someone did every one of the stitches by hand.  This same design is one of the three Vera Marghab designs that is in the Smithsonian.  I also have the hydrangea pattern hanging below it.

On the adjacent wall I hung a small vintage blue silk purse which has hand embroidered flowers on it.

On the rocking chair I tossed a white vintage coverlet, my favorite pillow which I made from vintage turquoise and white fabric, and a fabulous old coverlet embroidered with huge flowers on it.  I’ve had the coverlet for years and wondered where to use it.  It just found it’s home, I think.

Next to the chair is an enormous basket I picked up at the thrift store for $1.00.  I spray painted it aqua for fun and filled it with vintage quilts.

On a whim, I sewed a little cover for the piano bench, just to bring the blue into that corner of the room.  I chose stripes because they would make that corner less formal.  I also swapped out a white mirror for a large blue frame holding a photo of two of my girls years ago at the beach.  Two more Marghab pieces, both Jacaranda tree patterns,  hang above the piano.

Lastly, I hung the mirror that I painted a bright pink.  It might be my favorite piece in the room because it makes me want to laugh when I see it.  So formal and yet poking fun at its formality through its color.

The entire wall now looks like this.  I really like it.  Symmetrical but not stiff.

I have always enjoyed studying interior design.  I feel like I did pretty well in this space, using formal pieces alongside simple ones, mixing old with new, and using color and pattern in a way that pleases me.  I love the added pops of color that the pink offers.  I also love that this room is really just “me.”  It holds so many of my favorite pieces, from the tables to the linens to the swan.  And because I’ve always bristled at the idea of my house looking like it came from any particular store, I love this room because it’s completely original.

A super fun exercise in creativity, and it yielded a lovely room.  Now for a good book and a bit of quiet.

Have a lovely day!

Jennifer