Vintage Blue Jars

Last week’s junk sale find…

vintage blue 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.

vintage jars and vases

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.

vintage blue atlas jar

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!

vintage jars vignette

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

Love this table setting!

If someone from Martha Stewart would like to run on over to my house and set our table for Valentines Day, or any day for that matter, I’ll happily leave the door unlocked.

I love everything about this!  The gorgeous robin’s egg blue wrapping paper with birds used in the center, the red millinery birds on each napkin ring, the red carnations, and the white.  Oh, how I love white!  Gorgeous!

Vintage baby crib repurposed

It seems that so often when I see spaces that really appeal to me, the aspects I like most are those that are one of a kind.  It’s the vintage item being used in a new way that always makes me sigh.  I particularly like seeing vintage pieces being used creatively for storage/display.

A few weeks ago I spotted a small vintage baby crib, about the size of a bassinet or cradle.  I snatched it up, knowing I would find many things to store in it, but upon coming home I just hadn’t found the right spot for it so it’s been sitting in my studio.  (And much as I love my kids I wasn’t ready for them to claim it for the toy room.)

I have a corner in my studio that has been bugging me:

corner: before

Yesterday I walked in the room and realized that a great solution was sitting on the other side of the room.  I cleared out the spot and wheeled the crib over.  Sure enough, it fit.

corner: after

I took the baby flannels out of the plastic bin and placed them in another flowered tote.  The two totes fit perfectly under the crib.  Whoever painted this crib years ago left a brown strip of wood that sticks out so I put some adhesive on it…


and added a strip of ribbon.  Much better.


A walk around the house yielded a basket to put smaller pieces of fabric in for easy access.

basket of fabric scraps

An unplanned ten minute project yielded an organized corner with more aesthetic appeal.

vintage baby crib storage

Oh that all my minutes could be spent so productively!

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