Sunday, August 17, 2008

Building a Display

I recently complained to hubs that our small town left much to be desired in regards to the potential to find good stuff at yard sales. My little town must have taken offense and decided to prove me wrong because we promptly found this trunk waiting for us in a driveway no more than 50 yards from our front door.



And it was only $20!! Did we have anywhere to put it? No! But it was pretty, and we NEEDED it! I mean, look at it! The flower design on the outside,



the cute little pictures inside the lid,




the tray top just waiting to be filled with treasures with always valuable storage space beneath.



So we tossed the 3 vintage paper mache Halloween lanterns also scored at this sale for $5 total into the trunk (I KNOW! What were we thinking leaving those fragile gems to roll around inside the trunk in the back of our car like that??? Believe me, I've definitely kicked myself once or twice since then) and hightailed it home. We don't know where it will live permanently, but it is comfortable for the moment on a bit of open wall space in our living room and it has become a new decor venue for me to play with.


We aquired our new toy around July 4th so for my first display I went with a bit of a patriotic theme:




See that metal fan in the front? We got that for $3 at another yard sale the same day as the trunk! It was dirty, but we could see what a cutie it was, so hubs took it apart and cleaned it up, and we are so proud of that thing now. The barn star in the back was $10 at Ross; the candle holders are actually old feed scoops that came from a local antique shop (the shopkeeper gave us the idea to put candles in the scoops...cute!); the silver orbs are actually Christmas ornaments that were bought 50% off at Bath and Body Works at an after-Christmas sale; the small silver vase was a gift from my husband found at the same local antique shop; and the blue cup on top of the cake plate is a votive holder made of wire strung with deep blue seed beads and wrapped around the cup's metal framework. I bought it at a bead shop in Charleston, SC, when I was in either middle or high school and have just now begun to actually use it...I was a bit of a miser when I was younger with all my "special" things stuck in boxes...silly...

I've enjoyed this display for several weeks, but I've been itching to change things around. I knew I wanted to steer away from red and royal blue as they don't really mesh well with the pear green walls and deep teal end tables. So I started with this:

(bird from Pier 1)

which was nice, but not quite right...we need some color...let's try this wine bottle (yes, I know, I need to get those pesky labels off that bottle, stat)


Ok, I like it, but that bottle can't hold down the color fort on its own. Let's shop the house and bring in some back up.

Even better. But I can't call it done yet...

So I stick in a feather wreath, a teal necklace in a jar to add another bit of my feature color, and a silver tray. I like it! It's still not perfect, so I'll be messing with it a bit more I'm sure. Have suggestions? Do tell!

By the way there are some items I have to applaud for playing those all-important support roles. See the little wood box holding up the feed scoop candle holder in the middle? My man has a cigar box collection that I've commandered to spice up my displays. That trophy cup was looking kinda short behind that hunk of shell, so I put these little guys to work, too:

These coasters were a gift in honor my weenie dog Oscar. Thanks, guys! That trophy cup looks much better. (Red front door in the background...love my red front door. Yep, the man made that one happen, too. He's great :) )

I had such fun arranging and rearranging and running around my house to find things to put out. As I work toward beating the clutter monster so that my whole house sports cute displays like this one I will enjoy dreaming up new looks for this little corner. Wait till you see what I have in store for Halloween; it will be SO cute!

Friday, August 1, 2008

My Favorite Things

I've been sitting on the sidelines way too long; I had to jump in and try this blog thing out!


And that makes me excited!
(That would be part of my Halloween costume from last year; surely you recognize me!)

I've lived in my house for 3 years now and just got excited about decorating my home in the last 5 months. The purchase of two glass candlesticks (they might be plastic...it's hard for me to tell) at EQ3 in Charlotte, NC, for the absolute steal of $1.25 each got me started, and I've not looked back since. I look forward to talking about my adventures in home decorating here!
Cindy at My Romantic Home hosted "Our favorite things" this past weekend and encouraged us to post pictures of our favorite items from our homes. Pictures could be of anything at all except people. Since I'm already late to the party I'll be breaking the "post just one!" rule.

First off, my budding collection of mirrored stars. I love mirrored items and this star immediately caught my eye. It was originally $125 at Pier 1, and I wanted it so badly, but was not about to pay $125 for it. Of course they all disappeared from the Pier 1 stores in my area while I waited for the price to come down, and I had taken to searching online. Christmas rolled around and when I opened an especially big box (this star is about 29" from tip to tip) there was my star! My honey of a husband had tracked down one of these mirrors in the next state, and one of his cousins happened to live 15 minutes from the store! Possibly the best part of this story is the $25 price tag! What a steal!



One more star!


This one came from an after-Christmas sale at World Market. I think it was $15. The mirrored arms reflected my camera's flash and formed those reflections on the walls between the arms...it doesn't actully do that unless there's a flash on it. This star measures about 23.5". I actually won another star on Ebay this week, so I'm slowly but surely adding to my collection.

Another favorite thing: my first trophy cup! I did absolutely nothing to earn this trophy, although that would have been nice. I found it at the Maxwell St. Sunday morning market during our vacation in Chicago this past May. It was tarnished, but I could see the potential! I asked the guy how much he wanted for it and when he said, "$800!" I, without thinking, blurted, "How about 10!" to which he replied, "Sold!"...which of course made me realize he would have taken less! Oh well, I still love the thing. Hubs broke out the polishing head on his dremel tool and had this shined up in no time.




One last thing: an apothecary jar full of shells. The $9 jar came from either TJ Maxx, Ross or Marshalls, and the shells came from Ross for $5. I love the shape and versatility of this jar; it can fit in with almost any style decor and can be filled with any number of items (candy corn at Halloween, tinsel or shiny ornaments at Christmas, mini moss balls at Easter) and shells always look good! I could even make a custom shell picture or mirror frame with a bit of hot glue should I get tired of displaying these shells. Love 'em!


I could go on and on posting pictures and talking your ear off about my favorite things, so I'll stop now! What a great blog event, Cindy!