Collecting vintage plates: The Twirling Room

    When we purchased our home four years ago (built circa 1874) it came with something that we Foster's were unaccustomed to: a formal dining room. Of course we had dining rooms in previous homes but those rooms were inadvertently transformed into home office, playroom or home school classroom, depending on which life stage we were in at the time.  
   While waiting to move into our home, I must confess that I had every intention of reverting back to my old ways. With two teenagers in the house I imagined an exciting game room complete with a pinball machine and maybe an air hockey, ping pong or pool table - which made a whole lot more sense than a dining room that probably wouldn't be used at all. 
   I proposed the game room idea to my husband who looked at me like I was out of my mind. "No way," he exclaimed, "We're finally going to have a dining room and actually use it this time!" His reaction surprised me but I quickly recovered and was happy to begin the quest for dining room furniture (little did I know how long the quest would actually take). 
   The dining room remained empty for well over a year as we focused on furnishing and decorating the rooms we used most. In the mean time the room received a fresh coat of Martha Stewart's "Vintage Map" paint and bright white trim.
    One day my daughter and I were playing around in the empty dining room and began to twirl and dance. Influenced by our love for Jane Austen novels and period films, we filled the room with echoes of our best British accents and unbridled laughter. From that day forward we dubbed the room "The Twirling Room" and made a proclamation (to the men of the house) that whenever someone came through the room they had to twirl. Needless to say, our son never stepped foot in the room, but my husband, however playfully went along and twirled about with great animation when his favorite girl was around to watch.  

    Eventually the dining room acquired a table which my mom and I found while antiquing in the darling little town of Buchanan, Virginia. The table, over one hundred years old, can be extended from a small table about the size of a card table into a large banquet size table that seats up to sixteen when all leaves are in place. 

   Since buying the table I've slowly been filling up the room with an eclectic mix of period pieces that compliment the room, including enough chairs to fit around the table since the table didn't include chairs (I have ten so far). Besides filling the room with furniture, I've also been busy finding antique china plates, platters and vintage glassware. I'm still trying to get enough plates to decorate the walls, and once I do I'll begin hunting for plates to use at the table.
    I'm not a professional decorator by any means, but I do envision my formal dining room as a whimsical and unpredictable surprise for my guests. I'm still not sure how to pull it off (oh, how I wish that HGTV would find me), but I'm fairly certain that it will include painting some furniture pieces and covering the chairs with upholstery fabrics in lots of delicious color.
   I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful room to share with others and I must confess that we Foster's thoroughly enjoy entertaining friends and family in our very first formal dining room ever!
   Stay tuned for photos of the room as the decorating progresses (but don't hold your breath, it could take a while as my budget and energy allows). I will update as projects are done but until then you might just catch me twirling when the mood hits me!

 

 

What to do with an old pop crate?



 

We've recently renovated our master bath and I now start the process of decorating it - the fun part! Remember when I was trying to figure out how to display my s&p collection and a Whimsybop reader suggested using a pop crate on the wall? Well, I finally got to try it! I put one on the wall and filled each grid with a belt. I have to say that the leather and distressed wood combination looks like a beautiful piece of art hanging over my towels and I love it!

Collecting picnic baskets: A tisket a tasket

 

   A few years ago after selling our home in northern Virginia, our family spent nearly two years renting a furnished home in the historic town of Jonesborough, Tennessee. The house, called "Jacobs house" by the locals, is perched on top of a hill overlooking the oldest town in Tennessee. The Jacobs house is three stories tall with very steep stairs, two tiny bathrooms, no closets and is only about 800 square feet - very charming and cute but a little too cozy for this family of four! 

Jacobs house, Jonesborough, Tennessee

    While living in the Jacobs house, most of our worldly possessions were safely packed away in storage, however there were some things that just needed to be kept with us. My challenge was to find an adequate way to store our things without giving up valuable living space. I solved this problem in the bedrooms by stacking vintage suitcases in a tower of storage. In the kitchen and family room I used old picnic baskets to keep things handy but out of the way. At the time I didn't own too many picnic baskets, so like every red-blooded woman on the planet would do - I went shopping!

     They say that all good things must come to an end and so it was when the bittersweet day came to say good-bye to the Jacobs house and Tennessee, and move into our new abode in southwestern Virginia - but my attraction to these old picnic baskets clearly did not end.
    Although our new home is much roomier than the Jacobs house, my picnic baskets are still very much in use! I display them in my laundry room and the butler's pantry and store things inside that I don't use very often which frees up valuable cupboard space. I store things like cupcake tins, cake & bread pans, holiday tea towels, aprons and linens, and the many kitchen gadgets and gizmos that I've acquired through the years. I've also been known to reserve a few baskets to hide small Christmas and birthday gifts. I also hide goodies from my teenage son who has a nose like a bloodhound when it comes to finding my hidden stash of sweet and yummy treats!


               Most of the baskets in my collection have been purchased at flea markets and antique malls, every now and then I'll find one at a yard sale or thrift shop (and do the happy dance!). I try to keep my basket budget at $15 which is somewhat of a challenge.
   Depending on the type of basket and its condition you can expect to pay between $20 - $50 in an antique shop. My favorite baskets are the tin ones, especially the ones with lots of bold color. I do, however love the woven plastic ones because they are HUGE and can hold quite a lot of stuff! The wooden picnic basket is a timeless classic - and one cannot call themselves a collector of picnic baskets without having at least one on display!    
    When in the market for a picnic basket there are a few things you should look out for. If buying a wooden basket, make sure the hinge is in good shape and check the weave to make sure that it's tight and not falling apart. Wooden and wicker baskets should be kept out of direct sunlight so that the wood/wicker doesn't dry out. I keep mine in my laundry room because the humidity won't hurt them. If buying a tin basket make sure that the lithograph design is bright and beautiful and watch out for the rust! Be really careful when you clean these tin ones because even some household cleaners can damage the lithograph image (I say this from experience), I use warm water with a little bit of Mr. Clean or white vinegar and a soft cloth. Keep out of direct sunlight to keep the image from fading and don't store in a place with high humidity as it will eventually rust.
   I've recently expanded my collection to include old bread and biscuit boxes made of tin (made of tin to keep mice from getting in), they look just like the tin baskets but without a handle.
   It's fun to collect something that is both beautiful and useful - especially when there's a sweet memory attached to them! These wonderful old baskets will always take me back to those two years spent in Jonesborough, Tennessee in the old Jacobs house when the kids were little and money was tight and where we left a little piece of our hearts behind. 
      

 

 

My essential "non-essential"

   Hello Whimsyboppers! I'll bet you've been wondering where I've been! Long story short: I've been doing chores - and lots of them! You see, my husband is one of those "non-essential" U.S. government employees who is currently on furlough, (don't get me started on THAT!). What this means for the Foster household is that the man of the house does NOT sit around! Since day one he has been busy doing various chores and projects around the house and I, his trusty sidekick have been doing my best to keep up with him!

   After giving the front porch a good scrubbing on his first day home, (which took an entire day), he took on the hedges the next day and won - now no more "peek-a-boo" to see the front of the house!



Breaking in our new hammock after a hard day's work!

   Besides doing LOTS of yard work he has stripped, sanded and painted, hung a closet door and made a beautiful cabinet door to match! He finished hanging the trim in two recently renovated rooms, cleaned his toolshed, made numerous trips to the landfill, changed the oil in his truck and finally caught the little critter who has been trespassing in my mom's garden!  The government may call him a "non-essential" worker but he is definitely essential around here, and I do believe that this old house would fall apart without him! (Thanks honey!)

Collecting vintage Thermos bottles: Thermos bottle frenzy

      

   It's a funny thing when you start collecting - you either find yourself buying things really fast so you'll have an instant collection to enjoy OR you take your time because the thrill of the hunt is often more satisfying than admiring a sought after collection.

    Depending on the collection I find myself doing a little bit of both.  My collection of Thermos bottles was one such collection I couldn't resist, nor could I rest until I had a shelf full of them!

    I'm not sure when the thought hit me to collect thermos bottles - I'm pretty sure it was on a visit to my folks' place in South Carolina. Whenever we made a family trip to the southland I'd try to hit every thrift shop in the area in the first few days of our visit, then I'd hit them all again a day or two before leaving town.

   During one such trip I noticed an abundance of Thermos bottles of various sizes, colors and designs in the kitchenware section. Seeing them grouped together on a shelf from a distance made me come in for a closer look. When I flipped each Thermos upside down to read the price written with black wax pencil, I knew that at fifty cents each I had the beginnings of a fast and furious collection. 

    I quickly made the decision to be somewhat picky since I didn't need to own every Thermos bottle known to man. I chose to buy only the metal bottles that were in good condition and contained all their original parts (stopper and cup). I bought about eight of them at my first stop and let me tell you, as I made the thrift shop circuit - I was on a roll and doing the happy dance along the way!

   After my thrift shop frenzy was over that day, I had over a dozen Thermos bottles to show off to my husband and my parents who all looked at me as if I grew a third eyeball while I was gone. My young children, however, were very curious about my purchases since they had never seen a Thermos bottle before. They were enamored with them as well, but purely for the utilitarian purpose that they could now take cold lemonade and chocolate milk everywhere they went. 

 

   By the time we left for home I had enough Thermos bottles to prove to the world I was a serious collector! My collection is still growing but it has slowed down considerably (mainly because I don't need repeats and I only have so much space for showing them off).

 

  

 

 

 

 

  
      I probably have around fifty or so, not including a few old coolers that I also find very fascinating - and very Americana! Now that I have more than my share, I tend to look but don't buy - unless of course I find one I don't have yet AND if the price is right.
      I can still find them fairly cheap at yard sales, thrift shops and some flea markets, (usually under $5). The price gets steeper when you go to antique shops or online auctions and like most vintage items, expect to pay more for mint condition and the rareness of the bottle (about $10 - $50).

   When my husband built our laundry room, he carefully measured each shelf in order to adequately display each Thermos bottle in my collection.  Unfortunately, we didn't take the humidity of a laundry room into account, which could have eventually caused my treasure trove to rust (bummer). I am happy to report the Thermos bottles have been relocated and are now perched high and dry in our newly renovated butler's pantry (thanks honey!). Make sure to display your Thermos bottle collection in a room with little or no humidity and also keep them from direct sunlight to prevent the colors from fading.

  
   I used to think I had a fairly decent collection until I came across this blog post written by Michael Williams about a retired Air Traffic Controller in Cleveland, Ohio by the name of Kyle Bitters. Mr. Bitters, who has been collecting Thermos bottles since 1990, takes Thermos bottle collecting to a whole new level (and I am unworthy to call myself a collector after seeing these photos taken by Eric Kvatec). Enjoy - and thanks for visiting Whimsybop! http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2013/03/20/the-great-american-thermos-hoard/

 

 

 

What to do with an old utensil tray?

   Back in July, I wrote a post called "Please pass the salt" where I shared about my Salt & Pepper collection and complained about not having a way to display my numerous S&P shakers. One reader suggested that I display them in my old pop crates - now that was a GREAT idea!
   I gave it some thought and figured out I wanted to display them on the wall of my newly remodeled butler's pantry. Since the space is long and narrow I realized the pop crates would be too big and chunky for such a small space - so I had to go back to the drawing board.
   It came to me that I already had the perfect solution: a few vintage utensil trays that I had picked up through the years that were being used around the house in various drawers organizing things like pens, pencils, scissors and make-up items.
    I gathered them up, gave them a good cleaning, flipped them over and rigged up a way to mount them to the wall - and voila' my S&P shakers are now on display!  
   I purchased these red utensil trays at flea markets and thrift shops for under $10. Red utensil trays seem to be the most popular making the price more affordable. I've seen blue and green vintage utensil trays at antique shops - some as high as $35. Although I'd LOVE to have more colors on my wall, that's still too pricey for this girl's budget. 
  This cute aqua tray was something I recently picked up at a junk shop in Amherst, Virginia - for $13 it was well worth the money since I didn't have to paint it! 
   These vintage utensil trays measure 13 1/2" long x 8 1/4" wide x 2" deep and are a perfect size for displaying itty bitty treasures. Too bad I still have about fifty more S&P shakers that require a larger display area...and so the hunt continues! (any ideas?)  

Collecting vintage lunch pails: Zeb Witherspoon made me do it!

 

    I've been collecting old lunchboxes for many years now. I love the fun & colorful ones from my childhood but I'm also drawn to these old ones from the good old days.
   I started to appreciate these old lunchboxes when my  brother-in-law, R.V. first showed me the lunchbox that once belonged to his father who had passed away decades ago. Like a museum curator, R.V. carefully handled his dad's lunchbox as if it were a valuable artifact. He turned the lunchbox to show me what his dad had carved into the side: "ZVW" - the initials of Zebulon Vance Witherspoon.
   He slowly and gingerly unfastened the two clasps which kept the box tightly closed. When the lunchbox opened we were greeted with the faint aroma of smoked meat. "Daddy made his own lunch every day which was always two slices of white bread with home-cured country ham. You can still smell it, can't you?" I shook my head in agreement and found myself speechless and almost tearing up from the unexpected emotion of sharing in the sacredness of a son remembering his father. 
   My eyes were drawn to the thermos bottle, still tucked behind the wire loop in the lid after all these years. "Daddy always took a thermos of black coffee with him. The inside of it is stained brown and still smells of coffee," he informed me with the knowledge of a tour guide and the nostalgic heart of a son.
     I learned a great deal about Zeb Witherspoon that afternoon; how he learned his trade as a young man working construction in the Civilian Conservation Corps on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the late 1930's. He later supported his family as a carpenter working near Asheville, North Carolina; working large construction jobs in his younger years and as a handyman in his later years. He and his wife Willa had R.V. later in life; Zeb died at the age of 73 when R.V. was only twenty years old. This lunchbox served as a link to a son and his father.   
    As I listened to the tale of Zeb Witherspoon, told with such admiration and love, I felt a bit sad and even a little jealous that I didn't have such a treasure from my own father - so like any collector would do, I went out in search of one!
      Some people save the whales and some people save trees - I  shamelessly save old lunchboxes and bring them home every time I find one, I'm thankful to have married a man who doesn't mind this weird habit of mine. I am happy to announce that I now have a modest collection of other people's father's lunchboxes! It didn't take long to realize that my quest wasn't so difficult after all. I have found mine through the years at yard sales, flea markets and thrift shops and usually spend between $3 - $12, depending on the condition and whether or not there is a thermos inside. I can always find them in antique malls too, but their prices are so high that I doubt they really want to come home with me.

   Due to the dome lid at the top, the only way to display these lunchboxes is side by side on a shelf (mine are perched on the top shelf in my laundry room).

   The benefit of having a shelf full of these old lunchboxes is that they are extremely useful when it comes to storage - it's easy to be organized when you have a lunchbox for: batteries, first aid supplies, pedicure tools, coupons, my stash of practical jokes (it's important to know where to locate the rubber doggie doo, plastic ants & cockroaches at a moments notice!), and my secret supply of peanut M&M candies (shh, don't tell!). I have a silver lunchbox marked "Barber Shop" where the hair clippers and accessories are stored for my husband's monthly haircut, a black one where I keep my sharpies when I leave the house to doodle, and a silver one with a leather strap (a handle repair) that stays in the car with granola bars and bottled water just in case anyone needs a snack while away from home.  


   My first purchase was a rust bucket, but I couldn't pass it up, (it was cheap). I am ashamed to say that I altered it to suit my needs: I took it home and gave it a good cleaning, put a shiny coat of black spray paint, modge podged a few old labels on it and presented it to my Mom as a gift to keep her flower & vegetable seeds inside, (which she loves and still uses to this day).
   That was the last time I altered one because after my arts & crafts project was finished, I was riddled with guilt for defacing something older than I am. From that point forward I decided to love them in "as is" condition, rust and all - and believe me, I do!
 

Collecting vintage lunchboxes: What's in your lunchbox?

   When I think back to my own childhood days of back-to-school shopping, perhaps the most important purchase for the academic year was the lunch box. Yes, the lunchbox; that overlooked cafeteria accoutrement that can make or break your elementary school career.

   In my day, the cafeteria was  Grand Central Station of all social activity. It's where playground games were planned and where notes were passed - and if you made a good trade with your oatmeal scotchies, you just might get to jump rope with the cool kids at recess. Carrying the right lunchbox was almost as important as wearing the right clothes, and could even be a golden ticket to landing a seat near the "Queen Bee" who did all the playground planning. Yep, a lunchbox was THAT important.

    My first years of primary school were trial and error and I must confess that the lunchboxes I carried in those early days were not so cool. The first was a red, white & blue U.S. postal service lunchbox (I think my Mom bought it on clearance without me), and I believe my second lunch box was Raggedy Ann & Andy - enough said.

 
    There were some kids, however, who didn't have a lunch box but used a paper sack instead. My friend Vicki was one of those kids who was so cool that she didn't need a lunchbox. Vicki's brown paper bags were full of goodies like potato chips, pudding cups and Twinkies - things that my mom would NEVER buy. Also, Vicki's lunch bags were always decorated with hearts, smiley faces and little notes written with pink marker that said things like "Have a wonderful day sweetheart" and "You are my sunshine!" Yep, Vicki could definitely pull off a paper bag like no other!

     I have had my share of lunchboxes through the years, most bearing the images of my favorite television shows. Unfortunately, none of those lunch boxes made it through life with me. By the end of the school year my lunchbox was ready for retirement. The broken handles that were glued or wired back together, the worn clasps and hinges, the shattered silver glass in the thermos bottle, and the body badly dented from whacking mean kids over the head all meant one thing: time to  throw it away (such a tragic end to a faithful school companion!).

   Now that I'm an adult I try to buy back the old lunchboxes from my school days along with the ones that I never had but always wanted. Thanks to online auctions I've had much success in finding the ones I'm looking for. My collection is not huge, by any means, but I do have enough to let visitors know that I am fond of them. 

    My kids have developed a love for these old lunch boxes themselves. This Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back lunch box was a gift to my daughter who proudly carried it with her lunch packed inside during her senior year of high school. My son, who is a big DC comics fan has been in the market for Super hero lunch boxes for many years now, but is tight with his cash and unwilling to yield just yet.

   If you're looking to start your own lunchbox collection, let me warn you that vintage lunchboxes can be VERY pricy. If you find one in perfect shape with it's matching thermos bottle, you can expect to pay around $100 (and higher), depending on the graphics and subject matter. A missing thermos bottle, broken handle, dents, color fading and rust keep prices low enough for folks like me to afford collecting them. Most of my lunchboxes were around $15 - $30 each. Every now and then I'll find one at a yard sale or thrift shop for next to nothing - and that's when I do the happy dance! 

     It's fun to stack them on the floor or display them on shelves - just make sure that you keep them out of the sunlight which will fade the colors fast and decrease their value.   They are handy little containers when you need to store things. I keep my kid's collections of small toys hidden inside - turning each lunchbox into a time capsule of their childhood.
   I'm still on the hunt for Lost in Space, Gilligan's Island, Wonder Woman, the Munster's and the Bionic Woman - wish me luck!  Now it's YOUR turn - what lunchbox did you carry as a kid?

A year of new beginnings!

    The weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter and the woodsy scent in the air tells me that summer is drawing to a close and autumn days are near. 

   For the past two weeks I've been waking up (Monday through Friday) to the voices of children talking on the sidewalk in front of our house on their way to the school down the street and to the sounds of the yellow school buses carrying precious cargo. Yes, school is back in session and those lazy days of summer are now a memory and the familiar comfort of routine is back in full swing.
    Parents have earned their back-to-school badges as once again we have managed to successfully outfit our children in fresh underwear, fashionable shoes and trendy clothing that will surely earn them a seat with the popular kids in the cafeteria (or so the advertisements tell us). Go ahead Mom, you are now free to enjoy the Sunday newspaper again without studying the sales ads or clipping coupons...at least until November when we get to do it again while wearing a Santa hat on our heads.  
   New beginnings are upon us all and the Foster's are no exception. Our daughter is now a freshman in college (oh, the emotion in that!). Our son just began a demanding two year community college program as a high school junior. I have begun an adventure of my own too - just a few days ago I opened a shop on Etsy: "DoodleAllDaydesigns" in hopes of selling my artwork, (http://www.etsy.com/shop/DoodleAllDaydesigns) - wish me luck!
   Next week Whimsybop will start where we left off and showcase collecting again - but until then, I thought I'd have a little "Show and Tell" fun and show you my little school desk.
   I purchased this little cutie nineteen years ago while antiquing in southern California with a few girlfriends. Of course it wasn't nearly this adorable at the time - my husband stripped it down to bare metal and painted it with the same shade of paint that my '69 VW bug had been painted months earlier. He also put a new wood top on it since the old desk top was in pretty rough shape. When I bought it I was pregnant with our daughter, who used it during her homeschooling years - such wonderful and precious memories of school days! 
   I'm a firm believer that we should always be learning and growing no matter what our age - so tell me, now that school's in session, what's YOUR new adventure this year?
  
  

Lazy days of Summer!

Hello Whimsyboppers!
   Where have I been? Well, I've decided to enjoy the lazy days of summer before school begins in a few more weeks which includes spending more time with my family and less time on the computer.
   Summer is winding down but the excitement continues at our house where Brian, our 15 year old is now driving with a learner's permit (which is almost as thrilling as a roller coaster ride), and our daughter Autumn has been busy purchasing items for her college dorm (she is soooo excited!). My husband has a great tan from mowing the lawn and keeping the yard gorgeous, and my mom's beautiful vegetable garden is keeping us all healthy and well fed.
    I wish you all happy and restful summer days full of wonderful times spent with those you love most. Please visit Whimsybop in a few weeks when we're all refreshed and ready to pick up where we left off! Blessings, TJ