Collecting vintage motel chairs: Motel Chair Love

  
    I'm not sure when the attraction began but I have had a love affair with old metal chairs for many years now. I can't help it, they're just so darn cute in their funky styles and fun colors. Maybe it's because they remind me of the whacky & whimsical world of Dr. Seuss (they look like something that would have come from his imagination!).

    Maybe I love them for the nostalgic feeling that occurs each time I sit in one; always taking me back to those days of sitting in a red one beneath the shade of the apple tree in my Grandma's front yard. She also had a green tandem glider which I remember  sitting with my Mom and waiting for the school bus to take me to my first day of kindergarten in the fall of 1970.  

    Commonly referred to as "Motel" chairs, these bouncy and portable chairs made their debut just as WWII was ending and our G.I.'s were coming home. By the 50's and 60's, they could be spotted in front of motels, at poolsides, on front porches and in front yards making up the American landscape.  
   I know this may sound like a shocker, but my first purchase was actually a pair of new reproductions on sale at Target in 1999. They were the perfect shade of aqua! I loved them so much I actually kept them inside of our home(s) for many years until I sacrificed them to the elements when we moved to our current home. 

    My first vintage set was practically hidden in a back yard covered in ivy and overgrown brush and weren't even for sale. I spotted them from afar and offered $10 for the pair to a man who was having a yard sale. He looked at me like I was crazy and gladly took my money. They were diamonds in the rough; covered in rust and layers of peeling paint, but once they were cleaned up and painted (yellow and green above) they were gorgeous!  Soon I began dragging home every rusty motel chair I could get my hands on - within my budget, of course.  

   I now have more chairs than I know what to do with (eighteen chairs and two gliders to be exact). The pretty ones are sitting on my front porch and the rest are out back in the garden, around the firepit and in the bushes (known as my chair graveyard) patiently waiting their turn for a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.
    To restore these old beauties, I find it easiest to first use a high powered pressure washer to remove the layers of dirt and surface rust - make sure they sit in the sun to dry thoroughly because the water gets inside of the tubes. Next, use steel wool to knock the rest of the rust off, then prime with a quality spray primer made exclusively for metal (I use Rustoleum brand). Finish the job with two coats of spray paint. If your chair has a special design you want to highlight, don't forget to use painter's tape! To keep the chairs from leaving rust marks on our porch floor, my husband bought some clear tubing in the hardware store's plumbing department and cut them in small pieces to wrap snuggly around the bottom.   
    Although these chairs are absolutely adorable, they are NOT made to sit in for long periods of time (sitting on a sheet of metal is never comfy). I highly recommend a pillow or pad of some type if you will be sitting for any duration of time. Also, be aware that because these chairs are made of metal, they get REALLY HOT when the sun beats down on them. It's also no fun to sit on them when the weather is cool - it's like sitting on a block of ice. In the fall, when we sit out at the firepit, we each take two blankets - one to wrap up in and another to sit on.   

      Honestly, I think the reason that I REALLY love these old chairs is because I have a lot in common with them - 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

that saved a wretched chair like me.

I once was rusty, stained and worn

was purchased, loved, made clean.

Collecting vintage soda pop crates

    Several years ago I meandered into an antique shop near the Jockey Lot flea market in Anderson, South Carolina and happened on a great sale. The store, which had a GIANT rocking chair in the front yard, had stacks of vintage pop crates - all on sale for a mere $7 each! Just a month prior I had bought my first Coke crate for $22 at an antique mall, so you can imagine my excitement. I had no idea what I was going to use them for but at that price I knew that it would be wise to buy a few and figure it out later. At the time we were living in California, so after I picked through the stacks and made my choices, I had to store them in my parent's barn for a few years until we moved closer (oh the torture!). 

   Each time we move into a new home I enjoy doing something different with my pop crates - well not too different as there is only so much that can be done with a stack of crates! The challenge is getting around those little grid sections which some have on the inside that once kept a bottle of pop securely in place to prevent it from breaking en route from factory to store. Unless you remove the inner sections, (which I wouldn't recommend because you'll decrease the value), you're sort of stuck with working around them.  

   I've seen some clever things done with old pop crates, mostly as shadow boxes or used to organize and store items. In our last two homes I've used them as end tables near the sofa in the kids tv room, making two short stacks and filling the grids on the top crates with various eye candy to admire beneath a piece of glass.
   In our current home I keep my crates stacked high in the game room to add a tower of color. The top crate in my tower doesn't contain grids so it's a great way to display other fun collections too, (like my ever growing etch-a-sketch collection!). In the same room I keep a crate beneath the entertainment center which hides my son's collection of video games perfectly, (I tacked a piece of felt beneath it to allow it to slide freely like a drawer without scratching the floor).
   A few months ago my daughter and I hit The Old Factory Antique Mall in Verona, Virginia (which I highly recommend for a FULL day of fun!) and found a booth selling stacks of vintage pop crates for $12 each - still a good deal! From my shopping experience, the average cost of a pop crate is about $15 - $20; although some are higher depending on where you live and also on the condition, color and the bottling company. Often times you can find the date etched or stamped somewhere on the handle side inside of the crate.

      I'm from the Buckeye State of Ohio and grew up calling fizzy carbonated beverages "Pop." My husband grew up in the Tarheel State of North Carolina where every soda was referred to as a "Coke," regardless of the brand or flavor. Since living on the west coast for many years, we have both assimulated and now call our fizzy drinks "Soda." Just the other day my 15 year old son announced that he would start saying "Pop" from now on because it sounds fun to say! He's right, "Pop" is fun to say - so much that I think I'll go back to my roots and join him! Just curious - where are you from and what do YOU call your fizzy drinks?

Collecting vintage wooden yardsticks: Collecting by the Yard

   I'm not sure when I became enamored with yard sticks, I think it goes back to when my kids were preschoolers and learning to draw straight lines, trace their little hands, spell their names and figure out how to operate a pair of scissors. 
    I remember the difficulty I had in finding a wooden ruler for them, it seemed that retail stores only sold cheap plastic ones which kept breaking. I finally found a wooden ruler in a thrift shop and continued to buy extras each time I happened to run across one which eventually led to buying yard sticks as well.  
   The yard sticks caught my eye because, not only did they come in beautiful colors, they were also full of interesting lettering styles (Typography) which I am drawn to.

   Back in the day, yard sticks were often used as promotional give-aways because they were long enough to contain an address, phone number and a catchy slogan. Yard sticks advertised businesses, endorsed  political candidates and of course were an extremely useful tool to have around the house.
    I can't tell you when it was I stopped seeing yard sticks as trivial wooden measuring tools and began viewing them as fascinating pieces of Americana, but when I did, I was hooked! I often find vintage yard sticks when I go antiquing but they're easy to pass up when they are $10 - $45 (depending on the advertisement and size). I'm thrilled to find mine at flea markets, thrift shops, yard sales and estate sales, usually for under $2. 

    I enjoy showing my yard sticks off as some folks might group a collection of old walking sticks or umbrellas - on the floor and ready to use at a moment's notice. If I had the choice of receiving a long stem rose or a yard stick, I would definitely pick the yard stick! I can't help it. When they are bunched together they are just as lovely as a bouquet of flowers - but only better because they won't wilt or die; and as long as I keep them out of the sun, their colors will always be vibrant and eye-catching! 

  

A Tribute to Mom

    My dear mother came to live with us when my Dad passed away two years ago. I can't tell you how much this woman means to me and what a huge impact she has had, and continues to have in my life. She has taught me so much and continues to do so even now that I am grown. 
   She is quiet, reserved and unlike me, is a humble soul who prefers to go through life unnoticed. She is the kindest and most selfless person I have ever known on the planet; her greatest joy is found in helping others. She is genuine and does not get caught up in the stuff of this world.    
   She is and has always been my greatest supporter. I write and I draw with Mom on the sidelines cheering me on, encouraging me always to be who God created me to be. I can truly say that she is the wind beneath my wings.
   Her tiny frame cannot hide the greatness of her character. I've learned to be wife and mother through her godly example. She is a woman who walks with God, who knows Him tenderly and trusts Him completely.
   Many young girls want to be like their mommies when they grow up; I have not outgrown the desire. She is one of those rare beauties who is just as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside. Oh, that I could be such a woman! Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you with all my heart. 
   "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Gove her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."  - Proverbs 31:30-31

Collections in a Jar 4

 

   It is so sad to see April come to an end and equally sad to end our Collections in a Jar series. My Grand Finale is a random look at a few of my favorite collections in a jar that make me smile.  
   This first collection in a jar proves that I am a shameless pack-rat while also proving that you can make a collection out of just about anything (obviously)!
    I started saving birthday candles after celebrating my daughter's first birthday when I didn't have the heart to throw her candle away. Since then, I've saved each and every candle that has ever been blown out on a birthday cake by a member of our family! It's one of my dearest and sweetest collections in a jar.
    I have a fond attraction for old buttons and sewing notions, and I can't tell you how much I enjoy looking at the beautiful colors and shapes through an old glass jar. I often find these old notions at estate sales, yard sales and flea markets sometimes in the same sewing basket or little box where the last seamstress left them years before. I keep them in a wardrobe that houses my arts & crafts supplies as well as my collection of sewing books; hopeful that the more sewing notions and books I accumulate, the better my chances of becoming a great seamstress one day (for now I'm lucky if I can sew a pair of curtains). My daughter has taken over as Queen button collector in the family. She has been fascinated with them since she was a little girl playing in my Mom's button collection, sifting them through her little fingers like sand.

   Showing collections off in a jar adds an eclectic touch in decorating and works especially well when grouped together. These old jars in my guest room contain various collections of old stamps, skeleton keys and pennies. I can't tell you why, but for several years now I've had this unexplainable urge to save every penny from my birth year and keep them in a jar (just call me RainMan). 

   

     My daughter presented me with this instant collection of miniature dentures on my last birthday. She told me that the moment she saw the quirky little things she knew that I would LOVE them (and I do!). They are  goofy little key chains and they CRACK ME UP! I need to put them near my bathroom sink to remind me to floss everyday but, for now, they sit on my art table and make me smile.

  Speaking of smiling - this jar of little plastic dolls has no special significance except they seem to creep everyone out, especially my daughter, which I find very amusing.
   Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed Collections in a Jar throughout this month at Whimsybop. Stay tuned next week when we focus on Collections in a ziplock bag (just kidding!). 
   Please feel free to post photos of your jar collections on my new Whimsybop facebook page - I'd love to see what sorts of fun things that YOU collect in a jar! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whimsybop/478628102184715?ref=hl

Collections in a jar 3

   There is a wonderful and magical phenomena that sometimes occurs when items are grouped together in a jar; it creates a sort of time capsule which not only encapsulates the items on display, but also emotion and memory. I find this to be true in my collection of small toys. I love collecting toys for many reasons, but one of my favorite reasons for collecting vintage toys is the reaction I get from others. I can't tell you how many times someone has looked into a jar of toys and has pulled out a memory. The collection becomes far more than something in a jar sitting on a shelf, but is rather a catalyst to something much more meaningful.

     This time capsule is full of toys mostly from my Saturday morning cartoon days. Thinking of my favorite cartoons, I am transported back to those days when there was only one television in the house which only had a few choice channels. It had no remote control and we had to turn it on then wait to let it "warm up" for a few minutes. I would always try to wake up early to allow enough time for my favorite shows before having to do the family ritual of Saturday morning chores. An endearing part of those cartoon days were the interruptions of "School House Rock" intermissions between cartoons; I still remember them to this day - a genius idea! 

   This jar, full of  yo-yos, bouncy balls and jacks comes in handy when kids are bored and need something to keep them busy. The collection is always kept at eye level so when kids visit our home, they will find it easily and feel comfortable to reach into it and pull out something fun and familiar to play with. I remember playing jacks on the hardwood floor in the living room on long summer days with my Mom and sisters.

 

     This collection of vintage agility games, also known as dexterity puzzles, remind me of the games that my siblings and I would play when we visited my Grandma's house in Cleveland (I can't remember if they were her games or if we brought them with us). The game I remember most was a handheld "Tomy" basketball game that was filled with water, (my siblings and I had a waiting list to play that one). The agility games in these jars are proof of a failed attempt to collect enough of them to hang on our game room wall. I had to finally stop because they were hard to find, and I could only find them at on-line auctions selling for unaffordable high prices. A few of my favorites are from the 1940's and made of tin and beautiful lithograph drawings of submarines, battleships and airplanes.

 The idea for this jar full of toys (center) came to me after I saw the DisneyPixar movie: Toy Story 2 and bawled my eyes out when Jessie the cowgirl sang her song: "When somebody loved me," (go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0 and see what I mean!). Shortly after watching the movie I started finding toys around the house that my kids used to play with, so in honor of Jessie the cowgirl and toys like her, I felt it my obligation to memorialize them in a jar. The note inside says: "Childhood - All too swiftly passes away."
   This last jar contains tokens, houses and cards from my all-time favorite board game: Monopoly. We didn't own a lot of board games when I was a kid, but we did own Monopoly and played it most during winter and summer vacation and cold, rainy days. Sometimes my brother, sisters and I would play a perpetual game that would last for an entire weekend. My brother always seemed to triumph over the three of us girls - sometimes bartering our household chores in lieu of paying him Monopoly money owed to him when we'd land on Boardwalk or Park Place with a hotel on it (My brother the real estate tycoon!).
   Take a look at that old Peter Pan Peanut Butter lid - is that a classic or what? It wasn't too long ago when everything came in a glass jar, now most jars are made of plastic - even Mrs. Butterworth's syrup now comes in plastic (gasp!) ...What is the world coming to?
   Stay tuned for the last Collections in a Jar; it's a good one! (Can you stand the excitement?)


Collections in a Jar 2

  

   In my last post I showed you a few collections I like to display in jars. Most of the jars I use for display are similar in size - with the exception of my five "Big Kahuna" jars that measure 13" tall and can hold a lot of stuff! I'm not exactly sure how old these jars are (or if they actually are old), nor am I sure what the jars were originally used for. My guess is that they are old pickle jars (does anyone know?)        
   When you walk into my newly renovated laundry room (oh, how I LOVE laundry day now!) you'll see this trio of jars high on a shelf. The first jar holds my collection of plastic advertisement icons from my childhood: The Stay Puft Marshmallow man, Snap, Crackle & Pop, The Pillsbury Dough boy and his Mrs., Sprout (I think he's related to the Jolly Green Giant) , Mr. Peanut, and Bob of Bob's Big boy restaurant. 
    Next on the shelf is my ever-growing collection of kitchy gadgets. I have lots more hiding in picnic baskets, but I had to stick these in a jar since they're just too cute and too colorful to keep them hidden.
   Last on this shelf is my jar full of cookie cutters. It's a mixture of new and vintage cookie cutters I love to use when I get in a baking mood.  I like keeping them in a jar because not only do I love seeing all the various shapes, but I don't have to wash them each time I use them because I know they're kept nice and clean even on a dusty shelf.
    
   I've been collecting McDonald's Happy Meal toys since my kids were wee little. Every summer we'd spend a few weeks visiting my folks in South Carolina and every Wednesday morning we'd hit the Pickens' flea market, (leaving the house before sunrise). My kids were always on the hunt for toys and would stop at EVERY vendor's space and go through boxes and boxes in search of their favorite action figures, superheroes and cartoon character toys, usually paying a dime or quarter for each one. Of course I couldn't just stand there and watch - like any good Mom I had to get on my knees and dig with them. Soon I began to take notice of the Happy Meal toys resembling my favorite McDonald's menu items and started my own pile on the ground - and a collection was born! I've slowed down buying them, primarily because my kids don't dig as much as they used to and the prices aren't cheap anymore either - but if I find one for a quarter or a dime, it's coming home with Mama!

   I've saved this jar for last because it's the grandfather of them all; it's my oldest and largest one and measures seventeen inches high! I bought it about twenty years ago at an antique shop in California and it has ALWAYS been my Pez jar (even before the kids came along). Once the kids joined our family the jar started filling up pretty fast - mostly because of a tradition we started which made the 1st day of each month our official family "Pez Day."
    On Pez Day the kids and I went out in search of a new Pez dispenser we did not yet own, which became quite a challenge after a few years. Pez Day eventually fizzled out after about 5 or 6 years; now our teenagers are happy to receive a new pez dispenser in their Christmas stocking and Easter basket. 

   Needless to say, we now have more Pez in our house than any family (or small country) should be allowed to have. Most of our Pez dispensers are hidden away in an undisclosed part of our home because if they were all out in the open, we'd be known as the freakish Pez hoarding family (and we wouldn't want that). It is comforting to know, however, in the event of a food shortage or a zombie apocalypse, our family will most likely outlive the remaining human race because of the crazy amount of Pez candy that will most likely sustain us during such a crisis (if you can make it over to our house, I promise we'll share). 

   Stay tuned for MORE Collections in a Jar - I know, the excitement is building!

 

Collections in a Jar

    Some people collect old canning jars (I have a few of those), and some folks collect old apothecary jars (I have a few of those too) - but my favorite jars to collect are chunky, over-sized jars with wide mouths in which I can show off a collection inside. I find this to be a neat & tidy way to display my smaller collections because they are easier to keep clean (jars are a cinch to dust off), and they are out in the open to be looked at and enjoyed instead of tucked away in a drawer, suitcase or closet.  
   Every now and then when the mood hits me I include a quote, verse from a song, poem, or scripture from the Bible which adds a little thought or whimsy to the jar and makes the contents a little more meaningful and/or fun.
   My TIME jar (pictured above) contains a small collection of old wrist watches, mostly broken. I wish I could say that these watches were all worn by my Dad, husband or someone that I love, but alas, they were not. Nope, these watches were all purchased from one dealer at a flea market last summer in hopes of tearing them apart to make a collage or to re-purpose them into jewelry. The only memory that is linked to these watches is the crazy amount of TIME that it took my daughter and I to sift through the heaps and heaps of costume jewelry (in the rain) in order to find them all! The little note inside of the jar is a Bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: "There is a TIME for everything and a season for every activity under Heaven..."

    This next jar isn't as much of a collection as it is a constant reminder that I am queen of procrastination! I transferred the film  into this jar from a shoebox when we moved here four years ago and it's so darn cute that the urge to develop the film has left me. I started getting lazy about film developing after we started using a digital camera. I'll bet this film is at least 12 years old - Yikes! I keep the jar on a shelf, with a few old cameras that I love, perched on top of the family stack of high school yearbooks.    
   This jar of vintage cookie cutters is the eye candy that I keep on my kitchen shelf along with my chrome canisters and cookie sprinkles - all things that make me happy when I'm baking up something good in the kitchen.
 

  

  I have a quirky habit of rescuing Scrabble games from yard sales & thrift stores. When the game is a fairly new one, I dump the tiles into this jar. I get a kick using the tiles to spell out little "notes" around the house. 

   This last jar is filled with vintage cowboy & Indian plastic toys that are waiting to be placed into a "Wild West" themed shadow box that I've been wanting to make for a few years now. I love these old vintage toys by the Louis Marx Toy Company - such classics! The jar shares a shelf with my vintage "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories" books (wholesome and wonderful stories from the 1940's) that I collected and read to my kiddos when they were young.

    Hey! I feel an idea coming on! Since I have so many more collections in jars that I'd love to share with you, I'm going to  feature "Collections in a Jar" for the entire month of April (try to CONTAIN your excitement), so stay tuned for "Collections in a Jar: The Sequel!"

P.S. I'd love to see photos of  your collections in a jar - please post them on my "NEW" Whimsybop facebook page! Click here to link to Whimsybop on Facebook!

Collecting vintage hats, gloves & purses: Grandma's Beads

  When you take a peek into my guest room you will soon realize that I have a soft spot for vintage beads, hats & clunky vinyl purses. I think the gal who gets the credit (or blame) for this collection is my dear sweet Grandma Maar, who had a flair for fashion. My Grandma, Teresia Maar immigrated to America  in 1954 from Yugoslavia with her husband Rudolf and their six children, (my mom was six years old at the time). Their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean brought them through Ellis Island and the family made their way to Cleveland, Ohio where they settled and had one more child.

  I love looking at old black & white photographs of my Grandma in her younger years; although life was hard and money was tight, Grandma was definitely a woman of  style.  From my careful study of those old photos, I've learned Grandma had a thing for floral dresses, high heel shoes, scarves, hats and most definitely large strands of beads, clip-on earrings and rectangular shiny purses! Regardless of her fashions being second hand purchases from thrift stores, she was adorable as well as classy - all 4foot 11inches of her!
   Sadly, no one in my family recalls where Grandma's jewelry, hats & handbags went to when she passed away. Through the years I've pieced together a small collection of items that could have been hers; things that were all the rage back in those "good old days" when ladies dressed up to go to church, the grocery store, out to eat, and even while vacuuming the living room carpet (a lesson taught by those classic tv moms of the 50's and 60's). 
   I love scouring flea markets, antique malls and even Grandma's old stomping ground: the thrift store for all things old and sylish! Vintage beads are still fairly easy to find and you can nab a strand for about $3 to $20 depending on where you look. Hats and purses are more challenging to find, especially finding them in good shape; they tend to average between $5 - $45.

    I love showing off my vintage pretties in unique & unexpected ways. The old metal plant stand (shown above) painted white makes a great display for my collection of old hats.  Purses are adorable attached to a wall with beads, hankies and gloves hanging from the clasp (I used tiny brass nails to hang them). Beads look fun when dangled from an old coffee mug tree, piled high on a pretty cake stand, or placed in a beautiful bowl or in a special container such as an empty heart-shaped box of chocolates. When you dangle them from the side they look as if they're trying to escape and when they're heaped together in swirls of color they remind me of pirate's booty and of those sweet times when my children used them as props in their make-believe world of pirates, spies, knights and fairy tale princesses.

   Although the beads in my collection never belonged to my Grandma, there's something about them that makes me feel as if I'm connected to her and to women like her who lived in a world so different from my own. I am reminded of a generation of women who were ladies in every sense of the word; who knew that true beauty was just as much inward as it is outward, and who embraced their femininity and their roles as wives and mothers. As I said a few posts back - I grew up in the wrong era! Oh well, what can I do except clasp some dangly beads around my neck and get out the vacuum cleaner!

  



Collecting vintage brushes: Marked with Love

   My husband's birthday is coming up and I still don't know what I'm going to get the man, (after 23 years of marriage you would think that I'd have this down to a science). For the past two years on MY birthday he has given me gift certificates to my favorite antique shops, so I guess he doesn't have it down to a science either, (and I always thought I was easy to buy for). Last year, about four months before his birthday I found a beautiful old desk at an antique store and put it on lay-away, using my "mad money" to make payments so he wouldn't suspect, which he didn't. He was very surprised and quite impressed that I pulled it off, and I think he even liked it - an added bonus! This old brush, however, reminds me of one of his birthdays that I didn't pull off.

    I bought this vintage brush for my husband's birthday about ten years ago. I'm not sure what kind of brush it is - I always thought it was a shoe brush but now that I've been watching "Downton Abbey" episodes on the telly, I don't know what it could have been used for (those gentlemen seemed to have a brush for everything back then). It is made of soft leather, and the bristles are definitely made from some type of animal hair. The inscription reads: "R.O. Applewhite Christmas 1948" and is signed, although I can't make out the signature.

   I put the brush in an adorable little shoe shine box I found at a yard sale and filled it with a few more brushes, old and new, along with various cans of shoe polishes and leather conditioners. I truly thought he'd be impressed with such a gift, because, after all, he was as a Marine and had a thing for shiny shoes, boots in particular. As soon as my husband opened his gift I could tell that he wasn't nearly as thrilled to receive it as I was to give it. He politely said "Thank you" and put it down on the floor where it remained and eventually made its way behind the living room door. The funny thing is no matter where we've called "home" these past ten years, that shoe shine box always gets unpacked and placed behind the living room door (it does make an excellent doorstop). Thankfully, he's a good sport and doesn't complain; perhaps he has come to terms with the fact that his wife enjoys shopping at antique malls much more than going to shopping malls.

   Getting back to that old brush. I get warm fuzzies when I find an old treasure that has been marked with an inscription. It shows, in a tangible way, it belonged to, and was used by, someone who is no longer with us. It's almost as sacred to me as a tombstone in a forgotten old cemetery.

   I also love the fact the giver of the gift was kind and generous enough to go the extra mile and not only present something special, but mark it in a way that would always remind the recipient of a milestone or special event in their life.

   We hardly do that anymore. Maybe it's because things aren't made to last; most items are manufactured so inexpensively it's not worth the money to put an inscription on. Perhaps, too, it's because our generation seems to become tired and bored with our stuff - we like to change things up, get rid of the old and start fresh every so often. I'm just as guilty as the next person. The sad reality is we don't see things as valuable nor hold onto things to pass them down to others as generations have done before us.

   Regardless of the reasons, inscriptions make these treasures of the past all the more endearing because they have been marked with love. Now if I could only find the "perfect" treasure to present my dear husband to mark his birthday with love and make his heart go pitter patter as it does mine - wish me luck! 

   Question: What do YOU get for a man who doesn't seem to need anything?

Collecting kitchen tables: Chrome + Formica = FUN!

     There's nothing like a bright red formica table to welcome back-door friends into my kitchen. I adore these old dinette sets from days gone by  and I'm drawn to them just as a small child is drawn to collecting rocks or seashells.  Through the years, I have gathered a small collection of these kitchy darlings in various shapes and sizes, but, due to their size, it is impossible to display them all at once. Because of this factor, there are some tables that lie in wait in the closet beneath the stairs. Their "coming out" party will probably be when my kids leave the nest and are in need of furniture for their first apartments - no problem, I've got 'em covered. 

   My decorating tastes have evolved considerably since my husband and I were newlyweds in the late eighties; believe it or not, I started out with wicker baskets, bunnies, geese & gingham.  After a few years of marriage and a move to southern California, my decorating tastes morphed into out-of-control Coca-Cola craziness, which I blame on visiting the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia on our trip cross country. We got our first red formica & chrome table (pictured above), during those Coke years when our friends, Bo & Deb went antiquing in Pennsylvania.  Bo found it in the hayloft in a barn turned antique shop under a pile of hay, and, knowing that I was in the market for one, he called us in California and the rest is history!  It's the table my kids will probably remember most when they look back on their childhood.

   A couple of years later I introduced pinks, aquas, yellows and greens to my home making it the pastel paradise that it is today. My next chrome & formica purchase was a large oval yellow table with funky chrome balls in the pedestal and a leaf that made a great extension when company came over to share a meal. I had the chairs reupholstered in aqua vinyl to match a set I saw in Mary Englebreit's Home Companion magazine, [let us pause for a moment of silence to remember my favorite magazine now out of publication...]. The groovy aqua chairs are pictured above around my red table, but the yellow table now lies in darkness in the closet beneath the stairs.

   My yellow drop-leaf table (pictured above) is currently my kitchen "island" and I love it dearly. My daughter and I found it on our first trip to the Hillsville Flea Market in 2009 and purchased it from a vendor who came all the way from Ohio. I still remember the "walk of pain" my 13 year-old daughter and I endured as we carried it uphill for at least a half mile until our fingers were numb and calves were mooing in pain - a great memory now, but not so fun at the time!

   The blue oval one that currently sits on our back porch (pictured below) was purchased at an antique shop in the adorable town of  Elizabethton, Tennessee. I paid much more than I should have - but it's BLUE, and blue is not an easy find, so it was worth it to me. 

   I now have all the colors that I need, (two greens and another yellow are also beneath the stairs)...but I still have one more color to go - a PINK one! I saw one once when I was antiquing, but it was way too pricey for my budget so I passed on it. I still have dreams about it, beautiful pink dreams of the one that got away! 

     I don't know what it is about the intense colors of formica and the shiny polished chrome that have forged such an enduring place in my heart. Maybe they remind me of an era that could have been mine if I was just born a decade or two sooner. They remind me of the days of Lucy & Ethyl scheming up a plan or playing Bridge with Ricky & Fred, or of Aunt Bea serving up pot roast and apple pie to Andy & Opie. An era when folks sat around the kitchen table peeling potatoes and snapping beans, when it was fashionable to wear an apron and when it was okay for women to be housewives and raise their own children.  

    A friend of mine, who is in her 70's, visited my home and couldn't stop raving about the kitchen; she pointed out all of the various items that were in the room that were similar to her childhood home, including the chrome & formica table and chairs. It was fascinating to hear the details of her childhood that each item in the room had brought to her mind. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon of recollections from her past, and after she had left, it dawned on me that my children will have those sorts of memories too, but over a half century later - Wow! Talk about messing with someone's head!

   Hopefully our children will have fond memories of their childhood too; talking, laughing, reading devotions, playing games, shucking corn, enjoying pot roast with mashed potatoes & gravy - all those blessings that bring a family together around a kitchen table, no matter what the table may look like.

Beware: Color is contagious!

   I baked banana bread this morning and had to fetch the step stool to reach my favorite pyrex loaf pans from the shelf.  I got them down, rinsed and dried each one and, as I carefully sat them down on my little yellow table that I use as my kitchen island, it dawned on me how much I love the colors red, yellow and blue (aqua blue in particular). In fact, I realized for the first time that I love these colors so much that they show up, not just in quirky things I collect, but also ON my house! Take a look!  
   I give you exhibit A: my kitchen. First, let me direct you to the left of the countertop to my red & white striped popcorn bowl, which is where I keep my clean stash of dishcloths. When you look at the rest of the counter, it's not hard at all to figure out which colors I'm drawn to (of course there's much more color in this kitchen to show you, but that will have to wait for another time).

    Now I give you exibit B and exhibit C - the colors that I chose for the exterior of our out-buildings and house. Can you believe it? The funniest thing is that I obviously must have a thing for red & white stripes too, because there they are again on the awning of our little guest cottage (crazy huh?).

   When we moved into our home almost four years ago it was antique white with putty-colored shudders & trim, not ugly, but just not me. Choosing new house colors was a bit of a challenge; at first I thought pink with white trim and shutters, but the men in the family quickly protested - especially the younger one, who blurted out, "Come on Mom, I'm going into middle school, don't do that to me!" He had a point.

   Yellow was next in line and no one seemed to object; only I wanted to kick it up a notch and use something other than white trim - something like aqua and red. When the house painter painted the front door he asked me to come out and make sure that I liked it before his crew painted the windows to match. I had the kids come out with me. We walked straight out to the sidewalk before turning around, then turned at the same moment for the ultimate surprise. My daughter and I actually said "WOW!" in unison while my son, in a tone of frustration exclaimed, "Oh great - now we live in a circus house!" (who knew that an eleven year old boy could be so passionate about color?)
    A circus house? Hmm...well, I guess this would be a good time to show you exhibit D: the clown planter sitting on the other side of the popcorn bowl (he hides my stash of goofy things I save like bread clips, rubber bands, and caps from soda bottles and milk jugs).
   Why am I drawn to circus colors? Who knows? Maybe it's because they are so colorful and cheerful, or maybe because I was voted "Class Clown" by my high school senior class ...or maybe it's because I live with a bunch of clowns in our big yellow, red and aqua fun house, aka the circus house, aka Home sweet Home. Yep, I bet that's it.

   

Collecting the odd & quirky: Thelma & Louise

     I bought this little beauty a few years ago and she reminds me of a wild and crazy day I had with my friend Erika in Orlando, Florida.

    I was in Orlando attending a Children's Pastor's Conference with a group of gals from my church whom I served with in Children's ministry. On the last day of the conference Erika and I decided to play hookie and go antiquing. We rented a car and played "beat the clock" in an attempt to hit as many antique shops as possible before our mid-afternoon flight back home.
     It was a wonderful plan and a glorious day; the weather was bright and beautiful and we were two gals on a mission. We had plenty of cash between us, a vehicle that wasn't a minivan, and a lunch that didn't include a cheap plastic toy. We were dangerous.
   We were Thelma and Louise, only we didn't break any laws - we kept to the speed limit, each and every U-turn was legal, and the car's four tires remained on the road at all times (except for that little mishap on the curb).
   Unfortunately this shopping excursion took place in the pre-GPS days and neither one of us had great map-reading skills, but who needed map skills when you're two women on an adventure without men? We just kept asking for directions every few blocks or so until we hit an antique store and then we'd ask the clerk for directions to the next one on our way out. It was like a crazy scavenger hunt all over town - and it was fun!
   We laughed our way through Orlando for about five hours until we had to call it quits and ask for directions one final time and make haste to the airport. We arrived just in time and raced to meet our friends who were waiting at the gate for us; my beloved lady lamp tucked beneath my arm.
   As we approached our friends they stood staring wide-eyed at my lady lamp. Surprisingly, their fixed gaze was not in adornment but of shock, (Remember the 1983 movie, "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie's dad put his leg lamp in the front window? Well these gals had the same look as Ralphie's mom). When I asked the question, "Isn't she a great?" and they realized that I actually meant it, their mouths dropped to the floor in perfect synchronization.
    Oh well, it didn't matter, I loved my purchase and still love her to this day. In fact, my husband and children presented me with her twin as a Mother's day gift three years ago, (and sent me on a scavenger hunt to find her). Do you know what I call my lovely twin lamp ladies? You guessed it: "Thelma & Louise!" (thanks for the memories Erika!)