Indulge Your Shelf

I just learned from a friend that the first death here in Colorado from H1N1 was a woman who lived near me and was about my age. Her husband is also ill with the flu. My friend who, like me, loves to frequent the thrift stores, told me that she was donating stuff to our favorite thrift store a few days ago and had a chilling conversation with the volunteer taking donations. He told her that the man in the car in front of her was the widower of the woman who had just passed away. The volunteer pointed to the large pile of the deceased wife's clothing the grieving man, also ill, had just dropped off and wondered aloud if it was safe to touch. Think about it! I know we are all careful to clean what we get from thrift stores, flea markets, and other recycled outlets. I have always kept a canister of Clorox wipes in the car and use them when I come out of any thrift store, and especially before I drink or eat. This year, more than ever my friends, be especially vigilant !

When I woke up this morning, far too early for a Sunday, in my opinion, here was the sight outside my window: That's fog outside my window, so much so that you can't see the house across the street! Fog of course always makes me think of my hometown of San Francisco, and seems drearily out of place here in Colorado, where there's no ocean and thus no foghorns moaning in the distance. Foghorn Foghorn Leghorn No foghorns, but ATV's. My sleep was interrupted last night at 2 a.m., exactly, by kids on ATVs who like to drag race up and down our perfectly straight side street. You never get that good sleep back -- you know how that is. I tossed and turned for 45 minutes afterward. When I came downstairs just now my eyes were assaulted by the incredible mess on my dining room table where, despite the fact that I have an office, is where I prefer to do my crafting. It is literally spilling over with scrapbooking paper, trims, and ephemera. That's because I've been...

Last night I argued with both my son and my husband. It's a rarity anymore for Dennis and I to argue; not so much with my son Ben and I, since he's 12 and already exhibiting teen aged behavior. Still, it was very upsetting and I awoke this morning feeling upset and frazzled. The only thing I thought might make me feel better was to enjoy some craft time, which I haven't had much of this week. So, after spending a few weeks admiring it all, I finally got around to creating some tags of my own using some of Karla's wallpaper : Now that I look at them, you can really tell I was having "the blues", eh?! I used lots of vintage seam binding, pages from sheet music and dictionaries, old buttons and jewelry. Most of the pieces are completely vintage! I really enjoyed myself! I think I'll keep one or two for myself, and put the rest in my Etsy shop . Which is your favorite?

I am a huge fan of Karla Nathan, who has a boutique , an Etsy shop and a friendly and delightful blog called Karla's Cottage . If you love vintage everything like me, you'll love her blog and her wares and you'll wish she was your next-door-neighbor, like I do. I recently purchased my first package from Karla when she offered her readers a sale, and I adore every bit of it . Initially, I was going to just get this wonderful little blank "album" made from antique and vintage wallpaper: Don't you love the details? She included some scraps of wallpaper in the package, so that when you began to fill the blank pages you can use them to coordinate! She also left the binding "loose" so that you can fill it with heavily embellished pieces. I've been taking the album with me to friend's houses, because I'm so in love with it, and also to show them exactly what I love (since it can be so hard to explain why old wallpaper makes me giddy!) But wh...

You know my friend Linda who I introduced you to at the bottom of this post ? WELL, I recently received my most recent purchase from her and I am in Button Heaven ! Join me! She included bonus buttons because she's so wonderful and she knew it would make me swoon: And as if that wasn't enough, she also sent some amazingly fabulous vintage rick rack packages! And this tiny framed quilt scrap (with buttons!) The gift was the frame, which she said made her think of me! I love it when someone "gets" me! The tiny frame now lives on the shelf above one of my bookcases. The little frame now shares space with: a photo (taken at a Christmas party a few years ago), a Tim Gunn (from Project Runway) bobblehead (he talks: "Fab-u-lous", "Make it Work!", "Carry On"), my service award clock from my last job, some vintage books, and a cup without a saucer that's still too beautiful to throw away. Behind it all is a collage I made to honor my fath...

It's going to be a busy week for me, but I must still take a few minutes to show you some of the thrift store goodness I've been finding lately: I have several other small pieces of blue glass in this color, so I was glad to find this little basket to go alongside them on my bathroom windowsill. And, I was thrilled to finally score this little revolving rubber stamp holder! It will be perfect as a display if I ever decide to do a craft fair again; for now, I think I'm going to use it for my small ATC collection! I found these both at my favorite thrift store. I have always wanted one of these round sewing baskets. Even though the rest of the beads are missing on top, the large, purplish round handle is in great shape! And what's more... this one came filled with all kinds of charming crafting stuff! It was a great $2 buy at the flea market. Here are some fun linens, including a needlepoint and some crochet and tatting. I just adore the pattern and color scheme on...

Here's my trifle recipe, in case you, like me, find yourself with an abundance of raspberries -- and, it's the easiest thing to make, because you don't need to fuss with quantities. Add more, add less, leave something out -- it will still taste great! 1 10 oz. angel cake 1/2 cup sweet sherry 1 cup of berries - raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry, or any combination fresh vanilla pudding (recipe follows) 1 cup heavy cream slivered almonds toasted sliced almonds Cut the angel food cake into 1 inch pieces and put them in a glass bowl. Pour the sherry over the cake and toss. Add the half the berries and half the slivered almonds, then pour the vanilla pudding over the mixture. Reserve a few berries, then add the rest of the berries and slivered almonds. Spoon the whipped cream over the top, then sprinkle the toasted sliced almonds over the cream and a few more berries for decoration. Keep chilled until ready to serve. Vanilla pudding: 1/2 cup sugar 2 ...

As one can tell from my blog's name, I'm a big fan of showing off trifles on any surface that can make a shelf, like the top of my cabinets in the kitchen: I took this photo to celebrate the McCoy pot in front, the green one in the middle, which was a gift from my mother-in-law when we were in St. Louis. It was on her shelf, I admired it, and she was happy to pass it along. A few weeks later I happened upon a tea cup "cabinet" at a very good price. So, I was able to clear off a crowded shelf of my china cabinet and put it to good use: That pink pottery piece on top is Coors. I thought you might also like to see part of my bumper raspberry crop: I cut the plants WAY back this year, but they must have liked it because we literally cannot keep up with the abundance! I used some of them to make a summer trifle, with homemade vanilla pudding, toasted almonds, and real whipped cream: (That's the trifle, our good friends who moved (sniffle) and my husband and I, toas...

This flower cart reminds me of Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady." Here's the Before : And here's the After : Now, this one I love !

Remember the antique window I blogged about ? Here's Before : And here's After : I have about five cuts on my poor little hands from all the wire, staples, and various other rough edges! Ouch! I attached a piece of ironwork and two pretty glass doorknobs on the bottom... I like it, but I don't love it, and I need to love it because it's in my line of vision on my bedroom wall when I'm laying in bed! I'm open to suggestions! Update: When I was out swimming laps, I got a brainstorm for how to make the window look better. The solution involved a shabby old white drawer front and the same blue paint that is on the bottom of the walls of my bedroom: Now what do you think?