Treasures

Many little treasures have made their way

into my life this week.

 I have an overachiever Bleeding Heart plant.

Always earlier and bigger

than the others, but this year

is by far the earliest blooming date.

One of my favorites garden classics.

I first spied one of these and thought it was ceramic.

To my delight, it is actually made out of wood.

Dreamy.

Even dreamier when I found it's mate

hidden on the next shelf.

Hey muchacha.

This coy little fella caught my eye.

I think he is a chihuahua.

He is made out of some funky spiky stuff

and all dressed up

with sombrero and glitter.

How absolutely silly.

Check me out amiga.

 Speaking of silly.

This cutie found me

just in time for Easter.

So much joy packed into tiny packages.

My Favorite Find

Calling all treasure hunters!

Serena Thompson of the Farm Chicks

has just launched an amazing new site called

My Favorite Find

It's an online community dedicated to all you hunters and gatherers out there.

You can post a photo of your favorite recent score, share the locale of a great shop, flea market or sale, and give a shout out for your own shop, tag sale, occasional sale etc etc.

Brilliant, right?!

If you are headed to a new hunting grounds, just type in the zip or city and pre-scout some shopping stops!

Build your online junker profile and community, sharing tips and swapping stories...

I know I'll be putting this site to good use!

Special Delivery

What a treat
to receive an
unexpected package
from a fellow collector.
Sheila found my post
about collecting clothespins
and was sweet enough
to share a bit of her own collection.

Even the box

got into the act

with this dreamy photo

of clotheslines.

Here are a few of my favorites..

*nutcracker design

*mighty mites-small but packs a punch!

*a  lady's head-I have a few of these in my collection already, and I LOVE them!

*this color-need I say more?

*an odd paper clip-like design in blue and yellow

*really cool design featuring a metal ring-very sculptural

So many designs, colors and innovations

in such a tiny, everyday item.

Thank you, thank you

Sheila

for sharing the

collector's love.

xoxo Christine

Earring Storage

My long search for the proper ring storage was finally rewarded with this amazingly easy solution.
After posting about the project, I had a couple of requests for a post about my earring storage.
Earrings are perhaps the smallest of my jewelry categories. I have lots of necklaces, lots of bracelets,
and lots of brooches. My earrings, however, all fit (for now) onto one small display board.

I bought a stack of these boards years ago on clearance at Target-for the whopping price of .99 each!
They sat in my closet for quite some time before I called them into service for the jewelry room.

I simply hang the earrings from the ribbons strung horizontally across the board, and tuck in a vintage

postcard or two to add another dose of fun!

You can easily make something similar using this great tutorial from the DIY network.
(Just string your ribbon in a horizontal/vertical manner rather than criscrossing)
http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-ribbon-bulletin-board/index.html

I'm also now inspired to dream up some new earring storage solutions, so check back for more ideas
in the upcoming weeks.

Collecting: A peek inside my drawers

Vintage utensils are one

of my collecting "categories".

They're fun and cheap and useful. But you can quickly end up with unweildly drawers full of them. If you can even get the drawer open, you have to dig through bottle openers and melon ballers to find that perfect cheese knife.

I generally rely on vintage cutlery holders to corral everything, but this metal cabinet puts them to shame. The long narrow slots that formerly housed metal springs are perfect for organizing utensils.

Makes it super easy to select

just the right fork or spoon for the job.

Each implement in it's own little home.

So happy.

This gem lives on my dining room sideboard,

keeping everything handy for eating and entertaining.







January organizing

As a rather obsessive organizer, I get totally caught up with the idea of fresh starts in the new year and re-jigging everything after the craziness of the holiday season. Amidst my usual overdose of organizing in the past two weeks, I happened upon a REALLY exciting solution-one for an organizing conundrum that has plagued me for years. I strutted triumphantly around the house all day after completing this one.

Yup. I was happy.

 And so proud of my conquest.

Take that clutter!

THE SET UP:

I like to collect jewelry.

"Whoa-wait just a minute", some of you may be saying.

Ok. Fine.

I like to collect LOTS of jewelry.

And most of it is neatly displayed in my jewelry room.

The only exception has been my rings.

I want to be able to select just the perfect one to complement that day's ensemble.

But when they are jumbled willy nilly in a dish,

or stacked 8 high on a holder,

it's just too much work.

And my hands leave the house naked.

It couldn't be that hard to find a functional display, right?

wrong.

I studied every aisle at every craft store, hardware store, garden store, bakery,

(hey-can't leave any stone unturned)

and came up with nada.

I asked my exceptionally handy husband to make something for me.

More than once.

Usually up for a project,

he just gave me a lot of head scratching

and blank looks.

hrrmmmppph.

THE SOLUTION:

Joann Fabrics comes through.

I was combing the aisles last week for a ribbon organizer

(another ongoing conundrum)

and HOIDILY!

I spied a wooden spool rack.

The short tidy rows of tiny wooden dowels

seemed like the perfect perches for my ring collection.

At a price tag of 5.99.

I nearly skipped out of the store.

(okay, maybe I did actually skip a little once I hit the parking lot)

(and did one teeny tiny fist pump)

That's nice, you're all saying.

Just please get to the project already......

 The rack as it looked off the shelf.

 I removed the legs because I want to hang it on the wall,

(just two simple screws to take out)

but you could leave them on and stand it up on your dresser.

Then I gave it a coat of spray paint.

My current faves are hammered metallics from Rustoleum.

 I then looped a ball chain necklace around the tops of the vertical pieces.

Makes a super quick, easy, and stylish hanger for my newly legless rack.

 See now this lets me store just one or two rings on a peg.

Grab and go!

 Oh. I love it. Pitter patter goes my little organizer's heart.

Wall space is a little hard to come by in the jewelry room, so I just looped it over my dress hanger for now.

It may move to that little sliver of wall just to the right of the silver framed mirror in this photo.

I can't commit to a nail yet. For now, I may move it to a new spot in the house every day.

Just to bask in the glory.



Pattern Play

Around our house this weekend.

Patterns and prints.

 My new favorite quilt perched on the end of our bed and making me smile.

 Working on various inpiration boards by clipping and dreaming.

Peeking out is the oh so happy tablecloth on my dining room table.

 Found a sweet shop full of dreamy clothes and colorful clogs, and came home with this beauty.

Bound to be a regular shopping stop for me in 2012.

http://poppytogsandclogs.com/

 In my new year organizing spree, I hauled these vintage ties out of the closet

and hung them on a door so we can enjoy them every day.

 The guest room got a little sprucing up too, including this stack of colorful tins.

What is happening in your home this weekend?

Collecting :Mexican pottery

It has been awhile since I've done a collecting post. During the long winter here, it's rarer that I am out and about buying any trinkets to add to my silly collections. This past weekend, I picked up this little guy for .59, and it inspired me to share this collection with you.

As you know by now, my collections are not valuable in the monetary sense. But, they are valuable in the joy that they bring me every day. I really don't know much about these Mexican pots, but they are full of color and flowers and, sometimes, plants. That's enough for me to love them.

Don't they make you smile? They live on my front porch, which is just waiting for warm spring days
and long summer nights. For now, it's another two inches of snow tonight......glad I have these sweeties to lift my spirits.

Contain yourself.

I like containers of every variety.
Bunches of things tossed into a bowl or loaded into a jar make me happy.
If items are stowed away where I can't see them,
then I might forget about them.
Then they would be sad. Or stale. Or expired.
If they are tucked into a cute container,
then I can appreciate them everyday,
or put them to good use.

 Vocabulary cards on the coffee table...so we can quiz each other over morning coffee.

 My favorite little cowboys and cowgirls.

(When I first put these out, S almost popped one in his mouth, thinking they were candy:)

 For impromptu craps games. ok. Not really.  I don't even know how to play craps.They just look cool.

 One of the most important utensils in my life....pie servers!

 Napkin rings that I've never used, but I like the way they look.

 Mints by the back door, in case I need to freshen up on the run.

 When I get home from the grocery store,

 I like to display my goods in pretty containers throughout the kitchen.

 A particularly fabulous green melamine bowl from a dear friend:)

 Bathroom staples are kept handy....bath salts, even though I've discovered that

our new bathtub is really too shallow for baths.......

............extra tealites in a super thrift store find...

...... and washcloths tucked into a vintage plastic planter.

How about you?

Are you nutty for bowls and baskets and jars too?

Do you display your stuff or stick it in a cupboard?



Collections and side tables

After impulsively getting rid of a side table in our living room, we lived without one for months. I was sure that, by ditching the piece that I didn't really love, it would magically guide the right one into our lives.

 It didn't work.

Obviously, this was because I already owned just the right thing.

My metal picnic tin collection had been living in the basement since we moved into this house.

I saw them every day when I was working in the basement studio,

but it seemed so sad that they weren't out in the house,

living free and being seen by more eyes every day.

This design solution brought my treasured picnic tins out into the world again,

and provides a fantastic multi-tiered side table. It adds interest to this wall,

and offers platforms for plants, decorative elements (like my folded book art),

 books and morning coffee cups. Two solutions in one-gotta love that!

One little confession? There are still more picnic tins in the basement:)

If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, be sure to do so.....

http://piesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/01/maryjanes-farm.html

Collecting: Clothespins

Thanks to my dear friend, Lisa,
I have a spectacular new addition to
my clothespin collection!

Line Birds!!
Bird shaped clothespins........
Have you ever seen anything cuter?!?
Sometimes, I think that I've seen every little
collectible thing ever made.
Then someone lays these on me.
Such a dear friend.
Such a dear treat.

Collecting: Vintage handbags

I honestly did not realize how many vintage purses I own until I started photographing them for this post.
It also inspired me to add finding a clever handbag display to my list of things to do.  At the farm, I had this super cute vertical rack in our bedroom.....

.....but just have not found a good way to show them off in this house. Sadly, this means that they are hidden away in my closet right now. It was fun to get them out for the photos and visit with all of them again. And yes, I mean that literally. As I was shooting them, it became obvious that they all had their own personalities and best angles, so I was verbally coaxing them into poses. Too much time alone this week?

My favorite, favorite tapestry bag.

I borrowed this one from my mother when I was home for a class reunion, and haven't returned it yet. oops!

An assortment of cool bags decorated with plastic beads.....I am obviously drawn to these.

A detail of those funny plastic bead thingies.

but wait, there are more....

casual red.

This little number. oh my. it's red. its's got a scrunchy drawstring top. also lots of pockets.

and! a bandana print lining.

it's the shizzle.

A very thoughtful gift from a very thoughful friend.

Do you think she knew that orange is my favorite color?!

formal red.

Oh-this one is adorable. Hard sided pink with super sweet details. Swoon worthy, for sure.

Oh wait. What's that. Another purse covered in plastic beads?

and another

and one more.

This is the perfect little size for summer evening outings, and always gets a lot of attention.

I love the chunky beads on this one, but never actually use it, because it's, well, too chunky.

Form over function.

My collection of tooled leather purses has somehow dwindled down to just this one.

But, it's a good one! I particularly love the wooden button and the yummy color.

Another thoughtful gift-this time from my parents.

I like the simplicity of the back just as much as the intricacy of the front.

Amazing beadwork.

A girl can never be without a classic silver evening bag.....

and, of course, a gold one.

 I once met a woman who kept her vintage purse collection in a specially designed, climate controlled closet. She had some serious handbags. I won't be taking it that far, but these little beauties do need to make their way out of the closet soon.