Still Decorating....

We've been in our house for 11 months now, but are still getting pictures up! Part of the hold-up has been plaster walls! We've always had drywall; but with plaster you can't just pound a nail in. Also, I had to thrift some album covers to stick in these ikea frames:

Here's a closer look:

None of them have any particular meaning except for the Sound of Music soundtrack (one of my favourites when I was a kid - and we had this album!). I just chose mustard yellow as a colour to tie them all together.

May Long Going-ons

I had a glorious long weekend.  Went to a friend's for Friday night libations, shopped Saturday for long-weekend necessities (see below), went for a bike ride along the river on Sunday, and gardened Monday.

We've been looking for a patio dining table for a few weeks, but were limited by two factors. First, price.  And second, I wanted something bright and white, like on Magnum P.I. Which I've been watching on Netflix in anticipation of our trip to Maui in December (this is why we have to scrimp on the patio furniture).  Almost every outdoor scene has great white, multi-coloured and yellow furniture.  It looks 'happy' to me.  See? (all images from magnum-mania.com)

  I've scoured websites and popped into stores, but unlike the selection of white furniture apparently available in 1983, all there really is now is brown, grey, black and khaki-coloured sets.  On Saturday, I had a feeling I might find something at the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  We hadn't been before, but I was able to convince Hus to go.  Success!  We found this white table for $5!

It is a little scratched up on top.  I might give it a paint later in the summer.  We purchased these folding chairs at Canadian Tire.  So far, I am happy with them.  And such a happy green!  Not shown is a yellow patio umbrella.  I 'hacked' these Ikea soap dishes, with Hens and Chicks for a table topper....

I did some other gardening.  I planted an herb garden...

 And wanted to plant flowers, but then realized none of my other planters made the move last summer.  No worry, my next door neighbour was having a garage sale and I found some awesome '60s or '70s planters.... $1 each....

Deer!  One is perched on the stump of the overgrown fir next to the door that Hus cut down last summer.  Check out the crazy cross-eyes on this one...

Here is a picture of the front of our house...

All of this gardening was really tiring, and I was baking in the warm sunshine. So we went for cervezas and I got this free hat.  Perfect for more gardening!

Here is my gardening assistant modelling it....

Looking forward to more sunny days and cervezas this summer!

Storage Area Shelving

We've been organizing a corner of our basement.  

Actually, first Hus had to destroy a corner of our basement!  Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures, but one corner had a cold room and a creepy little darkroom circa late 1960s. Our nephew immediately dubbed it the 'kill room' since there was a shower stall immediately outside of it (He's a Dexter fan).  Well the creepiness started to get to us, especially since there was no window in the room, but  the outside of the house has one where the room is!  Who puts walls over windows?  Also the coldness was starting to get to us.  The cold room was immediate below our rather chilly bedroom.  So over a few weekends, Hus pulled it all out.  The dark room was so shoddily built, that he didn't even need tools!

Lo and behold, the window that the wall was erected over, was open a crack.  For over forty years! In Edmonton! It gets cold here; this weekend it hit a low of -38 celsius!  So with the window now closed and air circulating throughout our basement, our house is much warmer and cozier.

But where to put all of our storage?  Another trip to Ikea for utility shelving.  But I wanted to incorporate something 'vintage' from the mess that we pulled out, so we saved this groovy, psychedelic shelf liner to gussy up the boring shelving:

And I cut out some bunting for the shelving:

Close up:

This is the extent of my DIY decorating skills.  At least everything is contained now, in a non-creepy space.

Trio of Tables

When we moved provinces this summer, we came dining table-less.  We now have three places to sit (four - if you count TV trays at the couch).

We needed something immediately, so IKEA came to the rescue to furnish our kitchen in August.

It is a small space, so we bought this bamboo-veneered table.  A better picture is here.  Since the two ends flip up it has come in handy the few times we've had guests.  We decided on the Sigurd chairs, which have a great design but aren't the most comfortable to sit in.

Then in October, I decided that I needed some cheap seating for my 70s rumpus room basement bar.  Not wanting to spend much, I found this vintage '50s metal card table on kijiji.  I had never seen anything like this before.  It's in pretty good condition, and made by Cooey Metal Products.  Due to the wonders of the internet I found out that the company operated on Ontario from 1941 to 1989.  Unfortunately, the plant contaminated the site, which the province is still trying to get cleaned up.

The weird thing is, is two weeks after I bought the table, Hus came home with two of the same card tables in red (no chairs).  He got them for free while helping clean out an office at his work.  One is in our basement pantry now, and the other is in the garage awaiting a purpose.  

And just two weekends ago, I found a use for the money that I made at our moving-out yard sale in the summer.  It took months and months of trolling on kijiji, but I finally found a '60s teak dining set!

The solid top comes off and two "wings" come out from the ends to expand the table.  I'm not in love with the mushroom colour upholstery, but that can be changed at some point.  The important thing is that it is in great condition, was a reasonable price, and is small enough to fit in the space.  We had to pass over so many beautiful ones that would have just been too large.  Now I just have to find a buffet & hutch.  Hopefully it doesn't take another 8 months! 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

....let it STOP!

Second time shovelling today!  Hus did the first round.  But the shovelling is easier in Alberta compared to the North Coast of BC where the snow comes down sodding wet and heavy.  I am also sporting my new (yes, brand new for once!) Calvin Klein parka.  At least I got it on a 50% off sale.  I am thinking that I am going to need the hood once the temperature drops some more (its about -10 C today).  

The wintery, Christmas-y title of this post also suits some of my recent thrift finds:

Like this circa-1978 embroidered picture.  If I can't get cold chills from looking out my window, I can get them by looking at my wall!  Actually I think it is really well done and it goes well with our minty-green walls.  I think I paid 5 bucks.

Maybe I'll be in the kitchen with the blinds closed, and want a reminder of the snow...

....I only have to look at my circa-1980 table centrepiece!  Can you believe that all I need is an aluminum can to complete my snow friend?  That's my kind of crafting!

While I was scouring the Christmas wares at the Salvation Army, I also bought a few ornaments, 'cause I can't help myself.

There are quite a few pink balls in the box, although from the picture you can't tell them from the red ones.  I also liked these smaller ones.  

 

Vintage Baubles for Me; Vintage Decorations for my House

Here are a few things I purchased over the last week from garage sales and the thrift store.  I am still finding vintage jewellery to add to my collection.  Below is a golden Coro brooch, a red enamel one, and a strand of tiny irregular pearls.

I've already worn the pearls several times, and the Coro brooch once.  At the same garage sale I found this good quality bedskirt, so I paid $15.50 for the lot.

Perhaps that is a little much, but I was already looking for a bedskirt for my newly repainted bedroom and didn't think I could find anything close to this at conventional stores.
At a different garage sale I came home with something that I didn't need....

....this plastic, orange, mushroom-shaped 70s lamp.  I am a sucker for the colour orange, and since such things are so rare, I couldn't leave it behind.  Afterwards I told Hus I had buyer's remorse and he wondered how much I had paid for it.  When I replied "three dollars" he looked relieved and reassured me that it was a neat find for that amount of money.  It is now residing in our office, and I expect it will stay there.


During the week I visited the thrift shop and found two plates for the decorating project I want to do in our stairwell.  

The top one is Myott, English china that I am unfamiliar with.  Don't you think it looks like a contemporary design?  But the stamp on the back looks like it is from the 1960s or 1970s.  And the bottom one is Kathie Winkle; the pattern is Calypso. A dollar each.
And finally I threw in these .25 vintage cupcake toppers.  (or at least that's what I assume they are)

I guess that commits me to making cupcakes next Valentine's Day!


I am linking this post of my thrifted finds to Flea Market Finds over at the blog 'Her Library Adventures.'

Portobello Road Find

One of my destinations in London was Portobello Road Market to browse its vintage and antique shops.  We got there on one of our last days!  Here is the picture I made Hus take (we only had to wait for someone else taking the same picture to get out of the way).

Unfortunately, we didn't have incredible amounts of time that day, nor luggage space to do extensive shopping.  We took only one carry-on bag each.  I was, however, able to ferret away one small and cheap item - only 20p (about 30 North American cents).

It is a bread and butter plate by Biltons.  I am not planning to use it in the kitchen, but I loved the colours and have had a decorating project in mind using colourful and unique plates.  I want to use thrifted plates to add colour to my stairwell.  Here are a few pictures of what I have in mind...

I guess I have a lot of thrifting left to do since I only have this plate and one other for my project!  Hopefully I'll be able to find a Catherine Holm plate like the orange one in the top photo

Container Collection

So in having a look around to post some of the collections I've amassed over the last three months (of not posting) I found I had purchased a few containers.  

I just bought the jar in the back for .50 cents last Sunday at the flea market, the Avon owl at a garage sale several weeks ago for $2, and the tin at a thrift shop in the lower mainland several months ago for $3.
Have a closer look at this happening tin...

It is labelled 'Riley's Toffee Halifax England' on the bottom.  At first I didn't know what to do with it, but I recently filled it with toffees (Kerr's brand) and set it in our living room.  I have plans with the other two containers as well.  This is my third glass jar like this, so this one is destined to hold bulk nuts once I clean out my pantry.  The hole opening in the Avon bottle is quite large, so I will use it in my bedroom (which I'm currently painting and redecorating) to hold bobby or safety pins.