Collecting for my Someday Cottage

I don't know why but I am always drawn to Granny squares! Whenever I see a granny square throw at the thrift store I always pick it up and walk around with it for the duration of my browsing and then somehow I talk myself out of bringing it home.

Well today I finally bought one and a lovely little white vintage-ish chenille bedspread too!

A cheerful, homey pair.

And I'm loving the look of them!

I have no idea where I will put these two beauties, but if I ever get my cottage I'll be ready!

Have I Missed the Mark?

Well it all started innocently enough.....

I was just flipping through the PB catalogue and saw this....

and this...

So I thought to myself,

"I should look on craigslist and see if anyone has any old wine making bottles."

So I checked craigslist, and sure enough right down the road someone did!

I made the arrangements to check them out and came back with this....

I sent this photo to my sister at work.

I was all excited about my great find.

Then my phone rings, it's my sister......

"Cath, why did you send me a photo of your recycling?"

Clearly she doesn't get me!!

I spend the afternoon cleaning them out,

then I display them proudly on my big old dresser!

Is anyone thinking this is a few too many!

(And this is only a few of them.)

My husband did!

His first comment was,

"What's with all the bottles?"

He doesn't get me either!

So now I've whittled it down to this.....

and this...

Ever get the feeling that you've missed the mark?

This dresser needs something and it's so darn huge!

Maybe a funky old chippy mirror perched above it?

Obviously, I need some candles, and a few flowers and some help.

Any suggestions?

Please excuse the laundry hanging out of the bottom drawer.....

Oops, How'd I miss that?

By the way, if you are looking to collect a few old bottles of your own try using the word

"demijohn" or "carboy" in your search.

(Wine making terms for large bottle and larger bottle!)

Or you could just e-mail me, I think I have a few to spare!

A Visit to Funky Junk Interiors

If you don't know Donna from Funky Junk Interiors yet you really must check her out!

When I began blogging, Donna's blog was one of the first I found and the first one that I decided to follow, and it has remained a favourite for me. I'm sure we all have blogs that excite us - well her blog has always done it for me.

So when Donna put the invite out for all of us locals to drop by her home during her Spring open house I was on it. She actually participated in a similar tour at Christmas time, but truth be told I was a little afraid to show up for fear of appear stalker-ish! This was different though as I now had an invitation!

I gathered up my sister and off we went on a road trip to Donna's place. But as we made our way out to her place I started to get a little nervous. Before I had kids I worked in the film industry in the costume department and had met a lot of celebrities. I had romanticized what they might be like and some sadly turned out to be nothing like what I had envisioned. I could never really look at them the same way again. I didn't want this to happen to the way I felt about Donna. I have always admired Donna's creativity and how she speaks so honestly and from the heart. I am happy to say that Donna is every bit as lovable in person as she is in her blog - very warm, hospitable and funny too. She did not disappoint.

We had a wonderful visit which really didn't last long enough.

She was nice enough to put on her now famous mac jacket just to humour me.

Click here to see Donna's post about our visit.

This bedroom is my absolute favourite.

The colour palette, texture, chippy wood door, the garden gate, ladder, everything about this room is perfectly put together and there just couldn't be a more calming,

or comfortable place to rest.

If you can believe it this "White Trash Bedroom" as Donna calls it,

is even more stunning in person.

After re-reading this post through I realize that I sound a little gushy and perhaps a little star struck, oh well! Go visit Funky Junk Interiors and I'll know why!

Nice Lines at a Nice Price

I was in the lighting section of Home Depot the other day and noticed that they sell these replacement jars for the classic old glass jar exterior wall sconces.

The sell for $1.99 and their so cute!

Here are a few uses I came up with.....

Wouldn't it be fun to have a bunch of these lit up it the evening, hanging from the trees that surrounding your out door space?

I also found these painted jars,

this is simple to do but would be pretty with little tea lights in them and used as table decor

or placed around the yard instead of patio lanterns.

Remember seeing these around?

Can you think of anymore uses? What would you do with a few of these jars?

A Must Have

Wouldn't this be so perfectly cute in a craft room or workshop?

I love it!

I found free downloads of this on-line if you want to print this up for your space.

It is available in five pastel colours.

Click here to go there.

A Little TLC in a Can

As promised here are a few photos of my little roadside

find after a little love.

As mentioned in a previous post, last week was spring

clean-up week and there were many

finds to be had at the side of the road.

I did a lot of giggling as I filled my van with three loads of

free potential!

I found this little sweetheart after my van was already filled to the brim,

so I did what any serious junker would do

- I took the drawers so no one else would scope it,

then came back for it later.

Armed with a can of Heirloom White spray paint,

and some minwax stain, and a few glass knobs she is

now transformed

and happy to no longer be tragically left by the side of the road.

Just a little love was all she needed!

Christmas Morning for Junk Collectors!

My favorite time of year!

Not only is it the start of garage sale season, it is spring clean up week.

In our community we have a city wide garage sale weekend one each year.

The city wide garage sale is meant to get rid of as much as you can for profit before you start to bring your unwanted items to the curb.

For one week you can drag anything that you don't want and that can't fit into your garbage can to the curb and the city will come and take it away for you - for free!

What I love about this is that a lot of people (including myself) drive around

and find perfectly good, reusable stuff and save it from going to the local landfill.

I'm always amazed by what people throw out.

Last year the highlight of my spring clean up week was a perfectly good industrial sewing machine.

The owner of the sewing machine saw me hauling it away and came out with spare needles.

It works great once I played with the tension a little

and it really helps me sew through all those thick wool sweaters.

Here are a few of the free roadside finds that I've picked up this year.

This old wooden bankers chair - in great condition!

I've always wanted one of these. The little case beside it is a roadside find as well - I love collecting old suitcases.

My boys needed a dresser big enough for the two of them to share and I spied this baby on the side of the road just waiting for me.

I couldn't lift it by myself so I took the drawers and put them in my van.

(I knew nobody else would take a dresser with the drawers missing!)

The little desk has already received new knobs and a new paint job - I'll show you that soon.

I also picked up this solid oak mantle with the intentions of turning it into a headboard for a king size bed. It is the perfect width and height for it. Sadly I don't have the bed yet and I don't have anywhere to store it so it may end up on craigslist we'll see.

My sister and I had a super fun day. She is single again and in the process of decorating her whole house so she really picked up a fabulous haul. Between the two of us we had three full van loads, and a ton of laughs trying to fit this stuff in. In addition to my free finds I spent a total of $28 on a few other bits and pieces. And my sister has got a super good start on her decorating for $120.