Recent Finds

Last weekend, Terry and I decided to go to the Kane County Flea Market! We haven't gone in a few years, and it's really close by, so we have no excuses. Other than we used to go too often, and everything started looking the same. But we really enjoyed ourselves!

I've been wanting to buy an antique white tablecloth for the kitchen. I didn't find one at the flea market, but look what I found instead!

It's a cute tea pot and silverware wind chime! Made from real silverplated items, though obviously not valuable or really old pieces.

It makes a sweet tinkling sound when the wind blows.

Not something a true Victorian would have, mind you, but I couldn't resist!

This is what my old wind chime looked like:

Now you know why I needed a new one.

Then I lucked out on eBay and found myself an antique white tablecloth!

Isn't it pretty? It's Madeira cutwork with a gray embroidered thread. I didn't even wait to iron it. I wanted to see how it would look!

But I've always saved my white tablecloths for holiday teas and special family dinners. Can we use a white tablecloth as our everyday cloth? We eat a lot of spaghetti. Will this pretty antique linen clean well?

I usually go for a patterned tablecloth, like this one. This hides spaghetti and red wine stains very well!

Another eBay find was this cute little spreader!

It's Wallace Sterling. The seller didn't know the pattern, but I didn't care.

I wanted it, and now it's mine. It will work nicely with the lemon curd I like to serve at our teas.

And lastly, I should know better than to set foot in a book store. I always find something I want. Like this book:

Yup, Crafting With Cat Hair. Phoebe didn't know what to make of it. I cracked up when I saw it, and basically bought it for the title alone! Although, I could get into cat hair crafting. Do you think there's a market for that on Etsy? Phoebe provides us with (what seems like) a few bushels of it every day. I'll give it some thought.

Meanwhile, I'll be admiring my new wind chime from inside!

A Surprise Gift from Miss Sandra!

A couple weeks ago, I entered a Second Blogiversary Giveaway

on the one of my favorite blogs,

Musings From Harmonie House.

And guess what?

I didn't win!

BUT, Miss Sandra decided to draw one more name

for a SURPRISE gift.. and then I won!

But what has arrived in this beautifully wrapped

little bundle?

A sweet little card was attached...

Ooh, it looks like the roses on my quilt!

What a fun surprise! A woven vintage doily,

with beautiful hand embroidery work!

The colors will fit right in at Eastlake Victorian!

And I think I know just the right spot for it!

AND, a lovely cabinet card portrait

of a pretty young lady from the c. 1880's!

She looks like she is posing by a quilt or pretty throw.

Thank you so much, Miss Sandra! I use doilies all over the house,

and I collect Victorian era photographs.

Your thoughtful gifts will be put to good use!

Be sure to visit Miss Sandra and her faithful companion,

Mr. Knightly the cat, at Musings From Harmonie House.

Miss Sandra has a GORGEOUS dream home

and loves to live life to its fullest IN THE PAST!

She is also a wonderful poet and music lover.

Do stop by Harmonie House for tea

and say hello to Miss Sandra!

:-)

Our New, Old Settee

It seems like forever since I've posted anything! Usually I have some time on the weekends to get some ideas out there, but lately I guess other things have taken up all my time.

Today was a Snow Day for me, so I feel like I accomplished a lot! Other than the 3-1/2 hours I spent shoveling today, I did manage to take some photos of this new addition to our home:

This is our "new" settee I found on Craigs List! We picked it up over the weekend. I always wanted something like this, but never found anything I could afford in the antique shops or fairs locally. I've checked eBay, also looking for things I could pick up locally, but there again, most people are asking way more than I could afford.

So I decided to check out Craigs List and, lo and behold, I found this! It's just the color and style I love, at a price I could afford. It's not in perfect condition (the springs are kind of saggy at the bottom), but I can tell it's been loved for generations. The newer upholstery is in perfect condition, and exactly in the color palette that will match the room that will be our future library.

I'm always amazed at how low these old chairs are to the floor. Look at the side-by-side comparison with a modern wing chair! I must say, these two wing chairs of ours are a bit high for my short calves, and I don't like my feet dangling when I sit! But the Victorians must have been really tiny, because I can stretch my legs out and still have them on the floor in this settee.

Something you may have noticed in my other posted photos: There is no molding around the windows in this room, and a chair rail and picture rail have been "painted" onto the walls! I did this a couple years ago when I started stripping layers of paint from the old windows. I still need to repair the sash weights, do some more stripping, replace the stop beads, and install new oak molding. The walls in the entire house are white, and in here, I painted them the approximate colors of the Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper I want to hang in the room, and painted on where I want to install a chair rail and picture molding. Makes sense, right? I just wanted to get a sense of how the room will look eventually.

Meanwhile, Penny gives the new settee her seal of approval! We needed to cover it immediately with blankets because the first thing Penny did was to begin scratching. Bad kitty!

My beautiful floral sofa got pushed aside and will have to go. It's in perfect condition because we hardly ever sit in here! I loved it a few years ago when we bought it, but it's really too big for this room, and will not go with my color scheme.

I have a lot of catching up to do, as I've gotten so far behind in reading all your blogs! Thanks for visiting, and I'll return the visits soon!

Confessions of a Chair Addict

Yes, I admit it, I am addicted to chairs.

Wooden chairs. Eastlake, Pressed Back, Spindled, Caned, Rockers. If it's made of wood and I can sit in it, I want it.

I don't know why. Other than my mother is also a chair addict. We have been known to go out together on a chair high to get our fix.

My most recent chair deal went down over Labor Day weekend. My mom and I were out antiquing when suddenly these 2 caned chairs beckoned me over to take a closer look. I couldn't resist. After I sampled both chairs, I put my money down and they were mine.

I remember my first chair.

Then my second chair.

I still have my first chair.

And my second chair.

This was the chair that started my decline into chair addiction. It was in serious need of TLC. I learned caning, and restored it to it's original glory. After that, I knew I was hooked.

For awhile back in the 80's, I had a dealer up in Wisconsin in the back woods. I would go behind the trailer where he kept the chairs. Chairs were cheap back then. I could get some great stuff for $5 a pop.

This chair I spotted at the curb on garbage collection day. My husband (and enabler) grabbed it and we ran. One of these days I'll refinish it. I like my chairs in their natural wooden state. Not painted.

I have inherited 9 chairs from my grandmother. The chairs on the left we used to call the hot dog chairs. Guess why.

This one was my grandmother's desk chair. It's a Hitchcock.

This poor chair still needs a lot of help. That bright yellow paint has got to go.

I don't think I'll ever kick my chair addiction. I don't know many other chair addicts other than my mom and my friend Judy. Are there any more of you out there? I need a support group.