White O'Morn Cottage

Here's one I accidently collected earlier!

I had just painted and hung a shelf unit and could not decide what to display on it. I decided I should collect old teapots from now on. But of course...when I gathered the ones I already had...it was filled!  Who knew I had a collection around me!

I finally finished my hand knitted tea cosy so what better place to show it off!  It is a replica of White O'Morn. Kimme has some gorgeous tea cosies on Irish Cottage Dreams and she is doing a PIF on there at the moment. You'll find it on my sidebar...Will you have a tea cosy? Ah ye' will go on..go on go on....

Tomorrow Angie and I are going to a huge fete in Celbridge to help sort the donations. We are sure to find lots of goodies for ourselves. We'll be showing and telling on here and Angie's blog  - The Old Schoolhouse..see sidebar for the link.                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the original!

As promised - here is the finished scottie cushion. I used a pink gingham pillowcase, a piece of floral fabric from my collection of fabric and his doggie coat from red gingham fabric from a damaged baby's dress and two large white buttons for the closure from my button jar.

I am going on holidays for a week or so - I'll miss you all. See you soon...

A Grandma's treasure trunk

A lovely woman contacted me this morning through Jumbletown (the freecycle site we have here) to say she had a couple of old things that might be nice in the cottage. She had been cleaning out her grandma's attic and wanted to pass these on to someone who would enjoy them rather than her having to dump them. How exciting to go down to her not knowing what was waiting for me....

First these pretty pieces of vintage linens including a set of new mens linen hankerchiefs that Da will love as he never took to paper tissues. Also some damask tray cloths, pillowcases and pillow ticking fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then this crumbling, dusty, moulding box....what could be tucked in here for decades?....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what I found when I opened it....

A lovely roses china tea set that had never even been unpacked from the box. It is in the dishwasher as I type. Gorgeous!...

(Here is the china used as a prop for this vintage shabby chic tea cosy I have listed on Ebay this week - item no. 170222471232  If it does not sell on Ebay it will be listed on my vintage website www.vintageretrolingerie.com)

 But the best was yet to come..........

........a large antique, dome topped travel chest complete with the old destination labels on it! I love it...thank you Mimi!...and thank you Mimi's grandma.

I will enjoy restoring it and using it in White O'Morn Cottage to store my bedroom linens.

The labels are hard to read but say Dublin, Westland Row (a city train station), and Shannon. I have included some close ups of the antique cobwebs and spiders that came with it. These are the before pictures...I will - of course, be adding afters.

Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

There is nothing simpler or more pleasure-able than having a day off.  I spent mine thrifting and visiting Angie (one of my beloved sisis...(sisters) ) and just lolling with Paul (my beloved hubby)

So - what did we buy? Well, first I found these kitsch vintage prints of guardian angels for 50 cents each...Ahhh, I don't know why...but I like these feckin' prints (feck is not a swear word here in Ireland...ah no! - not at all, at all)

(...and I will be framing them in shabby chic frames and sellin' them for a small fortune ...(but dont' tell me taxman) ...on me shabby chic websiste...wot I haven't got yet but will have when Teeda gets her arse in gear and creates it out of the ethers....) Are ye' with me? '...good....cos I will be askin' questions later.

... another word that sounds bad but is not,  is the word "hoor" Everyone here says things like..." Aren't the weeds a right hoor? The hoorin' weeds are a *&%^"*to get rid of and sure the feckers keep comin' back!... Them feckers just wont stay away...they're a shower of hoors, that's what they are...the lot of them!"

To be perfectly honest we all swear like "hoors" here. It's a national pastime - and we make no apology - as we are Irish and can get away  with anything.

Anyway, I digress, ...here is another vintage print I got for my new website (sis, Teeda is creating it as I speak...she's a right hoor that one) Sorry Teeda, I'm only messin' ...work away girl! Don't mind me.

The next thing we found was a box of toffees in the shape of a cute little Irish cottage....called "Colleen Assortment" Aaaggghhh! guess who is gettin' them? Well, Colleen of Main St.Memories is gettin' one from Angie and Kimme of Irish Cottage Dreams is gettin' one from me!  'Cos when we saw them we said  in unison..."They would be perfect for those hoors in Utah and Germany!"

Then I found a book on Maureen O'Hara - star of my favourite smaltzeee film " The Quiet Man" 

Next treasure was a set of fairy themed stationery that Angie beat me to ...(just as well, 'cos I would have bought it for my beloved, Paul - but Angie beat me to it so she got to pay for it and Paul got it in the end so I win...right?) Ha ha! (one up to me in the sibling rivalry/thrifting war...whooohoo!)

Teeda is coming over here from Canada at the end of May and all four of us sisis, Teeda, Pam,  Catra and Angie are goin' thrifting all day in Dublin city.

Our theme/ mission/ aim is to see who can buy a red hat first! Have you thrifters ever tried this with a bunch of pals?  Nominate a goal and see who finds it first and they get to have lunch paid for by the losers!

Plus we will have a mega givaway at the end of it all 'cos you know we will buy a load of stuff we love but don't need. Whooohoo! All winners...no losers! Watch this space!

Scottie Quilt and Furniture Makeover

Today I was browsing through the quilting book Angie gave me and I found a pattern for a quilt featuring a scottie dog. I've never tried quilting before but this is so appealing and I have some lovely red gingham fabric for the dog jacket.

It said it was for beginners with step by step instructions and I am thinking of trying it on a cushion cover first to give to Catherine (she's our quilting sister) and she'll be mega impressed if I do this....Wish me luck!

...Thanks Angie, just what I needed...something new to obsess about! Guess what ye're getting for Christmas?

 

....and voila! Here is the finished cushion...I didn't actually quilt it just appliqued it as a trial run.....maybe I should try a quilt.  

Furniture Makeover

...and at last I have finished my wicker furniture makeover...I got this three piece suite about a year ago from www.jumbletown.ie one of the freecycle sites, with a view to making it into  shabby chic roses furniture. When I got it all the zips were broken, the wicker was gloomy and dark and the colour of the cushions was very dull. 

I could see the finished look in my mind and I made throw pillows to match from leftover fabric and vintage accordian pleat lace from slips. The fabric I used was bought on Ebay as vintage curtains. I did not even try to match fabrics. Instead I chose two rose prints with similar colours.  So -Roses is the theme and pulls it all together and the colours in the prints work so well that the throw pillows are interchangeable....I don't know why I took so long to complete this project as it only took a few hours in the end! Here is a close up of the throw cushions - I love how they turned out.

Thrift Shop Treasure

As you know I am always on the hunt for attractive storage for my inventory for the website. When I went into my local St Vincent de Paul last Thursday, I spotted these lovely large wicker trunks. They are lined with cotton fabric and look so much better than the gray plastic ones I was using. At only 10 Euro each (approx 14 dollars or 7 sterling) they were a steal!  I added hanging labels to each one with details of what is stored in it.

Then I picked up this beautiful hatbox with great vintage Paris/fleamarket/ dress shop graphics. It now stores my pretty vintage linen doilies and tray cloths waiting to be listed and....

...it also doubles as a prop for my photos of frilly lingerie for listing on the website.

Shopping Trip Show and Tell

Yes, I have been shopping. It's not easy but someone has to do it. My husband hates it so I get to do his quota too!

I went looking for some stylish storage boxes for my vintage lingerie inventory for my website: Silver Screen Vintage.

At the moment I have them stored in ugly gray plastic boxes that I hate the look of...soooo - look at the beautiful hat boxes and small steamer trunk style box I found for them. They have amazing graphics on them (see close ups shown here) and are so lovely to look at I can store them in the conservatory.

The trunk box holds all my vintage nylon slips and the other three store the gorgeous pin up panties and bloomers and vintage hats. The link to site is on my sidebar if you want to have a browse.

Wendy at Crickleberry Cottage Creations & Collectibles                  Etsy (ctb003) sent me a wonderful sugar shaker stuffed full of buttons, brads, bits and bobs! ...and she threw in sweet little extras. I love them Wendy! Thanks so much. I will even make cute pink nests from the packing straw. Be sure to visit her on Etsy.com as she has the most wonderful things!

Then, this morning I got to pop into my local St Vincent de Paul thrift shop/charity shop and found this cheerful set of cottage stationery for only €4 (four Euro) about $6. It conists of an address book, a day book, 10 cards & envelopes. So my shopping addiction is sated for another few...(days!)

Expressions

I have just been to Country Cottage Chic and oohhed and awwwed over two little vintage dollies she has there. The expressions on their little faces are so cute! It got me thinking about my favourite inanimate objects that have very expressive faces.

First is my hand crafted ballerina. I made her from a wooden peg and pipe cleaners, piece of felt for tutu and some lace and bows, used a gold pen to give her ballet slippers and eh...I don't know how she ended up having a bad hair day but I can't be good at everything! Anyway when it came to painting on a face I knew I was not up to doing good eyes so I gave her closed ones which I think gives her a dreamy expression.. She hangs on my Christmas tree every year.

Next comes two little doggies. The white one is ceramic and has one leg up scratching. He tends to wobble to which makes him look like he is really doing it!

The yorkie candle dog has a great look to his face. Sort of a sheepish grin (huh?) I like to pose them together for max effect.  This is one candle that wont ever be lit for sure!

Todays Rosy Finds

Aren't these thrifted items so pretty? A beautiful rose locket, a little tarnished but so shabby chic gorgeous. I think I'll hang it in the bedroom draped from the mirror on the dressing table.

The other item is a small beautifully handmade stuffed rocking horse. Perfect for an unusual pin cushion. Again roses to the vintage fabric. Fine china swan handmade in Galway pin cushion/or trinket holder. I added a heartshaped cushion with a pink bow (that fell off my knickers) Looks much better on the swan... Delightful!

Thrifted Treasure & Airport Security (huh?) Yeah!!!

  Today I found a lovely vintage sewing box in my favourite thrift shop, St. Vincent de Paul, Kilbarrack, Dublin.  I was on the hunt for vintage thingies to sell on my website. (Er...needless to say I have decided to keep it, an absolute necessity, ...no.. really... I didn't have one... and ...have always wanted one and...really!...and  eh...ye' wouldn't begrudge me... would ye'?)

I am at that stage where I can "sniff" the air and locate the perfect item - just like that!  Angie, my sis, taught me how to do it - she used to be the manager of a thrift shop and instinctively knows a treasure when she sees one.

She is now a search officer with the airport police and can "sniff" out a weapon on any 'would be' terrorist a mile away.  She, and her colleagues in Dublin Airport Search Unit are the unsung hereos, who, since 9/11, are keeping the skies safe for us mortals who have to depend on these wonderful, ordinary, everyday, special people for peace of mind and a peaceful flight.

My husband, Paul - (the frog lover), is also a search officer with DAA, (Dublin Airport Authority) How blessed, not to mention, safe, am I? ...surrounded, as I am, by these two wonderful people?

***PLEASE, PLEASE ***- don't ever, ever get upset with any of these people, in any airport, anywhere in the world, who ask you to take off your belt or shoes or anything else ...because - be assured- they are keeping you safe... ...from... ...the terrorist behind you.

(By the way, don't ever go thrifting with Angie) - a lost cause if ever there was one, 'cos she can do a sweep of it in a nano second and arrive at the checkout with arms bursting with treasure and a smug grin on her face while you are still drooling over the window display (which they wont sell for love 'nor money, even if you offer your very soul)

Is it like that in other countries?  The window display is sacrosanct until such and such a date? Of course this "such and such a date" is always located right in the middle of your working week. Enough to reduce any dyed in the wool thrifter to tears...Sorry - I can't go on......'cos between Angie scooping every treasure in sight and them refusing to sell me the window display.....Aaaagggghhhh! I can't cope ..........(we will take a break now while this blogger throws a wobbler)

Normal service will be resumed shortly. :-)