Happy 99th Birthday National Park Service!

Today is the 99th birthday of one of America's greatest treasures, our National Park Service.  To celebrate we've put together a collection inspired by all the picnics that have taken place over the last century across the country at these beautiful parks.

Clockwise from the upper right corner:

• This National Park Checklist Map from Treehouse Modern is the perfect way to pick a spot for your picnic and keep track of all the places you have been!   
• This fun vintage blue and white enamel picnic set from Foxbride is ready to carry all of your delectibles in a wicker basket!
• Bright and cheery, this vintage red and white Simtex picnic tablecloth from Uncle Bunk's Trunk will show your scrumptious treats of to perfection!  
• These vintage denim shorts from Trunk of Dresses will take you from eating to hiking.  She has cute tops to choose from too!
• Cute and comfortable these vintage red leather sandals from Super Queenie Retro were made for seeing the sights and being seen!
• Finally, these vintage red carved starburst Bakelite earrings from our own shop add that extra bit of fabulousness to any outfit!

New Additions from Sweet Annie's Vintage

 

Sherri Mash of Sweet Annie's Vintage is a local artisan who makes the sweetest creations incorporating salvaged vintage fabrics and notions and sometimes new fabric too.  The pillows above arrived in our shop on Sunday. 

 

 

 

This is an earlier arrival and is made from a beautiful toile fabric with vintage buttons and lace accenting the ephemera image. 

 

 

This little tote is the perfect size for an e-reader!  It is just so cheerful!

 

 

Here are another couple of her wonderful pillows.  We both love the embroidery on this one.

 

 

The two larger pillows are made from the same salvaged quilt.  The French style pillow in the front is made of lovely navy and white ticking and has such a lovely graphic on it.  It is new to the shop.

 

 

Sherri also makes lovely pennant bunting garlands. 

 

 

These little printed French inspired bowl filler pillows make great gifts.  These also arrived on Sunday.

 

 

Here are a couple more.  She also makes satchets from them. 

 

 

 

These jadeite and yellow pillows would be perfect nestled on a little chair by the kitchen.

They are also new arrivals.

 

 

Here is another one of her bunting garlands.

A Vintage Handkerchief Skirt

We love vintage hankies.  Each one is a different work of art whether it is a cheerful store-bought print or a gift of someone's time and talent with needle and thread.  We've put them in bowls and baskets, draped them from drawers and tucked them under china.  

This week we decided to shake things up a bit.  We took one of our dress forms and this lovely stiff black mesh fabric that we found...

 

using safety pins we fastened the mesh to the form and (with the assistance of a fold here and a pin there) fashioned a skirt form.

To this form we used ribbon to tie each hankie to the mesh, overlapping them.  This way, it should be very easy for a customer to remove them if he or she wants to take some home!

We used some of the stamped fabric ribbon that we carry in our shop (handmade by a delightful woman in Canada) to fashion a waist-band.

 Can you guess what we used as a scarf?

Here is our finished project:

Red, White, and Retro

While down in Florida we found some more great pieces of vintage red and white kitchenware and I thought I would share them with you as well as a few of the other red and white items that we've found. This is such an easy, fun, not to mention rather dramatic decorating scheme. No wonder it has been such an enduring classic. Now I must admit that my personal preference runs more towards the pink and floral end of the cottage style (someday I will have my pink Kitchen-Aid mixer!) I can't help but ooh and ahhh over those fun, fruity red and white kitchens. Seriously though who wouldn't love all of this kitsch?



Here is a gorgeous vintage Bromwell flour sifter with apples that we brought back, along with the red handled knife sharperner and the corer.



These are a pair of fun vintage fruity towels. They are just in such great condition, they haven't lost any of their vibrancy!




And here is a sampling of what the collective effect can be!

Kerry

Elements of the Table: Terrific Tablecloths!

No romantic vintage chic table can be set without one--a beautiful vintage tablecloth, whether a dainty damask, vibrant and sweet cottage floral, classic gingham or stripes or a whimsical novelty print. The addition of your favorite tablecloth truly sets the tone. They are also a cute addition to the cottage decor in your home when displayed. They can be shown off draped about your home in a nonchalant fashion or they can be put to new creative uses as curtains or slipcovers. I certainly believe that personal appeal is the most important qualification for picking a tablecloth. However there are things to keep in mind when shopping for your own. If you are seriously collecting or see your linens as an investment, then condition will be important to you. To be truthful, I feel a little more comfortable actually using ones that might have a small issue here or there that way I am not so crushed if I have a clutzy moment. Tablecloths with serious issues can be used as cutters but I urge discretion with your scissors! Also, names like so many other collectibles can be important. Some names to remember are Wilendur, Broderie, Startex and Simtex.

Here are a few pics of tablecloths from our shop:








Would you believe that this has been embroidered on all four corners with this mill scene? It is one of my favorites, I just can't imagine the patience and skill taken to create this sweet tablecloth!

In future postings, I will give examples of other elements such as china, glassware, and tabletop embellishmet as well as some examples of complete table settings that bring the various romantic vintage cottage elements together.
Kerry