Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Hand-me-downs make a pretty Easter table



As you'll no doubt see, despite the fact that I am kind of a dishware freak with way more sets of dishes than most people would consider reasonable...I don't really do tablescapes. The reason being that with my two guys plus my crazy schedule, I am lucky if I even get the table set at all before everyone sits down and digs in. And, the guys just do not care. My husband recently tried to serve lobster and filet mignon on the everyday Corningware. (I said, "Are you kidding me! We have *three sets* of china!")

All the same, I like being festive despite the guys' lack of interest, and I had a good reason to set a pretty table for Easter, because for the first time I actually own good silver---my mom gave me my grandma's silver set when I was her visiting earlier this month. Here are a few pics I took before I polished it up.



So, after a morning spent singing our hearts out in celebration at church (DH sang in choir while I sat with the little fella until we sneaked up the choir loft at the end so I could put in my high notes on the Hallelujah Chorus), here is my attempt at pastel Easter jollity, featuring the new additions. Mom gave me the china as well---I am ashamed to say I can't remember who it belonged to, although do cut me a little slack---her dad was married five times and she's been married three, so I have a lot of steps to say the least(!)




If you're wondering what we had, we went full-out Southern, with congealed salad, baby lima beans...



...corn, mashed potatoes...

...turkey (notice the hubby has brought two ugly forks to the table despite the fact that I have a silver fork laid out---haha! see what I mean?)...


...and last but not least, gravy and dinner rolls.



And I just had to share this picture of the little man relaxing after dinner out on the deck with a good book on the hammock.

I'm posting this to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, because there's nothing so thrifty as family hand-me-downs. Hoping to have some more good thrift stuff next week, as I am in charge of the autism support group's booth at the county yard sale this Saturday---and you just know I will do a little shopping myself!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Bunny Mania!

You would not believe me if I tried to tell you everything this family has done in the last two weeks, so just take my word for it that I haven't been slacking even though I haven't been posting!

Today, though, I had the day off work for Good Friday and puttered around the house this morning before heading out to do chores. The past two years I've been too busy to dig out the Easter tree, and things were looking a little bare. I suddenly realized that one of my collections would be perfect Easter decor---I have been collecting stuffed Easter bunnies for over 20 years. So, I dragged the bunnies out of the guest bedroom and into the living room, and here are the results. Y'all can see why I'm not a professional decorator: I don't know when to stop!
The black and white bunny above came from Hampton Court Palace in England.

The pink and brown matching bunnies below were the two that I started my collection with. My mom gave them to me for Easter one year when I was an undergraduate in college.




I put these ceramic bunnies out every Easter, but this year I dressed them up with some pink garland and flowers.






I love this little bunny bowl my mother-in-law found at a yard sale for me a couple of years ago!



This year she sent me these two finds (probably thrifted---she loves a good yard sale as much as I do!): a bunny lamp and a bunny table-sitter.



Happy Easter/Passover/Earth Day/Spring and Happy Pink Saturday!



Saturday, April 9, 2011

Pink House in North Carolina

We were heading down from the mountains on Wednesday, and were going through the town of Rutherfordton, when suddenly I yelled at Clint, "STOP!!!" He hit the brakes and went, "What is it???!!!" only to find me snapping a picture. "I have to get a picture of this house for Pink Saturday."

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Trip to North Carolina, Part 1

We took so many pictures this week I will have to just share some of them with you over the next couple of posts, I guess (which is good, since Clint is going into rehearsal for the musical Rent next week, so I will be busy.) So, I'll start with some vintage thingies from my mom's house, because if anybody has more vintage thingies than me, it's my mom (and if anybody has more vintage thingies than her, it's Clint's mom---but that's a story for another time!) Not sure which branch of the family it was, but someone owned an appliance store (Mom also has an old Norge neon sign which is hanging in the laundry room.) Here are some advertising stamps from the store:





Here are a few of her cool old cast-iron motorcycle toys.

Here is a neat old antique compass. My mom's parents did a lot of boating, so it may have come off one of their boats.


Here are some vintage kitchen thingies: a brown Corningware bowl, a mixing bowl that (I think) was her grandmother's biscuit bowl, and I love this old nut chopper.


Finally, here is an old phone. Isn't that fun? I guess you had a party line back then, so you just rang the operator.

I'm posting this to Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Pink Baby Dress and Purse

We're off to the mountains for while as the boys are on spring break. We're going to visit family on both sides, and I get a voice lesson from my grad school teacher---plus in exchange for spending one day of our vacation at a workshop for my job, the federal government is paying our gas money.

In the meantime, just to prove I don't save all the frou-frou for the guest room to spare my hubby's manly sensibilities, here is a little pink vignette from the master bedroom:

This is one of my baby dresses. I guess that makes it vintage, haha! It is a very pale, faded pink.

I carried this little pink purse at my wedding. It was just big enough to carry a tiny bit of perfume, a lipstick, and my "something old" (a handkerchief embroidered by my great-grandmother.)

And finally, on the shelf, a little teapot---given to me by my admin. assistant at my old job---and a thrifted tea cup. Happy Pink Saturday! I hope to find some fun things to share with you up in North Carolina!