Gathered Together for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday to decorate for. In daily life I gravitate to warm cozy colors like browns, golds, deep greens and burgundy. So it's natural to enjoy using my wool blankets and brown transferware vintage dishes to celebrate the Holidays now that the weather has turned nippy It's just begging me to cozy up and enjoy family gatherings with favorite comfort food and a comfy fire in the hearthroom. 

October Garden Room and the Baker's Rack

We're at the final stretch of October, and I'm sharing my Garden Room wicker sitting area with fall seasonal color. This flying geese patterned vintage quilt is one of my favorites with golds and autumnal hued fabrics. It almost always ends up on the settee at some point in Fall.

Late October Lookback on the Farm Table

I wanted to have a little fun this week with one of my vintage birdcages and a sassy little blackbird that I've had for a few years. He didn't fare very well during the move, as his cute little paper hat became unattached. I did the easy thing and used some transparent tape to get it back on. Don't look too close. He's almost good as new.

Fall Vignettes with Faux Flowers and a Sweet Floral Gift

This little mishmash post came about because of an empty orange Du Monde Chicory Coffee can. We bought this chicory coffee several years ago and when emptied out, my husband mentioned I might want to save it because of the advertising and pretty orange color. Good call, Hubby! When this fall rolled around I was excited to see how I could use it in a small floral arrangement.  

Elevating Autumn Decor with an Elegant Cloche

A few years ago glass cloches were a big trend in vintage and French Country Décor. I fell in love with the idea and enjoyed how a glass dome could elevate a single small piece or grouping in almost any setting. Large and small, they found their way into my seasonal décor. Trends come and go, but this elegant glass piece has stayed a constant with me throughout the years. 

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Creating a Fall Cupboard

Do you love displaying dishes and accessories with a vintage theme? Creating a new seasonal cabinet display is one of my favorite ways to decorate for the current season. It's wonderful if you have a hutch or cabinet, but if not, a tray, counter top, or bookshelf also works. The idea is to group seasonal colors and themes.

I gathered brown transferware bits and pieces, vintage decorative pieces like clocks, pitchers, and crocks, with seasonal silk flowers. Let your vintage china be the backdrop and build from there. 

We've had a few cooler days and nights and it's really got me going for fall. I know it will warm up again and maybe have a few 80's until the end of October, but it's so wonderful to know that fall is truly here.

The one thing I really look forward to seeing come together each season is the Holiday Cupboard. As I've said before, I really really love a theme. I guess it comes from being in the antique and vintage market biz for years. And, I do have a lot of vintage stuff.

I don't think I've shared any of my vintage alarm clocks for ages, so as I was thinking "It's Time for Fall" just popped in to my brain; so that's the perfect way to share my clocks. I remember when I was growing up I had a "Baby Ben" that I kept on my bedside nightstand. It was a dependable little companion that woke me up each morning for years.

Fall is the time that the Brown Transferware and ironstone really take center stage. It's my favorite color transferware and what I have most pieces of. The brown mixes and matches with the colors of fall. Sometimes I use orange as an accent (usually closer to Halloween). but mostly golds, neutrals, and rusts. 

I used a few of my English advertising crocks, pitchers, teapot, and creamers along with a sprinkling of mini sheep for interest. A couple of mini Baby Boos made it into the mix. The white milkglass cake stand was my mom's and it's perfect for elevating a few pieces.

I still have my dried sunflower twiggy wreath up on the cupboard. I hang on to the sunflowers till later in the season. I added the orange plaid Tartan ribbon a few years ago; I love a good plaid no matter what the season. 

Here are a few more fall scenes from the Holiday Cupboard. 

Click on the title for the full post.

September in the Holiday Cupboard

Savoring September in the Holiday Cupboard

Sweet September in the Cupboard

Romancing October in the Holiday Cupboard

Have fun and Enjoy the change of season. 

Hello Again: Let's Celebrate the Beginning of Fall

Hello friends...

Well, it's been a minute ... or months to be truthful, since I've shared here on the blog. So in all honesty this is me sticking my toes into the water to see how it might go to share a bit of my current life and a few pics for some Fall Inspiration.

I've been taking a sabbatical of sorts to rest and try to understand my life and health and really just who I am. I haven't set down at this computer for literally almost a year. Earlier this month I had some blog maintenance to take care of and it surprisingly ignited a little spark in me. Fall has always been my favorite season and I start thinking about it in August. Here are a few posts from early fall from  past posts. 

Welcome to Fall in the Kitchen Niche

Re "focus"

Hi Friends, I've been absent from the blog for this last month after a back "situation" that has been with me for quite awhile worsened with a minor injury. I had lower back surgery in 2021, and even though I've recovered I still have lingering effects from not only that, but a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis in 2023.

MG is a neuromuscular autoimmune based disease that causes the nerve-muscle junction to be compromised which results in mobility issues, chronic pain, and a mixed bag of other fun symptoms. Because of drug allergies I'm limited to the basic meds, while treatments that can work wonders for many people aren't available to me.

After a lot of time and prayer I know that I need to step back from blogging. I love blogging and as many of your know, I've been at it for 16 years and through many health problems. If you blog, you know it's a lot of work. Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Over the last few years I've not been able to do much physically and since I focus on vintage décor, the constant change up for seasons and holidays has become difficult even with my wonderful husband doing the heavy work. 

It's hard to "refocus" after this many years but it's become evident that I need to. I'll still be around to visit a bit but I need to take it easy and avoid any and all kinds of self imposed "stress". Isn't that the way it usually goes? We put more stress on ourselves than any thing else. 

I could have just "not blogged" but many of you are real friends and I always want to be transparent, instead of you wondering why I dropped off the map. I've had to keep this short, otherwise I could write a book. I'm not 100% sure of what will come, but for the foreseeable future I'm going to take it easy and rest. Thankyou for being with me all this time. Love to all of you. 

Vintage Milk Pitchers in Bloom

Hi friends, so glad you're here today because it's time for another get together with the Lifestyle of Love group where we share and celebrate how we use specific vintage items in our décor. Today is all about how we use old pitchers in our everyday home décor. If you're coming from visiting Ann at Dabbling and Decorating, welcome, so glad you clicked over. And thankyou to Cindy from County Road 407 for getting us all together. 

Vintage Metal Basket Garden Bunny Vignette

Who needs a smile?

Anyone who has a retirement fund might need one right now.

Cottage Easter in the Cupboard

Hi Friends, I hope you all are enjoying your early spring and the transition from frigid gloomy days to some sunshine and colorful trees and blooms. No matter the weather I always enjoy some color and seasonal cozy in the garden room. Of course every change in season and holiday is reflected in the re-styling of the Holiday Cupboard. 

Spring is in the Air Cottage Home Tour

Depending on where we live, we might be enjoying warm weather with tons of green grass and colorful blooms popping out... or we might still be dealing with snow storms, high winds and brown yards. And maybe since it's March... we can be doing both!

Spring Tote for a Farm Table Vignette

When I think about the color brown I usually envision fall décor or maybe after Christmas with some wooly blankets and needlepoint pillows to cuddle up with. But I have a couple of pieces that feature spring florals on a brown background and I love using them when early spring entices us outdoors and into digging in the garden.

Cottage Majolica for Spring in the Garden Room

Do you all have any green popping up where you live?

Not much going on here with green outdoors, but inside I've been bringing some green things together to celebrate the "early" start of the Spring Season. Hopefully the forsythia will be budding out within the next week. Time to cut a few branches to enjoy indoors.

Spring Green in the Cupboard

I'm ready for some Spring Green to pop out and replace the blah brown in the landscape. How about you? We will still have some cold weather during the month of March, but I'm hoping we're finished with the subzero temps, foot of snow and biting cold we endured last month.

Vintage French Country Lamp in Décor

Hi friends, today I'm joining in with my vintage loving pals for the Lifestyle of Love Group gathering where we share how we use vintage pieces in our décor. This month we're talking about vintage lamps and chandeliers and how they can mesmerize and wow us with their timeless charm and elevate the vintage decor style with drama or subtlety. They are a topic I love and have sought out, but now only have this one small lamp that I use in my décor.

Last Minute Vintage Valentine's Day

Here it is the day before Valentine's Day and I'm sticking to my usual "M.O." by waiting to the last minute to share the rest of my holiday décor. I like to use the blog as a visual of my holiday decorating, so I had a few vignettes yet to share. 

Vintage Valentine Assemblage Under Glass

Scrolling through Pinterest is one of my bedtime rituals. It's relaxing to turn off my busy brain and just look at inspirational vintage décor pics. My home feed is great, but at times I like to do a search on a topic, which is usually some kind of seasonal/holiday specific décor and DIY. Since it's Valentine's Day month I wanted to check out small vintage vignettes and cloches with vintage ephemera.

How to Make an Easy Faux Ivy Heart Topiary

I love topiaries of all kinds and for all seasons. Real plants of course make beautiful décor accents, but for me can easily go "kaput". I try to keep several small ivy plants going throughout the year, but for some reason I didn't have any candidates this year suitable for an ivy topiary. You have to have a relatively full plant with longer tendrils, (which I didn't have) so I thought I'd try a faux ivy topiary using elements I had on hand.

Easy Boxwood and Ribbon Wreath and the Valentine's Cupboard

Valentine's Day is definitely one of those holiday themes that show up in the "Holiday Cupboard".  I've loved antique and vintage paper goods and ephemera from the first time I saw a vintage school Valentine card and found a few pieces of my paternal grandfather's cards to my grandmother in their old attic. Old Valentine postcards are easy collectibles as so many of them were created in the early 1900's. School Valentine parties and sweetheart's notes were popular among young and old alike.