common ground : holiday cupboard

Showing posts with label holiday cupboard. Show all posts

Sunday, October 6, 2013

The Autumn Holiday Cupboard

Since Fall is my favorite time to decorate the house,

I also love gathering my odds and ends for decorating The Holiday Cupboard.

I've tried to make it "The Ironstone Cupboard",

or "The Transfer ware Cupboard"

or "The White Only Cupboard",

but I just can't make those stick.

It always becomes "The Holiday Cupboard".

It's the odd kitchen cupboard and the little chippy dresser that got married.

I always enjoy a good love story, don't you?

It's downstairs in my little sitting area that I showed you yesterday.

This time of year I like to bring in the oranges to compliment the white.

And there are always a few stray squirrels, owls and pumpkins

that need a place to live.

...so they end up here.

There usually is a gardening and nature theme going on

along with whatever "Holiday" might be coming up.

These open books are two old nature encyclopedias from the early 1900's.

My new little "Be-Owled" frames found a spot here, too.

Each time I show the Holiday Cupboard I'm asked about the white suitcases on top. I just used several coats of white interior latex and a lot of time. A small roller on the larger parts and an artist's brush for painting around the hardware. I have several more ratty suitcases that need this paint treatment. I'm a sucker for an old suitcase, if the price is right.

For previous Fall Holiday Cupboard renditions,

look HERE and HERE.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend,

it turned cool after a day of rain.

Almost time for boots.

yay!

Joining in on these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Knick of Time Tuesday

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Blissful Whites at Timewashed

DIY by Design

Inspiration Exchange at Ella Claire

TTT at StoneGable

From My Front Porch to Yours

French Country Cottage

Craftberry Bush

The Cottage Market

Today's Sponsor

Sweet Magnolias Farm

Saturday, September 21, 2013

My Owl Obsession Continues...

Every once in a while I get an itch to do a little fun diy project. One of my favorite mediums is paper... then give me the scissors and glue, and I'll play for hours, just like a six year old. I've said before, that when I was little I had tons of paper dolls, and could play all day. Well, I guess this is just a hold over for that long ago playtime.

Last year I had a little obsession with owls.

They were on the mantel.

They were in the Holiday Cupboard.

This year I wanted to put a few paper owls in some frames.

NOW...if you don't want to hear about where my images came from,

then you better go now.

I found two of these old Bird Books in a Flea Market for $5,

so I'm enjoying them in the way that I really love,

seeing them used in a paper collage.

(yikes, I better tell you all that I have one that's still intact

the other is "not so much")

And this is a door from an old clock.

I found two of these a few years ago,

just the doors.

I wasn't sure what I would ever do with them,

but I think it's perfect for this project.

The one I chose for my project had a gold design on the edging

that sort of reminded me of spider webs

with some swampy cat tails below it.

I used some black "sample" book wallpaper for the backing.

And while I was gluing the owls to the paper

a certain little fur girl had to help.

Actually she didn't like their eyes

so they got the stuff slapped out of them.

sheesh, bad blogger when you can't get action pet shots.

and yes, that's a dead mouse hanging from it's beak....

bleeeeeech!

Here are two other little frames that I've "be-owled".

(you've heard of be-jeweled, well this is be-owled)

I like that they're slightly creepy,

and a little like the old science illustrations.

The little ovals are in the Holiday Cupboard

and I think the bigger one is headed for a new Entry vignette,

just in time for October.

joining in on these great parties:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Cedar Hill Ranch

From My Front Porch to Yours

No Minimalist Here

Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Stone Gable

Whipperberry

The Lettered Cottage

Yay, it's the weekend you all!!

Got some fun plans?

xoxo,

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Easter in the Holiday Cupboard

You all will be thrilled to know that this year I have recovered the lost stash of Easter Goodies. Last year I was bemoaning the fact that I had a bunch of my vintage Easter things that were lost somewhere in the Twilight Zone. You know, that place that various and sundry items go to that is unbeknownst to your conscious mind. Yep, that happens to me every once in awhile, and when it does it triggers all kinds of thoughts about the state of mental health concerning moi.

(not too old cauliflower teapot)

I prefer to regard it as just a busy person

with a lot of "stuff" and not enough organizational skills.

(mini wheelbarrow with turnips)

Anyhoo, a couple of my old chalkware bunnies have found their way out of that parallel universe and back into the Holiday Cupboard.

I love old seed catalogs and Garden books

and just received a new purchase that I'll show you soon.

See the green garden box here on the bottom shelf?

Next week I'm going to share an idea I have for making them...

It won't be rocket science, but it will be be fun...

and on the cheap.

I'm joining these parties this week:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Rooted in Thyme
French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home
From My Front Porch to Yours
Coastal Charm

xoxo,

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Cupboard Love

Hope it's not too early to share a little
cupboard love

from the Holiday Cupboard.

Last month, before Christmas, I mentioned that we had stopped off in Washington, Missouri, a quaint little river town on our way home from St. Louis, to visit a few antique shops and have lunch at a wonderful little inn.

Just the day before we left town, I had said that I'd wanted to dress the Holiday Cupboard in red transfer ware for Christmas, but just didn't have enough dishes to make a nice display. Well, guess what was waiting for me 200 miles away? A small set of red in my favorite Johnson Brothers pattern, Old Britain Castles.

With those extra dinner and salad plates I was able to add a few of my basic white and then a few chintz pieces (Staffordshire, Tudor Roses by Meakin) to bring it all together.

So when I put away all my Christmas,

I just went ahead and made the cupboard up for Valentine's Day.

This is my little Lefton Candy Dish with Cupid.

and a new paper mache sweetie.

This is a collectible hand made and painted ceramic mold from a family company called Laxa Family USA, which depicts the symbol of the Lamb of God with a center flower pot with heart and flowers. I've had this for years, and bring it out to enjoy each Valentine's Day.

I don't have the rest of my Valentine things out, but since this has been up for awhile, I thought you might enjoy my first display with my new transferware. Now I'm on the lookout for more!

Hope you're having a good weekend, we just got back home from another doctor visit for my hubby in St. Louis. We visited a few antique spots, but I only grabbed a couple of items. I'm trying to curb the clutter around here, so I think I'm getting more particular in what I buy. I've been cleaning out my closets today and I have four huge bags of clothes. yikes. I think I'm going to go curl up with a cup of tea and my new Southern Living Magazine. (yes, I'm a southerner at heart...)