Vignettes, Final

So here is our Expedit in all of it's glory. I'm very happy with this arrangement of the vignettes, but I will probably get bored with them in a year or so and rearrange. My previous design had a lot more brown and yellow, I think the use of more white this time around has helped it to be visually lighter.

 The display on top I redesign more often, usually at least once a season. Right now I have it set for summer. The garland was made by my sister Julia, the ivory partridges are from a funny antique store in Ohio, and the birdcages from my local antique haunts. I want about 10 more birdcages, all in different shades of white. Wouldn't they look marvelous, all lined up in a pretty row?

Vignettes, Part 3

This scene showcases more of my milkglass collection. The vases are all thrift store finds, and the footed dish in front, a gift from Cory. The deer babies came from an estate sale, and they are friends with the pair of birds shown in a previous cube.

Note: If books are to be used for primarily for decorative purposes, I focus on visual appeal only. So if you notice some unusual titles or subject matter in my displays, please do not be alarmed.

Here we have another favorite treasure, the white bird napkin rings. They are actually 2 different sets that combine quite well. I got them at a great antique store in Hendersonville, NC (love that little town). The gigantic white bowl thrills my heart, it's perfect for serving salad, pasta, punch, popcorn... or for hiding papers and such that need to be sorted. Want your heart to thrill as well? Get your own big-bowl-beauty right here. Get the platter too, you'll be glad you did. The bowl is resting on a very large, very old, and very dusty German Bible. I'll be sad when it disintegrates completely, the typography is beautiful and I can still read some of it.

This cube is all antiques, with the exception of the carved wood box in the background. Cory gave that to me when we were dating, and it's perfect for hiding little notes or microfiber cloths for cleaning the TV. The pale green vase fascinates me with it's unusual shape and gilded edges. Supposedly it's kind of rare, but I don't know too much about those things. The covered dish is dear to my heart, it has the most perfect little ceramic ladle with matching gold trim, and the strawberries on top make me smile. I like this so much but I forget to actually use it.


This the last I'll be posting of the vignettes for now, but tomorrow I'll show you what the Expedit looks like as a whole.

Vignettes, Part 2

This scene has one of my favorite treasures, a blue milkglass bird-on-nest. It was given to me by my parents. The white branch vase is fantastic, a gift from my favorite sister-in-law. The teacup is from a marvelous set I purchased for a steal at my favorite antique store, which is sadly closed.

What is hiding in the teacup, you ask?

Sleeping acorns, of course. Acorns and buttons. Annie put their faces on and now that I know them, I can't bear to toss them out.

The gold plate is from that same marvelous tea set. The white ceramic strawberry is from TJmaxx, and the red books .. I can't remember, maybe they just appeared. The barn owl is made of plaster or something, and I love it. It snuggles in your arms like a baby. It came from ZGallerie, but they no longer carry it.

This little stack fits in perfectly next to our Wii. The mouse drawing is from Annie. Are you jealous of my artwork? Get your own Annie original at this lovely party. The little whale is trying to fade away, can you see him? I got him at an estate sale for 25 cents. His name is Victor, and I know this because someone carved his name quite carefully into his underside. One time Victor fell off the shelf and his tail broke but I glued it back on.

Vignettes

We have Ikea's Expedit TV storage unit, and I love the display possibilities it affords. I love little groupings of items on display, groupings I call vignettes. Here are a few of my favorite vignettes from it's many cubes.

In this one I have some aqua books, a milkglass planter with red berries from Annie's yard, and two little bird friends (found at an estate sale).

Here we have more books, this time in shades of white. The footed milkglass bowl is from a dusty antique store basement (only $4!), the ceramic elephant from Ross, and the gold bottles from Cory (who knows where he got them from).

This one holds a marvelous vase, given to me by my parents. The tin used to hold pen nibs or tobacco or something. The coral is from a little store near here called Dixie Gem, a place of wondrous rocks and geodes and usually cool vintage jewelry (warning: interaction with the owners is a unique experience). Do you think it is weird to have old pictures of people you don't know? I don't, I think it is just fascinating.


 I don't know if these vignettes are interesting to other people or not, but my days are a bit full right now and I have the pictures already, so this is what you are going to see for the next few posts.

In bloom

A few weeks ago I was craving some springtime color (nevermind that I had not yet taken down my Christmas wreath) but didn't want to waste money on short-lived hothouse flowers. I found a Martha Stewart tissue paper flower kit for a steal at TJMaxx, the perfect solution. Though, dear Martha does neglect to tell you that it will take you about 8 hours to assemble all the blossoms. I'm very happy with my spring bouquet, they will get me through until I have blooms from my own garden. (Buds on the peonies! Already!)