Sunday, March 30, 2008

Easter mantel





Finally got our vintage Easter friends up on the mantel on Easter Sunday. Thought about just skipping it this year because I was so late, but my kids convinced me to do it. It really is so festive and yummy and happy. Here are some highlights. For the next few months, the mantel will be at rest. Like any respectable farmer, I know that the fields need down time to refresh for the next crop, which is my case, will be something in orange and black!

A fishy friend


My daughter Emma bought a goldfish yesterday. I offered a vintage blue Ball canning jar for its new home. My daughter was worried that the fish, named A'quavionta, would be lonely, so she painted a gold friend on the outside of the jar. She's a little sensitive. My daughter, not the fish.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The very last time I talk about daffodils

Patience, dear reader. I know you must be sick of me nattering on about daffodils. Even I am sick of me nattering on about daffodils. But I would be remiss if I did not share this gift of nature with you. Every year, about this time, a daffodil grows out of the MIDDLE OF A TREE on NE Weidler St. And if you think about it, that means someone must have PLANTED it there. No such thing as a volunteer bulb plant. Or maybe someone, many moons ago, tossed a couple of bulbs up into the yolk of the tree just to see what might happen. And look, a springy surprise in an unlikely place. Also, there is a tree growing out of the side of Notre Dame in Paris. Really. But that is another story that deserves its very own posting....some time soon....

Sunday, March 9, 2008

I Just Met a Girl Named Maria....

Well, not JUST, but who can resist a reference to West Side Story? Maria from Collage on Alberta is opening a new store on SE Woodstock. Check on the progress of the new space.
http://www.collageonalberta.typepad.com/
Collage is the dreamy, inspiration packed store here in Portland where you can find lovely paper, trims, stamps, vintage beads, and all things crafty and artsy. There is even a section for kid artists and a work room where the DIY folks have classes.
http://www.diylounge.com/

Start 'em Early...


Whenever we pass a dumpster, my 7 year old says "Mommy, let's DIVE!". I love that about him! This one turned out to be a big dissapointment. Construction debris. Not one 1950's floral tablecloth, no vintage Christmas goodies. Very sad. Oh well, I think I remember seeing another dumpster on NE Emerson St....

Monday, March 3, 2008

Things Floral and Emma

Saturday was my birthday. My husband took me out for Eggs Benedict and then to do a little junking. This is not normal protocol. He is always game to check out my swag when I get back, but doesn't usually want to accompany me on the ACQUIRING part of the ritual. So we go into one of my usual spots and it's like a birthday miracle. There, shoved under a shelf in a plastic milk container, I find these fleurs. Daffodils (my birthday flower) and lots of them. Yes, I know they are plastic. I don't care. I LOVE them. They will stay on my mantel, even through the hot summer, the crisp fall and the dead of winter.

I brought them home and put them in my favorite flower vase. The color just knocks me out and the inscription reads: "To my Aunt Emma" I found it at a junky antique store when my daughter Emma was just a baby.
I recently found this gem too, and at the same place as the daffs! It was in a small box marked "junque". A tiny hand painted floral in a frame. The artist signed her mini-masterpiece: Emma