A clean studio is a happy studio

Remember the state of my studio? Well, grab yourself an egg nog latte, sit down, and check this out:

The Work Table...

The Green (!) French Provincial Desk & Hutch...

The Storage!....

The Floor!!!.....
Now its all ready for Valentine's Day projects...the space will soon be a riot of vintage hearts, red glitter and cupids!

Orange Carrot Cookies on a Fire King Plate

These are my favorite cookies to make; so easy, so pretty, so good! Years ago, my friend Joan came for a visit and brought a batch of these. She later sent the recipe to me by mail (this was way before email) and I still refer to the tattered and splattered paper it was written on. In pink ink, no less!

Here is the recipe in full in case you want to try them: But be prepared, you will be the most popular gal on your block!

3/4 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup cooked mashed carrots (approx 5 carrots, boil about 30 minutes)

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking POWDER

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream margarine and sugar together. Add egg and carrots, mix well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to sugar mixture with vanilla. Drop by spoonfuls on slightly greased cookie sheet. Bake @ 375 for 12 minutes.

Frosting:

Juice from 1/2 orange

1 & 1/2 Tbsp butter (unsalted)

1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Birds and Flowers and Raoul Dufy

This little vignette is in our garden room. The kids call it the computer room (for obvious reasons) but I like the sound of "garden room" better.

I found the Dufy print in a French art book that was falling apart, the frame was rescued from the Goodwill. I discovered the sweet tole flower shelf in a musty basement at an estate sale and the blue swallow was at a different sale for a quarter. Put them all together and whadda ya have? A little bit of Paris in the GARDEN ROOM.

Scenes (and a story) from a Christmas Tree

Here is a little tour of our favorite ornaments....

The Queen of all Christmas birds...love her pearl necklace!
One of many vintage corsages....
Metal mesh angel with foil wings and a bell...
Mica snowman on blue glass ball...

Another corsage....
The ugliest ornament ever made. She's wall-eyed. I just know she was never loved until she came to live with us.....

The Christmas....Devil (?????)

Gorgeous Snowy Santa...

Bride and Groom birdies...

My mom made the pink angel (below) in the 1970's. I remember that she volunteered to make a bunch of them for some charity thing, but she kept putting off actually doing it. Each time she would talk about them, her outlook would get worse. First it was; "I must get going on those sweet pink angels." Then it turned into; "I have to start sewing those things." Finally it was; "I need help making the god damn angels!" Now, every year when my kids pull this one out of the box, they squeal with delight; "Look! It's Nana's g.d. angel!" My friend Joan's mom made her one too at around the same time. I wonder what they call her at their house.

Charlie at Jim & Patty's Coffee on a day off from school

.... All the girls are going to want to go to the prom with Charlie.

A Snowy Village on Grandma Millie's Cake Plate

I love these little vintage Mica ornaments. They remind me of my grandparents. Millie and Otto had a small white feather tree in their kitchen every Christmas when I was a kid. Gems like these were always placed lovingly in the branches by my grandma. The ornaments pictured above were not theirs, (not sure what happened to them...a landfill perhaps...sad!) but I have been lucky enough to find these at various estate sales. Usually for a dime.

I placed them on Millie's glass pedestal cake plate. Then, I made my own little snow storm in the dining room. With this:

That's right; REAL PLASTIC SNOW!

Beatrice is Cold

We are having a snow day today in Portland. I am in the studio, cleaning, trying to stay focused. It is so fun to paw through piles of vintage wrapping paper. I took a break and came upstairs to make hot chocolate. From the window, I saw Beatrice, my lucky garden chicken, covered in snow and ice. I think she looks lovely.

My Charlie Brown Christmas in New York

Many years and a couple of husbands ago, I lived in a postage stamp sized studio in New York. I was poor but happy living my big city adventure. As the holidays approached, I thought about getting a Christmas tree for my humble home, but the prices for trees in Manhattan were exorbitant.

One evening, I got off the bus a few blocks away from my stop so I could walk in the snow which has just begun to fall. As I passed by a corner market, I spied a small, spindly tree among the other larger and lovelier pines for sale. It was almost bare and quite pathetic.

As I paused to look, the shopkeeper came out of the store. I asked him the price of the tree. He said: “Forty dollars.” I plucked up my nerve, looked him in the eye and said: “Mister, there is only one person in New York City who would want that Christmas tree, and you’re lookin’ at her. I’ll give you 5 bucks for it.”

I saw just the hint of a smile on his face as he said...“It’s yours.” I carried it home, cheered by my victory and the sense that I was on my way to becoming a real New Yorker.

Hazel almost sits for a portrait

So I caught Hazel digging in the garden beds today when I turned my back for 2 seconds. I brought her in the house, tempted to spank and scold but cleaned off her filthy paws instead. Then I had a brainstorm...I have a blog! I could post about this dirty deed! The photo shoot went something like this:

"Sit Hazel!"
"Hazel, SIT..stay!"
"Hazel, PLEASE...Sit!"
"Good Girl!"

The part where a vintage picture frame gets a new look

Okay, I know you have at least one old picture frame in your garage that you found at an estate sale for 50 cents. Me? I have a truckload of them.

Let's get to re-purposing, shall we?

Here is my before: 3 dorky boys in an old wood frame (Triplets? But only one wears glasses? or 3 shots of the same dorky boy and for one he tried out his Peter Sellers impersonation?)....But I digress.

Here is my after:


My friend Maria at Collage gave me a box of delicious vintage greeting cards awhile back and these happy people were in there, just waiting to be loved again. I found the dotty and festive background paper at Collage. So there you go...dusty, neglected picture frame gets a new life! Recycled and Fabulous!

This is one HOT Santa!

My friend Linda stopped by the other day to bring a bag of holiday goodies for me. I love it when that happens! Included in the booty was this vintage light up plastic Santa. Linda said she almost didn't get it for me since it had a burn spot. I looked more closely and sure enough, there it was, just below his belt. Sometime in his past, someone put Santa's lightbulb in too far. And it burned a hole right in his...well, ahem, see for yourself.

Hey Santa, is that a lightbulb in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

A Christmas Par-Tay ~ Includes Gifts!

This is my space at Vestiges Storefront in Portand. This Saturday we are having a shindig, so if you are in or near PDX, come on by! We will provide wine, food, live music and gifts for everyone on your list! We are a collective of local gals who have a flair for homemade, collectible and vintage treasures!

Saturday, December 6, 2008~ 5pm-8pm
Vestiges Storefront ~ 4743 NE Fremont St ~ Portland

My space is stocked with festive stuff like this:

Just ask for One Gal's Trash!
P.S. The tartlette tin ornaments were crafted by yours truly. But you probably knew that....