jane's apron

happy halloween

Just a quick post today to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!  The sparkly orange party hats on my mantel are from my favorite tiny pink thrift store. 

I started this month of "orange" posts with my Sweet & Sinister Swap stuff and end it today with what I received from my swap partner Angela at miss molly cottage.  Angela sent me all kinds of local southern goodies including a church cookbook (love those books!).  Thanks Angela!

And now that the month is over, I'm excited to move on to other things.  For one, my blog anniversary is Friday so check back for what I hope is a new look!

thrifty october

I found this hand-embroidered owl at my thrift store this month...it's perfectly stitched on muslin and mounted on a big 16x20 board.  It seems like something that might have been in a school classroom.  I'm working on getting a frame big enough for it and think it will look cute somewhere in my house.   I also found some other hand-embroidered pretty things...

I know it is only October but I'm going to go ahead and declare this my "thrift score of the year".  It is some kind of crazy quilt made with great vintage fabrics with each piece outlined in embroidery and then finished in the coolest olive green trim.   The weirdest part is that I bought two of these...one large and one slightly smaller.   Are they a baby and doll quilt set?  Is one supposed to go on the back of the sofa and the other on the back of a chair?  I don't know but I'll come up with something.

 

pumpkins

I'm 44 years old and have a tiny pumpkin face tea set that no one is allowed to touch but me.  Is that wrong?  I've had this tea set longer than I've had kids.  It's from the same ceramic artist that made this bunny.  She creates her own molds from vintage candy molds and other vintage items and then finishes them in a cool "shabby" way.  I have a pretty large collection of Halloween stuff from her but only get out a few things each year.  This year it's the tea set and these...

Boo!

Just wanted to post a quick update about the artist that created these cool ceramics.  Her name is Chris Farr and she has a website at www.thesunshineshed.com.   My sister Jennifer had the information and she has her own post about Chris here.  Jennifer lives two houses up from me and, when it comes to talent for arranging interiors, she is the best there is...the photos in this post are actually from her house and not a decorating magazine...seriously.

hooked

I'm not the kind of mom that can teach her kids to crochet.  I'm just not.  But, after seeing a crochet project in an old Martha Stewart Kids Magazine, my 10 year old Ross was pretty persistent.   Ross: "Mom, did you get that stuff for me to crochet yet?"  Me: "Ummm...no".  I just didn't want to do it because I thought someone (me) would end up in tears. 

I finally broke down and picked up 3 crochet hooks and a thing of yarn and sat down with the magazine and taught myself how to do the basic crochet stitch.   Before long, I had all 3 kids chain stitching like crazy people.  My 6 year old was taking and recording measurements of the dog's head and the cat's neck (for hats and scarves).  When I went to bed that night, both of my boys were up in their rooms crocheting. 

I needed a little more instruction about how to actually make something and found this "Kids Crochet" book at the library.  It's a really good and cute book for kids so I went ahead and ordered it from Amazon.  I highly recommend it...if you are at all intimidated by crochet I would encourage you to give it a try.  If I can teach my kids, believe me, anyone can do it. 

As Ross was practicing his stitches, he said something like "Wouldn't it be fun to sit and watch football and crochet?".    Yep, that does sound pretty fun.

anthropologie philosophy

I love Anthropologie...it's like walking into a killer estate sale (with much, much higher prices).  It's a little shocking for a thrifty girl like me to find a cute cocktail glass and see that it's $8.00 instead of my usual $0.80.  Despite the sticker shock, I've come to the conclusion that, for me, Anthropologie is like a "cheater's" thrift store....all of the cute stuff without the junk, smelliness, and other general unpleasantries.  But, sometimes I'm a big cheater.  My Mom gave me a gift certificate for Christmas last year and I recently found this apron.  It has a cute vintage-y orange fabric for the neck and apron strings.  And it's really, really soft and worn...like it's not brand new.   

Last year at Thanksgiving, I grabbed a bunch of aprons and brought them so all of the girls had an apron to wear while cooking.  When I found the cool orange and brown fabric this summer I thought I'd make a new one for me for this Thanksgiving.    

orange thrift

I've thrifted some pretty orange things over the years and these are a couple of my favorites.   I don't know exactly how to describe this lamp...it's obviously oriental but I don't know what kind of jar it is...what are the holes on top and what is the painting style called?  It usually sits on a stack of books but I put it on one of my favorite Martha Stewart books for this picture.  It's called "Good Things from Tag Sales and Flea Markets" and it's where I found my favorite milk glass idea (see them on the bottom cover?).

This cool orange pitcher usually only comes out for Halloween.  I bought this at an estate sale in our neighborhood a long time ago.  One of the owners was there and told me that his mom used it every morning to pour milk for the kids.   I collect and get rid of stuff all of the time but this one has stayed with me...and always will.  I found the embroidered napkins this year and love them because the color is so different...orange and brown.   

something new

I usually read before I go to sleep...a book, a decorating magazine, or, in this case, my new Foof-A-Life idea book.  The book features a lovely wall hanging created by Teresa McFayden using the cover from an old hardcover book.  As I drift off to sleep I'm thinking..."I do have my man-hands crop-a-dial...what books do I have to use?".  I woke up the next day and made these.  Front...

...and back (I always have to finish the back of things)

Since I'm having an "orange" month here on the blog, I picked a couple of books with orange on their covers.   I just love these little things...so simple and cute.  I am participating in at least one craft show in the next few months and I think these might be good for that...plus, they are fun to make and I wouldn't mind making lots.   

And...you know it's a short leap for me to take an idea and go here...

I created these using the back covers of the Little Golden Books.  The books are the perfect size for some of my sewing patterns.

And, finally, because I had all of my orange sewing pattern things out, I made this big 11x14 collage.  I have several pattern book pages that have these simple drawings and think they are so cool...this one would be perfect in a simple black frame.   The pattern page says  "How they love to float about in their Mother-Daughter Muu-Muus!  A Dream for at-home or sleep wear"...giggle.

inside the front door

Before there was the orange front door, there was the orange back hallway.   This picture is a view from the front door looking straight back into the kitchen.   I am very influenced by the names of paint colors.  This color is called "october"...how perfect is that?    I know it looks pretty but I have to tell you that this was the painting project from hell.   The back hallway is only about 6ft. x 10 ft.  but is has six doorways (six doorways!!), one large window, and a radiator...and the decorative entry you see from the front hallway.   

With the bold color on the walls, I started adding black & white art.  The photo of the cherubs is from a friend of my cousin, Mary Pat Gallagher...I think it was taken at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

front door

Most discussions about home projects with my husband are remarkably similar.  He tells me what I shouldn't/can't do and I put my hands over my ears and say "la, la, la...la, la,la".  I think the "discussion" about our front door may have set a record...the project took 6 years to complete.  When we moved in, an aluminum storm door (with a decorative swan...yes, a swan) covered the front door...totally and completely out of place on our Tudor house.  I won't bore you with the details but, as you can see, I finally made the door my own.   I wanted the door to be painted.  Not just any color...but a nice pretty orange...with a dark, dark green frame around it. 

...and just one more sliver of orange to share with you.  Today, I am officially the mom of a teenager.  We took a lot of teasing about naming him Jack (there weren't very many Jacks back then...I had to constantly repeat that he was Jack not Jake)  but the guys I worked with were very supportive and told me that with a name like "Jack Thompson" he would grow up to be a baseball player.  They might have been right...that's Jack with the MVP ball from the all-star game this summer.  Happy Birthday Jack!

october = orange

It's hard to say that I have a "favorite" color because I like all kinds of color and combinations (love paint chips and paint color names) but one that I always love is orange.   I had the idea this weekend to make all of my blog posts for October "orange" posts...stuff around my house (there's a lot of orange), maybe some new projects...we'll see.   

I'm starting off the month with the items I'm sending out for the Sweet & Sinister Swap.  I didn't use all of the stuff I gathered but did add a few more items here and there...

The jar of orange stick candy is a pear jar from Trader Joe's...just loved the shape of the jar and save it for "some reason".   

I used a page from "Son of a Witch" (where are all of the copies of "Wicked" at the thrift store when you need them?) and a vintage sewing pattern on the clipboard.  Added a Sweet & Sinister tag with black & white twine (Martha Stewart stuff at Michael's). 

The black sconce was a thrift store find that used to be gold.  I spray painted it black and added some black & orange vintage-y crepe paper.  I really couldn't think of anything to put in the sconce that would travel in the mail very well...finally decided to add some of my favorite chocolate recipes...sweet.

The last item is my favorite and was completely thrifted.  The milk glass is a cool sinister shape (don't forget to add a tea light to your milk glass!).  I have never really seen crocheted doilies in orange...isn't it cool?  I found a nice scary Ann Rice "Servant of the Bones" book and tore out chapter 13 and glued it on the front of the book.  Such a spooky little vignette.