Red, White and Blue -- A Patriotic Summer

I will be posting some treasures that center around a "patriotic" theme for our summer fun.  A few days ago my friend Renie Gile at "JustASecond Antiques" on Main Street asked me to help her get set up for the holiday. I created this burlap banner for her shop. It turned out really nice. It is 17 feet long and is made up of individual triangle flags onto which I've stenciled a letter. It says "God Bless America". Because Renie's shop is tiny we had to string it around the ceiling. I think the whole effect is really nice with the red and blue chandeliers in the ceiling and the nicely made birdhouse too.

Renie's blog is found at http://www.justasecondbuzz.blogspot.com/.  You can see the other red, white and blue vintage and new decorative items there. 

These last few days in the garden have been busy! Moving, dividing, removing, repositioning, pruning, etc.  I've also been filling pots and window boxes with new annuals for early color. Thought I would share a few lovely pictures.

This section of the garden is right next to the hose and all the other more utilitarian things needed in the garden -- the ubiquitous "side yard" that seems to get neglected. It needed a little something and I came across these two chinese style pots that never get used because they don't have drainage holes in the bottom. I also had the bottom of an old fountain that never seemed to work right. It is a copper bowl with an inner portion and the outer rim. So, I pulled out an old water pump, some decorative rocks and voila! an instant fountain that gives the little spot just the right ambience. And no $$ were spent here!

This is one of my prized possessions and I take it inside during the winter and pull it out in the spring. My father made this bird house and I brought it with me when I moved. It is the only one I have left as all the others have broken or rotted into pieces.  Last year it was occupied by some nesting nuthatches. It hangs with the potted geranium in the branches of our dying smoke tree that I won't let my husband cut down because it is just so handy for this purpose.

A table scape I created out of an iron "nest" piece I picked up at a yard sale, a plate onto which I layed some moss from the garden and a concrete cardinal. I added some flowers for the picture. It serves a purpose -- covering the umbrella hole in the table.

This beautiful lady was created years ago by my mother. She is plaster and I carted her all the way from California. She occupies my "blue" garden, so named because it is inhabited by her and all the flowers in the space are blue.  Every year I spray her a couple of time with a water sealer so that she will continue to stand. She's weathered just great and really looks like an old sculpture!

A blue pot from the "blue" garden filled with blue and white flowers.

Part of the limestone rock wall with its spring covering of violets and other foliage.  The delphiniums will be showing their blue flowers in a couple of months.

The juniper that is draping itself quite nicely over the limestone wall. We put in 80 ton of limestone to terrace the gardens.

This is one of the last blooms on the magnolia. She was spectacular this year and sits next to a yellow forsythia bush. The two compliment each other and create really spectacular show of blossoms.

Melange Vintage

I collect vintage parts -- still useable and have life left in them as something other than their original purpose. These candles are a melange of different "parts".  The beautiful glass globes came from a lamp that needed to be rewired and onto which I put some fabric lampshades. The globes were in my closet that I keep all my candles in and I originally thought they might fit into some vintage glass candlesticks but did not. The wood turnings were from a different project and they were not very stable as candlesticks so I cut some scrap lumber to add to the bottom of the turnings. Then we (my husband is my collaborator) cut a groove in the top of the turning to insert the glass globe and because I didn't want them to fall out and break I used my trusty E-6000 glue to permanently attach the glass.  The wood was painted my favorite shade of black. I have been playing around with fabric and making rosettes and since I am nuts about burlap right now I added burlap "ribbon" to the rosette. The result is elegant and very inexpensive. I cannot even say exactly how much the whole candle cost but probably not more than $10.00.

Vintage Pincushion

Have you discovered the small planter-type containers and wondered what to do with them? They make great containers for things like toothpicks but I really like them for pincushions. Here is an easter container from Fanny Farmer: I created a pincushion using some vintage fabric.

vintage sale

This is the fabulous Churchill's Grove garage sale weekend. Over 70 homes open their garages and sell.  I am having a "not your usual garage sale" sale.  Over the last two months I have been refurbishing, repurposing tag sale finds and creating something "new".  Here is just a sampling of what is available.

I love all the burlap and garden ornaments I managed to collect. 

Here you see a "desk" table that I gave a coat of paint and some new knobs.  Some of my vintage tablecloths are also for sale.

Shown is the sewing machine that I repurposed into a lamp.  It is stunning as a one-of-a-kind piece of America's past.

Experimenting with fabric flowers and shells

I created this wreath while playing around with burlap and an old grapevine wreath that came from a long ago project. I read about making these fabric roses and had a piece of muslin left over from another project plus a couple of jars of shells that I brought back from a trip to the ocean. I just added the use of my trusty glue gun and away we went. A morning well spent!

Mod Podge and Candle Lamps

Before

I found these candle lamps at a tag sale and thought I could make something unique with them. I started with tissue paper and covered the glass globes using my fav medium - Mod Podge. Then I stamped some of my tissue paper with birds and vines using my favorite brown ink. Birds are such a huge motif and remind me of my garden right now (my birds are all nesting and getting their families started). I dressed each glass globe with an antique key and some burlap ribbon secured with a vintage shell button.

Vintage Inspiration

The vibrant colors and clean, graphic design of Vera Neuman serves as inspiration! Here are a couple of my favorites.

Sunflowers

Purple Iris