Sing and Dance! Beautiful Hand Painted Japanese Tiles

The score of the day!  This find made my day!  Still pinching myself.  This is a vintage set of 4 hand painted porcelain tiles.  Each framed panel consists of 3 separate tiles.  Overall measurement of each is approximately 3.75" by 18.75".  I've been searching high and low for art for the walls and it has been slow.  Finally, finally a fantastic find.  Price? $3.99 each. 

I've found some really nice oil paintings also--I'll need to post some of them soon.

Beautiful Reglor Chalkware Lamp

Can you believe we passed this up the first time we saw it?  Well, we weren't sure what it was--how old or who the maker was, but it was stunning.  We since found out it is a Reglor (of California) lamp, one of those wonderful mid century American manufacturers no longer in existence.  Anyway... it went from the front of the store, to the back of the store in a period of a 2-3 weeks.  I guess we are meant to have it since no one else picked it up.  Price?  $25!  The lamp with shade is 37", made of  chalkware and HEAVY!!  I have yet to weigh it, but I'm going to guess it's no less than 20 lbs.  I bought the shade separately for $1.99.  This particular lamp is named 'contemplation' which is carved in the base along with the manufacturer's name.

Labor day weekend can't be without a little work!

I had big plans for today--I was going to sand the Egyptian revival desk I bought a couple months ago.  I won't have 3 days off in a row for the rest of the dry season.  But I laid in bed this morning struggling with the thought--there are so many other things I need to do  I decided not to stress out about it and ended up working 7 hours straight on all kinds of other stuff, to include--cleaning up that Egyptian ottoman that's been sitting around...even longer than the desk!  This piece is likely from the 60s, I've seen some similar, but this one is way cooler in that it has hieroglyphs embossed in the leather cushion and there are three different styles of medallions in a very classical ancient Egyptian motif.  The other ottomans I've seen have camel medallions and a large pyramid on the cushion.

 

Initially I thought it was missing an end cap, but I found that they were stacked together.  Very, very grimy, I dare not speculate what was all over it.  

 

I had to bang out one of the end caps and here I already shined them up. 

 

Here it is all cleaned up.   I fluffed up the stuffing and put a new (old) shoelace in.   I will order a special leather product for leather cleaning and restoration--just to perk up the tone and sheen hopefully.

 The ottoman in it's new home under the vanity of the Egyptian themed bathroom.

Limoge Shakers - Art Deco

Couldn't resist these hand painted art deco Limoge shakers with their blue and red arrows and gold tops.  The price was too right!

Better than I could have imagined!

I've been looking at vintage mid century curtains/drapes for months now.  The family room desperately needs something to perk it up. I have all these windows...2 of those high and narrow 6' x 24" types and a 6 x 4'.  Then there is the full light door.  Yesterday I went out with my list of textiles that I need and I couldn't believe (still can't) that I found a pair of drapes I am in love with!  They are so me!  Those of you who know my love of Asian art won't be surprised. They fit with our Ekornes leather chairs, the berber Flor and mid century furniture we have and want.  Two 90" x 38" pinch pleated panels, fully lined and I believe they are all cotton. Drum roll... $7.50!  They were half off!

The drapes are too long and I will have to alter them.  I'm thinking about making 3 sets of pinch pleated side panels out of them. It's going to be a lot of work--I'm no big sewer.  I'll have to get a another pair of cheap drapes just to practice on first.  That will give me time to find the hardware I need.

Vintage Clock - I Love Lucy!

Good golly!  I have been neglecting my blog!  The new job has put a wrench in my routine, and though I have still been hitting the thrifts at least once a week, I just haven't found time to post any of my finds.  I was just too excited about my latest that I have to tell somebody!

 

I actually bought this non-working clock about a month ago.  Hubby gave me that "are you serious" look when I showed it to him.  He's named it the I Love Lucy clock, because the cherubs remind him of Lucille Ball. The back is inscribed with gold ink "1956". It is exquisitely hand painted and a $4.99 find.

Today he found a working vintage clock so I got it in hopes I could swap out the innards.   Not only does it run, but it has a much nicer face with a second hand and radium painted hands.  I absolutely love this clock.  It's one of my most favorite finds! Oh and, apparently the clock has grown on my husband.

My 1950s Ranch House, 54 years later.

One of these days I will go through my photos and scan them, but today isn't the day I want to do that.  So no before pictures of the house, just what it looks like this morning.

If you ever wanted to know what a little fir tree would look like 54 years from planting, should you want to plant one...look to the right side of this picture.  It's not my tree, but the neighbors. You can see about two thirds of its total height.  According to one of the neighbors across the street, the original owners next to us planted the trees after the house was newly built.  The story is the wife liked to entertain guests and so to decorate her back yard, she planted small trees in the narrow strip of this corner lot.  The 3-4 fruit trees were taken out by a subsequent owner, but the 3 fir trees continue(d) to grow and grow.  Fortunately the power company took one (farthest from our house) down last year.  Wouldn't mind the others being gone, they block the southern exposure and dump debris onto our roof and into our gutters.  But that won't be done by the current owner.

Front yard today.  We keep it plain and simple.  That is enough work.  The Japanese maple was planted in the mid 1970s.  I've replaced all the doors and had vinyl windows installed.  The red brick facade is original to the house.  I love the old cedar lap siding!

A glimpse of the back yard from the patio.  This was once as bare as the front yard when I purchased the house in the mid 1980s.  We see this portion of the house from the kitchen and family room addition.   To the right is a separate "room", a vegetable and fruit garden.  It's a lot of work, but I love it--my little paradise.  I am dreaming of a deck these days.