Florentine Treasures from Italy

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Sadie

All of us are attracted to vintage Florentine treasures – from chandeliers to candelabras to little boxes and trays. Every now and then we find something truly unique in our experience and of course I have to buy it!

Can you spot what I thought truly unique?

Unless I am fooling myself – and some of our collector customers – it is the set of pink Florentine salt and pepper grinder. I almost left them behind because I wasn’t aware of pink items. Then I found the mark on the bottom and realized they are truly Italian and the real thing

Here is a closeup

A box of coasters which sold before I could post this blog entry!

A sweet little chest!

The weather is finally terrific for painting and we should be getting a number of new things next week to share! My mom is visiting from Kentucky and this is the last day I will be in the shop until the middle of next week so have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

P.S. Be sure to click on the pictures for a larger view.

Vintage Betty Crocker Cookbooks

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Sadie

Does anyone else out there love vintage cookbooks as much as I do, I wonder? I have dozens of hardbound ones and probably hundreds of the little paperback booklets from almost every company under the sun. I love them all!! One of these days I would also like to have the space to show them all off at once.

My favorite of all are Betty Crocker cookbooks. I have used the same one for over 30 darn near forty years. Actually the current book is the second of the same cookbook because the first one fell apart. This one was given to my husband by his Home Ec teacher mom when he moved out and has handwritten instructions for his favorite roast recipes inside the cover.

showing her age already on the front cover

we've used this recipe forever!

the cookie pages used many, many times

falling apart - again!

clear tape on the spine is holding her pretty much together still

And the point to my post is: I found a new-to-me looseleaf version of this same cookbook recently and I bought it with the intention of replacing old reliable seen above.

she's lovely!! and so clean!! and her pages are flat!! and the recipes are the same!!

I couldn’t do it! I cannot get rid of my faithful friend! This one is too clean and doesn’t hold the same memories.

So ….

Miss Lovely Shiny Version (in loose leaf, no less) is now available in my Etsy shop. Someone please give her a loving home and make many memories with your family!

My First Blog Post!

Posted on June 13, 2010 by sophia

Hi, Ms. Sophia here and take a look at what I just finished painting! This darling claw foot table with 4 numbered chairs. Is this a fun set! My son said that he didn’t get why I numbered the chairs but I said to him “why not”! What do you think?

Look at what Estelle brought into the store today. What a fabulous desk this would be! Hmmm….if only Ms. Sophia had room at her house. ~SOLD~

I found these two great chairs on craigslist. I’m going to reupholster and paint them. Check out the detail on the top of the chairs! So I’m thinking about re-doing them in a vintage grain sack that I have had for awhile but I think I only have enough to cover either both seats or both backs and would have to use a fabric that would compliment the grain sack to complete the chair. Or should I do each one differently? Decisions decision!. Plus Sadie said to take pictures as I go along! I will do my best.