Finders Keepers

 

I had a banner day at the Quechee antique store.  I was picking up a few odds and ends. Actually, I was picking up a wedding band, which is neither an odd nor an end, and is sweet as can be (in addition to being a platinum steal!).

On my way to the jewelry case I found some of my new favorite things: Glass bottles and tins and pony shoes, oh my! And a 1950s cocktail dress that fits like a glove.

Everything looked so great together. As they were wrapping and ringing me up,  I couldn't wait to get home to unwrap and photograph. Once again, our painfully creamsicle colored dining room transforms into a divinely muted color when photographed in the afternoon light. Frankly, I think it's magic that these photos aren't a blurry mess. I like magic.

Smith Corona Typewriter (perfectly usable for $30!)

Added to the collection of bottles... (the little blue one says 3-in-one potion!...why oh why do we package everything in plastic.)

Plus some old tobacco tins. Pictured here with all of the pony shoes because they just seem to go together like peas & carrots.

If only I had been able to find a "Quechee is GORGE-ous" Tshirt, the day would have been complete.

Buy your Linen, Rent your forks

In the early days of wedding planning I swore I could get it done for $5000.  I was quickly disabused of this notion. But it made me mildly nauseous as I realized how much money could be spent for a few hours of our lives (even if it will, blah-da-de-blah, last forever in our memories). So I made a few early decisions which I'm fairly certain, kept me to only doubling, not infinitely multiplying, my original figure. Here are the wedding planning rules I lived by: 1) I'll make what I can 2) I'll buy local and antique whenever possible 3) Instead of renting, I'll buy things we'll want to keep.

Aside from loving Drew to infinity in the eyes of the State, item #3 brings me to my favorite part: I'm doing my own linens. The theory being: 1) Renting linens is insanely expensive and generally uninspiring 2) If it's fabric, I can reuse or re-purpose it, 3) Vintage cotton and linen are outstandingly lovely and create exactly the aesthetic I want. More proof?

That said, I had planned on buying my forks too. Oh, and all of the china. Can you imagine dozens of sets of mismatched silver plated silverware and a variety of vintage china on the linens above?
I can.
But I had to stop somewhere.

Summer, revisited

I forgot to post these wonderful linen finds from a summer Church sale in Middlebury. The masthead photo on this blog is a shot I took of the thread spools after purchase on what must have been one of the only sunny summer days. The linens are vintage floral dying to be refashioned into something new and I can't fully express my love for wooden thread spools.

All for $31.