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More odds and ends

You'll have to excuse the poor quality of the pictures today – I had to rely on my own shaky hands rather than my tri-pod when taking them.

Kelly (I'm thinking I should just rename this blog to The Kelly Chronicles or something like that) gave me four botanical prints. I think they are quite lovely. And as an added bonus there aren't any miserable butterflies flitting about in the pictures. I don't mind the occasional bee but we all know my thoughts on the other flying insects.

I was thinking of framing them without matting in red frames. I think that might look kind of bold. You can see the contrast between the white wall and the print. They have a creamy tone to them.

To get an idea of the size of the prints (taken at my Dad's house):

I do occasionally buy my own treasures and after reading of others' success at thrift shops I decided to try my hand it. I have to admit a huge aversion to them. I'm very definitely a 'can't see the forest for all the smelly crap' kind of person.

But I persevered and found two small silver-plated trays.

Before:

After:

They both have an inscription on the them that reads "Enchanted Hills Charity Mixed Doubles 1977." Not bad for $2.99 each.

Odds and Ends

I keep meaning to do a post on some of the non-linen, non-china pieces that Kelly has given me. She plucked these millinery flowers off an old hat. I'm thinking of trying to create a vintage Valentine box like one I saw on a blog and incorporate some them. It's driving me crazy but I can't find the blog I'm talking about – if anyone remembers (or is the blogger) seeing such a thing let me know.

This ribbon flower isn't vintage (unless you consider the 80's vintage) – it came off of one of the elastic clips we would wear on the back of our dresses in the 80's. To cinch in the waist. I love the rosy peach and green together. I'm not sure exactly what to do with it yet but it makes me want to want to buy a pretty linen dress and use it like it was intended. Maybe we can revive that trend?

Kelly also gave me a collection of vintage beaded purses. I'll show you close up of each.

The one above makes me drool it is so pretty. The beading design, the feel of it, I really love this one. I think it might be my favorite.

I wish I had taken a better or closer picture of this white one – the beads on it are exquisite. Hand made in France, which makes me swoon a bit.

This one is has more of a modern look to me. It's a very pretty shade of gold too. I can see wearing a simple black dress and strappy gold sandals and carrying this. I just need an event to go to that would require strappy gold sandals.

The next one I am going to show you I don't believe is all that vintage. The sequins on it are a bit iridescent, which I think is a fairly new development in the world of sequins. It, however, came stocked with a few things. Let's take a look, shall we..

I love the shape of the little mirror and the comb. What I can't figure out is that little square, satin envelope is for. Condom holder? I'm stumped and that is the only thing I can think of. The previous owner of the purse was prepared, I'll give her that.

The last bag isn't beaded but it has pretty detailing on the clasp. I can picture taking this on a leisurely weekend lunch at some outdoor restaurant.

Book report

Sheesh I have one little post on how I'm going to cut back on my magazine addiction and now all my favorites are folding! Domino, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, Country Home. What is going on? I take it back! I'll keep buying you!

I guess this may be the universe's way of telling me to spend my reading time with books. I have a few that I've read lately that I really, really liked and a few that no matter how much I wanted to like them as soon as I picked them up I fell asleep. I'm just going to review the one's I liked. Keep in mind that I listen to books just as much (if not more) than I actually read them. Sometimes I think the story is really enhanced by listening to it.

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book

This is actually a children's book (ages 9-12) but it is so entertaining that I think it is great for all ages – like the Harry Potter books. Well maybe not for children under the age of nine because it starts off with a rather horrific murder.

It's the story of Bod (short for Nobody) Owens who is the sole survivor of the murder and how he is raised by the citizens of a graveyard. Spirit/Ghost citizens. He learns some spirity like tricks and gets a fabulous education from the dead but he has to be on constant guard because the man that murdered his family is still looking for him.

This is a book that I listened to and it was narrated by the author himself which I think greatly adds to the story. He has a great story telling voice and I was quite on the edge of my seat for a great deal of this book.

Mary Ann Shaffer's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I'm sure everyone has read this book already – it's been mentioned on so many blogs. And for good reason. I love a book where there is a clever way of telling the story.

This story is told by the use of letters between a writer and the citizens of the previously German occupied island of Guernsey. You get to know each character through their own letters and from other's mentioning them in their own.

I admit that I resisted the book initially because of the title. I thought it was going to be a chick-lit type of book (a genre I don't care for) but once I started seeing it pop up all over the place I read it. In one sitting.

One other thing about this book – the author, Mary Ann Shaffer, became gravely ill during the writing of the book and asked her niece, Annie Barrows to take over – I think you can tell when that happens – towards the end the writing isn't as evocotive and I got the sense of 'wrapping things up.' That's the only negative thing I have to say about the book.

Julia Glass's Three Junes

I thought this was going to be the story about three women named June but it is the story of a Scottish family told in three parts. Each part takes place over the month of June.

The first part you meet the patriarch of the family who is vacationing in Greece after the death of his wife. You learn the story of their courtship, their marriage and raising their three sons.

The second part is the told from the perspective of the oldest son after the death of the father. He has moved to New York and this section weaves together his history and his return trip to Scotland for his father's funeral.

The third part is through the eyes of a young woman who met the father on his trip in Greece. It is ten years later and she meets the oldest son in New York after the death of her husband.

Even though the book is in three parts I think the main character is Fenno, the oldest son in the second part. The author includes him as a secondary character in her second novel, The Whole World Over. I didn't enjoy the second book nearly as much as the first but it was fun to run into Fenno again.

This is another book I listened to but I think the narration was a little distracting. The person narrating does great job with his native Scottish accent but the times he uses a French or American accent I found to be awkward.

Veronique Vienne's The Art of Doing Nothing: Simple Ways to Make Time For Yourself

Okay I don't actually have this book yet – I just ordered it but it was only a penny! Yes one cent plus $3.95 for shipping. What a deal. I ordered it through an Amazon used book seller.

I've ordered a number of books from various sellers this way (always going through Amazon) and have had terrific luck. It's great for decorating books that generally get thumbed through quickly and never opened again.

Let's see what kind of shape a book for a penny is!

Happy Reading!

Pinching pennies

I can't think of one person that isn't carefully watching their money right now. Everyone I know has been affected by the current state of our economy. Whether it be a lost job, a reduction in hours or benefits, the higher price of things.

While I think I am a fairly conservative with my money I can be a bit of a spendthrift in certain areas. Like magazines. Is there a 12-step program for us magazineoholics? And craft supplies. I amass stuff and then do nothing with it.

Late in December I decided to sit down and draft a budget. I went through the year's spending and figured out how much certain set expenses were (cell phone, cable, car insurance, etc.). Then I figured out how much I was spending on groceries, shopping, rubber stamps. Ouch. I figured the set expenses are pretty hard to pare down without getting rid of them all together (we haven't come that far yet) but in other areas I could vastly improve.

I started my budget on January 1st. I just spent the last of my gasoline money yesterday so I'm good for the month. I am over my grocery budget by $68 already and we still have four days left in the month (we will presumably want to eat on those days). I'm trying to pare down my cellphone charges and I'm headed in the right direction but I still went over by $40 this month.

I have implemented a 'no tossing a magazine into the grocery cart' rule. If I want a magazine it has to come out of my $20 a week allowance. Which is also for the occasional lunch out, craft supplies, non-essential beauty supplies, that sort of thing. It's a good thing I don't have a Starbucks habit.

I give myself a C+ for the month. I think I'm on the right track anyway. I do have some areas where I can improve – like better meal planning which should help the grocery budget.

I have to admit I'm kind of enjoying myself. I think that comes from a feeling of taking control. While I certainly can't control the economy I do feel good that I'm taking steps to improve my own situation.

(By the way – the quilt in the picture was made by Nicki and I think the pattern is called Pop-Beads. I love the 30's repo prints and I think it is a perfect backdrop for a post about saving and economizing. I'm feeling a bit 30's-ish lately. Next we'll get into the 40's and talk about Victory gardens….)

Well there went my Saturday

I stumbled across the Polyvore website where you can style create your own style sheets. You search their database of images and paste in whatever you want. It also has links to where you can purchase the items.

The entire outfit above would set me back about $700. Okay I left off the Cartier tank watch because I don't think I'm ready to sell my car in order to afford one of those.

Now I wouldn't actually spend $700 on that outfit but not all the pieces were pricey. For example that cardigan comes from Old Navy for $35. The t-shirt is James Pearse and retails for $115. I cannot fathom spending more that $15 on a t-shirt.

You aren't limited to just fashion either – you can do interior style sheets too.

You can browse other peoples sets and if you pick an item you can see what sets it has already been used in. Mine are really simple – some that I saw are so detailed and professional looking.

You've been warned ~ it's a total time sink but lots of fun.

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