Olive's Chit Chat

A new way to use fabric..

2007-04-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

I mentioned that I wanted to try this in my last post and I think it turned out good, I really like it actually. The entire thing cost under $30, the embrodiery hoops are only $1 a piece and I bought half yards of fabric at a discount store. Notice how sad the sideboard is with it's missing hardware. I keep stripping it of pieces to try and get the right size of new, well, antique but new to me hardware. I'll try again at the next flea market...I might add another larger circle on the right to balance it out, I started on the left and then ran out...
You can kind of see my fabric choices...they look better in person, Mike was a little confused withthe asian one, didn't think I was into that...oh the surprises I'm full of. If I like the colors, I buy.

Our little house..

2007-04-16T17:37:00.000-05:00

I'm getting us settled in our house and have some pictures to share. We received the red carpet service from the movers :)

Olive loves all the morning sunshine we get...And I'm loving all the yellow roses the two bushes in our front yard produces! And this picture is my favorite wall in the house...I finally found a place for those bird mirrors.
Here's some of our Easter Decor on the mantle, I made garlands out of vintage 1910 Easter postcards mailed to my great, great grandmother.

Close up of Garland, note the beautiful colors on those old postcards! Amazing.

Our Front Porch..
And those gorgeous built ins...

I need to get a good picture of the front of the house with all of the flowers in bloom, I will be sure to do that. I'm enjoying the california sunshine and I've even started a little herb garden, I hope it will thrive in all of the sunshine we get. As I continue to decorate I will share more pictures. I think I'm going to try this wonderful idea from the purl bee I saw on posie gets cozy I'm going to try it above our tv - we have some weird horizontal space to fill and I think this will add a nice, non high tech touch. I want to position the TV more to the left to balance the lamp but Mike likes it centered and would prefer we remove the lamp completely....I pick my battles :) Can't wait to try this project and I'll be sure to show you pictures of the finished product!

More Flea Market Finds...

2007-04-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

I've been a bad blogger, it's been almost a month since my last post! oops. Well, I have lots of pictures to post. First some great things I found at the Long Beach Flea Market. Aren't these mason jars fantastic?! And $3 each, can't beat that. I'll use them as vases for my wedding in Folly Beach, SC. Definitely the look I'm going for. And those roses are from my front yard - we are renting our house and the yard is wonderful...pics of that to follow.

And these are some Christmas ornaments I purchased for $5 for the whole box. I was very happy with this purchase and I think I got some great deals! They're having a special market on 4/29, hopefully I can convince Mike to come with me! We were looking for a dealer who sells all antique hardware but couldn't find him, maybe next time!

Flea Market Finds

2007-03-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

Because we are in temporary housing (for only one more week!), my flea market finds are limited...to things that are small. I've been buying mismatched or onesie candlesticks and plates to make cake plates out of. I will probably have way too many of them very soon but I hope to one day sell them in a booth or shop I have... Mike just looks at me and says do you really need another plate? Yes! And the compotes are for our wedding, they will either be holding flowers or sugared fruit. Not sure yet but I'm collecting them...I'm up to 4 or 5.We also saw this ottoman/coffee table. Mike liked it and so did I...but I was not ready to commit to the color or pattern. I know I can recover it, but do I really want to?I think he's just desperate to get rid of our iron and marble coffee table. It was one of our first auction purchases in SC. At first glance it was wonderful and so me, at second glance it had a chip in the marble and a surface that was well worn. When the light hits the top of it you can see all sorts of smudges, etc. I like to think it has history but he's really not buying it, that's where our decorating differences are - he doesn't appreciate used as much as I do! Anyone have any suggestions for restoring marble? We tried a cleaner from Lowe's but it did not work. I received a quote to refinish it professionally and it was far more than what I paid for it! I'm afraid this table might end up as an outdoor table...Anyway, that's what was found at the flea markets!

Bunnykins at the Long Beach Flea Market

2007-03-19T15:42:00.000-05:00

I so rarely have experiences of seeing an antique from my childhood that sparks any memories. Yes, if I saw orange velour couches or a wagon wheel coffee table, maybe, but you so rarely see those (thank goodness!) I'm not sure where my love of vintage comes from but it certainly was not my upbringing. Our house was decorated in the late 70's and stayed that way, my Mom just wasn't into it, maybe her complete lack of wanting to decorate inspired me to need to!

Well, I'm moving through the Long Beach Flea Market at a rather fast pace (when I see it, I know it...I don't need to look at every last item) and there it was....I had that bowl! I can't say I remember eating out of it but I know that bowl sat in the back of our cupboard until at least my teen years, and I was the youngest of three. I specifically remember the little bunnies hopping around the edge of the bowl. I picked it up and the vendor wanted $75 for it! Wow. I've looked on ebay and they actually go for about $10...wishful thinking by the vendor. I wonder where that Bunnykins bowl is now and if my Mom still might have it?

A "Real" Job...

2007-03-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

Well, my love of all things vintage and shabby needs to be put on hold temporarily while I go make some "real" money in the "real" world. I'm trying to be optimistic but I'm picturing myself in a cubicle with a headset on wanting to explode. I'm trying to find a job still in the home decor industry but it's proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I even applied for a position at Anthropologie! I refuse to work weekends so I don't think that's going to work out, but you never know, right? The perfect mix would be a full time job and a booth on the side...sounds like a lot but I really want to keep going with the booth and try to gain traction out here on the West Coast. I still see a need for all my beautiful wholesale finds and I truly think it would be a success. I'm posting some pics of my booth in all it's glory to cheer myself up and hopefully you too!

This is the beautiful sideboard I painted and restored, I loved how worn the mirror on this was, I hope the woman that bought it is enjoying it in her home.

A broader view of the booth back in September. Mike thought I was crazy for buying a picnic table and then painting it green. It was the first piece of furniture I sold, everyone loves a green picnic table! :)

Well, I'm back to my job search, wish me luck on finding something that will fulfill my creative needs yet bring in some $$!

Little Green Cottage and the Rose Bowl!

2007-03-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

We have relocated from the east coast to the west coast, we went from being a 1/4 mile from the Atlantic to a 1/4 mile to the Pacific. Crazy how that works out. I'm anxiously awaiting moving into the darling little cottage we found, should be within the next two weeks. For now we are in a corporate apartment and are really missing our own couch! Can't wait to start decorating the little cottage and it's wonderful front porch!

We went to the Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday - I've heard and seen so much of it (thank you Rachel Ashwell) that I just had to go. I wouldn't say I was disappointed but I was hoping for better pricing and more unique furniture.

I had a realization while there - Cottage is the new Country....yes, the Americana rust red furniture and dried fruit wreaths have been replaced with white wash furniture and fresh pastel wreaths of greens and whites. Country has somehow morphed into the next big thing - cottage. I once thought I was original with my love of vintage and romantic pastels, am I now just another girl with that look? The good news - I can find things I love in Target and dare I saw Wal-Mart (eeek!...I try not to shop there...but if I see a glass cannister for $2.50, I must buy it!) What once was a very specific look is now everywhere and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

This weekend is the Long Beach flea market - I've heard the pricing is better than the Rose Bowl (where I only purchased 2 glass compotes and 1 dish) so I hope to find some goodies!

Sometimes you just can't let go...

2007-01-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

This picture has two items, ok, actually five that I purchased for the booth but had to keep at home. Sometimes it happens, I just can't let go of something so cute! Or, like the bird mirrors below I priced them so high that they don't sell, they are currently $60 each which I think is a steal because they truly are the original thing - you should feel how heavy they are! They are gorgeous and if someone loves them enough they will be happy to get them for $60 each! Probably not a good retail strategy but sometimes I get attached. The bird mirrors were found at a garage sale, one of the best garage sales I've ever been to! If they don't sell in another month in the booth they're coming home to live on my wall!

Back to the picture at hand - the green shelf was bought at auction, I both love and hate auctions. You can get a great deal if no one knows what something is or if it's hidden in a box. But if the auctioneer decides to draw attention to a piece, the value all of a sudden starts skyrocketing - a good auctioneer obviously does this...much to my dismay. I had my eye on this piece as soon as I saw it (it was not the cute distressed Paris Green it is today) but still, I loved the curves of it. So, it turns out this used to be an old radio - you know, the really old ones...well, someone took the radio mechanism out of it and made it into a shelf. It now is a very unique

one of a kind piece that now everyone at auction must get their hands on! Well, I still got it but for more than I wanted to spend but as you can see I love it! The champagne bucket and silver bowls are also auction finds, what a fun way to organize your keys and receipts, I love the way it looks. Another item I couldn't part with is one I buy wholesale - the wood beach sign of the mom and her baby in the ocean. The colors looked so good next to the new green shelf that I kept it. I can always put it in the booth if I need filler and order another one for myself. Another great thing about that booth - if I get tired of something at home I put it in the booth to sell!

Auction Night

2006-12-31T16:55:00.000-05:00

Mike and I found ourselves with not much to do on Saturday night and a need to get some more furniture into our booth. We sold the Red Vintage Cabinet and the three tiered stand(both pictured) so things are starting to look a little more bare...we really need some larger pieces in there. So, we went to an auction on a Saturday night and surprisingly so did about 50 other people!

For those of you who have never been to an auction think garage sale but with an auctioneer and you can get some great buys because you don't have the woman who bought it 25 years ago telling you about all of the sentimental value - just some guy who wants to make a buck and could care less if he sells you a box full of fabulous glassware and china for $5...or even $2.50. You walk around box by box as he auctions and then you get to sit down while they auction off the more valuable items and larger furniture pieces. We ended up with no furniture sadly but some great glassware and a few pieces of china. All have been cleaned and are on their way to the booth and will be posted on the website under a new section called "one of a kind".

Here is a sampling of some of the great finds. A glass cake plate, a silver plated pitcher and decorative vase, a low wide bowl with silver plated base and the cutest I think of all is the little footed plate. I didn't see it until we were home unloading the boxes. It is darling! Click here to view these items and more in my new "one of a kind" section on my website which I'm updating Monday :)!

Blog, Blog, Blog

2006-12-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have recently been sucked into the blogging world. I find myself reading specific blogs daily if not twice a day to see what cute thing this girl or that is creating, selling, cooking or just writing about - it has become quite addictive...a little snapshot into someone else's life...so very fascinating! I decided to share what I do via blog with well, whomever may be interested. Probably just my family and friends :) I think this will be a great way to keep everyone updated on what's going on with me.

The picture is of me at my Holiday Open House at Southern Accents Designer Showcase in Mt Pleasant, SC. I have a booth, a whole 100 sq feet to merchandise my product and play! I buy furniture at local auctions and refinish it by painting it and usually distressing it. I also find a lot of glassware and one of a kind mirrors, etc at auction to resell. I buy all my other product wholesale. I love all things vintage, I swear I was meant to be born in 1920...I love everything from 1900 - 1950 - I think it is all just so beautiful! I have always dreamed of having a little shop to sell all the great stuff I can never find anywhere else. I have walked into a handful of shops and said, wow, I love everything in here! That's the shop I want. I've actually had a couple girls say that to me at my booth - what a wonderful compliment! So, I hope this booth is the beginning of something even bigger!

Sugared Fruit

2006-12-28T11:08:00.000-05:00

I have no idea why I'm so intrigued by sugared fruit but I am...it's as if it's a childhood memory that I just don't remember, but I must have experienced it in my past to be so excited about the idea of it! It started when I saw this picture, a darling little wedding cake topped with what else but sugared fruit. Voila, I have a theme for my wedding. Yes, on 9/29/07 Mike and I will be surrounded by family, friends and sugared fruit! He's such a good sport :) And if he only knew how much money we're going to save on centerpieces! Of course, I will just reallocate those funds for flowers elsewhere :) So, Christmas time rolls around I see these cute little crab apples and lady gold apples in the Harris Teeter (my grocery). I of course have to buy pounds, yes pounds of them and try my hand at sugaring some fruit! A couple years ago I had purchased apple cones for both me and my aunt who is very, very crafty. I had never used mine until this Christmas and I was thrilled with the results! Although I did end up making a second trip to the grocery store for more, yes more apples! I had to use some of the larger apples to fill in around the bottom and to make this a more reasonably priced project, those little crab apples are expensive! The leaves are from our little condo compound here in Marshview Villas - they have beautiful landscaping, so I just took some snips from outside - they worked great. So, back to sugaring. I bought a spray adhesive and sprayed each apple and then sprinkled sugar over it and that's about it, much easier than I thought it was going to be. I would like to try it again using light corn syrup(I've heard that works...), the spray adhesive kind of smells like, well, spray adhesive and although they are dry (it's been a week now) I still can kind of smell the adhesive, not a nice smell for my wedding reception. I did try something to see what might work for my actual reception (we're doing one long family style table that will seat 40 or so guests). These footed bowls (I love the way the fruit looks in milk glass) will be down the table maybe with some small (small as in juice glass small) arrangements of flowers. The good news is that the fruit is still fine after a week, so this might be something I can do myself a week or more before the wedding. Ah, the sugared fruit obsession continues, maybe I'll try lemons and limes in the Spring!

O Christmas Tree....

2006-12-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

Our beautiful Christmas tree, purchased at Huck's Produce here in Charleston, SC. I added a new glitter star topper to our tree along with new bows, in a persimmon color - kind of an orangey pink, quite beautiful I must say! I love the color that adding bows does for the tree. I tried to find mercury glass ornaments this year but didn't come across any that I loved, there is always next year! Our lovely christmas tree did produce some extra branches that needed to be cut off so I created some swags for around the house. Pictures of those to be added later, I can't believe I didn't take any!..

Merry Christmas and Merry Decorating!

2006-12-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

I think everyone has a favorite part of Christmas and all of it's many traditions. Gift giving, gift getting, baking, wrapping, decorating, entertaining. I must say I love it all but this year I think I enjoyed the decorating the most. Our little condo on the marsh here in Folly Beach, SC had every last corner decorated. If I intend on bringing more holiday decor into the house we may need a bigger house, there is just not enough room to decorate without looking, well, over the top. I included a pic of the house in the middle of the mayhem, I was wrapping, decorating and baking all at the same time, it was madness. It's hard living away from all of your relatives, I felt like it was the day after Christmas on 12/16 because I had just mailed out all the gifts to all of our families and friends. Then there was a whole other wave of baking and wrapping to prepare for actual Christmas, I guess it's a good thing to have it split up like that, keeps me on the ball! The wreath in these pictures is one I just had to have. The downside of having my booth in a store with 50 other like minded women is that well, we buy each others wares(a bad thing when you're trying to make $$ there, not spend it)! And we are sometimes pretty secretive about our suppliers, hey, have to stay competitive! Well, I loved this wreath and just yesterday Mike and I were in Lowe's (he shopping, me reading) and I picked up Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and there was my wreath with the designer who makes it - I will definitely be checking them out at the wholesale market in Atlanta! And no, I never thought I would be a reader of something called a "home companion" but I must say I loved it! I will be a new subscriber.Another favorite new item this year are these garlands I made out of vintage Christmas postcards from my very own family. Back in September at my sister's baby shower my aunt gave me bags full of these vintage postcards along with cut outs from magazines, cookbooks, etiquette books, all from the early 1900's - so very fascinating! They are all from my great grandmother, my aunt had kept them all of these years after finding them while cleaning out her house after she passed away. I'm not one for keeping things but I might just have to keep all of my Christmas cards now that these have been found! I took all of the postcards and made garlands for each of my sisters and aunts - they were a huge hit! My aunt had thought that maybe I would want to make something with them and sell them in my booth - I just couldn't part with family heirlooms like this, they are too wonderful.