A Pretty Pink Solution...

By now, you may have pegged me for the type of girl that would be attracted to vintage millinery flowers. If not, I can save you the trouble of figuring it out. I AM ATTRACTED TO VINTAGE MILLINERY FLOWERS. I got really into it some years ago after I attended an estate sale of an antique French fashion doll dresser (yes, there really are people who do that). This lady loved all of the beautiful antique textiles that I do-ribbonwork, millinery flowers, ribbons, wonderful fabrics, linens, and lace. She also had a huge collection of Victorian ephemera, but that's a whole other post. Anyway, to say that I had achieved antique textile Nirvana when I went to this sale was an understatement. I left happy, but broke, with bags and bags of great things, one of which was a plethora of millinery flowers. At the time, I used to set up regularly at a local antiques show, so I sold many of the flowers there. But, there are always those holdbacks. The ones that I just couldn't part with. Then, there were a few more that I had picked up along the way at various venues. All well and good, but what the heck do you do with all of those pieces? I was pretty sure I wasn't going to become a doll dresser and use them to adorn the dolls...I was pretty sure I was not going to start wearing hats and dolling them up (although maybe for a girlie tea party in my garden sometime...but, I digress). Then one day, I happened upon this cool small dress form at my local craft store (Hobby Lobby, I think). It had a distressed pink wooden top and a chicken wire like skirt. Hmmm, on went the thinking cap and in the cart went the dress form. This is what I came up with.


My girl is as pretty from the back as she is from the front. I added the ribbon "cumberbund" and lace "shawl". Many of the flowers were just stuck in through the holes and the ones that wouldn't stay for the most part were held in place with one of my favorite accessories, twisty ties. Pretty simple.



Gotta love a pretty vintage pink rose...


And a deep pink velvet rose...


I really love the pink velvet berries...


This ended up being one of my most favorite inspiration pieces. And the best part is, no vintage millinery flowers were harmed in the making of this project! I hope you enjoyed seeing it on Pink Saturday. When you have the chance, go over and visit Bev at How Sweet the Sound for loads of other fun and PINK offerings.


Until next time,

Buttons and Brooches and Pins...OH MY!

Okay, I wholeheartedly subscribe to the "Guilt Free Blogging" school of thought since this is supposed to be fun and not terribly serious. However, I never meant to be away for two weeks. I've missed you all. I not only haven't posted, but I haven't been visiting my blogging friends either. I have some SERIOUS catching up to do. So, without further ado, welcome to PINK SATURDAY, hosted by Bev at How Sweet the Sound. Pop over there and check out the other 145 participants' blogs as you have the chance for some fun and not so serious posts.


I have mentioned numerous times that I have LOTS of collections. One I'd like to share with you today, at least in part, is a little collection that brings me lots of smiles. It is a collection of handpainted Victorian buttons, brooches, and pins, MOST of which feature roses, but not all. As it happens, many of them are pink, hence their relevance to Pink Saturday. I am particularly drawn to the heart shaped buttons, they are so sweet. The rectangular brooch is one of my favorites, even though it was purchased with the idea that I would sell it. I'm guessing that's not happening, at least not right now. One of the pitfalls of selling what you love...

I can't imagine having these elegant little pieces of art actually adorning your clothes, but people did that "back in the day". The detail and artistry is phenomenal, in the style of Limoges porcelain painting in France. Some are more elaborate than others, but they are all lovely in my opinion. Enjoy this little peek into one of my indulgences....

Until next time,

The Unintentional Collection

I have lots of collections, a fact I freely admit. Usually, I know from the moment I buy the second one of the item in question that I intend to have a collection. Not so with the cherubs. I was laying in bed the other day and looked around my bedroom...a few cherubs. I went downstairs to get my coffee and began looking around...hmmm, more cherubs. I made a comment to Mr. French Laundry that I thought I had a cherub collection. He said something to the effect of, "Duh! I knew that, didn't you? I've known that for a long time." Well, I DIDN'T know. Not sure how I missed that one, but I did. But, here for your perusal are a few of the little darlings that I found lurking around my home.


A Victorian painting...

A lamp...

A place to display some antique jewelry...

A pretty little girl who graces the top of my china cabinet...

Another lamp...


A clock...


A Victorian painted canvas wallhanging...

Candlesticks...

More candlesticks...

Our wedding cake topper (with pretty antique crown)...

A sweet little one who graces my bedroom window. I bought it years ago when shopping with my mother who is now deceased. I think of her whenever I look at it...

What collections do you have in your home that you never intended to collect but that's how it ended up? I'd love to hear your comments.

Until next time,

Time for a new collection spotlight...1920's Wedding Toppers

Its been a little while since the rhinestone clock collection post, so I thought today would be a nice time to share one of my sweeter collections with you. I started out just collecting any vintage wedding cake toppers that struck my fancy, however, with Ebay and all of the other online shopping possibilities out there, I could see that this could quickly become an overwhelmingly large collection. Not a problem if you only collect a couple of things...ahem, that would NOT be me though, so I had to reign myself in a bit. I decided that since my most favorite toppers seemed to be of the 1920-1930's era, I would limit myself to just those. I proceeded to sell the ones that didn't meet the criteria and then spread out my remaining little pretties so I could appreciate them fully. Then I put a couple of them under glass cloches which is a way I love to display all sorts of things. Not only does it put them in the spotlight, but it also keeps them from needing to be dusted!

I love the ones that still have their bases and flower arches, but I'm also partial to the little bisque "Kewpie" looking ones. Wedding toppers have become increasingly popular in the collecting circles and the prices have definitely gone up, up, up. Once in a while though, you can still find them at thrift stores or estate sales for a reasonable price. ($10 or less). One of the most striking toppers I've ever seen was offered on Ebay this last September. It featured a very well dressed 1920's couple and the bride's dress went up in the front as was the style back in the day. Even though many flapper brides wore that style of dress, the toppers depicting the dresses that way are very rare and this little treasure brought over $200, if memory serves. OUCH! Needless to say, that one is NOT in my collection, but boy I wish it were. Most of the more "normal" ones can be had well within the $20-50 range. Now these prices I'm spouting off are for the older, say pre-1940 toppers. If you like the toppers from the 1950's on forward, you can probably cut the above prices in half unless there is something particularly rare/unusual about it. I don't personally own any reference books on the subject, but I've just ordered a Schiffer collector book titled, "Vintage Wedding Cake Toppers" by Penny Henderson, so it should be interesting to see if she agrees with me! If you like reference books on collectibles, Schiffer has books on almost any item you can imagine. They are usually fairly well done and have lots of pictures on the subject of interest.

This little couple might just be my favorite. Look how cute they are hugging each other, cheek to cheek! The little girl reminds me of one of the little girls in my baby son's Kindergarten class. I hope you enjoyed this brief little visit into the sentimental and sweet.

Until next time,