1920's Bisque Doll for Valentine's Day

Today I am sharing a little 1920's bisque doll that I dressed up with antique silk, lace, and ribbon work.  I have been doing up these dolls for a year or two now and I love how they turn out. 

This sweet gal is all ready for Valentine's Day with her little vintage crochet basket filled with miniature handmade valentines.

She is a real cutie pie and if you love her as much as I do, you can check her out here.  Yes, a little shameless self promotion never hurt anyone, right?  Hope you all have a blessed weekend.  I am linking up with French Cupboard's Handmade Valentine Party and Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday.  Join us for some fun!

Until next time,

A Little Birdie Told Me...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Now, without further ado, we move on to thinking of Christmas.  Well, if you are in retail, you have been thinking of Christmas for a long time already, but you know what I mean!Anyway, I love little birds in nests.  I think I got that from my mother because she did too.  So, I decided to make some pretty little glittered bird ornaments for Our Cottage Garden since it tis the season. They have lots of pretty vintage seam binding, pink roses for a nest with French script stamped on the petals, and a little tinsel "cage".   I thought these turned out really cute, so I had to make one for myself, natch.

Then,I had a bunch of orphan teacups, some with saucers, some without, and so in an effort to deacquire, I decided to make candles out of them and sell some.  The best part is, Mr. French Laundry likes making candles, so he poured these for me and I foofed up the ones that didn't have saucers with some vintage seam binding and vintage millinery.  These are also available on Our Cottage Garden. I was pleased with how they turned out as well.  I think I'm going to give them to the kids' teachers for Christmas. 

Now, are you ready for what the little birdie told me???  Shhhhhh, this is only for my blogging buddies (if you are reading this, guess what?  You're my blogging buddy.  YAY!)...if you go over to Our Cottage Garden and purchase either one of these items, type in your Paypal comments "BLOGGER BUDDY" and you will be refunded $2 for each one you purchase.  Now this ONLY applies to the teacup candles and the pink birdie ornaments and it will be handled as a refund to your Paypal payment, but it is my little gift to you guys for being so supportive and leaving such nice comments.  This offer is good now until MIDNIGHT Eastern time on Cyber Monday (November 29th). 

SO, pretty pink ladies, after you go on over to Our Cottage Garden and check out our treasures, pop on over to Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound and check our the other Pink Saturday blog entries. 

Until next time,

It's Pink Saturday!

Hi Fellow Pink Saturday girls,

Its been a while since I came to the party.  Life has just been rather crazy, but I'm sure any woman reading this can relate.  Anyway, I thought I'd share with you something pretty and pink from my neck of the woods.  This fabulous antique silk petit point and jeweled frame purse is something that I purchased a while back.  It is such a stunning piece, I just had to show it to you.  It is pristine and oh, so pretty, with its little personalized initials showing it was "For MR From JP".  Someone must have really cared for the person they had it made for.  There is not a stitch missing and THAT FRAME!  Oh my... Anyway, I kept it for a few weeks before I sold it over at Our Cottage Garden because I just needed to love on it for a while before it found a new home.  I hope you enjoy it.  Of course, I would be remiss in my shopkeeping duties if I didn't mention that we have new listings of beautiful vintage things EVERY NIGHT at Our Cottage Garden.  Pop on over and check it out sometime.  You'll be glad you did! 

Once you are finished ooohing and aaahing over this divine purse, go on over to Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound and see the plethera of other Pink Saturday posts.  And get a cup of coffee or tea and settle in...you are gonna be there for a while absorbed in a pile of pink goodness and some very nice ladies.  And by the way, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Don't forget to take care of "your girls".

Also, check back here on November 1st.  I will be having a wonderful giveaway that you won't want to miss.

Until next time,

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and/or friends. I am getting ready to watch my favorite movie of all time, "It's a Wonderful Life". And maybe make a second pie run...YUM! Anyway, I will leave you with a few random Christmas pictures I wanted to share.  Click on the photos if you want to enlarge them.

One of my little antique bisque dolls that I dressed up for Christmas...

A glimpse into my talented friend Melanie's shop, called appropriately "Handcrafted Santas and More".  She makes the most divine large Santa vignettes, using beautifully put together antique and vintage items that she gathers up from estate sales, flea markets, garage sales, and antique shows.  I'd have one in every room if I had the space.  This little guy was so wonderful.  Look at the colors on his coat and accessories. 

This fellow is a "sewing" Santa done up in shades of pink.  How could you not love it?  All of Melanie's Santas have some sort of theme whether it is sewing, music, cooking, reading, etc.

This creamy white seashell Santa is glorious...

More randomness...

I didn't do much decorating this year, but this was one of the "use what you have" things I did up and just fell in love with.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  Just wrapped up some empty boxes with old papers, added some pretty ribbons and laces, and topped them off with old jewelry.  And added a little glittered dove for an extra punch.  Voila!

Still loving the dove theme, I used another one perched on some old maple sugar molds and antique tinsel I've had forever and added the wonderful 1920's rhinestone and feather millinery piece I just got at an estate sale.  All were nestled on an old Italian pottery compote.

Finally, a present I wrapped up for my friend Denise. I made her a darling doll which was inside, but she loved the wrapped box so much, I'm not sure she has opened it yet! I admit it, I was proud of myself at how cute it turned out.  I think glitter and tulle make everything better, don't you?

Well, that's about it for now.  My last Christmas movie calleth.  Go make the rounds through the leftovers once more before bed.  Diet is just DIE with a T at the end, ya know!

Until next time,

New at Our Cottage Garden Boutique

Just a quick note to let you see some of the cute things I just posted at Our Cottage Garden. They just make my heart sing and I thought they might "sing" to some of my blogging buddies as well.

This is a precious vintage pincushion I found while out antiquing a couple of weeks ago. Can you even believe how cute it is???? Can you even believe I would sell it????

This is a vintage hanky box which I repurposed as a sewing box after I dolled it up with some great vintage wallpaper, antique millinery, trim, and then filled it up with great notions and a little bit of whatnot!

Lovin' the whatnot, especially this little bisque basket pincushion!

The top got a beautiful vintage millinery rose along with some of Heather's FABULOUS wide silk ribbon.



This little bisque doll is from Japan, circa 1920 or 30. She was in need of some clothing, so I used antique lace and old trim from the 1920's which I hoard like a mizer. I'm surprised I pried a couple of inches out of my little hand to make the bottom of the skirt! I think she is just precious with her little pouty face and pretty dress (and socks and Mary Janes, of course!).



Hope you are all having a great weekend! I am going to be playing outside with my family, so cross your fingers that the weather cooperates!

Until next time,

In Anticipation of Spring...PINK SATURDAY

Happy Pink Saturday! I'm pleased to have a guest blogger today, my friend Denise, Head Antiques Maven from Our Cottage Garden and ebay seller winter-garden. She's going to show you how to make this adorable springy valance from vintage handkerchiefs. Thank you, Denise for sharing a great fun and whimsical project to help shake off these winter blues.

Anticipating Spring

Looking for a fun and easy project to celebrate the arrival of Spring? Warmer breezes tease us to open the windows and listen for the cheerful, chirping birds. Here’s a quick and simple way to add a touch of lightness and color to any window ~ a Spring Hanky Valance ..

You will need:

• 8 – 12 vintage handkerchiefs .. colorful, floral, lacey, or simply white. If you’re a “collector” as we are, you probably have a stash of pretty ones tucked away somewhere. If not, they are plentiful, easy to find, and very affordable. You can use colors which complement each other, or the room, or just mix-and-match (which makes it more fun).
  
  

• ¾” diameter wood dowel (cut to the proper width) (you will also need brackets of course)

• Apx 2 yards of vintage ribbon to wrap the dowel. Or acrylic paint and a sponge brush.

  • 

• 8 – 12 vintage curtain clips. Spring-loaded like these are a cinch to use. Or you can stitch the hankies to a variety of other clips.

If you feel creative, you can embellish your clips with vintage millinery, porcelain roses, or other decorations. We added vintage pink velvet roses to some of ours:

This set is available for sale now on eBay:

We decorated another batch with vintage sheer wired butterflies:

This set is available for sale now on Our Cottage Garden.

When you’re ready to redecorate the window, the hankies can be stashed away again (no harm done) .. awaiting their next assignment.

It won’t take long to assemble the materials you need, and even less time to create your valance. If you’re short on time, the materials used to create this valance .. vintage German gilt brass curtain clips, an assortment of vintage hankies, and pale pink velvet ribbon .. are available for sale now on eBay:

Happy Pink Saturday and Happy Spring!

Denise