Giving

It seems as if we've been "downsizing" forever!  But, the closer I get to the end, the harder the job has become. Because . . .

The "easy stuff" is gone.  Now I'm coming to the really hard stuff:  Family keepsakes, toys from when our kids were little, handmade items, items loaded with memories. What does one do with the dress your Mom wore on her honeymoon?  Grampa's violin case from his time in vaudeville?  Your sister's favorite dolls?

I've used about every method known to man woman to pare down from a 3500 square foot farmhouse to our little cape cod retirement home.  My copy of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is dog-eared and my little Mini Cooper could find its way to Goodwill by itself.  But the things that are left seem too special for any of  my previous methods. 

So I've come up with an unexpected solution for the "hard things":
I'm giving them away.  

To people I don't know.  No strings attached.

Here's my first gift:  My late sister, Nancy's, Ronald McDonald doll from the 1970's. 

The long-time manager of our local McDonald's was thrilled to get it. He's so touched that he plans to display Nancy's doll in a shadow box inside the store for everyone to enjoy. Nancy would like that. Score!

Next:  The vintage child's John Deere tractor and cart from the 1960's that all of our grandchildren have played with. Now even the youngest one has outgrown it.

We considered selling it on Craigslist - until we went apple-picking last weekend and saw these! It turns out that the farm, which is located in the town I taught in for years, collects John Deere tractors and artifacts. They display them in this barn,  outside among the apple trees . . . 

And in a little farm museum they've created on the property.  This farm has been in the same family for four generations and I have happy memories of taking students there to pick apples over the years.

We knew immediately that this would be the new home of our little antique John Deere. 

DH got it down from the attic and we brought it back to the farm the very next day. 

The owner of the farm was a bit reserved when he first got out of his tractor to meet us.  I think he was probably a little suspicious:  Were we trying to sell him something? Ask for a donation? Get him to make an offer on the tractor?  "No", we said "We'd just like to give this to you."

Slowly, his face brightened and he shook our hands, thanking us repeatedly. He wanted to give us apples, cider, pumpkins, whatever we wanted, but, having picked two pecks of apples just the day before, we declined.

Because we got some things even better than apples or cider from our gift to the orchard.

We made a new friend, "paid it forward" in our community, had fun, and left with good karma and full hearts.

What could be better than that?

This post is linked to:

Amaze Me Monday #283 at Dwellings

Inspiration Monday at Refresh Restyle

Talk of the Town at Knick of Time

Saturday at the ReStore

Saturday morning.

 Time for errands.

 And a stop at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

These old library card catalog drawers were only $5.00 each.

Remember when we actually used them to find books?

They'd make great craft room storage
or display pieces for collections of vintage postcards or Valentines.

 

10 Beautiful Things to Have In Your Craft Room

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."              ~William Morris

Welcome back to my craft room!

In my last post I had some fun thinking about the perfect craft space. I looked around my own craft room and came up with a "Top 10 List" of items in it that I find to be the most useful. Today I'm thinking about how to make a craft space so beautiful that it inspires you to sit right down and start making something.  So, here's my . . .

Top 10 List of Inspirational Items to Have in Your Craft Space:

1. Natural light

You can't top this one. Not only does natural light help us to see what we're doing (and at my age, that's becoming more important!), it allows us to really appreciate color and texture.  In addition to a big window, my craft room has a skylight located right above my work table.

 Ott light over my sewing machine

If you don't have the luxury of natural light in your craft space, or if you do a lot of work at night, an Ott light may be able to provide you with task lighting that approximates natural daylight.

2. Color



I believe in surrounding yourself with your favorite colors. I love orange and turquoise, my friend Mary Elizabeth loves pink . . . our personal spaces reflect the colors we love. Who cares if no one else likes it? Who cares if the rest of the house is "builders' beige"? This is your room; it should make you feel happy and inspired.




3. Words that inspire

I love words and find them both soothing and encouraging as I work in my space.

These words were stenciled on the wall in my sister Nancy's yellow and red Mary Englebreit inspired craft room.

4. Objects found in nature

The shapes and colors found in natural objects inspires a sense of balance and design.

 

This strange looking piece of bark is on my craft shelf because it is shaped like a goat's head (?). Call me crazy but I'm saving it because someday I hope to make something out of it for a friend of mine who owns goats and makes beautiful things from their wool. (Yup . . . you know who you are!)

the view of Casco Bay from the bottom of Applegate Lane always inspires me

5. Things with interesting shapes or textures

Who knows what these things will become . . .  or not?  Right now it is simply their textures and shapes that make me covet them.

 6. Old Things

What can I say besides . . . bring on the rust . . .

and chipped paint, and beautiful wood, and faded lettering, and steampunk goodness!

7. Collections

 Sometimes I think I have too many strange collections lurking in my craft room, but . . . I love them so, there it is.

 

 

 I collect sea glass, buttons, door knobs, sand dollars, rusty tools, old keys, scrabble tiles, beads, vintage postcards, clothespins, tie clips, girl scout patches, miniatures, wooden spools, belt buckles, vintage linens, magnets, children's blocks, vintage Shiny Bright ornaments, old dolls . . .

oh, my!

 

 

I also have quite a collection of Cat's Meow buildings depicting some of my favorite places.

DH attached molding high up on the walls of my craft room so that I can display these without having them in the way when I work.

 

8. Books that teach

 

I love my craft books even more than I love Pinterest. Call me old-fashioned but I like to hold them, come back to them again and again, and have directions and photos right next to me as I work. Thank goodness for my local bookstore and, when that fails, for Amazon Prime.

 

 

9. Things that evoke memories

 

My craft room shelves are chock full of things that bring back happy memories, like this old Patsy doll, with her steamer trunk full of organdy party dresses.

 

 

And my Mom's buttons. Many of them came from clothes she made for my sisters and I when we were children; she would remove the buttons to use again.

 

 

 I love being surrounded by my favorite family photos . . . even the silly ones!

 

 

10. Handmade things

 

Having a few completed projects on display in my craft space reminds me that I really can finish what I start, frustrated as I may get with a project at times.

 

 

And displaying  things that others have made for me just makes me happy when I look at them. This amazing 3-dimensional book was made by fellow blogger, Paula Clare, from Paula's Palace of Altered Art.

 

 

 

So, to recap, here are my Top 10:

 

1. Natural Light

2. Colorful things 

3. Words that inspire

4. Objects found in nature

5. Things with interesting shapes or textures

6. Old Things

7. Collections

8. Books that teach

9. Things that evoke memories

10. Handmade things

 

 

 What are the things that inspire you the most in your creative space?

 

 

 

This post is linked to:

Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors

Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things

Weekend Wrap-Up at Tattertots & Jello

Flaunt It Friday at Chic On a Shoestring

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Amaze Me Monday at DWELLINGS

 

 

Vintage Sunglasses as Wall Art

As some of you know, my sisters and I lost our mother in April. When we were going through her things we found that she had taken the time to write little notes on items that held special meaning for her. In the bottom drawer of her dresser, I found two pair of vintage celluloid sunglasses in a baggie. The note on these said, "June 1946 - His & Hers Honeymoon Glasses".
How sweet is that? 

I knew that this memory was a little gift from Mom to us and that I didn't want to hide the glasses away in a drawer. So I found this shadow box frame at Michael's, lined it with vintage-looking scrapbooking paper, and framed them.

To give the shadow box a sense of place and to add a little color, I put an old postcard of Wells Beach, where Mom and Dad spent their honeymoon, in the frame, along with Mom's note . . . and hung it in a grouping in my living room. With a little creativity, I've found that you can hang almost anything on the wall as art. (In fact I'm currently working on cleaning up and hanging my grandfather's 100-year-old violin; but that's another post!)

Here are Mom and Dad on their wedding day in Bradford, Massachusetts, June 29, 1946. . .

And a couple more old postcard views of Wells Beach back in the 40's.

Don't you love the cars?

Although we grew up in Connecticut, our parents rented a cottage for our family vacation at Wells Beach every summer. Those days were some of the best of our lives and left each of us with such a love of Maine that all four of us eventually moved here.

 

Mom left us more than one gift when she tucked that little note away with the old sunglasses.  She left us a glimpse into her youth as well as a love of the ocean, and Maine, that will last each of us a lifetime.  And that's important enough to hang right out there on the living room wall!

 

 

 

This post is linked to:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Decorating with Chippy Old Shutters

Last week, while we were antiquing in New Hampshire, I found a pair of shutters from an old building in South Boston that just had to come home with me.  

I only wanted this half of the pair . It met all of my criteria: 1. Chipped and dented, 2. Turquoise, my new favorite color, and 3. 30" high.

The other half of the pair was not quite as appealing . . .

 

But it had great old hinges!

 

I hung the turquoise shutter inside the casement window in my front entry hall.

 

The antique apple print will probably move to another wall;  I chose it because our house is on Applegate Lane but I don't think it works now that the shutter is up.

Thank goodness for Spackle . . . a woman's best friend!

 

I think I'll use the other shutter to display some of my vintage postcards. I'll try to include photos in a later post.

The inspiration for this post came from Cassity at Remodelaholic; she's featuring window ideas all this month. She posted a tutorial on DIY turquoise shutters and wrote about using shutters inside windows. Ironically, I had just hung my turquoise shutter a few hours before. Great minds, right?

Happy window decorating,

 

 

This post is linked to:

"We've Got Windows" Link Party at Remodelaholic

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flaunt It Friday at Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors