Category: just stuff.

just stuff that is cool.

a 70’s flashback.

Published on by Quandie13 Comments

Last week my friend opK and I headed to Minneapolis for the Gathering of Friends Antique Market.  They hold this market twice a year in one of the greenhouses at the original Bachman’s location.

I have to admit that I rarely actually buy anything, I mainly go to get inspiration.  I like to get a feel for what kinds of things seem to be popular, such as old, crusty paintbrushes, lol!

And of course, at this time of year garden items are always popular.

There were lots of galvanized watering cans.

And quite a lot of garden statuary that was either way out of my price range, or already marked sold.

I saw a twin to my Cossetta …

priced at $425.  Yowza!

But the trend that really jumped out at me was the 70’s stuff.

Who else remembers Harvest Gold and Avocado Green?

Earth tones were big in the 70’s, and now they are coming back.  But apparently, so are the bright colors of the 60’s.

I’m not sure I’m ready for that, how about you?

There were some classic items on display as well, like this clothesline strung with antique baby gowns.

And plenty of quilts.

There were also a few unusual items.  I was initially startled by this one …

until I opened it up to find sewing machine parts inside 😉

I didn’t find anything tempting enough to actually purchase, but I did come home with lots of ideas.  I was also inspired to consider going back to hosting my own occasional sale out of the carriage house this year, so if you’re local be sure to stay tuned for more on that later this spring!

another library book review.

Published on by Quandie7 Comments

It’s time for another library book review!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that my mom goes to the library on a regular basis.  So when I’m visiting her I tag along and check out what her library has to offer.

Unfortunately, I seem to have exhausted their supply of ‘decorating with vintage stuff’ type books.  They didn’t have anything on the shelf in this category that I hadn’t already checked out.

So I decided to check out their gardening section next, but it seems as though books on gardening aren’t much of a draw in the desert!  For obvious reasons (they currently have a watering ban that only allows them to water plants once a week).

I did find one book on landscape design, and a handful of ‘garden adjacent’ books to check out though.

I’ll start with the prettiest of the books, which was Vintage Roses.

This book is absolutely chalk full of gorgeous photos of roses.

It begins with a brief section on the history of roses, then goes on to highlight specific varieties which are broken down into four categories; classic blooms, dramatic flowers, romantic beauties and fragrant delights.

Each rose looks positively drool-worthy to me.

I wish that I could get better results with roses here in my garden.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience to deal with the many challenges of growing roses, including those nasty Japanese beetles that turn their leaves into Swiss cheese every year.  I still have one old fashioned shrub rose (the easiest type to grow) that I try to train up a metal garden obelisk each year with very limited success.

My neighbor Arlene had a lovely rose garden for decades until she finally gave up the roses back in 2018.  I found quite a few local readers here on the blog that were willing to take them for their own gardens.

If you have any interest at all in roses, you would really enjoy this book.  I also think it would make an awesome gift for a rose lover.

Next up in the library book pile is Decorating with Plants.

This books gives a lot of detail on the growing needs of specific varieties of house plants.

If you are getting into house plants, this book would be a great resource.  They had a page on Streptocarpus, or Cape Primrose, and after reading it I realized I was making some mistakes with the Streptocarpus that I brought into the house this winter.

It looked great when I first brought it in (above), but I haven’t seen many flowers on it all winter.  The foliage is lush and green though.  Apparently I shouldn’t be feeding it over the winter, too much fertilizing can cause lush foliage and no flowers.

But back to the book.  This one also contains room by room ideas on displaying your houseplants like this vertical garden for a foyer.

Or this idea of filling your bathroom with ferns.

The third book in my pile also features houseplants and is called Plant Craft.

This books features 30 specific craft projects that feature plants.  Mostly indoor, but there were a handful of outside projects too.

I have to admit that I really only found two projects that appealed to me, the first being a simple terrarium.

But most of us could probably figure out how to plant a terrarium without a book.

There was also a section on how to make a Kokedama.

If you aren’t familiar, Kokedama is the Japanese art of growing plants in a moss-covered ball of soil wrapped with string.  I’ve debated trying to make one of these, but in the end decided that caring for it would probably be a bit too fussy for me.

Last up is the Encyclopedia of Landscape Design.

This is one of those DK books (published by Dorling Kindersley).  They specialize in illustrated reference books.  I absolutely love their travel guide books.

This book is packed with tons of info on everything from creating a site plan …

to ways to create screens or boundaries.

They also have lots of info on plants including tree, shrubs and perennials.

Unfortunately quite a lot of the plants they featured were not hardy in my zone 5a (formerly 4b) garden.

Still, this book would be a great resource if you are starting from scratch with some landscaping.

I hope you found this library book review of interest.  If you’d like to check out some of my other library book reviews, just click on the photos below to head to those posts.

kitchen wax and other things.

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

And once again, I’m back from my travels.  In case you weren’t paying attention to my last post, I went off to visit my mom in Henderson, NV for a week.

My mom will be turning 84 later this year, so I like to take every opportunity to spend some time with her these days.  In fact, I’m going back again in April with my sister.

For this trip I was flying solo though.  It is incredibly easy for me to get to my mom’s, despite it being 1,680 miles away.  There are plenty of flights to choose from between Minneapolis and Las Vegas, and the flight takes about 3 hours.  I live fairly close to the airport on my end, and my mom lives even closer to the airport on her end.  In addition, I find that both the Minneapolis airport and the Las Vegas airport tend to operate quite smoothly.  The same can not be said for Puerto Vallarta …

That place was a zoo!

And of course, now that I am retired I can go visit my mom anytime.

Aside from dining out a couple of times, and doing a little shopping and errand running, we mostly just spent some quality time hanging out.

I thought I’d share a few updates on projects out at mom’s that I’ve shared with you guys in the past, starting with her front door.  If you’ve been following me for long, you may remember that I painted her front door back in February 2022.

I used Dixie Belle’s Midnight Green Silk paint from their Desert Collection, which seemed appropriate since she lives in the Mojave Desert.

Two years later, the door still looks as good as the day I painted it.

It was a little dirty, but wiping it down with a damp rag quickly took care of that.  Considering that this door is subjected to the blinding Nevada sunshine on a daily basis, I am pretty impressed with how well this paint has held up.

Speaking of holding up, check out that pot of cyclamen.  I planted that back in October of last year, and my mom basically does nothing more than water it now and then.

It has been outside all winter, and despite the occasional night below freezing it still looks fantastic and is blooming away.  Here in Minnesota we basically treat cyclamen as a blooming houseplant.  I rarely get a 2nd flush of blooms out of them.  My mom says this one has been blooming steadily all winter.

I can’t say the same for the gardenia that I planted for Mom back in April of last year.  Here’s how it looked when I planted it.

It has grown quite a bit, but unfortunately it has never bloomed again.

I suspect that it might just be too hot on my mom’s patio for this plant to thrive.  If any of you have any tips on getting a gardenia to bloom, be sure to leave a comment.

In March of 2021, my sister and I gave my mom’s patio a makeover.

We purchased that cute little bistro set at Lowe’s for $248, and it too has held up beautifully for three years.  Unfortunately this set is no longer available at Lowe’s or I would certainly recommend it.

This little enclosed courtyard is perfect for enjoying a cool late February morning with some library books and a cup of coffee.

One of the things I did out at mom’s was to clean out some closets, as well as her laundry area in the garage.  I had to laugh when I came across her Jubilee kitchen wax.

I’m fairly sure that my mom has not waxed a floor since I was in grade school.  But for some reason the Jubilee wax has made every move from Illinois to Minnesota to Florida to North Carolina to Kentucky to Nevada (yes, my parents moved a bit).  And she even packed it when she moved out of her big four bedroom, three bath house to her current townhouse.

There’s no way my mom’s going to be down on her hands and knees waxing a floor these days, but for some reason she just keeps hanging onto that wax.  And now, somehow I just can’t bring myself to toss the Jubilee either.  How silly is that?

I did take some time to stop into the Goodwill that is just around the corner from my mom’s place.

Unfortunately there wasn’t a single item that could be considered ‘fabulous’.  It was quite disappointing (garage sale season can not arrive soon enough!).

How about you?  Are you ready for garage sale season?  Leave a comment and let me know!

the mini adirondack.

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

As I’ve mentioned in the past, our next door neighbor Ken is also our ‘handyman’.

He has done so many projects for us over the years!

He custom built our pantry.

He helped me create the faux shiplap wall in our principle bedroom.

He also created the faux board and batten look in our piano room.

We also discovered, long after we moved in, that Ken had built the shelving in our living room for the previous owners of our house.

In addition to these larger projects, Ken has also helped out with innumerable smaller projects around our house.  He once saved us $6,000 by building custom screen inserts for the windows in our dining room (we thought we’d need to replace the windows and the quote for that was $6,000!).  This would become a really long post if I tried to list everything he’s done around here.

And of course, on top of all of that, Ken also does the bulk of my furniture repairs.  I think his favorite fix, or at least the one he still talks about, is the humpty dumpty dresser.  After accidentally knocking it off some sawhorses and having it completely fall apart, he put it back together again.

I’ve also mentioned here that Ken builds Adirondack chairs.

We have two of them on the front porch, and two of them on the deck out back.

The thing that makes these chairs special (besides the fact that Ken built them) is that they are super comfy.  They are all based on an Adirondack chair that nnK once had.  Ken took her chair apart and created a template for making more.  Since then he has made countless chairs.

A while back he decided to see if he could make a miniature version.  He scaled his template down and came up with a perfect mini replica of the chair.

He put it together with painstaking detail.

He used toothpicks as miniature dowel rods to attach the slats.

He made one of these mini’s for nnK first.  Then he made another for himself.  And then finally, he made one for me!

Of course, I gave mine a paint job.  I started by painting it with Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky, which I then covered up with their Drop Cloth.  I wanted the dark base coat so that I could distress back to it along the edges, rather than just seeing that pale wood underneath.

Once the paint was dry, I added a simple, small Tim Holtz number transfer to the front of the seat.

After sanding lightly to distress, I finished it all off with a coat of clear wax.

I staged these photos using a few of my favorite things including the small boxes I painted up last fall.

They are sitting on a tiny new testament bible that belonged to my grandfather.

There is an inscription inside that says it was gifted to him as he went off to fight in WWI.  And yes, that’s WWI, and it was 1917.  I believe he would have been around 24 years old at the time.  If you’re trying to figure out the math and how I could have a grandfather that was born in 1893, I have to point out that he was 47 years old when my mother was born.

I grabbed a few other items to add to my photo …

Most of these things come from those shelves in my living room, which is the eventual home of the mini adirondack as well.  Unfortunately, it was far too gloomy here last week to get a good photo of the chair in its ultimate resting spot.  So you’ll just have to trust me when I say that it fits right in with some of my other mini’s on those shelves like this one …

and this one …

I don’t know why I find miniatures so darn appealing.  How about you?  Are you drawn to miniature versions of furniture?  Leave a comment and let me know.

it’s like falling off a bike.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

I can’t exactly remember the circumstances, but recently I meant to saying something was ‘like riding a bike’ (meaning it was a skill that would come back to you easily, even if you hadn’t done it in a while), but instead what came out of my mouth was ‘it’s like falling off a bike’.  The people I was with all got a good laugh.

But now I’m wondering if ‘falling off a bike’ fits this particular situation better.

It had been a while since I’d used milk paint when I pulled out the Miss Mustard Seed Tricycle to paint my North Pole Bed and Breakfast sign a few weeks back.

That particular project went quite smoothly, although I didn’t really get the chipping that I wanted.

I was painting another of those cupboard door signs at the same time.  I followed the same exact prep process with both.  I lightly scuff sanded them, and then cleaned them with a TSP substitute (I use the Sunnyside brand from Menards, if anyone is curious).

For the 2nd sign, I pulled out some Sweet Pickins milk paint in a color called In a Pickle.  I mixed it up and painted up the 2nd cupboard door.  Imagine my consternation when the 2nd one not only chipped, it chipped A LOT.

I’d forgotten just how unpredictable milk paint can be.  Frankly, this is why I rarely use it anymore.  It can be pretty frustrating to get results like this when it’s not what you wanted.  I get much more reliable results with the chalk style paint from Dixie Belle that I use most often.

Also, I want to point out that you can always add the bonding agent to your milk paint which will eliminate the chipping altogether.

That being said, there really is no substitute for the authentically chippy look you can get with straight up milk paint … you just have to be OK with the possibility of wildly varying results.

I have experienced my share of overly chippy milk paint projects in the past, and in one case I ultimately ended up sanding the piece down entirely and starting over with chalk paint (you can find that story starting here, and ending here).

Since I really wanted some chippy-ness on this piece though, I decided to try a couple of tricks to see what I could do with this one.  First up I sanded it a little bit more thoroughly, which did remove quite a bit of the chipping paint, and then I painted two more coats of In a Pickle.  Once the paint was dry, I still had quite a lot of chipping.  So next I vacuumed away all of the loose chips, and then I sealed it with a coat of Rust-Oleum matte spray sealer.  Once that dried, I went back in again with another coat of the milk paint over it.

That helped somewhat, but it definitely did not eliminate the chipping entirely.

But at that point I decided this was a level of chipping that I could live with.

After giving the piece another coat of spray sealer, I added a stencil.

This is another one that I ordered from The Stencil Smith.  I had to modify it slightly to fit on my cupboard door by leaving the “Picked Fresh Daily” off the top.  But otherwise it worked perfectly.

Once again I used my shadowing technique to put a dark shadow behind just the “Garden Herbs” wording.

That is Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean for the shadow, and Drop Cloth for the 2nd layer.

Once the stenciled paint was dry, I once again sealed the entire piece with the Rust-Oleum spray.

In the end, I’m quite happy with how this turned out, chipping and all.

What do you think?  Are you a fan of the chippy look, or are you over it?  Or maybe you never were a fan at all?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

This garden herbs sign is for sale locally (check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details).

a feast for the eyes.

Published on by Quandie23 Comments

Just a couple of days before Christmas my friend opK and I headed to Minneapolis to check out the 75% off sale at Bachman’s.  I’ve mentioned Bachman’s here before, but for those of you who may not be familiar, it is a local chain of ‘floral, home and garden’ centers.  They have been in business since 1885 when the founder began planting vegetable crops on a plot of land in south Minneapolis.  That plot of land still contains their flagship store and corporate headquarters.

I normally shop at their Maplewood store, which was their 2nd location and opened in 1990, but the flagship store is a bit larger and opK and I were hoping that there would be a bigger selection of Christmas merch remaining.  Spoiler alert, there wasn’t.  But we each purchased a few things.

Then we decided that we should check out a couple of other shops while we were in the big city, starting with Loft Antiques.

I have to admit that I rarely actually ‘shop’ at antique stores.  I mostly just like to scour them for inspiration, sort of making a mental list of items I should be snatching up at garage/estate sales.  Like original oil paintings by unknown artists …

or … LOL … old crusty paint brushes!

See?!  I’m not the only one who likes a crusty old brush.

There was a lot of inspiration to be found at Loft.

And by the way, I did ask for permission to take photos in their shop.  Most shop owners are perfectly fine with someone taking photos, but every once in a while you run into one who is vehemently opposed.  I’m thinking back to a shop Mr. Q and I visited in Summerville, SC.  I’m not naming names though, it was not the shop I blogged about back then.

I actually even purchased something at Loft!  I couldn’t resist this antique “Merry Christmas” shop signage.

My friend and fellow Reclaiming Beautiful vendor, Amy, has similar signage on the wall at her house (although not Christmas themed, but from an old church) and after seeing hers, I just had to have this one.  I’ll probably repaint it, I’m not sure.  But either way, I’m looking forward to finding a way to use it in my Christmas decor next year.

There are two more shops worth a visit right next door to Loft Antiques, Clarabel Vintage and A Rare Bird Antiques.  They are fairly small and I totally neglected to snap any photos to share with you.  But if any of you locals are in the neighborhood, they are worth checking out.

Our ultimate destination though was right across the street from Loft, Hunt & Gather.

opK had never been to Hunt & Gather, and I found it rather difficult to describe it to her before we got there.  But I think seeing the outside is a good hint as to what you’ll find on the inside.

But really, how would you describe it?

Here is how they describe themselves on their website …

“a vintage amusement store.  groovy.  kooky.  fresh.  unusual.  fun oddities & curiosities.”

Yep, that fits.

It’s definitely a feast for the eyes!

It’s your one stop shopping spot for all kinds of things, like silver trays …

souvenir shot glasses…

and creepy dolls!

I have to admit that seeing so much stuff packed into this shop makes my eye twitch just a little.  All I can think about is how much work it would be to clear it all out if they ever needed to.  I tend to think that way about my own house too, especially this time of year.  I always make a New Year’s resolution to start cleaning out drawers and closets, but I rarely follow through.  Maybe this year will be different.

How about you?  Are you a fan of the ‘more is more’ sort of style?  Or are you more of a minimalist?  Leave a comment and let me know.

and I’m back.

Published on by Quandie9 Comments

First up, congrats to Gretchen!  I drew her name using a random number generator to win my 10th blogiversary giveaway.

In other news, I’m back from a very relaxing week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

If you were following me last year around this time, you’ll know that last year my neighbor nnK’s parents invited me along on their family vacation to Mexico.  They had been finding it more and more challenging to navigate the airports at either end on their own, so I went along to help tote their luggage and so forth.

It ended up working out really well last year, and I guess they didn’t find my company too tedious, because they invited me back again this year!

We had a lovely time, mainly just hanging out at the pool, sipping cocktails and reading.  I also enjoyed my coffee out on the beach in the early hours.

I have to tell you guys, the grounds at Velas Vallarta are immaculate.  There were groundskeepers out every day pruning, mowing, blowing, and raking.

They also cleaned up the beach and ran some kind of roller over the sand.

It was pristine first thing in the morning.

In general, the level of service at this resort is spectacular.  We were enjoying the all-inclusive package, and I have to say the poolside waiters delivered drinks all day long.  They also delivered lunch to your poolside table.  I can recommend the chicken taquitos and guacamole.

I had a good indication of how things were going to go our first night at dinner.  I ordered a glass of Tempranillo (wine) and they brought me the entire bottle.

While it seems like so many places have really cut back on their housekeeping services since Covid (including even DisneyWorld resorts where they are still only cleaning your room every other day), Velas staff is not only cleaning your room every day, they also come back in the evening for a turn down service and to replenish towels and drinks in the fridge (also included) if needed.

The number of people I spoke to at the resort who come back year after year after year speaks volumes.  This place is a gem.

All of that being said, I have to admit that spending a week in a tropical paradise does not exactly put you in the Christmas mood (despite their lovely addition of poinsettias to the gardens).

I’m struggling to get back on the holiday decor band wagon, although the snow that we got the night before last helped some.

So I’m going to fire up the Christmas music, pull out some paint and a new Christmas stencil I ordered before I left for Mexico and see if I can get back in the groove.

So be sure to stay tuned!

the merry fairy box.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

OK, I know it’s too early for Christmas.  But for those of us who make things to sell, we have to get going on that now.  I find that November is the best month for selling holiday decor, and guess what?  That’s next month already.  Yikes!

Anyway, remember my holiday themed toolboxes from last year?

My favorite was this one.

I actually ended up keeping it.  I love the subtle nod to Christmas with the poinsettias and the red typography.  It doesn’t scream Christmas with candy canes and Santa Claus, and that’s what I like about it.

This is another one from last year …

I used some of that same Christmas floral transfer, Evergreen and Holly, from Dixie Belle.

Unfortunately, that transfer was a limited time only sort of deal.  They don’t have it anymore, and as far as I can tell they aren’t coming out with a new one for this year.

So I have been searching high and low for something similar to use on some toolboxes that I have waiting in the wings for this year.  But everything I’m finding is coming up short.

I did order the Holly Jolly Xmas transfer from redesign with prima, but those designs are a bit too big to fit on a typical toolbox.

When the new I.O.D. holiday release came out, I was super excited about a couple of their new holiday transfers; Candy Cane Cottage and Fairy Merry Christmas.  So I ordered those too.

I noticed that the sheets they came on were a bit smaller than usual, but I figured they’d still be perfect for toolboxes.  But I was wrong.  Or at least sort of wrong.  A few of the elements are a good size for toolboxes, but many of them are just way too small.  Plus, I’m mainly interested in the florals, which are absolutely gorgeous, but again, quite small.

All in all, I’m pretty disappointed.

But that being said, I am going to try to find ways to use them … maybe just not on toolboxes.

That brings me to today’s project.  I have a stash of various recipe or card catalogue type of wooden boxes.  So I decided to paint one up that was just the right size for one of the images from the Fairy Merry Christmas set.

I painted the box in Dixie Belle’s Cactus, and once dry I added a merry fairy to the top.

Sweet, right?  But maybe not 100% my cup of tea.  I love the delicate look of the holly, and boy oh boy do I wish they had some transfers that were just sprigs of that holly!

The closest thing to that in this transfer set are the three wreaths that are included.

Two of which are a mere 6″ wide and tall.

I really wanted to use more of those pretty holly elements on this box though, so I ended up cutting up one of the wreaths and re-arranging it around the front of the box.

I think I did a pretty good job of disguising the fact that it was originally wreath shaped.

I chose to add another of the merry fairies inside the lid of the box.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I do think these transfers are very pretty.  I love the subdued color palette, and the artwork is beautiful.  I just wish they were more suited to my needs.  Selfish of me, I know.

I think this transfer would be perfect for making gift tags, or maybe small wooden Christmas tree ornaments or something.  And who knows, maybe I will end up doing something like that with some of them.

Certainly, this little box turned out nicely.

But I sure do wish I could find another Christmas floral that I like as much as I liked that Dixie Belle Evergreen and Holly!

How about you?  Do you have a favorite Christmas transfer?  Any suggestions for one that might work on my toolboxes?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

a spice rack?

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

My friend Sue found this … well … I don’t really know what it is … for me recently.

What do you think its original purpose was?  I’m leaning towards shoe shine box.  Those dark stains could be shoe polish.

I thought I’d give it a new life repurposed for something else though.

I started by painting it with Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, once dry I distressed the edges and then added an I.O.D. transfer to the top.

That section from the Brocante set fit perfectly.

I then gave the entire piece a coat of clear wax.

Next I lined it with some gingham paper, and added a metal label holder to the front with the same paper added.

Now all that’s left is to figure out what it could be used for … other than a shoe shine box that is.

My first thought was ‘spice rack’.

Wouldn’t it be cute sitting on the kitchen counter filled with spices?

But maybe you don’t really cook all that much, and instead you prefer to spend your time crafting.

Well, it would work great for holding your craft paints and/or inks.

Why do I have so much ink, when I rarely use it any more?

Somehow I just can’t seem to part with it.

Then of course, there is always the option of just using it to display your non-collection of vintage cameras.

Or some other non-collection that is on the small side.

So many possibilities!

What would you use it for?

far from faultless.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

I suspect that not too many of us actually enjoy doing laundry, am I right?

Sorting, shoving things into the machines, realizing after washing that you left a kleenex in a pocket, drying, folding and then putting away.  Not exactly fun times.

But I have to admit that I actually do enjoy the process of laundering vintage linens.

They are so lovely to handle, and there’s something so satisfying about a crisp stack of freshly laundered and pressed white linens.

You may remember that I purchased a few vintage pillowcases at the Fridley garage sales earlier this summer.

After I took them out of the ziploc bags that they came in and inspected them a bit more closely, I found that they needed to be whitened up, and a couple of them also needed a bit of mending.  So I thought I’d share that process with you.

The first step for me is to soak them in some OxiClean, or in this case, a generic oxi-based cleaner from Target.

I usually soak them for at least a few hours, or even overnight.

Then, after removing them from their oxi bath, I wash them on the gentle setting in my washing machine.  Except for the more fragile ones, those just get rinsed by hand in the sink.

Next, I hang them on the line in the sun for a full day to get a little natural, non-chemical bleaching.

I have an ancient clothesline that is attached to the carriage house on one end with some serious looking hooks.

  It has probably been there forever, it was there when we moved in 34 years ago.  I wonder how many generations of laundry have been hung out to dry on that line?

Once they’ve had their day in the sun, I like to press old linens using starch.

I have a sneaking suspicion that very few people iron with starch anymore.  The last time I ran out I had a difficult time even finding it in the shops.  Comically enough, I came across two full cans of Faultless premium starch at an estate sale a while back for $1 each, so I snatched them up.  I’m fairly certain they’d never even been used.

You get a fabulously crisp result using starch.  In fact, I suspect that these vintage linens were originally meant to be starched.

I wish I could say that I press my linens outside in the garden on a pretty wooden ironing board while bluebirds sing in the trees nearby …

But that’s just for photo shoots.

I actually iron in my creepy, spidery, damp, very much non-blog worthy basement.  Maybe I need to rethink that?  Now I’m regretting all of the fabulous vintage wooden ironing boards that I’ve sold over the years.

The next time I see one I should snag it and then keep it handy in the carriage house, or maybe even the potting shed, for outdoor ironing.

Anyway, back to the starching.  This is usually the step where I find out that my vintage linens are far from faultless.  As I’m laying them out on the ironing board and pressing out each wrinkle, I find all of the flaws that I didn’t notice before.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m not much of a seamstress, despite my mom’s best efforts at teaching me to sew.  But I can manage a little simple mending with a needle and thread.

Does the fact that the needle packaging says “West Germany” give you an idea of how old those needles are?  I’m sure I purchased those at a garage/estate sale too.

This repair didn’t take much effort, and was easily accomplished while watching my favorite gardeners on YouTube.

My repair job isn’t quite faultless either, but it will do the job.

The amount of work that went into some of these pillowcases is quite amazing.

Sadly, some of them are just too far gone for my simple mending skills though.

Such is the case with the pillow case that I was using on the wicker chaise that used to be my front porch.

The work on this one is so beautiful, just check out the detailed embroidery on that monogram …

and that floral border.  And the cutwork is painstakingly detailed.

Living on the three-season porch for over a decade had really done a number on it though.  The fabric itself was deteriorating and basically shredding in some spots.

And unfortunately, even just a gentle soak weakened the fabric so much that when I hung it on the line it totally fell apart.

So sad.  I did get years of enjoyment out of it before this happened though, so I’ll console myself by remembering that.

If any of you locals are looking for some lovely vintage pillowcases, I took a few of these in to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater last week.

I priced them low, ranging from $12/pair to $18/pair for the prettiest ones, so be sure to head down there soon!