What's that? and a gift!

Welcome to a triple post where I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her fun makeovers at Met Monday, Beth atThe Gypsy Fish for her series of Silver Sundays, and Karen at Nittany Inspirations, who will be hosting a Bedscape Party on Tuesday. Be sure to check out their sites for some great ideas and inspiration.

First let me show you the results of a makeover on the kitchen table. I received a gift certificate from some very thoughtful friends and picked out these items from Pottery Barn. The "before" on my table was not bad, but I was just ready for a change. I had been eyeing the architectural element, along with the chippy candlestick. And then, they have the most real looking maidenhair ferns, so the threesome joined up for my table.

I know that Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict will appreciate this piece of silver with its grape design because she has a lovely collection of silver and ceramics with that design. My mother recently handed it over to my daughter - just completely bypassed me!!

I know it is really old - at least 60 years old, and I asked my daughter to let me polish it for her. Note the "before".

After.....

What's this????

A tea maker. I found the name "Halphen" on the bottom. I knew it was a French antique, but found out that he designed and made silver in the late 1800's. This was a sweet gift from the same friend mentioned above!

There, I took it apart, and you can see where you put the loose tea in the top, pour hot water over it, cover and keep hot. I didn't polish it - it's charming tarnished!

This little dish is, I think, a sort of chafing dish. See below how you can take off the top, put hot water in it, and then set a class casserole that you want to keep hot. Voilà!

And, now, drum roll, my high school charm bracelet. Don't you love them?! They tell a story.

My mother (and some friends) added sterling silver charms during those years, and this is just priceless to me.

Now, about the bedding. Do you ever make a decision, not realizing what a really good decision it is, but just plain not being able to decide (i.e. what size to make)? Does that make sense???? Anyway, I decided to do a bedroom in black and white toile about 8 years ago. The bed at the time was a twin iron bed. For some reason, I made the bedskirt and coverlet such that they would fit anything from a twin to a queen, and made double shams. A couple of years ago we moved the twin bed to another room and moved in a double bed to accomodate more grandchildren.

Above you can see that it has now been changed to fit an iron trundle day bed that our DIL gave us after we gave our grandson the double bed. Good deal, huh? The checked bedskirt and shams have black stripes on them which I made by using iron-on tape. It works beautifully and holds up.


I had fun making all the pillows, which have helped this room morph from bed size to bed size. The window treatment was an easy pattern as well. I piped the toile in a check and lined it with ticking. After 8 years, I STILL love this room - never get tired of it!

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to visit Susan, Beth, and Karen (on Tuesday). Thanks, ladies, for hosting these events! Linda