Silver and Old Books

I've stumbled across some useful silver and interesting old books.

Recently at GW I saw this large handled silver tray.

I really like it to "anchor" my books.

I also got these old "Alice in Wonderland" books from GW.

The book "Old Touraine" was an interesting find

because I spent 2 weeks in that area of France studying French and touring many of the "châteaux" mentioned in this 100 year old book!

 My old wind-up clock is also a flea market find.

Love it - no batteries!

Another little GW silver tray....

  Don't you love those feet?!

 Most of you would probably pass by these old books.

They are kind of ratty looking!

                                                      I got them  at an estate sale for the "insides" -
                                                    (3) 100+ year old books (for a few dollars) -
a French book printed in America, a French book for learning English - printed in France, and an old McGuffey speller.  They are fascinating.

 This is a beautifully illustrated 1892 book on learning German (I am partial to French, but I am not exclusive!). More pretty handwriting (I can't help myself!).

 This fabulous book from 1878 is a reader.  For $1.50, it is full of excellent writings - especially writings 
 about character and classic literature.  It came from a school  Maybe in the 5th  grade?  If so, it  is impressive.  Not sure what kids are reading in school these days, but this reader is amazing!

I just love this handwriting.  In fact, I did a post on old French handwriting here (scroll past the tarts : ).  I am sad that it seems to be disappearing from schools.  If you are a teacher,don't fuss at me because I am one, too.  However,  I believe we need handwriting.  An estate sale professional told me that ALL things handwritten are becoming valuable - due to the use of computers, e-cards, etc.  Save your letters, handwritten notes, etc.!!! (p.s.  Teach cursive to your kids and grandies!)

This geography book is so interesting!  It is dated 1898.  At the time, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, 
Hawaii and Alaska were not states.  So interesting!

 Save your old books!

Keep your silver!
And WRITE someone a note  :  )

Blessings,

Linda

Joining:

Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Faux Grain Sack Runner & Bargains

I have a great little faux grain sack runner,

imspired by  Sherry at No Minimalist Here

who was inspired by

Kathy at Creative Home Expressions

to come up with this little gem.

The nice thing about it is that it is toweling

and the sides are already hemmed.

I just turned the ends, ironed, and stitched the ends.

I made 2 in 10 minutes!

The other one has red stripes like Sherry's and Kathy's.

I think Kathy and Sherry got their toweling at fabric.com,

but that site was out of it by the time I got there, so I got my toweling at Quilters Studio.

Lots of color choices! - I saw that Marty at A Stroll Thru Life

made a pretty one, too!

It only took 2 yards for my table and it has the perfect amount of overhang.

Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict has another great idea in mind for this toweling.

I'm having some great luck drying hydrangeas.

I'll be back to tell you what is working for me!

I found this fabulous old leather book mixed in with the GW books for $2.50

I have no idea how it ended up there, but this is my best book find. Ever.

I keep looking for an old edition of

Julia Child's book - "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

                                                                   Haven't found it yet.

Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict and I

each talked ourselves into matching little urns and then

found this cute green spikey thing to go in the urns.

My hydrangeas are drying nicely.

Hopefully it'll continue and I'll tell you what works for me!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Linda

Joining

Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Southern Hospitality for Today's Thrifty Treasures

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasure

My Dining Room at Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is one week away!

I don't have all the wreaths on the windows

(looks like that won't happen), and

the dining room table is not set -

but there's plenty of time for that.

I am trying out lots of silver and white this year in the dining room.

Unfortunately, it doesn't photograph well (maybe that's the fault of the photographer!),

but it looks good in person.

I tried Debbie's (@Confessions of a Plate Addict) sheet music trick

on the candles.

I used a mix of mercury glass, gold and copper.

Christmas in the hutch......

Greenery, pears, votives...

I added a little red to the table....

along with my hurricane candleholders - a wedding gft from my sweet Grammy

41 years ago!

I spray painted them Heirloom White for a fresh new look!

My mom's milk glass compote is in the center of the table.

Still enjoying my burlap runner.

Such a bargain to make - $7!

Hope you have a peaceful week before Christmas.

I'm joining :
Susan @Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Marty @A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Linda @Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Kim @Savvy Southern Style for Boring to Better

Blessings to you!

Linda

Burlap Runner

Have you seen the burlap runners that several people have posted lately?

Well, I decided to make one.

Debbie @Confessions of a Plate Addict and I have been talking about

measurements, fabric., etc., and

we have both come up with our versions.

I think she'll be posting hers soon, so you'll want to take a look for sure!

First, here is my toile runner,

which I love.

Thanks to my sweet daughter for arranging this

tablescape.

I thought it would be nice to have a blank pallet for

Thanksgiving and Christmas,

so.......here's the burlap runner.

It measures 90 inches long, 18 inches wide, and has a 6 inch ruffle attached on each end.

It just takes about $7 for the burlap!

I know that someone is selling them for $68!

I have several pics of different arrangements.

Everything is not necessarily centered, including the pumpkin on the GW silver bucket,

but I was just checking the possibilities

with a neutral background.

Sunflowers





Leaves


Add some pumpkins


I think it'll be a versatile runner.
Which centerpiece do you like best?

I'm joining:
Susan @Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Cindy @Cottage Instincts for Make it 4 Monday
Linda @Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Marty @A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Gina @The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday

Have a great week!
Blessings to you!
Linda

A Chair & an Ottoman - or Sew What?

I got some projects finished - finally! Last week I showed a chair that we have:

I finished one - yea! I made some double cording (welting, piping, whaterever!). I'll show you how at the end of this post.

I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

I like its neutralness.

If I want some color, I can put any pillow on the chair.

Now for the bad news.....1 down.....3 more chairs to re-cover!

Also tried my hand at sewing a slipcover for this ottoman out of scraps. Whew! I had just enough.

Oh, I'm not hiding anything....I just like the way it looks with the afghan thrown over the ottoman. You never know when you might need an afghan in 90 degree weather!

Thanks to all you courageous and crafty people out there in Blogland!!!! I would never have even attempted upholstery or making slipcovers had I not seen all your fabulous make-overs!

And, BTW, I spent $10 on linen fabric, $3 on cording - total $13 - so that's $3.25 per chair! Well, I guess I have to add in the presser foot for the cording - $15 - so that pushes it up to about $7.00 per chair....not bad!

Found a place for my flea market spools, on top of the thrift store OLD books, and a little Dollar Tree pumpkin.

or maybe this gravy tureen......

or maybe this old pitcher.

OK, so how do you make double cording? This is my "by the seat of my pants" version. If you are a serious upholsterer, you might want to check out now! First I sewed one piece of cording on, using my zipper foot.

Next I placed the second cording next to the first cording, as close as possible.
Then I rolled it over to the finished side and stitched right down the middle, using my double cording presser foot. The extra fabric can be cut off close to the seam after you are finished.

The presser foot had 2 humps that sat on top of the cording.

Here's the finished product.

Oh, it takes almost 5 yards of cording per chair for double piping, so I finally put my antique spool to use - it's holding about 15 yards of cording!

I'm linking up to:

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality at Today's Thrifty Treasures

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tablescape Tuesday

Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Hope you have a wonderful week. Blessings to you, Linda