Summer sidewalk sale

So, you’ve heard about the sale, but you’re thinking—Sure, I  like it and what a great deal, but what will I do with it?

Let me see if I can help with a few suggestions . . .

Basic white canisters will work in any décor.  For use on the kitchen counter or in the pantry, this canister set has a a tight seal to protect contents from pests and humidity.  Think:  your own kitchen or a great gift for newlyweds.

A utensil basket of goodies . . . here you see a basket perfect for use as a utensil caddy, with a large slot for napkins.  The red is ideal for summer entertaining, as well as the holidays.  It would also be perfect for organizing a desk or a vanity.

Also shown are our vintage-style utensils (all are on sale for 30% off)—at this price you can afford a special set for summer tables or your other special occasions.

Basic cream and and black bowls for 50% off would work on almost any table.  They would look especially great paired with our winter wildlife salad plate, also in cream and black (70% off).  Know anyone who likes to entertain at Christmas?

Know anyone who collects owls?  (Need I say more?)

Do you like to serve cheeses or pastries or know someone who does?  This covered dish takes your presentation to a new level, while keeping your food fresh.

This generously sized cake pedestal is perfect for a summer table (be sure to note the snail on the base), but can adapt to a holiday setting, as well, with a few strategically placed bits of pine or ribbon.

 

This tunic is the perfect beach cover-up, but will transition into fall as a great blouse over jeans or leggings.  I am sure you know someone who would look great in it.

Jute tote with a batik-style print is the perfect weekend, get-away bag.  At this price, you can afford to fill it with a few items for a great gift for your friend.

This picture is is full of ideas.  Start with cloth napkins—set a beautiful table and do something good for the environment (all napkins are on sale); the green plates are made in Portugal are the perfect accent for a variety of settings. 

Know anyone who likes to decorate with a nautical theme? We have a variety of items suited for lakeside décor—starting with these nautical knot napkin rings.

Our lovely trio of green pedestal bowls stack or separate.  Reproduced to mimic depression glass, they add a vintage feel to your table or sideboard.

Classic black accent pieces with brass deer head handles are great for fall/Christmas décor (mismarked here—they are actually 50% off).

Teapot, sugar bowl and creamer, mugs and pedestal bowls would make a great gift for your mother or grandmother.  At 50% off you can buy several!

A silver plate coaster is the perfect purchase for a wine connoisseur; available in a variety of designs, it can also be used as a trinket catch-all or a candle stand.

Black glass candlesticks are elegant and classic, but can easily transition for an elegantly spooky Halloween scene.

These classic hurricanes are lovely with a candles or other decorative elements.

Reproduction prints from our Williamsburg collection keep the man-room from being taken over with scenes of blood letting or football.

Gilded terra cotta accents are perfect for holiday décor, but work well everyday, too!

50% off of vintage-look baby bibs are great gifts for new grandmas or to keep at your house for visiting babies/toddlers.   You can never have enough photo frames—neither can your friends, so pick some up to give as gifts!

Here are my favorite melamine plates.  I would keep these on hand for visiting children and for patio parties.  Again, you see some of our discounted flatware.  Great for everyday or special occasions.

So, if you’re wondering whether or not you should come down to shop the summer sidewalk sale . . . wonder no longer.

Thanks for your indulgence,

Time for thanks

was it just last week?  it seems like at least a month ago.
we gathered together—family and friends—to celebrate the national day of gratitude.
the menu was much the same as it always:   turkey, dressing and the rest, but this year we tried a few new recipes.  my favorite among the new dishes was the the cranberry relish.  it was a last minute recommendation from my mom—she had enjoyed it when our friend, sherry, prepared it last year.  a quick search on the epicurious website yielded the recipe we sought.  a few improvisations made it my new favorite.  I’ll share it below, but first a few shots of our dining room on the big day.







Okay, the recipe . . .
Cranberries in Bourbon

• 
  1 pound (about 4 cups) cranberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup bourbon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine first 3 ingredients in 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake until cranberries are tender and sugar is dissolved, stirring once, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and stir in bourbon. Refrigerate cranberry sauce until well chilled. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead.) Transfer to bowl and serve.
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bourbon-Cranberry-Sauce-2715#ixzz2DuEYh53B
my changes:
I used two packages of cranberries (didn’t measure); 1 cup sugar and one cup of light brown sugar; the cinnamon and I added about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped, fresh ginger root to the roasting process. 
it was delicious!
the other change this year was that I prepared the turkey using a brining method.  I am sold!  we always smoke our turkey—as we did this year—and I love it prepared this way.  the additional step of brining made the turkey even more moist and tender—if that is possible.  the brining ingredients are simple, but there are a lot of them—so I made it simple by using a prepared jar of brining spice I purchased at our local culinary shop, Ingredients.
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bourbon-Cranberry-Sauce-2715#ixzz2DuEQc0Ue
Thanks for your indulgence,

december resolutions

This time of year, things are so crazy busy, I rarely have time to just sit and think.  I am running from the house, to the shop, to errands and to my daughter’s activities.  To most people, it is “the holiday season,” but to small business owners, it’s “the fourth quarter;” make it or break it time, especially for retailers.  So, I feel like I’ve got to constantly be doing something—something for the shop, decorating around the house or chasing to the grocery store . . . something.  Although—I am not sure why I am using the limiting language of “this time of year.” 

The “lack of time” has increasingly become a singular theme of my life.  This does not make me happy.  I need to do something about that—if only I could find the time . . . 

One thing I really miss doing is visiting my favorite blogs and writing my own.  I don’t have allow myself the time to visit blogs let alone write my blog.

I miss it—the great stories I read, the ideas I glean and the inspiration I find.  I miss sharing my own thoughts, ideas and plans.  Plus, in a strange way, blogging holds me accountable.  If I say I’m going to do something—write it in my blog—I feel like I have to follow through; even though no one is paying attention, I feel like I’ve made a promise and I need to keep it.

So, right now, a month earlier than most resolutions are announced, I promise to myself, if no one else, to write down my ideas, plans, et al.  Not only that, but I will follow through with my intentions.  I’ll do it here, as I once did, on my blog—my public journal.  If you’re a reader, I’d love to hear from you, but I definitely understand if I don’t. 

I’ll be doing it for me, but perhaps you are feeling the same as I and will find, in me, a kindred spirit.  Perhaps you will be encouraged by me the same way I am encouraged by my favorite bloggers; maybe my efforts to carve-out some time for the things I enjoy will inspire you to do the same.  Whatever your reason for checking-in here, please let me know if you have any ideas for my attempts to make these changes in my life.  I am always up for new ways of doing things.  I can learn to suck eggs a new way.

Here are a few of the blogs I plan to catch-up on . . .

 

 

                                              

(the above pic is a link to the blog:  Chateau Relaxo)

Thanks for your indulgence!

it takes a Friendly Village

This is my second attempt, in as many days, to write a blog post.  I actually wrote one, but it turned so long and pathetic, I decided to  trash it and start over.

I have, instead, decided to share the best part.

On Saturday, in between all of the “have to” stuff, I decided to make a run to one of my favorite antique shops.  It was actually a “have to,” too, because I was looking for the some props for my window display.  I plan to hang the plate rack I painted at The Hayloft and I was trying to decide what would look best displayed on it.  Then I thought of my favorite dishes.  Sure, I could have used something I already had in inventory, but where’s the fun in that?!?

I’ve decided to transition my window from fall to Christmas the week of Thanksgiving.  I mean, it’s bad enough that I already have five fully decorated Christmas trees!  Anyhoo, the plans for the windows are coming together and they will involve:

Anyone who knows me, knows of my affinity for Johnson Brothers Friendly Village.  It is the pattern I use to set my tables for any event from November through February.

 

I bought 8 more dinner plates, cereal bowls and bread & butter plates.

Those square salad plates . . . my first!  Love them.

A box full of a variety of loot.  The Pilgrim’s Progress book is for my personal collection—it’ll be part of my Thanksgiving display at the house.

 

Love this turkey platter with gold trim.  The beauty of Friendly Village is the variety of color mixed with the fact that it doesn’t have a Christmas specific theme, but the snowy scenes imply the holidays.  The blue  trim on this platter will blend quite well.

 

The mugs are a first, too.  I’ve never had them before. 

Well, there you have it.  The beginnings of a winter window . . .

Thanks for your indulgence.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

(My Leaf Chronicle article for Nov 20th)

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. One thing I’ve noticed as I get older, a survey of my peers results in the same opinion. Most of us prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas. Further, most of site the same or similar reasons—less hubbub! Not so much to do to prepare for it—just fix some dinner and invite the family and friends over. It’s almost like any other Sunday for many of us—just more food.

Some of us travel. Well, that’s an understatement, being that it’s the most traveled holiday, but as I am retailer, I gave up even the thought of traveling on Thanksgiving! I don’t have those crazy 3 A.M. sales at Hodgepodge, but it’s a busy weekend anyway, so I can’t imagine being away.

So, for the past nine years, Thanksgiving has been at the King Kompound and that makes me VERY happy. My sister, Kendall, and her family are always part of the day and for that I am grateful. Between the two of us, we whip-up some rather tasty dishes that generally leave us quite satisfied.

Every year we try to think of some new dishes to prepare, but we’re hesitant to give up the tried and true recipes that we all enjoy. So, we usually make them all! This has really become a problem, because we just keep adding to an already large menu. Desserts alone are numbering close to the double digits!

One year I ventured on the wild side and made a dish using baby Brussels sprouts. They were amazing—even my youngest went back for seconds. The problem is I have less-than-no idea where that recipe went. I have tried replicating it—with acclaims and adoration pouring forth from Kendall who happily attests, to those being subjected to my experiments, that the original recipe was truly delicious. It’s very frustrating.

Tonight I will sit down with my cookbooks. I’m going to find a new vegetable recipe—one that doesn’t involve Brussels sprouts, but I do want it to be unusual. I’d also like a different green salad recipe. I’m looking forward to perusing my extensive cookbook collection for something mouthwatering.

I also need to do a little preparation for our table setting. I think I’ve written about the fact that I use a painter’s drop cloth canvas for our tablecloth before, but this year I want to make it fitted. I hope to find the time to cut it apart and create the tablecloth I’ve always intended it to be. If it doesn’t get done for Thanksgiving—it will get done for Christmas—even if I have to pay someone to do it for me!

As I think about my plans for my table setting this year, I decided to look back at pictures from years past (Yes, I take pictures of my table settings—when I remember—they come in handy for blogs and newspaper articles.). I really did like the table last year. I used a primitive three-tiered display, loaded down with gourds, pumpkins and Indian corn, as my centerpiece. As mentioned last week, a length of burlap served as the topper on my drop cloth.

I have to say—this was one of my favorite settings. And, true to the nonsense I spew at luncheons and other meetings I’m asked to attend as the speaker, I used the same basic setting for Christmas. I only changed the centerpiece.

(Of course, true to my form of these past few months, I failed to take any pictures of this year’s table.  The place settings were almost identical, but my centerpiece was simple.  I just used my twelve hole sugar mold with my artichoke votives.)

I’d love to hear about some of you Thanksgiving traditions, trials and tribulations.

Thanks for your indulgence,

Can She Really write MORE about Burlap?!?!

(my Leaf Chronicle article  for a day in novemeber . . .)

 

As I type this, we are preparing for a fall decorating workshop. Kendall will be teaching how to make a burlap wreath and I will teach how to make a banner echoing the sentiment of the season, “grateful.” The banner also incorporates burlap.

Have you noticed a theme here? Heck, I think I mention it in most of my articles—burlap. I love it! I use it in a variety of ways, I buy products made out of burlap for the shop and I would probably wear it if it were softer!

“Wear it if it were softer, you say, Paige?”

Well, darn if Patty didn’t bring in some of the softest burlap I’ve ever felt! She told me she had heard that you could wash it in hot water, dry it and it would soften-up like linen. So I gave her a piece we had lying around and she experimented with it.

She washed it in hot water, with detergent and an extra amount of liquid softener. Then she tossed it in the dryer. Viola! A soft, slightly shrunken piece of burlap emerged. She said it did make quite a mess of her washer and dryer (so don’t do this with a load of black socks), but I do believe I’ll be trying this for my table topper this year.

The reasons I love this fabric are many, but the two top reasons are it is cheap and it is neutral in color. It works in every room of my house and has been used accordingly!

So, other than as a topper for my holiday table settings, the other projects I’ve used burlap for are:

“Aprons” for my dining room chairs. I draped a length of burlap across the back of the chair, added a length of ribbon to the bottom edge of the chair, which I use to secure the apron in place. I also added our monogram to the back side.

Curtains. I’ve made full-length curtains in my bedroom, which subsequently went up in flames—reference a blog post for Jan 2010—and haven’t been reproduced. I’ve made café curtains for my dining room. They lay flat—no gathering—so the stiffness of the fabric works very well.

(These are the curtains that existed for a brief shining moment in our bedroom—if I do it again, I’ll wash the fabric first.)

(here’s a shot of the full array of burlap used in my dining room—the table runner—as wide as the table—the chair aprons and the café curtains.  The valances are an aqua toile with a taupe print—I added taupe tassels to “gussy them up.”)

Placemats. The easiest project ever! Simply cut out rectangle slightly larger than your desired finished size, then you pull the threads to fringe the ends. Done! This works for a table runner, as well.

So, here’s an idea that you can use for gift giving. Make coaster-sized burlap squares, then tie together a set of six—heck, twelve, they’re cheap—with some ribbon. There you go—a gift for almost anyone. If you want to take it to the next level, you can stencil the monogram of your gift recipient on the coasters.

So, I hope you have enjoyed the many wonders of burlap today!

 

I’d love to hear how you’ve used burlap in your décor.

Thank you for your indulgence.

A Boating Analogy

(This was my article for The Leaf Chronicle a few weeks ago.)

Have you ever felt like you’ve got each of your feet in two different boats and they’re floating away from each other?

That’s the only way I can describe the feeling I get this time of year ever since opening my shop. At the shop, I’ve already decorated for Christmas, but at the house we’re still transitioning from Halloween to Thanksgiving. I fight the push of Christmas—leaving most of my fall décor intact and work in the Christmas trees and snowmen.

My home décor actually benefited from the transition this year, because the really amazing bunch of cornstalks I had outfitted with a burlap wrap, tulle and a rusty ring of skeleton keys is now standing in my entrance hall! What an impact as you walk in the door. It may have to be mine—permanently.

( . . . and there it is!  I brought it home and will leave it there as long as I can get away with it!)

So, as promised, we’re moving into the house with our fall decor. Many houses have a nice foyer where you can add another welcoming touch to carry-out your theme, such as a fall floral arrangement on a table. But what if you don’t have a formal foyer? There are many strategies you can use to draw the eye into the home—choose your focal point and that is where you’ll put your decorative emphasis.

For instance, if you walk through your front door and the first thing you see is your staircase, add a fall garland. Nothing expensive, just grab some of that wisteria or jasmine that is going dormant, wrap it in a loose configuration, around the railing. Make a swag of Indian corn tied with raffia and you’re done. If you want a little more color run several yards of (again—loosely configured) wide ribbon through the railing and vines. Depending on your color selections and with a few changes, this arrangement can easily become you Christmas décor, too.

A fall mantel looks great with some basic changes to your usual décor. I usually switch-out the brightly colored tea cups and saucers I have displayed on a stand for my brown transferware. I add other details, such as amber bottles and I change my vintage book “risers” to reflect the colors of the season. I switch my glass candle sticks for my brass ones and the color of the candles generally changes, as well.

A quick arrangement for the dining room table is always something folks are asking about when planning to entertain. The simplest arrangements can be made with large pumpkin (I prefer the Princess or Cinderella variety) set atop a cake stand. Under the pumpkin you can place a layer of leaves fanning out around the edge or I would choose a crocheted doily, slightly larger than the cake stand so it can drape over the edge. Sprinkle nuts—still in their shell—around the base of the stand and intersperse glass votives around the table, too. You can also mix in gourds, pomegranates and pinecones of acorns for a “full” look. Remember to use unscented candles on your table, but feel free to light-up the scents of fall throughout the rest of the house.

(this is pre-plush pumpkins)

(many of the same elements—post-plush pumpkins!)

As I said, I’m not ready to rush the season, I still have a lot left to do!

(I have so many intended blog posts—I hope I can get to at least half of them!)

As always, I thank you for your indulgence!