Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

Very Silly Pink Saturday Post...

I'm tired.

When I'm tired, I get silly.

Here goes. I'm combining two garage sale finds for my Pink Saturday post. Be sure to visit all the other pink-lovin' girls who will probably have much more sane and charming posts for Beverly's One Year Anniversary of Pink Saturdays. Click right here to check them all out!  In the meantime, please indulge my silliness. 

Imagine the following conversation between these two from a vintage print in a not-so-cute- frame bought for cheap at a garage sale.

 Edward: I love the way you sit up so straight and strong my lovely blossom of a wife.

Elisabeth: Thank you, my darling. I can barely breathe, but I find if I tilt my head a little to the right and gasp for air in small lady-like breaths I can manage to stay conscious as well as look attractive. 

Edward: My dear, your waist is so tiny. Indeed my manly hands would surround it thrice. Your daintiness is so charming, and I adore the way you always let me eat off your plate. 

Elisabeth: Yes, my sweet Edward. What I would not do for you, my angel. It is with your tuppence I was able to purchase my exquisite bustier at a local garage sale that allows me to maintain my bird-sized waist. The original price tag on this lace confection was $215.00. I paid only $3.00 for it and with my leftover tuppence purchased your beautiful ruffled shirt and mustard-colored velvet breeches.

Edward: Kiss me darling.

 

The end...

Lucy and Ethel Hit the Jackpot!

Bob said, "Let there be light, " and there was light in the Craft Cottage. It is getting closer and closer to completion.

 

I set out on a mission for a fabulous and CHEAP work table or desk for my new space. I had no luck whatsoever at garage sales, and decided to move up the thrift-food chain and hit some Goodwill and charity stores. I completely bombed out, and decided to move up another rung on the thrift-food chain to new and used office furniture stores.

The first store I went into I was overwhelmed by a sea of mahogany conference room tables with ultra modern chairs. A very nice young salesman approached and asked if he could help. Although I had my doubts that he could, I explained I wanted a big desk that was  inexpensive and had personality. It needed to be sturdy and inexpensive. Cute and inexpensive.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem phased and led me to a really nice desk that had some interesting gingerbread-ish trim which would have looked really pretty painted white or chippy pink. It was marked $199. but he was willing to take $150. That was really out of my price range, and so I thanked him kindly but again stated I needed something really inexpensive!

He said, " I don't know how you'd feel about this, and I sort of hate to mention it, but we have a desk out behind the store we are carrying to the dumpster after work. You could have it for free if you want it and can haul it off." 

He couldn't show it to me fast enough, and although I tried to act very dignified, I'm sure I squealed with delight when I saw the old metal desk in two pieces leaning up on its side out amongst the trash. JACKPOT!

Now, the problem. My husband has the truck, but if I were to call and explain I had found a desk that was three hours away from being hauled to the dumpster, he just wouldn't have seen the positive in the situation. Thus, therefore and thence, I called my friend, Jennifer and asked, "Do you feel like being Ethel to my Lucy?" She was game and before I knew it, we (and three furniture store men) had loaded the ginormous monstrosity of a desk (with all of its inexpensive personality) into her Suburban.

So, here she is in all her BEFORE beauty. Keep in mind she was free.

 

She is a heavy metal beauty with all kinds of nooks and crannies and drawer dividers. When she is repaired she will form an "L".

 

Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if I told you I had found a treasure hidden in the drawers of this Longview National Bank relic? Perhaps like an interesting ledger book, or love letters to the bank president's wife? Take a look at what I discovered!

 

Okay, so maybe not THAT much of a treasure, but did I mention the desk was free? The next step was to give the ol' girl a beauty makeover. Here are my cosmetics of choice.

 

I went to work getting her all spruced up. The end results: not good. She looks a little like a circus clown. I didn't have enough paint in any one color to really do what needed to be done. Let's just say I was a little over-jubilant with my trigger finger and the spray paint nozzle.

Anyhoooooo.....no AFTER picture for you to oooh and aaah over...yet! I need to do some fast thinking and get the situation fixed. Stay tuned. Did I mention this desk was free?

The Male Version of Pink Saturday!

My husband has been working long and hard on getting my craft cottage up and running. It is so close to being finished I am silly with excitement. I cannot wait to do a complete show and tell of the entire thing soon. I am giddy!!!!

In the meantime...Happy Pink Saturday! I had to give you a sneak peak of the action taking place for my pink post and I think I was successful. Here is my man installing flooring into a very Robin's Egg Blue room.

 

Have you spotted the pink? Here is my Craft Cottage Contractor taking a much needed break!

 

I was so happy to see how absolutely gorgeous the color pink looks next to this color of blue. It pops! Check back soon for updates on my studio's progress. Be sure to check out all the other Pink Saturday  participants. It is so much fun to spend some time visiting other blogs and meeting others that enjoy a splash of pink in their life.  

Pink Mama Saturday!

  What a special Pink Saturday with Mother's Day to follow tomorrow! I couldn't let the day go by without a little stroll down memory lane. I am blessed to still have my mother. My heart goes out to those of you who would dearly love to hug or call your mom this Mother's Day,but she has passed away. 

My mother has Alzheimer's. This is the first time I've written those words here on my blog. It is hard to see those words in the starkness of their reality, and accept all that word means for my mother, my sisters, my father, and for me... my mother's child. Nevertheless, it is what it is, and I cherish the time I have with my mother and those priceless moments when there is a connection... a shared memory, or a shared laugh. Those moments are truly pink wrapped gifts from God and I thank Him.

 Mother was 20 years old in the picture above, and I (her first born) was 3 months old... my mouth wide open. Isn't Mother beautiful?  She has been an inspiration to me throughout my years of raising children. Fast forward twenty years to a picture of me below with my first born...mouth wide open. What's up with that?

Mother is now 67 years old. Still beautiful. She doesn't even color her hair and only has a tiny bit of gray! My mother has always enjoyed pretty things. I can remember her gluing fabric to our living room wall back in the early 70's. It looked awesome and I now wonder where she got the idea. This was before HGTV, and I don't remember her having the luxury of extra money for magazines. She was great at arranging pictures and her knick-knacks in a cute way. 

Mother loved garage sales, which was totally humiliating to me in my teenage years. I would lay in the floorboard of our wood-paneled lime-green station wagon, and pray the sale was not at a house of a schoolmate. My first pair of blue jeans came from one of those sales. Once I pulled myself up off the floorboard, I was thrilled to own a pair of jeans!!! Thanks Mother!

Here is a little bit of pink to wind up another Pink Saturday and to pay tribute to my mother. I took some doors off the kitchen cabinets, so my garage sale pink goodies could be seen and enjoyed instead of shoved into some dark cranny somewhere.

The ceramic set on the top shelf looks very Mary Englebreit-ish to me and was the last gift my late husband was able to physically go into a store and pick out for me before he died of cancer. I have put lots of my pink odds and ends together on the middle shelf. I like the impact of all that pink together...the old glass pitcher, refrigerator dish, salt and pepper shakers, and old melmac dishes...and probably a few dust bunnies here and there. I love the old SPICE shelf, even though I don't use it for such, and I enjoy the colors of the advertisement measuring cups. Aren't pink, turquoise, red, and yellow a wonderful combination?

Check out  Bevery at How Sweet the Sound to visit other girls who have a thing for pink. It's so much fun to get a glass of tea and sit down and visit all the sites. 

Happy Mother's Day to all! 

A few more peeks through my sister's window.

 

Maw-Maw loved posing us grandchildren for pictures with all of her sentimental doo-dads. This particular day, my younger sister, Jill and I are posing with our grandmother's childhood doll, Frankie (bottom left) and DeeRay (her oldest son's rag doll). I can see my Skipper Barbie doll sitting beside me on the arm chair. The Barbie kitchen sits on the floor below.

Jill and I spent hours...no years... playing house together as children. Maw-Maw says I would never let Jill pretend to be the Mama, and when friends asked Jill what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would sigh sadly and pitifully answer, "I guess I'll be a daddy." Thankfully, I didn't warp my sister for life and she has a wonderful husband and is the mama, not the daddy, to three children. 

Here are a few more little peeks into my sister's home.

 Unless I have lost my mind, which is quite possible, I think I bought this sweet figurine as a gift for Jill. These girls sit on a shelf with other sentimental objects my sister has collected through the years, and represents our little visits to see each other and the fun we've shared over the years. Jill, if you read this and this is totally not true...well, I don't know what to tell you. I SHOULD have bought it for you! ha ha!

 

Jill doesn't have a huge kitchen, but I love the way she carefully displays what she has, and has had to go UP the wall with a lot of her decor because of space. Lots of eye candy...old cookbooks, tea pots, good vintage reds and greens. Jill's kitchen is very fresh looking and homey.

 

When Jill and I shop together we are often drawn to the same items. Somehow we have never had any catfights over a vintage item! Our mother raised us to share, right Jill?

Jill makes a lot of her stuff instead of buying it, and I think that gives her home lots of personality. She painted the friendly sign below. 

 Jill and her family lived in Australia for two years. She learned to love tea time with her friends over there. I'm pretty sure everything on this shelf is sentimental in regard to tea time, and I recognize the polka dotted album. I have one just like it that my Maw-Maw filled with family recipes.

 

I have two other younger sisters...Wendy and Lori. When I go visit them, I will have to ask if I can blog about their homes. That would be great fun, as they both have their unique personalities too.

Thank you, Jill, for allowing me to highlight some of your home's special nooks and crannies!

Hats off to Pink Saturday!

Here is a little stack of vintage hats perched on a bookcase my Paw-Paw made for me when I was five years old. Someday I will share in more detail about the bookcase as it is very special to me. These vintage hats are just a little collection of hats from-here-and-there. The pink velvet flower was picked off a clearance rack for pennies and added to the black hat.

Sometimes a little pile of the simplest things can make a very sweet statement. A girl likes to add pink where she can, right? Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to visit lots of other girls who enjoy a splash of pink in their lives!