Harmony colors at last...

Introducing the Harmony House colors of 1958. After weeks of delay we are finally back to reveal the color you have been waiting for. These major and accent colors can bring each room of your home into the new century through the stroke of a paint brush. 

Warm dawn gray with a stroke of frosty pink. Accents of sunshine yellow and aquamarine.

Ooo...swanky.

This is the Ming Blue family, welcome home.

Shades of Ming blue accented with yellow and black. 

Oh..sorry, I was busy jumping on my bed. 

Frosty pink and Cherry Red with Aquamarine, black and spice brown. Can you see that floral wall paper? 

"Gay color scheme for the room in which a women spend so much of her time?"

"Practical decorating"

Ladies, this is when it all went wrong.

  

Sunshine to relax? 

Not so sure on this one. 

An old chair painted sage green...hmm...sounds familiar.

Then they completely lost me.

An occasional chair in Federal Gold?

No..that will never come back in style again...in my house at least.

If you need me I will be in my pink room digging around in my aquamarine jewelry box all weekend long.

E. Post

 

Beautifully written by Emily Post...

While putting the final touches on my last Christmas cleanup I was struck by the Blue book.  Lazily slumped on the shelf at the local thrift store this past year I made no hesitation in bringing it home. 

Unfortunately, I did not stop and take the time to look through the glorious pages.   Today I found myself caught up in it like a novel.  Full of Post-War Etiquette.

A smattering of photos that are timelessly decorated.

Clever words and how tos of what to say, where to go, how to be. Something we could use a good dose of I think.

Then just as I flipped the page...out came a flier! Sweetly illustrated...

Etiquette....by Emily Post

Saving for a Vacation

September means we truly are not going to get away for a family vacation this year.  Sure there have been mini vacations here and there between the boys and Claire but nothing like we are used to taking.  I am feeling a bit sad for the time we usually share together.  Our oldest is two short years from leaving the nest for college.  I am left revisiting some of last years mementos.  A good excuse to get them dusted and cleaned.  

We have a large built in shelf in the family room that my kids love to fill with their collection of sand and rocks from places we visit.  Turning these former dirt clods into decorator items is a challenge I am willing to take on.

Pickle jars filled with Lake Superior agates help to contain a collection and display them at the same time.  Each one hand picked form various beaches we visited.  I can usually find a kid proudly proclaiming which one they found.

Nesting among dime store jars these collections are more of I spy jars than storage.

Ball jars in the color of sea glass are perfect for sand.  Carefully poured as to show which beach it was scooped from this is a treasure jar we all favor.  Each beach we recall by the color of sand.

Copper dog tag from Etsy stamped with the date and destination make this jar more than it was intended.  This is our vacation in a jar.  

During our vacation a few years ago to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan we took the kids copper hunting.   Using metal detectors and old fashioned shovels.  Rock hounding has never been so much fun.  We have several budding geologist in our house. It is hard to leave anywhere without a rock...even a parking lot.

This is our biggest copper find.  In its natural form.  (I am a little proud that I found that before anyone else!)

My most favorite treasures...sea glass and pottery.  All found on Lake Superiors shore with a few French pebbles from my dear friend Amy's travels abroad.  I could hunt for these treasures day in and day out.  Always excited over the next piece no matter how small.  Some in pink.  Some in lavender.  Others green.  Most are white.  Tumbled for years in the great lake of Superior.  Now nestled in a vintage depression dish for my memories....I am now saving for a vacation!

I am now saving for a vacation!

Thank you all so much for your kind words about my mending room.  The doors are always open.

Another fabulous door that is always open and now offering a fabulous giveaway is Imagimeri.  Pop over and enter to win one of her wonderful vintage sculpture creations.  She is an amazing artist.

Ohio

I adore state hankies.  The colors are always remarkable.  Every detail worthy of close study.  Always wondering how they narrowed down the historic buildings and sites to note.  These vintage favorites were sold as souvenirs.  Some had state motto's and birds.  Others were more general in their depiction.  Either way they are a favorite for me to find and collect.  I have no desire to collect the ones with the tags still on as they are highly desired and far out of my budget.  I look for the ones that are well loved and ready for a sewing project.  I ran across this Ohio one for fifty cents the other day...

Instead of sewing the handkerchief on top of the fabric I chose to sew it within the red gingham strips. The finish was much cleaner.

Crisp clean lines.  Bright primary colors.  Vintage charm both new and old.

A dear friend of mine lives in Delaware, Ohio.  Red stitched heart to note her town adding just a touch of sentiment.

Pin...Pin...Pin...I always over do it.  Happily digging in my trims,  I opened up a wonderful package of vintage butter cream rick rack.  Oh how wish they would still make cotton rick rack readily available.  That polyester shiny junk is horrible.  The cotton rick rack sews so nicely.

Once worked with a man who asked me why some women don't do the back of their hair?  Hmm...for some weird reason this always stuck with me not to overlook the obvious.  The back of the pillow needs just as much detail.  Twill tape trim. Fabric covered buttons and generous loops to cradle them in.  

It never fails to surprise me how much a pillow makes you smile.

Cute as can be...yes I do have a Kansas hankie in my collection.  My pile ever growing.  Last year I made my parents a great Texas pillow.  A happy reminder of where a heart lies.

Thank you all so very much for all the wonderful Happy Birthday wishes.  I have high hopes for a wonderful family dinner this weekend.  Looks like the schedule might just allow for it.

Just another day...

Just another day in suburbia here...almost.  After all the kiddos were dropped off at their respective schools I decided I would have a bit of me time.  It is my birthday after all.  I have reached the age where I don't need a celebration and lavish gifts.  The day is gift enough.  

An amazing assortment of children's hankies were gifted to me by my best friend. 

Along with the children's hankies she gave me this lovely handful of vintage handkerchiefs.  It has been such a pleasure going through each and every one of these. Thank you Amy.

Trims in such wonderful sizes and styles.  Crochet that is so peachy perfect and a book with vintage trim designs.

Patterns...Patterns...Patterns

Nursery vest all hand sewn.  Sweet addition to my tiny tales.  Oh so cute 45's.

Tin toy Christmas dishes.  I can't wait to display.

The most amazing find of the day was this wonderful huge embroidery pattern.  It must have been mail ordered.  The envelope had no date and was metered.  Even stranger there was no address just the name, town and state.  Fortunately for me it was never used.  I forked over a full dollar for this beauty.  The image above is just the small detailed image on the paper.  The actual stitching image is enormous and has a floral border.  

Of course there were far too many things on the schedule today to celebrate with dinner.  We will try to get out this weekend as a family.  Fall baseball has started and is in full swing.  Boy scouts continues all year round and at long last it is a school night.  It is just another day in suburbia here.  No matter how many vintage items I bring in whenever I pull out of the driveway I am surrounded by track homes and black SUV's...back to my stitching tomorrow.

This and That

 I knew I had some vintage toys tucked in a bin in the basement.  I had forgotten what I had them labeled under.  That must be a sign of dementia!  Forgetting your OCD labeling system?  Next thing I will be doing is labeling my label system...I digress.  Filed under "Baby Memories"...go figure...I found the lost toy train that my husbands oldest brother played with and the lost vintage apron my daughter played in.  Senile ward here I come.

This tootsie toy train is a dream.  Mother goose leads the way and as she does her goose's neck turns.

Cinderella sits safely in her pumpkin coach.  How on earth did this not get broken?

Pulling up the rear is the old woman and her shoe...tie included and intact.  

I can only imagine how many pretend meals were cooked in this.  Claire loved it.  Who knows how much it was loved before her.  My mother found this years ago and was quick to place it on my daughter as soon as she was big enough. 

This was Claire at 15 months.

What happen to my baby...she's ten now but loves this just the same.

 I did some painting on the sewing cabinet.  Painted in slate blue and highlighted trims in creamy yellow.  Insets are scrapbook paper from October Afternoon.  I couldn't find any wall paper I liked.  

This picture is not true to color but great for detail.  I ended up waxing the piece with dark brown Briwax and distressed it heavily.  I wanted it to look well loved.  More of an artisan piece.  

Looks just perfect in its place. All in all it was a nice twenty dollars spent.  Now if I can just remember where I put my labeler I will be set...