Powering up the laundry room with red and white!

Well, here it is Wednesday once again! So I am off to visit White Wednesday at Faded Charm Cottage, Sue's Rednesday and Tabletop Tuesday.

Last week I mentioned our small kitchen, well, this week I'm going to show you our even smaller utility room.

 

This room is only six feet wide, really it is the hallway from the back patio to the dining area.  A difficult space to photograph, at least for me and my camera.  Pretty typical room with sink and space for washer and dryer.

 

With the flash on, it washes it out, a bit, but also brightens...any way, notice the I used the same Bakelite and chrome handles on these doors as in the kitchen.  Hubby added the bead board to the cabinet doors and the trim, that I painted red.

 

 

On the soffit above the cupboards I painted lemons, apples, cherries and black polka dots, ala Mary Engelbriet.

More bright and white on this glass light cover in the form of checks and teapot and pitcher shapes.

 

Wow, the other side of the room!  Complete with red metal shelf unit from IKEA and a vintage stool........not to mention the cute apron my granddaughter made for me.

 

 

And then my personal favorite.....I used vintage crochet pot holders in white, red, yellow and green. I strung a wire and hung them with clothespins for the door window cover.

Now, it is a cheerful fun room with a surprising amount of storage for its small footprint, it almost makes laundry fun!

Rednesday in the land of many reds!

 

Anyone who knows me, knows I love red, always have.  I remember shopping with my daughter, when she was a teen-ager, and I was buying a red sweater.  She said "but Mom, you already have a red sweater".  "I know, isn't that cool, now I have two"!  So, I wear a LOT of red and I seem to be drawn to the color in what ever form it takes.

So, here is my newest, latest and greatest red purchase!

I'm lovin' these red powder-coated metal chairs!  Stumbled upon them at Pier One, on sale for half price.  The pads were already in my possession.  We have had such a wet and cold spring, we haven't spent much time here but I'm looking forward to that changing, soon, I hope.

 

 

Tell me this chair is not comfortable!  This fellow's name is Al, short for Orange Alley Cat, he was abandon on our doorstep.  He is a love.

 

 

I posted these knobs on Cherry Chicks Mary Engelbriet's Monday party but, since they are red, I'm showing them here, too.

These are the Mary knobs, but I didn't have enough for all of the doors and drawers, so the doors on the bottom cupboard have these great chrome and bakelite handles.

 

Ours is a small kitchen and these guys brighten my world!

 

 

You can see more red on the towel and my Corelle everyday dishes.

Lastly, this cute little handled "tool" box that I found at a garage sale.  It sits on top of our refrigerator and we hide our prescription and vitamin bottles in it......cute and handy!

I found this cutie, looking just like this, in red, white and blue with the darling little decals.  Love it!

When I first posted on Sue's Rednesday, I wondered how long I would be able to post red items from my house...well, as it turns out, I think a very long time!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you go visit the other  bloggers at Sue's party.  Remember, I appreciate your comments and love my followers. 

Party Invite

Lovely Melody at Etsy Cottage Style issued an challenge invitation to her Alphabet Party, m-m-m-m, am I up to this?  Well, let see what do I have that starts with the letters "H-I-J"?

Well, how about  "I" for IRONSTONE......

as in ironstone butter pats, or "J" for Jadite plates or "H" for Heirloom photos of Ladies (that might be stretching it) or "I" for iron flower frog.

Let's not forget "J" for Captain Jack who likes to kick back on the sofa to watch a little T.V.  Jack is always happy to see you, no matter what letter of the alphabet your name starts with!

Guess that wasn't that hard, after all.....really lots of fun, actually!  Join me at Melody's Vintage Alphabet Party, I'll bet there are lots of clever bloggers with great H-I-J things to share with you.  

Thanks for stopping by, please do come again and Jack loves comments!

ME Monday

How fun to start the week with other Mary fans!  I don't have a lot of Mary's licensed products but in today's post I want to feature one of my two favorites.

Yep, the knobs on our kitchen cupboards........

but, wait......there's more.......................

 

The Mary knobs are on the top cupboard doors, on the bottom we have these chrome and red bakelite beauties.

  

 

The size of our kitchen gives new meaning to postage stamp and takes it right to efficiently tiny!  The white and red do wonders for brightening the space.

 

The Mary knobs were purchased at a retail outlet and the chrome handles from a yard sale several years later. When we redid the kitchen we didn't have enough of the Mary style to do all of the doors and drawers the same, so I decided to use both styles and mixed it up a bit.  A look I like!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next week.....the other "favorite" ME possession. 

Thanks for stopping by, now come with me to visit the other bloggers who appreciate the art work of Mary Engelbreit at Cherry Chick on this ME Monday. 

Your comments make my day!

Where This Blogger Creates......

A simple room.....the third, and smallest, bedroom has always been MY room....sometimes called a craft room, sometimes called "junk room", a workroom, and, rarely, studio, but ALWAYS "my room".

This is the view when you walk into the room, inside is my work table and, outside, the neighbors can be seen strolling by.

 

Shelves and drawers for paint, paper, ribbon, old photos, fabric and supplies and a much needed chair for "cat naps".

  What more can a girl (or a cat) want?

 

 

 

 

This is my play room where I can design and make jewelry, paint, create collage, sew, read, day dream......

 

 

 

Rusty drawers hold hidden treasure while a bright red letter file stores stickers and rub-ons.

Jewels for my jewelry in a vintage jewelry box.

Old blue fruit jars make fine storage for paint brushes.

Colorful pens and pencils live in a basket.

  A helping hand with ribbon and buttons.

One of my art journals.

Love these metal picnic baskets for storage.

 

 

 

A place to hang out with my dollies and where Pop-eye is top shelf!

And then one day a piece of work that started life in this room, takes on a life of its own and moves on to the big time......

 

 

a pendant that I entered into Cloth Paper Scissors pendant swap..................

 

 

 

gets her picture is this wonderful magazine!

Mine is #23, titled "My heart to a friend".

This is where this blogger creates!

Thank you so much to Karen at Desert Cottage for all of her hard work planning and organizing this event, it is so appreciated by bloggers and readers everywhere.  Please visit as many of these wonderful sites as time permits and comments are always welcome.

New Award and Find a Friend Friday......

                             

How exciting......my very first award! 

Thanks to Joy at Joy of Desserts it is so exciting and I could not have been more surprised. Thanks you so much, Joy, I could not be more pleased or appreciative.

The conditions for accepting the award?

1. Thank the person/persons who gave you this award.

Thank you so very much, Joy!

2. Tell 7 things about yourself:

• My garden is my passion.
• I spent 25 years working in the newspaper business in advertising and management.
• I have collected, bought and sold antiques most of my adult life.
• Over the years I have tried my hand at nearly every craft know to man/woman.
• My dog and I walk a minimum of a mile a day.
• I paint in acrylics and do collage.
• I enjoy redecorating and repurposing, so fun to find something at a yard sale and make it into something with a new look and/or purpose.

3.  Pass the award unto 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and think are fantastic.

Now, I bestow this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers who are fantastic.  I know some people do not like receiving awards so if that's the case for you, please just ignore this award, if that is not the case....please "pay it forward".  Enjoy, I think you are FANTASTIC!

1. Jami at An Oregon Cottage
2. Mindy at Boboloo
3. Mary at A Splendid Adventure
4. Kim at Painting a Dog a Day
5. Laurie's Charming Design
6. Sheila at Halo Hill
7. Debi at Ormolulu
8. Shelley at Sweet Pea Home
9. Cachanilla73 at Thrifting - Retro - Vintage
10. Jacqueline at Cabin and Cottage
11. Melody at Brown Gingham Creations
12. Jo at Secret Garden Cottage 
13. Sandy at Aging Disgracefully
14. Laura at How I Found My Husband
15. Myrna at Heirlooms 

A Special Book for Lucy.....

The first of May, I introduced you to the newest member of our family.....her name is Lucy Violet!Lucy is our Great-granddaughter and she was born April 28.  She has a three year old sister, named Emma, and when Emma was born I wanted to make something special for her.

So, I made Emma my version of a baby book, which you can see HERE.  I wanted a book where you could save memories that related just to that particular child, something more personal than a mass produced "baby book". 

I am not a "scrapbooker", but I am certain that those of you who are, and who make such wonderful scrapbooks, would find this project a "piece of cake" and could create something stunning.

So, when Lucy was born her mom requested a book just for Lucy.  So, here is a peek at Lucy's Special Book.........

 

At an estate sale, I had purchase a Sun Bonnet Sue book that had been published in the 1920s.  Sadly, some child had taken color crayons to the book and colored on each page but the sweet cover was still O.K.  So, I removed the "guts" of the book and used the cover for the binding of Lucy's book.  I saved the cover art because I thought it was cute and it shows the books origins, I added the big yellow flower and an "L" for Lucy and covered, the not so attractive part, with scrapbook paper.  The whole book is bound together with the rings you can see on the left.

The inside cover and first page look like this.....

Space for the pertinent information, then pictures of baby and the family........ 

 

Then Lucy's story from the beginning, a place for Mom to make notes about such fun things as, who they told first that they were having another baby and how she told them...as it turns out it was on Facebook with a jar of Prego Spaghetti Sauce.....those are the fun memories Lucy needs to know. 

Then just basic things, like the name of the doctor and a place for the sonograms and any other memories of the pregnancy that we don't want to forget.

 

Pictures of Lucy's room and a place for swatches.

A letter from Mom and Dad to Lucy and congratulatory cards they received.

Lucy's Mom made diaper covers for her, a liner for the baby basket and several other things, so, here's a place for photos and notes.

Lucy was, actually,born a week past her due date, this is a picture of Mom on her due date, with a sealable envelope to write down how much weight Mom gained.

  Because they were having another girl and they had  so many clothes and baby supplies left from when Emma was a new born,  Mom and Dad requested no baby gifts....so their creative friends came up with the idea of a Casserole Shower.

Each guest brought a wonderful homemade or store bought casseroles for the freezer and, in some cases, gift cards for fun.  Such a great idea for the harried Mom and Dad during those first few week, not have to worry for about....."what to have for dinner".  Here's a place for the party photos and a list of the friends and casseroles.

Because, this is getting so long I will skip some of the pages but you get the idea!

I do want to include one more thing, just two weeks after Lucy was born, she had to spend four days in the hospital.  Every thing turned out fine, she developed an infection where the umbilical cord had been.  This is very rare, thus she was hospitalized and given antibiotics intravenously for several days.  Mom was with her the whole time and Dad part time, very stressful for the whole family. 

I felt that traumatic experience required something special, something soft, something comforting.......So, these pages are made of cloth with a little padding in between, all of the other pages were cut from heavy watercolor paper.  Mom can write the story of the experience on the card and place it, for safe keeping, in the velvet pocket.

On the other side, this pocket is for the paperwork and photos and here is a clip to hold everything in place........

That is what makes this book special, the ability to personalize it for the baby and family. You might want to make something similar.......for a unique gift.  The new parents are not likely to receive duplicates of this gift and they, and the child, will treasure it.

Join me at Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life and Sue's Rednesday, you'll enjoy the many party participants! Also, Going to a new party at Making the World Cutter Monday.  Also, linking to Show & Tell Friday at Romantic Home, enjoy!

Favorite ME?

I've just been waiting for someone to ask............I loved, loved, loved Mary's Home Companion magazine!

Hands down, my all time favorite.....not sure which was worse, when my husband said he wanted a divorce or when I received notice of the discontinuation of Home Companion......JUST KIDDING!!!

At one time, I had a copy of every magazine up to and including the first one published.  Never dreaming there would be an end, one day I decided I needed to lighten the magazine load.....so I recycled.  I still have every issue back to 1997.

 

I enjoyed so many things about this magazine and that is why it is so difficult to let go, primarily, I loved the artistic approach to home decorating.  There is matchy-matchy school of decorating and there is the much more creative way.....not necessarily Bohemian but ARTY!

There were several features I enjoyed but mostly the approach to decorating that NO other magazine comes close to understanding, let alone accomplishing.

So, now my collection only goes back to '97 but they are still the first place I go when I looking for some real decorating inspiration.

Thanks to my friend Sue at Sue Loves Cherries, who is on my blog roll, I noticed she was attending a new party at  Cherry Chick called ME Monday.  Didn't want to miss that one!