Nana's Hutch

The hutch wasn't really Nana's, but that's what I call it because the beautiful china displayed on it once belonged to her.

 I framed a photo of my Nana as a young woman and and placed it between two dishes on a plate rack above the hutch.

I love the china pattern. It's Marx & Gutherz Carlsbad #1446 Austria, circa 1885-1898. Last week I spent some time cleaning, dusting, and rearranging the items on the shelves.

Interspersed with the china are some of my favorite old family photos. I also keep two large vases on either end of the top shelf, topped with lampshades. (That way I'm always ready for an unexpected bouquet!!!!)

 

 The lampshades add a touch of whimsy to the basic glass vases.

The entire set of china (dishes, soup bowls, platters, serving pieces, etc.) is stored in the bottom section. (Here's a photo of the hutch before its cottage makeover.) To the left of the hutch you'll see one of my next projects. The bottom shelf of the small table in the dining area has become a catch-all for a mish-mash of paperwork, etc. I'll show you the makeover as soon as it's complete!

I love this October, 1951 photo of my mom and dad on their Niagara Falls honeymoon. And the vintage cake topper sitting on the flower frog looks just like my mom and dad did on their wedding day, right down to the hairstyles and wedding attire.

A button bowl sits in the cake saver (much less tempting than a cake!)...

...and a circa 1930 photo of my mom sits in the bluebird gravy boat. The gravy boat isn't part of Nana's china set, but the colors are remarkably close (and who doesn't love bluebirds?).

If you look closely at the frame, you'll see that the glass is completely cracked. I'm betting any regular blog readers can guess who is responsible.

Having been taught by nuns in the 60's, I could not resist purchasing this vintage nun music box from MagiaMia's gorgeous vintage Etsy shop! The song it plays is Dominique, of course!

 

  

  

  

As I cleaned each frame, I realized how beautiful all the little details were...

...and I realized that each little frame held a big treasure, at least to me.

Well, my little friends have decided to join me while I photograph. 

They're always afraid they're going to miss out on something...

Sweet Mr. J is always a good boy. He never causes any problems...

 

  

I wish I could say the same about his little sister, the frame breaker!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

I'm joining Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing Saturday,

 Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday. and

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

 

Be sure to stop by and share one of your favorite things or something you've tweaked!

Donna

  

Someone's nose is out of joint...

Since yesterday, there's been some tweaking going on in the family room....


... and someone is none too happy about it. She won't even throw a glance in my direction.


See what I mean? Just look at her back there. It all started with this lampshade, which is now being used on a floor lamp next to the sofa. Up until yesterday it had been a spare lampshade, but oh-what-a-lampshade! Much too pretty to be hidden away in a closet until needed.


So with its cream-on-cream pattern and dangling prisms, it became Patience's favorite 'hat.'


Last year she even got festive and topped it off with a fabric pumpkin for the fall season. But with yesterday's tweaking, I wound up with an extra lamp in the family room... one that needed a shade. That left Patience rather bare on top.


So I searched through my stash and found this adorable pink fedora for her. I even spruced it up with a little autumn flower, but she is having none of it...

Come on, Patience. You can't give me the silent treatment forever...

In my next post I'll show some of the family room tweaking that put Patience's nose out of joint!

Donna

Shades of pink....

Lampshades of pink that is!


I bought this cute scalloped lampshade at TJ Maxx several years ago for our living room floor lamp... A bit of pink in the living room is a must, right?


This smaller lampshade coordinated with one above and I loved the prism fringe, so it came home with me that same day. It adds a nice touch of pink to the family room.


This little lamp has been around for years! I bought it for Court's nursery (she's now in college!) She eventually outgrew it, so I'm now using it in my office (which is her old nursery... It even sits in the very same spot, next to the window... Just goes to show that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same!!)


And last, but not least, this pair of "vintage junktique" lamps came with these beautiful pink pleated lampshades. They sit on either side of my office bookcase (there's lots of pink here in the office!).

Now if you want to feast your eyes on pink, pink, and more pink, be sure to stop by Beverly's blog, How Sweet the Sound, to see her Pink Saturday item as well as a list of all the other participating blogs!

Donna