RABBITS AND RABBETS: A HANDSOME SPRING DISPLAY

©linda nelson 2014

A sophisticated and subtly handsome spring display, and an inspirational example for gents who care to hone in on their nesting skills.  The framed nest block print is by artist Joseph Vorgity.

©linda nelson

Care to whip up some handsome, industrial inspired nests?  Get your hands on a good length of floral wire (at least 10′), then start kinking, twisting and shaping away.  For the other one, who says steel wool pads are just for scouring?  I think you can figure it out.  Enjoy!

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CHARMINGLY REPURPOSED GIFT GIVING

©linda nelson 2014

Have you acquired an abundance of mismatched vintage tableware, possibly too much for your cupboards to hold?  Repurpose and incorporate some pieces into sweet little hostess gifts.  Homemade jam, a teaspoon, doily and dessert plate, tied up with fabric ribbon, makes for a darling presentation.

©linda nelson 2014
Have a pair of teacups, saucers and spoons?  All that’s needed to complete this ensemble is some specialty tea bags and a pair of dessert napkins.
©linda nelson 2014

Do be mindful of and thoughtful with your intentions, though.  Your recipient may really love the idea and want to pay your gifted wares forward to another friend.  She may want to use the dish under one of her little potted plants.  A teacup may become the perfect (and adorable) catchall for buttons or stamps.  That’s okay.  It’s all about letting go and letting a new purpose be had for these items.  Who knows, as luck may have it you may one day be presented with a little treasure that you sent off years ago!

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HOME AND THE LITTLE HAIRPIN

©linda nelson 2014

Living as an adult in the house that I grew up in has it’s pros and cons.  The positive side is that I don’t have to work at making it feel like home.  It just is.  Decorating and redesigning is simply icing on the cake.  On the negative side, well… I never left home.  I’m sure that I have missed out on some of life’s interesting challenges.  Anyway, I’m invested, established and running a business.  Beloved pets are buried here; a pony, a goat, a rabbit, a parakeet, a cat, a dog and numerous guinea pigs.  As for my daughter’s salamander…… I wish I could say that he(or she) received a sacred burial.  One day we noticed that it was not in it’s tank.  Need I say more?

So, this is where my heart is.  This is why I stay.  And because every so often I unexpectedly unearth a childhood “fossil” that thrills me so.

©linda nelson 2014

I dug this little demitasse spoon up about four years ago while doing some planting in one of my garden beds.  I remember using it to make mud pies when I was little.  It’s all scratched up, but in my eyes it’s perfect.

©linda nelson 2014

And just last fall I found one of my grandmother’s hairpins.  She used to have this cushioned side chair in her cottage.  Years after she passed away, the chair eventually ended up in my garage. I had been holding onto it for about twenty years with the best intention to refinish and reupholster it.  It became laden with musty mold, and a mouse had decided to nest in its horsehair stuffing.  Sadly, it had to go.  I accepted the fact that I was never going to put this project on my to-do list.  “But the springs…… maybe I’ll gut the chair and save the springs.”  So that’s what I did, and out fell the hairpin.

©linda nelson 2014

Then there was the old railroad spike.  I can’t seem to recall when I dug that up, but I certainly do remember “harvesting” them with my dad.  This would be after we would put a penny on the track and let the early evening train flatten it.  Now that there wouldn’t be another train coming for a while we’d walk along the tracks looking for tossed railroad spikes.  Then we would proceed to a specific spot on the shoulder of the road and pick wild blueberries.  Upon walking back home we’d stand on the highway overpass and wave to the cars below, keeping count of how many people would wave back.  On a really lucky evening the Good Humor truck would come by, but that didn’t happen often enough.

So, why would I leave home when there’s more digging to do, and possibly, more sweet memories to find?

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SPRING TABLESCAPE: A ROLL OF INSPIRATION & REMEMBERING MY LATE AUNT

©linda nelson 2014
©linda nelson 2014
©linda nelson 2014

This past February I took on the bittersweet task of clearing out my late aunt’s summer cottage in time for the closing on its sale.  I have many fond memories of visiting her there, but rummaging through her personal belongings was not one of them.  I was tortured between feeling shame for delighting in the curious things I found and the feeling of solemnity with the responsibility of the task.  Truth be told, I am so grateful that my aunt upheld her old world Italian ways, and didn’t throw anything out.

Enter, my Spring tablescape…

It begins with the vintage aluminum edging roll found in my aunt’s shed.  Industrial.  The dishes go back as far as I can remember.  Vintage.  The ceramic planter (from Italy) is the perfect little cache for my African violet.  Nature.  The moss filled zinc ball jar covers will cozily nestle little egg shaped confections.  Repurposed.  The whisk broom, adorable.  Yittle bunny, a yittle splash of Lladro.

There you have it, an industrial, vintage, nature, repurposed, adorable, Aunt Rose inspired tablescape, with a yittle splash of Lladro.

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