As Amy mentioned in her post on Tuesday, it does feel a bit odd to be writing about such “fluffy” topics when there are so many hard things going on in our world. To be honest, I’ve felt that way for the better part of the past two years (as you can imagine, I’m not much fun at parties anymore!).
That being said, my philosophy has always been somewhere between “keep calm and carry on” and “occupy and redeem the time,” so that means we continue on while acknowledging that things are really not normal right now.
I’ve been promising to share a few of my latest antique and vintage European finds, but sadly my trip to Tongeren, Belgium last month didn’t happen because my husband and I were sick. I’m hoping to be able to reschedule next month.
My friends still went and were able to find a great pair of marble-topped Louis XV nightstands for me, and they’ll be delivered next week, but other than that, I haven’t bought anything big lately, just a lot of small pieces.
But, small things are fun, too, so I’m just going to share a few photos of the goodies I’ve found and how I’ve incorporated them into our decor.
You’ll see the common theme of all things blue and white. Most of what we find over here is Delft rather than chinoiserie, but I will buy Delft pieces if I love them.
My friend Sandra brought this sweet Delft coffee cow back for me from Tongeren. I keep tea bags in it.
Our coffee beans are in the red French enamel jar (and the little Staffordshire dish is one I found at a thrift shop here for 1€).
Side note: we found these coffee beans when we were in Strasbourg, France (read about that here), a few weekends ago, and they are yummy!
I’ve also been able to add a few new silhouettes to my collection:
These are all random strangers; my kids’ silhouettes are in another room.
I overpaid for this silverplate ice bucket (and I knew I was overpaying at the time), but I love the shape and I think it makes a great flowerpot.
I’ve also found a few new antler racks to add to my collection.
I usually pay about 10-15€ for these but I’ve seen them for up to 75€. That blows my mind because they are teeny-tiny.
I’ve also been picking up these tiny blue and white vases; they’re usually only 1-2€ each. My talented friend Ashly (see her tours here) uses them to hold scented oil and reeds and I copied her:
Aren’t they cute? I also found the little blue and white pots over here (there are two of them) and added a boxwood ball.
Oh, and last but not least, you’ll enjoy this story. I bought this blue willow bowl that I thought was the perfect size to use for mixing batter:
However, I did a little research on eBay when I brought it home and realized that it’s actually a CHAMBER POT. I will not be mixing pancakes in it after all–maybe I’ll put a plant in it instead!
Thanks for letting me share my treasures with you, and thanks for stopping by.
