Ready.Set.Type.

Mr. Major and I set off early this last February morning in search of a Flea Market I had discovered online. Our destination was The Market of Marion, and it is located in Bellview Florida about 100 miles north from our home. The drive up was wonderful with plenty of beautiful rolling hills and colorful trees- I couldn't help but take a few snap shots. 

...and before I knew it we had arrived.

I had originally planned to take a few snap shots for you all to see but I was so excited and overwhelmed by everything this wonderful market had to offer that I completely forgot! It took us nearly three hours to walk the entire thing and while it didn't have as many antiques as I would have liked to see, but it was definitely one of the better markets I have been to thus far. 

We had picked up a few small things here and there, but hadn't found anything to write home about. It wasn't until we stumbled upon the last row of vendors that I was totally delighted by what I found.

I know your thinking, eh? Whats so exciting about that? But I couldn't help but be inspired by this shoe lamp I caught wind of on Poetic Home .

I maanged to snag another great find in this vintage gold mirror for just 15 bucks! While the mirror itself isn't original, the frame is in wonderful shape. 

But. I nearly lost my mind when I came across a piece I have been on the hunt for, for nearly a year and a half. It was definitely love at first type.

Isn't she lovely? Don't let her cleanliness fool you- shes nearly 76 years old! I spoke with the vendor who said it had belonged to his grandmother and had been stored in her attic for nearly its entire life. The case that it sits in is in almost as good a shape as this ... beauty. I managed to snag it for 50 dollars... a small price to pay for such a wonderful find. 

And Before we knew it the day was coming to a close, so we headed home, tired but happy. Hoping you all had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday. 

-V

A Rain Check on Gardening.

"I don't remember much of those early years, but I do remember the rain. My grandmother owned a farm in Tottle Brook and she used to tell me that God was in the rain." - Valerie (V for Vendetta)

You've been likely wondering what it is exactly I have been doing in regards to my big yard plans. While the answer might come as a small surprise to some, my resounding answer is Nothing! As much as I would like to tell this rain to kindly come at a better time, (as if) the reality of that happening is slim. But on the upside it has given me perfect use for my rain boots.

So as most rain days go, I spent some time reading, relaxing and just generally catching up. Just me and the rain, in our tall quiet house on the corner. And between the two of us, its made for some entertaining pictures. Whats your favorite thing to do in the rain?

(The view from our upstairs Bathroom)

(The view from our upstairs balcony)

(My entirely too tolerable Muffin)

Oh rain days. 

Sending a little Love the Old Fashioned Way.

"Please write when you get the chance as it will go a long way to making my life up here something that could be bearable." - PVT. William Wasserman

Ever since I was a little girl I was always mesmerized by things from our not so distant past. As a young girl I can still remember my mother showing me her album of old photographs and tin types handed down through her family for generations. The women all clad in long sweeping ruffled dresses were always the most dazzling to me- their subtle smiles hinting at a time of more genteel grace and class. 

It was from this general concept that I started a project not so long ago, to decoupage our master closet with old photographs, newspaper reprints, and letters. ( Wall Paper Project ) So I began scouring a number of websites and sources for vintage photos and letters. After searching long and hard I came across a seller on Ebay who was offering a parcel of old love letters, sent from a soldier to his fiance during the war. My initial plan was to use the letter in my collage, but it wasn't until I had them in my hands that I realized exactly just how hard that would be. 

The letters came in a large manila envelope and I could hardly contain my excitement as I pulled the thick parcel of letters from within. All of the letters were still in wonderful shape, and had been well cared for considering how old they were, the majority of them still attached to their original envelopes. The bold cursive scrawl across one of the letters caught my attention, and I couldn't help but read just one of the beautiful letters. 

Dearest Terry, 

       I have a few moments to call my own and would like to take this opportunity to once more tell you how much I love you for the way you have stuck by me in these times. It is needless to say that I love you with all my heart and can hardly wait for the day to come when we can become man and wife. To say that I am homesick would only be the half of it. I can think of nothing but you, and how nice it would be to put my arms around you and tell you the same thing I have said so often before. 

      We are always kept busy in this outfit, and hardly even have time to take care of daily necessities. The company is about up to full strength and are no doubt ready for the next few weeks of torture. I know I can take as much as the next man, and so I don't worry too much about what might lie ahead. 

      Take care of yourself Terry and give my best to your entire family. I will leave it up to you about telling your family of our plans to get married sometime in the near future. Please write when you get the chance as it will go a long way to making my life up here something that could be bearable. 

With all my Love, 

           Your Bill

It was in that moment that I knew for certain I couldn't ruin such a beautiful letter. In theory the idea of taking photographs and letters to recreate such a ideal time in history seemed like a brilliant idea. Yet, here I was holding one letter that summed up everything I had been trying to capture. Every heartache, every wish this person hoped for was penned in his letters and 60 years later they are still here. While we can only assume the original writer has since passed on, the simple fact that a piece of him is still here is nothing short of miraculous. 

And while the heavy petticoats and whale bone corsets are a thing of the past- the elegance of a not so distant time is still with in our grasp. Beyond the far reaching effects of email, Twitter, Myspace and Facebook something still remains to be said about the tried and true method of a pen, paper and a little love.

If your interested in sending a little love the old fashioned way just to brighten someones day, check out Fairfield House Blog for information on how to join in on the fun. 

The Hall of Doors.

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.  ~Lou Erickson

Among the downstairs area of our home, lies a small corridor beneath the stairs that had up until today remained un-touched by my paint brush. I hadn't quite realized exactly how many doors were in this small ten foot hall until I spent most of my morning painting the trim around each frame by hand. Believe it or not there are exactly 8 doors in this confined area. 

My entire house keeps to a relatively earth toned color scheme, and this room was no exception. I decided to go with a green a few shades lighter then our diningroom and I must say, I was completely blown away by the transformation. 

For over a year or so I have been toying with the idea of using reclaimed maps, and I think this will be the perfect room to do so in. Here were a few ideas I loved using reclaimed maps. 

I have some ideas I have been tossing around but nothing solid, so for now the hall of doors will have to wait for inspiration to find me. Slowly but surly the upstairs loft is beginning to return to its normal state. 

As you can see the new base board has been cut, fitted and installed, as well as the quarter round trim. How ever the top piece of trim is posing a problem as neither HomeDepot or Lowes carries such a trim style anymore. I have one other specialty store I can check with, otherwise I am doomed to remove all the top trim and replace it so it all matches. Im really hoping I can just special order the one piece. 

So with both of my indoor projects on hold, and a minor cold front heading our way I am going to turn my attentions to exterior of our home while I have the want to do so. Florida summers last from Late March to Late October, with highs in the 100's and lows in the high 80's. It's generally during those months that I become a complete indoors person since the act of walking from the back door to the car can leave you covered in sweat. The term 'sweltering' doesn't even begin to cover it. 

My Outdoor To-Do list is a bit... extensive and while I am trying to be realistic about what I can accomplish before the Florida heat kicks in full force, I am still going to try my darnedest to get as much done as possible! 

Wine Label Collage.

I am back from my short blog hiatus and ready to take on some new projects. The other day I had taken some time to do a thorough cleaning of my kitchen which included wiping down all pictures hanging on the walls. It was in doing this, that I remembered one of my favorite- and in all honesty- easiest decor project yet.

I think we have all seen the various home decor projects that people have accomplished by taking the idea of a wine bottle label and using it in various ways. From wall paper to pillows I was thoroughly inspired for my own kitchen.

  

I managed to find a few dealers on Ebay who sold various lots of old wine labels. ( Check Here for example).

   

For my kitchen I decided to go with simple white frames that I found. 

Using the paper insert as a background for my wine label collage I arranged them all in the order I liked best and applied little pieces of looped tape to hold them in place. 

Place each collage back into the frame and viola, your ready to hang in any room. 

  

What projects have you done with wine labels?

All Hung Up.

“What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.”
 - Unknown

Today I took the time to regroup and continue on with The Loft project upstairs. It had taken me a few weeks to gather the supplies needed for todays project, but it finally all came together. (Not to mention I was getting a little sick of looking at a blank canvas!) So for all you DIY-ers I figured I would do a quick and easy tutorial on the project since its one of my favorites to do. 

Supplies Needed: 

Curtain Rod ( 2-4 inches wider then your arrangement). 

Measuring Tape

Picture Frames ( I like to use assorted frames for variety)

Ribbon

Nails & Screws

Photos 

Drill

Hammer (Not pictured) 

Small gauge wire (Cheap floral or jewelry wire is good)

Needle and Thread (or Sewing Machine)

Tape 

Before we get started on the hanging process, take out all of your pictures and frames and arrange them in the way that you would like them to hang. 

The first step I like to do is measure where my curtain rod will be placed on the wall. I usually start from the top of the wall, where the ceiling and wall meet and measure down to where I want my mark to be. This will insure both sides will be even. Using your drill, put in both screws to the marks you just made on your wall. Next step is to cut 2- 1 foot lengths of wire and wrap it around both ends of the curtain rod, this is how you will be attaching it to the wall. 

Now take the wire and wrap it firmly around the screw on the wall. Now you can go ahead and hang your pictures in the order you arranged them. Mrs. Limestone did a tutorial on her blog that simplifies hanging photos and will cut down on time spent as well. 

Taking your measuring tape, measure the length from the top of your first photo to the curtain rod and add two extra inches. Using those measurements cut your top pieces of ribbon. 

Fold down one inch of your ribbon on top, and sew the edge- you should now have a loop on one end.

Once all of your ribbon pieces have been sewn, you can now hang them on your curtain rod. 

Taking the unlooped end of the ribbon place a small piece of tape to hold it in place behind the photo. Repeat for each space between photos. 

Until you reach your end product which will be something like this...

A Sweet Valentines.

"I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day.  When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon."  ~Author Unknown

I couldn't help but be tickled pink when I awoke this morning to breakfast in-bed as well as these beautiful red tulips Mr. Major surprised me with. Seriously how awesome is that? I'm so spoiled! We ended up heading over to the Silver Moon Flea Market to have a look, the ride there we couldn't help but stare out over all of the frost covered fields. This has been one of the coldest- and longest lasting winters I can remember here. I did manage to find a cute little spice rack that spins, as well as a 1950 leather bound print of "The Scarlet Letter". 

After we returned home I decided to do some holiday baking ... Red Velvet Cup Cakes with Maple Frosting. Mmmm...

Everything was so tasty, and the maple frosting was incredibly easy to make. If anyone is interested in the recipe just let me know and I will email it over to you! All in all, I would say it was a wonderfully productive valentines. How was yours? :)

An Interesting Day.

'Shopping is a woman thing.  It's a contact sport like football.  Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase.'  ~Erma Bombeck

Occasionally Mr. Major and I like to go on one tank adventures. By chance I got wind of a flea market that wasn't too far from one of our favorite haunts about 2 hours north of our home. So we woke up bright and early and headed north toward Mt.Dora and Renniger's Flea Market for some Saturday morning junking. Just a forewarning I am by no means a snob- I adore yard sales and flea markets and antique consignment stores- nothing is safe from my wandering eye. However, this was one of the worst markets I have ever been to, and the first time I have walked away empty handed from one of these places. I was entirely shocked when I over herd a conversation between a vendor and an elderly woman.  She made an offer of $3 on a unmarked lamp base (which was about on par price wise.) and the vendor told her 'goodbye' and that he wouldn't take less than $25 for it. I was totally shocked at how rude he was to her. I was entirely disappointed since it had gotten so many amazing reviews, go figure right? So for all you junkers out there who love a good deal, it likely wont be found here. 

After our one hour excursion of disappointment we headed back to the downtown area and decided to take in the amazing;y comfortable weather and beautiful architecture of the sleepy little town. Despite the start of the morning, it truly would have been too much work to not enjoy such a chilly yet sunny day.

By the time lunch rolled around we were both completely famished before we stumbled upon a small pub called the 'The Frog and Monkey Pub'. The food was divine! Between my homemade Sangria and Apple Turkey Brie panini I was in heaven! 

We glanced into a few antique stores before stumbling yet again upon a wonderful little antique bookstore where we picked up some wonderful old books to add to our collection. Most of the original print dates were 1907- I even snuck in a 1911 print of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' as a Valentine's gift for Mr. Major. 

All in all it was a wonderful day. Happy Valentine-Eve everyone!