Notes from A Cottage Industry

Weekly words to live by.

 

Can you tell that I am getting excited to get back into a booth space at Camas Antiques? Let the countdown to March 17th begin!

The post where Amazon Prime had me at "free shipping."

So, the UPS guy dropped this in my driveway yesterday.

Can you guess what it is?

Neither could I.

That's not true.

I knew what I had ordered, with my two day free shipping order from Amazon Prime.

Yeah, I am all about getting my full value on my Amazon Prime membership, you know, with the free shipping. I mean, with shipping and mailing costs through the roof these day, is that amazing, or what? (Seriously, I mailed my grand babes two dollar store Valentine presents, and the postage was $7.75. How ridiculous is that?)

Back to my story.

What I had ordered was a ten inch thick memory foam queen size RV mattress, and, naturally, I was anticipating a very large mattress in a bag or giant mattress sized box. I worked from home in the afternoon to be there for the big delivery. There was a knock on my door, and I eagerly scampered to answer it.

An unusual shaped box was waiting for me in the driveway.

Unusual in a this-cannot-possibly-be-a-queen-sized-mattress kind of way.

It looked more like a box that a golf bag would arrive in. I hollered a rather confused thank you to my UPS guy, who then announced, "Man, that is one heavy box!"

I replied, "Um....I'm a little concerned. It is supposed to be a mattress."

"Yeah, super heavy."

"I mean a queen sized real mattress."

"Well, it was sure heavy!"

And off he went.

I walked around the box and studied it more closely. It was labeled that it was indeed a mattress. Should I open it? I was suddenly envisioning myself slicing that box open with my handy-dandy steak knife (That is my go-to tool of choice for opening anything, or for tightening screws on things.) and the pressure of a rolled up giant ten inch thick queen size mattress springing open, pinning me against my old blue truck, like something out of an episode of I Love Lucy.

If I were lucky enough to survive that, and the mattress turned out to be funky, or weird, or whatever, (How could it be anything but funky, all rolled up in that small box?) how would I ever manage to box it up to return it?

I left the box and hurried in to see if I might call the Amazon folks. First, I confirmed I had indeed ordered the mattress I wanted. Yep. I read questions and comments and not one single person mentioned their mattress arriving in an unusual cylinder shaped box.

Then, I looked for a customer service phone number. Do you know that there doesn't seem to be a phone number on the Amazon site? Nope. Just specific "Help" questions, and surprisingly, none of them are "How do you return a mattress?" or "How are your mattresses packaged?"

I decided to be brave and cut the box open. I laid out a quilt, to catch it before it touched the ground, if it did indeed explode upon opening the box. I carefully cut the tape everywhere I saw it along the side of the box. Sure enough, it popped open.

I held my breath.

There it was.

A vacuum bagged and sealed mattress, rolled up tighter than a California spring roll. I thought about it for about a nano-second, and decided to wait for help before slicing into this next bag. Shortly thereafter, my Ralph arrived, and we both studied the bag a bit more.

We decided to take it into the motor home still coiled up in it's vacuum sealed bag.

It was heavy.

We got it to the bed platform, and then carefully sliced it open. To my surprise, it didn't explode open and start puffing up like Pillsbury dough. In fact, we had to unroll it, but once we did it slowly began to relax and rise. We left it there for a couple of hours, and when we went back to check on it, sure enough, it was about ten inches tall.

Who knew?

(Thank you, Jesus. I wasn't going to have to figure out how to package and return this thing.)

It came with a 30 year limited warranty, (I am not sure what those limitations are just yet.) so I am feeling pretty confident that this is going to work out just fine.

I'll let you know once I have the fresh bedding on it and we see how comfortable it is.

 

 

 

 

Robin's egg blue returns to my cottage.

We are having a beautiful sunny spell happening here in the Pacific Northwest, and it has brought on a severe case of spring fever in me. I was at Homegoods and I spotted all of the spring and Ester decor and linens.

Well, before I knew it, I had surprised myself with a little springtime placemat and napkins present.

And some coordinating dish towels.

In my favorite robins egg blue. (Or do you call that Aqua? Turquoise? I just know I love it madly.)

Anyway.

These few linens have inspired me to rush about my cottage foofifying things up for spring.

(Do you do that? Have an inspiration piece, or moment?)

I'll just say this; it's a small price to pay for getting my patootie in gear with spring cleaning.

 

 

Road tripping is one step closer to reality.

It's kind of like one of those "If you give a moose a muffin" situations. We've been talking about places we want to see, and starting to slowly put together some ideas for a road trip to Texas. One thing lead to another, and then, rather out of the blue, my Rock n' Roll Buddy was shopping online for a used motor home.

And, it turns out that there are a lot of them out there.

This was uncharted water for us.

Some were too spendy.

Some were too big.

Some were too...carpeted. (If you can imagine that.)

And then...we found one that was not too spendy, an not too big, (but way, way, plenty big for us.) and it had just the right amount of carpet.

It's sitting along the far side of my driveway for now, (All 33 feet of it.) and we're checking things out, and getting comfortable with it. (As my contribution, I've ordered some neutral bedding that I cannot wait to share with you as soon as it arrives!)

Watch out America, we're gonna be on the open road here pretty soon.

A little peek at the latest eye candy in Camas Antiques.

I was down at Camas Antiques lats Saturday to measure my soon-to-be space, and of course I meandered through the entire store, checking out the latest displays and treasures.

 

Here is the space I will be taking over... (These girls are moving to a larger space at Camas Antiques)

Besides all of the vintage items, I found a couple of pretty awesome books that I might have to go back for....

There is always so much to see. I can't wait to get in there and start foofifying my new booth space!

 

 

 

Weekly words to live by.

Camas Antiques deja vu...doing a happy dance!

Before I begin, I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone that has shared input on my last post about Round Top and Marberger!!! I am so excited to be planning this trip, and you all have been more than helpful!!!

If you have read my blog for a long time, you might remember that even before I moved up here to the fabulous Pacific Northwest, I have loved Camas Antiques. When I made the big move, I was gobsmacked to have been given the opportunity to have a booth space there.

I had a crazy good time reinventing my space over and over, and even tackled the front window one time. I wish I could put into words the warm, fuzzy, satisfied, inspired feeling I get when I am creating and arranging vignettes of re-purposed treasures.

Fast forward, and life continued to be good and full, and I was starting to feel spread far too thin. Two months of debating and pros and cons list making, I gave up my space. Looking back, it was the right thing to do for me at that particular moment in time.

Fast forward some more, and I had settled into my new job, and after a while, there was a little more time to breathe. I started to feel that funny feeling that something was missing. It was my creative outlet that my booth space provided me. I wanted something small then, as I was starting to craft paper banners and such, and I took a case space back at Camas Antiques this time.

I enjoyed working with my little case, and had a lot of fun reinventing it on a monthly basis.

Fast forward...again. I had been promoted at my grown up girl job, and things were busier in life. The small case was a challenge for me, because...well, it was small. I decided once again, that the time had come for me to focus on other things, and I gave up my case.

That brings us to today. I've got a solid groove going at work, and yard saling season is upon us. I'm beyond excited to share with you that I'll be back in Camas Antiques as of March 17th, with a medium sized space in the basement. I'm working on tags, and banners, and oodles and toodles of treasures to nestle into nooks and crannies,a nd ...oh! I can hardly wait!

 

 

 

Tell me what you know about the Round Top Antique Show in Texas, pretty please.

Still on the topic of road trips today....One road trip in particular has me hoping some of you can shed some much needed light on, is the Round Top Antiques Show, and or the Marburger Antique Show in Round Top Texas. (Are they one in the same, or are they two different shows?) I've always heard Round Top and Marburger are the big ones. The ones that started them all. The grand-mommy's of vintage shows. The grand Poobah's...am I right? (Again, are they two separate shows, or is Marberger at the Roundtop Antique Show?)

I need to know.

Some (but not all) of the burning questions are:

It looks like it happens twice a year- in late March and at the end of September. Is one better than the other, or are they pretty much both equally amazing? I've read that "They span over a fifteen-day period with approx. 60 shows on an eleven-mile stretch of Hwy 237 in Round Top with smaller shows in neighboring towns."

Are the other shows going on in neighboring towns at the same time a must-see as well? I saw them being listed as "Antique Weekend", or are those shows totally separate? Are those other shows a "Must See?" too?

How many actual days are needed to shop Round Top?

I'd love to hear any and all input from those of you who have attended these events!

A roadtripping themed Valentine breakfast.

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I love to entertain, and I especially love entertaining with a theme. I surprised my Rock n' Roll Buddy with a road trip themed breakfast for Valentine's Day this year, and I had an absolute blast planning each and every step of it.

(I got the idea well in advance of Valentines Day, so I got a little carried away with details.)

(Thank you, Pinterest. You are both a blessing and a curse.)

My Rock n' Roll Buddy and I both have lots of places in the good ol' U.S. of A that we want to see, and we've made it to a few of them already. We've been debating the pros and cons of traveling in an RV as opposed to using a car and hotel stops, and the idea of buying a motor home instead of renting one. The biggest plus I see with a motor home instead of a car or flying, is the fact that you can buy bigger(and more) stuff on your trip to schlep home. (And I have no problem accumulating stuff on any and all trips.)

Anyway.

I decided this year to capitalize on all of our recent travel conversations and bucket lists of places to visit with a road trip theme for Valentine's Day. I started with a vintage colored map of the US. (Can I just pause a moment here to tell you how much I heart Amazon Prime?) I glued it to a piece of sheet insulation from Home Depot, and then put it in a simple frame.

I added manila colored paper blocks bullet pointing the trips we have taken together (these were actual vacation type trips, and not the usual trips to see family)

I placed flags on the locations, and tethered the boxes to the flags with embroidery thread.

I personalized it a bit further....

I wanted it to be a complete surprise, so I hung it in the hallway just before breakfast, and I made sure to have him sit on the side of the dining table where he would not be able to see into the hallway.

I built the entire Valentine breakfast theme around the map, however it was the last present I presented to him, so let me change gears here now.

The more I planned this theme, the more ideas I came up with and the more all-too-perfect (In my humble opinion) gifts I came across. (The internet has made the world of shopping far too easy.)

I set the table with a matching map. (Okay, truth be told, I mucked up gluing the map the first time to the insulation board. If you do this idea, us a simple glue stick, and not heavy duty spray glue. I used the spray glue the first time and it bubbled up hideously for some reason. I managed to peel it off, but it was a bit crumpled, so I quickly ordered another map, and used the first one as my table cloth....it works, am I right?)

To add to my travel theme, I used a couple of my vintage suitcases, and then made a couple small signs with road trip quotes.(You know I am a quote junkie...)

I wrapped the accompanying gifts in my signature brown kraft paper, with more quotes....

I got a copy of one of my personal all time favorite movies, The Long, Long Trailer, with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez Jr. (Which was why that package had Lucy and Desi sitting behind the wheel on the tag for that package)...

And a couple of too-perfect books on road tripping...

...and then I added a sweet little box that gave him instructions on how to find the fabulous map...

...hanging in my hallway.

Oh! After he opened his Valentine prezzies, we had a yummy Valentine breakfast of heart shaped waffles smothered in butter and warm maple syrup....

 

In the end, I am 100% positive fairly certain that I had far more fun plotting and planning and prepping for all of this than my Valentine did in receiving it, as he tried to figure out where I was going with this Valentine's theme, (Oh, the vast difference between men and women.) as he was much more interested in the waffles. (I can't really blame him...they were yummy!)

 

Weekly words to live by. (Happy Valentine's Day, 2016!)

#Valentinesday, #Weeklywordstoliveby, #love

 

2016 home projects and plans. (Hey! It's a two post Saturday!)

I meant to come up with this list back at the first of the year, but January slip-slided (slip-slid?) away from me, and now my calendar says February.

Mid February.

(Oh well. Today is the first day of the rest of my year, so it's okay, right?)

I couldn't sleep last night,and my mind got rambling on all of the projects, and chores I want to bust out this year, so I made myself a list.

The biggies are:

landscaping the front yard, including finishing painting my picket fence (See that hole in front of my Adirondack chairs? I'm planting a Maple tree there next Saturday!)

re-doing my tub-shower

landscaping and adding a shed to the backyard area between my two patios

 

The smaller projects are:

finishing the laundry room, kitchen and bathroom flooring-adding thresh hold strips

finishing the trim on the doorways in and out of the laundry room

adding shelves to my hall and kitchen closets

misc. sign painting in my kitchen, workroom, garage and on my mailbox

 

Oh yeah, I do my best thinking and planning and plotting around 3:30 in the morning.

More little Valentines...

More Valentines to be delivered to the grands today....

Hope you're getting ready for a sweet Valentine's Day tomorrow!

 

Easy peasy gift bag for Number seven's second birthday.

Where does the time go? Honestly, I want it to stop. To keep these little guys...little.

Just a little bit longer.

*sigh*

I whipped up a gift bag to hold his birthday present, and it took me no more than fifteen minutes, start to finish. A simple photo of our little Mister, and a tag proclaiming that he is celebrating his big number two birthday.

They all love looking a photos of themselves, and I know he will like it.

 

 

But first, kisses. (A short...but sweet post.)

Aaaand....we're still workin' on Valentines here, people.

 

 

 

Getting my Valentine craft on.

With the big game behind us, (and what a game it was!) I am now free to focus all of my creativity on Valentine's Day.

Yippee skippy!

I'm working on some Valentine's for my Grands, planning a fun themed breakfast for my Rock n' Roll Buddy, and an assortment of sweet treats to take into work this Friday.

It's going to be a busy, fun week!

 

Weekly words to live by.

Digging out my football paper plates and my heart shaped waffle iron.

Mmmm hmmm.

My head says think football, but my heart says Valentine.

I'm struggling to find my Superbowl party mojo this year for some reason.

Maybe it's because I'm not invested in either team in the Superbowl this year, (I love Cam Newton's amazing smile and killer skills, but I respect Peyton Manning's career history, so it's a toss up.) or maybe it's because the big game is only one short week in front of Valentine's Day, (How id that happen? They need to be further apart!) and I have been more than a little preoccupied with some plans in the works for that.

(I'm planning something incredibly clever for Valentine's Day...stay tuned!)

Regardless, I am forcing myself to put my Valentine's projects on hold until Monday, and refocusing on this weekend's plans. We've decided on a nacho and taco bar, with all of the toppings we could think of (I originally wanted to do a mashed potato bar, but changed my mind last week.) for our halftime menu. I could eat Mexican food seven days a week, so I am especially looking forward to this year's party food!

(The food has my attention, but the decorations...notsomuch.)

(Did I mention I'm working on something pretty danged creative for Valentine's Day??)

I dug out my little AstroTurf runner, and my penalty flags, but I'm not too sure there will be too much more in party decor, as we are not holding the party at my house. (That in itself alleviates a lot of pressure to handle every detail.)

How about you? Will you be watching the game, or is it just another Sunday for you? Will you be watching those crazy commercials, or will you be at the mall, or the movie theater?

I'll be with friends, eating tacos, and obsessing thinking about my tablescape for the following Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superbowl and Valentines Day Printables...

My  my etsy shop is filling up with several new $5 printable e-kits, so you might want to check it out before the weekend gets here.

(Are you getting tired pf seeing my mantel showcasing some new printable yet?)

 

Some of it is chalkboard art, and some is vintage...all of it is printable....

I'm all about a little holiday decor here and there. How about you?

 

 

 

 

The cozy winter supper menu from my girl's night on the patio gathering.

Nothing beats the winter blahs better than comfort food.

For my gathering last week, I took the easy route. My cooking mantra is that if I can buy something ready made that tastes better than I can make it, I will. I can then spend more time cooking or baking something else that is amazing. For this meal I chose deli soups from my local Safeway; baked potato chowder and tomato bisque. What made them extra special was the presentation and the details.

For the baked potato chowder, I added toppings to choose from; shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and crispy cooked crumbled bacon. I offered up grilled cheese croutons for the tomato soup. I simply made a yummy grilled cheese sandwich on artisan sourdough bread, and cut into small cubes, then stacked on wooden skewers.

This way, we all had the option of eating the little grilled cheeses on the side, or in our soup!

So cute.

And, so yummy.

A basket of "Everything Crackers from world Market, and sliced sourdough bread completed the main course.

The real show stopper was dessert. I made homemade toasted coconut marshmallows from this Ina Garten recipe. The Barefoot Contessa is my all-time favorite, and let me tell you, homemade marshmallows are actually easy to make.

We roasted them over the fire pit, then smooshed them in between a graham cracker and a bit of a chocolate bar, and oh, my.The marshmallows hold their shape, and then, when you bite into fresh-off-the-fire gooey goodness, they disolve into a heavenly clod in your mouth.

They were dee-lish.

 

 

A winter evening on the patio.

I had totally planned to share this last week, but I never found time to sit and write, so here I am, half a week later...

I was going to share that I had some girlfriends over last Wednesday evening for our Winter Blahs Party, (As I started to share little snippets of here. And here.) and we  had a fabulous time.

I had spent a portion of my weekend before the gathering working outside on my patios in preparation for the little outdoor soiree. (The photo above was on a prep night when I was playing with the table setting...)

Yep, that's plural, on the word patios.

Technically one is supposed to be a covered carport I think, but I park my car and truck in my garage, and don't need it for that, so I've made it into the outdoor dining area.

Wait. I'm jumping ahead.

You might remember the first patio from last summer, here. It's set for winter entertaining now, with my outdoor living room type patio furniture complete with blankets tossed for folks to cover up with if necessary, although I needn't have been concerned, as I lucked out with an actual semi-dry day and evening, and we our high last Wednesday was a balmy 57'.

So, now on to the other covered carport patio. The round dining table and chairs is gone from the original patio layout, and has been replaced on this second patio, with a longer harvest table and chairs in more of a full-on dining area set up. I have the two propane heaters on either end of the harvest table to keep us warm. I hung strands of Edison lights (from World Market) around the perimeter, (I wanted to zig-zag them, but they can't be hung too close to the propane heaters) and two vintage windows I bought at a Christmas faire hang above the season's remaining stacked firewood. I wanted to zig-zag the lights, but the instructions on the lights specifically said not to hang them near a heater, so that put the kibosh on that idea.

My outdoor harvest table is a craigslist find, with Ikea bistro chairs (You can't beat fifteen bucks a chair, and they fold up for easy storage if need be!) Five dollar Ikea throws adorned the backs of the chairs, in case that iPhone weather guy was wrong, and they added to the welcome look. With my fire pit going, and two outdoor heaters flanking the dining table, we were quite toasty.

A centerpiece of assorted canning jars with birdseed and votive candles added ambiance and light to the table. I used my metal chargers that are now painted in black chalkboard paint, (A great way to update any outdated charger plates you might have!) and reproduction French grain cloth napkins and runners (From World Market) I had bottles of chilled water at each end of the table. (A great entertaining staple to have on hand are tall closable bottles for water, and I always find them at the thrift store.)

My old enamel top table works fabulously as a buffet server, although I really didn't get any great shots of that, and the food came out perfectly. Easy, tasty, and more than enough.

I'll share my menu tomorrow!