Notes from A Cottage Industry

Making something out of nearly nothing.

Maybe I should say, making something without spending a dime.

I'm working on tablescape items (are you sick of hearing about this yet?) and I decided that for second tablescape on my list in this post, the the elegant farmhouse harvest supper (creams, whites, golds and silvers, with open old books used as chargers beneath dinner plates) I would do a couple (or three or five) of dictionary page banners swagging above the table.

Are you picturing it?

Let me add to the visual in your head by sharing this sneak peek, (which I shared a couple of days ago on facebook...you may have already seen it...) Here is a basic idea of how the place settings will look, and the banner will swag above it all...

Now, can you see it?

I am considering adding a dusting of glitter across the banner pieces, and die cut leaves out of glitter paper to scatter on the table to glitz things up.

Anything I might be missing? I love getting all of your feedback!

 

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Birds of a feather, party together.

I've been making my Halloween party crows for a few years now, and this year a friend requested I do some up without the usual expected orange and black, but rather, in golds or silvers, and white and black.

I loved the idea, and I began creating some elegant little crows in the more sophisticated tones, and I was thrilled with the way they came out.

Amanda, writer of the blog Girl in Pink, Annie Sloan expert instructor, and a fellow vendor at Camas Antiques was the friend I am referring to, and she was kind enough to share a photo of her mantel, complete with some of my banners, and if you look closely, two little party crows.

Pretty fabulous, don'tcha think?

There are several crows (and lots of banners!) already in my booth space at Camas Antiques. The banners may also be found in my etsy shop, either as printables, or in hard copy. Party crows are on their way to my etsy shop by the end of the weekend, so check back if you are interested!

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Four posts in a row, and (I thought )I was on a role.

...until I wasn't.

(I knew I was patting myself on the back too soon.)

Darned if my lack of time management didn't get the better of me, and last night I didn't finish the post for today. I seem to struggle internally when I am left to coordinate my day, as opposed to when I work at a grown up job for someone else, where I know I have to be at a meeting, or on a call, at a specific early morning time. (I am attracted to shiny objects, and start mutiple projects, and God forbid there is a new day time Hallmark romance movie on that I haven't yet seen....)

*sigh*

I have always and forever done my blog posts in real time, meaning that I (used to) to get up extra early, and write, typically with my photos inspiring me from the day before, or what have you. Somehow, and I am not sure how this slowly evolved, I started writing my posts in the evening, which is weird, because I am an early morning person by nature. I get ten times more done before noon than after, and by 4:00 I have to rally my creative juices to get my mojo going. (Once I do get going I am generally unstoppable, but getting to that point....it's a little tough.)

So.

All that being said, you will be seeing a post from me tomorrow, and it will not be a four paragraph whining session about my challenges of running my nine-to-five-ish portion of my life from home!

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The cottage on Harney Way is ready for autumn.

First off, thank you for the feedback on tablescape ideas from yesterday's post! I think I may skip the Halloween table after listening to the input, and I feel more confident about the table ideas I am going to stick with.

We finally had one little cold snap a couple of weeks ago, and I immediately ran out to buy up all of the harvest colored mums, marigolds, and pansies I could find. My summer blooms were all played out, and looking pathetically sad after our record breaking heat in August and early September, and it was time to refresh.

I'm not really a gardener, but I like to plant and care for my potted flowers, and with the yummy light and dark grey and white color palate of my cottage, changing up the accent colors for the season is so easy! Here is a shot of how it looked right after I did my autumn flower planting....

I was going to go with only white pumpkins, but changed my mind, and added the bright pop of orange with my pumpkins about a week ago (I forced myself to hold back until mid September on those) and I must say that I am loving the new look. Best of all, I love that it didn't break the bank to achieve this new look! I only bought four actual real pumpkins, and the rest will be saved year to year, stored up in the garage rafters in two huge garbage sacks.

I need to trim my boxwood on the outside of the picket fencing, as I want to keep it only about halfway up the fence line, but other than that, I think things are looking the way I want. Do you change things up on the outside of your home for the seasons, or do you leave things the same? If you do, what kinds of autumn things do you add outside? I'd love to hear!

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Planning and prepping for my upcoming entertaining demonstration at Camas Antiques.

I'm busy planning and prepping for my display-slash-demonstration for the Autumn Harvest Market event at Camas Antiques coming up in a few weeks on Saturday, October 14th. I have about a gajillion ideas spinning in my head, but I managed to narrow them down to...six.

I am thinking six is still too many for the potential spot I will be setting up, and so I am hoping to hear from you which ideas you think are best, or if I have missed a potentially awesome theme in my prepping.

Sound like a plan?

Okay, so here are, in no particular order, my tablescape theme display ideas:

1. Rustic Outdoor Friendsgiving(Here is a vision board I created to pull my ideas together on this idea)
   
   
2. Elegant Farmhouse Harvest Supper (creams, whites, golds and silvers, with open old books used as chargers beneath dinner plates)
3. A Dinner Party to Die For (Halloween-black, orange, cream, purple color way, with my little party crows)
4. Thanksgiving Dessert Buffet Table- using not-your-ordinary cake pedestals (or mismatched tupperware containers) to showcase the yummy desserts for your holiday gatherings.
   
5. Something for a little later- a leftovers station, where containers and bags are ready for guests to load up and take home a midnight snack.
   
6. Real women watch football- a small set up of football tablescaping and fun signs to make all of fall's game days more memorable.

To give you a visual of the evenings plans, I am going to be given a space to show off some tablescape ideas. This means that some tables would be set up for 2-4 people, while others might be a single place setting.he tables will be nestled near each other in a booth space.

I am envisioning using a large round table in the set up, and using my old mismatched vintage shutters to make a short pony wall of sorts across the table, dividing it in half, to enable me to do two separate tablescapes on either side. (hope that made sense...) I am planning to use a longer, narrow table for the Friendsgiving set up. I have a small sort of sofa table for the dessert buffet...

Okay, so that is my...ehem...short list of ideas.....what do you think? Did I miss anything? Too many? I'd appreciate your complete honest feedback here!

#letmeentertainyou #acottageindustry #harvestmarket #camasantiques

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Getting my quarterly Mingle fix.

So, this arrived in my mailbox last week, and I literally squealed out loud when I saw it in there.I know we can all find anything under the sun on pinterest, but sometimes a girl needs a paper magazine or book in her hands, along with a cuppa something and some good music playing in the background.

Do you read this magazine? Oh. my. ga.

It's every entertainer's inspiration, and this issue does not disappoint. I mean, starting with the adorable trailer turned cocoa bar on the cover, for gosh sakes! With all of the scary stuff happening in the world (and in our own neighborhoods) I find the idea of celebrating everyday events a refreshing, and welcome diversion, myself.

How about you? Do you find magazines like this inspiring? Any others out there I might be missing out on? Do tell!

#letmeentertainyou #mingle #charmedlifeonashoestring

Weekly words to live by.

#weeklywordstoliveby #allaboutthatjunk

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Weekly words to live by.

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Weekly words to live by.

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Ready or not, it's beginning to look a little Halloween-y.

Yesterday was the official First Friday of September, and that means that all of the shops down on 4th Avenue in sweet little Camas stayed open late. We all like our booths at Camas Antiques to look extra nice, and full.

I spent a good portion of Thursday at my booth space adding lot of new birthday and bridal paper goods, and things looked good. With it being about 100 degrees here this week, autumn paper goods slipped my mind entirely. Fortunately, one of my favorite friends at the mall messaged me Friday morning, and asked if I had any fall items I might want to put out.

Ohmygosh, yes! I rushed out to my garage, where I keep my seasonal items boxed up in tubs and grabbed my Halloween stash. I arrived at Camas Antiques just minutes after someone had bought a large light fixture, leaving the perfect sized space for me to add my Halloween inventory.

 

 

Tada.

I'll add a bit more to it next week, and expand the area a bit, but it was just what my booth needed! I may not be all the way ready for pumpkin spice everything and orange and black party crows in my living room, but that time will be here soon enough, and my booth space is ready for it.

Thanks, Amanda!

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Hello, September.

Is it just me, or did July and August go by in four seconds?

Part of me is ready for leaves scattered in the yard, and pumpkins stacked around my porch, (and much cooler weather) and part of me will be sad for the long sunny days of summer to come to an end once again.

As Labor Day approaches, I am in the midst of last minute preparations for this year's Camp Cupcake this weekend. ( I will be sharing a few details tomorrow!)

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