Throwback Thrifty Tables

I considered doing a brand-new tablescape today,

but . . . I am bone lazy.

Actually, I'm not really ready to do all the toting

and moving of dishes and glassware and

centerpiece stuff . . . my knee is still sore and cranky,

and still under those "rest it" doc's orders.  Bor-ing.

But the ghosts of Fall table settings past

are plentiful in the pictures archives.

2009:  Lunch for one in the Parlor.

Dollar Tree, TJ Maxx, a free lantern, a few gifts,

and of course -- more Dollar Tree. 

 Got the rooster plate in Los Angeles, at a TJ Maxx.  Just like home ....

The lantern was liberated from a country club by my daughter Alida,

when she waitressed at a wedding there.  The lanterns were abandoned and up for grabs.

Free is my favorite price. The fabulous tea pot is a gift, years ago, from my daughters.

2009:  Lunch, in the Conservatory.

Walmart, Dollar Tree, Ebay, and more Dollar Tree.

Seeing a pattern here?

 Dollar Tree well represented here.  I love a store where everything is a buck.

So, this table may have a bit of a pumpkin overload going on. Hey, the tables can't all be winners.

2009:  Dining Room casual dinner for two.

Looks like a pasta night, doesn't it? 

 Plates from Dollar Tree.  Bowls from a discount drugstore.
Plaid linen napkins, vintage, eBay, cheap.

It's hard to see with my clumsy pictures, but the blue in the plates does match the blues in the bowls.

Trust me.

 Hand blown turquoise wine glasses from my favorite charity thrift shop.

 2009: Dining Room again.  For two.

Soup lunch!  Yes, with beer, hence the Pilseners.

 Goodwill candle holder, Dollar tree plates, TJ Maxx bowls, Dollar Tree bird votives,

my Mom's pewter S & P, eBay vintage silverplate flatware, Dollar Tree placemats.

 Home Goods napkins.  They have the best prices on new napkins.

 Goodwill had two of these mercury glass candleholders.

Ask me why I bought only one?  I cannot answer you.  Stupid.

Frenchy-looking tin cachepot holding the ivy?

From a decorators' sample sale in NYC, many moons ago.

And that wraps up the Tablescape and Thrift parts of

our Thursday blog post, ladies and gentlemen.  :-) 

Because it is Throwback Thursday, here's a picture of our

Dion DiPoochy, also in 2009, wondering why I have draped him

in a pumpkin garland.  He was always so patient.

Confused sometimes, but always patient.

And with that, it's Goodbye time.

I think there are chairs in my future, on Craigslist,

and on tomorrow's blog post.  
And hopefully in our dining room.  Be well! -- Cass

LINK PARTIES!

Tablescape Thursday, at Between Naps On The Porch.  Click!

Treasure Hunt Thursday, at From My Front Porch to Yours.  Click!

In The Pink, And A Totally Goofy Goodwill Purchase

(Head-slapping stupid Goodwill story at the end of the post.)

Almost two years ago, on one of my first jaunts

to buy furniture for my antiques booth,

I got this from a favorite picker:

A old small-scale side table with a lift-off glass tray top.

A little rickety, but nothing some well-placed glue wouldn't fix,

and it clearly was begging to be painted.

So I did.  Paint it.  Nearly two years later.
I have never been known for my on-time performance.

A first coat of Sherwin-Williams Eros Pink semi-gloss,
and a decoupage treatment under the glass of the tray top.

It's gift wrapping paper.
(Hello, Christa! I wrapped your bridal shower stuff in this, because of the Tiffany blue.)

Table, done: 3 coats of paint, and an acrylic topcoat.
The pink paint is a teensy bit more vivid than the pink in the paper,
but I already had the paper, and I already had the paint.  So I will live with it.

Or, I hope someone will live with it.
We put it in the booth on Sunday.

Sorry.  Phone pictures.  I'd forgotten my camera.

It's kind of a bright spot
amongst its more sedate brethren.  :-)

Ack.  Phone pictures.  Sorry.

It won't appeal to everyone, but it appeals to me,
and I had a blast reviving an old, scratched, rickety table
and giving it a snazzy new look.

I can only imagine what that table would think if she could
see herself in a mirror.  I think she'd be pleased.
She's all ready to hold someone's tea cup, or martini glass.

Link Parties!
It's Metamorphosis Monday at Susan's
Between Naps On The Porch.  Click here!

And at The Dedicated House, it's
Make It Pretty Monday.  Click!!!

****************************
BUT before I forget -- my stupidest EVER Goodwill buy:
A hardcover book.  A British murder mystery.  So far, so good.
Here's where it gets stupid; 15 pages into the book, I realize
that I had donated the darned thing to Goodwill back in September.

Yes.  Yes.  I bought my own book.
It's okay.  Laugh.  I did.  And now I can donate it back to G.W.

It's wet and stormy in northern New Jersey.
The dogs and I will take quick walks today!  -- Cass

Decoupage Behavin' Badly

I'm innocent, I tell ya.

I started with the best of intentions. 

And I actually had a plan. 

Painted this nice little Goodwill shop

chest in Old White Chalk Paint, three coats mind you,

and painted the top with two coats to prevent bleed-through.

Because I'd be decoupage-ing the top.

I painstakingly did a patchwork decoupage of white 

origami paper with printed pencil squiggly drawings.

I liked how it looked.

Until I checked it about 20 minutes after finishing the initial gluing.

Gulp.

Well, thought I, perhaps if I let it dry thoroughly,

the awful bloody-red stains from the

painted-over old mahogany will go away.

Yeah, that worked.

Not.

And letting it dry just made removal that much harder.

Let me tell you, once Mod Podge dries, it ain't letting go.

Not without a fight, anyway.

I scraped and tugged and soaked and I am still going to have to dig out my

electric palm sander and sand this blinkin' stuff off the top.

I have no fingernails left.

Oh, poo.

(pardon my language)

Live and learn.

Note to self:  Next time, invest in a dirt-cheap little can of fresh shellac.

Really, I should have known.  Honestly?  Deep down, I did.

Lazy isn't always the best route to take.  Too bad.  -- Cass

Lazy may not be the best route to take, but thrifty always is!
Join Linda at Coastal Charm blog for her 180th Nifty Thrifty Tuesday.  Click here!

Who Needs Words When You Have Teacups?

I am at my desk in the windowed Study nook,
brilliant sun in my eyes through the matchstick
blinds, and two dogs snoring behind my chair;
a peaceful Tuesday morning.

But my computer keyboard has gone haywire on me, spelling

words such as "Emily" in this manner: Emiiillylyiim.

Really, truly, I am not tipsy.  But perhaps my keyboard is.

At any rate, this is going to be a post short on words,

and long on pictures. 

In fact, I pretty much need just one word: Teacups!

At That Old House, we got lotsa them.  Here are some.

Colclough's Amaretto Rose:

Deep cobalt and gilt cups, from Japan.

Aynsley's Tatton Hall pattern:

Johnson Brother's Indies Blue:

Who hasn't bought Birthday Month tea cups?

This one, February, for daughter Alida.

And July, for daughter Anne.

Wedgwood's Patrician ware, painted in the Bognor pattern:

And except for the birthday cups, which I think we

bought years ago at Disney World,

all of these tea cups were ferreted out at flea markets,

thrift shops, Goodwill, or Ebay.

Pretty and cheap.  My favorite combination.

 Go ahead, put the kettle on. 
And invite me!  -- Cass
If we are lucky, someone else will do the cleanup!

Link Parties for Tuesday

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, and Tea Time Tuesday.  Click here!

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life -- it's Tabletop Tuesday.  Click here!

At Linda's Coastal Charm blog, it's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.  Click here!

Terri at Artful Affirmations is hosting Tea Cup Tuesday.  Click here!

PS  I think I managed to find all of the wacky keyboard typos and boo-boos.
       Please excuse some spacing and other odd copy crazies -- it's the Keyboard, it's not me!

Gobble Gobble Goodwill

Way back on Tuesday, That Old House had a post about my new
Pottery Barn turkey plates, paired with different color dinner plates.  

Curious as to which was the most popular color combination?
If you think it's the red dinner plate pairing, you are right.

Here's how it all turned out:

Robin's Egg Blue -- 4 votes

Red -- 7 votes

Turquoise -- 4 votes

Green -- 4 votes

"All of them" -- 3 votes

And also getting 3 votes . . . the original Pottery Barn display tablesetting plates, which were a golden yellow.

Even though I didn't have any golden yellow plates to use.


This is the tabletop display from the PB outlet on Long Island,
where I got the turkey plates back on Saturday:

Well, guess what?

You just never know what you'll find at our local Goodwill Store.

 And on Tuesday, late afternoon, I found big dinner plates, golden yellow, for 99-cents apiece.

 Pretty slick, huh?

Our Goodwill yielded a few other goodies.
Should that be "a few other goodwillies?"
Maybe not.

Anyway, I found a milk glass pitcher for 99-cents. 

 Silver serving pieces, $1.99 each.  After polishing, they will look fabulous on a buffet table.
They are very heavy, too; they don't feel chintzy.
(Now there's a word you don't hear much nowadays -- chintzy.
Probably because it's not Politcally Correct to offend chintz, or Mario Buatta.)

 And since I'm a sucker for Majolica, and Majolica-type wares . . . a chunky pitcher.

Not old -- from the 1990s I think.  But great color and vintage style.

 What kind of flower do you think this is?  Dogwood?  Magnolia?

 There are buds on the front of the pitcher.  Any clues?

 Well, as that little cream colored, carved Dollar Tree pumpkin
in front of the Giant Mr. Turkey Centerpiece says -- Give Thanks!

For Goodwill, for the fun of playing with dishes, and for friends who understand.

Off  now through the rain, for brunch in New Brunswick with daughter Anne. 

Hmmm . . . there's a Goodwill down there, too.  -- Cass

 Thursday Links

At From My Front Porch To Yours, it is Treasure Hunt Thursday.  Click here and visit!

At Tales From Bloggeritaville, it is Thrifty Thursday.  Click here!

No Minimalist Here hosts Open House Party Thursdays.  Click here!

Between Naps On The Porch -- Tablescape Thursday.  Click here!