Antique Ironstone Collection

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

A FRESH START

 

A huge thank you for all of the kind comments, emails, and encouraging questions about when, or if, I would ever start blogging again. Truth be told, I wasn't sure... I started this blog several years ago just after my husband and I moved to Nebraska, mostly so that I would have a way to show my mom and sister, who were almost 1000 miles away in Ohio, what our house looked like and what I was up to way out "west". Over the last two years though, I've been pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the fact that many of you have tagged along quite faithfully as well, from all corners of the world. Thank you.

 

But this winter a lovely thing happened... We moved back to Ohio.

 

And suddenly blogging took a break while we packed up, found a place to live, unpacked, settled in, and caught up on over two years of girls days out, nieces' and nephews' birthday parties, lazy back porch sitting at the in-laws, and Sunday lunches after church with my family. It has been a blessing.

 

But don't worry... I'll still touch base with you every now and then.

 

Let's just be honest, I've never been very good at blogging on a regular schedule. Putting together a beautiful, interesting, and coherent blog post often takes me hours, usually over the course of several days. I'm serious, sometimes even deciding on a caption for my Instagram pictures takes me several drafts and the characteristic undue agony of a perfectionist. (By the way, I've come to sort of love Instagram, and I post snapshots there fairly often... I'm "froggoestomarket" if you care to follow along!)

 

So, I hope you'll allow me to keep this blog going sporadically, and share bits and pieces of my home and antiquing adventures when I can, even though it won't be every week or even every month. I've added links at the top of the blog so you can easily find me on Etsy, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook as well. And while I may not have as much to say on the blog, going forward I'd like to do better at responding to your kind words and questions in the comments section when I do post, so please feel free to write!

 

Thanks again for hanging around :)

 

 

Collecting Ironstone

I sincerely hope that you don't get tired of seeing pictures of my ironstone... If so, just avert your eyes :) I realized that I've not yet been able to show you this cupboard in it's entirety. The bottom shelf is very tall, so for a long time it's been either half-empty, or filled with other things, like large crocks, baskets, or stacks of painted boxes.

But I recently found these two large pitchers - one I bought on our Ohio trip, and one I found just last weekend here in Nebraska - and they fill in the tall empty space on the bottom shelf perfectly. I have been looking for a few more large (affordable) ironstone pitchers for a while, so I was tickled pink to find these.  

This little tureen is not new, but it's still one of my favorite pieces. I love the embossed vine pattern, and the bud finial. I've found some really great ironstone plates lately, too, and I love having stacks of them in my cupboard. My favorites are the old ones with embossed patterns. like wheat or flowers or simple ribbed details.

Over the last few months, I've gone through and sold off quite a few of the small pitchers, platters, and other pieces that I wasn't loving anymore. For my own collection, I'm gravitating more towards earlier English pieces with a bright white or even blueish white glaze, rather than the more creamy off-whites of later American pieces. I guess I'm becoming a bit of an ironstone snob! But I think that is the natural progression of collecting, no matter what it is... At the beginning, you buy whatever you find and whatever you can afford, and you love all of it. But as your collection grows, you'll usually find a certain style or shape or size or pattern or color that becomes your favorite, and you get more choosy about which pieces you bring into your home, and which you leave for someone else to love.

Or maybe that is just how I convince my husband that I am not actually a hoarder...

Speaking of hoarding collecting, I found some wonderful new crocks to add to the collection on top of my ironstone cupboard. The large, low number 2 crock was just what I needed to go with my number 1 and number 3, don't you think? I love finds like that - something I wasn't necessarily looking for, but should have been all along.

Happy weekend, everyone!

The Dining Room

I've been tweeking things in the dining room, and thought you might like to see the progress. Sometimes I play the "spot the changes" game with my husband when he comes home from work. Usually he notices and compliments even the smallest details that I've changed. He's such a good sport! Can you spot any changes?

First, I repainted my plate rack. I love the way antique pewter looks with blue, so blue it is! I used a couple different shades of blue paint, and let some of the gray paint show through underneath. I like it much better. Also, let's not overlook the big beautiful antique pewter charger on the top shelf. I stalked this charger on etsy for weeks before finally buying it, and now I have no idea why I waited so long. It is gorgeous - it has a beautiful dark patina, and there's a small "PM" monogram carved into the top rim, and it was a great price. I'm so glad nobody snatched it up while I was debating!

Next, I rearranged and simplified the ironstone collection in my blue china cabinet. Before, the cupboard was much fuller, with a layered, slightly chaotic arrangement. I am realizing that I like it better with a more intentional, symmetrical layout, where every piece is showcased rather than being stuffed to the gills. I sold a few pieces in my etsy shop and moved some to another cupboard (which I'll show you in just a second).

Next, I added some more grain sack pillows to the dining room. See the trio of pillows peeking out from behind the table? I pounced on several grain sacks that sold at an Ebay auction for under $20 a piece - how could I say no?!

Before, I had one long grain sack pillow across this bench, but with a couple of new blue-striped sacks, I was able to fill the bench with three square pillows with coordinating stripes. So pretty!

 Here's my grain sack pillow secret... I never actually sew pillow covers. Instead, I slip a feather pillow inside the sack, shake it all the way to the bottom, and then just fold the extra fabric over the back. If it's a really long sack, I'll wrap the fabric all the way around the front of the pillow again, and tuck the end behind the pillow. It's super easy, and zero commitment. All of my grain sacks are left intact, so if I want to use them later as table runners, or long pillows, or even display them in a folded stack in a cupboard, I still can. And... no sewing in zippers. Horray!

I also redid the ironstone display in the antique cupboard on the other side of the dining room. I have to confess, I play with my ironstone collection like little boys play with Legos. I love taking apart a display and building something new... organizing all of the platters into one big graduated stack, switching tureens and gravy boats so that everything looks balanced, and then standing back to admire my latest "creation". Boys are not the only ones who love their "toys"!

 Again, I kept this display much simpler and less crowded. Plus, this old cupboard is so great on it's own, and now you can see a little more of the pretty blue paint inside.

I also switched up the display on top of the cupboard. A collection of old crocks and a blue painted bowl replaced the baskets and folk art pig that were there before. My black and white pig has already found a new home with one of my wonderful etsy customers :)

But, do you notice anything missing from my ironstone collection? Anything small? Or, rather, LOTS of small little things that are missing? Butter pats. That's right, there are no more butter pats in my cupboards. But don't worry...

The butter pats now have a little shelf all to themselves!

Antiquing in Iowa

A few weekends ago, we took a Saturday day trip to Walnut, Iowa, about 2 hours away. It's a tiny little town just off of I-80, with a population of only 900 people or so, but it is LOADED with antique shops. Seriously, loaded. There are no less than 15 antique shops, and once a year they put on a huge antique festival on Father's Day weekend. It is known as Iowa's Antique City. It's sure not much of a city - just a row of shops along both sides of the brick main street - but it's definitely a great stop for anyone who likes antiquing. My husband and I ate lunch in a little family-owned bakery (which had it's own selection of antiques in the back room, as advertised on the front window!), and spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of all of the shops.

My favorite by far was The Granary Mall. It was a higher end antique mall, with lots of dealers that specialized in some of my favorite collectibles.

Their ironstone collection was insane! Rows and rows of those big, beautiful, white ironstone pitchers. Just gorgeous. Pitchers this size were priced between $100 and $150, which isn't out of the ordinary, but certainly not a bargain, so I settled for taking some pictures.

There was a small selection of antique pewter which, of course, caught my eye. And then there was the yellowware...

Antique yellow ware was obviously another one of their specialties. Just look at this display case, filled to the brim with beautiful old pieces... And this was just one case of many. Amazing! The Granary Mall has a wonderful selection of all kinds of primitive anitques - great old painted cupboards, crocks, baskets, and wooden ware... way too much to take pictures of, and not enough good light to do it by! I was tempted by quite a few things, but ended up just buying an old wooden spoon. But it sure was fun to look! We'll be heading back in June for their big antique show.

For the Love of Ironstone

Because somedays your cupboard full of ironstone just begs to be photographed...

Living Room Shelf

After moving my ironstone cupboard across the room to the dining area, I had a blank wall underneath this shelf to decorate. The pegs gave me a place to hang up some of my linens, both new and vintage, and a small chippy white bench underneath is a perfect height for display. This shelf combines so many of my favorite things... white, rustic wood, natural linen, ironstone, simple stripes, and primitive antiques.

It's also a pretty nice mix of old and new. An old grey weathered wood bucket sits next to a not-so-old recipe box painted in a grey-blue color. An antique linen jacket and wood hanger share peg space with a new linen apron and tea towel, and one of my hand-stitched kitchen towels with my own initials in blue. A shelf full of antique white ironstone gets a touch of garden green from a pair of (faux) topiaries. Even the shelf itself was a thrift store find that I painted and glazed to look nice and worn.

Love this wood bucket... It has such a great patina, with traces of black paint on the outside and a touch of rusty red on the interior.

The wood hanger is from an old dry cleaners shop, Sam Wexlers in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I found it, along with the child sized linen jacket at an estate sale in Pennsylvania, and brought it with me to Nebraska. Quite a travel history for this little hanger.

I like the touch of black that this dark tin antique candle mold adds to the predominately white and light grey vignette.

A mismatched pair of rustic wood cobbler's shoe forms (his and hers) hangs from twine on one of the pegs.

Ironstone plates and platters with embossed patterns mix with simple pitchers, a footed bowl, and an old pudding mold.

A tarnished silver spoon plate stand from Anthropologie holds a large ironstone platter in the center of the shelf.

An antique pudding mold with a corn design adds lots of texture to the ironstone display.