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 :)

 

 

Pewter & Fall Foliage

 

Happy (almost) November! I have been the laziest blogger on the planet recently... If you've stuck around over the last 3 months, thank you! You deserve a medal. (I do not.) Apparently, blogging comes in spurts for me.

 

Overall, we've had a pretty low-key fall so far, punctuated by a brief moment of craziness... A huge tree branch fell on the roof of our house last month, which wouldn't have caused us too must angst (especially since we are renters), except for the fact that the branch landed squarely on the vent pipe on the roof. I have never really given much thought to what that little pipe that sticks out of the roof above the bathroom does, but I now know that if a tree lands on that little pipe, it will make your toilet tank explode. And crack the cast iron pipe that extends down into the basement. The broken pipe, in turn, will bust through the wall between your closet and the bathroom. And, until you have the presence of mind to turn off the water main, the broken toilet tank will flood your bathroom, drain down the laundry chute, and rain into your basement.  

 

 

In retrospect, it was really not quite as bad as it sounds... especially in light of the recent devestation caused on the east coast by Hurricane Sandy. But, it did lead to a couple weeks of mess and disorder while things were being repaired, which led to the house not really being "blog worthy" for a while. Luckily, things have long since returned to normal!

 

 

This morning, I went outside and foraged for some pretty fall foliage to display in my antique pewter pitcher. We don't have a lot to choose from in our yard (and I refrained from snipping the beautiful red berries off of our neighbors' crab apple tree), but it doesn't take much to add some festive fall color.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Fall, everyone!

And I promise, it won't be another two months before I touch base again... well, probably not.

Collecting Butter Molds

Remember the antique strawberry butter mold I found this winter? Well, I recently bought him some friends... I think I might now officially collect butter molds.

 

There is a feathery starburst pattern...

A miniature mold with a tiny flower or thistle design (this one is in my dining room instead of displayed with the other molds in the kitchen).

A shaft of wheat.

And the one that started it all, the strawberry vine. How fun that butter used to be so fancy!

I think the patina of these old butter molds is just as beautiful as the hand-carved designs. Just think of how many (slightly buttery) hands have used it, over a hundred years ago.

They are a beautiful piece of history... and just perfect for decorating my little farmhouse style kitchen!

Collect: Yellow Ware

It's time to stop rearranging the yellow ware and get to work this morning...

But decorating is so much more fun than folding laundry and scrubbing the tub.

Oh well... Wednesday, here I come!

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!

Farmhouse Cutting Board

I bought this rustic antique footed cutting board last month while we were home in Ohio. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, but it was too fantastic and too reasonably priced ($28) to pass up. It's made from a single 18" wide board, and my dad, the wood expert, said he thinks it's butternut wood. The patina on the old wood is so beautiful.

I ended up adding the cutting board to my dining table centerpiece. I loved the ironstone and grain sack combo before, but that layer of rustic wood makes it perfect. It looks like a piece of an old farmhouse table. It was my favorite find from our trip!

Happy 4th of July!

Pete and I went a July 4th festival in the small town of Seward, NE this morning. There was a little antique show going on there, along with tons of fair food, a gigantic craft show, and other festivities. We only survived about an hour and a half in the mid-90 degree heat, but that was plenty of time for me to nab this red and white antique quilt.

I love the red cross design - there's something very modern about it, but still classic, simple, and traditional. And I'm a sucker for a red and white quilt. I threw it over the couch, where it's providing a touch of patriotic country charm. Very Ralph Lauren, don't you think? I don't know that it will stay here, but for today it's perfect.

Happy 4th!

New Bedroom Layout

The rearranging continues! Yesterday, I reoriented the bed so that it faces the doorway. I love walking into a bedroom and seeing the front of the bed rather than the side, but with a small off-center window on the far wall, I didn't think it could work for our room.

Here's the "before" view walking into the room - the side of the bed. I've wanted to turn the bed for a while, but especially without a headboard, positioning a bed partially in front of a window with full length curtains can be tricky.

But it works! Even though the window is off-center, the height of the mirror and dresser on the opposite side of the bed helps to balance the room.

And I love, love, love that all of the layers of linens on the bed take center stage in the room now. And even though summer is fast approaching, I can't bring myself to put away the down-filled comforter with linen duvet cover. It's just too pretty... so it stays on the bed all year long!

 

I can now also put my antique trencher bowl at the foot of the bed... something I've always wanted to do, but never before had the space to do it.

One side of the bed gets a traditional bedside table with a lamp.

On the other side of the bed, the antique white dresser stands in place of a table. It makes for one less piece of furniture than before, which in a small room makes a big difference in space.

An antique full-lenth mirror and topiary sit on a chippy white bench right inside the door.

 

And after sleeping on it for one night, I declare the new bedroom layout a success!