Arabia of Finland

The weather here has turned milder and mornings are delightful. I've resumed my morning bike rides and headed out yesterday for a quick ride around a nearby neighborhood. Ooh, a garage sale on my route! I pulled over to see what treasures might be found. I spied it immediately-

 a table full of Arabia dishes!

Arabia of Finland (pronounced a-RAH-bi-a)  is a pottery manufacturer that started in 1873 as a sister company to Rorstrand of Sweden. They are known for their excellent quality and clean, bright Scandinavian designs. 

I registered for the Anemone pattern when I got married in 1977. I was fortunate to receive 8 dinner plates, 8 salad plates, a few soup/cereal bowls and a couple of serving pieces. It was designed by Ulla Procops and gets it's name from the beautiful blue anemone flower.

The hand painted pieces are all signed on the bottom.

The pattern has been discontinued and was a bit pricey even when I got married ( the dinner plates cost $10 each  in 1977). So to find a table full, set my heart aflutter!

 There was a sugar bowl and creamer,

coffee pot and pitcher, 

8 large mugs, 8 small cups and saucers, a serving bowl and 8 bread and butter plates,

 plus a charming teapot with a removable infuser.  

There were 31 pieces in all. How much did the seller want for the set?  $75. What ?! Now, many of you wouldn't think of paying that much for dishes at a garage sale, but I snapped them up!  

When I got home (of course I had to return with my car!) I pulled out the rest of my dishes and put together a simple, classic tablescape  using a blue ticking runner and some Pimpernel place mats. 

So, did I get a bargain? I looked up Arabia Anemone on Replacements Ltd. to find out. Replacements Ltd. offers a great service and are perfect for finding random extra pieces of china, but they are a bit pricey. If I purchased my garage sale finds from them I would have to pay $2,445.00!  Even on Ebay or Etsy it would cost over $1,000.00 for all of these pieces.

So that was my bargain of the week! What did you find?

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It's Overflowing

Centerpiece Prototype #2

Yesterday I shared some photos of a wedding centerpiece I'm working on for my friend's daughter. (click HERE ) 

I believe the bride has decided she wants silver and cream with some deep red as her color scheme so I've worked up prototype #2. This time I used a silver tray as the base, added some red flowers to the creamy hydrangeas and used vintage red books for some color.

This is tough choice, all silver and cream or add the red? I'll let you know what the bride decides!

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Centerpiece Prototype

My good friend's daughter just got engaged! The wedding is in January and I was asked to help with the decor. Fun! The first idea is to go with Winter White and a "book" theme. The bride and her mom liked my herb crate and we thought it would be fun to use them to hold a collection of books, flowers and candles. So here is prototype #1.

Next, I'll make a version with some color in it, stay tuned!

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Halloween House

I stopped by Kathy's house to pick her up for a morning of fabric shopping.  A local shop had burlap on sale for 99 cents a yard-you know we couldn't pass that up! She invited me in to see her Halloween decor. I don't do much for Halloween these days but Kathy goes all out! So enjoy a little tour of  jack o'lanterns, witches and skeletons that she has collected over the years.

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Too Much Toile?

I'm afraid it's become an obsession. When I find something made out of toile, I can't resist. I first fell in love with toile fabric as a little girl. My mother had a pair of French bergere chairs covered in brown toile. (Actually, she still has them!) I remember creating fanciful stories about the beautiful ladies and their beaus depicted on the fabric. 

So while browsing at the Goodwill last week I came across this set of toile drapery panels. They would be perfect in my daughter's old room! I did have to lengthen them slightly, so I added a strip of coordinating checked fabric to the bottom. They're a perfect complement to the quilt and pillow shams I also found while thrifting a couple of years ago.

 I realized I have toile in most of the rooms in my house. The guest room has red and brown toile bedding I found at a clearance sale at Pottery Barn.

 I've got toile valances in the kitchen...

and toile pillows on the daybed in my office.

The master bedroom sports blue toile. In fact, it all started with these draperies that I made 20 years ago for the Victorian house we were renovating in New Jersey. When we moved to Arizona I couldn't bear to leave them behind .

There's even toile in the bathroom. 

  

And of course, I've got an assortment of transferware dishes with toile-like patterns.

So I ask you, has my obsession got the better of me? 

Is it too much toile?

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Pumpkin Parade

It's September, time to do some Fall decorating!  I thought I'd start with a pumpkin themed tablescape.

 I recently found an old matlelasse bedspread that I wanted to use as a tablecloth. I layered on a brown woven runner. 

I saved several of these from the trash after an event I attended last year - even my husband gave his approval when we saw the hostess throwing these away!

Then I added my favorite Fall dishes - Old Chelsea made by Wedgwood,

and some green goblets, Libby Gibraltar.

  

Pumpkins of all kinds march and tumble down the runner, 

 velvet, beaded, 

 whimsical, wooden

 carved, ceramic

and natural.

 Whatever strikes my fancy!

 They come in all colors too, orange, brown, green, red, burgundy and white. It's a crazy collection and I've had such fun adding a new pumpkin or two each year!

Is it too soon for pumpkin pie?

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