A Nice Cup of Tea

Several people have recently posted pictures of their favorite teacup or coffee mug.

This might seem trivial but I think teacup choices reveal all sorts of things. 

And I enjoy little glimpses into private worlds.

If my  favorite mug is in the dishwasher waiting,  I get it out and rinse it.

(What a thrilling life I lead.)

People who simply don't care -- or go with a paper cup  -- are missing something. 

So:  Villeroy and Boch Audun/ Ferme.

Bone china. PG Tips.

Images of an 18th century farm in France. 

I know, I know. Real life for farm workers must have been grim and grueling - chapped hands, bitter winds.

It's just the idea of cows, sheep and milkmaids.

Shades of the Petit Trianon.

Your favorite mug?

Round Robins and, er, Round Robins

A couple of times a year I participate in a decorating swap on the Cottage Living forums. The ladies there are super-nice and even though our tastes range from streamlined utilitarian to country to cabin-rustic to Shabby Chic, we all have a lot in common-- we all like a house to look and feel like a home.

So this spring "round robin" swap was a fun challenge. We were supposed to think "fresh" in our choice of items. "Fresh" as in clean air, cut flowers and newly budding trees-- and not in something designed to make the other person blush, in case you were wondering. We were also supposed to include one textile for the kitchen, one handmade item and something to help enable old-timey correspondence.

My swap partner, however, had indicated that she didn't have very good handwriting, (I know how that is myself!) and that she already had a lot of notecards she didn't use. She shared that her kitchen was in country blue and yellow, and she had a teacup border on a wall.

So this is what I went to work with.

The textile part was easy. Blue and yellow being abundant in choice, I selected a crisp new oven mit, a pretty apron in blue with yellow sunflowers, a nice hand-done tablerunner, and even thrifted a set of curtains (new in the package) with blue and white dishes on them. (I thought it might go with her teacup border, or could be used for the fabric.)


To further her teacup theme, I added four pretty yellow sandwich plates and a yellow printed cup and saucer...


You'll also see in the pic above a small blue and gold item... This is a cute little vintage address book -- perfect for a purse-- that I found and freshened up with a bit of paint. The book was a bit scratched to start with-- a bit too shabby and less chic. You can see before and afters here.



The final touch was two color-coordinated notecards, one bearing this cheerful bird friend... Yup, he's a round robin, all right.

Now because the swap itself WAS a "round robin" this meant my swap package would go to one person, but a wholly different person would be sending to me. I think the person sending to me has gotten tied up with other things this season-- it's been a really busy time of year for us all. So should anything arrive to round out this swap, I'll be sure to post.

But amusingly the swap almost didn't stop here. You see, in spite of the fact I sent my package just one state away, I waited two days... three days... four days... Still the package didn't arrive in the hands on my online friend. I was starting to think it had been rerouted to the Bermuda Triangle. Worse, I had been stupid enough to not have tracking on the package-- because again, it seemed to be such a simple transaction. Who could have known?

So because it certainly wasn't my swap partner's fault the postal service had a serious oopsy along the way, I'd started trying to pull together a second package. I thought you might enjoy seeing the cute Pyrex bowl and teacup I found for it...



I'd had no luck finding textiles to go along with them, but it turned out just as well. As when I returned home from shopping and checked my email, I had a joyous message saying the package had arrived. That was day five from when I'd mailed the thing, if you can believe it.

At least my swap partner didn't think I was some kind of fibber! :)

Well, anyway, that's the scoop on the latest swap. So like the red, red robin, it's time for me to go bob-bob-bobbin' along.

I hope you'll join me again this week for Treasure Box Wednesday. And if you missed last Wednesday, that post can be found by clicking here.

Hope spring is treating you well so far!

Round Robins and, er, Round Robins

A couple of times a year I participate in a decorating swap on the Cottage Living forums. The ladies there are super-nice and even though our tastes range from streamlined utilitarian to country to cabin-rustic to Shabby Chic, we all have a lot in common-- we all like a house to look and feel like a home.

So this spring "round robin" swap was a fun challenge. We were supposed to think "fresh" in our choice of items. "Fresh" as in clean air, cut flowers and newly budding trees-- and not in something designed to make the other person blush, in case you were wondering. We were also supposed to include one textile for the kitchen, one handmade item and something to help enable old-timey correspondence.

My swap partner, however, had indicated that she didn't have very good handwriting, (I know how that is myself!) and that she already had a lot of notecards she didn't use. She shared that her kitchen was in country blue and yellow, and she had a teacup border on a wall.

So this is what I went to work with.

The textile part was easy. Blue and yellow being abundant in choice, I selected a crisp new oven mit, a pretty apron in blue with yellow sunflowers, a nice hand-done tablerunner, and even thrifted a set of curtains (new in the package) with blue and white dishes on them. (I thought it might go with her teacup border, or could be used for the fabric.)


To further her teacup theme, I added four pretty yellow sandwich plates and a yellow printed cup and saucer...


You'll also see in the pic above a small blue and gold item... This is a cute little vintage address book -- perfect for a purse-- that I found and freshened up with a bit of paint. The book was a bit scratched to start with-- a bit too shabby and less chic. You can see before and afters here.



The final touch was two color-coordinated notecards, one bearing this cheerful bird friend... Yup, he's a round robin, all right.

Now because the swap itself WAS a "round robin" this meant my swap package would go to one person, but a wholly different person would be sending to me. I think the person sending to me has gotten tied up with other things this season-- it's been a really busy time of year for us all. So should anything arrive to round out this swap, I'll be sure to post.

But amusingly the swap almost didn't stop here. You see, in spite of the fact I sent my package just one state away, I waited two days... three days... four days... Still the package didn't arrive in the hands on my online friend. I was starting to think it had been rerouted to the Bermuda Triangle. Worse, I had been stupid enough to not have tracking on the package-- because again, it seemed to be such a simple transaction. Who could have known?

So because it certainly wasn't my swap partner's fault the postal service had a serious oopsy along the way, I'd started trying to pull together a second package. I thought you might enjoy seeing the cute Pyrex bowl and teacup I found for it...



I'd had no luck finding textiles to go along with them, but it turned out just as well. As when I returned home from shopping and checked my email, I had a joyous message saying the package had arrived. That was day five from when I'd mailed the thing, if you can believe it.

At least my swap partner didn't think I was some kind of fibber! :)

Well, anyway, that's the scoop on the latest swap. So like the red, red robin, it's time for me to go bob-bob-bobbin' along.

I hope you'll join me again this week for Treasure Box Wednesday. And if you missed last Wednesday, that post can be found by clicking here.

Hope spring is treating you well so far!

Of Teacups and Toto: Holiday Decorating Swap

What do you get when a fan of the Wizard of Oz, and a lover of Victoriana swap holiday treasures? Some wonderful surprises for the season.

This was my third swap arranged by the members of the Cottage Living decorating forum, and like the others, it was enormous fun planning, scheming, and scouring the shops for the right things. Our challenge this time was to create a package for our swap partners with items that reflected any of the fall holidays. and there needed to be at least one item that would be for a holiday table, and one ornament.

The package from my swap partner, Jenny, arrived this last week, and it really was a bit like Christmas opening it. This is what she sent me:


Some dried flowers-- (what good Victorian doesn’t have dried flowers at least somewhere in the house?), a paint brush to enable a bit of art, a candle which smells temptingly like orange creamscicles, a jar of olives and an amazing teacup.


The teacup is an absolutely shining addition to my collection. It’s a dark green covered in a really unusual combination of delicate spiderwebs and purple foxglove. I’ve never seen any like it and can’t wait to use it on my table!

The jar of olives I thought was an inspired bit of humor-- which is also pretty obscure, so I’ll explain. For folks who read my recent blog tag about “Seven Things You Might Not Know About Me,” (as clearly Jenny must have!) you might remember I have this inexplicable, deep-rooted love of black olives that traces back to childhood, where my family would actually put a can of them in my Christmas stocking. (Or on the mantle, really, because hey, a can of olives is REALLY HEAVY.) So this year the fine tradition of Christmas Olives carries on. I think if I can hold out from dipping into them until then, I’ll put them on the mantle at Christmastime. That would give me a laugh every time I go into the dining room.


Now onto the package from me to Jenny!


My swap partner I knew was a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. (I totally understand-- it was a favorite of mine growing up, too.) So I thought it might be fun to make her something along those lines. That’s what got me started on the “There’s No Place Like Home... For the Holidays” plaque project. (Instructions on how it was made and more photos can be found by clicking here.)


This, however, while a joy to make, didn’t fulfill my “something for the table” criteria of the swap. So I found this cute Frosty the Snowman inspired tablecloth.


Because my swap partner said she has a Craftsman house, and that she likes some non-traditional Christmas colors, I thought she might also like this basket of rustic-look apples in purples, navy and off-red. I thrifted a cute icy blue doily that appears to have poinsettias on it, just to soften it up a bit.


I also included a pretty Christmas-look tin filled with some fun vintage-look ornaments. Hopefully she’ll be able to find a place she can use them.


And that about wraps up the Holiday Swap! I hope you’ll come back next week when we step back into the late 60s and early 70s and discover “What In the Macrame Is It?” (And no, I didn’t even have to make up that title. You’ll see.)

Have a terrific week!

Of Teacups and Toto: Holiday Decorating Swap

What do you get when a fan of the Wizard of Oz, and a lover of Victoriana swap holiday treasures? Some wonderful surprises for the season.

This was my third swap arranged by the members of the Cottage Living decorating forum, and like the others, it was enormous fun planning, scheming, and scouring the shops for the right things. Our challenge this time was to create a package for our swap partners with items that reflected any of the fall holidays. and there needed to be at least one item that would be for a holiday table, and one ornament.

The package from my swap partner, Jenny, arrived this last week, and it really was a bit like Christmas opening it. This is what she sent me:


Some dried flowers-- (what good Victorian doesn’t have dried flowers at least somewhere in the house?), a paint brush to enable a bit of art, a candle which smells temptingly like orange creamscicles, a jar of olives and an amazing teacup.


The teacup is an absolutely shining addition to my collection. It’s a dark green covered in a really unusual combination of delicate spiderwebs and purple foxglove. I’ve never seen any like it and can’t wait to use it on my table!

The jar of olives I thought was an inspired bit of humor-- which is also pretty obscure, so I’ll explain. For folks who read my recent blog tag about “Seven Things You Might Not Know About Me,” (as clearly Jenny must have!) you might remember I have this inexplicable, deep-rooted love of black olives that traces back to childhood, where my family would actually put a can of them in my Christmas stocking. (Or on the mantle, really, because hey, a can of olives is REALLY HEAVY.) So this year the fine tradition of Christmas Olives carries on. I think if I can hold out from dipping into them until then, I’ll put them on the mantle at Christmastime. That would give me a laugh every time I go into the dining room.


Now onto the package from me to Jenny!


My swap partner I knew was a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. (I totally understand-- it was a favorite of mine growing up, too.) So I thought it might be fun to make her something along those lines. That’s what got me started on the “There’s No Place Like Home... For the Holidays” plaque project. (Instructions on how it was made and more photos can be found by clicking here.)


This, however, while a joy to make, didn’t fulfill my “something for the table” criteria of the swap. So I found this cute Frosty the Snowman inspired tablecloth.


Because my swap partner said she has a Craftsman house, and that she likes some non-traditional Christmas colors, I thought she might also like this basket of rustic-look apples in purples, navy and off-red. I thrifted a cute icy blue doily that appears to have poinsettias on it, just to soften it up a bit.


I also included a pretty Christmas-look tin filled with some fun vintage-look ornaments. Hopefully she’ll be able to find a place she can use them.


And that about wraps up the Holiday Swap! I hope you’ll come back next week when we step back into the late 60s and early 70s and discover “What In the Macrame Is It?” (And no, I didn’t even have to make up that title. You’ll see.)

Have a terrific week!