For the Fun of It

 

A doll and her tote, both made from one dinner napkin.  

 She was FUN!

And, love the resin chair.

until next time

BE WELL

from

Bird Nest Cottage

 

Stacks of Books

 

One of my readers, Louise, asked for the story of this stack of books.  It just happens to be one of my favorite things in the house, so I'm happy to tell about it.  I have a 'thing' about books...and love having them all over the house.  When I moved in, it was a challenge to find places for all the books.  I gave bags and bags of them away and still had probably what most would call 'too many' to deal with.  And, yet, I still wanted to keep them.  What to do?  There was little spot there....on the way into the kitchen...a blank space...oh my...can't have that, so I thought about it a while and decided a stack of books would look just great right there.  I immediately loved it and in fact, began another stack right next to it.  One with smaller books.   The fact that I haven't moved these books yet could mean that I may not ever...unusual for me. 

 

 Here you can see the stools I used for the stacks.  In addition to many, many books, I also have quite a few stools and foot stools.  They can be used in so many ways,  I find them indispensable and quite handy for all kinds of uses. 

  

 The top book here is covered in a tapestry fabric...very threadbare.  It's a very small, but thick,  a World Atlas, dated 1907.  And, the stack is a perfect perch for this little iron bird.

 

 This is another of my favorite books from the 'stack.'  As you know, I love basket embroideries, so the name of this one really caught my eye....dated 1892...and it had that sweet basket motif right there in the center.

  

 One of my favorite stacks in the house is this small one on the table by the sofa.   Smaller books, all vintage.

  

Here you can see them along with some other of my favorite things.  Two little birds, a flower pot filled with flowers made from book pages which was a gift made by my friend, Micah,  who left us last year, way too soon ♥.  Then, that tiny embroidered landscape I made a long time ago.  One of my favorite things I ever made.

 

Here's those little books with two tiny doilies on top.  Tied with a pretty ribbon and embellished with a cord bookmark with two really pretty glass beads, one on each end.

 

Here is a little red kid's chair.  At one point, I had about six of these.  I have shared with friends, so only have this one left.  It makes a great place to stack some books.  Then, there is that little vase...holding vintage cardboard fans.  The fans are there as I couldn't figure out where else to put them.   

That happens around here.

 

Not stacked, but rather shelved in a little child's hutch, is a collection of what I call my "tiny" books.

I look for them everywhere I go.  And, I had this little hutch...they seemed to be perfect for each other.  The bird clock, a gift from my friend, Patsy.  The little red wagon, a gift from the old navy man.  The cat bank, iron, is a reproduction.  All this sitting on yet another stool.

 

 

Here is one of the tiny books in the hutch.  I've placed a pair of embroidery scissors there so you could get some idea of the size of the book....the red, has a title you can read yourself and was printed in 1907.  The dark book is a Vest Pocket Webster Dictionary from 1960.  

 

 Again, not stacks, but since these shelves are way too crowded, I think the word stacks works.

One of these days,  I plan on going through all this 'stuff' and removing, then reorganizing it.  Keywords  - "one of these days."

  

 And, of course, there is a kid's chair with a stack of books!  They are everywhere! 

  

 These books are on my coffee table.  Yes, I DO need to do this differently.  But, for now, well - this is just the way they are.  I'm into them all the time, so they often are scattered around the table, and

because I'm OCD...I'm thinking these particular books will be finding a new home here....maybe in another old chair? 

 

 

These are some of my favorite books.  Some that have helped me accept my crazy housekeeping and "decorating" habits...pretty much convincing me that in my home...."my way" is THE way to go.

Others, assuring me that being creative in my home and also my 'studio' is important to my well-being.  I believe that my Bird Nest Cottage is my sanctuary.  It should reflect me.  And, I guess it does. 

So, there you are Louise...."that book stack" and then some.  Hope you enjoyed it.

from

Bird Nest Cottage

 until next time

 ♥♥♥

Three Chairs

Today I had the idea I'd do a little something with three of my 'little chairs.'  I have a collection of little chairs...from TINY, to kid's chairs even I can sit on.  Turns out I can hardly turn down a 'cute' chair at the flea market.  One of my 'kid's chairs' is from my own elementary school days.  I'm not sure it's one I actually sat on....but when our old school...H.G. Isbill Elementary in McGregor was torn down, my sister got one of the chairs for me.  It's in my living room...actually, that may be the chair that started me on the 'collecting of chairs' bug.   The little chair you see here is one I purchased at the flea market.  It was just a little chair, stained pine, I think.  But, in my mind, I saw it a bit differently.  So, I took it to the downtown studio, painted it flat black, then added some paper napkin art in the seat and on the back...(the birds).  Found a little poem about Spring and added it also.
Then, I took my electric sander to it to make it look 'old.'  Looks like lots of little people scooted across this little seat!  My friend, Patsy, gave me the bird sitting there.  So cute!

I decided to make three little 'vignettes' with my three little chairs.  And, could only add things already in the house.  I added this little tree, some pine cones, shredded paper sacks and cinnamon sticks to this cup and saucer.  It had to be in the photo.   The cup and saucer...yes, from the flea market.  Three or four dollars as I recall.

I wanted to use this clear glass vase of silk flowers.  It has lived in my backyard studio for quite a while, so carried it into the dining room to use in this vignette.  It is sitting on a cookie tin with Christmas card messages depicted on it.  A bird nest (no, not real, although I have a bunch of real ones), the vase is large and filled with river rocks and a little china bird in a nest.  Can you see it?

Here you can see the paper napkin I used on the little black chair.  Love the bird!

 Of course, when you want to give someone something, sometimes things break.  As Patsy was picking this bird up to bring to me...she accidently dropped it and a piece of it's wing broke off.  Oh, lucky people who craft....I had glue and some paint to match...and you'll never know where it broke!

 I've no idea how to really sand something to make it look old and used, but I think this chair looks pretty used!!

A look at the back.  There is also a little bird on the back of the chair...right by the seat on the left side, but it doesn't show in this photo.  Too bad.

Here is chair #2.  I bought this cute wing back chair several years ago at the flea market.  Loved it instantly.  I paid $9 for it and have really used it in lots of different spaces.  Sitting in it for this vignette, is a teddy bear I bought at one of our long ago closed flea markets, Room Service.  Loved that place.  Anyway, the chair is so cute.  It has a linen tea towel over back with a little garland of silk roses on one side.  Another find on the same day.  The bear was purchased at the same place...only later.  The lady that was working there that day told me the bear was her daughter's.  She was way grown and didn't want it any longer.  Imagine!  The bear's head comes off...which I find kind of weird...and you can hide little treasures in a compartment there, then screw the head back on.  I loved her little dress too.  On her lap is a tiny pitcher and bowl I also bought there.  I paid $5 for it and could not leave the building without it.  It's from England and so pretty!  

Here's a closeup.  Isn't this cute as can be?  I also decided I'd add the little pot of paper flowers made by my friend, Micah.  Just love it and had to buy it from her booth. 

Made from book pages, shredded paper, wire and it has a 'real' jewel in the flower center.  She had several, none with a P or an E, but, heck, my son's name begins with an S, so it made sense to me!  She painted the little pot with chalk paint.

The little birds were given to me by Bibi.  So cute.  Look at their little feet!!!  And,there is that nest and cookie tin again.

The pitcher and bowl....also the name on the bottom of each.  They are just so dear.  As you know, I am a pushover for flowers!!

I don't have any idea what it is really worth....and don't really care to tell the truth.  To me it is just so pretty, it is almost priceless!

The view from the back.  Just a simple little grouping.  I've no idea how to do anything complicated concerning decorating, so I just go with what I like....and what does it hurt?   Since I was just creating these little vignettes for this blog, I didn't think about it too much, but I wish I had put something on the table besides this white table cloth...you know...something to use as a rug!

Ok, chair #3.  It's funny, but I chose to sit this teddy bear on this chair and now you can only see the bear!!!  That just proves I don't really know what I'm doing.  Love the little table too.  It has real 'drop' leaves and is really cute.  I paid $4 for it.  No chairs.

My friend, Bibi, gave me these houses.  I think she purchased the large one and decorated it, then made the little one if I remember correctly.  They sit out in my backyard studio year round...

Friend, Jim, gave me this tea set...and the little Christmas tree.  Just fits on the little table. I love the way it looks!

I call this teddy bear my nearsighted librarian.  Sometimes she sits on or near a stack of books....and well, she does wear glasses!  She is also holding an old thread spool, so she's surely a quiltmaker too! On her lap is a small pincushion I made.

 And, there's old Santa over there.  Yeah, I guess Christmas is coming soon!

Now you can see the chair....once again...the view from the back.    Such FUN!

Here is Santa's bird house, and this little metal cat.  Looks very old, but isn't.  I like her though.

So, there you have it.  Three chairs in a Christmas mood.  Santa will be here soon...have you been good?  

This photo reminds me of ME.  She looks so very nearsighted and a bit off kilter.  Well, we do the best we can!  Sure hope you enjoyed the chairs and all.  Please visit again....I will be having a Christmas Giveaway very soon.  Meantime, take care, stay safe, warm and cozy!  Thanks for visiting! pat

That Funky Chair

In my last post, I said I'd next show you something 'crazy' and here it is.  A regular sized kitchen chair I purchased from a flea market in Beebe, Arkansas, a couple of weeks ago.  When I saw it there, it made me smile.  So, I hope you smile too!  I did sit on it in the flea market to 'try it out,' and it seemed pretty sturdy,  but I wouldn't want to sit on it for very long, as there are support pieces missing on the front and back legs, but here is what I thought when I first laid my eyes on it:

We could put it in the downtown studio and use it for an easel!  Well, really, can you imagine how that crossed my mind?  I've no idea, but there it was, and because it made me smile, I had to buy it and because it didn't exactly 'break the bank @ $12.00....it promptly was purchased and the next time I went to work at the studio...it went with me.  I smile every time I look at it. 

There are maps all over it, quotes, all kinds of painted 'effects'...notice the polka dots on the inside of that leg.

We have some 'vintage' stuff in the studio now....because Cheri and I just can't keep our favorite flea market finds from showing up down there.  Some of them are for sale too.  Anyway, one of her pieces is this great old table, all chipped up and in our window.  We display artwork on it all the time, and so I thought putting the chair up on top of it was a really good way to display some artwork.  And, it is at eye level, which might make people walking by smile too.

If you click on the photos, I'm sure you can see these photos up close and perhaps read a few words here and there.  I'm especially fond of "Come away with me" a quote from Norah Jones.  Notice it up top of the chair in the photo below.

So far, I think I've sold two items because that chair was in the window.....maybe it catches the eye....
yes, I'm sure it does, but then, so does the artwork.

I certainly wouldn't call it the most well-made item I've ever seen, but it has lots of HEART....something that means a lot to ME.  And, it's FUN!   And, NO, I have no idea who actually had this idea and did the work on the chair, but I think I like them a lot.

I lust after that little old table.......perhaps I may 'wheel and deal' with Cheri sometime in the future and put it on my front porch!  Meantime, it has become a very cool part of the studio, if you ask me.

So, would you notice the chair if you walked by?  Would you stop and look or would you just walk on by?

No matter which...I bet you would smile too!!!  Take care out there, pat