October finds ~

 Just sharing some of our October finds currently available in our little booth shops at Heritage Square Antique Mall...........

 there's two of these old chippy corbels

 Keely has a nice assortment of vintage chippy tin ceiling tiles, both large and small

vintage bowling pin painted white

antique shoe rack.....great patina!  rolls perfectly!

Myott brown and white transferware turkey plates

4 dinner plates and 4 salad plates

vintage lamb print

industrial typewriter cart

large vintage stainless steel kitchen work station with drawer

 rusty crusty industrial stool and pale blue glass bottle

 chippy old drawer fronts with glass knobs

Motley Junket staple ware.......old ironstone platters complete with staining, crazing, and lots of character

unique old glass and mirror trinket box with glass flower

vintage french poodle chalkware plaques

industrial drawers and tons of vintage Little Golden Books

vintage clocks

Thanks for coming by!

Have a good week and keep dreaming ~

Polly

Shabby Apple giveaway at Happenstance Home ~

 Good morning and Happy Friday!!  Hope everyone had a good week and has some fun plans for the weekend!  I am spending my morning with the other half of Motley Junket, Keely and her sweet girls doing some crafting here at my house.  Then off to lunch and an afternoon of picking!  Tonight, Mickey and I will be dressing up as characters from our favorite TV show for a Halloween party.....can you guess who we'll be?

I logged on this morning and was greeted by my friend Lynda's current blog post about her Shabby Apple giveaway!  I've taken some time this morning to peruse their website and am in love with some things like the fun Greta handbag.....

 and the bronze organza necklace is absolutely dreamy....

Lynda's favorite is this piece, the White Rabbit's Time Keeper necklace!  And guess what, that's what her giveaway is!

So, don't be late!  Visit Lynda's blog Happenstance Home and enter for a chance to win!  Lynda's a sweetheart and has a wonderful blog full of inspiration.  You will surely enjoy your visit!  She's a daily stop on my blog hopping jaunts!  Best of luck!!

~ keep dreaming ~

Polly

a little halloween decorating ~

Halloween is getting closer, so I thought I should do a little something around the house.  I must be honest that I sorta lost my Halloween mojo a couple weeks ago when the pumpkins I purchased for my front porch disappeared within hours of being placed there.  And showed up down the street smashed to bits.  Almost every house in our neighborhood is void of live pumpkins this year which is SO sad to me.  

Despite the neighborhood punks putting a damper on my Halloween spirit, I decided to forge ahead and pull out my tubs of decorations the other day.  Visiting Pam's store Primitive Blessings Vintage Gift Shop helped too....that place just oozed with Halloween inspiration!!

I primped my dining room just a tad bit with, of course, black and white...

The black and white striped candles are just tucked into jars filled with epsom salts......I left them all crooked for a quirky look.  The ghost under the cloche is vintage and came from Keely's part of our Motley Junket booth.  That girl finds the cutest stuff!

This is a view from the side entrance to my dining room...

Atop my "Restoration Hardware-ish" buffet, I just added some of the Trader Joe's white meringues to one jar and a white pumpkin under the cloche.  I happened upon the black tags at two separate stops on our Medina trip.....

These are not Halloween oriented, but they are French, so I had to share!  When I found these at the local thrift store for .30 cents each, I scooped them up!  They are designed to look like crumpled paper cups, but they are actually ceramic.  Too cute and clever to pass up!

Here's the proof of the .30 cent investment I made on these!!

a couple white pumpkins on my spindles....can't get much easier than this!

sticks from the birch tree fill my crock....

Here's a view from the kitchen entrance....

and just a couple vine pumpkins and a mercury glass acorn nestled with some vintage shred in my stackable baskets....

I did a few other things throughout the house and opted for some fake jack-o-lanterns I picked up at a yard sale last summer for the front porch.  We have an annual Halloween party to attend later this week, so I've been working on the finishing touches to my costume.  Hope it turns out ok and people can figure out who I'm supposed to be!!

That's all for now.  Hope you all are enjoying the season and that your pumpkins are safe!  No, I'm not bitter.  Well, maybe just a little!

~ keep dreaming ~

Polly

Primitive Blessings Vintage Gift Shop ~

Have you ever stumbled upon a store that you just loved?

After posting about my recent road trip and sharing photos of a black and white display that I liked, I got a comment from Pam, the owner of Primitive Blessings Vintage Gift Shop in Orient, Ohio.  She said "if you love black and white, you'll love my black and white room at my gift shop!"  Enough said, I was there that afternoon!  And I was not disappointed!  Pam has done a fabulous job turning a little vintage house into a shop filled with eye candy in every nook and cranny!

I am borrowing (with permission) a few photos from her blog that were taken by Carmen at Primcats to share here, but these are just a teaser.  Thanks Carmen!!  Please take a moment to go visit her blog  Primitive Blessings Vintage Gift Shop for tons more photos. 

Smitten yet?

Seriously, I just loved this place and I found several treasures to take home!

Pam is a talented lady who not only runs her own store, but also creates, crafts, and refinishes furniture!

Lots of shabby whites, frenchie goods, candles, and holiday trinkets everywhere!

So, if you're in the area, stop by and visit this place, and let Pam know Polly sent you!

You are sure to love it!

P.S.  She tells me her Christmas Open House is coming up on November 11 and 12th!

~ keep dreaming ~

Polly

Grandma's pumpkin cookies ~

Happy Thursday friends!

I did a little baking of my favorite fall treat this evening, and I thought I would share the recipe.  My mom used to make these cookies by memory, so the recipe she provided to me years ago is very piece-meal, but I'll do my best for you!

Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2.5 cups flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 package chocolate chips

1 package butterscotch chips

Bake at 350 degrees until done.  They are best soft and moist.

 I tend to pull all my ingredients together like this above.  Otherwise, I am sure to forget something!

 Mix all the ingredients together.  Save the chocolate and butterscotch chips until last.  You can just quickly stir them in with a quick switch of your mixer, or by hand.

I spooned them onto baking sheets in dollop size drops and baked them for about 25 minutes. 

 They are excellent with a glass of milk!

And the milk tastes so good in my new frenchie wine glasses that I bought at a french boutique called Fleurs in Medina, Ohio.  Since I don't drink wine, I drink my water and milk and OJ in them!

And see that Paris tea towel peeking out up there?

That arrived today from the sweet and talented Sheila of Tattered Goods.

Check out her Etsy shop to see her new ruffled tea towels designs!  You will love them, I'm sure of it!

(the white meringues in the tall apothecary jars are from Trader Joe's)

If you decide to make my Grandma's pumpkin cookies, I hope you enjoy!

~ keep dreaming ~

Polly

road trippin' ~

Hello friends!

We went on a little road trip this past weekend......just a much needed little getaway for the two of us, and of course, an opportunity to buy lots of inventory for the shop!  Mickey and I have so much fun together looking for cool stuff and fun little places that are a little "off the beaten path"!

Our trip was supposed to be centered around a trip to Amish Country, however, it was sooooo busy, we just drove right on through and decided to cruise the back roads.  You can do a lot of daydreaming while meandering down the country roads ........ dreams of farmhouses and a simpler way of life.  This home below had me at hello.

 No clue what kind of building it once was.  It is made of old stones and has a clock out front as well as a sign that is now blank so we couldn't figure it out.  But the people who live there now have outdone themselves with beautiful gardens and just look at this front door and how they've decorated for fall.....

 I love the oversized twig balls covered in orange lights and placed atop the black urns!

On one of our stops, I came across my favorite fun find!  This huge vintage sparkly deer just had to come home with us!  I can't wait to center a Christmas display around her!  You should have seen my poor husband's face as he carried that thing around the store......all the other men were just shaking their heads in disbelief and pity!

Here we are driving along.  You can see the back of the SUV is starting to fill up!

We found this antique store somewhere along the way.  I walked in and exclaimed that I was in chandelier heaven!  It took my breath away.  My photos truly don't do it justice.  We learned that the owner is known as the town's "light guy".

We spent most of our time in the quaintest town - Medina, Ohio.  Here, we spent the day perusing lots of great shops, gathering inspiration, and relaxing.  This shop, called Perfectly Charming, had tons of cute Halloween displays.  I liked their witch pumpkin urns out front....

And I'm always drawn to black and white displays!  Lots of fun finds to be found here!

We came across an antique fair in Millersburg, Ohio where I snapped one photo of a cute idea that many of you crafters might love to replicate!  They used a small pitchfork and stuck a styrofoam ball on top then added strips of white fabric and cheesecloth to create a ghost.  They had a few left and they looked so cute blowing in the wind.  I bet they would look quite spooky at night!  I started searching for pitchforks soon thereafter but found none!

It was a fun little weekend away, and we could not fit anything else into our car!  As a matter of fact, we were worried our suitcases wouldn't fit!!  I will put together a post of our finds, most of which will be for resale at Motley Junket very soon!

~ keep dreaming ~

Polly

our master bedroom final reveal! finally! ~

I am pleased to be able to report that our master bedroom is completely done!  Finally!  I wish I had the energy and stamina that many of you possess when it comes to decorating, but I just don't!

But alas, here we are..............

 Note that one chair is missing from above photo.  That's because I am standing on it in the closet to get the picture!  

 Notice pup-pup making herself seen there!  She's always in the room with us!

You may remember from way back when, when I started talking about this room makeover, I mentioned a couple restrictions that the hubby put on me.  One, we have to re-use the bedroom suite.  Two, I was only allowed to paint the mirror and the two nightstands.  Below is the mirror, original to the bedroom suite, with a few coats of Eloquent Ivory by Behr and light distressing.  The bedroom furniture was originally purchased from Big Lots about 8 years ago.  It is a nice sturdy set and has held up well.  It was just a little dark with all of it crammed into a smallish master bedroom.  Lightening a few pieces with paint really helped.

 

 lamps / shades - Hobby Lobby

grey rose hurricane candleholders - Urban Farmhouse

dream art - Big Lots

I gave the same paint treatment to both nightstands and kept the original hardware....

 lamps - Home Goods

curtain panels - Lenda from IKEA, sheers - vintage

white ruffle bedding - Simply Shabby Chic from Target

I desperately needed to add a piece of furniture for extra linen storage and ultimately decided on the Hemnes armoire from IKEA.   A vintage European basket rests atop....

These beauties arrived in the mail this past week.....an early birthday present from my sweet mother-in-law.  They're perfect for the space and reflect my style just right.  Thanks Carol!

 The vintage looking fan was a Goodwill find!  Gotta love the Goodwill returned goods area!!

 I took this picture from the bathroom to show you the other artwork I did for the room.....

I had a whole stack of these chunky wood frames that I happened upon in a thrift store.  They were brand new, still in their original wrap from IKEA.  They started out in a pale grayish green color, so I lightly dry brushed them with white paint.  Then, I cut a piece of scrapbook paper that I liked to fit the opening, glue-dotted the old tin type letter to the paper and fitted it into the opening.

Here is a closer look.....notice the peacocks on the paper?

Ruffles were a must in this makeover!!

Here's another look at the jewelry area....

Yay!  Finally!  It's done!  

And I couldn't be happier with the end result!

Now, I'm beginning to plan a re-do of laundry room due to a purchase we made at the Springfield Antique Show a couple weekends ago. One project down, on to the next!  The story of many of our lives!

Thanks for visiting!

keep dreaming

~ Polly ~