collections: kitchen gadgets.

I have been wanting to do a post for some time now about collections of things I have seemed to acquire :) Instead of doing one big post, I decided to do a mini series of post, each one about a different collections of mine. They will be posted over the next couple weeks and all will have collections as the title....so with out further ado the first collection I would like to share is one of my favorites!!

vintage/antique kitchen gadgets and utensils

this collection started when my Grammy passed away and I found some nifty old kitchen gadgets in her stuff and thought 'hmm that would be something fun to collect', and so I did. Right now it all sits in a cupboard as I have no space to display it, but its one of those things that will be a special treat when I move into our first house!!

the complete collection includes: a yellow plastic/glass hand chopper (grams), a wooden pepper grinder, a lemon juicer (grams), a corkscrew, a pasta utensil, a ceramic pitcher (moms), an old root beer bottle, an add-o-matic (grams), an egg slicer (grams), and a star-shaped cookie cutter.

this one is my FAVORITE, as you push the buttons while grocery shopping it keeps track of how much you spend! I just use my cell phone calculator and keep this hidden away, but I love knowing that Gram was all about shopping on a budget too :)

never give it up.

Now, I am not much on material goods, and most things in my home (aside from photos and family heirlooms) I could live without. However, there is one thing that I don't think I will ever sell, give away, or even store in a box in the garage or basement. Do any of you have something in your home, that has no other meaning other than you really really LOVE it? and you just can't live without it? For me it is a set of vintage lamps that I found sitting outside a dumpster the day we were moving into our New Jersey apartment. There they were just sitting on the ground. A pair of two foot tall towers of glass, unscratched and unbroken. My first thought was "I don't care if these lamps work or not, I WANT them!!". So, we brought them in, cleaned off the dust, dug through a box to find two light bulbs and waited for the moment of truth....and....they worked!!! Perfectly! I was in heaven. They went on top of the book case as soon as we got it put together, and they have lived there every since :) I would like to find a new place in my home for them, to give them new light...but for now, the only spot with enough room is the bookcase in the living room. Lamps, I love you!

sew exciting.

After a two week hiatus, I ventured into a favorite thrift shop of mine (the only one I go to right now, I plan on branching soon). It is a PTO thrift store so all the proceeds go to the Ann Arbor PTO's, which I love :) It is not big, but they always have a LOT of craft supplies (ribbon, yarn, fabric, patches, buttons etc.). On my most recent trip I didn't feel that high that comes often comes with a really good find. Don't get me wrong I found a few good items, but nothing that left me with THAT feeling. Then I got this baby home, gave it a wipe down, did a little paint job on the lid, and filled it with goodies :) LOVE IT!!

the before photos.

I used red acrylic paint around the edge and for the title and the blue flower is two rub-ons.

decent thread collection complete coveted from my mom and grandma's stash :)

my complete sewing set-up. complete with thread/bobbin holder, old sewing tin of grams, manual to my moms vintage singer and the little box that came with it, and my pin cushion.

here is a picture of the machine on the manual cover. it was recently indefinitely borrowed from my mom who never really used it. It is a Singer Stylus, zig-zag sewing machine, free-arm model 533 from 1976 :) So cool. never thought I would start machine sewing!!

the inside of the lid to my gram's old sewing tin. it has a special device to hold needles which is pretty nifty!

new stuffs.

All the vintage fun items are available in my shop and the golden flowered vintage sheets. The other blue and pink sheets are for fun upcoming projects I will be working on this weekend and am excited to share. Happy Friday!!

hooked.

It. Is. Official. I am hooked on thrift/vintage shopping!! In lieu of this revelation I am adding a vintage section to my shop this coming week. Here are a few sneak peeks at what is to come :)

very pretty vintage sheet set

ceramic mushroom candle holder (makes a cool pattern when the lights are out and it's lit!!)

white casserole dish with motifs in one of my favorite color trios!

a BEAUTIFUL light weight quilt with aqua, yellow, and green flowers (also another favorite color trio). I plan to customize this with some applique along the bottom...so excited to share!!