Pillows From Vintage Linens

You've probably seen some of these pillows in past posts. 

They are found in several different rooms around my house.

A wee bit of ric-rac, lace, chenille or gingham 

can quickly turn damaged, vintage linens into cute scatter pillows.

Embroidered kitty-cats, birds and flowers are my favorites motifs to use.

How do you use vintage linens in your home?

* * * * *

Note:

I did not do the embroidery work myself.  But I did sew several of the pillows.

Rosebud

The first pink bud appeared on my rosebush this morning.

What's making you smile today?

Thank You, Baukje and Tami!

Two quick "thank you's".

Baukje sent me this beautiful blue and white crocheted potholder from France,

to go with the potholder collection I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

Also two lovely napkin pouches.  I had never seen these before.

If I understand correctly, each member of a French family has their own pouch, 

which they keep at the table to store their cloth napkin between meals.  

And then on laundry day, it all gets washed.

I really appreciate beautifully embroidered linens, so this was a real treat!

Thank you for thinking of me, Baukje.  

I love it all!

You can visit Baukje at Busy Bee Free.

 I had an opportunity to meet fellow blogger, Tami, a couple weeks ago.

We decided to meet for breakfast at a local restaurant.

We spent two hours talking and discovered we had so many things in common.

She gave me this sweet Carnation Ice Cream paperdoll!

Thank you, Tami!  

I'm really enjoyed meeting you and am looking forward to seeing you again this summer!

You can visit Tami at Vintage Connections.

Wow.  I am so lucky to have met such delightful friends in the world of blogging!  

Lilacs And Real Life

It's a beautiful day!  

And the lilacs are starting to bloom.

Sometimes real life gets totally crazy.  

(I'm sure you can relate.)

Funerals, bridal showers, graduations, 

moving kids home, son's acceptance to law school... 

I promise I'll be by to visit you just as soon as I can.  

 Until then, I hope you have time to enjoy the beauties of spring.

Little Hull Lamb Planter

Recently several blog friends posted photos of cute lamb planters in an "Easter Parade".

I have a little Hull lamb planter that I found several years ago.

I bring him out of storage at Easter and any other time I need that cuteness factor.

Here he is at a baby shower I hosted recently. 

I love his pink ears and sweet little blue bow.

(It's cold paint, applied after the firing process, and if not careful, it can scratch off.)

Hull Pottery (Ohio) produced wonderful and unique ceramic pieces from 1905-1986.

A lot of you are familiar with their most popular piece, 

the Little Red Riding Hood cookie jar. (1943)

In the 40's-60's Hull was well known for their florist-ware.  

The company survived leadership changes, flood and fire, but 

 was finally brought down by foreign competition and multiple union strikes.

And so they closed their doors forever.

I don't know which year my lamb planter was made,

but if any readers own a Hull Pottery reference book, please let me know.

Before The Kettle Whistles

Let's have tea.

 My house.  

Four o'clock.

If you start now, you'll be here before the kettle whistles. 

* * *

Four Different Forget-me-not Tea cups:

Royal Albert (England)- "Memory Lane","Forget Me Not" & un-named variation

Shelley (England)- "Primrose"

Footed Dish:

H&C (Selb Bavaria)- handpainted forget me nots, signed Wollaston

Tea Pot:

Unknown

Embroidered Linens:

Brazil

Figurine:

Royal Doulton (England) Beswick Ware, Beatrix Potter's Tom Kitten

Teddy Bear:

made by my friend H.

* * *

I'm joining

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi

Teacup Tuesday with Terri and Martha

Tuesday Cuppa Tea with  Ruth

Friends Sharing Tea with Bernideen

StoryLand Dolls

I recently found the final paperdoll from this 14 card collection.

These sweet little Birthday Greetings  and Get Well Wishes 

were published by American Greetings starting in 1949.  

I do not know who the illustrator was. (I'm working on that.)

Each card features a nursery rhyme or fairytale character, front and back,

and includes a rhyming story on the inside.  

(Many are missing their feathers.)

I've seen these with "A Forget Me Not Doll" and also "A Storyland Doll"

printed on the back, but do not know which label came first.

They are very similar to the Hallmark cards, by a different artist, 

that I've shown on past posts.

Curley Locks,  Sleeping Beauty,  The Queen of Hearts

Snow White,  Cinderella,  Mary And Her Little Lamb

 Goldilocks,  Little Red Riding Hood,  Little Bo Peep

 Little Miss Muffet,  Little Boy Blue,  Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Jack and Jill,  Little Girl With The Curl

I have to admit that Mary with her little garden of daisies is pretty adorable!  :-)

Which one is your favorite?

A Welcome Sight

 (Forsythia)

The first flowers of spring.
A welcome sight after our long, snowy winter.

(Pyrus Calleryana- Bradford Pear)

What's blooming in your garden?

 (Vinca Minor- Periwinkle)