GardenMama

Weekend Barn Thrifting

I recently wrote about treasures we have savored from nature. Today I am going to share with you a few treasures of a different kind! We visited a local antique barn this weekend. It is over-flowing with vintage kitchen accessories, vintage quilts, embroidered linens, antiquarian books, and children's toys from the 40's and 50's. The owner is a lovely and talented artist with whom I spend as much time talking as I do thrifting.

The thrill of the hunt for me is in pulling linen after linen out of baskets to admire and select just the perfect one to bring home.

  A good antique store owner will arrange the store to make me feel as if I am the only one who has unearthed a glorious find after years of it sitting all alone deep under a table... I can feel the excitement of finding a hidden treasure welling up inside. I quickly snap it up and tell my husband of the glorious find. Most of the time my excitement is met by him with an equal level of happiness for me, if not for the dusty old quilt itself. (His weakness is for the literary treasures that line the barrister bookcases.)

I am sure many of you understand my commitment to the search.  I feel this is where half the fun comes into play. Please accompany me as we take notice of some of the spots of beauty I have found in our local antique barn:

::Turquoise-tinted Ball canning jars::
{I love the way these look with a wildflower bouqet, or with a tea light for
dinner outdoors.}

::Glass telephone pole insulators::
{When my Grandfather passed away, I found a small collection of these in his woodshop.  They now grace our windowsill, and some ornament my herb gardens.}

I know that many of you, (like me in this age of email) enjoy the beauty found in hand written letters. I appreciate these old post cards for their gorgeously embossed paper and lovely handwriting. 

{Just look at the date of this one!}

::Vintage Trays::

These trays found their way home with me!

I look forward to sharing more of my adventures from
this weekend in a future post...

 

And the winner is...

I want to thank you for participating in my first gardenmama giveaway!

For those of you who did not win this time around, I am planning another giveaway in the future... I am happy to announce the random number generator chose:

i love it! oh, count me in...WAY in.

"i blogged it here: http://www.thecleanplateclub.net/2009/06/sweet-giveaway.html"

yay! -kate

Congratulations Kate! I am happy to pass along one of my treasured aprons to another who will appreciate it just as much! I have enjoyed connecting with many old and new friends alike through this giveaway. It is lovely to know there are so many of you who appreciate vintage aprons and the stories behind them! Kate, please send me an email with your mailing address and I will happily mail out your mama and child vintage aprons!!

Pressing Memories From The Garden

I have had a deep appreciation for flowers since I was a young girl. I grew up surrounded by them-- growing, planting, gazing, smelling and even eating certain varieties.

A favorite thing I have always enjoyed is gathering flower bouquets. I enjoy connecting with my garden and noticing each bloom, carefully selecting the perfect specimen, color and scent to bring indoors to grace our table. As the blooms fade it is nice to archive them between the leaves of a favorite book. The problem I have found with this method is that certain varieties turn out great and others won't press firm enough and start to mold.

We decided today to preserve a few memories from our garden by pressing our favorite blooms, and necessity has given birth to this simple flower press. Here is a step-by-step guide for making your own at home! 

You will need:

Fresh flowers

Cardboard

White paper

Elastics

Step one:

Choose your flowers. You will find with practice certain flowers may press better than others. Certain colors may fade while others retain their vibrancy.

Step two:

For one flower press cut two squares of cardboard and two equal squares of white paper. The top photo is actually many presses secured together. You can follow accordingly depending on how many flowers you wish to press.

Step three:

Lay two pieces of cardboard down on the table. On top of that lay your white paper over each piece of cardboard:

 

Step four: Lay your fresh flowers on one side of the paper, making sure they are not overlapping.

Step five: Make a 'flower sandwich.' Close the book together and fasten with an elastic on the top, middle and bottom. Now your flower press is complete!

To make more flower presses, continue the process and your whole stack of individual presses can be grouped and secured into one stack with additional elastics.

 

 

{A few examples of finished pressed flowers}

I would love to hear if you give this tutorial a try. Our family had alot of fun with this process from start to finish!

::The ever-talented Juliane of Froken Skicklig has just made me aware of the synchronicity of our postings! Please visit her dreamy blog and sign up for her amazing giveaway!::