Grasshopper Kettle

Would you know what this is without having looked at the title of the blog?

I saw this piece at last weekend's farm auction in Missouri.  It was terribly hot in the middle 90's and humid, so when the item came up for auction, I was sitting in the air-conditioned car trying not to die.  :wink:wink:

My husband had the number card and stayed back.  We never discussed this piece, but when I finally went back to the auction, my husband grabbed this and handed it to me.  I have to say, he is getting my eye for unusual primitives.  I asked him what it was and he said the auctioneer told everyone it was a grasshopper kettle.

Neat-o, if I do say so myself.  I have it listed on Etsy:

Vintage Grasshopper Kettle

Vintage Adirondacks Campy Goodness

Instead of watching American Idol this evening, why not escape to a faraway place?  Want to know one of my escapes?  I love using these search words "Vintage Adirondacks" for Pinterest, Etsy and eBay.

I love the lodge-camp type decor and Moonlight Cocktail Cottage has been decorated in quite a bit of that vintage style.

Here's a link to the campy goodness on Etsy:

Vintage Adirondacks Etsy

Filling Up the Shops

There are lots of new items in the Etsy shop you may want to check out like this clock:

Wouldn't it be perfect for a photography / movie prop?  It's quite large and wonderfully rusty!

Mr. and Mrs. Oink are looking for a new home:

I couldn't resist photographing the pair on the old feed sack that reads, "American Extra Heavy." Just the way we like our pigs before they turn into bacon but don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Oink-you two are safe from becoming breakfast.  :)

Just this past weekend, I found this tackle box at the farm auction.  It was full of tangled fishing wire and tackle, but I emptied it out and cleaned it up and now it can be repurposed for a great industrial piece to store remote controls or your mail and keys by the front door.

A few new items coming out of my sewing room include this set of flour sacks-turned-bowl filler ornies:

My favorite windmill photograph was printed on fabric at Spoonflower and made into a pillow:

And finally, an old photograph taken of a fishing cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks was also printed on fabric at Spoonflower and made into a pillow:

Click on the Etsy banner to find these items and more!  Our shop on eBay also has a few items currently running.  Several more items will be listed soon, so keep checking back!

Simple Chair Makeover and Pig Pillow

We have an off-white wing-back chair at the lake cottage.  I'm not positive why I thought off-white was a good idea at a place where we play hard and come in dirty and often have to wait around for vacancy in our one bathroom to change a wet bathing suit.  Needless to say, we're often sitting in the chair making it dirty over the course of 7 years.  Awhile back I placed a crocheted vintage bedspread on the back of the chair but this year we needed something more.

I thought about making a slip cover for the entire chair and I still may but until then I wanted a quick fix that could be changed out quickly and washed.  Since I've been at the cottage for the past 2 weeks getting it ready for summer and sewing my little heart out for the shop, I had several feed sacks on hand.  I decided to grab one of my favorite worn feed sacks and tucked it into the seat.  I then draped over a vintage feed sack pillow cover over the top of the chair.  I love the look!

Now I need to figure out what to do with the arms.  Maybe I'll just wait until I can make a slipcover because arm covers often shift and look terrible after someone's been sitting in the chair.  This, though, was an extremely easy makeover that gives the chair a completely different look that matches perfectly in a casual lake cottage.

Speaking of casual, I made this pillow yesterday:

We went to a farm auction outside Florence, Missouri Saturday.  It was hot and very humid but we still waited till near the very end because there was a stack of vintage feed sacks that I had to have.  I was tickled when I won the bid!  After coming home, the sacks needed a good soaking before washing.  After they were cleaned, I took this one out of the batch and sewed it to a delightful vintage red floral fabric in the envelope style.  Inside is a large, thrifted feather pillow that is included.

I really do like all the stains on the front because I feel that adds authenticity to the piece.  In fact, when I cut open the feed sack, even after washing, straw fell out!  :)  That's about as barn fresh as it comes!

Wouldn't it look adorable on the wing-back chair?

It is, however, listed for sale here.

Portraits: A Slice of Life

She makes me swoon, this one.  There are many, many black and white portraits and photographs out in the antique marketplace that I rarely stop in my tracks to view them.  But this one, oh this one had me at hello.

I mean look at her hair piece just for starters.

That took some time to affix it perfectly, wouldn't you imagine?  And her corsage, do you suppose she made it herself or did the photographer add it later?

There are so many lovely elements to this piece.  Her expression is serious:

I wonder what was on her mind at this very moment?  I see just a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips. Her smile lit up a room, I'll venture.

She was found up in northern Missouri at a farm auction and in the southern part of Missouri, I discovered this family photograph taken out on the farm:

See the outhouse out back and the tin roof on the porch?  How about the clothing, do you study these things?  I do.

I just couldn't pass by this piece, either.  Both are available in my Etsy shop.  The link is to your right.