A small burst of decorating...

Look at this space...In my house? A blank white wall?

Say it isn't so...

OK...It's not,

not anymore!

I jumped out of bed this morning, and started picking up piles of stuff...The piles that have collected about the house all this week...And putting them away, in their special places (no less!) When I stumbled into the kitchen and by the doorway to the basement/bottom floor of the manse.



And, HELLO, what's this? an ugly blank space...With not much room to decorate!

So, I flashed on the various bits of vintage fabric that has been hanging and drying since I washed it on Sunday (ok, yes, they've been dry for some time now!) And lo and behold...I picked up these 3 vintage full aprons at a sale for about $1 (that's for all 3 of them folks) and my apron bin is full...I know, can you believe it? (Ha...It's not as bad as my vintage towels...But I can't hardly choose between any of them, so mostly they just stay!) So, I hung up a hook...And there they are...Beautiful and on display and handy too!




These are a close-up of the patterns...The story is, they came from the basement of a house someone in town bought (all I found here is an old key to one of my inside doors...Oh and a little message on the roof when I re-roofed that said "I...don't know his name...Moved to Prescott in 1913, and built this house for my family in 1926" my neighbor, who's father built this house...Said there's more little messages in the house, but I have yet to find them! Sweet, I know!) So, the yellow and blue floral one has Rick-rack trim and was starched within an inch of it's life...And the red one has gingham checks...And the blue striped one is really special because...





That little ultra white square you see in the picture there? It's a little patched up place! Yes, someone used this apron so much, they hand patched it with white thread...I know this was a common practice, but I can't help but think how often we now day's would just throw something away...Plus, I wonder if our fabric is good enough quality now-day's to hold up to patching and washing?




I love full aprons, because they remind me of my mom, and spending time with her in the kitchen (same thing with big vintage mixing bowls...I'll post them later.) My mom used to let me help her bake, and sit on the countertop and help mix and do things in the kitchen. We spent a lot of time together when I was little, as she was stay at home with me...Not so much with my sister, but our situation had changed by that time (she got to spend a lot more time with my grandmother, who is now 92, and lives right close to me too!) So, these are extremely fond memories...Plus both my mom and dad love antiques, and that may be where I get my love for all things vintage...Oh, and my grandmother was an incredible seamstress as well.

I tell you, it's in the blood!

So, as I stumble through this part of my life, I laugh at myself constantly because it's like I'm trying to recreate parts of my childhood, and trying to hang onto those little bits of happiness in what was sometimes a troubling time in my life. Just a little reminder of the joy in parts of my life gone by...And the heart pounding excitement when I find this stuff is so wonderful! Since my mom lives down the street and we are almost mostly together when I find things...We both get a little shared thrill...As we do when she shares the things she finds for herself with me...Another way to bond beyond breastfeeding!