Five on Friday

Life is hectic at the moment, there is a lot going on and not enough hours in the day.  I have made a start visiting some blogs and catching up but not all so please bear with me I will be around soon.

My five this week are five treasures that I bought whilst visiting Renninger's at Mount Dora whilst on my holiday to Florida.  Both my husband and I love a walk around the antique centre and the street of shops and wish that we could bring some of the larger pieces back but we are content to find a little something for the craft room.

My first treasure is a old wooden box which I couldn't resist and was brought back in our hand luggage.  It was certainly worth the messing about with it in my husbands back pack.  I am going to use it to store my sewing machine bobbins.

 

What a find, I really do love it.

 

My second treasure is two ribbon holders complete with ribbons, they too were a carried back in my hand luggage wrapped up in my cardigan and survived the journey well.

 

 

Thirdly, with two new Grand babies expected I couldn't resist this vintage baby pattern book to add to my collection.  It certainly made me smile.

 

 

It is quite a thick book with lots of patterns so wonderful to browse through.  My eldest daughter will love it she is a great fan of vintage style baby clothes.

 

My fourth treasure is two stitching pattern books.  The first is Southern Roots  a representation of the heritage of the Low Country region of the South.  I found it enchanting.  The second one is Wild Animals of North America which is a real delight seeing some of the amazing wildlife.

 

 

Finally, my fifth treasure is a leaflet  and sampler depicting hearts and as it was so close to our 34th wedding anniversary which we celebrate tomorrow I thought this was a wonderful addition to my Five on Friday choices.  I fell in love with the simplicity of the patterns and loved that Christmas  examples were included.

 

 

Some amazing treasure, with some wonderful memories of a great holiday.  I am once again joining Amy over at Love Made My Home for the weekly get together.

 

See you soon.

Vintage Pattern

I have a vast collection of patterns, mostly vintage that I have collected over the years.  I love looking at them and imagining the life they had before residing in my craft room.  Wondering who used them and how the finished project looked like fascinates me.  I have many patterns that include sewing, crochet, knitting, cross stitch and tapestry, many will never be used but I love to collect them.  I store a lot of them in recycled binders that look quite attractive now that I have covered them.

I also have a couple of vintage wooden boxes that I store sewing patterns in, they make me smile when I look up from my table when I am working.

The patterns I am going to showcase today are 2 sewing patterns for boys both designed and manufactured in New York but bought from The Street of Shops at Renningers Mount Dora Florida for a $1 per pattern.  A real bargain when they contain so much history of an era gone by.

Well used patterns, that will probably never be used again but I feel I am preserving and loving a pattern that would probably end up in a land fill site.

 

Hope you enjoy looking at the patterns as much as I do.  I have my daughter and grandson visiting this weekend so I must get on and get his favourite toys out.

 

See you soon.

The Ugly Duckling

On our visit to Florida we often look at Antique Malls and shows, we visited the Garden Show earlier on in the year at Renningers Mount Dora and found some of the creations quite inspirational.  A picture frame caught our eye which had been painted and had chicken wire added to use in a shed for storing seed packets. We thought this would make a great noticeboard.

We had some old window frames in the work shop and some wire that had been taken from an old aviary from my parents garden.

 

Some beading bought for £2 and a paint job turned the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

 

Now I have the perfect notice board for my craft room.

 

A perfect addition, perfect to display photographs or my collection of vintage cards.

 

See you soon.

Vintage Pattern

This week I thought I would share 2 patterns that were once ordered out of a magazine or newspaper and then posted out as ordered.  A simple concept, ahead of its time when you think of how so much is ordered on line and out of magazines etc these days.  They are still in their original envelopes, complete with pattern and instructions.  I picked them up at a snip of $1 each from a lady selling at the Vintage Garden Show At Renningers Antique Centre Mount Dora last year. 

First up is a bathing suit and sundress, perfect pattern for preparation for the summer.

 

The bathing costume wouldn't be suitable for wearing these days but I think the sundress would fit in quite nicely.  The pattern is well used which does make me wonder who made it and where they went in it...if only patterns could talk.

 

Next up is a Marian Martin pattern for a dressing gown and pyjamas, sent out from New York to Florida.

 

I may or may not have put this pattern on one side in preparation for some little gifts in December.  I love the romance and the history combined in old patterns, a thought provoking few moments of its life before entering the world of Mamas Mercantile to be stored and cherished forever.

 

The thrill is in the hunt so happy hunting.

Holiday Finds

I have been looking for awhile for carders to go with my beautiful spinning wheel, so I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some at the open pavilion behind the shops at Renningers Mount Dora.  A antique pair at a snip for $18, I was delighted with them.  I do wonder who has used them before and what wonderful yarn they have produced.  If only wood could talk.......

A little tatty I know, but I prefer to think of them as well loved.  Next up is a vintage wool winder from a couple of stalls down, another item off my wish list and a bargain at $5 still in its box.

I haven't tried it out yet, it's on my to do list.  Finally a bag of treasure from Behind Closet Doors which is a shop just before entering Renningers.  A vintage bag which will make a wonderful display in a embroidery hoop when I have completed it.

I did mange to find quite the haul of vintage patterns and buttons but I will save them for another post.  

 

Have a great week.                                                                                                               

 

 



 

 

 

 





Wedding showcase

 I am showcasing a  vintage crochet pattern today for a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, as weddings seem to be uppermost in my mind these days.  A delightful pattern sourced from a car boot sale at a cost of 20p (original price 7 and a half pence).  The lady I bought it off had actually used the pattern to crochet a shorter version of the short bridesmaid dress as a top for over leggings for her daughter, what a wonderful idea.

The projects I am working on for my own daughters wedding are coming along well but slowly.  At the entrance to the wedding venue there is to be a vintage bike (this was sourced from ebay) with a crate on the front.  Drum roll please........

It is yet to be decided what will go in the crate we are playing around with ideas at the moment.

Another wonderful find from a car boot sale was this book:



 

 

 









ROMANTIC KEEPSAKES full of exquisite heirlooms to create, give and treasure.  I intend to make a pair of decorative scented shoe trees for my daughters wedding shoes.

 

 

 

 

 

I bought this wonderful pair of shoe trees to use as the base.  They were purchased from a lovely lady called Kay at Renningers Mount Dora Florida.  She has a booth in a covered area behind the street of shops.

A truly lovely lady who was very generous because they were for wedding shoes.  I am quite excited to get to work on them.  In the meantime I have been crocheting flowers, collecting vintage lace and pearl buttons and turning them into this, drum roll please......

 

 















 





 



Flower girl posy and hair comb, page boy button holes complete and packed in tissue paper along with the wedding party dress hangers.  All the real flowers, bouquets and arrangements have been ordered from a florist and are all to be finished off with natural twine.  The children's crochet things have been finished off with the same twine to bring everything together.

 

 

Still a long way to go, but quite a good start I feel.