I am loving having a booth at the Hamilton Antique Mall. Every day, I wonder how many people pass by. I would love to know what is going through each person's mind when they wander through and see our products for sale. Do they see where they could put the offerings in their own homes? I know when I see things I love, I ask myself, "where does this belong in my life"? 

I am always thinking about the next stage in my life and where I want to be and what I want to have in my home, garden and community. For my husband and I, our next move is related to our retirement. I see my new home with mostly repurposed and handmade furniture. We'll be living in a VERY rural area, so I'll want to up-cycle as much as possible. I see things like what are in our booth to put in our home to enjoy for many, many years to come. Here is one example of things I love. The hutch on the bottom is a perfect coffee bar station that I can put pretty much anywhere - a guest room, a games room or an office. The small end table can go in the living room, a bedroom or basement TV room. We really strive to ensure our products can serve multiple purposes in a home. 

I can see everything here in more than one room our a home. How about you?

Vintage Cedar Chest Makeover

I am so happy with the way this cedar chest makeover turned out. I used a number of chalk and mineral paint colours (Dixie Belle Cobalt Blue and Kudzu, as well as Annie Sloan Provence and blended them. I have to be honest, I was really worried about how bold these colours were and how they would blend together. I have never done a project this "out there" before. I chose the colours based on the peacock transfer from Prima Re-design. I had a heck of a time finding the perfect transfer to use so this sat in my hubby's work shop (aka the garage) for a while. 

Here is the chest open. It has a lovely additional box on the left side for smaller items. 

This photo and the next one are the sides of the chest and I decided to add a smaller peacock beneath the handles. The quality of these photos isn't the greatest - sorry about that!

 

I really tried to capture the vibrant peacocks so decided to have the lightest colours in the centre. I took a risk with the cobalt blue on the top and bottom of the chest. All of the You Tube videos I watched started with one colour at the top and ended with a different colour on the bottom. 

Here is the whole chest. I sealed it with Annie Sloan Clear Wax.

When I picked up the chest, it was locked and I was told there was no key. There was something inside but I initially couldn't open it. I had a feeling that MDH (My Dearest Husband) would be able to MacGyver this open for me.  He did and guess what was inside? Yup, you guessed it, the KEY! I have noticed that most vintage cedar chests don't have a key any longer. 

Here is the before:

I'd love to know what you think of this. I love it, but I could be a little biased. 

Such Exciting Times for Champagne Shabby!

We may have been quiet as mice, but we've never stopped playing with our paints.  In fact, we decided at the beginning of the month to take a booth at the Hamilton Antique Mall!  We're so happy to be able to share our goodies with you in one place, so be sure to visit us on the Lower Level, Booth 01C.  

We're just thrilled with the response, and have been back to restock a few times now with pretty pieces we're really proud of.  We want to bring to you beautiful handcrafted and repurposed home decor items to enhance your home.  Let us know what you’re looking for so we can be sure to keep our eyes out.

Donna and Veronica

New Year, New Plans

What the heck happened?  It was the beginning of December and...poof!  It's the beginning of January!  The good news is, it was a whirlwind of fun and family for all of us.  The Champagne Shabby girls spent quality time together celebrating the season and enjoying each other's excellent cooking. I don't have any incriminating photos, however. There may be some New Year's photos, but I haven't seen them yet. What can I show you, then?  

Well, I'll go with a couple of shots of my decorations as I packed them back up. Some are my grandmother's and others I've found when antiquing.  Their faded beauty is right in keeping with our love of charming house goodies. We have lots of ideas for sharing that love for this New Year!

Dollar Store Christmas Decor

Red berries. I just love red berries. In the summer, they're in the form of raspberries in the garden, and in winter, they're wreaths. Two big ones on my doors and now in my front hallway. Pretty and pretty simple.

Here are the instructions: 1. Clear off your front hallway table. In my case, a beautiful dry sink my parents bought many years ago at auction. You can read about those childhood auctions here. 2. While at the dollar store buying plastic plates and glasses for your company Christmas lunch, grab up a bunch of the great little berry wreaths you come across. 3. Pile the little wreaths in an incredibly cool vintage turkey feeder (a turkey feeder!) from a farmer or from Oliver and Rust's October Show, which was so much fun.

And yes, it's that easy!

Vintage Christmasware

Get ready for it. This is the weekend that Christmas gets sprinkled all over the house for many people. I don't redo Christmas decorations every year or even every couple of years, unlike the sister of a certain business partner. ( let's see if she reads this. If I'm uninvited to the Christmas party, then I'll know!). For years, I've put out the same things in the same places, but last year I cut way back. No really, I did. I'll bet the guys didn't think so, or notice I showed incredible restraint.

 That doesn't mean I won't pick up something great when I see it, like this cool retro candy dish from the incredibly cool store Monastiriki in Montréal. Seriously, how could I NOT buy it! I can just see those little melty, minty pastel pillows on my grandmother's coffee table, just waiting for grandchildren. This little piece will fit perfectly with my antique furniture and quilts. I love this one too much to sell, but we'll be gathering up some great finds  for the etsy shop for you!

A Champagne Shabby garden tale

The garden is put to bed for another year. Not as well as I'd like, with compost and manure spread around to break down over the winter, but it'll have to do. I have flowers, but my favourite gardening is vegetable gardening. I love bringing in food from my own garden for dinner. Today, I pulled out the leeks, which are on the left, and the last of the green onions. 

I especially love what I call grocery store gardening. I don't grow everything from seed, like I did the leeks.  Some things, I grow from other things. Take the green onions you see in the sink as a super simple example. When you chop off the top, you're chopping off roots, right?  Well, take them back out to the garden, make a hole with your finger and pop the roots into the ground. 

See that's little brown knob?  That's the root from the original green onion. All it takes is time and water. They're so slim ( ok, maybe not this guy) you can put them anywhere in your garden, including shadier spots. 

I've trimmed the onions and when I trim the leeks down, all the greens will go in my plastic freezer bag which right now holds some chicken bones. I'll thaw them and other good scraps another day, for soup or risotto stock. 

What on earth does this have to do with Champagne Shabby?  Well, all three of us hate waste and are looking to use more of what is already out there.  This is just another example of the Champagne Shabby lifestyle. Not cheap - resourceful. What do you think?  

Fragrant fire starters

I love my wood burning fireplace. I've thought about converting it to flip-the-switch gas, but I can't resist the smell of a real wood fire. 

I also love of rosemary and sage on a fire. It reminds me of a restaurant friends and I used to love in Toronto- Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar. A smouldering rosemary sprig would come to the table with one of the dishes, enhancing our sensory experience of a delicious meal. 

I grow lots of Rosemary and sage in my garden, but they don't last through the winter. I make sure I dry lots before the frost gets them. I hang them to dry in the kitchen, then crumble them and store them in jars until they grow again in the spring. Rather than get herb leaves all over the place, I put the dry branches in a bag before removing the leaves from the stems. The stems then get tied and put with the logs, ready to add to the enjoyment of the fireplace. 

Sage will come back - cut it back well so it's not too woody. Rosemary is an annual in colder climates, but is a perennial where it's warmer. I've been able to overwinter it outside if the winter isn't too cold by covering it with a cloche.

Mid November beauty

I took this today.  My favourite colour of roses. This is New Dawn. 

Inspiration - That Perfect Piece

We're always on the lookout for things to beautify the home. We never know where we're going to find something wonderful.

Take these two beauties for example. Donna scored them on a recent weekend pick, and they're so lovely - Victoria Magazine lovely, I think. Chintzware is a beautiful type of China which is often featured in Victoria Magazine. I won't bore you with my research here, but here's a link to a good article on this decorative tableware. The wineholder was a must have (it's definitely our kind of wineholder, able to hold 4 bottles of wine!) We'll be putting these two on the etsy shop, along with other great finds I'll write about in the next while.