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.

The comforts of Home

Now that the clocks have been turned back and the Hallowe'en decorations stored away, we start thinking of how to make our homes cozier. (Time to put away the macabre candelabras. DIY tip: They came from Homesense and were ivory with a dusting of silver. I just spray painted them black to fit my Hallowe'en décor.) Even if we've programmed our house to be the same temperature summer and winter, we feel a stronger need to nestle as the days get darker and colder. 

You don't need to redo your home with the seasons, carting the "summer accessories" to a dedicated storage room, though I've seen it done. Instead, have a storage bin that holds a few things that come out as seasons change. Pillows can get different covers that evoke light and cool in the summer and richness and warmth in the winter. Blankets and quilts store away well until they're needed, perhaps just layered on a spare bed. Garden themed displays give way to pumpkins and golden hues. 

The most important accessories are those that hold meaning. Look for vintage frames for pictures of loved ones, pick up a special memento of each trip you take, remember a day in the country with a display that will remind you of the fun you had. Move just a few things around to new spots in your home. It's easy to look past something if you see it every day. 

Transformations

Finding and transforming sad, broken pieces of furniture is incredibly rewarding. Made with care many years ago, families celebrated life's milestones around a dinner table, bounced children on now worn chairs or connected across the miles with loved ones using the phone on the telephone table (the what?). Now we have the chance to bring more years to something that might otherwise have been discarded. It's our joy and pleasure to bring these pieces to you.