Cherries In The Kitchen

School is out for summer!
Mr Bill was out of town fishing this weekend so I pulled out my summer totes to do some decorating. I love decorating for the different seasons.

My brothers and I would spend a few weeks every summer at my grandparents. They had a home in Milwaukee but a trip to the lake house was always on the agenda.
Even after 40 years, I still feel the pull of the lake each summer.

I love to evoke a cottage feel with my summer decorating reminiscent of all those lazy summer days.

I opened each tote revealing various themes. 
I have a collection of shells, sailboats and nautical stuff.  
I wasn't feeling that though.
 I looked through my strawberry stuff which is always cute. 
This summer the cherries really captivated my attention.  
My grandmother had a cherry tree at the lake. I remember her working in her precious garden in her huge sun hat. I distinctly remember her worrying that the birds would eat her fruit.
Granny would can her bounty for pies and sauces. 
She made the best pies!
As my daughter and I sat and chatted over coffee, I sprinkled cherries and fruit around the kitchen. 

I found a set of beaded fruit at a thrift store for $8.00. 

The cherries came from an antique shop. 

 One of the strawberries is a little beaded thing with velvet. 

This type of fruit was a popular craft kit in the 50's & 60's. 
I can visualize ladies in their pearls and dresses creating these cuties.
I bet you could do something like this today with plastic or foam fruit.

                

The little cup was a Christmas ornament years ago.
I "canned" my own cherries with some artificial ones I found at the craft store.

I pulled out white dishes 
& all my milk glass vases.
These are accented with a few red transferware pieces.
I am wild about transferware and have collected it in a few different colors. 
The iron trivets were my grandmother's.

 The teapot is Pink Castles by Johnson Brothers. 

I love transferware and have started collecting it in several colors. 

The berry basket came from one of our antiquing trips out by the lake.
Read about it here. 

The sampler was $1.99 from Goodwill.

The wall color is Kilim Beige from Sherwin Williams.

Mr. Bill loves cherry pie so I thought it was perfect.

Last summer when I painted the kitchen I put up these battenburg lace valences. I found them for $10.00 a piece at Walmart. Having survived the battenburg craze of the 90's, I wasn't sure how long they would stay but I just love them. 

Imagine them fluttering in the breeze... if this wasn't Texas and we actually had a breeze! Instead imagine them fluttering in the air conditioning. :)

The vintage rolling pin was $5.00.

  I'm still loving my Tuesday Morning and Walmart dish towels. I rolled them up and put them in this thing. I am still not sure exactly what it is, but it was only $4.00 at the junk store. It adds a pop of red to that corner.

I am wild about this cute cherry plate. Since Mr. Bill was out of town I had to make a little stop at the antique mall. It was relaxing and fun. Antique malls are my favorite way to decompress.

I am totally feeling the love for my vintage salesman's sample stove. It was in the laundry room for a while. I played with this as a child. Barbie didn't have a groovy stove in my mansion.

The stove print came from Goodwill. 

Vintage cookbooks are the best source for those church potluck type of dishes.

Can you believe I had recipe cards with cherries in my file? These are as old as my marriage.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Mr. Bill's birthday is coming up and his favorite is cherry pie.

The rolling pin belonged to one of the aunts or grannies. I love it because it is heavy and gets the job done.

The pie pan is Southern Living At Home.

Happy Summer!

I hope you will take time to relax as the summer season approaches.

I think I will make a pie!

Sprinkled with cherries,

Katie

Linking with,

Debbie Doos Newbie Party 

& Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

&Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch 

& Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage

Copy Cat Southern Living

For a while I was enamored with Southern Living at Home.

Southern Living is one of the premier magazines here in the south. Is it popular up north as well?
Years ago every new bride had a subscription. Their multi-level marketing company was a way to get the cute stuff featured in the magazine through home parties. 

It is the only party based sales thing I have ever seriously considered. I almost signed up to be a consultant because so many of the items in the catalog were as cute as can be and created that "look". The kit was pretty reasonable too, only $199.00. I chickened out because I am just not a sales person. I am pretty sure that once I had called all my friends and relatives  and invited them to a party, I probably would never have marketed the company again.

 10 years ago when they first started, they had things no one else really did.

I went to a few parties and bought some things. 

I got the pie plate.

I got the ribbon plate and stand for a Christmas gift exchange. 

I also got the iron baker surround.

This stuff was hot around here for a while, then it simmered, only to be bought out by Willow House about two years ago.

I still love the look but I quit buying because of the shipping and handling charges. By the time those were added on these decorative items could get pretty pricey. 

So...

I got creative trying to duplicate the look. 

I don't know if you have Hobby Lobby in your part of the country, but it is one of my favorite places to go.

They have great sales and if you wait a week or two the item you want will be half off.  I can always find something super cute for a fraction of the price. So just for fun let us compare.

I love the Jamestown Tray; a SLAH classic.

It retails for 57.96 plus shipping and handling.

I found this tray at Hobby Lobby.

It was about $19.99 but I got it for $9.99.

I got some plexis glass from the craft section and cut it to fit.

I also loved this.

The Galveston Wall Art and Planter.

This retailed for $129.00 plus s & h.

I found this one at HL half off for $14.99.  

Now mine is smaller but I think this one with the wood surround is even cuter.
I also was in love with their lanterns.

One of these is currently $31.96.
I got this one at my favorite thrift for $8.00.

It is even bigger than the ones available at Willow House.


I was captivated by these square vases.

I got this at the craft store for $2.00. 

They were in the candle making section. 
They fit perfectly inside this Rosedale Planter that I picked up at the thrift for $3.00. The Rosedale Planters retailed for $24.95 for a large one and a small one. 
They were some of the more affordable items.

Basically I am a cheap. I don't love paying shipping and handling. So, here is what I do when confronted with an at 

home party. If there is something I love and it is not available anywhere else, I will usually get it, especially if it helps out a friend.

But, if I can find that look some other way I will shop around.

One of my favorite things to score at an antique shop or thrift store is an older piece from SLAH. 

I found this Jamestown Centerpiece that retailed for
$39.99 back in 2007. I picked it up for $12.00. 

I don't know about you, but I can get caught up in the buzz at the party and then ultimately have buyer's remorse once the party is over. I guess it happens to others sometimes too because I have found a quite a few of their things this way. 

I love the old catalogs.  
The photos are beautiful and they are packed full of great ideas.
Ebay has a good selection of many discontinued SLAH items. 


Do you have a favorite catalog to copy cat? 
Please share it with me in the comment section.
Sprinkled with southern finds,
Katie

Roses, Daisies, Sunflowers and More

I thought I would show you some images of flowers that I have had in the house over the last few months.

It has been such a busy week at school that I haven't had time for many projects. I will be back in the swing of things next week. 

  These were grocery store roses. 

They were so beautiful. 

My husband gave them to me to wish me a 

"Happy Spring Break."

These were from one of my darling students who remembered purple is my favorite color.

I thought these from my yard were so beautiful.

I haven't had them so gorgeous in a number of years.

My darling Mr. Bill sent me these for our anniversary. He was out of town on business. 

 He has been really drawn to yellow this spring. 

   

Finally, my dear daughter got me these for Mother's day.

They lasted about a week.

My youngest got me these for Mother's Day.

Can you tell I am into ball jars? They make

such cute vases.

One of my favorite indulgences is fresh flowers.

But I don't always have something in the yard blooming.

Thankfully grocery store flowers have come a long way since I was a young bride.

To get the best blooms check with your store to find out when they get their flower shipment. 

Sprinkled with posies,

Katie 
Linking with,
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch 
& Newbie Party over at Debbie Doos 
& Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage