Monday, October 31, 2011

Things That Pour

My mom pointed out to me that I have a problem.

I keep buying things that pour.

I really don't know why. After she pointed it out I caught myself trying to buy another teapot. Maybe it's because the formal china I registered for says it has a tea pot, but I can't FIND IT ANYWHERE to register for it! Anyway. I thought showing off my very small (I swear) collection I might come to terms with it.... or go buy more.

 This was my first set. It started it all. One day when I have a back porch I will serve iced tea out of this to my friends. While I am wearing a floral circle skirt and a button down white cotton blouse. and we are all eating cucumber sandwhat.....? Oh.... Hi.

 OK, I take offense to this being a problem. This is that AMAZING Mexican blown glass that you can't get just anywhere! I needed a Margarita set. Don't judge me.


 Isn't this set the most darling thing? And have you noticed I have a hard time always getting things that have a full set of six glasses. Whatever, It's not like I have six friends..... that are all free at the same time.  BUT this is a blue and white Asian pattern. Just like, the same as Similar to my soon to be china pattern. Yeah. Worth it.

Ok, so I bought the amber decanter set one day, love them, think they are the best thing ever. M NEVER wants to use them! So we come across this crystal set for $20 and he just HAS to have it. Never mind that we just registered for 3 different decanters.  I swear, it is not just me. Case in point:

 
 WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Again, not my fault! I don't even know what to do with this. I suggested we give it away for Christmas, not that anyone would want it.  He said no.

Shesh. I just realized I missed a few.  There is always another day.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Estate Sale Art

Earlier this year M and I discovered a new love while taking a walk in our neighborhood.  Estate Sales!

I have always LOVED old things.  No Joke. I am the person that cannot turn down something that someone offers me.  Unfortunately I don't have any space to re-purpose anything in our current living situation, so estate sales offers the perfect solution. Almost everything at estate sales are still totally nice looking. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of old junk at estate sales that can be messed around with, but for now, nice is better. 

For  my first installment in this series I want to focus on Art.  There is lots of scary, disturbing, expensive, ugly, interesting art to be found at estate sales. From original works priced in the thousands to naked dwarfs.  Here are some pieces we couldn't walk away from.

 This pair was found in a wonderful house/ design studio in the city. It was a cool little narrow building with living quarters on top, and even a little courtyard with a lap pool. There was so much glass art there that I just loved, but alas, it was one of those "they want what for that?" places.

 I have no Idea why M wanted this. I imagine one day it will go in a stuffy man den with leather chairs. For now it is in our bedroom, where the colors match.

 Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Art Deco? My whole wedding is practically Art Deco themed. I love this little piece, it is a valentine from the late 20s and eludes the the Irish tradition of women proposing to men on leap year! AND it is in an Art Deco frame!

 This was a pendant piece, but we only bought the one. It is way cool.

 This was our first estate sale find ever. It is painted silk, and authentically from Japan (or china?) The people who had it were very widely traveled.

 I love Pirates. M likes silly things. We had to buy these. I don't think these are really paintings.

Greek plates. Total random find. There was literally nothing else at the sale when we got there. got them all for like 20 bucks.

Next time, things that pour.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Its been awhile .....

.... Since I last..... posted to this blog. But I still fully intend to keep my section on the internet alive and running! A whole lot has happened since my last blog post 1 year ago today. Updates anyone?

It is my second year of teaching! woo! Now that I am older and wiser I hope to have more time to write about my creative genius. If this site goes dead again you can always check out what I am up to over at my school website. Which I am updating with renewed vigor now that my city has been named an "Any Given Child" city by the Kennedy Canter. What does this mean for me? My school district has created the Creative Classroom Initiative, which is their section of the Kennedy center program. My school is one of 4 pilot elementary schools that is working to integrate arts into the general classroom. We have all this grant money to do all of this stuff, and it will be great....... but it is slow going. If you want to know about it, I blog in depth about what we are doing on my school webpage.


I also got engaged! I have been trying to plan a wedding the past few months. expect some annoying wedding posts. It seems my life and interests are changing every day, but they are essentially staying the same. I still love all the things I always have, but now they are connected to weddings, and more parts of a house then just the craft room, and other crazy things I never cared about before!

New topics I will probably be exploring:
Estate sale finds (new love)
Re-Decorating and Organizing.
Buying a house?
Wedding Crap.
Art Lesson Plans (wait, is this new? I meant to start this last year... Oops.)
Things I have learned, done, and tips of the trade for other Art teachers (A how to? Maybe only useful for students and other newbies)
Scans of lesson plans form an old (experienced) Teacher (to share, because this job is hard enough without being greedy little hoarders.)

I'll leave you with some cute scans that can be used for free time this Halloween season.