PresentPast Collection

Be Still My Heart

While running some very boring errands today, I decided to stop in a few of my favorite antique shops around town. My normal Top 3 so to speak. And as usual, I found a few things that needed to come home with me. Like this old drawer, perfect for photo shoots. I think it adds such character with it's chippy, peely paint. I also picked up a few old locker baskets and a porcelain soap dish. And I never met a creamy white button I didn't like. Even if they had hints of pinks, and blues. Oh, what the heck...I'll take the whole box!

And then... there they were....just as I was about to have the sales gal ring me up....one more quick glance into a booth I had already looked at and...I spotted them!

Two! Yes Two! Vintage store ledgers dating back to 1894. My heart was thumping so hard I thought everyone could hear it! One ledger had 365 pages and the other 604, these were big babies!

The text was so beautiful, detailing each customers purchases. Both ledgers were filled about halfway, ending in 1896. Lucky for me, the dealer that owned them was in the store and willing to do some negotiating!

When she asked me what I was going to do with them, I replied, "Take them home and just look at them".

                            Yep, just look at them!

I Love Surprises!

In addition to working on getting the website up, I've been busy planning another surprise project. One that I'm very excited about and cannot wait to share with you! I should have most of the details ironed out this next week and will fill you all in on the news. So in the meantime I thought I'd share with you some sneak peeks! Here's some photos to tide you over.

In true Present Past style it will include some incredible vintage finds! Like old pink netting, wonderful millinery flowers and beautiful pearls!.

A little bit of rhinestone bling and antique French ribbon!

And perhaps a few old velvet lined jewelry boxes filled with blue taffeta ruffles!

Then toss in a smattering of glittery greeting cards, and this is only a teeny amount of what I have planned....you can see why it's so hard to resist telling you! Isn't this stuff yummy?

Super Kiddos

This is a little girl who adores me! I don't mean to brag or anything...but it's the truth. Promise. She tells me all the time that I'm her favorite Aunt. We do lots of fun things together, like go to Walgreen's to buy junky toys, blow bubbles in my backyard, save birdies that have fallen from their nests, eat mini corn dogs from Weinerschnitzel, pick lots and lots of flowers, watch Elf hundreds of times, and go to Michael's to get things to make craps. (Not a typo!) The last time I had to drive her home she was falling asleep in the backseat and propping her eyelids open with her fingers! Doesn't want to miss anything! She just turned 5 and had the best Tinkerbelle party ever! My world is brighter with this little girl!

Not to be outdone by his sister. This is my nephew. Who also adores me! Who tells me that I'm his favorite Aunt too, every time he sees me. He's my bud! And has the best personality.

Can't you tell? This is what he does when I ask him to smile for me! We have squirt gun wars, dance marathons, play frisbee, make delicious snacks, have sleep overs and watch endless amounts of Nacho Libre. The last time he was over he said to me, "Aunt Heather, have you ever been to a place that you never wanted to leave?' When I said I didn't think so, he replied, "that's how I feel when I come to your house." Melts my heart every time I think about it!

What would I do with out these two bundles of sunshine? Wish I could bottle it up! I hope that your holiday weekend is filled with those you love and those who love you too!!

Yummy Delights

So, I was rummaging through my kitchen drawers the other day and stumbled upon these 1950's jello molds. I probably bought them 5 years ago with the best intentions of making something with them. I was going to put them in our last yard sale but Sweet Girl screamed "Nooooo, I want to keep them! They're cute!" Flash forward to today when I decided, today's the day.

Due to lack of time I pulled out my box of brownie mix, added an extra egg to the batter, threw in a teaspoon of espresso powder and started mixing!

When they came out of the molds, I kept thinking, these are so cute! Sweet Girl was right to make me keep them!

And everyone knows that cute things taste better! Right?

To keep us from eating these over-sized treats, I wrapped some in cellophane and silk ribbon to give away. Sweet Girl's taking some to school tomorrow for a friend's birthday and I'm going to take one to my dear next door neighbor.

And if it was possible I'd send one to all of you!  Of course, now that this was so much fun, I'll have to look for some more molds the next time I'm out on the flea market trail.

Update: I forgot to mention that I sprayed the molds very well with non-stick cooking spray. And if you can't find espresso powder you can use regular espresso available in the coffee aisle of your local grocery store.

Rustic Elegance

I had the most incredible flea market day ever this weekend! I spent all of my money, borrowed the rest of Sweet Girls, took more from The Man and still had to use the ATM machine! This has never, ever happened to me! I was like an addict, scrambling for cash! Who's got some? How can I get it? Where can I get more? Seriously, funny!

There was the sweetest dealer there with her daughter named Violette, I know, adorable! Anyway, I could have probably just had her pack all her stuff into my car and called it a day.  This old, rusty, wire birdcage was one of her items. I thought I'd show you what I did with it.

I adorned the top with scraps of old silk netting and finished it with a vintage millinery flower. I bought sooo many flowers, all from the same gal. Next I grabbed up some of my antique bottles and placed a single rose in each and set them on top of my pressed glass cake pedestal. Voila, instant centerpiece!

I just love the combination of the rusty wire cage and dirty old bottles, mixed the refined roses and proper glass pedestal. I think it makes for a unique table display. I hope you try to use some of your own finds in new, unexpected ways!

In other news, last week I was contacted by the Public Relations Director of Hoffman Media. They are a publishing company and will soon relaunch Victoria magazine in October. Here is a portion of her email:

My name is M’Adele Miller. I work for Hoffman Media, a magazine publishing company in Birmingham, Alabama. I came across your blog and have been keeping myself updated on your posts and comments. I know that life is busy and your time is valuable, and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this!

She goes on to ask for feedback regarding their magazines and such.  What I'm wondering is if anyone else got this email? I'm thinking perhaps it was a mass mailing to any bloggers that may have interest in the relaunch. Pretty good marketing don't you think?

And The Prizes Go To.......

The 1st Place Prize goes to Commenter #42 Gina Armfield of Sweet Sister Gina! Congratulations Gina! 

The 2nd Place Prize is a set of 12 linen and crochet cocktail napkins, along with a vintage millinery flower and French postcard. And this prize goes to Commenter #223 Maggie of Lavender Daze! Congratulations Maggie!

The 3rd Place Prize in the photo is a linen crocheted kitchen towel and sweet vintage postcard. And this prize goes to Commenter #189 Nature Girl of Nature-Trail! Congratulations Nature Girl!

Please email me your addresses so that I can get your packages on their way!  A special Thank You needs to be given to Violets Are Blue for so generously creating a Random Number Generator! I would have been printing and cutting for quite a while without it! Hugs to you!

And I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to every single one of you who stopped by and left such incredibly kind words for me!! Truly, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart Thank You! I want you all to know that I read every single one of them and had fun meeting new people, visiting new blogs and just feeling the love that is so freely expressed in Blogland! Cheers to you all! XOxoXxOxOXO Big kiss, big hug, little kiss, little hug, big kiss, little kiss, big hug, little kiss, big hug, big kiss, big hug!!

We Interrupt This Broadcast......

To say WOW! You guys are amazing! I cannot believe how many of you have stopped by. Truly shocked! It has been so much fun reading your comments and sharing them with my family. Blessings upon blessings. Can't wait till I draw the names!

I'm having the most fantastic day today and wanted to share! Earlier I stopped by the bookstore and picked up the Somerset Life everyone is talking about and found a beautiful book called Tea Party. We all know I love a good party and maybe I'll get some clever ideas for future events.  I plan on sitting outside on the patio and taking some quiet time to myself. I'm listening to a wonderful cd and for dinner I've planned grilled chicken and Italian sausage, spring mix garden salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert! The birds are chirping, there's a light breeze and I'm feeling such pleasure in the art of domesticity today!

Now we can return to our normally scheduled program........see you at the drawing!

100th Post of Gratitude

This is it, the century mark. Time sure flies by and I can't believe I've had 100 things to write about! I'm so glad I started this little blog. It's added such creativity to my life, given me a way to journal my daily happenings, celebrate milestones with loved ones and meet all you fantastic friends that stop by to say hello!  To honor the occasion I created a gift box to give away of 100 Tokens of Gratitude.

Inside I've placed a hundred small little tokens representing one for each post.  It's a collection of new and vintage items that will hopefully brighten someones day!

Tucked inside the vintage wallpaper box is 50 Mother of Pearl buttons, 1 antique cabinet card, 2 velvet birds, 3 photos of Europe, 1 vintage gift card,

3 pieces of French ephemera, 1 bundle of vintage millinery flowers, 3 yds of vintage metallic rick-rack, 5 floral bouquet stickers, 3 antique skeleton keys,

1 hand painted pin tray, 10 gold heart buttons on silk ribbon, 2 packs of vintage seam binding, 5 bingo cards, 1 antique tintype photo, 1 floral postcard, 5 rose labels, 1 packet of small labels and 1 packet of vintage wallpaper scraps. A little something of everything to use in your crafts, artwork or to embellish a gift package!

To be entered in the fun just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name on Sunday, May 20th and post the name of the lucky winner on Monday, May 21st. I'm hoping this will give everyone a chance to put their name in the hat! And there just might be a few 2nd and 3rd place surprises!

UPDATE: Comments for drawing are now closed so that I can pick the winners! Thanks everyone for such wonderful support! Winners will be posted tomorrow! Final comments 279! Wow!

Beach Bash Weekend

Wow! What a full and fun weekend! It all started Friday with Sweet Girl's 16th birthday. It was complete with Hello Kitty cupcakes in hot pink and lime green. I think even some of the boys wore the rings!

  This is their attempt at building a tower moments before it collapsed! They grilled their dinner, swam in the freezing ocean, played the guitar, went to Ruby's on the Pier for milkshakes, then Starbucks to warm up, and then back to make s'mores and eat all those cupcakes!

The evening came to an end with a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. What a birthday to remember! Even The Man and I had a blast!

Saturday was another party at our house for my sister's birthday and an early Mother's Day celebrating. Sorry no pictures from this one but it's probably for the best since we all broke out in a Dance-a-Thon and I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone. Namely me!

Then Sunday I woke up to the sounds of The Man installing a microwave to go with the refrigerator that we bought a week ago. He said that the microwave wasn't my present but that the surprise of it being installed was. Sweet Girl had made a trail of fresh rose petals from the bottom of the stairs all the way to the dining room table where she had a handmade card and beautiful bouquet waiting for me!  After many hours of lounging around the house we all went to get smoothies and did a little shopping for some new sunglasses then finished the day with soup and salad at Mimi's Cafe. I don't think I could have packed more into this weekend if I tried! Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend as well!

Right now I've got to get busy for this weeks party! My next post will mark the 100th and I hope you can come by for a visit! It wouldn't be any fun without all of you!

Extravaganza Weekend

Right now I'm in the middle of the birthday extravaganza at my house. Sweet Girl's 16th is today! Saturday I'm having family over for a BBQ to celebrate my sister's birthday. Then Sunday is Mother's Day.  Which should be called Mother's Day of Rest! Wishing you all a relaxing Mother's Day filled with sweet memories! And to kick off the celebrations here's some Bright and Cheerful inspiration!

P.S. This is post number 98! So looks like next week we'll all be celebrating together!