Let us put by some hour of every day for holy things...

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails.
I will believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil, worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
I trust in Thee.
--Ann Kimmel

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I Really Should Be Doing Something Productive...


...but a promise is a promise. And I did say I would let you in on one of my most infamous tacky vintage addictions. Plastic flowers.

Yes, it's true. I hang my head in pseudo-shame because I know this is about as low as a vintage junkie can go, but the truth is--I love this fakey stuff! 

I didn't always. I grew up living across the road from a country cemetery, and played there every day with my older siblings and cousins. I was rightly and properly indoctrinated by those whose worldly knowledge was much more informed than my own that plastic flowers were trashy. I sniffed in disdain at the graves which had been so decorated. Bad taste!

Then, as has so often happened in my life journey, one day I suddenly saw these cheap, hokey dimestore horrors in a new light. I decided they were only an embarrassment if I allowed them to be, so I began amassing plastic bouquets and showering them about the house with abandon. I have a big boxful of vintage plastic flowers and from time to time, I trade them out to put on display. Claudia has been a plastic flower fan even longer than I have, and we do a bit polite skirmishing over the ones we find at thrift shops and in free boxes at garage sales. 

Here then, are a few examples.

These roses hang beside my sewing machine and cheer me on gloomy Pacific Northwest days.(See close-up above.)  

A Syroco wall pocket holds these flowers over my desk. The blue ones are quite unusual.

You've seen these before, but here they are in more detail. These are arranged in an old TV planter lamp.

These sit on the mantle in our kitchen. The bachelor's buttons are another 'hard to find' plastic variety.

In an old California pottery planter on top of the piano I display this tiny spray. 
 
They also feature frequently in some of my Etsy shop photos, such as these:

 I Love the Flower Child: Ceramic Vase
   www.etsy.com/listing/101624456/i-love-the-flower-child-ceramic-vase

I love that photo. I'd like to have it made into greeting cards, I think. So wonderfully green and bright! 


 VTG Miniature Ballerina Dollwww.etsy.com/listing/124219965/vtg-miniature-ballerina-doll

 Basketweave Cream Pitcher in Harvest Goldwww.etsy.com/listing/124218220/basketweave-cream-pitcher-in-harvest

Same flowers, different item.

Well, enough True Confessions. Next time I'm going to share something I've actually made. It's been a while since I've completed anything crafty, so I'm looking forward to showing you, even if it is a pretty simple affair.

Oh, the BNS sale is still on. You don't have to be an Etsy shop owner to get in on the sale. You can use my coupon codes at checkout for 15% off in either MyPalPeppy or MelmacParadise.
You can find the codes at the BNS:
www.etsy.com/treasury/MTIwNjI0NjB8MjcyMTg2NzI1NQ/openrefreshed-lnq-bns-total-sales-1237 

or go to my shop pages and look at the announcement on page 1.   

 
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