Grandma's Earrings

To wax nostalgic.  I remember when I was a little girl, my family would travel to visit my Grandma Iva in Clayton, IL.  There were a lot of things to love about grandma and visiting her.  The smell and taste of homemade bread, homemade noodles and well, homemade just about everything.  Another thing I loved was her jewelry.  And to keep me entertained, my mom and grandma would sit me in front of her jewelry and let me look through it, admire it, try it on!  I LOVED it!  I also loved her salt and pepper shaker collection but that’s a story for another day.  Back to the jewelry, more specifically her earrings.  Wow, the earrings she had.  Clips back in those days of course.  Dripping with wonderful baubles and jewels.  They seemed so glamorous.

So where am I going with this?  Well, the answer is in the photos you're seeing.  Kind of in memory, kind of for nostalgia, and partly because I like to do a little creating and crafting, I came up with a way to recycle or upcycle earrings from that era.  I’m turning them into hair barrettes.  And with each one I make I get to remember my grandma and relive those days of admiring myself in the mirror in my grandma’s earrings.  

The ones shown in the photos here are currently for sale at Evalina’s Antique Cafe in Columbia, IL.  Barbara is the owner there.  When you visit, tell her Debbie (the one that makes the barrettes) sent you.  She has a wonderful shop with a variety of treasures.  You’ll find everything from furniture to crystal to quilts to clothes, jewelry and accessories.  Her shop is located at 124A South Main Street in Columbia.  Her phone number is 618.520.0569 and email is evalinasantiquecafe@yahoo.com.  Her hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 to 4 on Saturday.  As I’d suggest with any locally owned shop, I’d call before you trek far to make sure she is open.  My experience with small businesses is that they sometimes, over time tweak their hours.  And it’s no fun to drive a distance, anticipating all the while what treasures you’ll find, only instead to find, they’re not open.  Ready, set, SHOP!

SATURDAY IN MARION

I know, it's been awhile since you heard from me.  The holidays, sick parents, yada yada yada, but I'm back at it again, at least for now.  And I had wonderful luck shopping on Saturday.  We went down to our cabin south of Carbondale this past weekend.  Saturday morning we headed out for Marion but stopped at a tag estate sale in Carbondale first.  There, I got my best buy of the day actually.  I scored 3 vintage, (aged at least) large concrete urns for - get this - $10 each!!!  Can you freaking believe it??? I couldn't.  I know they're worth a lot more than that, I just don't know how much more, do you know their worth?  If you do, let me know.  I also picked up a concrete pedestal base for a birdbath or other ornamentation for just $5 and a smaller concrete urn, also for $5.  That's right, all 5 pieces for just $40!  Of course, the guys were less than enthused about the purchase, they had to load them in and out of the truck, but then why did John buy the truck if not to haul concrete urns around for his wife!

So, after loading the concrete we were on to Marion where we shopped three antique stores.  We visited Marion Antique Mall at 503 N. Madison (phone 618-579-9124; Warehouse Antique Mall at 600 N. Van Buren (phone 618-997-7810); and Whitecotton Antique Mall at 10348 Whitecotton Road (phone 618-995-2058).  There are a few more antique shops in and around Marion but we ran out of daylight and so they are for another day.  We had luck at all 3 of the shops, below are photos of some of our treasures.  We found 4 vintage Mexican painted clay flower pots for $3.50 each ($14 total), a vintage tole painted metal pot with lid for $2.50 (I love the color), a beautiful antique watercolor in an equally beautiful mat and frame for $32 (and perfect subject matter for the cabin decor), a pair of large cast iron brackets with oak leaves and acorns (no photo, sorry) for $40, an Imperial vintage creamware planter for $2 (I collect these), the cutest vintage framed print of a man's bald head and a baby's bald head with a saying about the comparison (my hubby's bald so I loved that for the bathroom wall) and a vintage wall pocket of deer in cattails (I also collect things with deer because we see so many down at the cabin and I have fallen in love with them) for $5.

I bought the Mexican clay pots to go on a wrought iron plant stand I bought last summer at a yard sale for $5.  I saw one exactly like it in one of the shops and it was priced $75!  I don't think its worth THAT much but I think the $5 was a good buy.  I'm planning on planting some succulents in them this spring.  The covered metal pot is going to be used for storing dog food in at the cabin.  And the large cast iron brackets are going to be used in the upcoming remodel of the cabin.  I haven't decided yet where or exactly how they are going to be used but that's half the fun, figuring it out.  I may mount them on the wall of the planned half bath and then top them with a piece of antique marble we have and place a sink on or in the marble.  Or I may use them for shelf supports in the kitchen.  Or I may have another, better idea by the time we get around to doing the remodel.  Do you have any ideas?

The watercolor is going to be hung in our bedroom (at the cabin) when we complete the remodel.  I'm going to be decorating with a masculine, lodge/cabin type of decor.  I'd like to find wool Indian Blanket(s) to cover the bed with and use dark woods and I have a small Eastlake table to use as a bedside table.  Its all still very much a work in progress.  I'll definitely keep you posted with before and after photos when we start the remodel later this year (hopefully, fingers crossed).