A Little Friday Love for My Antique Secretary Desk

Look what Dad got me for Christmas!


I don't have an office in this house, and I needed a workspace that would also prevent little hands from getting to my computer. This secretary was the perfect solution!

Across the top of it I placed a clock (not antique or vintage, but we have had it for over ten years), my pantry box, a great Victorian paper weight with a pic of my little ones and my sweet chalkware girl.


The paper weight was a gift from my Mom and Dad during the last Christmas we spent with my Mom before she passed. Dad put the photo of the kids in the paper weight--it was actually a photo from our Christmas card that year. I think about how little Ella was, and how I lost my Mom just two months later. It makes me a little sad when I look at it, but I like to be thinking of my Mom, sad or not.


I especially like the drawer pulls on this desk:


And of course all of the little compartments on the inside:


So when you think of me blogging, picture me here:


How have you incorporated your love for antiques or vintage into your daily workspace?

A Little Friday Love for My Antique Sewing Cabinet

I was lucky to receive this antique "Make Do" 19th century Sewing Cabinet on my last trip to see my Dad. He had the little cabinet, and he added the dowels and the vegetable ivory pin cushion to make a little sewing cabinet.


The vegetable ivory pin cushion is so sweet--the needles that are in it are from my Grandmother's sewing basket. She made dresses for my sister and I when we were little girls. I like to think about Meemaw when I am working on some small piece of hand sewing.

I recently purchased some Guterman thread, which came in a clear plastic case. I think the spools are so much cozier in their little drawers, don't you?


My Dad embodies the term "Yankee ingenuity." According to Wikipedia, Yankee ingenuity is an American English reference to the self-reliance of early colonial settlers of New England, United States. It describes an attitude of make-do with materials on hand.

Another wonderful addition to my collection. Thanks again, Dad for bringing me these little treasures.

This post is a part of the following link parties:

A Small, Beautiful Pantry Box

I have been meaning to post about a beautiful gift that my Dad gave me for my birthday this past October. It is a small, oval, antique pantry box. He has had several of them in his space over at Cabot Mill, and has been selling some in his Ebay auction as well. I am always admiring them, and he knew that I liked this particular one that I saw on a recent visit home.


My readers know that I have a chimney cupboard--I can envision it in an older time, filled with these boxes. Here is an excerpt about their history that I found online:

"Colonial women kept dairy products and grains well away from the cooking hearth, in small rooms called “butteries.” Like today’s homemakers, they fought an ongoing battle to keep bugs and mice away from flour, sugar, and other dry comestibles whose storage posed a problem until the introduction of covered stoneware crocks and their even more expedient successor, the pantry box." You can read more about them here.

This pantry box is not large, but in my eyes it is truly beautiful. It was made during a time when things were simpler.


Thanks Dad. I love it.

This post is a part of the following link parties:

Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Making the World Cuter Monday

Tell Me Tuesday Link Party Faves and A Great Old Milk Jug

Happy Monday! What a weekend we have had! We spent last week finishing packing up the house, on Saturday we packed the moving truck (thanks to all of our friends and family that lent a hand) and Sunday we started settling in. Now Monday is here, I am sitting in our new family room next to the pellet stove writing this post!

I was so excited to have as many entries as I did in the link party last Monday--I have always felt like crafty link parties have given me great inspiration--and hosting one myself is so much fun! But before I share my three favorite entries, I wanted to share with you a great antique that we picked up in Maine a few months ago.


The shining star of the new place is a stone chimney and fireplace. (Pics of that to come) and it has a great mantle and hearth. We knew the minute that we saw this old milk jug that it would look great on the hearth!


The best part? It says "Christopher" on it, which is my husband's name!


I like the old paint on it, too, and the great wear and tear from over the years. The top is stamped "Rodar So, Cal." It was $15 bucks!


Nice little sneak peek of the stonework I gave you on the fireplace, eh?


And now to my three favorite entries from last week's party:

CoBabe in Suburbia's Coffee Filter Wreath:

I made some coffee filter peonies last summer in preparation for my daughter's Lemonade and Sunshine Social Birthday Party, and this wreath reminds me of the simplicity of the project!

Oopsey Daisy's T is for Thanksgiving Kid's Packet:

I was happy to share this link with my friends on Facebook--so many of them have young children that will be home for vacation this week, and I thought that all of the fun printables, coloring pages and food crafts would be a hit!

And finally my favorite, Pleasant Home's Scrappy Selvage Quilt:


Seriously-- I am drooling over this project! A friend just turned me on to all of the small selvage edge projects that are all over Etsy--I can't imagine the work it entails to make a selvage edge project of this size!

So thanks to everyone for participating--and if I featured you as one of my faves, please grab a Feature Button from my Buttons page.


I hope you found a new project to inspire you--and don't forget to join me tomorrow for Tell Me Tuesday!

A Peek at My Dad's Space at Cabot Mill Antiques

For those of you who have read this blog for a bit, you know that it us inspired by the antique shop that my parents ran for nearly 20 years in Bath, Maine and the Ebay auction site that they held for nearly as many years.

Since my Mom's passing in 2009, my Dad closed the shop in Bath, but opened a space in Brunswick Maine's Cabot Mill Antiques. He has also kept the Pollyanna's Antiques Ebay site active. On a recent visit back home to Maine, Chris and the kids and I visited my Dad's space.

Here he is with James standing in his space--surrounded by all of the antiques he loves--creels, lures, early tools, baseballs, tins, duck decoys, and early furniture.


I really love how he has displayed the creels on some branches he brought in from home. Decorating a small space like this--after having an entire shop of his own means that every inch has to be organized to tell the story in a way that is efficient.


Dad's duck decoys have always been a favorite of James'--since he could walk every time we visited home he could be found walking around the house with a decoy in his hand!


And check out the high chair! Take a look in the basket: anyone need a vintage baseball glove? I also love the floor--Cabot Mill is housed in a 15,000 square foot space in Fort Andross, which was originally a textile mill. The floor tells the story of years of labor!


My Dad makes the checkerboards from old breadboards. See, a little old, a little new, a little new and old, a little handmade and I love it all! Take a look on top of the table below, there are two pantry boxes stacked on top of one another--Dad gave me one for my birthday and I will be featuring it this coming Friday. I especially love the paint on this old table:


A close up of some of the many tins that Dad has available for sale:


If you are ever in Brunswick , Maine and want to take a look at the great antiques available at Cabot Mill, visit this link to learn more.


And if you want to take a look at Pollyanna's Antiques' Ebay store, click here. Dad has some fun items on right now:

19th Century Vegetable Ivory Thimble Holder

1842 Sewing Book "Handbook of Needlework"

Lot of Ten 1890 Victorian Calling Cards

Last week he had a beautiful antique white Fiesta-ware bowl with three red stripes on his auction. Apparently it was a sought-after piece because it sold for over $1,000!

I am happy that my Dad can keep his love of antiques alive with his space at the mill and in his Ebay auctions. And hey--his brithday is this Friday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

A Little Friday Love for My Antique Bench

One of my most prized possessions is my antique bench.


Just ask my husband. We have moved out West and back in the 12 years that I have owned it, and it was lovingly wrapped with layer upon layer of bubble wrap and moving blankets, swaddled like a newborn each trip.


The bench was a present from my parents. What a gift! I look at it every day and I think of them. I think of the day I walked into the shop and it was sitting there, adorned with white ribbons and vintage silk roses, waiting for me.


How old is it? I don;t really know. Deacon's bench? Parson's bench? Just a bench? I don't know. It is one of those things that I should have asked my Mom while I still could. Where did she get it? Not sure. I will need to ask my Dad when I talk to him this weekend. Then I will post back about what he says. My guess? They found it at a flea market or an estate sale. I am sure it came out of a sweet New England farm house.


I love the little details. The patina. The craftsmanship.


The antique hardware.


I have it filled with pillows made from beautiful carpet or quilt or homespun remnants.


It is simply beautiful and it brings me such pleasure.


Won't you come and sit enjoy a cup of coffee and some conversation with me?

What is your most prized vintage or antique piece?

This post is a part of:

A Little Friday Love for My Hoosier

I've decided that a great way to show off my vintage collections is to start a theme day for Fridays. I'm calling it "A Little Friday Love" and I hope you become a regular Friday reader to see what I'm showing off for that week!

This week I am sharing one of my most beloved peices of antique furniture--my Hoosier cabinet. This cabinet sat in my Mom and Dad's antique store for about 12 years. It was always displayed with the doors open and vintage and retro kitchen goodies pouring out of it.

I always, always wanted it for my very own, and when my Dad closed the shop lat year he asked me if there were items that I wanted from it and I expressed my longing for the Hoosier. It now sits in my dining room and every time I look at it I think of my parents.

Knowing my love for vintage tins, my Dad has been giving me a few every visit we make to Maine--so I have a nice collection that now sits atop the Hoosier.


Some of these tins are quite rare--but it isn't their collect-ability that I love about them--it is the colors, the graphic design on the labels, the feeling of living in a simpler world that draws me to them.


Nestled in the back on the right-side of the photo below is a prized glass jar with a metal lid that reads "Gold-Brand Pure Leaf Lard Geo. C. Napheys & Son, Philadelphia." It has quickly become one of my most favorite pieces. It will also have a central spot in Ella's Lemonade & Sunshine Birthday Social, as I will be filling it with wildflower on the cake table.


Hanging from each upper cabinet door (the hardware, by the way makes me positively giddy) is a handmade potholder from my dear friend Stephanie over at Built to Last. Though not made from vintage materials, she also has a love for old things and an eye for fabrics that certainly evokes vintage.


Inside each of the upper cabinet doors is a label. One is "Helpful Cooking Tips" and the other is a place to list Flavouring Extracts. The latter label also has a list of patents for parts of the Hoosier, which start in 1906.


You might think that the cabinet is filled with kitchen items, or china, but I actually use it as a sewing cabinet. The upper portion houses my sewing machine and my sewing basket, the middle portion and the lower cabinet hold all of my fabrics.

If you have been reading this blog over the last week, you have likely seen the Hoosier featured in other projects. I like to hang sewing projects on it to photograph them.



If you want some collectible tins for yourself, head on over to Pollyanna's Ebay auction. My Dad has a great Eight o'Clock Coffee Tin up for auction. It is definitely a fun tin, as it was to hold 3lbs of coffee!

Thanks for visiting me for the first installment of "A Little Friday Love!" I hope you come back soon. Please follow me, and leave a comment about how you found me.

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