There's a Raven in My Halloween Haven

And he's perched on one of my new Halloween pillar candles...

This is the second year in a row that I've gone a bit mad for Halloween decor, and it's almost as much fun as decorating for Christmas but far less time-consuming and far less costly.

Here is the black iron floor candelabra I found at the Brimfield Antiques Show last month, complete with pillar candles and a Dia de Los Muertos ornament I found at a shop in Provincetown over the summer.
(I have a close-up photo of the Dia de Los Muertos ornament but it must be possessed because it won't upload).

I didn't post it on last month's Brimfield entry, but now my secret's out: I visited my favorite awesome hardware dealer to buy some skeleton keys. These were $2 to $3 apiece so I was able to purchase a bunch. I intentionally chose some with rust, and tried to find different shapes and sizes.

Keys are so symbolic – evocative, hopeful and mysterious.
What doors did they once unlock? Perhaps secret rooms filled with many treasures.

I decided to use them as ornaments on my Halloween tree.

I also found a bunch on a keychain from another dealer. Could they have belonged to a creepy butler or superintendent from decades gone by?

Yes, I've gone batty for skeleton keys.

The vintage Kron owl TV lamp is from last year.
Who's guarding the skeleton keys? He is.

The living room is a warm room and gets used more in the cooler months so I put most of the decorations here.

In the coming weeks I'll probably buy a couple of pumpkins, which I can place atop the two round coffee tables in this photo's foreground.

Here's proof that you can really decorate on the cheap. I found the jointed paper skeleton at the Dollar Tree store, which, you guessed it, was $1.

Arrrrrr... ya ain't never gonna leave this house.

And here's something I found for free in nature on one of my evening walks: fallen bare tree branches from an overly blustery day. They make an easy centerpiece, and I especially like their curvy shapes. I left a few of the dry leaves intact, just as I found them.

Finally, moving down to my long, funky hallway, I splurged a little on black silk Halloween chandelier shades from Ballard Designs. They add just the right spooky touch when combined with dusty magical crystals.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope it's frightfully fun.

Fields of Fortune (& Furniture): Brimfield, September 2015

Yes, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are coming to an end, and there's that yearly feeling of time whizzing by and "if only I could make it slow down."

The last Brimfield Antiques Show of 2015 was this past week, and it seemed like one of the most fruitful for me. This time I went on a Friday, despite gloomy weather reports, and the choice of merchandise seemed especially abundant.

The first treasure I discovered was this perfect small wrought iron console for my newly redecorated hallway (see previous post).

Italian console with beveled glass top - measures approx. 28" long x 25.25" tall x 13.5" wide.

The inside of the planter? at the bottom says "Made in Italy." I really love its curvy, airy, understated elegance, and it fits the space perfectly.

This is how the hallway setup looks now:

The other substantial piece I found was this black wrought iron floor candelabra that was 50% off from $120 down to $60.

I'm not sure how old it is – maybe 1960s? – but to me it has a cool Gothic look, especially the ornate rounded candle holders. This will be really great next month when I decorate for Halloween. The holders fit standard size pillar candles. I currently have it placed next to my living room fireplace, but I might move it into the hallway.

The next item I purchased falls into the "You bought that?!" category, and my reply is "Yes!" Half the fun of going to Brimfield is that you often don't know what you'll end up hauling home. This groovy, swinging 60s, hot pink vinyl wig case is a great example.

Is it Liza? Twiggy? An actress from Andy Warhol's Factory?

I love the "Carousel" logo and the repeated black silhouette, which appears on the back and both sides.

There's also a second mini box inside with a black plastic handle. It's kind of ratty so I didn't photograph it.
The woman who sold it to me had it marked at $25 but really wanted to sell it so she let me buy it for $15. I must have made an excellent purchase because when I continued browsing at other dealer booths, almost every person who saw it commented on how cool it was!

Next up, something for my kitchen. Brimfield always has an abundance of vintage kitchenware, and this Glasbake Greek themed casserole called to me. After doing a bit of online research, I discovered this pattern is called Blue Hellenic, and I think it's somewhat rare. The most popular Glasbake pattern I saw online was Green Daisy.

This piece is in great shape, with no chips or scratches, and I really like the gold painted Greek key design on the lid and the Greek mythology hieroglyphics design on the sides. It's perfect for my blue and white kitchen.

The bottom stamp says "Made in USA, Glasbake."

Finally, no Brimfield visit is complete without the requisite vintage Christmas item, this time a mini striped pixie elf.

There's a diamond-shaped sticker on his back that says, NOEL Japan.

Here are a few additional photos I took while browsing the Brim fields – I'm seeing lots of red!

I'm already looking forward to next May.

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Plain Hall Wall to Vive le Bistro!

My latest design work-in-progress is transforming an ordinary hallway into an intimate seating area.
Previously I had a blank wall on the opposite side of my kitchen, and for the longest time, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it.

When you've lived in the same space for over 15 years like I have, you often seek out ways to make improvements. There's certainly nothing wrong with a blank wall, but this summer I decided it needed that certain something – how do the French say – je ne sais quoi.

My inspiration was this cool and real looking white brick wallpaper I saw online from Wallpaper Direct. My other springboard was a series of four black and white drawings I completed last year.
I wrote about these in a previous blog post, Drawing "Caprice" on a Whim.

I haven't fully committed to this project so the wallpaper is currently thumbtacked to the wall. I like how the vintage bridge chairs look, but I'm planning to replace the wooden TV tray with something more chic – perhaps a clear acrylic console or small table if I can find one. The hallway measures about 4 ft. 7 in. wide so I don't want anything that sticks out more than about 18". I definitely plan to stick to the black and white color scheme.

I also plan to frame the drawings using black wood frames (I've already found two from Brimfield). I'm hoping to repaint them using high-gloss black paint. I may reposition them and maybe add a funky sunburst mirror or objet d'art for the center of the wall.

Per my usual design strategy, I don't want to put just anything there. I want it to be just the right thing, and I'll know it when I see it. Sometimes it's a challenge to be patient, but I feel the best rooms evolve over time. My other feeling is, if I don't want to fully commit, I can leave the wallpaper thumbtacked and change it if I get tired of it.

I'll post updates to this project, hopefully soon. In the meantime this is la vie en noir et blanc.

Stick Out Your Can for P-Town's Trash

One of my coolest friends ever invited me for an awesome visit to Provincetown last weekend. It was the first time I'd ever been there in June, and it was far less crowded than August when I usually go. The weather was also bright and beautiful – perfect for strolling the beach and visiting the fun shops.

As always, I was inspired by its natural beauty, beachy charm and quirky art. In addition to its abundance of art galleries bursting with creativity, this year's outdoor art project features metal trash cans individually painted by local artists. The idea came about through a recently deceased town resident, Carla Anderson, and the town's recycling committee green-lighted the project sometime last year. Too bad they chose green trash liners instead of clear ones (just a minor quibble).

Here's a sampling of the ones we saw.

I think this was my favorite. The woman's hand extends to the other side, and she's holding a star.

Color and art are everywhere in PTown... it's difficult to resist taking photos.

OBSCENE. I believe this was previously somewhere on the facade of Shop Therapy,
a crazy-cool store that's moved its location a few times recently.

OR AS WE SO... I had to think hard to figure out what this means. If you look really close you'll say "Aha."

Purple Pedal Power. (Girl in purple pants was a happy coincidence).

The architecture is inspiring, too...

Sea cottage with dolphin trim.

Iron Lantern with Bird's Nest.

Of course, I always arrive home with a few treasures...

Lips Sculpture on Green.

 

Lips Sculpture on Red.

Vintage owl salt & pepper shakers with googly eyes – bottoms have "Japan" stickers.

 

Vintage owl salt & pepper shakers on Anne Taintor napkin.

The beach is always beautiful, relaxing and postcard-pretty...

Unmistakably Provincetown

Sunday morning beach – bayside.

Sunday Morning Fishnets

Teeny Tiny Boat Ahoy!

Paige's Teeny Tiny Boat.

Teeny Tiny Boat means summer is back!

Happy Summer!