Super Easy Fall Decor- Pyrex Collections

One super cheap, super cute way that I decorate for the seasons is with my trusty pyrex bowls :)  The reason I love pyrex, is for the color schemes and patterns!  I also like them because they come in sets of four (different sizes) which are perfect for little groupings. Plus, you can almost always find them at thrift stores, or your grandma's house :)

Again, I want to reitterate that this is not an original idea of mine, in fact, I first got this idea from my grandma :)

So, in my house I have these bowl either sitting in groups or as a single next to other things like lamps, on a bookshelf, as a centerpiece, etc.

Here are some ideas of what you can fill your bowls with to celebrate fall :)

*  Bringing the outside, in!

We don't have any acorns yet, but I usually fill a bowl with acorns and place that bowl next to the pine cones :)

*  fall crafty items like thread (fall makes me want to sew lots of quilts)

* yarn balls or even a bowl of granny squares (would look really cute next to a crocheted pumpkin :D)

*  or buttons in fall colors like brown and gold!

Some other ideas for the bowls are:

*  apples

*  gourds

*  candy

*  leafs

*  tubes of paint in fall colors

*  what are your ideas??

I also use other things from around my house to make other little clusters and collections to celebrate fall!

Here are two of my other little fall collections that are out in my house right now!!!

I would love to see some of your fall collections.

I would also like to hear some of your ideas in the comments section.

xo

janel

my rock collection

Adam and I have made it a goal this summer to walk, as a family, every night that we can.  These walks have quickly become our favorite time of the day. 

We have started a tradition to where we pick up a rock every time we walk together.  I have a huge antique jar that we are collecting these rocks in.

One of the rules is that we can't pick up the rock until the very last lap of our walk so that we HAVE to keep walking :)  Adam made that rule up, he's a smart cookie.

I love this tradition and I LOVE the collection that is coming from it.  I am learning that I want the things that decorate my home to be special and meaningful and this little collection is just that.

What have been some of your favorite traditions this summer? 

xo

janel

collecting collections

For the past couple of weeks, my mom and a few of friends, had been cruising all over Europe.  The were in London, France, Ireland, Iceland, and Canada.  My mom knows my souvenir style, I am a lover of tchotchke souvenirs :)  My most favorite tchotchke is the plastic souvenir snow globe.

They are actually becoming harder and harder to find, which is sad, because they are moving towards the more fancy resin and glass ones.

I try and make sure to pick one up from every place that I travel to.  I have been collecting them since high school...

So, here are my pressies from her trip:

I also have one from Iceland but the photo of it didn't turn out :(

My snow globe collection is quite large.

So large that I have had to move it from our house and into my classroom.

The students love to shake them so it works out good for everyone...

And here they are all together on the bookshelf...

Insane right?!

See...that is why I said this dress was totally me and perfect for my soon to be!!

Love it!!

So yeah, I collect collections :)

xo

janel

and speaking of favorites...

Here are a few of my favorite things from around the house tonight :)

Lovely collections, symbols of the future, my creative space, sweet Picasso hanging over the side of the couch to watch me cook, a sweet sweet package that made my whole week, and this here computer :)  

Life is good.

xo

janel

collections :)

(image)

I have a serious obsessions with collections.  I have all kinds of little collections and I have found some others, online, that I think are wonderful.
I may even have to start some new collections after spotting these :)

I absolutely love love love Rubyellen's vintage bocce ball collection.  The colors are amazing and it's so fresh and original.

I also saw this jar of vintage Risk pieces on Etsy and I think it may be something I need to snag and start collecting!   Adam loves this game.  He is the only person I know who can actually play this game the whole way through because I heard it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
These colors are amazing.

Another fresh little collection is this one!  I love the vintage garden hose nozzles.  I'm not sure what I would do with them but I could definitely see this as a collection I would have someday :)

And that same etsy shop has this adorable collection of vintage tin saucers! So pretty! I love the color scheme here and the patterns :)

Are there any unique collections that you have or that you have seen online somewhere?  I would love to check them out :)  Are you a collector too?

I hope you all are having a great week.  I have been spending time with the other art teachers in my school district creating curriculum.  It may not sound fun, but it seriously has been a blast.  I love those ladies!

I'll be back tonight with your next prompt as soon as I finish the my journal page.  This one is giving me some problems :)

xo

janel

in a nutshell

You may or may not know this about me but I have a "thing" for the 1904 World's Fair :)

The grandeur, the beauty, the excitement, the innovation, it all intrigues me.

I have started a little collection of things from the 1904 World's Fair but it is really small.

Items from the World's Fair are not only really hard to come by, they are also a bit on the pricey side.

My grandpa's best friend, Ruthie, who passed away when I was a child, actually attended the 1904 World's Fair and my dad inherited a few souvenirs of hers, including the "Official Guidebook to the 1904 World's Fair."  I have read through this book and a few others and became more and more mesmerized.

After all of my reading and researching, I knew that there was ONE thing that I HAD to have in my collection.  This would have been the item I would have purchased had I been present at the fair.

The 1904 World's Fair in a Nutshell.

Seriously, it's this tiny nutshell filled with photos from the fair in a little fold out.  There are about 50 tiny photos printed into this foldout inside of a nutshell.  The nutshell is then tied closed with a delicate red, white and blue ribbon. I had been searching online, antique malls, collectors, everywhere and I simply couldn't find one anywhere :(

Until a few weeks ago...

My mom and I were visiting the antique mall where we have a case. We had browsed the mall and I was ready to leave.  My mom asked me if I wanted to look at a case that I usually checked every time (it is filled with World's Fair souvenirs) and I said no.  She said she was going to look anyway so I followed her.

I literally screamed, like my mom thought maybe I was having a heart attack and rushed to see if I was ok.

There it was, the little teeny tiny nutshell. 

106 years old, in it's original box, waiting to make my day.

Here it is :)

so yeah, I'm really excited about it :)
Why don't they make cool souveniers like this anymore?
Do you have any random collections?

xo
janel

treasure hunting...

Courtney did a little post the other day about some treasures that she had found thrifting.   I really loved seeing all of the great items she found and at the bottom she asked her readers to share some of their recent thrifting finds. 

Well, I haven't been thrifting in a couple weeks but we did find some real treasures at garage sales yesterday!  Yesterday was the first real day of the garage sale season here :)  Here are our finds from yesterday:

2 gorgeous vintage thermoses for my collection: $1.00 a piece

I have been looking for this set of bowls for a couple of years but they are always WAY too expensive at the antique malls. 

Set of three pyrex bowls : $4.00!!

Vintage sewing basket with tons of cute vintage sewing notions: $2.00

Cute vintage suitcase that I am going to use to make my sister a suitcase dollhouse like mine : $2.00

(I love all of the cute extras inside too)!

and FINALLY my most favorite treasure of the day...

a vintage Mattel “the Littles” Dollhouse from 1980

in perfect condition with all of the furniture and people!!

The little details in this house and on the furniture and little extras are amazing!!

Some of the things even light up!!  I wanted to see more about this house and I found a great little post on this blog.  She has a lot of great photos and descriptions of it all.

The dollhouse+all of the furniture+the dolls+accessories = $4.00

4 stinking dollars!!

All in all, it was a great day for garage sale treasures.  I can not even wait for next weekend!

What are some neat treasures that you have found lately?

xo

janel