All that Glitters is Gold! - Part1

Imagine me needing a part 1 and 2 to a blog post to feature a collection. This time though, it's not necessarily due to it's size as much as it's location. Half of my gold glitter plastic-ware collection is in one of those deep cabinets that has too many things in front of it to warrant me getting it down just yet. Never fear it will make an appearance eventually. After all, everything has to get packed up one way or the other!

For now, you'll have to settle for what was easily accessible and now packed up. My favorite in the part 1 collection is the Petite Hi-Snacks set made in Burbank California by the Alexander and Wilson Company. Frankly, I'd like to throw a party just with snack set trays. It'd be fun to see all the guests walking around trying to navigate their glass in the cup holder whilst piling their plate with yummy tidbits and trying to enjoy both at once. I am sure my dog would be following everyone around though waiting for the inevitable spills and drops. The more I think about it the more this party would be for him... hmmm.... I'll have to wait for a special birthday for him to warrant such a feast! In any case, these snack trays are marvelous, complete with their box. Funny, on the inside of the box it says....."do not use as ash trays"....hee hee


I also love the little coasters in their stand although I never understood how these make good coasters. Capturing water I am sure they do well, but they are not flat on the inside so setting a glass on the raised star designed seems to welcome a mess to come along. Nevertheless, they make a nice display. Rounding off part 1 of the gold glitter collection are much more sensible party food trays, and essential bar ware of a jigger and stir sticks. I'll admit I didn't pack the jigger. It is necessary for the perfect cosmo and since I have more time left here I might need a perfect cosmo or two to get through this process! In case you are wondering the cosmo is easy, but I'll warn you, I like it limey and not so cranberry-y:

CollectoratorToo's Perfect Cosmopolitan
1 large part vodka (overfill if it's a bad day)
1 small part fresh lime juice (I usually overfill that too)
1 small part triple sec, curacao or if you can't afford it cointreau is best (I am on a budget because of moving so it's triple sec for me!)
1 small part cranberry juice

Make a pitcher and serve up in a modern size martini glass with a game of skip-bo out in the sun room. Trust me you will have fun.

A Little Birdie Told Me...

...that today is my husband's 50th birthday! Whooo! And he is so sweet that he got ME a present on his birthday. I knew I was right to marry him. =) He got me this birds in flight set that goes really well with our furniture and other bird prints in the bedroom. I think this was his way of acknowledging that even in the new house he's not going to win the "what goes on the walls in the bedroom" battle. 

See I love birds, not in that crazy Alfred Hitchcock way, but so much that I have a hard time turning down a good vintage bird print or figurine when I see it! So needless to say you can find a bird or two or three in just about every room in the house. This new birds in flight set will go nicely with my other wooden birds in flight set that CollectoratorOne gave me as a present awhile back. These are really superb. Navy blue to go with my blue glass topped furniture, and they are wood! How cool is that?

And if that isn't enough bird watching for you, CollectoratorOne found me a 1952 chartreuse Claire Learner bowl (finally!) for Christmas, and it came with an egret figurine to boot. It also makes a really nice home for my other Claire Learner bird figurine which has needed a home for a very long time...

All of the birding is very apropos because it has been in the news lately that two families of whooping cranes have decided to make Granger Lake their home for the winter, which is just right up the road a piece from our fair city. Of course I am dying to see a bird that is as tall as me, but they are discouraging people from flocking out there...hee hee... Apparently they flew to Aransas, Texas from Canada as usual but decided the foodstuffs were better in central Texas. Apparently we are becoming more of a foodie town than I thought! =) Anyway, I'll settle for seeing them on the news, and looking at all the birds around my for now. Of course, now I just have to pack up the new additions to my nest but I am happy to welcome them home. 

Cocktails Anyone???

I've always wanted a bar cart, I don't know why really. I don't ever really have the need to cart barware anywhere, but maybe I just imagine retiring to the sun room with CollectoratorOne and our gal pals for an intense game of Skip-Bo and cocktails whilst my husband carts in fresh cocktails to us. Positively decadent. The room would be nautical and star inspired and would be filled with Alamo and Gilmer pottery, and of course we'd be wearing appropriate matching attire! Can you just imagine?? I figured for this scenario to ever have a likelihood of happening I would need  a bar cart. God knows I have enough Alamo and Gilmer pottery to make it happen!

There was a bar cart for sale for the longest time at our favorite antique store here in Austin, and I hemmed and hawed about it for too long and then it was gone.  I did manage to snag the glasses from it, which did not match at all and now I use for my everyday glasses.  The cart had four cutouts for glasses, and every time I bought four glasses, I'd go back and for awhile and there were four more until it was gone! I always wonder were12 glasses all of the glasses or were there more????

Finally one day, CollectoratorOne happened upon another bar cart for me. She did the best collectorating friend thing one can do and told me to come there right now and buy it, which I thankfully did... The one I passed up was nice, but no doubt but this one was perfect for me. Gold...stars...rolls nicely, what more could one ask for?

We still have to figure out how to get my dream scenario to happen with the husband carting in cocktails, and oh and I still need the sun room, but at least I have the cart. It's a start!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow Snowflake Bar-ware

I am digging deep in my memory trying to remember where I got my set of snowflake bar-ware. I think it was probably one of those collections that I pieced together over time because the memory is just not coming back. Either I've killed off a memory cell or two using these glasses with adult beverages, or I am getting old. Neither sounds very promising.... In any case, I packed the snowflake pilsners, high balls, collins and shot glasses above and left out the cocktail glasses below. So I guess I am relegating myself to cocktails for the rest of my tenure at this house. Not too bad of a deal, I'd say.

Thankfully then I have three sets of cocktail glasses! My favorite are the etched deco glasses, but I have no idea who made them or when but they are awesome. Another set I use as cocktail glasses is the Libbey Silver Leaf Sherbert glasses. They hold larger 4 oz cocktails and champagne as well, and they have a nifty pitcher that matches!  I also lucked out and found a set to match the snowflake barware which I use most often.

The thing I love about vintage cocktail glasses is they are the correct size! 3oz! Unlike in  today's world of 5oz to 6oz cocktails, back then they drank in sensible portions. Granted it was usually pure alcohol in their concoctions so it's probably better that it was only 3 oz!  But the idea was to drink the drink fast while the cocktail was still ice cold. I think I'll be using these a lot to get through the move!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ok, it's not actually my birthday today, it was over a month ago, but given I was sick on my birthday and then bombarded by the holidays I am just now getting around to showing off my 40th birthday present haul. CollectoratorOne is the best gift giver and this year's birthday gifts were so fun! First is this lovely red quilted robe that is just my size, small and petite, and would definitely fall under a "do" in the Fashion Do's and Don'ts for the Short Girl booklet that CollectoratorOne gave me a couple birthdays ago. That booklet is so funny by the way, all the badly dressed short girls are also depicted as "bad" girls, as if "bad" fashion leads to "bad" behavior. You never know, maybe it does!!!! I scanned in a few pages of the booklet on my flickr site if you want a laugh check it out.


Second, are these awesome shoe protector boots for rainy weather called Drizzle Boots!!!! Instead of having to commit a fashion "don't" and wear ugly rain galoshes, you can slip these on over your regular shoes and still be styling! They even have a space for the heel of your shoe! I can't wait to try these out. I think these will do a way better job of rain protecting than my disposable footguards, although they are a quite humorous I must say. I am not sure if the art work, or the fact that they come on a roll like foil makes me giggle the most. They haven't ever been opened but I am dying to know what they are like. They look they wouldn't help keep the rain out at all! Too funny.



Of course I had to buy a present for myself which was this neato sewing basket. I just love the star on it. I outgrew my other sewing basket, and given my sister wants to learn how to sew, I filled it up with all the basic sewing essentials and sent it to her for Christmas. She doesn't know, but that's exactly how it came to me from my mom. She bought a new one and gave me hers filled with new gear, so it's been passed down again in the same way. That ought to fill you with warm fuzzies!

Lastly but bestly, my husband gave me four vintage pins, one for each season, he said, but I think he was being cute and really meant one for each decade. There is a Christmas tree with pearls as ornaments, a plastic one that is a spray of spring green flowers, a gold filigree style butterfly, and a rhinestone leaf. He knows how much I love pins!!!!  I am so thankful for my loved ones and that they know me so well! Thanks you guys for turning a lousy birthday into a happy time and thanks for all the years of friendship and love!!!!

Knit One, Purl One

I am determined to learn how to knit. I can sew, crochet, and even tat a little but knitting has always alluded me. I have no idea why really as there's only a few stitches to learn and I can sew just fine which can be intimidating when you think about making a full outfit. I recently got out my knitting needles, my how to book, and you tube videos and started up again. I am doing ok so far and have gotten further along than ever before, but I still have miles to go before I am ready to make anything real like this:

My good friend made this amazing leaf scarf for me for my birthday to help keep me warm while we wait for me to learn. She wanted to try out a vintage pattern that had been reproduced in a book, and I couldn't resist requesting this scarf. It's absolutely beautiful and looks perfect with my vintage coats. She's brilliantly good at this, and she is serving as my inspiration to learn to do this craft once and for all! I am having her make me this shrug below next. I figured that by the time I finally figure out how to knit this well I will be too old to wear anything this cute! I am going to have her make it grey with cream edging. Can't wait! Maybe I shouldn't worry about learning and just commission her to make me a new winter wardrobe! =p

Fire and Ice - Christmas Tablescape!

I apologize for my absence, I wish I had a good story to explain my whereabouts but truth be told, I've just been sick and then catching up from being sick. Being sick really but a damper on the start of the holiday festivities for me. I  missed my birthday and Thanksgiving.  I was bound to not let it take me out of Christmas too, my absolutely favorite holiday. Thankfully, I am well again and Christmas festivities can begin in earnest! Merry Christmas Everyone!

We decided to scale back Christmas this year  though due to the pending move in the spring. It didn't sound like a lot fun to have to wrap back up all the ornaments etc when I am also wrapping up everything in the house. However, that did not stop me from creating a festive tablescape! I like to think of this one as fire and ice. Almost hate to burn the candles tho since finding gold candles was a bit of a chore so it might just be called would be fire and ice....

This tablescape features my Manhattan vase and collection of vintage glass candelabras. On the ends are my newest additions, Cambridge Caprice trindle holders followed inward by an unknown maker deco pair, and then my favorites, the Cambridge Arms and bases which are a super fun set. They are modular and all sorts of accessories were available. See the advertisement photo I copied in below for some examples of their versatility. The arms can stack on one another for a huge centerpiece, or they can stand on their own for a wider centerpiece. You can buy different bases for the arms or even have the arms set in a big bowl. They made peg vases to fit inside the candle holders so flowers could be included in the arrangement. There are also bobeches, prisms, peg figurines, and nappy bowls that could be added. I like the nappy bowls the best.  I saw one advertisement where they used the nappy bowls as a lazy susan. Clever! Course I have none of the accessories yet but that's just something else to collect! Darn!