Some of you have seen me post about all the new violets I just ordered(http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/973150/), to go with my new teaset inserts(http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/970841/), and in preparation for these arriving, I got some shelves to display them.
Here is what they looked like right off the shelf at Hobby Lobby. Of course I bought them during one of their 40% off sales, so each one only cost me a little over $20...not bad
today I took them out in the garage and gave them a coat of glossy white, then used sandpaper, then dry ragged some wood stain on them to make them look aged.
They are reproduction shelves, but I was wanting to make them look vintage. :0)
close up...hope i "aged" them enough...from a distance I may not have aged them as much as I should have, but oh, well.
Here are my REAL vintage ceiling tiles that I am planning on using to make another set of shelves, but that will have to be another day :0)
The edges are very sharp and these will take a lot more effort, than the others that I just only had to load in my cart, lol...
the idea is to make them look like this member did:
photo is property of rosemary1
I used to own a Queen Anne Victorian house with a rich history and a great garden which I was able to restore to a great extent. It had the orignal tin ceilings. I love your project! Can't wait to see it finished. What a great, creative idea!
Thank you Phoebe :0)
I used to have a friend who lived in an old victorian house. She lived right next to the nursery I used to frequent, and we became friends.
I used to go over there, and sip coffee with her in the afternoons, and talk plants. I just enjoyed that house so much. It had a "ballroom" upstairs with built in nooks with seating.
Each room had a fireplace, and the porch wrapped around the whole house, and a rose covered gazebo in the back...*sigh
I've always wanted an old tin ceiling, but I will probably never have one. These shelves are as close as I'll get!, :0)
I miss my wrap around porch with dutchman's pipe growing up one side to screen the summer sun. Our house had all sorts of goodies also--like a sleeping porch off the master bedroom and 2 parlors--the formal one closed off by french doors from the informal one,, front and back stairways, etc...etc. It was modest by Victorian standards. It's occupant was an unmarried woman, daughter of a rich grain distributor.It was built behind the main family home, and she used the family carriage house. She lived there til she died at 95 yo. We bought it @ 5 years later. It was a great house.
Wow. That house sounds dreamy :0) I LOVE the old sleeping porches. Did it have the louver windows?
Ok...so we got them hung on the landing of the stairs, but I have a dilema! I can't figure out which tea set looks best...
ok, please vote!, lol...
BLUE SET???
or
PINK SET???
Blue set--Beautiful!
ok my eyes are drawn to the pink first but the blue looks better with those shelves
ditto what dana said. besides, if this is a J & T place, the pink set might be too much girliness. A neighbor of mine solved that problem by making her guestroom as feminine as she wanted. Then the rest of the house was more gender neutral.
I vote blue
The blue lends itself better to avs I think.
Thank you for your opinion Nery, and for considering my Dear hubby :0)
I told him that it was unanimous that everyone picked blue, and he said he was surprised, because although blue would be his personal choice(being a guy) he said in the end that he thought the pink was a better presentation, because of the teapot...
Good news is that I'm going to be able to display both, eventually, once I get those other shelves made...although with all the work in involved, it is tempting just to make another trip back to hobby lobby for the ready-made reproductions, lol...
This week, they have another 40% off coupon. :0)
Mortswife-
sorry I missed your post. I was typing ;0)
I agree with you on that. The pink is just sorta one color, and unless the avs are in bloom it is more bland, than the blue set. There is more to look at with the blue set, even when they aren't blooming.
There was a tea set on ebay that has violets as the pattern and that one would probably look the very best of all, but the idea was to use teasets I've already bought.
If I were starting from scratch on this, I'd buy the teaset with violets pattern :0)
would the violets on the set overpower the beautiful plants you have?
Mortswife-
I think you'd have to be sure you didn't use a heavily patterned chintz, or something, but for example, this one is lovely, and not too heavily patterned, and a good price.
If I didn't already have teasets, I would buy this one...maybe I should get this as a gift for Mother's day!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Februarys-Violet-mother-of-pearl-china-tea-set_W0QQitemZ330321399931QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item330321399931&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50
I think this one is perfect, because it has even less pattern, but it is not here in the US:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Royal-Grafton-Jacobean-Violets-Tea-Set_W0QQitemZ220392447356QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_PotteryPorcelain_Glass_PotteryPorcelain_China_SM?hash=item220392447356&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50
ohhhh, nice. Looks to be fine bone china from England?
Right now I'm having my tea in a gorgeous Russian tea cup. But you can't have it for your violets! LOL
The auction says Royal Grafton, porcelain/china. The seller is in the UK..
Sweet little tea set, huh?
So are you thinking about doing one, now? he-he
I might, I still have half of my collection which is about 50. But I'm very particular; I only have English bone. Royal Grafton is one of my favorites, nicely made. Maybe the next one that is cracked I'll do that with. My friend has a floral shop here. I may just give her one with a violet she loves that I have started - "Raspberry Rampage" with pink leaves.
OK, Taylor- would these work for a pink leaved AV?
I think so, especially the one on the right.
I have been collecting the little delmonte fruit cups from when we buy the package mandarin oranges.
They seem to fit in many of the old teacups. Here is a picture to show you. There is in most of the cups I've tried, about an inch for water below the cup. I poked holes in the bottom of the plastic cup and ran a nylon cord down into the water.
It has worked well so far, and much cheaper than those porcelain inserts I bought!, lol...
I think your friend would love that, and it would maker her day!
Here is a little sugar container that I bought at goodwill for $1.49 that I thought would be good for a pink variegated one. The center hole was oval, but this little plastic pot squeezed in just fine.
I'm growing this one out for a friend of mine
Oh I love the plastic cup insert you have there. I never buy those fruits but what a very neat idea!!! I am much into neatness :-) I love the sugar bowl too! I'm saving mouth wash lids and I have put a begonia [mini merry] in one with perlite to see what it will do. I think you have very unique ideas and anyone would love those gifts.
Taylor, you got my mind going this a.m. I just put one of my domes in a cup; it has to be a wider shape cup. The dome has a hole in the center, so I can put a little piece of plastic canvas in to cover the hole. What do ya think?
Taylor, I love your teacups and shelves. Awesome job! I also like the blue tea set better than the pink, although I'm partial to teapots. I have a few that were gifts from my children. I'm not a tea drinker so they are up on the shelves in my kitchen. You've given me an idea to bring them down and use them for my violets. I check out the goodwill store for little cache pot too. I just found a kitten sugar bowl that had a broken lid. I have one of my little violets in it. I had to jerry-rig the opening because it was too large for the solo cup. I had to cut down a yoplait cup to fit the hole and then the solo cup fit perfectly. Oh! what we won't do for our "addictions". I'll have to go and take a picture of it.
Here is my little kitty sugar bowl. I thought it was perfect for this violet.
And here is my mini tea pot.
I also use those little fruit cups for wicking in smaller cache pots. They come in very handy. When I run out of solo cups, I use the pudding cups. My grandchildren love the pudding over regular cooked pudding. LOL. It's easier for me too. I don't have to stand over the stove to cook it. I save all sorts of little cups. You never know when you need one.
Now I have more reason for avs to bloom-now, if not sooner!
Mortswife-
I have a solution for your domed lid, but will have to post a picture of it tomorrow, as the camera is charging. :0)
Imadigger-
Those two containers are great! I love them. I'm like that too...I save all kinds of stuff, because like you said, never know when you'll use them :0), but look in my garage, and it shows, ha-ha
Well, Taylor, I will be awake at least 5 minutes tonight worrying about this. I can't wait.
Seeds, I had another thought. If you want to highlight the tea set, the pink one might be your choice. If you want to highlight the plants, the blue is better, I think.
morning Nery-
If the blue set had a teapot, there would not be any dilema :0)
But, it doesn't and so I like the presentation of the pink set, but blue is really my preference. Light blue and taupe is a classic color combination that I have always loved.
I sent my Mom pics last night and she said "definitely blue". Most everyone that has picked blue has not only picked it, but picked it emphatically...
But, I am a little surprised not even one single person picked the pink ;0)
Mortswife-well, I hope you slept well and didn't give all this a second thought. And, I hope that my solution is not anti climatic , lol...
Ok, I tried a little lid from a one ounce container, and it fit perfectly. But, then there is no reservoir for water below. The larger the lid diameter, though, the more room for water below.
Something with just a little bigger diameter, like a cocktail sauce, or tartar sauce lid, or something might be perfect.
and this is one of those delmonte cups, with string tied in a knot at the base with one end of the string hanging down to wick water, and the other threaded back up in the container
hmm-I've never wicked before. Thanks for the tips
