Coffee Talk...and Some Frenchy Pillow Finds!

This week’s thrifting finds are a double feature…Coffee Talk and Pillow Talk! First, I have made a few changes in my coffee bar. You have already seen my French coffee press ($1.91) and my cinnamon shaker ($1.91). Now I want to show you…


  …my new basket for my Tassimo T discs! Can you tell what it really is? It’s a silver cracker server that I found at Goodwill for only $2.92! You could also use it to store extra teaspoons and, of course, for crackers, but I like to try to find a more interesting purpose for my GW hunting trophies if I can.


This wonderful hand painted (fait main) French café au lait cup (99 cents) from a past post seemed to go along with my coffee bar. I added one of my Quimper plates to dress it up a little. Françoise…I have your cup and I’m not giving it back! lol


Won’t you have a cappuccino? I’m addicted! Now, grab your cup and join me for…


…a tour of my new pillow finds! I love this one! It was only $13…a real steal for a nice needlepoint throw pillow! And…do you notice anything?


It’s very Quimper-esque!! See the little man in his Breton garb and the stylized Quimper tree? Love it!


It has found a place in the French country chair in my dining room! (That’s Sticky Paws on the chair…keeps the staff from using the rush seat as a scratching post! Of course, I remove it for my guests!)


I found this tapestry pillow at a flea/antique market for only $12…and it came with a down insert! Woo hoo! I have seen a nice down insert for a pillow this size cost as much as $50! Here’s a trick, though…you can find expensive down pillows at Goodwill for under $3.00!  I have changed the inserts in almost all of my pillows for down at a very low cost. Just give the pillows a karate chop, and if it stays, the insert is down! It doesn’t matter what the cover looks like because you are buying it for the insert.


But my favorite find is this needlepoint pillow for my black and white toile bedroom! Roosters and sunflowers…could you get any frenchier?  lol And it was only $13! I actually saw this one on line for about $45! I love the scalloped edge!


And finally, a nod to our lovely webmaster, Kitty, who never tires of posing among the pillows…nothing could be more beautiful! And…notice how she matches the decor!
Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please visit these wonderful ladies and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Today’s Thrifty Treasures
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
See you next time! A la prochaine!

A "Saladscape" with a Fabulous Vintage Find

I seem to collect thrifting finds along a theme…and this time it’s a saladscape! lol Everything I found  this week lends itself to serving a salad! And…a long-wished-for vintage find is the star! Can you spot it?


Our co-host today is our own handsome man…Baby Kitty…who is giving me a strange look because he doesn’t think that saladscape is a word! Hey…we are scaping everything else here in blogland…why not salads?


Of course, that means that you must have a salad bowl, so I took one that I already had and added it to this old silver server…instant fanciness! And the server only cost $2.52! I really like the way this transforms the bowl!


To serve the salad, I am using some old silverplate serving pieces from a previous Goodwill hunting score for $1.00…which included a coin silver spoon that I showed you in a previous post! The green bubble glass goblets came from the clearance aisle at Pier 1 last spring.


I am also using my mom’s green depression glass butter dish and a vintage roll cover from an earlier thrifting trip, as well as these lovely old silverplate butter knives…


…that were mixed in with this collection of old silverplate flatware….only $9.99 for the lot!


Now I am only one random dinner fork short of having a service for eight in mismatched silverplate flatware!


I love this find…seven Pier 1 bowls for $4.54! I will use them as salad bowls, since I didn’t have any really pretty ones!


My sweet blogger buddy, Claudie from Bubblin’ Over gave me these plates! Aren’t they gorgeous? I got to meet Claudie and her friend Juli from Juliology this week while they were visiting all the way from Canada!  They were staying with  CC Catherine at Catherine de thé Cups, who invited me to go junkin’ with them! We had a so much fun!


But the absolute star of my saladscape is this…a vintage castor set!! Isn’t it wonderful? I have been admiring them for a long time, but couldn’t afford one. Then my sweet neighbor Joyce ( you might remember her from my ink well post) found this one for me for…you will not believe it!…$20!! Woooo hoooo!! Major score! It even has all of the tops…which is not always the case.


There are etched glass cruets for oil and vinegar with two different styles of glass stoppers…lovely!


And there are salt and pepper shakers…notice the two different shapes…gorgeous!


And finally, there is a mustard pot…amazing! You can really see the etched glass in this photo.


And just look at the detail in the handle! Is it not the prettiest thing you have ever seen?


Ahhhh! I think I have died and gone to heaven! I finally have a castor set of my own! Can you tell that I love it? lol


Baby Kitty thinks I am a silly girl…but I’ll bet that you understand!


Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you’ll stay for some (imaginary) salad before you head off to the bloggy parties! Then please visit these wonderful ladies and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Today’s Thrifty Treasures
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
See you next time! A la prochaine!

Fun with a Fantastic Goodwill Find!

I was in Goodwill this week, strolling by the metal ware aisle, when this caught my eye. Hmmm…99 cents…interesting…could it be? So I turned it over and…


  …Yes! It is! Do you recognize it? Now I knew what I had to do…


…go to the glass ware aisle in hope of finding…this! And sure enough, there it was...for 55 cents! Wooo hooo! Be still my heart! Do you know what it is now?


It’s an antique ink well! I might not have recognized it myself if I had not been antiquing recently with my neighbor Joyce who was admiring them…at a very hefty price! And I got this one for a grand total of $1.54!! Only one thing seems to be missing..it’s topless. I searched the GW from floor to ceiling…no top! Hmmm…I have an idea.


Buckle up, boys and girls! We’re going shopping for a hat!


OK…here we are in the hat department. Hmmm…too skinny, too fat, too wide… I don’t think any of these work…do you?


Soooo…let’s try this hat department. I see several possibilities already.


Well…what do you think? I really like Hat #1, but it’s too big and I’d have to paint it. Maybe I’ll come for it another time for something else. And…it’s $8…a little pricey.
Hat #2 is wonderful! But…it comes with 4 more hats just like it and costs $36. Every lady knows that you don’t need five identical hats! I’ll have to pass.
Hat #3 is just not our style…a little too flowery. Anyway, it comes with a twin and costs $20.
Now…Hat #4 fits perfectly! And…best of all…it costs $1.00.
So which one do you think went home with us?


I’m sure you guessed correctly…Hat #4!! What do you think? It may need a little bit of a polish with steel wool to match a little better, but for now, I am leaving it as it is!


 Baby Kitty had to check out our purchase and says he approves, although he’s not much good when it comes to judging hats. Now…where to put it? I can’t let you see my desk…yikes! That’s for another day!


Sooo…how about here on this painted chest? Do you see it?


Here…on top of the old books. What do you think?


I love it! I think it’s my favorite Goodwill hunting trophy! But…I know where it needs to go. It needs to go live with my neighbor Joyce, without whom I never would have even noticed it. She’s been looking at ink wells for a year. However, next week, I’ll show you what she found for me that made my little heart skip a beat!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please visit these wonderful ladies and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Today’s Thrifty Treasures
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday 
See you next time! A la prochaine!

Coffee and Dessert with Thrifting Finds!

This week’s assortment of thrifting finds seemed to lend themselves to coffee and dessert, so the staff here at Plate Addict decided to invite you to a little party! Sooo…we pulled out our blue and white transferware and our best linens and silver to dress things up. I hope you’ll join us!


Our co-host this week is our ever-faithful Baby Kitty, who is taking a break from his culinary studies at Le Cordon Blue Paris. You may recall that he is hoping to land his own cooking show in the future. One of our friends, Kat at Emptynester, has even suggested a name for it…Catatouille! We like it!


Here’s where we found the inspiration for our party…in the inaugural issue of Flea Market Style magazine! I was thrilled when I saw the article on Doing Dishes, chock full of beautiful blue and white plates! And when I spied this photo, my little wheels started to turn!


I decided to make a cake stand from one of my Spode plates from The Blue Room Collection. It was a gift from Diane at Four Paws and Co last year in her wonderful give-away. I simply hot-glued a cobalt blue sherbet dish to the bottom of the plate. The article suggested using Tacky Wax, but I didn't have any. I never can wait to get started, so I just used my trusty glue gun. The lower temperature setting is probably best.


And voilà!…a wonderful cake stand to match my plates! And do you know what’s really wonderful? I realized that I can make one to match any of my plates! Wooo hooo! How’s that for fabulous? And the best thing is that I can simply undo it when the party is over…no harm done! I just separated the pieces and peeled off the glue.


Then I added some of my recent thrifting finds from Goodwill…a silver-plate cake server ($3.53), a sugar shaker ($1.91) for the cinnamon, a French coffee press ($1.91) and finally, another cobalt blue ice-cream dish (all found at Publix a while back) to hold my mom’s sterling flatware.


The finishing touch is the pair of wonderful silver tumblers filled with grocery-store flowers. Linda at Nina’s Nest found a set of five of these while we were thrifting, but only wanted three of them…so I took the other two! It was $12.99 for all five…so only about $2.60 each! I love the detail around the rim…gorgeous! And so vintage-y!


So there you have it…our coffee and dessert party served with thrifting finds! I hope you’ll stay and have some lemon creme cake with us (also from Publix! Did you think I had baked? lol) It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day…see the blue skies reflected in the coffee from my Palladian window? Ahhhhh!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm getting a little head start on my post because I'll be baby sitting for my new little grandson tonight! Please head on over to Mary’s at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday to see one of her beautiful mosaics and to find a list of this week’s participants. You will be treated to some wonderful photos from some very talented people!

Be sure to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday where you can get a peek at her gorgeous home and see what sorts of changes she is making, as well as find out who else is playing along!

Then on Tuesday I’ll be joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday, where we show off  our vignettes and accessories! Marty is the vignette queen and the perfect hostess for just such a party!

I will also be linking up to a brand new party here in blogland…Nifty Thrifty Tuesday with Linda at Coastal Charm! Be sure to head over to her blog and get in on the fun as we share our thrifting finds!

And on Friday, I am joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday where we show off special things from our homes and our gardens! I can't wait! See you next time! A la prochaine!