Reminder: Fall Decor

Hello friends!

Monday is the 1st of October

so that means another

Favorites on the First

linky party.

This month we are sharing

FALL DECOR!

So pull together

and link up

 your latest post

on how you will be decorating

this season, or you can always

share something you did in the past.

Whatever works for you,

just be sure to drop by

because 

YOU are invited to this

linky party every month!

(Invite your friends over too, ok?)

These chubbie little birds came from the lovely gals at Willows in Dubuque, Iowa!
LOVE their things. Have more to show you from them as well.

See you on Monday

at Favorites on the First!

Look who is still standing outside

my front door....

... he is pretty bossy and seems to enjoy directing traffic at the front door for now.
I think he will come in once the first frost chills his tootsies.  :)

"Chip" 

In love with Intaglios

One of the first blog posts

I ever wrote was

about cameos and intaglios.

I just love them,

don't you?

Let me share 

the name of the
 jewelry company that has

a beautiful line of both.

www.extasia.com

Gorgeous items.

Timeless.

I have some

of their pieces

and love them.

But in case you would

rather not wear them,

there are intaglios
(pronounced "in-tal-io")

that you can collect.

Plaster intaglios were marketed in Italy 

during the 18th and 19th centuries as souvenirs 

for wealthy American and English tourists 
(usually young men) 

as keepsakes of their European Grand Tour holidays.  

The small plaster medallions were mounted into books 

and each medallion was numbered and documented 
with handwritten numbered notations telling which city 

or which attraction they had visited.

An intaglio Grand Tour collection intact in its original book.

Buying them in their original books 

can be pretty costly,

but if you are patient 

and are good at searching,

you can find loose coins sold separately.

swedishdekor.com

I went to a house tour

a few years ago and the home

had an entire entry hall filled

with over a dozen framed

intaglio sets. Gorgeous.

Southern Living Magazine

Inspired Living

I got lucky and found some originals

at Scott's in Atlanta last month.

I have yet to frame them, 

but that is the plan!

Caldwell Flake Design

Finding inspiration in all these photos.

Celerie Kimball Designs


Here are the five that I bought.
I plan to frame them in two sets.

You can identify an antique intaglio
by the heavy paper collar that will have a tiny
 serrated edge where the paper was cut.
Another indicator would be if you find
 a hand-painted catalog number on the side. See photos.
New plaster copies do not usually have these details.

Do you have any antique intaglios
or 
maybe you have a different
  collection of smalls

 framed in your home?

Some of my old repros in the guest bedroom!

Falling for Plaids

I am 

falling

for plaid

again!

Gorgeous,

lovely

images of plaid

to fill your head

and your dreams.

So what are you waiting for?
Get out there 
and get 
your plaiditude ON!

In the meantime....
I will get the cement Cavalier
either into the powder room
or all situated on the porch
and will take some pics SOON!

Coming up on 700
followers.
That means GIVEAWAY
soon for you.

I will be in touch~
xox
A

Jockeying Around

Just got back from 

the Junk Bonanza

in Shakopee, Minnesota.

It was our fifth year attending

this great vintage show.

Have you ever been to a sale

where you passed something up

for whatever reason,

and you kicked yourself later

for not buying 

that "one" thing?

Well, last year 

I passed up these two 

cement horse jockeys 

that at one

time had held 
electric lanterns.

 I've looked ever since

to find something similar

but to no avail.

I only wanted one, 
which is why 
I did not buy the set last year.

Long story short,

one of these little guys

must have known I had been

thinking about him....

...because, as fate would have it

I walked into a shop 

on Thursday night, 

exactly one year later

and THERE HE WAS....

 standing in the doorway 

of our most favorite 
Minneapolis shop

called Hunt & Gather.

Needless to say,

 he made the trip home

with me this time.

He is standing 
at the front door right now, 
though I thought I would

put him in the 
powder room holding

a towel in his ring.

He is soooo heavy 
and is in chippy

shabby condition 
as you can see.

He's called "The Cavalier"

and the original statues date back

from 1776 to 1913. 
Read a complete

history of their design

evolution at a wonderful blog

posting by HorseCountryChic

here.

So before
I show you him in his
new home here....

I need your input.

I want to hear what you think?

Should he stay at the front door

and be surrounded by mums and

seasonal fall foliage 

OR 

do you think he

would look better 
in my first floor

powder room 

serving up guest towels???

You decide! 

The voting starts NOW!!!

P.S. If you vote for the front door location,

what should I put in his wire loop? 

A little lantern or what?

Idea House Fall 2012

If you remember,

I shared photos

of the Bachmann's

Idea House last fall.

(Bachmann's of Minneapolis, Link)

Burlap wreath flowers along the side of the garage wall.

I was lucky enough to

attend the opening

of this year's 

Fall Idea House 

and took many pictures 

before my cell phone 

camera battery died 

.... again!

Gorgeous fall foliage filled window boxes.

So many clever ideas

at the Idea House.

Casual fall picnic table set up for a gathering on the front porch.

My two favorite rooms

were the powder room

and the dining room.

Pay special attention

to the balcony of the dog's

bedroom upstairs. OMG,

that's all I can say!

Dining room shots.

Close-up of the plain drum shade made into something cool
with twig balls and dried eucalyptus sprigs. 

Living room mantel arrangement.

Living room.

Coffee table made with an assembly line roller section.

A vintage aluminum and wood optometrist's desk is converted
to a make shift bar.

Small round kitchen table w/room for storage. A galvanized storage drum.

Fall arrangement inside the window frame.

Wire pails for storage in a tiny space.

Natural cork covered walls.

Sorry the lighting is poor. It was 6 pm and the sun was very bright!

Baby's nursery.

Diapers make up the three hanging sacks above the changing tables and they are labeled with
nothing other than silver safety pins.

Yarn and nail wall sculpture.

This is the dog's room. A little table set for two with all the perfect touches.

Dog bowl stool turned into wall sconces.

Blurry photo of lion's leg table flipped and upholstered to become a dog bed fit for his royal canine highness! Felt pad stickers were added to the top of each leg to continue the dog theme with the paw pads.

Puppy play area through the screen door. Complete with bone-shaped swimming pool
and bone-shaped and topiaries. Fresh wall-to-wall sod.

Puppy hop skotch and sand box for hiding bones. Too cute!

Silver dog bowls have round mirrors added to become wall art.

 Hope you have enjoyed 

the little tour of the Idea House.

They have this home decorated

for each season so if you are ever

in Minneapolis, be sure to check

their website for the showhouse

schedules. An inspirational visit 

every time you go!

xoxox-

Alison

Dogge biscuit and studded chandelier hangs above the little dining table.