Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A STAG AND A MUSHROOM


Some antiques around my home are especially meaningful to me.  This lead stag was given to my mother when she was a little girl.  It is tiny, only 3 inches long, but I display it proudly.  To really show it off, I found a huge shelf mushroom to put behind it.  The mushroom was one I found in the swamps near Big Oak State Park in Missouri.  It was a real challenge to get this one, as I had to wade through scary water and lots of snakes and bugs to get to it!  The things you do for your passion...

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BOTTLES, BOTTLES, AND MORE BOTTLES..


My family has long been collectors of rocks.  Hubby was an Earth Science major in college, and our dates consisted of fossil hunting along the Mississippi River, and agate hunting in abandoned quarries.  It started us down a path of looking for the unusual whereever we lived.  We looked for dinosaur bones and gold in South Dakota, sapphires in Montana, diamonds in Arkansas. amethyst in the Smoky Mountains.  For many years, I just stuck the rocks and bones, and bits and pieces in a drawer.  Then I was at a flea market one day and found the most wonderful apothecary bottle with a glass stopper.  I had to have it!  I brought it home, and tried to think of what to do with it.  Then I remember the hematite we had found in the Black Hills.  It was the perfect size to put the stones in!  So I went hunting for more fun bottles, and more, and MORE! Now I have an entire shelf of interesting bottles with memories in them.  It is the favorite place for people to browse when they come to visit me.  What a conversation starter it is to explain where we found the petrified squid tips (in Wyoming, of all places!) And conversation is the start to great friendships...

APPLES WITH ATTITUDE


I love faces with attitude.  This year I made these little apple heads that sit atop my stove and give me a smile and a wink when I cook meals.  The hobby store had the fake apples with styrofoam innards, and they were interesting...I liked their color...but they needed something!  So I took them home with me and carved faces in them like a jack-o-lantern, and then I used porcelain clay to fashion teeth, eyes, and noses.  I let them air dry over night and painted them.  Oh, what attitude they give me! The one on the bottom left is the exact face my children used to give me when I made brussel sprouts! The one on the top is the gritted teeth smile I get when I make MY favorite meal, and not my hubby's.  The face on the bottom right is the determined face I make when I am trying to clean the oven.  I like a home with attitude.  I have faces hidden all over the house...waiting to be discovered!

Monday, February 25, 2013

WOBBLY BEAR MAKES A STATEMENT


My mother infused in me a love of nature, and I am always snatching up figurines of animals (much to the amusement of my hubby, who is considering opening an animal figurine zoo). This bear is old, beat up...the back side of him is chipped and wobbly...but I love him!  The expression in his eyes is wonderfully sweet, slightly confused and perfect for a tiny corner of my home.  I have him perched atop of a slap of petrified wood next to a sweet figure of a fawn.  The 'tree' behind the fawn is a core sample taken back in the 1920's.  The shelf is actually an old arts and crafts project by a child in first year shop class...it is an oak leaf shelf made out of plywood.  I love it, and have a similar one hanging in my guest room that is a maple leaf.  They are both wonderful for getting figurines off of the furniture and up at eye level!

TEA INFUSER HEAVEN



I am an avid tea drinker, and over the years have become fascinated by the paraphernalia that goes along with my addiction.  Tea infusers have been around for centuries, and occasionally I run across one that takes my fancy.  This is my collection of infuser spoons.  The tall one on the right is a mate spoon, used in Australia for Yerba Mate tea.  The bowl of the spoon holds the tea. The hot water (traditionally in a carved gourd cup) is stirred with the spoon, and then sipped...through the handle! it is a modified kind of straw!  Amazing what the traditions of various cultures bring...I find the straw gets a bit hot for my lips.  I guess it is a matter of just getting used to it. 

WELCOME!


Welcome to AntiqueryRose!  You have wandered into my world of treasure hunting... plundering the flea markets, antique stores, and thrift shops in my search for things to feather my nest. I like things with a past, worn around the edges and loved like the Velveteen Rabbit.  I am on a budget, so I try to be creative with my hunting, repurposing a lot of items through crafting, painting, and imagination.  Mostly, I am wanting to warm up my home with history, make it a haven to enter and a joy to explore.