I haven't been taking much time to browse the blogs lately, but the House of Hargrove caught my attention today. Elaine has a wonderful post on the new wallpaper trends. I was reminded of a store we ran across on our recent trip to Connecticut.

(Seymour Antiques Company)

The back room immediately pulled me in and captured my attention.

I suddenly felt the need for a good nap though...

How clever to hang mismatched vintage wallpapers. An unexpected way of decorating-my favorite...

Mr. Ella did his eye-roll thing when I told him I wanted to try this in the guest bedroom of our new old house!

Connecticut

I had the pleasure of spending a long 4th of July weekend with Mr. Ella in Connecticut. The house pictured above was the main building of the Bed & Breakfast where we stayed for part of the trip.

Our room was next door above the ice cream shop. How appropriate for Summer travelers!

We meandered around the pretty countryside and quaint towns where we found wonderful architecture.

This style of house was everywhere.

We saw so much inspiration for our Romantic Prairie home back in Texas.

Details. I LoVe the little, but eye catching details.

Let's Play Ball!

The last time I visited my friend, Jo Carol, she had made some ball flowers. Her inspiration came from the latest Flea Market Style Magazine. I had seen these flowers in the magazine and thought they were cute, but way too much work. Well, I must say they looked even better in person. I headed home and started looking for baseballs. Of course these sort of things always turn out to be harder than they look....

I figured out the best technique that worked for me and went to town.

They can be made with the inside or the outside facing out. I just seem to be drawn to the texture of the inside. Have fun and pin them on a purse, a pillow or whatever tickles your fancy...

Enjoy your Holiday weekend!! Play Ball!

The Cutest Ever!

I have been wanting to share with you some pics of the cutest little camper ever for sometime, but this moving thing just simply clogged up my works... Anyway, when Colorado Nancy and I set up at the Old Red Lumberyard Junk Market, Brandy was there with her little trailer. She is so friendly and invited anyone in for a peek. What a delightful surprise when you stepped inside. She and her husband had gutted it and made all too shabby.

Her wares for sale were set up outside.

Tea and scones would fit in here quite nicely.

I was beyond thrilled to look up at the tiny chandelier and discover I had sold it at ACM and this is where it landed. I love it when I know where my babies go!! 

Oh, the places I go

I can't tell you how many times people ask me where I buy my stuff. I always answer,

"Wherever I am....". I don't think this is exactly the answer they are looking for.

They want me to give up my sources. I will not tell you all of my secrets.

This post will take you to a few of the types of places we frequently shop.

We will start in Colorado.

Mr. Ella just did a search for architectural salvage and it brought us to the closed gates of a junk yard near Denver.

We found a phone number and an hour later the owner came and let us in.

He had some cool stuff. Pricey stuff. I think hoarders that don't want to let go of anything price it so high it won't sell.

Great looking radiators. I like the look, but not exactly in high demand.

Cute, but wouldn't fit in my carry on.

Maybe the American Pickers should visit here. This is definitely a guy thing.

One of my favorite places to go is Warrenton, Texas during Antique Week. It is very relaxing to me to wander around. The photo above shows a group of furniture that Rachel Ashwell had bought. If you notice behind it there are Bubba signs. Such a contrast. This is a good indication of the variety of what you run across and the time it takes to sift through it all.

They also have lots and lots to dig through. Baby wipes a must!

Now, there are also Estate Sales. You never know what you will find. This particular sale advertised that there were several out buildings full of antiques. Judge for yourself...

Not too bad.

Not too good...

This is another type of place we buy.

The organized junk dealer who is ready to deal.

Somewhere in the MidWest.

Then you have a not so organized junk dealer who thinks every piece is worth its weight in gold. This is somewhere in Texas.

Mr. Ella and I had fun roaming around to see what we could find. We were really glad it wasn't during the hot Texas Summer though.

This is all we found after about an hour digging and another 1/2 hour listening to the owner tell stories.

We make several stops during one "hunting" trip and our car usually looks like this! Now, if everything would just unload itself, clean itself up, repair itself and price itself it would make it all sooo much more fun...

I have been trying to find time to post lately, but I have been busy, busy. We have a contract on our house and we will be moving next month! Mr. Ella and I are excited to start our journey over to McKinney where we will land and nest. A temporary dwelling for six months and then we will be in our new old house. Yee Haw!

Hopefully, I will have a little more time to blog in the next few days... we'll see.