LA DOLFINA

I almost died when I saw this at the salvage yard yesterday! It was sold , but what truly amazed me was how much it sold for.     $6000! I guess you don't need to have a gorgeous shop to get these kinds of prices anymore.

I've been playing around on my mantle again... I t seems whenever I find some new goodi es they find their way onto my mantle .   An old Chines e basket,     and a covey of pheasants.   The porcelain seashell basket is now on its way to Lake Huron where the new owner is anxiously await ing its arrival.   I find the more I practice "mantlescaping" the more confiden t I become.   I used to avoid mantles and bookshel ves l ike the plagu e but with a plethora of inspiration to be found on blogs and sites like Pinterest   accessorizing is now an activity I relish!   I just bou ght some flowering branches today at Trader Joe's to a dd to one of the ginger jars. It is a lu xury to have such a deep ma ntle to work with ! These recent finds did not make it to the mantle however a nd are displayed on my kitchen counter w...

I was thrilled to find my first piece of "make-do" porcelain the other day!  I was even more fortunate to find this amazing blog, Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair , by Andrew Baseman, who is one of the premier collector's of this art form. " Make-do's" are antiques with inventive repairs.   They are un ique examples of nec essity and thrift made dur ing a time before Krazy Glue was invented. Unlike today where we discard anything chipped or cracked, broken household items were repaired at home or t aken to a metalsmith to be brought back to life, often with whimsi cal results. Once regarded merely as damaged goods by antiques dealers and collectors alike, antiques wit h inventive repairs are justly receiving the respect they deserve!" The ter m "make-do" is associated with items featuring, most commonly, folk sy or crude home made repairs. A dictionary definition of "make-do...