Inspired By...

I have just a few pretty photos today.  The first photo spoke to me because I am looking forward to fall weather so much.  Summer in Georgia is just too hot and dry.  We've had just a few cool mornings in the last week.  We were able to open up the house for an hour or two.  There's nothing like a change of season to make you want to do a little bit of redecorating.

As seen on Caught in Grace

I have saved many pictures the last few years of pretty table runners made with burlap or burlap-look linen.  Here's another to remind me I still haven't made one.  Isn't this one pretty?

As seen on The Charm of Home

I love, love, love this room designed by Cassity and Roeshel.  I spent ages studying the photos to see why this room was so appealing. The more I look, the more ideas I see.  They are asking for votes for their room for a contest sponsored by Shaw Carpets.  Voters can win, too.  I am happy to give them my vote!    As usual, my favorite rooms are an inviting eclectic mix of styles and colors.  This one is perfection.

As seen on Remodelaholic

Vintage Napkins and Removing Stains

I love vintage napkins.  I love new cotton napkins.  I hardly ever set the table in a pretty tablescape, but I love admiring them.  I really enjoy looking at blogs with pretty tablescapes.  However, if I have a get together, it's usually a buffet thing.  I'm not a formal, sit-down-at-the-table, kind of gal.  Am I totally odd?  Don't answer that.

I do satisfy my love of tablescapes somewhat by buying dishes and tablecloths and napkins and so forth for my booth.  Lately, I've been coming across lots of napkin sets.  Some are quite old, some are probably from the last decade.  As long as they are cotton and pretty, I don't care.

And the good thing is, even if I serve buffet-style, everyone will still need a napkin.

I love these vintage turquoise and white ones.  Very vintage.  Very good condition.  I had to keep them, right?  Do you blame me? 

These pink ones were really pretty.  I soaked them overnight in Biz and then washed them, and carefully ironed them. The photo is how they looked when I bought them.  Not bad, but they had a couple of stains that I wanted to work on.  They look even better now. 

I'm putting them in my booth with the pink Texas Ware dishes that are left.  We have a whole pink thing going in one section of our booth.  It's pretty nice, actually.

This was taken a month or so ago.  There are even more pink items there now.

These red napkins are Ok and they'll look good with some patriotic things I have.  They had sticky tags on them that were a real pain to remove.  I had to soak and scrub like crazy to get the tags off.  The napkins had obviously never been used.  The original tags must have melted in place.    On the other hand, the blue and white check tablecloth is fabulous.  It's fairly small, but mmmm, nice and definitely vintage.

I've come across a number of napkin rings, too.  I grabbed these because I thought they'd look good in our pink section, but was in such a hurry that I didn't notice the chips.  Luckily they were cheap, but I still wish I'd passed on them.

These white ones, on the other hand, are nice and will be very versatile.  There are 7 which is odd, but that's OK.

And then there's this vintage tablecloth.  It is stained.  I have had some luck removing stains in the past and I was hoping my luck would continue. 

What in the heck IS this?  Biz didn't touch it.  I soaked it for days.  What can be done with a badly stained tablecloth?  Is this going to become a really fancy rag?

 Removing Stains

I did a bit of research on removing stains from table linens.  I think the Whink product may be my best hope with the weird stains on the red and white tablecloth. I have nothing to lose.  Here are the tips I found:

• I have found that nature is the best bleacher. Hanging tablecloths from a clothesline or laying it outside on a sheet in the grass after washing will do a beautiful job of lightening yellow stains. Vintage Tablecloth Club
• On more robust linens I use Oxy Clean, my new best friend, followed by a normal laundry soap or Ivory.  Em's Heart
• For rust stains, try Whink Rust Stain Remover but don't leave it on too long.  This is strong stuff. Just a drop or two will make most rust spots vanish before your eyes.  Read the label carefully before using it.  It works great!  It also helps remove blood stains and anything else with a high iron content.  Em's Heart
• Lemon Juice and Salt - Usually if nothing else works, this will do it for me when cleaning white fabric. I first dampen the fabric and then wet the stain with fresh lemon juice, cover the area with table salt. Lay your fabric in the sun. You have to keep the lemon juice wet. The material will dry fast so be attentive. Sometimes you will see the salt take up the stain. This can be a long process, but it usually does the trick. Sometimes you will see yellow spots left from the lemon juice. Hand washing in your normal detergent will take care of that. Catherine's Vintage Style
• Linens Cleaning Formula.- Mix equal parts 20 Mule Team Borax, Biz and liquid detergent with color safe bleach. Use hot water and soak the fabric for five or six hours. Rinse well and repeat the soaking if necessary with fresh water. When the spots are gone, rinse well till the water is clear. Do not wring or twist. Lay flat or hang to dry. Use plastic clothes pins as wooden pins can stain your fabric. Catherine's Vintage Style
• 1 Quart Buttermilk, 1 Gallon Water, and 1 TBS Fresh Lemon Juice -  Soak linens in the buttermilk recipe for up to 24 hours, rinse twice, then launder as usual.   TipNut
• 1 Scoop* Biz, 1 Scoop* Oxyclean, and 1 Gallon Hot Water - Soak in the hot water for up to 48 hours, then rinse and launder as usual. Use the oxyclean scoop. After washing linens, give it a good vinegar rinse to remove as much of the soap as possible. Use one cup of white vinegar per gallon of water. After the vinegar rinse, rinse again with plain water a time or two.  TipNut

Autumn Touches in the Kitchen

I'm so anxious for autumn to start.  Here in HOTlanta, we had a taste of it a couple of weeks ago.  Now it's decently cool at night, but during the day, it's still miserable.  Fine.  I'll pretend cooler weather is here!  

I switched some things around in the kitchen.  
You know the line from Field of Dreams... build it and they will come?  Well - 

Change it and autumn will come!????
These changes were easy and very inexpensive, yet the room feels so different... it feels like autumn.

I pulled out this tablecloth which I bought on Ebay a few years ago.  It a Williams Sonoma pattern.   It's quite a busy, happy pattern, but it suits my mood right now.  I'm feeling fairly lively these days.

Disclaimers: I promise I ironed the tablecloth, but it sure looks creased in this photo. The chairs.  Still not painted.  Their turn in the paint room is coming soon.  Really.  I mean it!!!!

I bought this painted vintage breadbox from a fellow vendor at Rockin' B.  She gave me quite a deal.  It's pretty country looking, but I'm wanting more red in the house.  Plus, it's a perfect place for keeping a few things handy without them being out on the counter.  The green bowl is a recent yard sale find.  I love, love love it!  The color.  The shape.  The size.  Perfection!

This wonderful enamelware pitcher is another Rockin B find.  At this rate, I will never make a profit. 

I wasn't sure how I wanted to use it, but for now it's part of a vignette on the table.  I had wanted to use it as my iced tea pitcher, but it looks so good out on the table. 

 I keep a dish next to the sink to hold my soaps.  I change the dish to suit the season or holiday or mood.  I went with the green.  With all this red and green, you'd think it was Christmas!

The other autumn touch is a sentimental favorite. When Rudy (my hubby) was young, he and his mother spent some time making ceramics.  That was very popular in the 60's.  He doesn't seem like the ceramic type, but he loved it and it's a special memory. Each year when I bring it out, I love hearing him talk about it. He remembers clearly how much time she spent working on this piece.  I have been bringing it out each autumn - the colors really work then and it brings back such good memories.  I was very lucky - she was the sweetest mother-in-law ever.

I put it on the top of the hutch in our pantry, which if you've read my previous posts, you know is a key spot.  Our pantry is not hidden. 

That's all for now.

Be sure to check out my Porch and Garden Party.  It's not too late to join in!

I've joined in with the following parties:
Flaunt it Fridays at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Vintage Inspiration Fridays at Common Ground
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Friday Make Mine Beautiful at It's a Blog Party
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs  
Frugal Friday at Shabby Nest
I'm Lovin' It Fridays at Tidy Mom
Saturday Soiree at A Little Lovely
Favorite Things Saturday at Bargain Hunting with Laurie
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors  
It's So Very Thrifty at It's So Very Cheri
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Porch and Garden Party # 5

I think the party is starting to catch on!  I sure did get inspired by entries from the last party. Take a look -

Cuisine Kathleen used a bed canopy cover as a tablecloth.  I am completely smitten!  Please click on the link to her post so you can see how it turns out once it's all set up.  Beautiful. Be sure to notice the folded napkins with delicate white flowers tucked in.

I have several very pretty twin sized coverlets and dust ruffles.  I may have to pull them out and start playing.  What a fun idea!

Plus, take a look at her wrap around porch and yard.  It's beautiful and neat as a pin.  And isn't that hosta out front gorgeous? There are more porch photos on the same post. 

I love this blue table seen on Happy to Design.  She had a tea party for herself on her veranda to celebrate her birthday.  I love the extra care she took to make it special for herself - her post has some wonderful pictures of the the amazing pieces, many with sentimental value.  It's amazing how being kind to yourself translates in being able to be better for others.

Three Pixie Lane has a wonderful screened porch.  You need to see the before pictures to appreciate all she has done.  There are many things to inspire in her post, but one item in particular took my fancy.  It's a simple linen (burlap-y textured) and cotton table runner. Or maybe it's a place mat.  There are several photos with it, but it's not visible in the one above.  You'll need to go to her post to see it!

Here's another porch post from Three Pixie Lane.  This one is about her porch on the beach in North Carolina.  This porch is wonderfully simple and fresh.  I would love to settle in on this porch swing with the blue and white ticking pillows positioned just so and gently swing in rhythm to the sound of the waves.  Mmmm.  Nice.  How lucky she is to have two such wonderful porches!

You know... just thinking here... if we ever move again, I think I'd want a tiny little house with a fabulous screened porch.

 Linda at A Toile Tale linked up a wonderful end of summer porch tablescape.  She used sea glass colors as her inspiration.  It was purposely kept simple - no patterns.  It's pretty in this photo, but to truly appreciate it, you need to read her post and see the pieces she used. 

Now, let's party some more!