From The Dressing Table Of Mayflowers Vintage Florist

'Yes.......a dressing table in a florist store !'

Well you already know that I never quite fit the conventional 'anything' really.......

and you know that I have started this business of mine on a shoe string. I have literally used anything that I had lying around to deck out my new digs ! lol

and THAT means that anything at all goes !

Storage is the number one issue in anyone's office.

We all need a junk draw to hide away ugly looking office supplies to tidy things up and we all need display areas to show off our goods for sale.

Well, I think that my old dressing table fit the bill quite nicely.

My wires, boxes and scrappy ends of ribbon are all hiding in these draws and on the top of the dressing table you'll find the display items.

It was a perfect for for my vintage theme and solved a whole host of storage issues, it was cheap as I didn't have to outlay money for a new cupboard and I think it looks delightful :-)

                          Here are a few pics of what I have on display !

 

Do you love the old vintage umbrella that I found on my flea marketing travels !

Yes I know that some of you will flip out at the umbrella being up inside, but I am not really all that superticious so it doesn't really bother me.  I would rather see it open and looking pretty rather then  having it closed up and unseen.

My favourite thing about the dressing table is that I have somewhere to hang my antique greeting cards that I adore so much.  I have them strung up on lace tied from each corner of the mirror and now I can enjoy them as I work. 

 and my new friend 'Mabel' looks perfect in the setting too !
(you can read about Mabel in the post above this one so simply scroll up !)

 You honestly didn't think that I would show you the mess inside the drawers did you ! lol
                                              NO WAY !...........cheeky smile

 So the moral to this story is to simply step outside the square when it comes to decorating either a room inside your home, or office.
There must be items around you that can be re purposed into something useful rather then going out and buying 'more stuff' to clog up the world with.

Old furniture and wares were built to last where as new things today are not built to last at all.  Use your creativity and at the same time you will leave a softer footprint on this world of ours and keep it cleaner for our children to use long after we are gone.
 

A Beautiful Find Of Antique Greeting Cards.....

It all happened the same day as I found the pegs !

I quickly popped in to my local antique store to take a sneaky peek and walked out with smiles all round.

I asked the lovely lady of the store if she had recently found any old greeting cards on her travels.

Yes was the answer that came and she went out the back of her store and returned with a whole pile of goooorgeous old Victorian era cards.

HAPPY FACE :-)

  I have popped them away for Christmas but couldn't help but take some pics to share with you all first.

I love these !!

The Lacy card is my favourite, the lace is still intact and in amazing condition. I also adore the pale blue celluloid Christmas card. 

I am going to wrap them up all pretty and give them to myself for Christmas ! lol

Isn't this pretty card below just lovely ?

Why can't we have beautiful cards like this these days.  The artwork is so exquisite and the greeting so sweet. I wonder if the folk at "Daisybank' were delighted when they received this pretty greeting card. I know that I would have been.

and how cute is this tiny little gift card ! (below)

The paper is so delicate and fine on this tiny gift card.

It's hard to believe that it is around 120 years old isn't it ?

Somebody must have treasured these gorgeous cards because they all came from the same home and they were all in beautiful condition.

and the whole bounty of the day pictured all together.

Dolly pegs, Victorian teapot trivet and my lovely greeting cards.

I have just been pottering around the garden for an hour or two. It is such a humble and peaceful task.

I planted some succulents that a friend kindly gave me from her garden. Funnily enough I hadn't really had a fondness of succulents in the past but now studying floristry I have seen so many beautiful arrangements with them that I can't wait for mine to grow now so I can make something beautiful with them. Now I am about to put my head in my book and start preparing for another exam tomorrow.

( I hate exams.....)

I have to make a corsage, button hole and a wreath and then comes the big bad theory test.

But I guess it's one step closer to my dream so it's a positive.

Have a beautiful day and I'll

See you all tomorrow !

Have a great day

Melanie

x

My Big Green Basket.........Flea Market Finds

On a freezing cold Sunday morning, I woke up, ran a brush through my hair, grabbed my trusty green vintage basket and set off for the flea market.

It was a HUGE one and because we were there super early (before the birds had even woken up !) we had pick of the lot !  My son decided to come with me when bribed with money to spend and we had the best time together.

Turns out after all the years observing his Mum buying antiques, he has developed quite the eye for detail. I was super impressed with his efforts to scan over a stall and determine whether it was 'trash' (as he called it), or something worth a look.

I had a budget of $20 and found amazing buys. I wanted to see just how much you could buy with a small amount of money and it had to be something of quality. 

 We definitely managed to accomplish that and  we even managed to treat ourselves with bacon and egg rolls too.

We stumbled upon the best stall that were pretty much selling a lifetime contents from their home. The old wife had passed on and the husband was cleaning out.

I could almost hear his wife shouting 'NOOOOOO' from her grave as one by one her prized possessions were sold for a song.

The first thing I saw was a BEAUTIFUL floral dinner set. It was VERY grubby and needed a bath. In fact everything that they were selling needed a bath.

When I asked how much the set was I heard '$10' come back to me..........YIPPEEEEE

BARGAIN !

My son was off like a shot digging into a big bag of cricket items and found himself a pair of wicket keeper gloves that he was quite chuffed about. He paid $5 for them and was very happy. Apparently these particular gloves were quite expensive so he was on to a winner !

I was filling my basket up with my new dinner set which was almost complete. 2 cups and 1 saucer was all the had been broken over the years.

Next I found 2 lovely books at $1 a piece.

Next came a beautiful lace table runner for 50 cents.

The gentleman saw me looking at an old song book and threw it in for nothing.

(I will use the pages of the book for crafting)

Lastly I found at another stall 4 beautiful antique greeting cards for 50 cents each. Normally these are around $4-5 in antique stores so they were also a bargain !

I also found a bag of Victorian lace at another stall which was only a couple of dollars.

 (So chuffed about that as well !)

My son and I had a fantastic morning together. We found a lady selling the BEST caramel fudge ever. We opened the bag before we had even left the market and then went back to buy another bag.

All up we spent $25.

A great mornings work if you asked me !

There is something about flea markets that I find really addictive. I guess it's the thrill of the chase and the fact that almost anything is likely to surface amongst it all.  You can grab a bargain and save yourself a small fortune instead of shopping in antique stores.

On top of that you get to meet the nicest people who can give you a little history into the piece that you are buying.

Here's a little look at our treasures.

(I didn't think you would be too interested in the gloves so left them out)

Isn't she pretty !!!

I'm not sure if you can see or not, but there is a very pretty decorative edge on the china.

There will be hot tea in this cup very shortly !

(I have the kettle on boiling as we speak !)

and for a couple of tiny dollars I bought home these gorgeous lengths of lace !

and we all know how much I adore lace :-)

and of course the antique postcards.

This pretty card is for all of my beautiful American bloggy friends who will be celebrating Thanksgiving soon !

Happy Thanksgiving to you all !

This card came all the way from Baltimore. I wonder who brought it here and when. It dates back to 1908 and is such pristine condition. I actually thought it was a new card when I first picked it up.

and you can see why I had to have these vintage books. Dating back to 1947 they are beautifully illustrated and I can't wait to read the sweet stories. (I am a big kid at heart !)

Look at this stunning lace !

This table runner has been eaten up by moths over the years but the lace is all but perfect so I will unpick the lace and remake the centrepiece.

Isn't it gorgeous......and a steal for 50cents !

So there are our treasures !

It just goes to show that on a shoestring you can buy quality, beautiful items.

It was so nice to share in all of the fun with my 12 year old son who probably would have much preferred to have been kicking a ball around the garden. Hopefully I have unleashed the thrill of flea marketing with him and crossed fingers a love for antiques and vintage. I told him that I would give him an allowance each time we go and he can buy something for himself and something for him to on sell. I think encouraging a business head on young shoulders is a great thing. It will show him what you can do with a little creativity and imagination. 

                  I hope that you all had a great weekend too !

                                               Melanie
                                                     x

                                           I am linking up with the following linky parties.
                                                  Pop in and visit them and be inspired !

                                                                   The Cottage Market
                                                                   Faith, Grace, Crafts
                                                                   The Coloradolady