spooky chic halloween hutch

It’s finally time to share some fun Halloween inspiration today.

My living room hutch was in dire need of some Halloween attention, so I just left most of my ironstone pieces in place and just added a little bit of spooky fun.

 

Think of walking through the October woods at dusk, with the full moon starting to emerge overhead, and a slight breeze in the air rustling the trees…

That’s the vibe I’m going for.

I brought in some Spanish moss, dusty eucalyptus and curly twigs to add some natural elements.

The color palette was kept neutral, and I just added some little owls, cats, crows and pumpkins for that Halloween touch.

  

Perennial sunflowers brighten up this whole look and offer an unexpected pop of color.

 

I finished it off with a few candles, including some fun little ghostly face candles I found at Ikea.

Here’s a look at the hutch without all the seasonal décor.

 

Earlier this year I added this pretty blue and white floral wallpaper to the back of the hutch to create a little fun backdrop. The original back of the hutch was painted a rusty brown color.

 

And now take a peek at the festive Christmas look I created for the month of December. The adorable toadstool garlands from World Market set the tone for a vintage nature-inspired holiday look.

 

I left most of my white ironstone in place and just added a few small Belsnickel Santas, a tall cloche filled with Santa Claus mugs, bottle brush trees and ribbons.

 

ciao fabiana

 

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vintage finds from antiques cottage

 

Don’t you love discovering new little shops right in your own neighborhood? There’s a sweet little antiques shop called Antiques Cottage right here on 17th Street here in Costa Mesa that I never knew about before.

 

I found some really fun little finds last week when I stopped in, and it just so happened that they were having a sale, so the prices were really reasonable. What more could you ask for?!

Just a few little fun things to add to my collection, and some of them make really cute additions to my tablescapes too.

 

I’ll show you some of these fun finds individually… first up is this darling depression glass double-handled sugar bowl in just the most perfect shade of green.

 

This type of glass is also known as Uranium glass because it has minute traces of this element, and it actually glows brightly under a black light. So cool!

It's just the right size for a little impromptu bouquet of flowers from the garden.

 

I also found this amazing zester with vintage green wooden handle. These vintage kitchen utensils still work great, and I’ve gathered a useful little collection over the years.

 

After a thorough scrubbing, this little beauty is set to create beautiful ribbons of citrus peel for a my next yummy recipe or cocktail.

 

Now how about these cute little piggy napkin rings? I found a larger set, and I’m keeping half and selling the second set of 4 on my eBay store. You can check them out here.   

 

These little guys are so charming, they’d be a fabulous addition to any tablescape, from country to farmhouse to grandmother chic.

I paired them with this bright and festive blue and white check napkin for my 4th of July table. They just add such a fun whimsical touch, don't they? 

One of my favorite finds that day was this beautiful embossed antique creamware pitcher. I listed it on eBay last week, and it sold immediately.

 

Pitchers are one of my favorite ways to display flowers. I don’t know what it is, but flowers always looks so good in a pretty pitcher.

 

These soft purple Downton Abbey rose grows like mad in my garden, and I just love it in this creamware pitcher.

 

Here are some other ones, both large and small, that I have listed on the blog shop. 

This McCoy striped mixing bowl is my absolute favorite find of the day. It’s the perfect size for my big salad. This one has bacon, egg, tomato and is topped with a home-made ranch dressing… super yummy!

 

Here are some similar McCoy bowls for you to check out and if you're interested, here’s a link to my ranch dressing recipe. It whips up in minutes and it's dairy-free, paleo, and full of delicious herbs. 

 

The two matching polychrome transferware bowls I found at Antiques Cottage are just the perfect vessels for going out to the garden, picking fresh veggies like these peas and tomatoes, and bringing them right into the kitchen for a fun and tasty display.

 

These beauties went right into our salad for dinner, and now the bowls are ready for more fresh garden produce. 

What I love most about bowls like this is that they can go straight from the garden to the table, and always look beautiful.

Here’s a pretty eye-spy of vintage kitchen utensils. This is the green handled part of my collection. Can you spy my new little zester?

 

These fun and colorful kitchen gadgets are sometimes spotted at garage sales, thrift stores and on eBay, and best of all, they usually work better that their modern versions.

 

So far I've gathered mostly red and green handled ones utensils, with only a few blue ones to be found in the wild. And of course, blue would be my favorite color.

They add such country charm to the kitchen for a timeless nostalgic look. 

 

I’m telling you this zester works better than any I’ve tried, and the citrus peel becomes very fragrant after being sliced so neatly.

 

My husband also loves vintage kitchen gadgets, and since we both love to cook, it’s one of the things we’re always on the lookout for when we go thrifting together.

 

Here’s my little stash of treasures again. The pudding mold in the back will be used during the holidays to make an old-fashioned Christmas pudding full of spices and fruit that we all love.

The wicker coffee cups are just sooo cute, and I got two sets of 4 that are in the original boxes. 

They're from the1970's just as I suspected. (You can just see Mary Richards and Rhoda using these while gossiping at Mary's kitchen table on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.) 

They'll make adorable options for coffee at brunch or they'd even work great for a hot toddy during the winter months, topped off by a fragrant cinnamon stick, and maybe a twist of orange peel from my new little handy-dandy zester. 

All in all, I'm really pleased with these fun little treasures. What are you collecting these days?

ciao! fabiana

 

 

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You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials”*. 

 

 

 

 

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my favorite tea cups

image from Pinterest

Over the last few weekends, my husband and I have been taking on the daunting task of cleaning out and organizing our garage. We’re both sentimental about things, so sometimes letting go of things isn’t easy.  

Way in the back of one cabinet was a box of some of my favorite tea cups that my mom and I had collected for years. This box was put away over 15 years ago, and I had forgotten about it and assumed that I had donated these cups and saucers years ago. 

Well, since space is at a premium here in our garage, I’ve listed some of these beauties on EBAY.  

These are some of my favorites.

Of course, you can’t go wrong with blue and white! 

Some of the gorgeous hand-painted details are amazing! 

We found this green one years ago in Beverly Hills. 

This one’s also from an estate sale in Beverly Hills, 

and is so pretty for fall! 

As a bonus, they’re on SALE, so if you buy 2, they’re both 15% off. If you buy 3, they’re all 20% off, and if you buy 4, they’re all 25% off! (Discounts will be given at check out.) You can check out all these pretty vintage tea cups and saucers HERE.

I hope you'll check them out. I'll be back in the next few days with two new amazing fall tablescapes and a great DIY video for arranging the most beautiful florals.  

ciao! fabiana 

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