#collectandstyle - April Monthly Favorite

Hello #collectandstyle community! Welcome to Under The Plum Blossom Tree blog. I'm so excited you're here!

Today is the first monthly feature from my new Instagram #collectandstyle hashtag. Meet lisa_loves_vintage, a self proclaimed "barkcloth hoarder and vintage obsessive." In February, I first noticed Lisa's colorful styled photographs in 91magazine's Instagram hashtag 91magazine_fleafinds. Then, when I started #collectandstyle, Lisa graciously contributed a few of her images, of which this one is my favorite.

Lisa not only loves vintage, but as this image shows, she loves color as well, and enjoys styling a seemingly endless variety of fascinating collectables. If you love vintage like Lisa does, you're sure to find something in her gallery that will please your eye! As well as collecting and styling vintage, Lisa also offers beautiful handmade bags and homewares in her etsy shop at very reasonable prices. So, check out Lisa's links and I'll see you here next month for May's #collectandstyle monthly favorite!

Thank you for visiting, and if you like what you see here, please consider signing up in the sidebar, under my profile photo, to receive notifications of each of my new posts.

Styling The Seasons - April

Here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, we are no strangers to rain. Most of our days from autumn until spring are set against the backdrop of rain-filled, cloudy, 'atmospheric' gray skies, as we go about the daily business of work, school, and our travels from here to there.

But when the month of April arrives, there is a slight shift in the weather as fluffy white cumulus clouds begin to roll in and slowly replace the cloud canopy that has ruled this landscape for months. As the sun begins to shine in irregular patterns while it darts in and out of rain clouds, the parade of ornamental blossom trees that began blooming under the darker skies of March continues, and I enjoy taking walks around the neighborhood looking for stray and forgotten blossoms. One would think that I would have taken an umbrella, but sometimes I'm a bear of very little brain!  

On one of my walks I found some beautiful white pear blossoms spilling into an alleyway. So, for this months Styling The Seasons, I'm featuring them in this somewhat wild and natural looking arrangement, displayed in a Fiestaware vase, along with some red and orange ranunculus flowers I purchased at the grocery store.

This is a somewhat precarious spot to place such a display because this is my kitchen counter and it is of course a very busy corner, but I love the approach to styling that Katy Orme of Apartment Apothecary suggests, which is that we style any surface in our homes. So, although this was a very short-term styling session (over a weekend), still it reminds me of my neighborhood walks on unsettled spring days, and represents springtime in all its various moments - wind, sun, rain, and even some thunder and lightning!

A poem found in a book from my childhood, entitled A Child's Book of Poems, reminds me of these fluctuating spring days:

The Rain (author unknown)

The rain came down in torrents

And Mary said, "Oh, dear,

I'll have to wear my waterproof,

And rubbers, too, I fear!"

So, carefully protected, she started off for school, 

When the big round sun,

Came out and chuckled "April Fool!"

*            *            * 

Here's a few more peeks to show you some of my favorite thrifted treasures. This 'jazz kitty' as I call it, is actually some sort of planter or vase, as it has an opening in the back of its head. Like most of my vintage finds, it's made in Japan, as is the little wood shelf the cat sits on:

If you found just one vintage red cardinal salt or pepper shaker, would you buy it? That's me, too. I love it when I find a perfect set of salt and pepper shakers - nothing missing, no chips, no broken pieces glued back on. But when I see just one perfect shaker, I can forgive the fact that the other one is long gone, and enjoy the remaining one as it is, especially when it's a bird!

The wabi-sabi, Oriental shaped lantern is from a downtown charity shop that I love to frequent. One week this past February the shop's theme was "Asian Celebration", which coincided with the Asian Celebration festival happening in our town at the time. I purchased the red lantern knowing I would place it on this wall mounted hanger.

What does the month of April mean to you? Style any surface in your home and share it on your blog and/or on Instagram, tagging Katy Orme at Apartment Apothecary and Charlotte at Lotts and Lots.  

#collectandstyle - A New Instagram Hashtag

Hi Friends! Are you a collector? If you are, and you have an Instagram account, come join my new hashtag - #collectandstyle! We'll be looking for colorful styled vintage, antique, or new collections: Have you recently purchased a new coffee or tea cup? Maybe you were out over the weekend at an antique store and found some lovely spoons, postcards or letters? Perhaps you went thrifting and happened to find the coolest vintage books, and you're dying to share them? Style them up and share your collecting passion! Each weekend I'll post four of my favorite images on Instagram and at the end of each month I'll feature my favorite hashtag image here on my blog. So visit me on Instagram, check out my new hashtag, #collectandstyle, and don't forget to say hello!

Vintage Finds: A Touch Of Gold!

April, Spring, and Saturday - what could be better? I'm excited to share with you three vintage house ware items, all found within the last month. Although diverse in their manufacturing origins, all of these share certain design elements that make them well suited to display together.

Are you familiar with Daher Decorated Ware (the serving bowl on the left)? I only recently became aware of Daher when I found another of their pieces at a charity shop about a month ago and later discovered that the company made tins, trays and bowls in England from the 1940s to the 1970s. I spotted this bowl more recently at a different charity shop, and its design and the colors used immediately caught my eye. This piece, with its beautiful nature inspired Asian theme, was destined to come home with me!

The other two items, the Wales three footed tea cup and the Napcoware bird-themed decorative plate, are both made in Japan. I'm particularly keen on the organic, flower inspired shape of the cup, and the plate features not just any bird, but a three dimensional Gold Finch to be precise (birds are my favorite animal of all time). You may have already seen how I've styled these two items on Instagram.

Up until now, for something to be collectable, for me, an item must not only be vintage, but preferably also made in Japan. As a plus, a piece might also have either a depiction of the natural world, or a symbolic representation of nature, as well as the more subtle feelings of beauty, character or perfection. Or even a lack of perfection: think wabi-sabi.

Although made in England, the Daher bowl reminded me of all those qualities, and when I realized that all three items were so very well suited to each other in style, theme and color, as well as having details in gold that tied them together in my mind's eye, I just had to take a photo of the three together, and share it with you!

As always, thanks for reading!

Origami Easter Eggs

Several years ago, before I had a blog, I crafted a dozen origami Easter eggs. Ever since then, I've enjoyed displaying them every spring because they hold some very special memories for me.

I remember that day well; my son was still a toddler and he became very entertained when he saw me emptying the eggs. To Takeo, this was the funniest thing ever - he stood beside me and watched while I took a deep breath and then expelled the contents of each egg, and laughed and laughed. For him, there was nothing funnier in the whole world than that; of course he also wanted to do it, and we had even more laughs as we both blew into the eggs. 

Perhaps next year I'll make a new set of eggs and show you the process. Have a happy Easter and spring or autumn season, wherever in the world you are!

   

Styling The Seasons - March

Do you enjoy decorating your home in a manner that reflects your distinctive personal tastes and characteristic style? If so, you might like to join the monthly Styling The Seasons challenge. According to Katy Orme of Apartment Apothocary, the philosophy behind her monthly Styling The Seasons blog series is to reflect on the change of seasons and then express those thoughts by styling a surface in your home. The idea is that your seasonal display will not only rejuvenate your home, but will also be a meditation on what the month means to you. This visual reminder serves to help you realize what possibilities may be in store for yourself and your family during the new season.

Spring, with its warmer temperatures, budding trees, blooming flowers, and longer days, can be an especially potent reminder of what lies ahead in the immediate future. For our family, outdoor adventures like spending time in the garden and brisk neighborhood walks for some flower viewing are a welcome change of pace. And with the kids out of school for spring break hopefully there will be at least one day trip to a scenic place. Then there's the potential for new home projects to emerge and flourish.

My inspiration, or 'springboard', for styling this corner of our living room for the month of March, was some antique sheet music I found recently at my favorite charity shop. The colorful spring-themed cover, with its cheerful pink blossoms, a singing bird, and the old-fashioned handwriting of Miss Clementine Cathcart of Eau Claire, Wisconsin on March 18, 1919, immediately drew me in. If this sheet music could tell a story, what stories could it tell, of that certain spring of 1919, when love was in flower? I couldn't resist purchasing this piece of musical history to add to my collection of printed music. The song 'Springtime of Love' is a valse, or waltz, and as notated, it is to be played 'Brilliant' and 'Daintily'.

And what would the season of spring be without the quintessential flowers of springtime, hyacinths? Did you know that hyacinths are part of the lily family and are native to western Asia? And as anyone who has enjoyed hyacinths in their home knows, their fragrance is divine!

I placed my hyacinths in a pearlescent ceramic vase, made in Japan. This vase has a couple of qualities that I am very fond of in Japanese ceramics: a free-flowing hand painted design, and a beautiful luster. Not to mention - it has a bird!

Behind the vase of hyacinths, on the ledge of the mantlepiece, I placed hand dipped candles into unmatched holders. The candle holder on the left is one I bought at a druggists shop some years ago; I couldn't resist its unique shape and color. The vintage candle holder on the right is a fairly recent thrift store find. It is not only a candle holder, but also a flower vase as well.

Over the years I've curated an interesting selection of original vintage paintings. The pair of scenic paintings on the mantle were found at a charity shop in a small former mining town in Colorado. I can no longer remember the name of that little town in the Rocky Mountains; during this time of our lives, James and I traveled extensively throughout Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Nevertheless, they bring back fond memories of our wandering days, before we had our children, and life was a lot more carefree.

I'm very excited about the little Japanese spouted vase sitting between the landscape paintings. Why? Because the collection of Blue Jay feathers you see in that vase have been collected by me in the garden over the last several spring seasons. You see, every spring there are mama Jays that bring their babies into our bird friendly backyard in order to feed them, and to teach them how to get their own food. There is always a lot of wing flapping involved, and who knows, maybe there is some molting going on too. But I always find a feather here and a feather there. Our family has a lot of fun watching this 'show' from our large kitchen windows.

My favorite spring blooms are the various bushes and trees which produce their flowers before their leaves have developed. Known as hysteranthous, this phenomena is significant because a mass of flowers is more likely to attract pollinating insects, and an absence of leaves facilitates wind pollination. Some examples that everyone is familiar with are magnolias, and cherry and plum trees. Quince also falls into this category. I recently noticed that my neighbor, Leora, has a quince bush growing in her front yard, which has luscious pinkish-orange flowers! I texted her one morning and asked her if I could possibly snip a few sprigs, and she replied back saying yes. So here is one of those snippets of quince, in yet another of my Japanese ceramic vases:

A few days after obtaining those quince cuttings, I gifted my neighbor some homemade cherry almond scones, just to say thank you.

I can't gush enough over vintage hard back books, with their dusty fabric covers, beautiful colors, and interesting titles and fonts. Each year our local town library has a giant fundraiser event, with literally tens of thousands of books of all sorts that have been donated by library patrons, just for that sale. Most books are a dollar or two, and I always find plenty of art and design books, as well as vintage novels such as the three pictured here, and also a few damaged older picture books to cut up for collage projects.

An unusual looking pair of Roseville Pottery book-ends support my vintage books. Roseville Pottery was founded in Roseville, Ohio in 1890 and closed around 1953. When I first spotted this pair at the charity shop, I was struck by their distinctive organic shape, earthy colors, and interesting floral pattern. It was also surprising that something this old and collectible could still be floating around. Fortunately they are in perfect shape - not a scratch or chip anywhere!

And finally, a vintage reproduction print by ornithologist John Gould, of Podiceps Rubricollis, or Red-Necked Grebes, graces the wall above our piano. Gould's book Birds of Great Britain, of which only 750 copies were printed, contained hand coloured lithographs of not only a great variety of birds, but also their chicks, nests, and eggs. As a bird lover, I can appreciate the attention to detail Gould gave his works, in both his artistic rendering of birds, and his depiction of them in their natural environments.

When I first saw this framed print at the charity shop, I hesitated at the $15 price tag, yet I knew that the beautiful wood frame was worth at least that, and maybe even more. Still, I waited several weeks, gazing at it every time I went into the shop. Finally one day James said, since I really liked it, why not just go ahead and buy it? How could I argue with that? After we brought it home, we discovered the original price sticker on it, from the 'Penny's' department store (probably JC Penny as it is known today). And the price was $14.95! 

I added a few cherry blossom branches to the top of the frame, in keeping with my spring theme for the month of March. As you can see, the petals have already entered their 'sakura' phase, which means that the pink flowers, having served their purpose in nature, are now fading and falling away, petal by petal. In Japanese culture, this is considered to be a gentle reminder of the wistful, transient nature of life. When I was out gathering these, I noticed that the cherry blossom petals were already falling away, but decided to use them anyway. As I was placing the branches onto the picture frame, they floated down onto my styled surface, and I'm okay with that. For after all, there will never be another spring such as this one - the one we are living right now, today. Last spring was different from this current one, and next spring will be yet another unique experience.

What does the month of March mean to you?

If you'd like to get into Styling The Seasons yourself, just style any surface in your home and share it via your blog and/or on Instagram, tagging Katy Orme of Apartment Apothocary and Charlotte of Lots and Lotts. 

Vintage Finds: Made in Japan

Happy weekend everyone!  A few evenings ago our son needed to be dropped off at school for a final rehearsal before a concert, so James and I headed to the charity shop to pass a leisurely hour while we waited for the performance to begin. Imagine my excitement at finding these vintage treasures, all made in Japan. I love these simple elegant floral designs, traditional in style yet modern in design. The tea cup and saucer will be popping up in photos for awhile, and you're welcome to follow my Instagram feed and see how I challenge myself in coming up with ways to style them.

Thanks for reading!