Cottage Garden Ideas

Spring is "just around the corner" as we all say, so here are some interesting garden ideas from some very creative posts on social and other sites around the country ....

This is a great idea for sprucing up a birdbath. These are vintage insulators which make a colorful perch for birds when grouped together.  You can find them in green and other colors, but they're most common in clear and blue.

These insulators used to be seen in great quantity atop the telephone lines crisscrossing the country, and can still be found doing their job in long stretches of open road.   

A lot of bird species have been
photographed at this particular birdbath, but others like to visit when no one's looking.  For more images, including lots of bird species getting their bath on, visit:
Flea Market Gardening


 
Isn't this the lovliest garden idea? ~ using an old wagon to gather dried flowers.  It's a beautiful soft shade of, what else, lavender!  You could also plant it with a mix of flowers types, such as short and tall, colors and greenery, etc.  

I found this photo at a intensely inspirational FaceBook page:   Vintage Bohemian 





Or .... go with tall and overflowing in a vintage wheel-barrow.  It's nice the way the gardener put a gravel foundation in the same form below it.

This pic is from  the DIY Network   




Although there's nothing vintage in this one, it still grabs at my heart strings.  It's just plain dreamy!
  
Lon ny Magazine



So start planting those seeds now for a  bloomin' gorgeous Spring!






  

Displaying Cottage Style Cookie Jars

Recently, on IAntiqueOnline-ning, there was a discussion about collectible cookie jars in the cottage style. There are a number of designs out there to please any cottage style collector. And the best characteristic about them is, they're not just for display ~ they're quite useful!  Pair one up with a pretty doily, a small houseplant or wreath, and a vintage photograph for a lovely vingette.

The first one pictured is a birdhouse and has a little bluebird for a handle. With hearts, flowers, branches and a shingle roof and corner blocks, this cookie jar would be perfect in a cottage kitchen, dining room, bedroom, or on a porch.
 

Vintage Bluebird Cookie Jar 

The second one is one of my faves. It's a Peter Rabbit cookie jar originally by Beatrix Potter.  I believe Miss Potter should be represented at least once in every cottage style home!  If you didn't grow up reading the Peter Rabbit stories with their adoringly illustrated pages, then you should definitely read them to your kids or grandkids!
                                 
                                 Photo courtesy of  I Antique Online

The canister style cookie jar shown here is part of an entire line of dinnerware made in England of bone china. The pattern is "Old Country Roses" and it deserves a place, in some form, in every cottage style home. I have cups and saucers in this pattern and I never tire of looking at the beautiful design!
Old Country Roses Bone China Cookie Jar

This cookie jar is the best one I could find for this post. It's small, but it's perfect!  The only thing it's missing is roses!  I love the English Tudor style windows, the climbing vines, and the thatched roof.  Ahhh, the things dreams are made of ....

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              Debra's Common Ground Blog

My eCrater Store Widget

We Started as Collectors

Before we opened Hourglass Antiques & Collectibles, we were collectors. Bill was learning decoy carving and got interested in knives (folding pocket). That led to straight razors, and then, shaving mugs and barber bottles. As a boy, he collected comic books and rocks & minerals.

I started with Steiff animals, mostly teddy bears. Eventually I sold my other species and concentrated on bears. That led to children's storybooks about bears, post cards of teddy bears, and miniature creamers of every type to display with the bears. As a youngster, I had several nice dolls and a collection of dog figurines.

As any collector knows, this can become addictive. On occasion, you'll see something in a magazine, at a yard sale, or in an antique shop that will call out to you. Generally speaking, if it's within your budget and you have plenty of room for it, our motto is, "Do you take VISA?"