Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Cherries In The Kitchen

School is out for summer!
Bill was out of town fishing this weekend so I pulled out my summer totes to do some decorating. I love decorating for the different seasons.

My brothers and I would spend a few weeks every summer at my grandparent's house. They had a home in Milwaukee but a trip to the lake house was always on the agenda.
Even after 40 years, I still feel the pull of the lake each summer.


I love to evoke a cottage feel with my summer decorating reminiscent of all those lazy summer days.
I opened each tote revealing various themes. 
I have a collection of shells, sailboats and nautical stuff.  
I wasn't feeling that though.
 I looked through my strawberry stuff which is always cute. 
This summer the cherries really captivated my attention.  
My grandmother had a cherry tree at the lake. I remember her working in her precious garden in her huge sun hat. I distinctly remember her worrying that the birds would eat her fruit.
Granny would can her bounty for pies and sauces. 
She made the best pies!
As my daughter and I sat and chatted over coffee, I sprinkled cherries and fruit around the kitchen. 


I found a set of beaded fruit at the thrift store for only $8.00. The matching cherries came from an antique shop in Tulsa. 


 One of the strawberries is a little beaded thing made out of velvet. 
One of Bill's aunts made it
It is darling. 





This type of fruit was a popular craft kit in the 50s & 60s. 
I can visualize ladies in their pearls and dresses creating these cuties.
I bet you could do something like this today with plastic or foam fruit.

                

The little cup was a Christmas ornament years ago.
I "canned" my own cherries with some artificial ones I found at the craft store.


I pulled out white dishes and all of my milk glass vases. 
Do you know how to test if something is authentic milk glass? 
Touch it. 
Real milk glass is cool to the touch. The milk glass is accented with a few red transferware pieces. The iron trivets were my grandmothers. 







The teapot is Old Britain Castles by Johnson Brothers. 



I love transferware so I have started collecting it in several colors. The berry basket came from one of our antiquing adventures out by the lake. 
Read about it here. 
The sampler was $1.99 from Goodwill.


The wall color is Kilim Beige by Sherwin Williams.


Bill loves cherry pie so I thought it was perfect. I found it at the thrift store. I think it was only $1.99.




Last summer when I painted the kitchen I put up these battenburg lace valences. I found them for $10.00 a piece at Walmart. Having survived the battenburg craze of the 90s, I wasn't sure how long they would stay but I just love them. 
Imagine them fluttering in the breeze... if this wasn't Texas and we actually had a breeze! Instead imagine them fluttering in the air conditioning. :)


The vintage rolling pin was $5.00.


  I'm still loving my Tuesday Morning and Walmart dish towels. I rolled them up and put them in this thing. I am still not sure exactly what it is, but it was only $4.00 at the junk store. It adds a pop of red to that corner.




I am wild about this cute cherry plate. Since Bill was out of town I had to make a little stop at the antique mall. It was relaxing and fun. Antique malls are my favorite way to decompress.


I am totally feeling the love for my vintage salesman's sample stove. It was in the laundry room for a while. I played with this as a child. 
Barbie didn't have a groovy stove in my mansion.
The stove print came from Goodwill. 
Vintage cookbooks are the best source for those church potluck type of dishes.


Can you believe I had recipe cards with cherries in my file? These are as old as my marriage.
I love it when a plan comes together.


Bill's birthday is coming up and his favorite is cherry pie.


The rolling pin belonged to one of the aunts or grannies. I love it because it is heavy and gets the job done.



The pie pan is Southern Living At Home.


Happy Summer!
I hope you will take time to relax as the summer season approaches.
I think I will make a pie!
Katie

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6 comments :

  1. Enjoyed reading your lovely post! My grandma always made the best canned cherries growing up. Cherry pie is definitely my favorite! :-)

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    1. Thank you! Home grown and canned cherries as the best. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. What a cute blog! I have a cherry kitchen, too. You can see the pics on my blog. Oh, this inspires me to get my new (old) kitchen decorated. We just moved into a 1959 home. Thanks for sharing. New follower.

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    1. Thank you for following Nicole. I will definitely stop by and check out your kitchen. I can't wait to see your 1950's house. How fun!

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  3. LOVE! Your kitchen lay out is very similar to mine. Don't you just love having windows over the sink? I love it. Your vignettes are adorable too. Thanks for sharing with the newbie party. I love cherries too.

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    1. I love looking out at the birds while I am washing dishes. :) Thank you Debbie!!

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