Mangle Mania!

Some of you asked to see the mangle and here she is! As you can see it has a nice countertop like cover.

There is a knee control lever that makes the ironing roll go around. The back has a long metal bar called the ironing shoe that gets very hot. I just feed the cloth though a few times and it’s nice and crisply pressed! It's great on all linens, but you wouldn't believe how wonderful it is with linen damask. It just makes the design pop from the cloth!

I purchased my mangle at an estate sale on the second day so it was half price. I paid $2.50 for it! It’s extremely heavy and was very hard to load in my van, but so worth the effort! It came with its original instructions.

Here they show a beautifully pressed christening gown.

And a mans dress shirt.

Can you imagine?? I’ve only done flat items with the mangle. It must take a lot of skill to do detailed pieces.

And while I still use an iron when I don’t want to be down in the dungeon (my basement laundry room, lol), I know my mangle is going to get quite a work on in the next few weeks. I recently purchased tons and tons of vintage linens. I’m soaking and pressing and loving it!!

Future clean, crisp vintage linens!

I’m trying not to keep too much, so check out my store The Pink Rose Cottage or my items on eBay at the*cozy*cottage. I’ll be adding these linens soon and often!

A few pictures of my garden and more….

I don’t have an award winning garden like my parents, but I’m pretty happy how it’s turning out so far this year.

The pink roses are ready to pop!


I love my yellow roses but so do the bugs! It’s early enough that I’m not fighting the critters for them.


I wish I knew what this rose was called. It’s so unusual. A pretty red, but the underside of the petals is a silvery white.


And this is how I found a rose one afternoon. Some little bird broke out of his egg. I just don’t know how the shell got there!


These peonies were from my great-uncle’s garden. He passed away last year. So I will think of him every time I enjoy these flowers. I love how they are soft pink with a creamy white center. And oh, how I wish you could smell them!


Pretty soft pink fuchsia.


My garden shed.


And while I’m so enjoying wearing sandals on my nicely polished tootsies (Thank you my kidlets for my wonderful spa pedicure for Mothers Day!), I’m looking forward to wearing these gorgeous pink cottage rose socks! They are from Victorian Trading Company. They also come in blue. So I’ll have to get those next time. Aren’t they the sweetest??



I haven’t found any fabulous vintage tablecloths at sales lately. But this weekends find sure made up for it. I got this framed vintage print of embossed pink roses by Catherine Klein! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it just sitting there on a picnic table! It was late morning and things like this are usually long gone. But there she was just waiting for me! And – get this – I paid $3.00 for her! Yep, only $3.00. That never happens! Beautiful understated gold frame, wooden slat backing, great colors…all for only $3.00!! Oh this so makes up for any missed tablecloths! Now I just have to find the perfect place!

Congrats to my parents! Fairview Garden Club Garden of the Month!

My parents have the most beautiful garden and was nice to see them recognized this past May. Like to take a stroll with me?


Their picture was in a Saturday edition of Homes in our local newspaper.

Dad’s decorative contribution!

This is Harmony. She loves the porch too! She even has her own swing. This dog adores my kids so much, I swear she’d walk though fire for them. She’s not the prettiest dog, but she has tons of love in her ol’ heart!

Well, there you have the garden tour. Mom’s always adding and changing her design, so I’ll be sure to share updated photos!

Visit The Pink Rose Cottage for Friday Flea Market!

Pour yourself a glass of ice tea, sit back relax and browse The Pink Rose Cottage. You're always welcome here!



Don’t forget to visit all the wonderful sellers at Friday Flea Market!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you all are having a beautiful day! It's been crazy busy here, more so then usual if that's possible. I have so much I want to share with you. I want to post a full picture of my mangle. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my mangle has a nice sturdy cover. So right now it has my change of Fiestaware dishes on it waiting to be put away. So as soon as that's done, I'll give you a better view.

Also, my parents had the "Garden of the Month" awarded by the Fairview Garden Club. They had their picture in the newspaper. And I snapped a few shots. So I hope to post that this week.

I'm behind at the Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club also. So I will be spending sometime doing updates this week. I don't want the kind ladies at the club to get mad at me! LOL!

Plus I'm so looking forward to catching up on all your blogs! That will be my reward at the end of the day!

I did manage to mark down four lovely items for todays Monday Markdowns at The Pink Rose Cottage. Even with all I have going on this week, I'll ship very quickly! No reason you should have to wait!

Well, time to begin crossing off items on my to-do list! Since I've been spending a lot of my time in my garden, I'll leave you with a picture of this somewhat rare Wilendur gardening tablecloth. Hope you all have a great week!

Monday Markdowns for Memorial Day!

So we can all enjoy a nice long Memorial Day weekend, I’m starting Monday Markdowns a little early. And with a fun twist! Pick your own markdown! Take 20% off your purchase at The Pink Rose Cottage! Enter coupon code “MemorialDay09” at the checkout to receive your discount. (Valid though Memorial Day. Offer not good on prior purchases.)

Hope you all have a fun and safe holiday!

And thank you to all our brave veterans!! We will never forget your service for us!

Love to Iron!

Polly from Count Your Blessings has a post on laundry sprinklers. And such a good idea to use a sprinkler to water plants. But my sprinklers are strictly for ironing. And I love to iron! When I iron vintage tablecloths, I use a mangle. It is by far the best way to press vintage linens. It’s fast and easy, and for me, relaxing!

The wonderful ladies at The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club introduced me to the art of mangling. Denise from Vintage Gardens and Patrice from A Sentimental Journey both TLC members, are proud mangle owners. They can attest to how wonderful they are! By far the best way to iron an Irish Linen Damask cloth is with a hot, hot mangle. It just makes the design pop from the fabric.

My Horton mangle is from the 1930’s and –knock wood- still going strong! I thought I’d have a hard time finding a working mangle. But early in the saleing season a few years back I easily found one. And the best part, it was half price! All of $2.50! My husband and his friend cleaned it up, changed the cord, and tested it out. I was good to go!! Lovin it ever since!