HAPPY SPRING!

I'm always happy when spring come to northwestern Pennsylvania! We wait so long! 

I found a few nice little surprises while tidying up the lawn.

These crocus are sweetly nestled at the base of my favorite tree. Unfortunately facing away from the house, so I didn't know they were there!

 With all the pretties popping up outside I had to pretty up my kitchen! I changed out my fall and winter vintage tablecloths in my cabinet to my spring linens. What fun!

 

I also changed out my tea towel frame. I know I always say each Wilendur is my favorite, but I think this one really is!  But then again, spring is my favorite season!

 I put out the tablecloth that matches my towel. It comes in a few colorways. But the blue hyacinths are so pretty! The colors really show off the "new" vaseline glass candle holders my husband found at an estate sale last weekend. 

Hope everyone enjoys a beautiful spring! 

******

Not only do I collect vintage tablecloths, I sell them on my online shop, The Pink Rose Cottage. Looking to start a collection or to add to one? I invite you to take a peek! 

Please feel free to leave a comment! I love talking tablecloths!

Visit The Pink Rose Cottage on Facebook too!

"Heart & Flowers" Valentine's Table

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Valentine's Day table features a gorgeous Leacock "Hearts & Flowers" tablecloth that I purchased from fellow collector and  good friend, Leslie at Uncle Bunks Trunk. I already had this tablecloth in the blue colorway, but when I saw it in in red, I had to add it to my collection! 

 It's perfect with Scarlet and Valentine's fiestaware!

 

 Here it is in the blue colorway.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

***

Not only do I collect vintage tablecloths, I sell them on my online shop, The Pink Rose Cottage. Looking to start a collection or to add to one? I invite you to take a peek! 

Please feel free to leave a comment! I love talking tablecloths!

Tulips & Hearts Vintage Tablecloth

I finally had enough light to take some pictures to share my vintage tablecloth collection with you. As much as I don't like snow, I have to say it brightens a room!

I've always loved this pretty vintage tablecloth and was only able to acquire it recently. It sure is cheerful on a cold winter day when I can only dream of spring!

Pretty blue tulip garlands make heart shapes! Isn't it sweet?

 

I'm not sure of the maker of this cloth, but if I find out I'll edit this post. 

***

Not only do I collect vintage tablecloths, I sell them on my online shop, The Pink Rose Cottage. Looking to start a collection or to add to one? I invite you to take a peek! All my linens are lovingly prepared without bleach or starch to give you years of enjoying your beautiful tablecloth or linens.

Please feel free to leave a comment! I love talking tablecloths!

A surprise Wilendur find

Those of you who follow me on my blog or on Facebook know I'm a Wilendur fanatic! I've been collecting vintage tablecloths for years and never really expect to find one I haven't seen before.

I picked up this pretty and just LOVED it. Held it up to check for damage and when I didn't see any, I quickly folded it and continued shopping.

Got it home and ask my husband to hold it open so I could admire it fully. He is the one that found the "Wilendure" tag.  What a bonus to a tablecloth I already loved!

This one will be staying in my personal collection, but if you're looking for some terrific vintage tablecloths, be sure to visit The Pink Rose Cottage!

Warm and Sunny Fiestaware Tablescape

As with all my tablescapes, the cloth dictates the settings. I choose my tablecloth first and then choose the dishes. This one was no exception. I'm so excited by the warm and sunny colors!

This beautiful vintage tablecloth was one of my gifts from last year's Secret Santa exchange at The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club. Bee Cee had my name and she choose 2 gorgeous tablecloths. I'm not sure of the maker of this one, but it has polka-dots so it's the tops in my book! 

 The flowers are great. They could be anything from dahlia, to zinnia, to chrysanthemums. I love the fern that are mixed in the bouquet. Oh and that oooooo border! Makes me want to say Oooooo!

Isn't she a beauty? I love that the yellows are orange are soft and almost creamy. It has a terrific rich brown too. 

You would think this tablecloth was made persimmons and yellow Fiestaware in mind. But this Fiestaware is Post 86 and the tablecloth is much older. 

I'm thinking that I need to get a few settings of chocolate Fiesta to add to this tablescape for fall!

Thanks Bee Cee! I absolutely love my tablecloth!

I'm participating in Table Top Tuesdays again. So please stop over to see everyone's tables!

A Special Find and The Tablecloth Fairy

I didn't go to that many garage sales this past season, but when I did go, I was pretty lucky! A few weeks ago I picked up MY ALL TIME FAVORITE Fiestaware color ~ Lilac! An entire service for four, in the unopened original box! I also picked up some serving pieces from the same sale!

If any of you are Post86 Fiesta junkies, you know that Lilac is somewhat rare and hard to get. I started collecting Fiestaware after Lilac was retired and only was able to obtain a few odd pieces until now! This find had me over the moon!


Since I am a member of The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club I'd bet you can guess that next concern would be which tablecloth to use! Luckily my fellow club member and dear, sweet friend Pam came to the rescue and surprised me with this fabulous vintage tablecloth!



The shade of purple is near perfect and with that stripe of pink I can easily add Rose Fiesta into the mix to create a different look!


I only have one set of Lilac flatware but I used Rose and Evergreen and that worked out nicely.



This tablescape was a huge hit with my entire family!

Thank you Pam (my personal Tablecloth Fairy) for making my exciting find even more special!

Cottage Sweet Peas

I love sweet peas! These are from my little plant. I put them in 2 antique amethyst bottles and one old French perfume bottle on my windowsill in the kitchen.


I really don't have much luck starting them from seed. So I purchased this plant at the local nursery. As you can see the colors are beautiful but it has absolutely no scent! What is a sweet pea without a beautiful sweet smell? Honestly, I think these are wild sweet peas from the side of the road, but they are still so pretty.


I did have two short lived blossoms from the seeds I started this past winter. It's just too darn hot for young plants to thrive no matter how much they are babied. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

And if the outdoor pictures look a little fuzzy to you, it's becasue my camera lens fogged up when I went out in the heat! I guess a lot of things need babied during this heatwave!


Here's a pretty vintage tablecloth and napkin set loaded with beautiful sweet peas. It's available at The Pink Rose Cottage.

The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club

I LOVE vintage tablecloths! In fact they are pretty much an obsession for me! When I joined The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club I had 44 tablecloths in my collection. None I spent more then a dollar on at a garage sale.

Today, well I haven’t counted but, I estimate I have upwards of 500 tablecloths. I’ve spread my collecting wings and now hunt antique stores, ebay and online shops. But a garage sale find is still my biggest thrill!

My very favorite cloths are Wilendurs. Followed by Broderie and anything pink! Florals are up there with cloths that make me go Ahhhhh….and if they are roses, well you know that thrills me!!

If you haven’t stopped over at The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club in a while, you might not know about our Tablecloth Database. The TLC now has the only searchable tablecloth identification database! It’s really wonderful. A quick and easy way to put a manufacturer and pattern name to your tablecloth. This database was created and is maintained by TLC members. So you know this is an amazing collection all in one place!

Please stop by. We’d love to have you as a member! Not only will you enjoy the database, you’ll meet a lot of nice people who share a passion for vintage linens.

And a reminder….If you haven’t signed up for The Pink Rose Cottage giveaway, please do so now. Entries accepted through Friday, October 2 until midnight. Good luck!

A Giveaway at The Pink Rose Cottage!

Just visit The Pink Rose Cottage, sign up for our newsletter and you are entered! In addition to the chance of winning great prizes, signing up for the newsletter will alert you to sales, coupons, and new items! You’ll be among the first to know!

Want to increase your chances of winning? Leave an entry on my blog and let me know how you found The Pink Rose Cottage.

How about a third chance to win? Post a link on your blog telling your friends about the giveaway. And please let me know that you did so I can make sure you get your extra chance to win!

Four prizes for four lucky winners!

A table topper with pink cottage roses, along with 4 dainty tea napkins and 4 mismatched silver teaspoons. 2 of the spoons are monogrammed!




A set of vintage bluebird guest towels with vintage soap



8 vintage handkerchiefs, all in pinks and greens, tied with a bow and adorned with a sweet little vintage pin




And last, but not least, a $20.00 gift certificate to The Pink Rose Cottage



Entries accepted from now until Friday, October 2, 2009 at midnight. Winners will be randomly selected by a drawing. Winners will be announced Monday, October 5, 2009.

Good luck to all!

Friday Flea Market

Welcome to Friday Flea Market at The Pink Rose Cottage! This week has been all about vintage linens! I’ve added a few sweeties to Friday Flea Market including tea towels, tablecloths, and cutter chenilles.
Click photo to go Friday Flea Market at The Pink Rose Cottage

I’ve also added cheerful and colorful vintage tablecloths in the Vintage Linen Category. Tablecloths are the prefect little extra to make your home cottage cozy!

In the next few weeks I’ll be adding and stocking two new categories. To give you a hint the first one will be FUN! The second with be SWEET! So please stop back!

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

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!