Big Bertha & Little Bertha

Please excuse the poor picture but I finally did something with the old medical cabinet that I picked up a year ago. (It has nothing to do with Bertha yet)

It's missing 2 of it's 3 glass shelves and I planned to have 2 made, thus why it's been sitting empty. I recently came upon a lot of old bottles for a good price and thought they might look nice inside, seeing as it was originally a medical cabinet with all sorts of medical bottles, why not try it out!

I really like how they look, the light hits the glass bottles and makes them shine a little since there is glass on all 3 sides of the cabinet. Now I don't have the extra expense of having 2 more shelves made to fit.  I'd like to add a few more bottles to fill it up a little more.

The cabinet is rusty and crusty but that's the way I like it.

The green and lavender oddly shaped bottles to the lower right are arsenic bottles

And 2 more of my bargains at the flea market, the vaseline glass lamp with it's original shade $20 and the wood bird cage...no price on it so when I inquired, holding my breath and expecting a high price since I have seen the same exact cage only larger on Etsy, the woman tells me $15...Oh yes! And it's in perfect condition!

Now the reason for my title of Big Bertha & Little Bertha, meet Big Bertha!

This is an exceptional cactus that I have wanted for years. My favorite nursery, B & B cactus Gardens in Tucson, just happened to have a few in stock. They nicknamed it Big Bertha because the flowers are huge.

The blossoms measure 6 inches across and it is very fragrant, very sweet. It opens in the evening and each flower lasts only 24 hours. You can see a bud on the lower left which opened the following evening.

Below, the bud just as it begins to open.

(Tricholobivia hybrid)

And now for Little Bertha!

We have an outdoor Farmers Market and Artisans every Saturday morning.

Once in awhile there are a couple of vendors selling just stuff.

I saw this faded and dusty dressform, the woman said $25. I was being cheap I guess because I walked away thinking what do I need another dressform for and it's so faded and dirty.

I went back to her booth later and it was still there so I asked her if she could come down and she said how about $20 so I took it thinking I was being foolish spending 20 bucks on this. Well, I emailed my "expert vintage anything to do with sewing" friend Stephanie and she wrote back saying "WHAT???? And you walked away from it for $25!!! They sell here at flea market for no less than $165!!!!"

I emailed pictures to her and she said to leave the jersey cover off, dust her off and keep her!

I wrapped a piece of old lace around her neck where she is so faded, otherwise the jersey cover kept the rest of her from fading so badly.

So I'm thinking if I don't like this purple cover, Stephanie said I can also remove the material down to the cardboard and I could decoupage something over it. She gave me a ton of ideas so Yes, I'm keeping her and I named her Little Bertha since she is a small size.

Yesterday was 90 degrees! It's easier to take than I expected and since Mr. Wild said we just got 6 more inches of snow in Minnesota last night and that it looked like a blizzard and he could hardly get up the driveway....I'm thinking I'm staying a while longer. 

The mornings and evenings are like paradise here and no mosquitoes!!!

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Timewashed for Blissful Whites Wednesday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Crochet Ruffle Pillow

I actually finished a project! It feels so good...I need to do this more often! 

I found this pattern late last summer in Wyoming, crocheted most of it while there, brought it back to Minnesota and it just sat so I packed it up to bring to Arizona. I just finished it 2 nights ago and it will stay here. (It's a well traveled pillow!)

My friend Stephanie supplied the beautiful vintage rhinestone and mother of pearl buttons. Seriously...they made the pillow!

In the background is a quilt top I also just finished, all it needs is to be quilted.

The pattern was in the Autumn 2012 "Crochet!" magazine (called Elegant Ruffles Pillow). It is not available in stores any longer but if you are interested it's possible to contact the magazine for instructions.

The magazine did it in red but I opted for off white.

And more Mexican Bird of Paradise are blooming.

Things are blooming so fast, the average temperature is a dry 82 degrees already but it's comfortable.

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Timewashed for Blissful Whites Wednesday

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday 

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

The Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

The Charm Of Home for Home Sweet Home

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Funky Junk Interiors for Party Junk

Sunrise Flea Market

One thing about Arizonans, they are up and out by the crack of dawn!

There is a flea market the first Sunday of every month. This was my 3rd time and I finally got it right (even though they advertise that it starts at 9 am I discovered people start shopping at sunrise). 

I got up at 5am, left the house a little after 5:30, arrived and was able to park in the shade just shortly after 6am. 

Maybe next winter I'll have more of these treasures I keep bringing home arranged and looking pretty.

I'm mainly working on the bedroom and the living room now. The kitchen will be the main project next winter. It's going to take at least two, maybe three more winters to make it feel like home plus I have to paint the outside of the house too!

Anyway...here are more of the 'goodies' I keep bringing home to decorate.

I was seriously planning to buy a reproduction Paul DeLongpre print and have it framed to hang over the head board of the bed.

I found a vintage print in a vintage frame and in excellent condition $15! 

I about fainted!

My stash of treasures, everything here was really cheap, about $10 on down to $1...the oval mirror on the stand is already in my closet on the chest of drawers.

I have a place for the transferware plate ($3) once I get a plate holder and the little oval picture of birch trees has already found a home.

I collect vaseline glass and I was lucky to find a few more pieces at a very good price.

The vendors are so willing to knock off a few dollars.

The Texas Ware bowl I'll use in the kitchen, a few pitchers that can always find a place to rest and a couple of old frames.

While I was taking pictures I thought I may as well show you the 2 sets I purchased a few weeks ago at an antique mall.

I wanted an outdoor couch for this giant front porch, 16' x 56', the rest of the porch that you don't see is pretty bare.

The couch and matching table is from the 1950's. The table and chairs are from the 1960's. The vendor had the cushions recovered and was kind enough to give me enough fabric to recover the 4 chairs.

Another big score was this tri fold mirror, I held my breath after I asked the woman the price until she said $15! What!!!!

I can never pass up sweet little birds when they are just a few dollars each

A little vintage shelf, I'd like to keep the living and dining rooms a little western/southwestern.

I couldn't walk away from this old oil painting a few weeks ago of a calming lake with birch trees...$12!

The fish was a bit more, someone wrote on the bottom Niagara Falls, Canada July 15, 1937

They both remind me of my Grandparents cabin on Bay Lake when I was a kid, I spent a lot of weekends there and have fond memories.

 And lastly, this huge basket that I picked up at the very first flea market, not sure what but something will fill it eventually.

The hedgehog cactus are starting to pop open...

Mexican Bird of Paradise starting to open...

 and new visitors keep showing up at the bird feeder, this is a Black Headed Grosbeak probably on his way north.

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Sneak peek, starting to decorate our 'Desert Oasis'

Okay, Desert Oasis is sort of lame but what can I call it!

We are in desert ranch country (there are still a few ranches remaining and real cowboys) but this is not a ranch, there are a lot of quails and the house is on a high hill. The land falls straight down on 3 sides, there are fantastic views up Rincon Creek and Rincon Peak. I thought about Quail Hill or Quail Ridge. Nothing seems to hit me right.

But anyway....

 I finally took a few pictures of what I've done so far with our Arizona winter retreat.

Our unplanned and unexpected deal on a house we purchased last December and arrived on Christmas Eve! 

For those of you not familiar, my goal is to decorate on a flea market budget, no single item can cost more than $100...and preferably a whole LOT less!

This was an inspiration from a page in a recent decorating magazine.

I love this very old framed print that I found here in a Tucson antique mall.

Of course there's glare from the bright light outside.

And on another old chest of drawers I have a little bit of lace and rhinestones which I'll probably rearrange as time goes on.

I spotted this oil painting (painted in 1965) at the same antique mall, I finally had to go back and purchase it because I couldn't get it out of my head. I love the colors and the frame.

And below is my little Heywood Wakefield Wicker Taboret that I picked up at the local flea market for a steal of $20!

The framed flower prints were $5 each and a red leather French book for $1.

It still needs work but I place a few things here and there and eventually it falls into place.

I'll hang the prints above the table but I can't decide if I should paint the frames white or leave them the way they are, they are in excellent condition so I sort of hate to paint them.

I think I have way too many decisions to make!

On the down side of this house...almost all the walls are orange peel! No way am I going to try to remove it but it sort of cracks me up because when we built our home in MN in 1989 I fought tooth and nail to NOT have orange peel textured walls because that was the ONLY thing they did back then...all the 'men' thought I was crazy but I won! And now look....a whole house full of orange peel! Eeeek!

I plan to post more if I can get a little more accomplished, I only have a few weeks until it's time to drive back to Minnesota.

The next venture will be the Wyoming bunkhouse....my summer project!

Linking to;

From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday