are you "red"dy?

for the time of year when the world falls in love? let us help - all red items 20% off (get an extra 10% off if you become a blog follower)

The Traveling Trunk Boutique (click here)

The Traveling Trunk is coming to a neighborhood near you!! December 10th, 11th and 12th - they will be bursting with "shopportunities" a chance to be unique and buy unique. Come visit us there!

sEEinG ReD (and getting 30% off for doing it!)

take 20% off all things red this week at abode. but the title says 30% off, you might say . . . mention that you follow this blog and get that extra 10% bonus!

you'll be glad you "red" this!

vintage christmas monday

Joan at the delightful Anything Goes Here is hosting "Vintage Christmas Monday". . . and naturally here at Abode, where drool leaks from the corners of our mouths whenever we hear the word "vintage," we simply had to participate. This week we're sharing just a few items we have for sale in the store right now that fit into the vintage Christmas genre. . . we range from a Reader's Digest Mrs. Claus to a 50's felt-and-sequin-apron to styrofoam anything to beer bottle wise men (to be featured next week. . . betcha can't wait!).

One thing all these vintage decorations have in common is that they are all hand-made. When I was a child my favorite Christmas decoration was one hand-made by my mother. At a time in our little family's life when there wasn't much money for store-bought decorations, Mom skillfully fashioned a construction paper town to tape on the front window year after year. All the little houses surrounded by paper snowdrifts mesmerized me. After a while the houses faded from the bright winter sun, but they still held their charm.

Here's to all the hand-made Christmas decorations we have loved. . . .

Gotta go Hortense, it's abode's 20% off all things RED!

Yes, you heard it on the party line, save 20% off all things red at abode this week! I have my eye on a certain Mrs. Santa created from folded magazine pages, you? And for being a blog follower - ask for an additional 10% off that special something red - we'll be thrilled to oblige!

bLaCK FrIdaY Is MY DaY!!

Don't be left out in the cold this Friday - when you'll receive 50% off one item . . . imagine the possibilities! We'll be open from 11 Am to 9 PM

this is the knob that does the job!

Do you love to do it yourself? Got a garage full of promise? Thinking of rejuvenating an ugly duckling? Our crystal knobs are just the thing! Fashioned after antique glass knobs, they add that perfect touch to any project. Priced $3-6 they are ready for action. You could purchase them at Anthropologie for $11 a piece, but why wouldja?

abode style Cozy Chic

One of the most delightful and talented ladies we know, Diana Camomile Peck has "the eye", we use that term for people who can beeline for the most awesome thing and incorporate it into their unique style! She actually lives the reuse lifestyle and makes fun and funky envelopes out of discarded magazines - she sells them at local shows an boutiques and they are in high demand!

Here are her style inspirations:

The vintage stools - amazing my daughter Mckenzie and I found at your amazing store ABODE - of course my favorite store for anything eclectic, unusual and one of a kind. They are perfect for my desk. The ribbon cupboard was originally dirty, old and white. I painted it and added the wooden dowels to hold my ribbon - love it! The amazing turquoise door I found on the side of the street during city clean up. What a find!! The hand painted coffee table was a dirty, old red table. I purchased it for $15.00. It was on it's way to the DI before I decided to freshen it up. Now I love it! And the chandelier was an old fence I found in my neighbors garbage. No I didn't dig for it, it was sitting right on top. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. The amazing glass insulators are from once again, my favorite store - ABODE!!

I find all of my inspiration from magazines since I look through so many of them from making envelopes. I have books that I have saved and glued pictures of ideas from years ago that I just know "someday - I am going to make that" will happen. The chandelier was from the book JunkMarket that I literally saw years ago. I was just waiting to find the fence piece. It was very heavy and aged and it had to be the perfect fence with the scalloped edge.

Thanks to Diana for giving us a peek into her cozy chic style.

What's your style?

FrENcH KIssed - No, rEAllY!

I hate to share, I really do because my favorite etsy sellers are a secret source of inspiration and delight. But share, I must because some secrets are just too good to keep!

What does Elvis Presley have to do with French postcards? Well... in my convoluted mind, it all connects. You see, August 16 is always a big deal for me cause that's the day Elvis died and I have been an Elvis fan since I was 11 years old. But one particular Aug. 16 --- in 2002 -- I had more things to worry about than The King's untimely death. I found myself unceremoniously without a job. In a word, I was fired!

Since I had always had raving job evaluations, I was in shock to say the least. I was also in a dilemma because I worked for the one and only newspaper in town. What's a journalist to do? Well, I cried alot.

I also dreamt of making a living with some connection to France -- whatever I could do so that taking trips to France would be a tax write-off! In the meantime, I starting re-selling garage sale finds on eBay.

My mother sent me an article about how the secret to succeeding on eBay was to have a "niche." Niche -- a French word used to describe a special area of demand for a product or service. Voila! That's when I decided I wanted to sell only French items on eBay. That would be my niche.

Looking back now, I am amazed at my innocence and ignorance. I had no capital. I couldn't tote enough back with me on one plane trip to pay for the airfare let alone make a profit! Oh the things that passion drives us to do.
But it was while in Isle sur la Sorgue that I bought my first batch of 50 French postcards and, back at home, when they resold like hot crepes, I knew I was on to something.

For the next couple of years, along with accruing 10,000-plus postcards, I also accumulated a lot of knowledge. I learned about everything from the ins and outs of doing business the French way to a whole lot of trivia about postcard history, the stories behind the people photographed, what images were rare and hard to find.

I also learned that I would never be able to sell enough postcards to actually make a living and support myself. But I couldn't let go of my obsession for these turn-of-century images.

As Fate would have it, one of my customers introduced me to the digital collage world and told me about Etsy. "FrenchKissed" puckered up and put on a smile:) I transferred my Photoshop skills learned in journalism to restoring antique postcards and making the images the highest quality digital scans that I can.

During the Golden Age of Postcards in the early 1900s, cards were printed by the hundreds of thousands. My joy is in finding cards that are TRULY unique, whether it be original art by the sender or the natural collage of the French script, the stamp and the postal cancellation. It's difficult to pick out a favorite, but here's one of many that hold a special place in my heart: a postcard featuring the ballet dancer Cleo de Merode. The sender writes: "Here, Mademoiselle, my idol, Cleo." He says he already has 81 postcards of her! Along the musical notes, he writes (as best as I can translate): "Oh, beautiful lips -- that I tell you a million times!"

Merci beaucoup,
Trishia
Trishia Jacobs
http://www.frenchkissed.etsy.com/
Antique French postcards and digital scans for the collage artist.
http://frenchkissed.rubylane.com/shops/frenchkissed
Antique French postcards for the discriminating collector

***Trish would like to extend an exclusive offer to our abode lovers, a Buy 1, Get 1 Free (a free scan $3.99 or under with the purchase of a scan of equal or higher value). I already have an offer on my home page for a free scan with a $10 purchase, so they could take advantage of both offers -- buy $10 in scans and get a total of 2 free ones.

dEAls aFtER DuSK

It's the sale you've been waiting for. . . choose YOUR OWN SALE this week! Just stop in between 5:00 and 7:00 pm and your entire purchase will be 20% off. So pick out an armload!!

alL dIsHEs 30% OfF

Please pass the . . .

Our beloved Cathie Cox wrote:

When Grandma got older, she started giving her life's "things" to her descendents. She wasn't going to need them much for much longer. A sophisticated lady, she had many lovely things to offer us grandchildren.

. . . I was one of her's and Granddaddy's favorites, so I was pretty lucky to get first dibs. So many choices. . . jewelry, figurines, paintings. Nope, silly me, I went for the soap saver (an old metal kitchen utensil, like a little cage that you put slivers of soap in. Not very valuable). Always wish I had gotten the dachsaund paper holder (long silly looking ceramic dog with a springy thing in the middle). I did take a few Royal Doulton because it made her happy. And I begged for the dishes.Not the china --- the dishes. The Johnson Bros. Windsor Ware, Garden Bouquet pattern, service for a family gathering with chips in at least a third of them. Why did I want the dishes? Because I knew that every time I would use them I would remember my grandparents. Thanksgiving dinners of years past would flood my mind on days when the kids were acting way too much like kids, and all of a sudden things would seem better.

Nowadays, having Cream of Wheat in a Garden Bouquet bowl transports me back to a pea green Michigan dining room on a crisp and sunny fall morning, watching my granddaddy eat his bowl of Cream of Wheat with his large, loving, little-bit hairy hands. Those breakfasts were special to we two. . . oh how I loved him. I adore these old, chippy dishes for all the joyful memories they have given me. . . .

Think of the dishes you recall - what memories do they evoke?

Build new memories at abode - all dishes, glasses, bar ware, and utensils - 30% off through Saturday 11/7!

Hot dogs in soup

When I was a kid, the most exciting excursion prior to the start of school each year was the trip to choose a lunch pail! Would I be Barbie, the Banana Splits or Jane of the Jungle this year? AND would my mom drop a hot dog into steaming Lipton noodle soup in my thermos to cook until lunchtime?

Check these out!

Snap crackle pop

I love fireplaces - warm and romantic. Check out this mantle with detailed carving at $149 it won't last long!

secret supper

for over 30 years my family has carried the tradition of a Halloween secret supper! What, you might ask, is a secret supper?

All come to dinner at my mom's house, some in costume, bearing food, drink or dessert. the secret is that no one can know what others are bringing . . .all is left to chance.

One year we had all desserts (OK, it sounds good but, not really), other years no dessert. Last year, newly married, I whipped up a truly horrifying and extremely HOT Indian meat dish - ick. Even the hot foodies in my family couldn't tolerate it. This year will be better but of course, I'm not telling what I'm bringing.

After dinner we present something halloweenie, a story, a song or a shy little wail (for those who don't want to be coerced into performing).

This is HALLOWEEN!

I dedicate this post to our dear friend Diane Nielson - she was one of the original secret supperers and now she watches us from on high - love and miss you Diane

Tea Time

kettle on? check.
chamomile tea bag ready? check.
honey bear out? check.
darling vintage tea cup and saucer?
time to head over to abode!!!

in british tea culture a lovely cup and saucer is a must!
(and i do agree that i feel like the queen
while sipping from one...pinky up of course)

not much of a tea fan?

don't worry,
you can still put these dainty treasures
to good use,
check out this simple diy project
courtesy of design sponge:

teacup candles!!

wouldn't these make a great gift?

i love projects that find new
uses for vintage goodies.

(click here for full instructions)


come see our selection
and be sure to bring your
english accents...
tea and crumpets anyone?

STrIKe a PoSE & SAve 30%

It's fashion week at abode!

All clothing and accessories 30% off

We're talking VinTage here

Dress to impress - Audrey Hepburn, anyone?