Anthropologie is Decorating with Dead Things Too!

I've done it so why shouldn't Anthropologie do it - decorate with dead things that is, well really more like old things in Anthropolgie's case.  Kate and I were at the Toronto Don Mills store a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to show you the photos.  Who doesn't love some good Anthro store decor.  

The store was decorated in a woodsy theme with items like leaves, stumps, and mushrooms, but all made out of unusual items.   I love seeing how creative they are.  I'm not sure what kind of budget they are given, but they certainly seem to make the most out of found objects.

Let's have a look:

Mushrooms:
The mushrooms along these shelves were just so darn cute.  I think they were made from paper mache with sticks as the trunks.  Whatever they used the mushrooms couldn't have been cuter.

And there was a mushroom identification chart attached to a wooden pallet with a few more mushrooms on top.  I wonder what kind they are - mushroomis anthropologius maybe?

Leaves:
There was a spray of over-sized leaves across the wall made from what looked like tea bags.  How ingenious, eh?

Stumps:
The stumps were made from layers of corrugated cardboard with painted tops.

Isn't this one the cutest, with the cut layers painted on the top of it and the moss tucked around its base.

I think the cluster of stumps was my favourite thing.  I wanted to take one of the stumps home ... but I restrained myself.

Paintbrushes:
They attached the price card to dirty old paintbrushes in this display

and used them as a way to hold up their adorable aprons in this display.

Odd Shapes:
In the window display, they used cardboard circles folded and glued together to form this orange and rust coloured mass that arched up behind the clothing on display.

It wasn't the easiest to get photos of the window display because of the reflection, but you can see what an interesting backdrop these masses made.

They also used circles of metal and cut out pictures linked together to form this eye-catching light fixture.

I'm not sure what these shapes are supposed to be (butterflies maybe?), but they were made from tissue paper clothes patterns.

I always think the art department at Anthropologie does so much with so little to make fantastic wow-inspiring displays. 

These next three photos are just classic Anthro scenes so I couldn't leave them out -

1) rustic vintage furniture

 2) bright and beautiful home decor

 3) adorable mugs used to spell words

Thanks Anthropolgie for your amazing and inspiring store displays.  I always leave the store thinking I should go home and rustle around in the recycling bin and make something gorgeous for my home.

The Christie Antique Show

 

This past Saturday was the long anticipated Christie Antique Show - one of the biggest in Canada with over 300 vendors.  The day was a little hot but much better than earlier in the week.

It was my first time going to a big antique show and I have to say I was a little disappointed as I thought the prices were on the high side.  I think I must be more of a thrift store kind of girl as those prices seem to suit me better.   I still had fun though and spent a couple of hours taking in all the antiques.

There were tons of Canadiana things, including skis, tobaggans, and snow shoes which seemed funny since it is almost summer.
 

 This huge clock and the pretty signs were favourites of mine.
 

 I loved this booth with all the red and white kitchen things.
 

I only purchased three things - something for a giveaway (more about that later), an over-priced greeny-blue mason jar without the lid, and a wooden box (you can see it below in the lower left-hand corner).
 

 And here it is at home on our front porch.  

I heard the seller saying he made the lid and some repairs using boards that he had around and he stained it and varnished it, so I knew it wasn't a valuable antique.  Which was fine by me because I wanted it to solve a problem we have on our front porch.

We do not have an inside door to the garage and must go all the way around and open the big garage doors to put garbage into the garbage cans.  Sooo what often happens is that we toss a tied up bag of garbage onto the front porch if we don't have our shoes on, or it is raining, or ... you get the idea.  There is often a bag of garbage on our front porch waiting for the next person to go out to the garage, so I got this box to -um, cough, cough - hide the garbage in.
 

 Are you as appalled as the rest of my family was when I told them what I was planning on using this pretty box for?  Sorry about that, but at least our front porch will look tidy now.

Linked to Saturday Night Special - Old Crates at Funky Junk Interiors

My Favourite Store and a Giveaway

Ten Thousand Villages is my daughter Kate's and my favourite store.  

We went last Saturday to have a visit.

When we go we spend quite awhile looking at everything, and I do mean everything in the store.
 

 We have to check out the jewelry,

and bags,

and things for around the house,

and toys,

and baskets,

and fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate, spices, rice, and other food items.

 and too many other fantastic things to name them all.
 

One of the things I like best, is that Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of the Mennonite Central Committee, the relief and development agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America.  Most of the people working in the stores are volunteers and the products in the stores are all from Third World people.  The aim of the program is to provide a vital and fair income to unemployed or underemployed people by selling their handicrafts in North America.  They not only promote fair trade, but also environmental sustainability.  Kate and I think that being a buyer for the Ten Thousand Village program would be a dream job.

There are stores across Canada and United States and you can also shop on-line.
To find a store, try these websites:
in Canada look here
and in United States look here

We couldn't go to Ten Thousand Villages and not buy something - it's all for a good cause, right?  So I chose something for a giveaway now, and another something for one in April.  

 Since Easter is coming up, this is what I chose:
 

The two hand-painted Easter eggs are from India 

and the mat is from Bangladesh (I bought one for myself as well, since I'm very excited about all things from Bangladesh, as I might be going there in the summer of 2011 - you can read a bit about it here)

So if you are interested in the Easter giveaway, please 

leave a comment (for one chance to win)

become a Follower (for another chance to win)

mention it on your blog (for a third chance to win).  

The only thing I ask is that you please, please, please leave me an email address so I can contact you.  

The contest will be closing on Sunday, March 21st at 6:00 EST.