Trip Treasures

A recent trip to Baltimore and Wilmington 

garnered a few treasures that have found their way 

into fall vignettes here at HFTS.

Antique Majolica in Various Leaf Patterns

Vintage Binoculars with Leather Details

And a Wonderful Fall Inspired 
Scherenschnitte

Scherenschnitte is the art of paper cutting. The tradition of scissor cutting was brought to Colonial America in the 18th century, primarily in Pennsylvania. A 1930s Quimper pitcher holds a fall bouquet, while a wooden blackbird and wooden pumpkins finish out the vignette.

As with this piece, these works of paper cuttings often have symmetry of design. Here fall leaves radiate off from a Tom Turkey. Acorns, owls, pumpkins, and black crows further embellish the design.

All these intricate details immediately 

drew me to this piece, along with the beautiful fall colors 

that were hand water colored.

This design is by 
Pam Rankin Hultz.

And since black crows play a major roll in my new paper cut, I thought I'd include a few more crow inspired vignettes I created last year when I shared the following Native American legend that I taught my students in the fall of each year.

It was believed that in ancient times, all crows were as white as the snow. The native Americans that roamed the plains in search of buffalo hunted on foot. It was a difficult life, and the people depended on the buffalo to survive. They used every part of the buffalo for food, clothing, tools, and shelter.

The crows were friends of the buffalo, and as they soared high above they could see everything that happened below on the prairie. When they spied hunters approaching a herd, the crows would swoop down to the buffalo and call out in warning: "Caw, caw, caw. The hunters are near. You must run." The buffalo would scatter and leave the hunters without a kill. With time the people began to starve.

Among the crows was one that was larger than the others and the leader of the flock. The people decided that they must capture this big white crow and teach him a lesson. They devised a plan.

A young brave would wear a buffalo skin with head and horns. He would graze among the buffalo as if he were one of them. As the hunters approached, the crow called out his usual warning: "Caw, caw, caw. The hunters are near. You must run." All but one of the buffalo stampeded away. So the crow flew down and perched on the lone buffalo saying: "Caw, caw, caw. Can you not hear? The hunters are near. You must run and save yourself." 

The brave then reached up from under his disguise and grabbed the crow. He tied a cord to his legs and attached the other end of the cord to a large stone. The crow was captured!

The people met again to decide what to do with this bad crow who was causing them to go hungry. As they gathered, one impatient brave grabbed the crow and threw him into the council fire. At once the fire burned through the cord, and the big crow flew to freedom.

But the big crow's beautiful white feathers were now black from the fire, and as he soared above the people could hear him call: "Caw, caw, caw. I'll never warn the buffalo again."

From that day on, all crows are as black 

as the blackened scorched feathers of the big white crow.

You might be interested to know that crows are very intelligent birds and can mimic sounds. These large birds are often a problem for farmers and gardeners because they tend to live in large flocks which consume large amounts of food.

So if you have a garden,

you just might want to add one of these.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween Treats @ Susan's

Today begins the countdown to Halloween....13 days to go. Sharon @ Fiberdoodles and Whimsy is hosting a Halloween Bash with a Count Down to Halloween. To join in the fun, you just need to post something related to Halloween during the count down days. You can post once or for all 13 days. Today, I'm posting a visit to my friend Susan's home. Susan loves holidays and parties, and her home is always a treat.

There she is looking out the window to 

see who is here to visit today. Let's go on in.

The entry is always filled with 

fun vignettes, warm and welcoming.

This cute little group of 

pumpkin people stand ready to greet you!

To the side is a silver tray filled with with orange glass ball ornaments mixed in among some of Susan's collection of silver baby cups. Susan always thinks for some clever way to mix in this collection each holiday.

Susan likes to fill this entry hall bench 

with loads of fun seasonal pillows and dolls.

Another silver tray holds glass Halloween ornaments and petite Limoges type boxes with a Halloween theme. I like the way Susan mixed in the ornamental pumpkin looking pods with greens cut from your yard. They really accent to blue and white vase.

Her mantel is ever changing with the seasons. 

 Here she uses her collection of antique majolica 

with little sprays of dried pods on the left side.

The right side is balanced with more of 

her charming majolica and a wooden pumpkin.

The pine cupboard is full of beautiful blue and white china, 

but I focused on the whimsical vignette Susan arranged across the top.

The dining room chandelier is another feature 

that always figures into the seasonal decorating. 

 This time she has strung it with 

ribbons, lanterns, and decorated cones.

The center piece 

features a pumpkin clown.

This colorful vignette 

sits in the corner on her kitchen counter.

The wooden witch is hand painted, 

and the witch and pumpkin in the vase are made of felt. 

 Clever use of these stick puppets.

Susan's collection of vintage Halloween containers 

flows onto the built-in shelving on a wall in her kitchen, 

and these darling tea towels were made from ticking 

and embellished with the a black cat and jack-o-lantern. 

 What could be more perfect for Halloween.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to Susan's. Leave me a comment below, and let me know your favorite decorating idea. Then click here to go to Sharon's @ Fiberdoodles and Whimsy to see a complete list of all the others participating in her Halloween Bash.

I'm helping to host the Quimper Club International's 10th Anniversary Annual Meeting this week, so my time at the moment is pretty scheduled. I'll post and visit as often as time allows, but my comments may be limited. Check back as I've plans to post for Outdoor Wednesday and Tablescape Thursday. Hope to see you then!