Friday, February 5, 2010

Beauty in the Home

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
~William Morris

In our pursuit of freeing ourselves from an attachment to "things" our family has and continues to work towards simplifying what we do have. As I consider whether or not to keep something or if we really "need" something I keep the above quote in mind.
I want to share some beautiful finds from our local auction house this morning. They had some goods from antique/thrift shops that had gone out of business and were selling items at very reasonable prices. We carefully searched through the piles on the tables and dug through the boxes on the floor. I found two more glass bread pans which makes my total four. Now I can bake three loaves of bread and one breakfast bread all at the same time.
I found some bits of notions and fabrics, a glass canister which will hold our homemade granola, the wooden bowl pictured above, and some beautiful hand embroidered linens. They are used in our home on our meal table, on counters and during afternoon tea times. I paid $10.00 for all of the above. I almost never buy items new and spend very little unless it is absolutely necessary. It was worth the money to add a bit more beauty in our home.
Warm wishes, Tonya

17 comments:

  1. Very cute embroidered linens. :) I wish things like that were more easily found down here. I hope you'll take a picture of all your breads baking (or cooling) at one time. How wonderful!

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  2. Sounds like you found some great stuff! How are your glass pans for sticking? I used to have a lovely glass bread pan from my step-great-grandmother, but anything I made in it *always* stuck, no matter how much butter, flower, etc. I used. :o( I think it's stashed in the basement somewhere now. I use metal pans for my bread baking which work well, but I loved the look of that old glass one.

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  3. Hi Joy,
    I will have to find you a box of goodies next time:)
    Warm wishes,
    Tonya

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  4. Hi Naturalmom,
    I melt two tablespoons butter (for two loaves) and then pour them evenly on the bottom of each glass bread pan. When I divide the dough up, as I take one of the loaves I turn it in the butter to coat it evenly. When the bread comes out of the oven I lay the pan on its side and as it cools it comes loose.
    Thanks for visiting!
    Warm wishes, Tonya

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  5. I have always loved that quote, and strongly agree. Wonderful embroidered linens!
    Happy weekend to you all!
    Love, Renee

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  6. Oh I love it! What wonderful finds....and what a great deal! I buy nearly everything in our home from the thrift and the flea.....I have so much fun picking through things to get to the treasures! There's so much truth in that wonderful quote you chose! Enjoy your new beautiful treasures Tonya!
    love,
    sara

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  7. What lovely treasure finds Tonya!I love going to antique stores and thrift shops and finding hidden treasures. You have found some lovely items:)
    Have a great weekend
    Warmly
    Linda

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  8. I love that quote very much and live by it as much as we can. Our house is pretty sparse in each room. Thank you for this interesting post!

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  9. How neat, it is always fun to find treasures. I love buying used stuff I don't know about you but I think you find cooler things than what you can buy from the store. Lots of times there is a story behind those tresures. Have a great day Rebekah.

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  10. I embroider napkins so I know the effort that was put into them. Very nice find! I use glass pans only~I really butter them good and nothing ever sticks to them. They are great. Thanks for putting up the pencil holder, I am going to order it right now. Blessings, Rose

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  11. I also scored glass pans at our local Salvation Army. I am kicking myself as I didn't get a box of canning jars--the older ones with the wire on them. AFter I thought about it, I went back and they were gone...LOL! That will teach me. But, I use a bit of canola oil in my pans and the bread never sticks. Have a great weekend Tonya, and I need to call you about what we spoke about for the newsletter. Talk soon!

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  12. That wooden bowl is awesome! One of my focuses this year is to surround myself with real and natural things. I feel so surrounded by plastics and synthetic stuff that natural materials and handmade things feel like a glimpse of blue sky! Enjoy your treasures.

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  13. I love that quote! what awesome finds - you have a great eye for spotting the beautiful and useful. as I type this i'm looking at my beautiful books housed in a cheap laminate bookcase from target - i need to be on the lookout for a better way to house them. Thanks for being a constant inspiration. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  14. This is such a nice and important post. We are trying to sell our house and move, so this concept is important to us. We are learning to keep only things that are beautiful or useful but it is a process of learning, isn't it?
    -Phyllis

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  15. Beautiful embroidery. I've also been gathering glass bread pans to replace my metal ones (the metal ones now hold utensils). The sourdough looks delicious, something I've wanted to try but keep putting off for some reason.

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  16. I just found a beautiful bread bowl like that last weekend. I can't believe how nice it is for raising bread. Yay for beautiful old things!

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  17. I just was making a pound cake, and the recipe was enough for 2 loaves. I have 2 loaf pans....or at least I used to. Who took the 2nd loaf pan??
    I need loaf pans....

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