Very, very brief post today – we’ll let the uploaded slideshows take center stage but with one short explanation. One page with all the inventory slideshows just wasn’t going to work so we made an adjustment. Take a look at our Inventory menu tab – we are making progress and more adjustments are pretty likely!
We’re almost ready for our Friday wedding deliveries to our two couples. Calli & Nathan are setting their tables with our blue & white dishes (yep, we have 80 in our inventory) and using marsala and amber accents – can’t wait to see photos! Allie & Steven’s farm wedding will feature our rustic decor – and we get to set up their cupcake station!
I’ve been musing, thinking, problem-solving, photographing, counting, editing, and thinking some more all week. The problem? How to cleanly and efficiently share our inventory counts with our clients. Even though we have many lovely photographs on our website and on Pinterest, a more detailed description was still needed so clients could know more precisely what vintage treasures we offer. The solution had eluded me until I started mucking around in WordPress and its accompanying widgets.
Then, a most wonderful thing happened…
I discovered how to make a simple slideshow that can exhibit more than one image on the screen with individual descriptions. Ta dah! Now, please appreciate that this did take a bit of trial and lots of errors, but admittedly, I am pleased with myself. 🙂
I figured out pretty quickly that each photo needed to be standardized as far as size and look. Gulp. This meant that many, if not most, of our photos would have to be re-edited at the very least and probably a lot more would need to be retaken. The magnitude of this task took a while for me to accept, but with a long, deep breath, I resolutely began with the recently-published-but now-defunct Vintage Glassware Inventory page.
After revising this slideshow and fine-tuning the settings, our teapot collection was next in line. I pulled each off the shelves, matched them with their lids stored in a separate container, organized them on the table to get an idea on how to order them in the slideshow, created a backdrop, and then photographed each one. After measuring the capacity of several pots, and deciding on how much a teacup would hold, I also had a serving estimate for each.
With the more tedious part done, I created the slideshow with the new photos and added it to a new Inventory page along with the new glassware slideshow. Check it out – the page is called Inventory and now housed on our main menu. Whoop whoop! But this is just the beginning!
Large Decor Inventory coming soon!
The upcoming set of inventory will be our Large Decor Collection. I’ve got a good start and hope to add this slide show sometime soon. What’s after this? Still pondering that one – there are so many to choose from! 🙂 🙁
In the meantime, I’m also getting ready for a retirement tea party this week and two weddings the following weekend. Lots to do and enjoying every bit of it!
Thanks for visiting and have a terrific week! Looks like the sun will be coming back to NC mid-week – thank goodness!
(For those who are interested, I will share two secrets about taking photos. The first secret is that I use my iPhone6 camera. The technique for taking this kind of photo is a bit tricky but not rocket science. After taking the image, I first use the iPhoto app on the phone to straighten and crop the image. The second big secret is that I edit the image with an app I just love – Camera360. It’s free and amazing! (Thanks, Cat, for sharing this with me.) These photos are magically uploaded to iCloud and I then open them on my computer in iPhoto, name them and make a few minor adjustments, and export to a folder on iCloud. The final step is to import them into the WordPress library. None of this is difficult but it does take time and lots of it.)
An exciting trend at Southern Vintage Table is an appreciation for our vintage glassware, and especially our colored goblet collection. Our assorted vintage mix has traveled to many venues this past year, delighting guests with their variety, color, and beauty.
As our collection has grown, we recently tallied up our goblets and tumblers. With today’s post we are sharing our numbers on our updated Vintage Drinkware page which includes our vintage goblets, teacups, punch cups, pitchers, and more!
It’s time to showcase the additions to our vintage silver plate collection! In a previous post, “From Elegant to Rustic, Vintage Silver Plate is Chic,” we introduced our silver treasury but since then we have added so much more. Today’s pictorial post features these shiny, timeless, and versatile lovelies – please enjoy!
At present here is our silver collection inventory. Large & Medium Trays – 20+ Small Trays – 8+ Sugar & Creamers – 20+ Cake Stand – 1 Coffee/Tea Pots – 3 (+one lidless that is a beautiful vase!) Pitchers – 7 Bowls & Serving Dishes – 8+ Ice Bucket – 1 large with handles (champagne), 1 large tub (4-5 wine bottles), 1 small (1 wine bottle) Candle Holders – 20+ Bouquet Bowl Candelabra (3 Candle Holders) – 3 Bud Vases – 6+ Goblets – 6 Silver & Glass Coasters – 20+ Flatware Place Settings (Knife, Dinner Fork, Salad/Dessert Fork, Spoon) – 150+
It’s always a sweet pleasure to find something with a rich backstory and, indeed, one unfolded when I found this vintage tiered stand at a local thrift store. The striking red and white scenic pattern caught my eye as I glanced down the filled shelves. My heart skipped a beat as I picked it up. No cracks or chips – what a nice surprise! I looked for the mark underneath and read a name I’ve never heard before – Clarice.
With the slight crazing visible from the bottom and the unique mark, I knew I found something with an interesting tale – and, as it turns out, it’s the history of an incredibly creative English designer, Clarice Cliff, who made her mark in the pottery world during the Art Deco era of the 1920s-1930s. As I admired the beautiful scene on this pattern, I expected to discover more delicate creations of Clarice’s but her more popular pieces are much more interesting!
According to Wikipedia, Clarice was born in 1899 in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, the heart of England’s pottery industry. She started working as a potter at age 13 and by age 25, Clarice was creating a new line of pottery known as Bizarre Ware with bright, striking colors and unique lines.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
During the late 1920s and through the thirties, Clarice enjoyed much success and produced many different bright, colorful, and angular patterns, now highly collectible Art Deco pieces, including Honolulu and Melon. Production took a turn with onset of WWII, and English potteries were allowed to produce only white tableware. Following the war, the market returned to the traditional English patterns, which is when Tonquin was manufactured for the overseas market, including the United States.
After the war, although Cliff was occasionally nostalgic for the ‘Bizarre’ years, as witnessed in personal letters to friends, she seemed to be realistic and accepted the commercial taste was for conservative ware. Clarice seemed to enjoy playing a lesser role at the factory, knowing that she could not recapture those crazy days of the thirties.[20] Much of the post-war production went to Australia, New Zealand or North America, where the taste was for formal ware in traditional English designs such as Tonquin[21] rather than the striking patterns and shapes that had established Cliff’s reputation; thus she was never to return to creative work. – Wikipedia
From bizarre to bucolic, Clarice Cliff demonstrated an incredible range of talent during her lifetime, and although she was marginally recognized for her creative genius at the time, today she stands as a major artist of her time. To learn more about her life and work, check out the following sites. And, if you see a “bizarre” piece of pottery on the shelf, look underneath for her name – if it’s there, that would truly be a find!
It’s time for Southern Vintage Table to take a blogging vacay! We are celebrating Independence Day with a hiatus from our weekly post to concentrate on a few projects, both business and personal. We will be back Sunday, August 2nd. In the meantime, expect a few more Facebook posts during the weeks featuring some of our new old treasures! Have a terrific July!
(Pssst – Did you notice those patriotic red, white, & blue vintage goblets? Pretty awesome, huh?)
Tucked down a dirt road in western Orange County is the farmland of Merry Hill, a beautiful, pastoral venue. This rural property, passed down many generations of the Nelson family since 1754, hails as the “oldest continuously owned family farm in Orange County.” Merry Hill is also designated as a one of 1600 North Carolina Century Farms, which means it has been “continuously maintained” as farmland by a single family for at least one hundred years. With 52,000 total farms in North Carolina, this is indeed an accomplishment to note!
The current Nelson owner, Lynne, has recently opened up her family property for others to enjoy as a wedding and event venue. Her lovely homeplace, luscious grounds, and open fields are the perfect location for families to gather to celebrate special occasions. Complete with horses, minature mules, farm dogs, and peacocks, Merry Hill is delightful for everyone!
This weekend and next, two brides have invited Southern Vintage Table along with Fernrock Farm to be a part of their festivities and we are both very pleased and excited! More photos of these two weddings will be forthcoming!
Early this year Jamila contacted Southern Vintage Table about helping with her August wedding at the Virginia Dare Ballroom in Raleigh. She and her fiancé currently live in California but their wedding will be here in North Carolina with family and friends.
The historic Virginia Dare Ballroom is in the former Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel, built in the early 1920s, the same time period portrayed in The Great Gatsby. With that beautiful backdrop, Jamila and Victor want a vintage look for their wedding with elements of silver, gold, and pearls, reminiscent of this glamorous time .
So, using my Mother’s Day pink roses, I created a few centerpiece mockups and sent these photos for Jamila and Victor to consider. They said “Yes!” We’ll be tweaking these formulas a bit closer to the time, and, of course, I’ll be scouting the thrift stores with their glamorous vintage vision in mind!
What do you do with a beautiful vintage teacup that’s lost its handle or has a chip? Drill a hole in the bottom, fill it with an assortment of sedums, and create a beautiful mini garden!
Since they love sun, leave them outside or in a sunny window and when you need something pretty for your table, put them on a pedestal for your guests to enjoy! These are also available from Southern Vintage Table as a tabletop decor item and fit in perfectly with our Vintage Centerpiece Packages.
And, with today being Mother’s Day, we send wishes of love, compassion, and respect to all mothers and their children. To my mother, thank you for all of your gifts to us – your spirit, strength, compassion, courage, love of family, sassy smile – we miss you.
Last week we revealed a peek at Katie and Ryan’s rustic, vintage wedding reception and had planned to show you more this week but a few gorgeous coral roses got in our way. You see, last Sunday I went to pick up the vintage decor elements used on the reception tables but I left with so much more – bouquets of coral roses, a few white tulips, and even one forgotten bridesmaid’s bouquet designed by Katie’s wonderful wedding planner and florist, Amy Wurster of Knots ‘n Such. What an unexpected treat! So, I took advantage of these lovelies and started making simple arrangements in some of our vintage vases just to see how much the container played a role in their presentation. I know what you’re thinking; that’s some hard work ahead!
First, the featured photo above is a vintage planter I simply love and couldn’t wait to make an arrangement in it. I cut a small piece floral mesh wire (thank you, Jami!), shaped it inside, and started plopping the roses in between the wire holes. Gosh, I adore this centerpiece! I then tried two more planters we have in our collection at Southern Vintage Table – a Tiffany-blue and a yellow with little feet. (Incidentally, we have a very nice collection of planters which help create low, lush centerpieces for any table. And, with the mesh wire tucked inside, it’s pretty easy!)
Next up, the traditional vase – the original milk glass vase with the forgotten bridesmaid bouquet and a table centerpiece with a few small vases. I couldn’t believe how perfectly the marble egg matched the color of the coral roses!
The next set of arrangements are in pots – two topless teapots and a metal pot with an attached lid. From delicate to rustic, a vintage pot makes a wonderful vase!
The final trio of unexpected vintage vases – a perfectly tarnished brass goblet, a peach cookie jar (thanks, Priscilla!) and a colorful tin – create their own unique look. Don’t you love these? Admittedly, my favorite is the vintage tin. (Psst – the secret to using a tin is to tuck a cup inside to hold the water for the flowers – you’d never know unless I told you!)
Undeniably, these beautiful coral roses would look stunning in a paper cup, but the container adds another ingredient of beauty, interest, and whimsy – wouldn’t you agree? And, yes, playing with roses and preparing for this week’s post was a bit too much fun to be called work. 🙂
Now, back to Katie and Ryan’s post – I’ll share more of my photos next week but I can’t wait to see and share some of the professional shots when they come in. ‘Till then, have a terrific week!
Very, very brief post today – we’ll let the uploaded slideshows take center stage but with one short explanation. One page with all the inventory slideshows just wasn’t going to work so we made an adjustment. Take a look at our Inventory menu tab – we are making progress and more adjustments are pretty likely!
I’ve been musing, thinking, problem-solving, photographing, counting, editing, and thinking some more all week. The problem? How to cleanly and efficiently share our inventory counts with our clients. Even though we have many lovely photographs on our website and on Pinterest, a more detailed description was still needed so clients could know more precisely what vintage treasures we offer. The solution had eluded me until I started mucking around in WordPress and its accompanying widgets.
An exciting trend at 
Happy 4th of July!
