Redecorating at Mother's

Last week mother asked me to redecorate her apartment.We didn't move furniture, just re-arranged table decorations. I always forget to take before pictures. These first few are after I got started and remembered I forgot! The lamp and picture are new items. The Bible is a  old family bible. There is quite a story connected. My maternal great grandparents were English but lived in Mexico. My grandmother was born in 1914 in Pachuca. When she was six weeks old the family fled "Pancho Villa". They went to Texas and stayed there about two months. When they returned to Mexico some of their possessions were gone. To make a long story short...the bible was missing. A lady in the mountains had it (how she ended up with it I don't know). My great grandfather retrieved it and now it is back in the family. It has the name Minnie Bauden who was my great grandfather's mother. He (great grandfather) married a lady also named Minnie (my great grandmother). Makes genaology  research very confusing! Anyway that is the story of the bible.   The vase was my grandma's. She received from  the family she worked for years ago. The older generation was moving out of their farm house and she asked if she could have the vase. The glass is etched....I should have taken a better picture. It sits on a  lovely wooden base.

The clock in the next picture was given to my mother from my grandparents. It too has a story! It was found in a barn by a friend of theirs. It didn't work and was missing some of the wood work. The top piece was made and the clock was fixed. Granny and Grandpa brought it to California on the plane with them about 35 years ago...time flies(pun intended!) 

The Royal Daulton figurines were also my grandma's. Well, two of them anyway. The lady standing with the balloons is called Biddy Penny Farthing (funny name, I know!). The man seated is the Old Balloon Seller...much better name! And the other figurine is called Top O' the Hill. She is signed on the bottom by Michael Daulton, July 1978. 


         I love this picture. The opera glasses were my great grandmother P. My mother has had them as long as I can remember. The handle and glasses are mother of pearl and you have to flip them over to use them. It reminds me of the scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts can't figure out how to use them and thinks they are broken. I laugh every time! Isn't it funny how all the colors coordinate? Just luck!The book ends also belonged to my grandma. When I was younger they reminded me of the Lincoln Memorial. That is what I call them the Lincoln book ends. The bibles are also family bibles but we are not quite sure who some of the people are.  Looks like more genealogy research! The little boxes in the next picture are new but coordinate with the colors so they were moved from the bedroom to the living room.                               The pictures are not family members. Grandma bought these at antique shops. I couldn't decide were to put the opera glasses....they ended up on the bible.The finished look.    This is the music box that grandpa bought for grandma for either their first or second anniversay, 1940 or 1941. It is a Regina music box and is in excellent condition.      I decided to hang some of the disks on the wall. There are about 40 disks that play different songs. I don't know if I like them on the wall or not. They look like saw blades!
                                                                                                                                                                     This picture belonged to my mother's aunt. It is a copy of a Rembrandt. 

This is a rubbing that my mother's step-daughter (which I guess makes her my step-sister, although I have met her only a handful of times) did of Henry the VIII's grave. Mother read somewhere that this is not allowed any longer.
                            

Here I added a museum mat and frame at Big Huge Labs.



There you have it....redecorating without spending a dime! I will be joining Marty at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ for Table Top Tuesday and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Thanks for looking at my blog!

5 comments:

  1. Oh what wonderful family heirlooms and each one with such a precious story. I love that. Your new displays and decorating look fabulous. All of your vignettes are just beautiful. I am so thrilled you are joining the party. Thanks. Hugs, Marty

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  2. Oh my goodness - what lovely treasures you have. The music box is so beautiful and how marvelous it belonged to your family and still works! I laughed with you said the discs looked like saw blades! :) Everything is so pretty.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  3. Your vignettes are truly awesome! You did such a wonderful job, incredible heirloom pieces to work with!

    Nancy

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  4. You did a wonderful job with everything and the objects are so pretty and interesting. Thanks for sharing. Jane F

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  5. What wonderful items your Mother has gathered and you've arranged them in such a lovely way.

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