Love your details! That crate will be perfect! So glad you found it.

Love it!! Love the crate & towels especially!

Wait! Where's the picture of the tea cosy? It sounds so cute.

I gave in and ordered some new tea towels. My old ones are ready for the rag bag. I go through a lot of them because I try not to use paper towels. I'll keep the old ones for spills, but the new ones can be used for drying dishes and hands.

{{!gwi}}

Very nice 'humble' details! I especially like the tea cosy.

I use a lot of 'humble' details and the most recent one I'm planning to use are the Ikea Tekla tea towels. I'm going to use them as valances at my kitchen window, and also perhaps cafe curtains altho it means putting up a rod which may not happen! LOL I bought a stack of them awhile ago and have used them in various ways - table runner, napkins, and just a stack on the sideboard. I use red as a kitchen accent and like the cottagey look of them. IMO they are probably too thin to use as tea towels but make good accents to play around with.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tekla tea towels

Nothing to share but I LOVE your "details", SC!

Fun-- so pretty!

Lucky-- what a steal! I can see using them with some stencils, too!

Love your details, SC. :)

luckygal, I have a couple of those tea towels and while you're right, they're a bit thin to use as towels, they work wonderfully as a damp towel to go over rising yeast dough. They have tabs on one short side so I keep one hanging on the side of my fridge on a magnet hook so it's always ready when I am. lol

Sunny, your adorable milk crate will be a great way to hide those utilitarian containers! Very cute little ruffled towels too! Your new island sounds very pretty. Post a pic when you can!

Fun2B, where did you find your pretty towels? I like all the colors!

As Luckygal said, I use a lot of humble details! I do favor the humble over the grand, more often than not (a little bling makes the cut here and there!). Sometimes I feel I'm a lone ranger in a world of ostentatious granduer, so your thread is a refreshing reminder that I'm really not! I'm in good company here with my affection for simpler stuff.

Stinky-gardener, The towels I posted are from Anthropologie. The bright colors are what drew my eye, too.

Luckygal, Those towels are a terrific price. I see so many wonderful things from Ikea on blogs and shows, but the store in my area never has any of the items featured or maybe I suffer from sensory overload when I'm there...LOL!

Cute crate! It will look good!

Thanks for the nice words and the photo and link to those wonderful towels! Fun2BHere, yours are so colorful and charming! And luckygal, I love the simple, old-fashioned look of those Tekla towels. I've been on something of a towel kick myself lately. I've got a little collection of vintage Mexican-kitschy towels that I should probably list on Etsy to make room for these that I'm really digging right now ...

(Actually, I would probably never use these in the first pic. I'd just admire them!)

Glad you found your crate, and all of the towels are beautiful!

I should be receiving this tray tomorrow. It's for my kitchen countertop to put a couple of apothecary jars on.

Oakley, I love it! That will be perfect with your bottles on it. I'm kind of a sucker for any decorative pieces featuring sweet little birds. :-)

Oh, SunnyCottage, I like the embroidered towels, but I'm seriously in love with the pink, yellow and white towel you posted. Do you have an Etsy store?

OakleyOK, That tray is so charming. I love the birds and the antiqued mirror surface. Post it again once you have your apothecary jars on it. I'd love to see it all dressed with your things.

Thanks, Fun2B!

Oakley, I love that tray too. I'm also a huge fan of anything that features birds on it, and the item you selected is really beautiful. Once it's in your kitchen, I hope you'll post a pic!

I found this today at Pat Catans on the summer clearance shelf, for 50% off reg.price of $4.97. It's a tea warmer, I've always wanted one but not a double warmer especially but hey - 50% off -why not? Uses a tea candle, I'm hoping it won't scorch the bottom of my tea pots. I'm wondering if it was intended to be used for for cast iron tea pots,i.e. the oriental style. I guess I'll find out.

My friend and I love browsing the holiday fare at Pat Catans, even tho it's early and time goes fast enough as it is. I bought three very small decorations made of wood to hang by the front door, one each for Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Also a large artist's rendering on wood in the shape of a pumpkin with a farm scene and sheep on it. Unfortunately it doesn't look as nice on my kitchen wall as I had hoped so I'll return it.

LOVE the tea cosy. I browse Etsy all the time and come across the most beautiful and darling tea cosys, many from English sellers like yours. One of these days I'm going to splurge!

{{!gwi}}

LOL, now I see why the tea warmer was on clearance. There is a piece broken on the left, front, bottom leg. Only noticed it when I looked at the photo. :)

the most confusing element is primer and priming surfaces. For surfaces such as wood, paint alone is too thick and will be on the surface, but not adhere well, resulting in flaking. Primer is a thin paint solution, or even a specialized liquid colour coordinated to support the finish coat, which penetrates into the pores of wood, and allows the finish coat to adhere to the underlying primer.Working At Heights at netcomspecialistaccess.co.uk

Fun2B, isn't that a sweet towel? I don't have an Etsy store - I actually meant that I needed to sell my towels on eBay (oops!). I'm linking to the Etsy store (I have no affiliation) that has the little pink towel for sale, should you happen to "need" it. ;-)

Schoolhouse, what a wonderful piece! And I would have never noticed the broken part either! Just tell everyone it's an antique and was found that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: CozyByChristine - Etsy

Um, and now I want a tea warmer. ;-)

This little cutie was on my Etsy favorites list for a long time, and I just noticed it's sold. I'm happy that someone wanted to make it theirs. I thought about it!

Oh my gosh, I really like that too SunnyCottage. If I had the talent, I'd try to stitch one just like it. My Mom quilts and does embroidery....I wonder if I should ask her for a favor?

It looks so simple - almost primitive - but I'm sure a good deal of work went into it! It's so sweet. Wish I'd acted sooner and made it mine!

Thanks for the Etsy link, SunnyCottage. If I hadn't already ordered the other tea towels, I would have bought some of hers as they are very cute. I forgot to look on Etsy beforehand, darn it!

Interesting tea warmer, Schoolhouse. I bought my mother a matching porcelain tea pot and warmer from eBay for Christmas this year. I hope she likes it.

I redid my mantle the other day using only items from around the house. It really makes me happy at the moment.

The watermelon birdhouse was made a few years ago by my sis in law and brother in law.

Happy, I love your mantel! I never thought about putting a little shelf above the top of the mantel. Clever!

I have the same white pitcher you do, but mine is new and not vintage, and I can't figure out a good place to put it. And it's one of my favorite pieces!

I think the tea warmer would look better in my kitchen. It would go with the tray. :)

So pretty, HappyinTexas!

That watermelon bird house is very clever, HappyinTexas, and fits in with your collection nicely.

What a gorgeous mantle, HappyinTexas! I love how you have accessorized it with the little birdhouses. Great mixture of ornate-ness and simplicity!

Happy, that's a gorgeous mantel!

Sunny and happy, cute, cute, CUTE! It really is "all in the details" when it comes to making a home so unique and personable. The less-is-more look may be the trend, but it's not one you'll ever see in my home. I'd rather be over-the-top than 'under-whelmed'. ;o)

SunnyCottage, would you happen to remember the size of the tea and toast picture?

Here's the tray. It's much bigger in person. Not sure where to set it yet. Ignore the lamp, it will be going someday. lol.

Sunny, note the vintage green touches to both jars. :)

{{!gwi}}

I enjoyed this thread so much, I hope nobody minds me bumping it back up. This is my kind of stuff! I do hope there will be more pretties on show. ;o)

Dee.

Update on the Anthropologie tea towels...I sent them back. The colors were muddier than they appeared in the photograph and didn't appeal to me at all.

On a positive note, I'm starting to dig out a few autumn decor touches. I changed the wreath on the front door and changed out the aqua-rimmed china for the red-rimmed ones. Today, I'll change the chair cushions and table linens in the breakfast room. Here's a picture of the tablecloth print that I will use until Thanksgiving.
{{!gwi}}

I'm glad someone bumped this thread up. Enjoyed the cozy details even though I'm not cottage-y in much of my decor, I enjoy vintage linens. I love the birdhouses, happyintexas! I guess since its September I need to be putting out some fall decor.

Love the tablecloth! That reminds me to get my Winter TC ironed, which I hate doing. lol.

We get our first real cool front this afternoon, but it will be back in the 90s next week, so right now my table is bare. I have a deep red print cloth I use from cold Fall through the beginning of spring.

More pics, please!

Thanks so much for bumping up this thread again! I need a fun distraction, and this is right up my alley. I adore that tablecloth!

Oakley, I am desperate for a cool front. I'm so very sick of this triple-digit summer ... supposed to be 101 here today again. Ugh! Send us down some relief, will ya?

Schoolhouse - sorry, forgot to answer your question! The sweet little picture is 9.75 x 12 ... see link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tea 'n toast

Thank you everyone for the kind comments on my mantle. It has made me very happy.

I wanted to mention the watermelon birdhouse was made by my brother in law and painted by my sis in law. Makes it precious.

Off to dig out some fall decor...

happyintexas - Love your mantel and adore your cast surround!

SunnyCottage - guess what? I presented my idea to the ladies' quilting group at the church last week and they have agreed to recreate the "Tea and Toast" for me! So I took advice given me here and had two black and white copies made, blown up to 16" X 12", the size I decided would look best. Sorry I didn't wait until I heard back from you, but I think the new size will be ok. They are pretty busy with quilt orders right now but as soon as they are ready I will go hunt for the fabric.