A Good Barter

My friend Ernesto, a client of the shop I work for

was so pleased with the time and energy (and talent)

I gave to help design his logo

that he surprised me one day with a wonderful gift!

eBay image

An Enesco Lionel Steam Engine cookie jar!!!

Isn't that just soooo cool?

You're probably saying right now,

"Boy, it's a good thing you collect cookie jars."

eBay image

Actually, he knew I liked cookie jars.
We got to talking during one of his
logo designing visits, and he showed me
how he was putting together a blog

about his chopper club, where he will use 
the logos I helped him with...
Here's the main one.

Reppohc Cycles is the name of his "brand" 

which is Chopper spelled backwards,

pronounced (Rep-pock).

Here is Ernesto's blog
and another of his logos I helped design.

I showed him that I had a blog too and

explained how I designed certain elements.

He was very impressed and surprised

that I was a cookie jar collector.

I mentioned that just before he came in
I was watching an EBay bid I made
on a Lionel Steam Engine cookie jar,

eBay image
 I only had 2 minutes to go.

Ernesto asked me to check to see if I won...

I lost, to a bid $1 more than mine.

I said not to worry, there were plenty more

on eBay, I'll just start a bid on one of those.

I showed him that my kitchen pantry
Christmas scene needed a cookie jar train

pulling into the cookie jar station.

Well, next thing I know, Ernesto
had his smart phone out and a "buy it now"
Lionel engine cookie jar pulled up on EBay.

He asked if this was a nice one...

eBay image

I confirmed, it was a great one. 

He said "consider it yours" as he pressed

the "buy it now" button.
I was blown away with surprise and gratitude.
He said he pays the front desk for the design time,
but would like to give me something for all my time
and extra attention to his logos.
About a week later he brought in the cookie jar.

I was excited to display it for now on the
dry goods pantry, but I'll tuck it away soon
and reveal it next Christmas.
Another cool thing, this EBay listing included
a salt and pepper shaker too.

 Very awesome!!!

My talent for a cookie jar...
A pretty good trade, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by
and Happy Hunting! 

Stupid Cupid!

This is a little Cupid I drew up

along with lyrics from the 1958 song "Stupid Cupid"
by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka.
Hear Neil's version Here &
Connie Francis's version Here

Hope everyone has a great day!

Thanks for stopping by!

I "Heart" My Tidbit Server

With St. Valentine's Day quickly approaching,

It's time to set out one of the few
Valentine decorations I actually have.
 
A little foldout heart shaped tidbit tray!

We keep it out all year long 
because, we barely notice it up on its
little wall shelf in the family room.

We found it years ago at HomeGoods.
This year I'm sitting it on my new accent table.

With a twist of this little wire heart,

the magic begins...

Well, not magic really, just gravity,

the tidbit trays fall open.

The left side...

then the right side.

Then a simple adjustment of the top tray,

and Voilá!
A two tiered heart shaped server!

I add three paper heart shaped doilies,

and some seasonal candy favorites.

Do you "LUV" conversation hearts candy? 

"I DO"

and some strawberry/chocolate hearts
from Dove on the bottom tier.

There,
NOW I'm ready for St. Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a LOVEly holiday!
Thanks for stopping by
and Happy Hunting!

Joining Susan
for

Our New Candle Holder

Sam and I found this awesome 

elephant tea-light holder at

get one here

 Pier 1 Imports this weekend.

I just love the details,

the little dormer windows and cupola

in the lantern are precious, and 

 the adornment on the elephant's back and 

top of head is a crackle glass mosaic that

 adds a little extra sparkle.

It will look great next to my new

India poster.

get one here

And the best part,

It was on clearance!!!

Regular price was $32.00

it is now $23.98.

At Pier 1, any price ending in ".98"

is a clearance price.

So don't wait long to get yours!

I put a little LED votive candle inside
and it looks wonderful, it sets a mood
like a Disneyland special effect.

It's practically perfect in every way!

Thanks for visiting,
and Happy Hunting!

A Splendid Surprise

I was surprised last evening by a
belated birthday gift from
my loving wife Samantha.

This was on the porch
when I got home from work.

This was inside the box

This was under the wrapping!

Pretty cool huh?

It is a stretched canvas

reproduction of a vintage travel poster

get one here

"See India - Amber"

Isn't it captivating?

Here is a snippet of info I found about the poster...

(Designed for) Indian State Railways,

'See India, Amber', by Austin Cooper, about 1930.

Coloured lithograph depicting a gigantic caparisoned elephant

with a howdah on its back.

Alongside are onlookers, and guards carrying long spears.

High on a hill in the background are the city walls of

Amber (Amer) in Rajasthan.

 Artist's name at bottom right of illustration.

Information source Sience Museum Group

Sam had seen it on my Indian design idea board,

 and knew I'd been looking at it

on Allposters.com. and Art.com

However the price of framing was a tad prohibitive,

so it was just a pipe dream.

Till Sam discovered a canvas reproduction of it

on Overstock.com! 

Best of all, it was on SALE for $51.29. 

Still above $50, so shipping was FREE!!!

The size is an impressive 24''W X 32''H

So she snapped it up for my Birthday.

I just love the subject matter and

did a little research on the inspiration of the poster.

This is Amber Fort in the city of Jaipur.

image source 

It's featured in the background of the poster.

A classic romantic rajasthani fort palace.
Its construction was started by Man Singh I

in 1592.

A long time tourist attraction where still,

to this day, they have elephant taxi rides
up to and through the fort.

image source

The only modern pics I couldn't find are of

guards with the long spears.

image by foxypar4
Indian State Railways sure did commision
a lot of beautiful posters...

many reproductions are available online

just look under vintage India travel posters.

My canvas poster came
stretched on a wooden frame,

with a bracket for a single nail on back.
I had just the place for it.

In the hallway leading from the India inspired
 living room, on wall space above the towel cabinet.
I had another picture there that Sam didn't like
and didn't fit the theme.
This one is perfect!

Pretty nifty if I do say so myself.
  

What a wonderful wife I have.

 Hope you all are having a great week!

Thanks for visiting and
Happy Hunting!

Reindeers for Next Year

Look what I just ordered!

get one here

It's Pottery Barn's

Galloping Reindeer Salt and Pepper Shaker Set.

 Pottery Barn's image

I saw them at Christmas time in the store

and thought how cool they would look with my

PB Reindeer Cookie Jar.

Pottery Barn's image 

 

But at $30 a set, I didn't figure I needed them.

Till last night, I was on potterybarn.com

looking at "What's new"

and I clicked into their clearance area...

Pottery Barn's image

and there they were for $6.99!!!!!

I immediately got out the charge card

asked Sam if I could buy them.

 

image source

She asked what the total was going to be.

They did charge $4.95 shipping and tax, but

she was happy with the price and said yes! 

I just know they'll look terrific

on next year's Christmas tablescape!

UPDATE: Soon after I ordered my S&P set
I noticed the price online was adjusted up to
$16.99 and stayed at that price till they sold out.
I must have gotten a "mistake" deal At $6.99
How cool is that?

 

Anyway, while I was in the "What's New" area

I found EASTER ENTERTAINING!!!

Pottery Barn's image

 

Pottery Barn's image

They've got a few new things this year and

some returning collectibles.

I was hoping a certain item would return and

I'm delighted to say I'm now the proud owner

of four bunny cupcake stands...

get one here

They sold out so fast last year that

Sam and I headed down to the store that night

to see the Easter display. 

However nothing was out...!?!

A clerk asked if he could help

find something for us.

I asked about the Easter stuff,

and he said it won't be out till Wednesday but,

he would be happy to pull something out

for us "early birds".

I said "Four bunny cupcake stands please"

Pottery Barn's image

And out they came!

Maybe a little early to be buying Easter

but "better safe then sorry" is my

hard learned motto.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

and happy hunting!