The Blue Plate Special

A few years back...hmmmm...maybe like 10 or so, Mr Rosemary Lane's niece was a member of her high school marching band and each year they would hold an art auction as a fundraiser. The second year we attended we purchased this beautiful oil painting of blue and white pottery. The picture has always been in the dining room although has lived on various walls because nothing ever stays in the same place in our home. But for whatever reason today, as I was passing through the room, I noticed that this pretty picture was hanging all alone on a little strip of wall between the dining room and kitchen. It is the only artwork in the space and I thought to myself that it needed a better place to be displayed...you know a place of importance.

So I moved the picture to the center of my wall of plates just above the buffet, replacing the white platter I originally had in the spot. And while I really liked the idea of the picture in a more prominent place, I suddenly was not liking the white plates on the wall as much...so guess what happened next? 

Go ahead guess...

I'll bet you are totally stumped right??? 

Well this one is straight out of left field but...

of course...

I changed the plates!

I like how now the artwork is not only tied to the large ceramic plant container on the buffet but also to the surrounding blue and white plates on the wall. It was great that I already happen to own two patterns of blue and white dinnerware, plus a set of four decorative plates from Tiffany's commemorating the 500 years since Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

 I also like the color of the plates on the wall, it compliments the picture much better than the plain white. 

So this transformation was the perfect price...nada!!! 

I will enjoy this for now but who knows what the wall will like like in a few months.

 Because as you know nothing at 21 Rosemary Lane is ever stays the same!

XO

Ever wonder where the phrase "Blue Light Special" originated? Well here is what Wikipedia had to say...

"The origin and explanation of the phrase are not clear. Kevin Reed says that "during the Depression, a manufacturer started making plates with separate sections for each part of a meal—like a frozen dinner tray—it seems that for whatever reason they were only available in the color blue." Michael Quinion cites a dictionary entry indicating that the blue plates were, more specifically, inexpensive divided plates that were decorated with a "blue willow" or similar blue pattern, such as those popularized by Spode and Wedgwood. One of his correspondents says that the first known use of the term is on an October 22, 1892 Fred Harvey Company restaurant menu, and implies that blue-plate specials were regular features at Harvey Houses."

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Today's Surprise Thrifty Finds

 

Today I was running a few quick errands and while I was in the neighborhood of this little thrift shop which is part of our local food pantry, I decided to pop in to see if anything there caught my eye!

The first thing I found was this darling metal watering can. As you might be able to tell it needs a little TLC, but the rope like trim is what drew me to it. I will probably paint and then distress this sweet little can. The price...two dollars!

Next I came across this picture in one of the shop's picture bins. It was kind of hiding down in the bottom of the bin, so I really had to dig to get it out!

I flipped over the painting while in the store and this is what is on the back.

 So of course I had to google the artist when I got home. Issac Israels was a Dutch painter who lived at the turn of the last century. He was one of the leading painters of the Amsterdam Impressionists.  The name of the piece is "Donkey Riding on the Shore" and is believed to have been painted sometime between 1898 to 1900.

Although this is probably a low cost reproduction of the artist's painting, I am still thrilled to have only spent $5.00 on it. I have been looking for smaller pieces of framed art to use as accents on end tables, book shelves and dressers. This thrifty piece of artwork fit the bill perfectly!

Have you had any thrifty finds lately?

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday!!!

XO

 

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