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Favorite Finds

All Things Home

antique baby shoes | favorite things

One of the first things I bought when I meandered into an antique store as a young adult was a thin, cream cotton baby bonnet.  I really couldn’t tell you why I bought it other than I felt drawn to it and it was cheap (meaning it was something I could afford!)  I’ve always found it a little funny that I’m so attracted to antique baby things given that I’m not a “baby person.”  I’m not one to seek out the baby in the room to make sure I get to hold her.  But give me all of the antique baby dresses, Christening gowns, high chairs, rocking horses, silver rattles, and tiny leather baby shoes.  I find these items to be so full of hope and story and whether I buy them or not, I am always drawn to admire and coo over them. That’s why I like to use

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Antiques

one last trip to Stillwater

Going on a day trip while hobbling around with a broken foot isn’t what I would normally plan, but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to check out the antique stores and my favorite used book store in Stillwater, MN while spending some good time with my dear friend and antiquing buddy, Cheri.  Cheri was also dealing with a bum knee, so we limped around the town together and really had a wonderful time browsing.  The weather was perfect and we even scored a nice parking spot. We hit Blackletter books first.  I first went to this bookstore when Jeff took me to Stillwater last October.  This store is just wonderful for the kind of books I like because the art book section is huge!  In the past, I would camp out on the floor and look through each book until I was satisfied that I had all of the

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Antiques

purchases for our imaginary future house…

If you get it, you get it.  One of the most exciting things about moving for people like me is anticipating what the next house will be.  I’ve been this way since I was in 6th grade when we moved back to the states and I was going to live in an actual house (not a military-issued apartment), I began to draw out plans for a room I hadn’t even seen yet.  I thought about wall colors, curtains, furniture arrangement possibilities, and how I would want to style my shelves.  I did this with every single move since… dreaming, planning, and sketching.  I do this even when I don’t know what the room or house looks like, yet!  It’s just an intuitive process based on gut-instinct and intangible wishes. In thinking about what our future home might look like, I have that gut instinct.  I don’t know what the house

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All Things Home

splurge vs. save chandeliers

A few have asked about my chandeliers and if I’m selling any of them.  The chandeliers are going to convey to the house, but we did decide to keep the one in the dining room.  It is my favorite and even Jeff said it was worth the trouble of taking it down and replacing it before we even listed the house. This chandelier has been with me for a long time.  I bought it when we lived in my in-law’s basement as Jeff was finishing school and I was working in the corporate world.  I came across it at a yard sale, dismantled and packed up in a small box with “chandelier $5.00” written in marker on the top.  I peeked into the box and caught a glimpse of the brass arms and bags of crystals.  I lived in a basement, but I couldn’t pass it up.  I can’t believe

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Antiques

antique ivory/bone notebook

“You pretty much have it all by now, don’t you?” Julia often states this when she asks what requests I have when she is at antique markets in the UK.  I assured her that there are always new and different things for a collector like me to latch onto.  Such was the case when I came across an antique ivory notebook. I was looking through a beautiful book about Jefferson’s and saw a picture of an ivory notebook he carried around in his pocket.  He would use it to write down notes, ideas, reminders, and fleeting thoughts.  It’s sort of a 1700s combination of a pocket journal and a whiteboard.  Quite clever, actually.  Jefferson’s was used so often that lines of writing have been etched in the ivory. I snapped a picture of the ivory notebook in my book and sent it to Julia.  “This is a long shot, but

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Antiques

the brush holder by the kitchen sink | antiques

I’ve received the same question a few times on my blog and Instagram, so I thought I would answer the question for everyone in a post.  The question is, “What is the pot/jar holding your brushes by the sink?”  It is an antique sugar bowl/jar that I found years ago at an antique store.  I don’t remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was around $10 due to the fact that it was missing a lid and had a broken handle.  But, as with most old things, I didn’t mind the imperfections it was bringing to the table. I put it next to the sink to hold my dish brushes and it has been there ever since – in our previous house in PA and in our current house in MN.  It’s one of those decorating decisions I don’t even think about.  Well, the broken sugar

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All Things Home

antique french finds & handmade goods

I spent the morning packing up all of the paintings from Friday’s original art sale.  Thank you so much to everyone who shopped.  We had over 3,000 people on the site at one time, so if you had trouble getting the painting you wanted, that’s why!  I am also pleased to share that all of the paintings sold and I was able to donate $1250 to Samaritans Purse for their field hospital in Ukraine.  Thank you for being a part of supporting that.  So, I need to paint a lot more, which I’m not mad about.  I’m heading back to Isle of Palms later this week, so I hope to get in a lot of beach paintings while I’m there. I will be listing some of those paintings as prints in as well. I spent the weekend mostly on errands and this morning packing up the paintings to ship out,

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Antiques

antique traveling inkwell

You must permit me to get a little romantic about writing and art supplies now and then.  It’s hard to resist sharing about the delights of onion skin paper and Georgian brushes delicately made out of quills.  I appreciate the combination of form and function that is lost in the modern plastic disposable pen.  While my affection for writing and art supplies has been unearthed in just the past couple of years, I have appreciated beautiful, everyday antiques for years.  Since I was setting up my first apartment as a newlywed, I opted for using antique jars to store flour and sugar and traded out our matching department store bedding for a vintage creamy white coverlet.  I’ll always prefer old tools, wearing patina on their wood handles, to new ones.  And I’ll always appreciate the patches, worn, used, old, and loved over something shiny and perfect.  So, if a girl

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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