Treasures from the Coast!

8.15.12-

Home Sweet Home!  

Back from a glorious family vacation in Lincoln City, Oregon.  Our families 1st time to the Oregon Coast.  It is gorgeous, green, chilly & breezy but a delightful place to spend a week.  

We explored tide pools, went crabbing, clamming, agate hunting, sea glass collecting & of coarse we made time to do some antiquing.  The girls even got into it this time & loved going to the little shops with us.  

Looking at the stash we came home with I would say that glass was the theme.  The girls wanted to find a glass bottle for each of them to put their treasures from the sea in. 

{sand, shells, glass & rocks}  

It was fun to go store to store until they found the perfect bottle they wanted to bring home with them.  My Hubby & I were on a hunt for the perfect glass jar too- a vacation tradition for us. 

{I'll explain a bit later} 

-I was thrilled to find a  little velvet jewelry box to officially start a collection of them. I already had one at home so 2 makes it an official collection!- 

-I love finding treasures & thinking of ways to add them to collections I already have or dream up new possibilities & uses for them.  I LOVE antiquing! - 

 We went into this one antique store & it was like walking into a SPooKY back in the day Pharmacy or a Mad Scientists office.  It had bottles of every shape, color  & size lining the shelves.  Most bottles even were filled with pills & liquids still. 
{I thought that was probably a bit unsafe so I steered clear of packing any of those home with me} 

 This was the first bottle that caught my eye- WiTCH HaZEL.  Maybe it's just the excitement of Halloween approaching but I immediately grabbed it & held on to it because I thought it would be a fun little SPooKY accent to some kind of Halloween decor.  The green bottle I liked because it reminded me of... Have another drink, my dark-eyed beauty. Have another drink of GReeN Elixir.
{WiCKED!!}
I just had to have that little bottle for my display  
{I was dreaming up} in honor of Elphaba!
-You never know when inspiration is going to hit you. Even in a weird antique shop by the sea-  

 These bottles were the next to intrigue me for my display 
{I think I will set on a  cake stand} for Halloween. 
Poison & a prescription bottle from 1942. Seriously, this was a fun antique shop find but a bit on the creepy side too.  

I found a few more treasures at a different shop - this sweet little ceramic lamb 
{not sure what I'll do with him but I just couldn't leave him in the store} 
an antique green flower frog & an old cheese grater.  
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?Honeybee wants to know- Do you know what a flower frog is used for?  Hmmm....?  Leave a comment or a guess & I'll let you know if you're right.  
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The old grater is to add to a grater collection I have.  Why you might ask- come back in October & I'll do a post to show you how I use them.  
{One of my favorite unexpected decorating ideas- LOVE!} 

-Baaa, BAaa, BaAa- isn't he the cutest?- 

Back to the reason for finding glass bottles. My husband & I started a sand collection on our honeymoon to San Diego 17 years ago.  We grab a bottle or plastic bag full of sand to bring home & label it to display in his office.  We have sand from all around the world in glass jars.  It is a fun keepsake to have and it makes an interesting display & conversation piece. We try to go to antique stores wherever we are & find a bottle to pack up & take home with us to hold our sand & treasures.  
{Our tradition has worn off on our girls too} 

-The newest bottle to our collection on the far right filled with agates, sand, shells & sea glass from Lincoln City, Oregon. 

A sampling of the treasures that Miss Mace found at the beach one day to save & put into her keepsake jar.  

It's always fun to go away & explore somewhere new but it's always good to come home.  
-So grateful we got to experience the beauty of Oregon with our family- 

{M}   

*Oh, have you entered the Giveaway?  
I hope so- there is always a reason to get pictures.