south carolina antiques

Piddlin’ Decor | Boat Oars

‘pressed while singing “Row row row your boat…” (tongue in cheek)

These are one of my all-time-favorites-buy-whenever-you-see-them kind of piddlin’ finds!

Boat oars or paddles are classic antiques to have around the home + porch…below are a few glimpses of the two we have at our nest (an unmatched pair-which adds to the charm in my opinion) as well as a few fun ideas from around the web!

I have always sat these oars together for some added texture + interest in an otherwise boring corner of my home, but I always dream about how I may end up using these in a myriad of other ways! lf baby no. 2 is a boy, I can very easily see them in his room from day one to hold curtains, as I have always wanted to use them for this type of DIY:

0b1d3d4d5407995141729a50051d173b
508ecd786bb058d07b5176293737692c
1557821f5cd79256eb209f6cf583c503
0fd085f31c7f6af1e3490999f4edf70a

5978af0722c62f9599d523136c1237c1
c8d63634584bb23650740197bf0f0ef6
dd8681b7fe9fc945c909aafd01ef1ea5
df393a7843dfe54b38c5f0fa415a41b2
f25d7d063fe2d13f517da03e469cbf80

…on second thought, these would certainly be handy in case we find ourselves navigating through “Waterworld” this weekend! I kid–! Though, we will be hunkering down for a good old fashioned hurricane party this weekend.

This is a culture my husband + I have grown up with for the past three decades so we are highly accustomed to protocols and precautions of being in a hurricane’s path. This is not to say we are in some way exempt from the dangers and warnings, rather we have been a part of making decisions like these for sometime and know what sort of safety hazards + damage timeline we are preparing to see. We have family in town–also staying–if things go from bad to worse and we need reinforcements, so don’t anyone worry about us for a second.

So for now, happy decorating!

| keep piddlin’
mcwd-charcoal-marycatherine-script

Piddlin’ Decor | Gameday Chalkboards

Some houses have just one team they cheer for on Saturdays, but in our home we have at least two we follow each weekend in the Fall, so it’s helpful to have a schedule handy! … It also helps us keep track of which team flag we’re to fly out front–best ranked gets the honors.

I love everything about vintage chalkboards, so this is just a no brainer for Gameday Piddlin’ Decor! Class it up with a gold frame, or dress it down with a more rustic or traditional school board frame:

This chalkboard was once used at an area church for Sunday school lessons! I love when I pick up a piece with a story.

This won’t be the last time you see me “talk” about my love of chalkboards! Wouldn’t I just love to find a massive board on a stand with casters?! Ohh-an antique lovin’ girl can dream! Let me know if you see one in your travels–please!

screen-shot-2016-09-22-at-10-30-16-pm

Cheers to Week 4 of College Football! …as always, may the best team win!

| keep piddlin’

mcwd-charcoal-marycatherine-script

Piddlin’ Decor | Gameday Cowbells

How was your Week 2? Whelp, things around our house got a little rocky…

It was tough enough for our “house divided” heading into last Saturday knowing we’d have two games to watch simultaneously. However, as we have done many times before, we raised our split flag out front, set up our two TVs + settled in for the long night.

Things started out pretty pitiful for The Gamecocks, but they went from bad to worse following a long weather delay in Starkville, Mississippi followed by a flailing, second-half, Hokie team in Bristol + all in all, it made for a rather unpleasant night of football watching.

Despite over 500 miles between our two game venues there was an obvious theme–the annoying reiterance of two well-known + beloved (by many) gameday traditions: the Tennessee Volunteers’ catchy-at-first fight song, “Rocky Top” + the clanging cowbells of the Mississippi State Bulldog faithful. (read more about the cowbell tradition here)

Here’s a screenshot of a handful of the many who were either fussin’ over or celebrating the resounding State cowbells on twitter during our game Saturday …do y’all want some cheese with that whine?!

I have always loved the sound of a simple dinging cowbell–that is, a single bell by it’s lonesome, or even the strands of bells seen around the holidays, mostly for the bucholic visions it brings to mind– however it certainly became it’s own entitity among the crowd at Davis Wade on Saturday. Gamecock fans present, went from outnumbering Vanderbilt at home in Week 1 to fading into the similarly colored sea of maroon–and cowbells! Yikes…rough start to our season.

I believe wholeheartedily that gameday traditions are what they are + if they adequately deter from a game, well then your team should come up with something to overcome it– it’s part of how you play the game– I digress.

This is my antique cowbell that I found in my early piddlin’ days… it is a rusty, perfectly patinated thing of beauty and each time I pick it up, I imagine the farm animal that once wore it. It’s sound is one not often heard much anymore in its original fashion, but it brings an instant smile to my face–as long as it’s not naptime…

Whether the cowbells of Mississippi State have worn on your last nerve or not, you have to admit it’s a pretty unique tradition + a no brainer to share with you here today!

Here’s to another fun weekend of football–

| keep piddlin’

mcwd-charcoal-marycatherine-script

Piddlin’ Decor | It’s Gameday

Cheers to you, College Football fan!!

Today is the day we kickoff another season on the gridiron, between the hedges, in the grove or in some other hallowed arena. Tonight + all through the weekend (unless of course your team has already kicked off in some far corner of the world), we’ll be cheering, crowing, gloating + perhaps groaning at our teams that represent those assembled + gone before “in the glory days”.

In honor of all those years we spent studying at our alma mater with our fellow co-eds + walking campus alongside the seemingly super-human student athletes, we will watch in hope + we will cheer to see if that “University of”, “State” or “Tech” College will mystify us with an elusive undefeated season + if not, we’ll keep watching in order to hedge our bets on how our odds fare against that big bad rival sitting at the bottom of our schedules.

The magic + nostalgia of each of those worlds we lived in once upon a time, however brief or long the chapters ran in our lives, give us a special feeling about this day. It feels like Christmas with the shiny new helmets + a sparkling clean record to preserve.

No matter how you choose to celebrate today, this weekend + the months ahead, we cannot ignore the time-honored traditions that make the cheering-good, bad + otherwise- a little more bearable. I hope to share a few of these with you through the college football season.

I found this impossibly cute Carolina bobble head in the most unlikely of all places-my brother’s small college town of Newberry, South Carolina. It remains one of my favorite piddlin’ finds of all time + I will relish the day that I finally have a proper place for him to look over us on Gamedays spent in our sports room! As for the signed football- it’s not an antique quite yet, but as of this season, it is well on its way!

May the best team win…stay tuned for more fun piddlin’ finds to use at your next tailgate!
| keep piddlin’

Piddlin’ Wish List | Oriental Rugs

I’ve had my eye out for a steal of a rug over the past 6 plus months -I would enthusiastically take one threadbare even- and somewhat recently came across this stunner of a woven runner-!!

…as well as a few other smaller rugs at Palmetto Moon Antiques, but had to leave it behind after seriously misreading the price tag; whoops… 😳 a girl can dream!

I have been asked specifically what I’m looking for + frankly, it will probably be a while until I can make such a purchase, so for now, I simply say I am honing my tastes. I don’t know much about oriental rugs-yet- but it is certainly in my list of things to research and learn more about. For now, I just browse aimlessly and when one speaks to me, I snap a pic and move on– we can worry about prices later!

| keep piddlin’