Hip to be Square

There once was a time when I was not a crazed succulent and planter-loving lunatic. But that was before I stumbled upon an article about Molly Quan in ReadyMade magazine. The piece featured her very cool, hip Portland home and revealed her love of cacti and succulents, as well as her shop Life+Limb (now defunct) a source for all things modern home and garden. 

Not long after seeing this article, I visited a local greenhouse and bought my first succulent plant. I was instantly hooked, and simultaneously I was scouring thrift stores for pottery and planters similar to Molly's collection. I particularly was mesmerized by the aqua-glazed and textured pot in the photo above. 

Years later, I still had not come across anything remotely similar to this object despite persistent questing.  Until a couple weeks ago. 

I was casually browsing the shelves of Goodwill, when, there at the very bottom was not one, but TWO pots  remarkably similar to what I have been trying to find all this time. 

For full effect, you know I had to plant a plant in it like the one in the picture. 

So, as if finding two of these beauties wasn't enough, I scored ANOTHER one yesterday for $5 at an antique store. This one is more the color of Molly's but it has a softer more finished texture. Please keep in mind I was not greedily seeking more of what I was already so lucky to have, but the universe kept throwing them at me and I couldn't not do it.... Yeah right, I snatched that pot up like a feral raccoon. 

Pottery

I am lusting over these new pieces at CB2. 

Show and Tell: My Pottery Collection

One of my passions is collecting pottery. Last weekend, while visiting my wonderful in-laws, we toured the numerous antique shops in the area. I had a fantastic time. One of my best purchaces of the weekend was the tall brown Haeger vase you see above, center. I started thinking how large my collection is growing, and thought, why not gather it all together to see what it looks like.

I love to scour thrift shops, antique stores, junk stores and garage sales. Some days I hit the jack pot and other days I don't find anything. It takes a comitment to go different places, hunt through a bunch of junk and sometimes it pays off and I find something really great. It's an art.

Usually things that catch my eye are vintage, handmade, and have interesting colors, form and textures. I also seek out items that have a Japanese or Scandinavian vibe.

I had a lot of fun going around the house, gathering all my pieces and arranging them together, then splitting them up by color:

The large yellow and white piece on the left is one of my favorites. I found it recently at St. Vinnies--the best thrift store in Madison.

I made the little vase on the right and the bowl on the left in a pottery class Matt and I took last year. The large bird is Jonathan Adler (a gift from Matt a few years ago) as is the curvy vase in the center.

Usually, I will go awhile without finding anything, and then one day I will really score big. I think this is one reason that keeps collecting so exciting. Yesterday I was poking around at a near-by second hand store and came upon an absolutely fabulous, beautiful, wonderful piece (which I will blog about later this weekend) and I literally got that rush of feeling like I really found something special.

I don't just shop second-hand. The square vase with the hole in it, above, is Jonathan Adler which I bought on sale online a few years ago. The little green owl is from Pier-1. I love him!

I found the planter on the right at a garage sale last summer. It holds one of my favorite plants; a spiny aloe variety.

The little birds you see on the right are a chick and rooster salt and pepper shakers. There are no markings on them, but they look Scandinavian to me. They are one of my favorites. I also found the Mexican folk art bird at a thrift shop--it's in perfect condition.


Thankfully I have an absolutely wonderful husband who never complains about my collecting tendancies. Sometimes I even catch him re-arranging some of them. :)

Cacti Collection

This is my small collection of cacti. When I started, I was only interested in succulents and didn't have a single cacti until about two years into it. Now I love them! Truth be told, it was getting a bit hard to find succulents in garden centers and green houses that I didn't already have, so I was kind of forced to move onto cacti.

I'm not sure what kind this little guy is (maybe a mini barrel?):

Below is a very interesting "fairy castle" cacti with all kinds of off-shoots, and the Rhipsalis is in the foreground.

I'm quite sure the plant on the bottom right is a Echinopsis. The one towards the center in the blue pot is a Opuntia. I am thinking the one with the yellow spines looks like a small Parodia Mammulosa. No matter what they are called, they are beautiful!

This tall guy is one I bought from Mark at Creekside farm this summer. It is about 1.5-2 feet tall. Maybe a Pilosocerus with that new blue growth and hairy covering?