New plants + vintage pots

Hello friends!

As I write this it’s snowing outside here in Portland. The weather has been so weird lately and although we’ve had flurries, hale, and freezing rain this week, there’s been no snow accumulation, which makes me very sad.

I mean, if it’s not gonna snow pretty, it might as well warm up outside, right?!

In the spirit of spring, I decided to bring home a new houseplant this week. I have managed to keep all my current houseplants alive for almost a year now, and I’ve had lots of growth, so I think I can handle some more green friends. I’ve even managed to propagate a handful of succulents— something I’ve tried many a times in the past without success— and my little babies are all thriving and doing well. In fact, I gifted a few to some gals from work last month because I just had too many! So that’s progress and my thumbs are looking slightly more grey-ish than black these days.

A vintage planter is used to propagate a jade plant and other succulents; the planter is filled with specialty succulent soil and eight baby succulents are growing and setting roots

My new plant is one I’ve been longing after for quite some time, and I know I’m not the only one, as it’s quite a popular little succulent. It’s a String of Pearls! I bought it at a local plant shop in NE Portland and found the beautiful terra cotta pot there as well.

A cascading String of Pearls succulent potted in a handmade terracotta pot and styled on top of vintage books on a side table in my living room.

Eventually I want to hang my new plant, but until I find (or make?) a cute hanger, he looks great on the sideboard in my living room and gets a good amount of sun from the large window.

While I’m showing off my new succulent, I thought I might as well introduce you to my other house plants. I’ve got a decent collection going these days, although they’re all succulents.

A collection of succulents, including  Burro's Tail, Jade, and Sticks of Fire plants, growing in vintage yellow ceramic pots; they're in a sunny corner by a window on a white metal plant stand.

I’m going to be transplanting my Burro’s Tail soon, because after reading a bunch of info online about Sedum Morganianum care, I’ve realized he’s getting way too much light in his current location (from my grow light) and is too pale. I think he’d be happier in the indirect sunlight coming through my living room windows. Hopefully that will help him take on the deeper, blue-green color that the Burro’s Tail is known for.

As for my “Sticks on Fire” plant, I’m at a loss for what to do! He’s alive and healthy, but ever since the cross-country trip in the back seat of my SUV, he just hasn’t been thriving like he did in the hot Florida sun last summer. I purchased this grow light specifically for this plant, thinking it would help him survive the terribly dark PNW winter. Even with 8 hours of “light” a day, he’s growing slowly and hasn’t recovered any of the red coloring that Firestick plants are meant to have.

A closeup of a Firesticks succulent plant in a vintage yellow pot; the plant is showing signs of new growth in several areas and is looking healthy and green.

He does have some new growth, which is a definite positive, but I really hope he comes fully back to life soon. I wonder if his pot is too small or if he doesn’t like the rock mulch I added? These are the questions I fret over as I try not to kill my most beloved plant.

I do wish I had a picture of him from last summer. He was so gigantic and beautiful.

Sigh.

A closeup of a vintage yellow ceramic yellow pot, most likely from the 1950's
How cute is his pot though?!

I should add a disclosure to this post: I am by no means a plant expert, and you shouldn’t take any advice from me on the care of plants, because I am in fact a house-plant-serial-killer at large. There, I warned you.

To end on a positive note, I do have some very cute and very empty vintage planters that need filling. I was thinking of hunting down some non-succulent type indoor plants that do well in low light, so that I can have a few green friends to brighten up other corners of my apartment. Please recommend any that you think would be happy in a north facing Oregon apartment— it’s a challenge, I know.

A collection of vintage yellow and green ceramic planters waiting to be filled with houseplants
Help me chose new indoor plants for these darling vintage pots!

I’m hoping to fill that large green planter next, as I’ve got the perfect spot picked out for him. You’ll have to wait to see where he ends up!

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Finds on Friday—Brass, vintage pottery + more

Hello, thrifty friends!

I had an amazing few weeks of thrifting here in the ‘burbs of PDX.

So many people are donating so many amazing things that apparently don’t bring them joy— so I buy them, bring them home, and keep all the joy for myself!

This week I found tons of brass, a few pieces of vintage art and prints, vintage Christmas goodies, more vintage planters and some amazing hand sculpted pottery. Some of my finds will have to wait for future post, because I haven’t been able to snap pictures of everything yet. But for now, here’s what I’ve got for you!

Vintage Brass Candlesticks

I collected nine brass candlesticks this week, and all for the combined price of $34.33. I usually like to pay no more than $3.00 for one, but this week I splurged because I found some really unusual candlesticks that I haven’t seen before, and some of them were quite large. They were individually priced buys from both Goodwill and The Salvation Army and ranged from $1.49 to $7.99 (and some were 1/2 off the listed price—yay!).

Aren’t they pretty?

I love the look of tarnished brass, but these guys are actually a bit dirty. I might clean them up with some Barkeeper’s Friend this week and then let them re-tarnish.

Vintage West Coast Pottery

This beautiful dish was only $2.00 after the half off sale at Salvation Army this week. Obviously, I couldn’t resist bringing it home for that price.

Vintage Oriental Poppy Print

My mom always find the most amazing vintage floral prints at thrift stores and I’ve been dying to collect some after drooling over hers. I’ve been searching high and low for years.

This week, I finally struck gold!

This vintage floral print is a chromolithograph from the 1890’s, so it’s not only vintage, it’s an antique! And it was only $9.99 at Goodwill. Score!

This is on of my favorite thrift finds of all time, and it’s one of those pieces that I know will be a part of my home for the rest of my life. The colors are so beautiful and poppies are one of my favorite flowers.

It’s so special to find something like this, and I’m such a happy gal this week.

I will be changing out the frame and mat eventually, because I feel the red and green is too Christmas themed. Also, gold frames aren’t really my thing.

Vintage Christmas Icicle Ornaments

This week I ended up at Goodwill Outlet again. That’s where I fished these two boxes of vintage glass ornaments out of a glassware bin!

I can’t believe these sparkly vintage treasures were headed for the trash, what a tragedy! Luckily I was there to save them.

At checkout, I had them weighed separately from my other finds because I knew I’d want to share the price with you. I’m not sure you’re going to believe me when I tell you that all 12 of these ornaments cost me only $0.08.

What a deal! I can’t wait to see how they look on my vintage tinsel tree this Christmas.

That’s everything for this week guys! Happy thrifting!