In Some Vases at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show

The garden show season is upon us!  Portland's Yard, Garden, and Patio show happens next weekend and the following week is The Northwest Flower and Garden Show.  Each year, these shows signal the beginning of a new gardening season and have become for me as much an indication of the changing season  as are the Camellias, Snowdrops, and Hellebores.  Tacoma has a Home and Garden show in it's picturesque Tacoma Dome which, unfortunately, has become more home and less garden oriented over it's thirty-three years.  There are still landscape designers, firms, and so forth and a couple of well done gardens (more on that later) and it's a great place to find all sorts of resources for home projects big and small.  I personally found a local company that resurfaces old sinks and tubs, something that our upstairs claw-foot tub desperately needs.  (See Heather's post here about having this done to her tub.)  An area of the show which is spectacular is the vintage market.  This year, there seemed to be a lot of flowers incorporated into the displays.  I considered using these yesterday for In a Vase on Monday but thought better of it.

 More and more at these vintage markets, I find myself waxing nostalgic when spying objects that I once used like phones with dials, electric typewriters and dishes.   These canning jars in their rusting rack make a rather clever flower receptacles.

As are the bed springs with bottles. 

Unusual but interesting- Pussy Willows, Dried Banksias, and rope.

I found a silver plated tea pot, priced at less than a dollar as the finial had broken off the lid, at a thrift store the other day and brought it home with the idea of using it as a vase.  Great minds think alike!

Loved this one for some reason.

One of the great things about this vintage/ shabby chic movement is the ability to combine disparate items to create interesting still life scenes.

A full post about the vintage market and the rest of the show will come later.  

Happy gardening and arranging!