Five Ways to Use a Vintage Sugar Bowl!

Hi Friends:

It's no secret we love layering in one-of-a-kind vintage items to create warmth and charm. Repurposing pieces extends their usefulness and adds an unexpected element. With that said, here are our top five ways to use a vintage sugar bowl:

 Add flowers and you have a sweet vase. A large silver plated sugar bowl looks great with a small ivy plant tucked inside. 

Cut glass sugar bowls add a little functional elegance to cosmetics and toiletries.

A great way to corral office supplies!

Perfect for serving nuts and candies!

And then, of course, you could use them for sugar!

Find them at antique stores and flea markets or contact Georgia's if you see one you can't live without; we keep them in stock!

Lisa and Nikki's Friday Finds - A Peak at our Inventory!

Hi Friends:

What has inspired and delighted us this week? Here they are - some of our favorite vintage finds!

Georgia's picked up this vintage wooden hand mirror in Georgia! If it's a must have, let us know!

We turn vintage sewing drawers into recipe/address boxes! We have several drawer styles available. If you are interested, contact us for more information.

How about this 1950's Gerber child's divided plate set also in our inventory! We have a pink and green set as well.

Georgia's picks up vintage brown crocks whenever we see them. Great for repurposing, we love them as kitchen utensil holders. 

Vintage Hoosier glass coffee jars with embossed lettering are useful and attractive! Georgia's has several styles in stock.

Salvaged wrought iron work adds architectural interest. Georgia's has several coffee tables in stock made with antique wrought iron pieces (glass included).

An early 1900's shoe/boot rack repurposed as a wine rack.

This one tier vintage shoe rack should be used for just that, corralling shoes!

Nothing says summer like a blooming planter. Add this great vintage French hanging beauty to your yard and plant cascading Supertunias or your favorite herb!

Georgia's is working to build our inventory and bring more vintage finds to you. In the meantime, contact us for information on any of these items. 

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

All Hands On Earth - Highlights From Chicago's Green Festival!

Hi Friends:

Georgia's attended Chicago's annual Green Festival this past weekend and it was everything we hoped for and more. This sustainability event is a celebration of solutions, and we were reinvigorated by all the ways there are to reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose! Here are a few of our favorite exhibitors: 

eco ditty - Makers of reusable, organic lunch, snack and sandwich bags. When you use one of these items, you're keeping a plastic bag out of the landfill and dangerous toxins out of your body!

The Greatest Candle - You aren't going to believe this! This company makes a powder that allows you to turn cooking oil waste into a vegetable based, eco-friendly candle. It takes just 2 minutes in the microwave and 15 minutes to solidify the wax. Did you know that for each 100 ml of cooking oil that you recycle, you save 100,000 liters of water?  The candles are long burning and there are great fragrance choices. We will demo this for you in a future post.

Theo Chocolate - This Seattle, Washington, chocolate maker cares about the way they "touch lives across the planet." They are the first organic and Fair Trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in North America. The chocolate is truly high quality!

Working Bikes - A midwest organization dedicated to recycling bikes and making an impact. Discarded and donated bicycles are refurbished and redistributed as tools of empowerment in local and global communities. They ship over 5,000 bicycles per year and partner with groups that provide employment to severely underserved populations. Bicycles are even used as a source of electricity through the creation of pedal-powered machines!

Sleeping Mats

New Life for Old Bags - This project reuses plastic bags to help the environment and aid the homeless. Volunteers get together to turn plastic bags into plastic yarn (plarn) which is crocheted into sleeping mats for the homeless. We will demo this project in a future post, too; but, in the meantime, if you would like to join a group or start one of your own, search "new life for old bags" on Facebook. It is an open group.

Bottle Cozy

go dotty go! - These ladies recycle unloved wool sweaters! The wool is felted, cut and transformed into scarves and accessories. We think they make perfect one-of-a-kind gifts!

We hope we've inspired you to learn about and support green and Fair Trade businesses!

Vintage Spooners, Sugar Bowls and Celery Vases!

Hi Friends:

At Georgia's we are drawn to vintage glassware; crystal, depression glass, cut glass - we love it all! Spooners (spoon holders), my passion, harken back to Victorian society where they were considered a sign of hospitality and a way for the growing middle class to display silver spoons which they previously could not afford. During the Great Depression, "depression" glass, both practical and decorative, was frequently a giveaway with purchase or sold at the local five-and-dime. This translucent glassware was often produced in colors meant to brighten and cheer. 

Three of our favorite pieces, spooners, sugar bowls and celery vases, are so utilitarian. Intended for use as their names suggest, these items can be used interchangeably and repurposed to hold napkins, breadsticks, cocktail nuts, toothbrushes and so much more.  But just now, we love them filled with flowers. Take a look!

A celery vase is the perfect vessel for long stemmed daffodils.

A cut glass spooner and sugar bowl complement sweet bouquets. Pick early blooms from the garden, cut to desired length and bundle!

Repurposed or used as intended, these pieces are so pretty.

Three really lovely spooners!

While this glassware is highly collectible and there are serious, knowledgeable collectors out there, we recommend that you pick up whatever you find attractive and useful. All of the glassware pictured above is available at Georgia's! If you see something you like, contact us for pricing information. 

Cooking with Cast Iron!

Hi Friends:

Don't tell me you don't own a cast iron pan! I bet your grandmother had one and so did her mother. If you're not a fan of cast iron cookware, my aim is to convert you by the end of this post! Made with comparatively low level technology, this cookware has excellent, I repeat, excellent heat retention and non-stick properties!

Cast iron pans were used as early as 206 BC by the Han Dynasty in China. Before stoves were created in the mid 19th century, cauldrons, dutch ovens and kettles were relied upon to cook meals in a hearth. Early cast iron pieces were made with handles so they could be hung over a fire and were prized for their durability. In the early 1900's, most Americans were using cast iron pans until the development of teflon-coated non-stick cookware in the 60's which we all now know can't handle high heat the way cast iron does and is not environmentally friendly. And no, enameled cast iron is not a good substitute either. While it can be cleaned more thoroughly, it, too, can't stand searing heat and resist sticking the way cast iron can. Also, it can be quite expensive and it chips!

What should I cook in cast iron? I'm glad you asked. First of all, cast iron can be used indoors or outdoors on the grill. Because it withstands high heat, it is excellent for searing fish, meat and making stir fried dishes. Meals can be seared or fried on the stove and then finished in the oven. Many cooks bake in cast iron, especially cornbread. Pancakes made on a cast iron griddle are the best; you get a great caramelized edge! And look at these toasted hot dog rolls! 

Cast iron is best suited for dishes that have a bit of fat or oil in them. Boiling or using very cold foods in a hot pan is not recommended as it can damage the pan. Noteworthy, too, is that cooking in cast iron pans provides dietary iron.

What about the rust/cleaning issues you ask? Most cast iron cookware today comes "seasoned." Lodge, the only major manufacturer of cast iron cookware in the United States, "sprays vegetable oil onto the cookware and then bakes it on at high temperatures to create a natural, easy-release cooking surface." These pans should not be cleaned like other cookware; washing in a dishwasher or heavy scouring will damage the seasoning. I have never needed to use more than dish soap, hot water and a scrubby. I then dry the pan and apply a thin layer of oil with a paper towel. This builds a seasoning layer which protects the pan from rusting and ensures a non-stick surface. A well-seasoned pan is much easier to clean than many high-end brands of cookware.

Well-Seasoned Griddles

My Skillet's Just A Youngin At 30 Years Old!

Have I convinced you? Not yet? Take a look at this stir fry made in a cast iron wok from Lodge's Specialty Cookware.

I love this pan!

If you just don't cook, cast iron is collectible and can be used in home decor. Georgia's repurposed this hard-to-find vintage cast iron ham boiler into a log holder. This old vessel has definitely been durable and reliable!

 

Lisa and Nikki's Friday Finds!

What has inspired and delighted us this week? Here they are - the sights, sounds, tastes and one-of-a-kinds we loved!

Silver plated goodies!  We love using plated ice buckets for floral arrangements. 

Vintage crocks and stoneware! These were once used to store food products. Georgia's loves repurposing them, especially in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving is next week and it's time to get out the bowl! Georgia's tech guy makes awesome stuffing and was given an honorary bowl to perform his magic in. This extra large melamine bowl is from Crate and Barrel and has a lip that is perfect for engraving. Consider honoring someone you love for their culinary accomplishments with an engraved piece!

This Thanksgiving, sweeten each place setting with a Godiva chocolate turkey; your guests will love the take home favor!