I also thought that this was the perfect time (thanks Nancy) to share our Patriotic Room which was once my daughter’s pink and white flowered bedroom. It had become rather pathetic and worn out–drooping wall paper with Star Wars and zoo sheets for curtains. I have been collecting Americana memerobilia for years and finally it has a place to shine.
Above: as you walk in the door. The white box at the foot of the bed was an estate sale find! It was a yucky mess with great potential.
Above: Window seat looking into our ‘front yard’ forest. The sign over the window, made by my girlfriend Cindy for my birthday in 2003, was the focal piece for determining the room colors.
Above: closer-up of the left wall.
Above: close-up of treasures. I made the Happiness is Being American cross-stitch, my daughter made the oval cross-stitch–her first creative endeavor–as a Mother’s Day gift while she was still in high school (or was it college?), my mother made the Liberty cross-stitch. She’s been gone since 1995 so it’s a real treasure. On the dresser are a few of my Annalee patriotic figures.
Above: Looking toward the far right corner of the room. Those 3 stars were some of the starting point items of the room, a Christmas gift (daughter Andrea), along with the decorative bed pillows, at least 10 years ago.
Above: Top shelf holds some of my m-a-n-y Cats Meows and an Annalee soldier w/flag. The lower shelf holds an old Lizzie High vignette. Those pieces were purchased at what was once My Country Loft, a portion of a now-gone local hardware store. It’s their old sign that hangs over the entry door to my stamp room. You can see it above in my blog banner. (I’m such a sap for artifacts with meaning!)
Above: Betsy Ross and Fife & Drummers collectables from Annalee. There’s a Mother’s Day plate of my Mom and 2 year old-ish me in the center area.
Above: back left corner: coziness.
Above: More of my Cats Meows, all patriotic in theme. Pentagon, yellow-ribbon tree, Smithsonian buildings.
Above: just as you enter the room, on right. More Cats Meows on shelf above closet, including the Washington Monument. The secretary was my grandmother’s and houses a few patriotic (of course) bears.
Above: a look along the right hand wall. The wood block prints on the far right are by Charles Surendorf, a California transplant (from Indiana), who, in 1946, settled in Columbia CA, an old gold-mining town about 20 miles from us, turned Historial State Park, until his death in 1979. I got them from an aunt over 35 years ago and am tickled to have them hanging on my wall.
Bye bye Patriotic Room.
Happy Birthday America!
