Guest Post: Michelle loves China!

I'm back with hat in hand and pink with embarassment. Lovely Michelle of Three Men and a Lady sent me her post in plenty of time and I simply missed it entirely when I was going through emails. I am a louse. Especially terrible because Michelle is so incredibly talented and Im her biggest fan. You might remember her from when she shared her amazing striped hallway awhile back but there is so much more eye candy on her blog. After you read her post below, go check out her blog - you'll be a fan too.

I adore china. When I go thriftin' one of my first searches is for lovely pieces of china. I like to imagine that each piece has some neat story. But I'm sure it probably belonged to someone who only brought it out for use on very special occassions.

I've acquired quite a collection of lovely mismatched china over the years. I don't believe such pretty pieces should be tucked away on the highest shelf and only come out once a year. I use my finds as my everyday china. None of my pieces match but it's fun to see who ends up with what plate and makes for good conversation.

Not only do I use my treasures for mealtime but I also have them all over my house for other purposes. Someday when I find a good chunk of time perhaps I'll hang it on my wall as art. In the meantime, here's what I do with it...

Using epoxy, I glued candles stick holders to the bottom of plates to make pedestal stands.

These also make great gifts instead of giving cookies on a paper plate.

On my nightstand I have a dish to set my bottle of water and a little bowl to place any trinket's in.

On my entry table I use this toast holder to organize my mail and another plate to catch keys, cell phone, etc.

After washing 12 cups a day I decided it was time to get smart. I picked 4 China dishes from my collection and put them on the counter. Each member of our family got to pick one as their own. Now after they use their cup they put it back on their dish for use next time instead of the sink.

Even my scrubber gets a little spot to hang out and dry when not in use.

They also make great catch-all's for organization...

as well as jewelry.

Re-think your china. Use it for muliple purposes and show it off.