Hi,

Last week I was shopping at Gordmans, a discount chain in the Midwest. They always have a lot of interesting, offbeat kinds of decorative furniture. Tiny metal tables and such. I found a number of small, metal folding chairs made to look like vintage chairs. They're each about 24 inches in height and 11 inches in width.

One has an open lattice seat with curlicues on the back and is painted cream with some red showing from underneath. The others were a gold toned metal gone over heavily with a dark color to make them look aged.

I'm going to use the darker ones in the yard. Maybe tuck one in among some bushes with a pot of birseed on it or maybe a potted plant. The cream colored one is in the corner of my computer room and serves as an easel for a painting from the thrift store.

I'm calling them "fairy chairs". I'm very tempted to go back and see if they have any more in different colors. Or just get some and repaint them myself. They were $9.99 each.

I'm considering making some fabric dolls out of oil cloth and seat them in a grouping in the yard but tucked in partially hidden somewhere for fun and discovery. "The secret tea party!"

I really like collecting small things for the yard. One other find at the thrift store was a children's picnic table painted green and peeling. It's the kind that has the benches connected to the table frame. I think it's a homemade one and would be easy to duplicate with scrap lumber. Some local kids once dragged it off to their "fort" across the way and we had to retrieve it! I couldn't blame them as it must have suited them just right.

-Eleny