{ the jaunty magpie }

Call this Bird crazy, but I am a fiend for organization. Not that anyone would think that after seeing the catastrophe that is my work desk, but when possible, I love when things are in their place, as I hate clutter.

I love looking through antique stores, but I also kind of dread it, as I inevitably find something I love more than life itself, but am then at a loss over what to do with this life-changing dust collector. Logic tends to win the argument and the object of desire is left behind, except for a recent weekend trip. I was with Mr. Magpie, browsing the antique shops in the city of Monroe, not far from our Duvall home is, and there was an adorable shop that had a wide variety of things to make this Magpie's "ooh, Shiny!" alert go off like mad. The item that captured this Birdie's heart was an old tool chest sitting in the window that looked to have held nuts, bolts, screws, etc. It had that great patina of age that, really, after enough years, "dirty" becomes "charming."

What really got my heart racing was the individual dividers in each of the deep metal drawers. I had been looking for a jewelry box that could hold my collection of costume jewelry, and keep it organized. It's a far more Jaunty container than what I had before, which was a set of plain small plastic drawers that were a better fit for fishing hooks or scrapbooking. I decided this would be my birthday present to myself (well, an early one), and whisked it off the shop's hands. An hour of cleaning and putting small squares of scrap fabric on the bottom of each little section, and a unique jewelry box was born. I have a feeling it was maybe a tobacco hiding place, as it had a bit of that sweet, earthy smell to it. I kept as many of the old paper labels that noted which fitting was what, just because I thought they added to the charm of the piece.

Jaunty Fine Print: photos by Denise Sakaki