Home is where life is both lived and recovered from. It’s an oasis to refresh your family as well as your friends. But creating that space shouldn’t break the bank. I hope my free resources will help you create your own beautiful home on a budget. Please sign up for my newsletter so you'll never miss a single bit of inspiration!
Why I Stopped Making YouTube Videos
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Hey there Reader, I've had a lot of questions from people on my Facebook page: "Are you gonna make any more YouTube videos?" The truth is, last year YouTube was hard. Full honesty: after tech headaches and a random harsh comment, I almost quit the whole platform last year. I ended up stepping back for a few months in early fall, and that helped. When you're running a creative business, taking a break and re-drawing boundaries can be essential sometimes. I was reminded that you can protect your energy and grow real. So I made a video sharing what really happened with YouTube in 2025, and with that story I'm passing along some practical tips for sticking through tough seasons & bouncing forward. It's live now for you to watch or listen to at your leisure.
For my collecting friends . . .Before our era of do-it-all sporks, there were formal table settings where you literally had a piece of cutlery for everything. During the late-Victorian era (1880-1900), industrial silver plating made producing flatware more affordable (no more solid silver required). And so you saw an explosion of speciality flatware pieces. Some of the unique pieces made during this era were:
These speciality types of flatware can still be found and make for great, affordable collections. Pretty silver plate can be displayed standing in a small creamer or mounted in shadowboxes for interesting wall art. Get your collection started with either of these speciality antique fork sets in the online shop :) 
3 English Cocktail Forks
$14.95 USD
A set of three antique seafood or cocktail forks from the B1G1 Pattern by Birmingham Guild. Stamped "Sheffield, England" on the backside. Each fork measures 5" long. These do show some wear and have been polished, but still show a good bit of patina on the finish.
Pair Antique Lorelei Pastry Forks
$12.95 USD
Pair pastry or dessert forks from the Lorelei pattern by EHH Smith. This line was retired around 1900. They have been polished but do still show some wear, especially on the backsides. Each measures roughly 6.5" long. Pastry forks of this age are not commonly available!
I'll be back next week with some tips from the blog for embracing the slow decorating movement. I think we all could use a breath of fresh air and a little slower pace right now, don't you think? Have and wonderful rest of your week! |
Melanie Alexander | Lost & Found Decor
Home is where life is both lived and recovered from. It’s an oasis to refresh your family as well as your friends. But creating that space shouldn’t break the bank. I hope my free resources will help you create your own beautiful home on a budget. Please sign up for my newsletter so you'll never miss a single bit of inspiration!
I've been buying and selling old quilts for over a decade now. But to be honest, I didn't start really appreciating them until about 2 years ago. My grandmother had a few she handed down to me, and that inspired me to dig into their history a bit more. Now they are one of my favorite things to source and provide 😊 In case you're new to the world of American quilts, I thought I would share a brief history here today. For generations, American quilts weren’t decoration, they were more survival...
Hey there Reader, Is it just me, or do you feel like everything is telling you to hurry up? We live in a world that is more fast-paced than ever. And don't get me wrong . . . I love the convenience of being able to shop for groceries on my phone while watching my kid's basketball game. Multi-tasking is a key tool for mom life, right? 🤗 But just because we can do more faster doesn't mean we always should. There's a phrase going around right now called Slow Decorating. It embraces this idea of...
Welcome to 2026 🎉 I'm a firm believer that you can really make a fresh start any time you want, but there is something about the start of a new year that makes me feel inspired. I spent a lot of time over the holidays going through my business numbers and thinking about what I want to focus on in 2026. The numbers came first - because reality always drives my business decisions. I can't just do whatever I want . . . I need to be doing whatever is moving the needle and helping support my...