I’m starting a new series called Recent Acquisitions, wherein I share my latest finds and purchases from retail shops, vintage and resale stores, and online shops with everything from clothing, accessories, and home goods to kitchen items, food & drinks, and whatever else I find that I pick up. I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile, and I couldn’t think of a better time to start than right now! I plan to post my recent acquisitions each week, and update each post after I’ve photographed the pieces in use, so be sure to subscribe to updates or check back often if you’d like to keep up to date with my finds & how I use them!
Handmade River Stone Bud Vases
This first edition of Recent Acquisitions features things I purchased on our recent winter getaway to Traverse City, in Petoskey, and on a visit to Ann Arbor. We went shopping downtown to check out and support some of the local businesses, and I found so many sweet things for our home, like these stone bud vases handmade by Lee Spiller, a Native American artist out in New Hampshire. He combs the beaches near is home to find the perfect stones to craft his vases from, which means no two vases are alike.
Handmade Stone Sauce Dishes, Organic Linen Curtains & Seagrass Placemats
I found these gorgeously thin, small, round sauce or accent dishes (pictured above with the stone vases, and below with the wind chimes) at a shop in Traverse City called F L E A Boutique. They’re already one of the most used things in our kitchen.
Every time I visit Traverse City, I insist on visiting my favorite shop in the city, Cali’s boutique. Over the summer we purchased dishes, wooden kitchen utensils, wind chimes, bells, clothing and so much more from this sweet little shop, and I’ve loved everything we’ve picked up. On our most recent visit, we bought some stone washed organic linen curtain panels that were handmade in Lithuania for our bedroom. These are so light and airy, and I can’t wait to see how they will dance in the breeze and brighten up the windows in our bedroom.
My husband also picked out a Japanese wind chime for the window in his home office that makes the lightest, sweetest “tink-tink” noise. The round, woven seagrass placemats in the background of the photo above were something I picked up to brighten our kitchen table for spring. Perhaps he should start his own recent acquisitions series, no?


Handmade Metal Bells & Organic Cotton Reusable Bags
Also from Cali’s, I bought this set of 3 organic cotton reusable mesh bags, and 4 more of their Nana Bells, which are handmade in India. I already own a few of these cotton bags, and I wanted to add more to collection in order to use them for produce in lieu of plastic bags, as laundry bags, at farmer’s markets, for bulk goods, and a long list of other reasons. We already had two of the metal bells, and they make the most beautiful sound, so we wanted to pick up a few more. I hang them near our open windows and the breeze is enough to ring them. They also look really pretty hanging from our door handles around the house.
Sterling Silver Bunny Earrings & Sakura Cherry Blossom Necklace
During our time at Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, just outside of Traverse City, I visited the resort’s gallery of shops on the search for springtime jewelry. My husband helped me find these darling sterling silver bunny rabbit earrings, which reminded us of the sweet little bunnies we see munching on grass and flowers in our back yard in the spring time, and I can’t wait for spring weather to wear them!
Robin also picked out this beautiful silver sakura cherry blossom necklace, and he said it could remind me of our time in Japan chasing cherry blossoms, and help me feel more hopeful about the cold, dark winter coming to an end. Both pieces were from a shop called “Ashleigh’s” inside the resort.


Maris Pearl Co. Earrings
I won a giveaway from Maris Pearl Co. for two pairs of their petite pearl earrings, one pair for me, and one for a friend last year, and they finally arrived! Pearl earrings are one of my favorite things to wear, because they go with absolutely everything, and they’re totally timeless. Until now, I didn’t own a pair this small, so I’m really excited about these!
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