Vintage tablecloth dress

One of the vendors at the Old Glory Country Fair that I wrote about yesterday was a woman who sews clothing out of vintage tablecloths, quilts, and other linens. Unfortunately she doesn't sell online so I can't link you to any of her work, but let me assure you--it was GORGEOUS! She had the cutest jackets for little girls made out of old quilts, as well as dresses made from vintage printed tablecloths. Unfortunately for me, her prices matched the quality of her work--those darling little jackets were $88 and the dresses were $38. Ouch.Lucky for me, I happened to find a nearly identical style of dress at a thrift store a few weeks ago!
And the price? One buckaroo, folks! I was happy to find it then, but after seeing what those dresses were selling for this weekend I'm positively thrilled! It's a size 2 so it is too short for Maren to wear as a dress, but I think with a little pair of shorts underneath it will be perfect for wearing this summer. Now, if only I can find one of those quilt jackets...

Isn't it Ironic? and Tablecloth Tuesday

This is the envelope that came with my latest issue of Country Home on Saturday, one day after the magazine's sad demise was announced.The irony isn't lost on me. I'm really disappointed that yet another of the magazines I love is biting the dust. I've read that with the problems in the home-buying industry, ad revenue for so-called "shelter" magazines is way down, which is the reason that Country Home's publisher gave it the ax--not lack of subscribers.

I also find this ironic, because in a time when retail spending is down, it seems to me that people are more likely to look to sources that tell them how to reuse things they already have (or can get inexpensively) rather than telling them to go drop a bunch of coin on brand-new shiny stuff to fill up their McMansions. While Country Home isn't necessarily all about doing things on a budget and regularly features spreads of gorgeous homes full of expensive antiques and fabulous kitchens and reclaimed heart pine flooring, I do think it advocates decorating with vintage, thrifted and antique items or making over furniture that readers might already have.

It seems then that Country Home is exactly the kind of magazine that would be popular with home decorators on a budget and that advertisers would figure that out and buy ad space accordingly. I guess the problem there is that thrift and antique store don't have big advertising budgets like the fancy furniture and flooring companies do. Country Home and Mary Engelbreit Home Companion, RIP. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll pull a Victoria on us and return somewhere down the line, we can only hope. All I can say is that if someone tries to mess with my Country Living, I'll be on a rooftop with a rifle. Publishers, you've been warned.

So, on that slightly psychotic note, let me move on to the thrifting portion of my post. I stopped into a thrift with Maren the other day for the ostensible purpose of finding more Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Happy Meal toys for her collection. We did score a pair of Cowardly Lions and a Pinocchio who'll have to stand in for the Tin Man until we find one, but Mommy found a few treasures as well.My first thrifted quilt! It's no gorgeous feed-sack beauty like the kind that seem to leap into Sarah's path, but red and white polka-dots are more my speed anyway.I don't think it's particularly old, but I like it. The backing fabric cracks me up because it doesn't match at all--that must have been a stash-busting maneuver by the quilt's maker. I do quite like the pink and green, even if it totally clashes with the red and blue on the front.

I also picked up this fun vintage barbecue-themed tablecloth. Love the bright colors! Thrifting bright vintage fabrics is perfect antidote for dreary January skies, isn't it?

Thank you and Thrift Thursday

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for the lovely birthday wishes you left! They truly did make my day even happier. :) I had a great birthday, even though our original plans didn't work out. I enjoyed eating a yummy dinner here with my little family, and Maren even acted like a human child (rather than a young chimpanzee) in the restaurant. We made a quick stop by Whole Foods to ogle the desserts and load up a container with Chicken Korma for tonight's dinner, then home for presents and cake & ice cream.

A few of you commented about the Texas Sheet Cake--Pioneer Woman has a version here (with step-by-step instructions) that is very similar to my recipe. In fact, I may try her recipe next time, just to see how it stacks up against mine. I'm definitely going to try her version of the frosting, because for some reason the measurements on my recipe were off and things went a little wonky. And really, I think it's the frosting that really makes this cake the best, so you want it to be perfect.

Because it's so easy and makes so much, this is a great cake to take to a function where you need to feed a whole lotta folks. Or you can just make it for yourself and eat it for breakfast and dessert and every meal in between every day for a week, like I usually do. :) Seriously, we ate plenty last night I sent two big plates-full to work with the Mister this morning and I still have half a cake left. And I'll have you know that it is taking every ounce of self-control I possess to not be in there scarfing it down straight out of the pan right this very second.

I haven't posted anything for Thrift Thursday in a while, but don't let that fool you into thinking I've quit shopping. Ha! Here's a little something I found more than a month ago, but I just now got around to photographing (albeit poorly. Maybe I should have asked for photography lessons for my birthday. sheesh.)

This cutie pie little chair was a mere $3 at the thrift. Actually, it might even have been $2 now that I think about it. Either way, it was ridiculously cheap for such a perfectly pink, delightfully shabby little chair! I wonder if perhaps it might have been a sewing table chair as it's quite small, but not small enough to be for a child. The top has a big crack so I thought it might be homemade, but I flipped it over and there is the manufacturer's stamp. It has been repainted though, and the cotton-candy colored paint is chipping in the most perfect way! I have not one single place in my house to put this and I had sworn off buying orphaned chairs, but for less than the price of a Happy Meal I simply couldn't pass this up! On the same shopping trip I also found the matching pink vintage tablecloth with a gorgeous gold Greek-style motif. Watch out, Sarah! I'm catching up to you--only about 150 more to go! :)

Thrift Thursday

Oh, your comments on the spider pictures were just hilarious! :) I had an idea those photos might elicit some good stuff, and I was right. A little more info--we were out visiting yard sales on Saturday morning when we came upon a sale run by a couple of tween girls, one of whom had her pet tarantula climbing up her leg. Well, of course we had to go check that out! She said it was a Rosy Tarantula, so named because of the slightly iridescent russet-colored hair all over it. It was actually kind of pretty, if you could get over the fact that it was still a GIANT HAIRY SPIDER. As far as being brave enough to let it traverse my torso, you'll notice that I'm not actually holding it in any of the photos--it was far less creepy to just let it climb than to actually touch it! And although I'm not a huge fan of spiders in general, they are not #1 on my list of Most Hated Creatures; that honor goes squarely to scorpions of any type. You can bet if those girls had a pet scorpion that I'd have screamed and run in the other direction.

Giant arachnids aside, we had a grand time junking on Friday and Saturday and here are a few of my favorite finds.


No matter how many I already have, I just can't resist vintage ornaments! The ones in the back aren't old but they are neat and because of their small size I thought they'd be good for crafting. I love the red one on the right in the front--it has a crown on it! I've been wanting one ever since I saw one like it that Rebecca found. And in front of the crown ornament is my very favorite--a beautifully aged blown-glass toadstool. That one was from an antique shop but well worth the $5 I paid.


The background of this photo is a vintage dogwood tablecloth. When I spread it out for this photo I realized that it's in very poor condition with several large holes and stains, so it will definitely have to be a cutter. Good thing it was less than $1.00! The sandwich bags were a fun find--thanks to my mom for spotting them! The package is unopened. Not sure what I'll do with it yet. The souvenir Utah teacup and yellow Fire King mug were a dime apiece, as were two other mod Pyrex coffee cups that aren't pictured. The salt and pepper shakers still had their antique-booth label on them which said that they are chrome and bakelite. Not sure how they ended up in a thrift but I'm just glad they did!

This little guy is a hard plastic Knickerbocker rattle. My sweet mom gifted him to me--she thought he'd look great in my kitchen with all the Jadeite. I think she's right, don't you?

A few other "finds" from the weekend:


--A tiny baby bunny, found in my grandpa's front yard. Maren loved him!

--Wild asparagus, gathered along roadside ditches. We were a bit late in the season so this was all we could find but it was still fun to look.

Between the junking, the critters and the vegetables, it was a weekend full of discoveries! Wait until you see what else we discovered ;) but that's another post!

Good heavens! I didn't really intend to drop off the face of blogland, but that's what seems to have happened since I haven't posted in almost a week. Yikes.

First, the winner of my little tag giveaway is........ Miss Paula!


I already notified her and a little packet of Happy Mail is winging its way toward Oregon as I type. Thank you all for your comments and your entries! I have another fun giveaway planned for the future.

Many of you commented about the cute pink purse I showed in my last post. My mom bought it here at Bella of Cape Cod online. They have quite a few very inexpensive but very cute purses, bags, and other accessories. If you know someone who needs a sparkly pink purse, you know where to find it!

Last week I had an unexpected free hour and a cooperative child, so we stopped at the thrift shop to see if the Easter goodies have been put out yet. They haven't but I found a few other things that I couldn't leave behind:

This pretty little jar was only 40¢, which is surprisingly cheap for this particular thrift. I think it's new but it definitely looks old and has a pretty pinky-copper metal lid. The Madeline book was $2.42, the Stinky Cheese Man was $1.81 and I think Horton was somewhere in between. They are sitting on this:
My newest vintage tablecloth! It's red, so it will be perfect in my kitchen. Do any of my fellow vintage tablecloth-loving peeps recognize the pattern? It reminds me of a Wilendur and the flowers look like poppies, but the Wilendur poppy tablecloth is different. It had a few yellow spots but I used the bleach pen on them and I think all but one came out. Hooray!

Tomorrow Maren and I headed to visit my folks in SLC for a few days. Maren has been asking all day, every day for a week now if it is time to go to the airport yet! We're both excited. :)