Skirting the issue: vintage edition

At the same store where I bought the skirt I showed you last week, I also found a really great vintage skirt.

It would fit a whole lot better if I weighed about 10 lbs less, but it was so pretty that I couldn't leave it behind. And hopefully, I'll drop that darn 10 lbs and it will fit like a dream!

 It looks very 1950s to me. Full skirt, very twirly. There are long ties that wrap around the back and tie in front.

Great black and white pattern (reminds me of Mayan petroglyphs) and it has bright gold, fuchsia, and green sequins sewn along the black stripes.

It's a fun, bright skirt for summer and I can't wait to wear it! Now, to get crackin' on that diet...

Estate sale booty: vintage Christmas

One of my favorite things to find at estate sales is vintage Christmas stuff. In fact, I think it's my #1 favorite thing to find, and the past few weeks of estate sales have yielded some goodies!

At the last sale I snapped up this old tulle tablecloth for $2. I have another one like this that I found at a thrift a few years ago. They were handmade of tulle and adorned with sequined appliques, and made to go over a solid-colored base tablecloth of felt.

This one has really pretty jewels and sequins. The big tree is in the middle and there are smaller appliques of bells around the edges, and there's a scalloped green felt border.

I think this one is much larger than my table so it will probably end up on etsy later this year.

Another prize is this handmade felt tree skirt. I've always loved these, but don't find them often while thrifting. This is probably the most elaborate example I've seen yet.

It's gorgeous! An incredible amount of handwork went into sewing all of the beads, jewels and sequins on each ornament.

Each ornament is tied at the top with velvet ribbon and adorned with a pair of glass ornament balls. A few of them are broken, but I think I have some in my stash that I can use as replacements.

Isn't the pink one pretty? Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of damage to this tree skirt. Can you see the big brown blotchy stain up there at the top?

There's one other large stain, near the yellow ornament. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to get the stains out of the felt. I'm afraid to really wash it in the machine because of the delicate sequins, beads and other trims. Perhaps I could try a gentle soak in the bathtub with some Woolite? Or should I just leave it alone and make sure to use wrapped presents to cover up the stains? I'd love any advice or suggestions! Normally I wouldn't buy something that was irreparably stained but this tree skirt was so elaborate and the price so reasonable I couldn't pass it by!

Skirting the issue: clothing restyling

I bought the cutest skirt the other day and I wanted to show you because I think it is very inspiring. I purchased the skirt at a small local boutique, and the owner told me that everything in this particular line of clothing is one-of-a-kind; that it was all repurposed and embellished with vintage items. Here's how that translated to me: the designer (a local girl) buys clothing at thrift stores, fancies it up by adding some details with vintage fabric and trim, cuts out the original tag and replaces it with her own, then marks the price up about 1000% and consigns them to this little boutique.

The pieces that were in the boutique were really cute. Unfortunately, because they were all OOAK, I was out of luck on several items because they weren't my size. I did find this cute denim skirt with fun detail on the front that will be great for summer and even with tights for fall.

The skirt itself is a nice, basic piece--I love the cut and the fullness created by the panels. The embellishment is really simple, but it's cute. Here's a closer look:

All she did was run a line of baby rickrack up the seam of one of the panels, then appliqued on leaves cut from bright vintage fabric. SO easy! Heck, I'm a-skeered of my sewing machine, and even I think I could manage this. Some of the other pieces in the shop had leaves or flowers cut out of  vintage feed sack fabric. Those were my favorite, but none were in my size.

In a nutshell: find good, solid clothing pieces at the thrift store that fit you well and are nicely made, then raid your stash for fabric and vintage trims, embellish, and you end up with a darling custom clothing item. This strikes me as a great use for scraps of vintage fabric that you just can't bear to throw away, but that are too small to do much else with. I also think it would be clever to use my Sizzix Big Shot and my flower dies to make the appliques. Now I just need some cute, cheap thrifted clothing to experiment on!

Porter at 9 months

Porter is 9 months old today...where has the time gone? Here are some things about Porter at 9 months:

*Porter still loves bath time. He loves taking a bath with Maren or sitting in the bottom of the tub when we shower. Last Monday was his first trip to the swimming pool. He liked it! Not a huge fan of being confined to the floatie, but when I held him in the water by himself he kicked his legs happily. He also tried to crawl in the baby pool and ended up with a face full of water. Here's how he ended his swimming day:

*A new favorite activity of his is standing on the couch and pulling on the blinds that cover the window behind the couch. He likes to pull the string and put it in his mouth as well.

*Porter puts everything in his mouth. Everything. I try hard to keep the floor clear of small stuff and Maren gets lectured a hundred times a day on not leaving My Little Pony shoes and tiny Japanese erasers on the floor, but Porter still finds things to eat. The other day I dug out of his mouth: bits of a Styrofoam packing peanut, a rubber cap thing from my paper cutter (which was locked, so you don't think I'm letting him play with blades) and a whole bunch of sand and dirt (we were out in the backyard).

*Porter loves a little game I like to call Doll Stroller Kamikaze. Maren puts him into her doll stroller, then proceeds to run like a maniac throughout the house pushing Porter at top speed. Porter LOVES it. As Porter's Auntie Melonie noted, this may be the beginning of a childhood's worth of Maren getting Porter to try dangerous things. "Hey Porter, try this....!"

*Kid still loves his chow and can pack it away. This night was spaghetti. Who can resist a cute messy spaghetti face? (and yes the color is off, we did not feed him Day-Glo spaghetti sauce)

*Porter is {this close} to sleeping through the night. Lately, I've been ignoring him when he cries at 4:00 am. I did get up with him last night, because he was screaming and crying and it scared me to death (he was fine).  I know he needs to learn to put himself back to sleep. He's almost got it, thank goodness! He has been sleeping later in the mornings since I tacked a piece of black fleece to his window (still looking for a window shade that's the correct size).

*Porter is still very physical. He's so strong! I think it won't be too long before he's standing by himself, and then walking soon after. He crawls all over everything and already has an impressive set of arm muscles. :)

*Porter is such a handsome little boy! I love his happy smiles and his two little Chiclet teeth. It's fun to see his personality come out more and more as he gets older.

Stuff I've dragged home: Estate sale edition

Estate sales are one of my favorite places to shop, but I rarely get to visit them: they're usually too far away and held on Friday mornings when I have both kids. Recently I've been able to go to three sales, which for me is some kind of record. I found a new favorite estate sale company that advertises on Facebook, so I always know when and where their next sale is. They usually run sales Thurs-Sat and two of their recent sales have been relatively close by, so I've been able to drop Maren off at school at 8:10 am on Thursday morning and then hop over to the sale when it opens.

Another reason I love this company is their prices! I've been to estate sales that seem to be confused that the shabby old house they're selling in is actually some kind of high-rent antique store, and price accordingly. The ladies at my new favorite company price things very reasonably, which makes the 50% off on Saturdays even better! Here are some of the things I've scored at their estate sales recently:

Vintage Beistle Halloween die cuts. LOVE! I never ever find vintage Halloween, so these were exciting. The die cuts are embossed and the colors are nice and bright.

Two old newspapers from July 1969, chronicling the return to earth of the Apollo 11 astronauts. I bought these to put in Porter's vintage space-themed bedroom. I need to figure out a good way to frame them and hang them on the wall--any suggestions?

A couple of old blank books that the homeowner began to use as a household expense register, dated 1955. A great 1944 book called "It's Fun to Make a Hat" that is headed for etsy, a roll of pink floral foil, and an ornate frame that I thought I could spray paint a fun color.

A pair of McCoy flowerpots in a gorgeous green. These were in an ugly planter that was still attached to the wall. I found them Saturday morning when everything was 50% off and I'm shocked that they were still there on day 3 of the sale! Maybe they were waiting for me. I left the ugly planter attached to the wall. Yet another set of Jell-o molds--I told you I was incapable of leaving them behind--a cute toadstool light switch cover, a deck of vintage Disney & circus cards, a Mrs. Santa planter with spaghetti trim (someone had already gotten to Santa..why on earth did they split up the pair? Grr) and what is sure to be the centerpiece of my July Fourth decorating this year, a pitcher with the image of every U.S. President. Well, every president up to LBJ, since the pitcher is marked 1965.

Sadly, my too-brief estate saling days are coming to a swift end. To my disappointment, Maren was assigned to the afternoon kindergarten class for next year. Our elementary school operates on a year-round schedule, so "next year" starts on July 6, if you can believe it! That means that I'll have both kids every weekday morning, and going to an estate sale with both my kids in tow is about as much fun as having bamboo splinters shoved under my fingernails. I could go on Saturdays, but as The Mister is gone a minimum of two weekends per month for work and training for a triathlon the other weekends, my kid-free Saturday mornings are few and far between as well. Perhaps I should look into hiring a sitter for a standing date every Thursday morning this summer while the middle/high schoolers are still on summer vacation. It'll be pricey, but it might be worth it in Mommy sanity time!

Treasured Tin swap received & Sweet Goodness swap theme contest

I recently had the pleasure of participating in Heidi's Treasured Tin Swap in which we were to fill up a vintage tin with goodies for our partner. Heidi paired me with Kristi, a fellow lover of retro images, cooking stuff and ephemera. I received the most wonderful swap package from Kristi!

Kristi noticed the photo I showed on my blog a few weeks ago of the vintage kitchen items I have displayed above my kitchen cabinets, and noted that I had both a red and a blue Krispy Kan, but no yellow. I literally squealed out loud when I opened my swap package from her and found that the tin she chose to fill was a yellow Krispy Kan! I'm so tickled--I think she could have sent nothing more than the empty can and I still would have considered it a successful swap. :)

But there was much more! Kristi filled my beloved Krispy Kan (which she adorned with the coolest red and white ball trim I've ever seen) with loads of goodies: vintage Valentines, the most darling red and white gingham apron with white chicken scratch hearts, super cute cupcake papers in checks and dots, vintage beads, a turquoise enamel flower pin, and more. She even included a package of princess Silly Bandz for Maren (which she looooves) and a set of two sweet homemade bibs for Porter.

Kristi also included a packet of vintage dessert cookbooks, and she had everything wrapped and adorned with fab handmade tags with vintage images. I love them! Kristi's package was so thoughtful and it was truly a joy to receive.

Here's the funny thing: I don't have photos (because I'm a ninny and ALWAYS forget to snap a photo before I tape up the box) but I also sent Kristi a vintage yellow-flowered kitchen tin and a stack of vintage cook booklets. I even sent her vintage Valentines too! We were definitely well-matched!

If seeing all of these goodies puts you in the mood to swap, head over to the Sweet Goodness Swaps blog! We're running a contest--you have until June 20 to submit an idea for the theme of our next swap. The person whose idea submission we choose will win a prize! There have already been a lot of really creative swap ideas submitted, so be sure to add yours as well!

Rebel Rebel

"I'm a rebel, Dottie. A loner."

(Ten Cool Points for you if you can identify which movie that quote comes from. It's only one of my all-time favorite movies, evah.)

So I'm feeling a bit rebellious these days, ever since I installed this bad boy:

I know. Daring, right?

Oh, what is it, you ask? Well, it's not exactly a giant facial tattoo or fast motorcycle or socially unacceptable piercing, but around these parts it's what counts as rebellion--what can I say, I live a pretty quiet life. It's a clothesline. Ooooooh!

I know, you're shocked at my brazen ability to break the rules without a care, but clotheslines are against the (stupid) rules of my HOA so if any of the covenant-nazis spotted it, I could get--listen to this--a letter. Ooooooh. A letter demanding that I remove such a tacky eyesore immediately, lest I single-handedly bring down the property values of the entire neighborhood. Actually, I think the foreclosures on every single block are doing a pretty solid business of that themselves, but my verboten clothesline might just be the tipping point that drags down the subdivision into the pit of undesirability. Or undesireableness. Oh, whatever.

You'd think an area that so prides itself on how green it is would be all over the idea of clotheslines, because do you know how much energy it takes to run a clothes dryer? Lots, that's how much. And to tell you the truth, I actually don't plan on using my clothesline to dry my wet laundry, mostly because I'm just too darn lazy to schlepp a basketful of  heavy, wet clothes up the stairs from the basement, out the back door, and down the stairs to my backyard, and then do the reverse when they're dry. How's that for energy savings?

What I really wanted my clothesline for is so I can take photos like this:

Vintage tablecloths are SO much easier to photograph on a clothesline so you can see the whole print at one time! That little cutie up there with the bad lighting is my awesome new cherry printed Wilendur (I think, though can't confirm) that I got at a recent estate sale for $3! I'm excited to also have a better way to photograph linens for my poor-neglected etsy shop. Heck, I may even reinstate Tablecloth Thursdays. So, Thrifting Fairies--if you're listening, I'm all set up with my camera and clothesline, so you can go ahead and send the fab, inexpensive vintage linens my way. I'll just be here in my backyard, breakin' the law with my clothesline.

Throwing caution to the wind.

Literally.

Good junk: cloches, Valentines, chenille, and more

I think this blog has distilled down into two categories: Stuff I've Made and Stuff I've Dragged Home. I may start titling as such.

Today's entry falls into the Stuff I've Dragged Home category:

Darling little cloche from the thrift store. Can't believe it's not chipped or otherwise marred, but it's in perfect condition. Love the swirls. It's about 8" tall.

This loot came from an estate sale that I happened upon when I went to a graduation party for my cousin. It was a few streets away and it was Saturday afternoon so everything was 50% off.

I picked up this fabulous blue chenille bedspread at the estate sale too. I love it but it might end up in my etsy shop. Maren has the only twin bed in the house and although the colors are perfect for her room, vintage chenille bedspreads and daybeds and 5-year-olds aren't the best combination.

 This vintage Christmas stuff came from an estate sale I went to last weekend. I was actually there just a few minutes after it opened, which was just in time to see a man walk past me with a box of vintage NOMA bubble lights and a big box of aluminum reflectors. Gah! I hate knowing what I'm missing! But I did find a small box full of these goodies. See those little teardrop-shaped ornaments in the middle? They're the most perfect shade of aqua and they're gloriously shabby. Sigh.

The frame made of rulers came from a brand-new Goodwill that just opened (yay!), the Campfire girls candy box from the same estate sale as the chenille bedspread (I think it will go out with my 4th of July decor) and the old box of pen nibs (headed to etsy) and Jell-o molds came from the same sale as the vintage Christmas stuff. I am physically unable to leave behind those little Jell-o molds. Can't do it.

Good junk, eh? I went back to the Jell-o mold sale on 50% off day and scored more good stuff. Photos to come next week!

Makeover: front room chairs

I found this pillow at the thrift store a few weeks ago and I think it was actually sitting there, waiting for me.

It's the perfect shape and size to sit on the brown chair in my front room. It's a really nice quality pillow, too--down insert, zippered cover with cut velvet in a damask design, and it just happens to be the exact color of my walls. Love!

The other chairs in my front room are getting a makeover too:

I'm finally getting around to recovering the seats with fabric I bought months ago, originally intended for the cushions of my kitchen chairs. When I got my new table two weeks ago, I planned to put out the chairs for a charity pickup (the table literally fell apart so it's unfortunately headed to the dump). However, the cushions were in such bad shape that the charity wouldn't have taken them like that, so I recovered them before I set them out on my curb. They looked 1000% better and I was kicking myself all day for not doing it earlier, when I could actually have enjoyed them. Sheesh.

I have lots of red fabric leftover so I decided to give my small chairs a face lift as well. I bought these chairs from Goodwill for $15 each a couple of years ago. The fabric covers are darling and in excellent condition, but the colors (a fantastic 1970s mix of avocado green, orange and bright pink) match precisely nothing in my house, so I finally decided they should go. Except I didn't really get rid of them--I just put the new red fabric over the top, so in case I get a sudden wild hair to redo my house in olive green and orange, I'll have just the chairs to match.

Unfortunately, this recovering job is a bit more involved than the kitchen chairs, so it's taking a lot longer. When I originally purchased the chairs, I took them all completely apart and reglued each joint. I must not have done a really great job, however, because they're wobbly again, and when you sit down on one it creaks like total collapse is imminent. While I've got the seats off, I'm going to reglue all of the loose joints and get them back into good shape so my guests aren't scared to sit on them. In the end, I'll have nice sturdy chairs with cute new cushions that finally match my room. Not a bad payoff for a few hours' work!

Stuff I've Made: Vintage Book Clock Mini-Tutorial

Last week I attended a graduation party for my cousin, who was celebrating finishing nursing school. I was trying to think of a gift I could make for her when I remembered that I'd bought a cute vintage Cherry Ames book at a library sale recently, and then I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

I took a quick trip to the thrift store to pick up a clock I could tear apart. You can also purchase new clock movements at the craft store for around $8, but I'm cheap and I'll never pass up the opportunity for a trip to the thrift! :D I easily found a clock (and some other goodies I'll show you another time) that was priced at $1.99. (Now, if I'd thought better, I would have taken a AA battery with me so that I could test the clock and be sure that it worked. I got lucky but it's not a bad idea).

I've torn apart a thrift store clock to get to the innards before, so I knew exactly what to do: pop off the plastic dome with a butter knife, unscrew the hands and pull out the clock mechanism. Easy! To prepare the book, I figured out approximately where I wanted the center of the clock to be, taking into account both the length of the clock hands and the photo on the cover; I didn't want the hands sprouting from the middle of Nurse Cherry Ames' face.  I opened up the front cover and placed the black clock mechanism box on the first page and traced it with a pencil. I drew a square slightly larger than the lines I traced, then I cut through all the pages with a very sharp utility knife, creating a hole where the black box would sit.

If you're making a clock like this, it's important to make sure that the thickness of your book is equal to or greater than the thickness of the black box, so that your book will close completely. My book was just barely deep enough, but I had to go all the way down to the back cover to reach the required depth. A thicker book might not require you to cut through all of the pages.

Next, I glued all the pages shut. I simply swiped a glue stick along the outside edge and pressed the pages flat, then glued the last page to the inside of the back cover as well.

I don't have a picture of this next step, as my hands were full, but you need to drill a hole in the front cover of the book for the stem of the mechanism. To find out where I needed to drill, I placed the black box into its new hole in the pages, then closed the cover of the book tightly. The end of the stem made a tiny indentation on the inside cover that showed me where to make my hole. I selected a drill bit that seemed approximately the size of the stem, and drilled a hole. The first hole I made was too small for the stem, so I selected the next size of drill bit and re-drilled the hole. The edges of the hole were a bit chewed up from the drill (even though I tried hard to be gentle) so I carefully smoothed them with the tip of my utility knife.

From here, it's easy! Poke the stem through the hole and reattach the hands in the correct order. Insert a battery to be sure it all works. I decided to add numbers to the clock face, because I've never been good with those watches where you have to approximate the time because there are no numerals. You can purchase self-adhesive clock numbers and I actually had some in my stash (my pack-rattery knows no bounds) but they were shiny gold plastic and looked exceedingly cheesy against the vintage book. Instead, I used some metal numbers for scrapbooking. I cut the loops off the tops with a wire cutter and glued them on using a clear-drying adhesive.

And there you have it! The clock turned out really cute and I think the recipient liked it. Think of all the neat vintage books out there that you could use to make a cute clock. In fact, this might be a fun Father's Day gift, if you used a book with an author or a subject that your Dad likes. I think the book cost $1.50 and the clockworks were $1.99, but I know I've seen these clocks in catalogs and boutiques and they're far more expensive than that. What a fun way to give new life to something old!

Estate sale goodies!

What a lovely weekend I've had! My dear Dad came to visit for a few days, we attended a pair of graduation parties where I got to visit with my extended families, the weather was finally WARM (albeit super-windy), there was outlet mall shopping, a kid-free getaway night at a nice downtown hotel for FREE, a late dinner at a fancy restaurant, pretty shoes, an unexpected estate sale, and the LOST finale. Whew! I don't know that we could have packed in any more goodness if we'd tried.

I haven't even unpacked the goodies from Saturday's surprise estate sale, but I wanted to show you what I found last week. Even though I had the kiddos with me, I was able to hit a few estate sales and came away with treasures, such as:

vintage Christmas goodies including two neat corsages (LOVE the pink & purple one!), a strand of glass beads and neat shaped ornies

vintage candles (the altar boys are Gurley, don't know about the angels & snowman--Standard Oil, maybe?)

Vintage Christmas seals, twisty foil, garland, and a Christmas card file box that contained a card that made me laugh out loud (click to enlarge so you can read it)

More vintage Christmas, including a couple of tree toppers for my collection

Vintage earrings for crafting, pipe cleaners (etsy-bound) and gold glitter

A cute aqua blue tablecloth (probably headed to etsy

 A picnic or beach towel with bright happy toadstools (headed to etsy)

And this darling bag made of a vintage tablecloth and a chenille bedspread

So if that's the loot I found with two kids in tow, can you imagine what I could have scored if I'd been solo? I actually would have bought more boxes of vintage Shiny Brites, because the price she quoted me when I got to the checkout was even cheaper than they were marked--but my arms were full of Octo-Baby Porter and trying to carry boxes of fragile glass ornaments likely wouldn't have ended well. Oh well, I found lots of good stuff, we found a fun new park for Maren, and we all got out of the house, so I'm not going to worry about the what ifs! Plus when I've just had such a good weekend, it seems more than a bit ungrateful to complain! 

Did you find any *good junk* this weekend? What did you think about the LOST finale?

What $150 will buy you: Craigslist edition

I've been in the market for a new kitchen table and chairs for more than half a year, and this week my patience finally paid off! I wanted to buy used (since I have little kids who are hard on furniture) and I didn't want to pay more than $300 for a table with a leaf and six chairs, so I knew it would take some searching.

My old dining set was just sad. It was a (FREE!) hand-me-down from some friends, who took it all over the world in their military travels. We've had it for more than eight years, and I have no idea when it was originally purchased. All I know is that it was quite literally falling apart. Maren stained every single one of the fabric chair cushions, and the caning on the backs of the seats is breaking. It's gotten so bad that I've just let Maren paint and color on the table without covering it, and I've used my Xacto knife on it without bothering to find a cutting mat. It's TOAST. So bad, in fact, that I don't think we'll even be able to donate the thing to charity. I think we're going to have to take it apart and put it out with the trash each week, piece by piece.

My search on Craigslist has been fairly casual. I've been looking off and on but have mostly found tables and chairs that were just as ugly and dated as mine, only the owners wanted $300 for them. Crazy! I did find a listing for a gorgeous Ethan Allen French Country style dining set for $275. It was lovely and a screaming deal, and by the time I called the seller it was long gone.

Monday night I decided to check the listings just for fun, and found one that interested me: a table and 6 chairs for $150. The shape of the chairs was cute, the blue was iffy but looked paintable, so I called to ask if I could go have a look. When I walked into the seller's home on Tuesday morning, I knew it was promising because she had her home decorated with cool antiques & vintage decor. I fell in love with the table immediately and handed her my money before she wised up and realized she could have easily asked for (and likely gotten) double.

I borrowed a truck and we were able to bring the table home Tuesday night. I LOVE it! It turned out that there were actually seven chairs--the seller had an extra that she threw in for no charge. The pieces are all in fabulous condition, they're the perfect size for my kitchen, and the blue looks absolutely perfect with all my vintage kitchen decor and the navy blue walls in the adjoining family room.

See how nicely it matches the blue in my vintage tablecloth? It also matches my $5 garage sale curtain valances from last summer.

Even The Mister likes the table. When I told him I found a table for $150, he was worried I'd be bringing home some rickety old mess (who, me? I've never done that before ;) But when he saw the table his fears were allayed and he likes it too. Best $150 I've spent in a long, long time!