Left Behind

As much as I love treasure hunting at flea markets and thrift stores, I'm almost as happy to find something great for free in my very own backyard, or apartment building in this case. Recently I made myself the owner of two great things that some of our neighbors left behind. After the guy in the apartment above us moved out, I decided to take a peek up there to check it out. I just wanted to see what the upstairs apartment was like and check out the view, which I figured was better than ours. On the counter among some random cleaning supplies was this seashell box.

I love seashell boxes, especially old ones, so I asked our other neighbors (who plan to move into that upstairs apartment) if I could have it, and they said sure and that they were just going to get rid of it. And another upstairs neighbor moved out a few weeks ago and left a cute off-white bookshelf in the garage. I waited a few days to see if they were going to come back for it, but it was still sitting there after two weeks, so now it has a new home. I'm so excited about my new finds!

For Free!

This weekend I found this green metal pint-sized desk on the street! And now here it is in our garage waiting for me to make room for it in the baby's room. The desk would better suit a preschooler, but still, for now it will just look cute until the little one is big enough to sit at it. Now I just have to decide what color to paint it. All the furniture in the baby room will be white, or shades of white, with splashes of brighter colors like red, yellow, blue, green, etc. I actually don't mind the green because it's the exact green as my card rack stand, which is going to become a book rack for baby and kids books. But I may want to change it. The wood needs some TLC for sure. Any suggestions for sprucing it up?

Help from Lynda

Here's my first little InDesign experiment--illustrated party hat kit instructions (I'm working on making party hat kits, by the way). I probably shouldn't even show this because it's a very rough draft. (I know the pictures need to be larger, etc.) Still, I'm proud to have gotten this far by myself. I recently learned about Lynda.com, an online training library that offers tutorials and books on a variety of design software programs such as Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. I've been meaning to learn these things for years, but whenever I try to fool around with the programs on my own, I don't get very far. I think these tutorials are just what I needed, and it's much cheaper than taking a class. It costs $25 a month, and you can cancel any time.

Vintage Barkcloth

Here are a few images of some vintage barkcloth that I have. When I go to my mom's in September, I hope I can make something out of them. She can sew--I can't. Well, at least I can't sew very well (yet). She has a sewing machine, and I don't (yet, but I have my eye on one), so hopefully we'll make some time to sew. My mom found the red and aqua print at a thrift store. The brown leaf print I bought on ebay, and the pink, green and brown print I bought at a sidewalk sale here in San Francisco. When I get back from my mom's, I'll show you what I made (holding myself accountable here for actually making something). Fingers crossed that I'll make something that's worth showing to people! Maybe a tote or a pillow. I'm not sure that I could make pillows as cute as Catnap Cottage, who I learned about from SF Girl by Bay, but I'll try to come up with something at least worth sharing.

Camp Fire Girls

I love these books. I bought them at The Pickled Hutch. Lisa originally pointed them out to me because she knew I was making collages and thought they'd be perfect for collage type crafts. But I can't rip out the pages! I've tried, but I like the books too much to take them apart. I love the design of the covers, and the illustrations inside the books are so much fun. The interior cover of the black and red book says, "the cover of the book of the Camp Fire Girls combines the symbols for mountain and tree for work, the sun and rain for health and the heart and thought symbols for love. The whole symbolizes Wohelo, the watchword of the Camp Fire Girls." They were published in 1944 (red one) and 1946 (blue one). I think Lisa said they belonged to her mom.

Vintage Paper

I come across vintage fabric fairly often, but I don't come across vintage paper as often (other than letters and postcards), so when I saw a pile of these vintage tissue papers at Victory Vintage Home in Decatur, I thought I was going to pass out, overcome by excitement! They are so beautiful. I bought the whole pile. I'm not sure how they were printed but it looks almost like they are hand painted--you can easily feel the texture of the ink as you run your fingers across them. I can't believe I actually use these papers. I have trouble with that all the time--actually making something out of these kinds of beautiful things. They tend to sit around for a while because I'm afraid to take scissors to them. But, eventually, I get over that. I've used these papers to make cards, envelope liners and to wrap small gifts. I'd like to learn more about this company, "Tie Tie," whose name is printed on the edges of all the papers. I didn't come up with much info other than the company was bought by another company and then that company was bought by another and so on. (The paper is tissue, and seems very old, which is why the texture is a little rippled and you'll notice some staining.)

Inspiration Comes in Black and White

Since the horrid baby blue carpet no longer lives in our bedroom and has been replaced with cream colored carpet, I've decided to go with a black and white theme in that room. Something a little more masculine than the living room, which houses the wall of ladies and a wall of flowers (I'll post more on that later). Here are some inspiring images in black and white, including a few from my grandma's old house and our work-in-progress bedroom.

From Domino Magazine
From Country Living Magazine
From Counrty Living Magazine
From the out of print, but soon to come back, so loved, Victoria (More on that Later)
The next three are from my grandma's old house - two of bathrooms and one of an office with a closet enclosure turned cottage chic with some wallpaper and a daybed.


And here are the beginnings of our black and white (or cream, really) bedroom. Andrew's bedside table came from Alameda Flea Market for $25. I think I'd like black lamp shades. I tried a few, and I liked the black, but they were too big.
I'd like a new bedside table. I have my eye on one that I want to paint black that is at The Pickled Hutch right now.
Things that mean something to me - pictures of my mom, one with my mom and friend, Jill. A wedding picture - me and my sis and Andrew (and a statue in the backgound, that's not my super tall husband). Two bunnies hugging, aww (me and Andrew - our nickname is bunny for each other). A little box to put my earrings in at night.
Andrew's bedside table. A little bike made by a night security guy in Atlanta who sells these meticulously made bikes for $5 at Donna Van Gogh's (the bike pedals even turn), the neighborhood tumbler by Dovetail, and a drawing by my uncle who makes a different one every Christmas for everyone in our family and frames them.
And the bed with shutters as a headboard until I get something I like more like an old wrought iron frame of some sort.
More bedroom pictures to come later! We're planning (or starting to plan) a trip to France in the spring. I'd like to stay here in the "Domino" apartment. Tres fab! For more black and white bliss, click here.

Bright Strides

While searching for buttons on ebay, I got a little sidetracked as I often do (gotta get a handle on that) and found these shoes. I read Lisa Congdon's post about shopping with her friend, Tricia, who has great thrift style and thought I'd take a peek at ebay vintage shoes. Here's a pair that I found that I love, but I already have some similar to them. I love the ones I have but have only worn them twice because they're a little snug. You can't always get the perfect fit with thrift, but for $3 they are worth the two times I've worn them! Mine are the shoes in the bottom picture. I like the ebay shoes more, but I'm a 7 and the ebay shoes are 7.5.

At Home on the Russian River

This weekend we headed to the Russian River for a short vacation with some friends. We stayed in a nice little house right by the river and spent Saturday lounging on the beach, canoing, eating and relaxing in the hot tub. On Sunday we headed to Stella's Cafe for a delicious brunch and a wine tasting afterwards. Then on the way home, we stopped into one of the many, many antique stores in Sebastopol, Nothin' New (I love the name). This place has a ton of stuff piled up. You have to dig to see just about anything here, but you'll find a lot of great things, especially chairs and dressers in the outdoor areas. But most things will need some TLC, so if you're up for that kind of thing, this is a great place. Here are a few pictures from our weekend, including one of the apple tree in the backyard. Although our place was very nice, we'd like to stay at Rio Paradiso next time, which was already booked when we made our reservation. Wouldn't you feel at home here?

Window Shopping

I love to go "window" shopping online at The Plum Tree Antiques store in McDonough, GA where my mom lives (she's also a dealer at the store). They update their blog each Thursday with new finds. Here are two things I have my eye on. I'm not sure how much the metal numbers are, but the drink caddy is $18 for the caddy, $16 for the glasses. How cute. Can't you just picture some cherries in a dish in the center there? I'll be in Atlanta next month and will make a trip to the store with my mom and hopefully my sister too--I can't wait to see what's new in person.

Vintage fabric finds

Ah, vintage fabric--a girl can never have too much of it! Caroline gave me these that she got for $4 at an estate sale. Oh what will they grow up to be one day?!

Ruler Desk Caddy

I got this ruler desk caddy at a flea market in McDonough, GA on my last visit to Atlanta. It was $2. Perfect for the little things that get lost in a desk drawer--rubber bands, paper clips, etc. I love it. I think it would be really easy and fun to make. I love the yellow tulip too. I'm not sure what it was intended for, but I use it as a pen holder. I got it for a few dollars at Urbana Flea Market in Virginia. Now, to paint the desk, oh . . . red maybe? All the colors in this room are bright--aqua, red, yellow, green. So I'm thinking I'll paint the desk red and the drawer pulls aqua or yellow. A few days ago, my husband and I saw a red and white 50's metal desk on the street that I wish I could have lugged home. But, alas, it was incredibly heavy. Even with the two of us, there was no way we could drag it even two blocks. And it was too wide to fit through our doorways anyway. So, instead, I will make due with the desk I have and paint it.

Found on the Street

This was one of the first found on the street, trash to treasure types of things I dragged home, and it's one of my favorite things--for free! I was on a walk in our old neighborhood, East Lake, in Atlanta when I saw some random things piled up next to someone's trash can, and this chair was one of those things. I thought, for sure they're not throwing that away! You can never be too sure, so I knocked on the door and said, "are you throwing that chair away?" The guy responded, "yes." Yay for me! I asked if I could take it home. He gave me an odd look and said, "sure, if you want to." My mom gave me this great, colorful, silk, little round pillow that I use as a seat cushion. I love it and it looks perfect in my "studio" aka the guest bedroom.