Look What’s for Dinner April 15, 2008

Still sick, so the little one has taken over the kitchen duties. Yummmmmm.

Things were quiet in the playroom and when I went to check on him, he had put on this thrift store apron and was in full chef mode!

And check out the T.P. on the menu, high in fiber and low in flavor!

This vintage Creative Playthings kitchen is my favorite Craigslist find evah. Good deal and came in the original box!

I haven’t made anything in ages but a while back I did paint this table I rescued from the curb. Got to get my crafty in where I can!

I Thought We Were Past Cold Season April 14, 2008

Maybe I’ll take a little of this:

need a little of this

and a lot of this:

Yeah, keep dreamin’:

I’ll be chasing a lot of this.

WordPress, GRRRRRRRRR April 13, 2008

WordPress just “upgraded” and it’s a little frustrating. Anyone else having trouble?

Instead of complaining too much I’ll share a photo from last night.

We had good friends over for dinner and here’s a little iphoto fun:

Quilt Goodness April 12, 2008

I struggle with stuff.

I enjoy the hunt for new treasure, the surprise of finding. Conversely, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by my “stuff” and like I am not treating the things I already have very well, as they get lost in the sheer volume. I often dream of a spartan loft that showcases a few key pieces but it’s not who I am. All this to say, that I’m trying to reconnect with my current stuff instead of finding the thrill in the not yet obtained. This is funny following my last post, I know, but that was DAYS ago!

Day 1: Quilts in the Closet

One of the benefits of coming from a southern family is quilts. I was fawning over some quilts on ebay but decided instead to dig my quilts out of my closet and give them some sugar. A couple of puffs on my inhaler later, I was reunited with these little babies. My goal is to carefully launder them and use them (it’s tough in a household filled with full on dust mite allergies which is why they were in the closet in the first place). I’m not a hardcore utilitarian but I do believe the quilts should be used and in doing, create memories for my boys that connect them to their past. I have strong memories of using the basket pattern quilt on camping trips in our old VW when I was a kid.

I want to thank my Granny and Great Aunts Nancy and Nellie for these beautiful quilts. My Granny made a couple of them and I think Aunt Nancy and Nellie’s mother made the others. My Granny grew up on a farm raising 4 kids and working hard, she never learned how to ride a bike but took a plane to Thailand (in 1969) to meet me when I was born. She had guts and grace. Aunt Nancy and Nellie were big time Tar Heels fans. Didn’t miss a game that I know about. Aunt Nellie was funny as hell and Aunt Nancy was tough as nails and they took good care of each other and of us. One of my favorite memories was eating homemade cheese straws watching Miss America with them at Myrtle Beach.

It’s such a lovely day, I wish I had a clothesline to drape these over…

This shot reminds me of Ikat fabric:

The camper quilt, it’s green striped wool backing will forever remind me of my brother and I sleeping on long car trips. Remember back before carseats and rules? Before we got the VW, my dad used to put a mattress in the back of the LTD for us to sleep on during our drives to see our grandparents.

I’ll try and photograph some of my parents wonderful quilts when I visit them this summer. Maybe they need me to take a few off their hands. I’m a helper.

A Banner Thrifting Day April 10, 2008

It was one of those days that make you want to clutch your finds to your chest and run to pay before someone jacks up the price or somebody else just plain jacks you and steals your treasures. That good. This is one of the reasons I wanted to start a blog, to be in the company of people who (hopefully) find rusted tins, vintage pins, hand carved wooden mushrooms and silly old buttons as thrilling as I do.

Can you believe it? Who made it? Who gave it up? How did I get so lucky? 10 cents! The little orange cup to the right is another thrift find, one shiny quarter plus another for the faux bois planter. I will one day actually plant the plants, and you know which kicks I’ll be sportin’! (keep reading…)

Check out the wooden spool, the amazing color combination. Will I ever be able to cut into this? Probably not. $1.00

If it says, “As is” chances are good it’s golden. 25 cents.

These are lovely and make me want to poke something, not repeatedly!

Miss Piggy for President! I’m down.

I love vintage kitchen tools. Anyone have any good ideas or examples of how to display them?

And these shoes aren’t vintage or particularly cool but they fit, they are green and I like to pretend I will garden one day.

I’m striving for the wonderful detail Melissa at Yummy Goods always captures in her photos. Check her out and tell her I sent ya!

Here are the fish I threw back:

This isn’t faux, just plain bois. Why the hammer?

This was the size of my arm.

Random quote from my 5 year old: “Wouldn’t it be funny if there were seeing eye lions for cavemen?”

These were his picks of the day:

Thrift stores RULE! If you think so, join the Flickr Group, Thrift Thursday!

Colors in My Home April 9, 2008

I’ve been pining away for a new camera. Today I decided to get to know the camera I DO HAVE a little better instead. So I gave myself an assignment. I searched the house for cool colors. My rule was not to set up a shot. This is when having piles of stuff everywhere really IS a good thing!

Some were in just the right light and others were not. My challenge was trying to figure out which settings to use to get the best color. (And if you clicked on “I do have” you’ll see I don’t mean settings in a SLR kind of way!) I was more successful in some shots than in others.

My favorite is in the upper left hand corner. Check out that terrifying fogurt (fake yogurt) color.

I’m learning (and having fun in the process). I’m going to see if I can dig up the manual.

I used this flickr toys site to make the mosaic. It was super easy but I still haven’t figured out how to create the mosaic without them automatically cropping the photos.

Anyone else want to take the Colors in My Home Challenge? Send me a link of your Colors post!

Ugly Bits April 8, 2008

I’m always impressed when people blog about the stuff that isn’t “just so”. You know, a few dishes in the sink, kids with jam smeared on their faces, messy living room (most unlike my own home mind you)! So in honor of those brave Posters, I present to you my current public humiliation.

I feel like the Fred Sanford of the neighborhood, only not nearly as funny or handsome.

We got a new-to-us sofa from Craigslist delivered yesterday and part of the deal was taking the old sofa down to the curb. In my excitement to get the new sofa I didn’t figure trash day being 5 days away. So now we have THE most busted sofa in front of the house.

The sofa and I have a complicated history. Despite all our physical contact, we never did bond. You can’t see from the back, but in what could possibly be one of my worst parenting decisions ever I let the boys sharpie on the sofa the day before it went to the curb. My youngest has innate graffiti tendencies already and so I’m sure it’ll come back to bite me in the butt. At the time it seemed like an appropriate send off. Now it’s out for the world to see as if I’m the type of parent who lets her kids draw on the sofa (uh, you know, regularly). And possibly the MOST embarrassing part is that I cut out the fabric on the back to reuse for bean bags or something. Oh yeah, and I sliced open the sides in an attempt to find my long lost Game Boy (don’t ask). Oh it’s bad.

Here’s a kid who has the right attitude though:

I feel the need to say that I’m a huge freecycler and while this is looking structurally sound and decent in these photos it’s really really not in good condition. Even prior to my butchering it. Maybe I’ll list it as a total redo. Oh, the guilt. Even from the curb this sofa is causing me pain.

Birthday

So when it came time for my youngest son’s first birthday I really thought about what he loved the most and hence the banana birthday was born.

I wanted to make the invitation from something that was cheap, wouldn’t just be thrown away and that would be fun. I was really excited with the result, a banana invitation:

I took inspiration from here for the birthday crown:

We made a mix cd of some family favorites and my brother (who is an amazing artist) made/stole the cover from Andy Warhol:

I got this really cute shirt from etsy (I wish I could remember which shop it was so I could give the woman credit):

Here are the brothers on the slide, my oldest is holding a bean bag I made out of some thrifted pjs:

A good time was had by all:

I’m going to cut this short because, a) It’s not really that short and  b) my family has been waiting for me to finish up so we can go to the library.

I have the Ancient Egyptian birthday and another 1st birthday to share. Hold your breath.

Vintage Quilt, Ebay Find

Vintage Postage Stamp Quilt on ebay.

1 day left if you’re in the market.

Thrift Therapy April 3, 2008

I was hoping for some good news yesterday and I didn’t get it. But as my good friend Vonda said, “I mean, damn, it’s not like you’re 5. You know the world doesn’t revolve around you and you don’t always get everything you want!” Everyone needs a friend like Vonda!

As far as bad news goes, it wasn’t so bad. I comported myself well and would not have changed a thing I had control over -so what’s a girl to do?

Thrift therapy!!!

I’m hesitant to share my secret spot. It really is my own little Cheers. But if the crowd on opening day is an indicator, the cat’s already out of the bag! So here goes – In the church garage down the street from me, there is an ongoing rummage sale. Charlie and Pat, nicest folks in town, run the biannual church rummage sale and open the garage 3 days a week in the spring for folks to pick from the donations. I’ve been going for years and they know me and my kiddos by name (and just about everybody else who walks in). My oldest son wanted to take the morning off from school to go but sent them a drawing in his stead.

Here are Charlie and Pat standing by the vintage washer, it’s not for sale so don’t even ask!

Here are the gems I passed on (I’ll do a post of my greatest hits another time):

Pink heaven!

Craft goodness at a fair price.

Jet setting John!

I dare you to hang this in your nursery.

This terrifies me.

As does this. O hai, Big Bird!

These did make it home with us (little guy’s choice) and they are much smaller than they look in this photo.

And just in case anyone thinks I’m handling my disappointment in a healthy fashion, here’s a shot of a different kind of therapy!