Thrift Repurpose June 30, 2009

Edit:  I am just going to let this one ride & call it Vintage Photo Friday.  I am up to my eyeballs in boxes.  Will catch up with you all soon!

A while back on Vintage Photo Friday, there was some discussion & sharing of ideas for storing/displaying vintage photos.

I was excited to find inspiration in this vintage napkin holder at the thrift store today (Happy Anniversary Pat & Charlie)!  I picked it up because I am a sucker for metal and swirls, then I put it down thinking it wouldn’t really work with our cloth napkins.  But bam, I thought photos.  I also thought I would paint it but decided I liked the yellow with the photos.  Yellow is a color I am always surprised I like.

The photos in front are from my last trip to Brimmfield.  I am trying to scale my (non-family) photos down to just a few collections, vintage marching bands, vintage construction photos, and people at the beach.

I love the bathing suits on the people in the front and the suit suits on the guys in the back!

Ok, she does not fit my “rules” but just look at her.  I wonder where she is going and if she is more excited than she is letting on.  Truthfully, I am not sure if it was her or the bus I was more taken with when I plucked her from the pile that chilly Brimmfield day.

Any more ideas for how to display vintage photos?  Leave a link if you feel like sharing.

More vintage photos this way:

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Woolanthropy

Los Angeles is My Beat

The Bee Bonnet Report

Living, Laughing and Loving in Austin

A Jen Too Many

Raine-works

dobco

Cheetah Velour

Help, Toy from Hell June 26, 2009

My fingers are sticking to the keys as I type this desperate plea for help.  My boys’ liquid timer, that I now know should be made illegal, broke somehow (no one knows a thing…) and leaked all over our FLOR tiles.

DO NOT BUY THIS TOY.

The tiles that I picked up from the playroom floor and put in a neat pile in the corner so they wouldn’t get ruined and we could use them in our new living room, yeah – THOSE.

Ours were not as cool as these, pictured in Ohdeedoh but still!

We soaked them in the tub with hot water and soap and it only dislodged a tiny bit of the nasty mess.  A tiny bit that is now stuck to the side of the tub no matter how hard my husband scrubs (well SOMEONE had to blog about it).

After some Googling, I am now well versed in how to get Silly Putty and Gum out of carpets but no luck finding information about this evil goo.  Anyone have any advice on how to proceed?  I want to try and save them as they are not cheap and I do not want the nasty blue goo to win.

Thank you, I am off to wash my hands – AGAIN.

Vintage Photo Friday – My Love

I am lucky to hear your perspective, raise our boys together, share belly laughs early in the morning & late at night, and create new family adventures with you.

You were damn cute then & now.

Love you.

.

.

.

More vintage photos this way:

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Woolanthropy

Los Angeles is My Beat

The Bee Bonnet Report

Living, Laughing and Loving in Austin

A Jen Too Many

Raine-works

dobco

Cheetah Velour

Yo Dawg June 25, 2009

I made this for my brother and surprised him on Facebook.  I made it to try and make up for my improper use of the term “mad” way way back that my brother never lets me forget.  I may have said in excitement over the phone to my little (and much more hip) brother after getting a hand-me-down sofa, “I got mad couch!”.  So this was my attempt to hang in there with the cool kids and make a meme.  Even if it’s a meme whose day is past.

I’m just  “Holdin’ down ground like the Statute of Liberty
So nobody ever can rush my spot”

Forget Dharma, I am a member of the Rocketboom Institute for Internet Studies.

Here is their explanation for the Yo Dawg/Sup Dawg Xzibit memes.  Check it out.  There are loads of example, most more clever than mine.  Some totally inappropriate, you have been warned.

Rainy Day Recipe June 22, 2009

Rainy Day Recipe:

Antsy Kiddo

Vintage Buttons

Thrifted Tins

Kitchen Spoon

Camera (to entertain antsy adult)

Go

Me, messing around with some ‘colorways’.

And now, for the final ingredient in the recipe:

NAP TIME

Happy Father’s Day June 21, 2009

My dad is not the life of the party.  On purpose.   That is to say that he most likely would not enjoy a big bloggy splash of a tribute. So I hope he does not mind this little post.

This is my dad holding me on the balcony of our apartment in Bangkok in 1969.

Thank you dad for:

putting the covers on me when I was cold, even in the middle of the night

taking us on so many cross country camping adventures and making GORP every time

the Old Rag hike and the picnic we had on the rock at the top

telling me when I was stressed about a paper in college, “The worst that could happen is you could get an F.”

picking me up at a very late hour, no questions asked, in high school when my friends went someplace I was not comfortable going

never limiting my choices because of my gender

buying me Def Leppard’s Pyromania while we were vacationing in Florida after I jokingly said that’s what you could pick up for me at the store when you asked before heading to the PX.  It is the one time in my life you truly surprised and shocked me.

for spontaneously off-roading the VW up that hill (almost a mountain)

and for knowing exactly where that happened even though I have long since forgotten

for planting gourds for my boys and being such a loving grandfather to them

for getting the 800 numbers for Daniel and me so we could talk every day

for going to all my soccer games as a kid, and driving the LTD onto the field after I took a ball to the jaw

thank you for working hard at a job that, I think, was not that fulfilling, to make a better life for us

&

Thank you dad for always being there for me as a support system, sounding board and worst case scenario instructor!

I love you Daddo!

Vintage Photo Friday June 19, 2009

I feel, at once,  a tad egotistical and OLD putting photos of me in Vintage Photo Friday.

And yet…

I am so glad to have and share these photos of my Granny and Granddaddy holding me as a baby.

I grew up in a different world than my grandparents.  They lived in small small rural North Carolina and I was born in Thailand.

We were heading to my grandparents’ beautiful and bountiful garden when I was about 6 maybe and I excitedly proclaimed, “We’re going to pick some potatoes!”.  Who knew they did not grow on trees!  Despite the fact I must have seemed like a little creature from outer space at times, my grandparents always made me feel loved and cared for.

My granddaddy greeted me with, “Hello Ugly!  You’re getting uglier and uglier every time I see you!” every time he saw me.  The way he said it conveyed that he thought I was cute as a button.

I wish I could sit at their table, introduce them to my children, eat some amazing collards and dumplings, and listen to their stories.

Check out some more vintage photos & stories:

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Woolanthropy

Los Angeles is My Beat

The Bee Bonnet Report

Living, Laughing and Loving in Austin

A Jen Too Many

Raine-works

dobco

Cheetah Velour (one of the best blog names EVAH)

This Ones For You… June 17, 2009

Green Jello – almost like watching Edward boogie, isn’t it?

And for the record, I am not mocking.  I appreciate that he had something to express!  Rock on Nos!!!

Duck Muffins June 15, 2009

We busted out the muffin tin this morning and did a little painting.

I had painting on paper in mind but my wee one had a different plan.

His was better.

Vintage Photo (& Ephemera) Friday June 12, 2009

Happy Friday friends!

This is one of my favorite photos.

Isn’t he dapper?  I do not know who he is, but I know he’s dreamy.  I believe this is a photo from my side of the family but I do not recognize him.  The heart is making me want to mess around with my ttv.  I have an idea gentling rolling around in my head, we will see if I can pull it off…

Today for Vintage Photo Friday I feel like sharing some family ephemera.  Maybe I am wrong, but I am guessing there is a cross-over audience!

These papers are from a big bundle given to me by my father last summer (Thanks D!).  I feel so appreciative to have these amazing bits of family history.  The ‘throw-away’ records of their everyday lives.

One day I will find the courage to use some of these in a collage.  One day.

As usual, here are the folks playing along.  Please let me know if you would like to join in the fun that is Vintage Photo Friday!

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Woolanthropy

Los Angeles is My Beat

The Bee Bonnet Report

Living, Laughing and Loving in Austin

A Jen Too Many

Raine-works