Friday Fun: Learning to Embroider

For Christmas, my mom bought me an embroidery pattern from etsy and gave me a huge binder of embroidery floss that used to belong to our neighbor's daughter. (She gave my mom a huge load of things to sell at a yard sale and I suppose the binder was a part of that.) It's all organized by color and I love flipping through and looking at all the beautiful hues!

I've never embroidered or hand sewn (well) before, so I googled and found Sublime Stitching. Jenny shows you the basics of embroidery and also has the cutest, kitschy-est patterns for sale!

I'm excited to try my hand at embroidery! I practiced a few stitches tonight but I need to print out a pattern on transfer paper and transfer it, etc... but I don't have good fabric for embroidery right now. So... we'll see! I'm excited to try my hand at this in 2012. :)

Also, I love the roller derby patterns! I'm already scheming to make something to donate to the Nashville Rollergirls' silent auction next year!

Are you learning anything in the new year? Going to try a new craft? Let me know!

Have a great weekend!

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Happy Customers: Jon and Jenny's New Record Table!

At the October flea market, I picked up the cutest little record table I ever did see! It lived in my garage for a few months until I was at a Nashville Rollergirls event (Andy DJs for them), talking to "Evil Mendes" and her boyfriend about vintage items. They said they just bought a record player but didn't have anywhere to put it and I told them about the adorable table living in my garage and the rest was history!



Doesn't it look so perfect in its new home?? I am so happy that they loved it as much as I did! Most of all, I love when I know that an Owl Really item goes to a good home! I am thankful to them for their support!

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Favorite Finds: Katherine's Estate Sale Couch

The Vintage Bazaar has become one of my most favorite blogs to check everyday. Katherine and Libby won me over with the "Guess The Year" posts and amazing product round-ups and really helpful "tips" posts. The info is great and the aesthetic is incredible! Not only do the bloggers behind The Vintage Bazaar, Libby and Katherine, post unique content every day, but they also host pop-up shops across Chicago.

If you saw Katherine's apartment recently featured on Apartment Therapy, then you may have already seen her favorite find! She shares it below!

What is your favorite find and where did you find it?
Our couch, which sort of looks like something from This End Up in the 1970s. Blue cushions, boxy wood frame. I got it at an estate sale earlier this year.

photo credit: Jason Loper at Apartment Therapy

What were your first thoughts and did you know right away it was coming home with you?
I've been looking for a couch with a wood frame for a while since we have cats and they scratch sofa arms. I saw this in the estate sale ad and made a beeline for it when the doors opened. I had to sit on it to claim it until someone came around with a SOLD sticker.

Did you have to do any restoration or repair to it?
Nope. I vacuumed it. That's about it.

photo credit: Jason Loper at Apartment Therapy

Anything else we need to know about this couch and finding it?
I don't know who made it. I'd like to know. If anyone has any insight, I'm most appreciative!

Do you and your partner Jem have the same style? If not, how do you balance your different tastes?
Does Jem have style? I don't know. We moved in together when we were both 26. His style at the time was mattress on the floor and hand-me-down family sofas. I think our styles have morphed together. He's into my style by default.

Why do you love vintage?
Because older stuff was made better and lasts longer. Because buying it doesn't contribute to the massive amount of consumerist waste that's destroying our planet. And because, if you know where to go, it's way more affordable than buying new stuff!

Katherine, thank you so much for sharing your amazing couch with us!

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The Thrift Report: Home For Christmas Edition

I love going home to visit my family and I also looooove the great shopping in south Louisville. You may remember my "extreme thrifting" post in October - I have another extreme thrifting trip to share! The haul wasn't as huge, but this was all bought in one day (we shopped ALL DAY) amid a few different stores and peddlers malls.

I piled it all up on my mom's kitchen table and took photos! Here goes!


Isn't that a beautiful pile of vintage goodness? Let's take a few closer looks!


A really fun mix of vintage housewares and Christmas! I'll box up the Christmas items and save them for my booth for next Christmas. I'm going to try to be better about being better prepared for Christmas in my booth!



Christmas close-ups:


Look! Another vintage ceramic Christmas tree! It's so pretty! Also, I can't wait to rip open that bag of ornaments and see what all I scored! I'm going to wait until next year, though!

Only a little bit of this actually came back to Nashville with me - because we had to bring back Christmas items and go straight to Andy's family's Christmas celebration, we couldn't over-pack my tiny car. I packed up 2 boxes for my mom to bring to me later this winter! I'm excited to get them and go through it all again. It will be like Christmas all over again! :)

Want to see what she picked up on our marathon shopping trip? Check out her post on MyRepurposedLife.net!



Linking to:

Apron Thrift Girl

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Etsy Treasury: A Vintage Household

Creating Etsy treasuries is addicting! There are so many gorgeous listings - it is so fun to search through them all! Here is a treasury I created while dreaming about curating a vintage home. Have any Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket? Click through to see the treasury on Etsy and to purchase an item!

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Merry, Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, merry merry Christmas!

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Christmas in Nashville: Opryland Hotel

Christmas at the Opryland Hotel is one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

They set up pretty much the same decorations every year, but they're so magical! If you're not familiar with the Opryland Hotel, it's an enormous Gaylord hotel & resort with indoor gardens and so much more. The lights inside and out are so beautiful! Locals and tourists alike flock to Opryland to take in all the Christmas cheer. You could spend hours wandering around taking it all in!

The first year we were dating, we celebrated Christmas by touring the lights at Opryland and I spent about 20 minutes trying to get Andy to take a "real" photo in front of the Christmas tree. Fast forward 2 years later and I'm still trying to get him to take a "real" photo. Even though he'll rarely make a straight face, I have to admit that I do treasure these goofy pictures so I sometimes indulge in a goofy face myself!


If you're ever in Nashville at Christmastime, you must check out the lights and events at Opryland Hotel!

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Friday Fun: Jackson's First Birthday

Tomorrow, our friend Jackson turns 1! He is just about the coolest kid ever. Below, you can see Andy turning him into a "mini-me" - they even had matching cardigans! Jackson looks pretty suave in Andy's hat, don't you think?


Over the weekend, Jackson's awesome parents threw a really fun and cute birthday party for him! If you need party ideas, check out the photos below! The party theme was "One Year Old In A Flash" and they had some great photo-themed elements. They took a special photo of Jackson every month and had those hanging up along with new framed prints from a family photo shoot last week. So adorable!


Happy, happy birthday Jackson!

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Atomic Starburst Ornament DIY

Erin at Sunshine and Carousels has been posting adorable Christmas DIYs and I fell in love with one of the ornament tutorials she posted! She created an atomic starburst ornament tutorial and I got right to work to make my own!

So fun! Check out the tutorial here!

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Favorite Finds: Libby's DIY Marble Coffee Table

Libby Alexander is one half of the team behind The Vintage Bazaar, a vintage pop-up shop initiative in Chicago. (Not familiar with pop-up shops? They're like a roving flea market that "pops up" for a weekend in an empty storefront.) Not only do Libby and her TVB partner Katherine plan amazing shopping events, they also run a great blog featuring everything from DIYs to home tours and more. Lately, TVB has been better than ever, so don't miss it!

Libby's Favorite Find is so intriguing! She shares it below:

What is your favorite find and where did you find it?
My favorite find is a slab of carrara marble that I found at a dirty barn sale a couple of years ago. There was a pile of marble outside the barn in some muddy grass. I think it was leftover from a counter project based on the shapes of some of the other pieces in the pile.


What were your first thoughts when you saw it?
I called dibs on it thinking that I'd resell it on Craigslist. It was only $20 and I figured I could make a good chunk of change on a slab that big.

Did you know right away that you wanted to turn it into a table and was your boyfriend game for the project right away?
My boyfriend rolled his eyes when I came home with the slab, mostly because he had to haul it up the stairs to our apartment. Then it leaned up against the wall in his office forever while I tried to find a buyer/forgot about it for several months. I didn't know it was going to be a table until we were in Home Depot looking for wood for a bookshelves project my boyfriend had cooked up. Once he saw how expensive the wood was, we just wandered around the store trying to come up with a new project that was cheaper. We were in the concrete aisle when we decided we had to mix concrete! And then I came up with the idea to make table legs out of the concrete and use the slab as the tabletop.


How did you build the table?
We just made it up as we went along. But, basically, we mixed concrete per the instructions on the bag (we used Quikrete) and poured the mixture into these cylinder molds we cut to the height we wanted. We let them cure overnight and then plopped the slab on top. Working with the concrete was surprisingly easy!

See photos of the process here and read more about it here!

What do people say about your one-of-a-kind table?
People comment on the taxidermy iguana more than the table! But, seriously, most folks are curious about how we made it. It's a conversation piece for sure.

Why do you love vintage and repurposing?
I love vintage/repurposing because I like my home and my fashions to have a little personality. Plus, by shopping at estate sales, thrifts, etc. I can buy things for way less than retail.


Libby, thanks so much for sharing and keep up the amazing work over on The Vintage Bazaar!

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One year ago...

One year ago, we were in the bitter cold at the Loveless Cafe outside of Nashville taking engagement photos with Alvin Pearman who would later shoot our wedding. It was a fun (and freezing!) day. Here are a few of my favorite shots - see the rest here!














The snow was very real and very cold but made such a beautiful backdrop for these photos!

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Vintage Style in Unexpected Places: Gabe & Kerri's Going Away Party

How can I tell right away if I'll like someone's style?



It's true. As soon as I see a vintage plug, I know I'm in for vintage goodness. :)

Our dear friends, Gabe & Kerri, are moving to Denver today. Nashville is a tough town because it's very transitional. The high number of musicians and colleges means people are always in and out of town and often moving away. We are going to miss them so much but we were excited to celebrate them and our friendship at a recent going away party.

Gabe played bass for Jars of Clay for years and the band let us all gather in their rehearsal space for the party. It was chock full of vintage style - including vintage instruments (like the Wurly below) and repurposed items.


I loved the furniture, including a vintage couch, chair, and lamp. The guys use an old card catalog to hold microphones.


I love finding vintage style in unexpected places!

The party was a blast, Andy DJed and the music was amazing. It was fun catching up with old and new friends and celebrating Gabe & Kerri. We will miss them!!!


Good luck on your journey today, Gabe and Kerri! We love you!

I want to start a little series of "snooping" on people's style. I'm having trouble coming up with a somewhat original name, though! Anyone have any ideas?? :)

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Friday Fun: Muppet Fashion - Amy Adams

Amy Adams was adorable in The Muppets. (See my ringing endorsement for The Muppets movie here!) Her character, Mary, lives in the epitome of small town America and everything she owns and wears harkens back to the "good ol' days," which means, of course, that I loved her character's vintage-inspired wardrobe!

From shirtdresses to colorful belts, I thought her style was perfect!

Images sourced from here, here, here, here, here, and here.

What was your favorite outfit she wore? What other movie characters inspire your style?

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Booth Updates: Mid-December Edition!

Last weekend, I spent some time re-arranging a little and adding some new items to my booth! Here's what Owl Really at the Tennessee Antique Mall looks likes like these days!


I finally added 3 dresses to my booth, although I was frustrated to find them in another booth over the weekend. I wish people would put things back where they find them and not drop them off in any random booth! It is so disappointing to get your hopes up thinking that something has sold, only to discover that it was just misplaced.

I'm still going strong on that "lot" of owls. I kinda wish they would move more quickly - I'm a little tired of them taking up so much room!

I'm running a Christmas sale of 15% off. It's hard to do anything more than that since the mall takes 10% commission. I would have to raise my prices to offer a large discount and I like to keep them on the low-end. I want everyone to be able to afford vintage!


As you can see, I finally brought in my vintage planters with succulents! They are on the dining table for now!


Cute, Christmas-y items!


I set up Christmas items on a small table that sold the same day I brought it in, so I had to improvise and then set up my Christmas items on a Cosco kitchen stool! The steps make nice shelves!



You can see some of the Christmas bunting I quickly made before Thanksgiving. I used felt and sewed them together with white thread. I can barely sew a straight line, so some of the bunting is a little wonky but that just gives it character, right? :) In this last shot, you can also see the gorgeous vintage ceramic white Christmas tree with blue lights I mentioned earlier this month! (The other white tree, with red lights, is actually made of yarn!)

Well, that's Owl Really! I hope I do better this month than I did last month but this city tends to shut down mid-December when the music industry closes for Christmas and the students go home. Fingers crossed!!!

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Favorite Finds: Dayna's Turquoise, Tufted Couch

Through blogging, my mom and I have gotten to know Suzanne of Meridian Road. Her blog is so inspirational - she repurposes and builds and decorates out of the most unusual items!

Suzanne mentioned to me that she had recently found a turquoise, tufted couch for her daughter Dayna. I had to know more, so I sent some questions over and Dayna answered them below!

What is your favorite find and where did you find it?

This lovely, turquoise, tufted couch. My mom is the Queen of Estate Sales, and texted me one morning asking me if I wanted this couch she had found. Yes. Yes, I did.




How long were you looking for the perfect sofa?

I have been looking for a sofa I actually liked since I got married - about 5 years ago. Unfortunately, the ones I liked were too much, so I had resigned myself to the fact that a turquoise, tufted sofa was out of my league. I was looking at all thrift stores in the area for one with good bones I could slipcover instead.

Did you have to do any restoration/repairs/deep cleaning?

I vacuumed all the dust/cat hair off of it, and then steam cleaned it. Other than that, it is in great condition!

A lot of people (like: husbands, for instance, haha!) are concerned that vintage couches aren't comfortable - what's the verdict on yours?

My husband loves it! He's over 6 feet tall, so he has never been able to stretch out on any couch. This one is just over 8 feet long. He also appreciates good design, and likes how "Mad Men" it is.


What is your decorating style? How does it fit in with your decor?

I like white with clean lines, with pops of color and vintage things - a little bit of glam. It fits right in with my current decor. Although, we just moved into a new apartment, and nothing of mine fits in with the gross beige floors/doors/walls that most rentals have.

Anything else we need to know about your vintage couch finding adventure?

This couch was only $100!


Amazing!! Thank you so much to Dayna for sharing her amazing couch with us!! Don't forget to email me if you have a favorite find you'd like me to feature!

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"American Pickers" Style Estate Sale!

WOW! My favorite estate sale company hosted an estate sale to end all estate sales. It was insane! There were vintage cars and RVs everywhere, scattered throughout the property, and sheds filled with parts and junk!


A vintage Mercedes left to rot... can you believe it?


I loved this green drafting table!


So many awesome cars... I just wish they weren't falling apart!


Lots of junk!

I picked up a few things from the inside of the house - I didn't find anything in the sheds outside, unfortunately! Have you ever been to an estate sale like this? I am used to mostly inside sales with items set up in the garage and basement - and I normally love finding items out in the typical "man" spaces. But this sale was sooo different which so much stuff outside and in out-buildings! It was the manliest sale I've been to. I did pick up a few things though, which I posted yesterday.

Estate sales are always an experience! What's the craziest one you've been to??

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