Two years!

Oh, I'm a sucker for anniversaries. I love them. I love being married to Andy and I'm so thankful for the past 2 years with him and look forward to the rest of our lives! I'll be posting next week about the very fun, super-secret project I worked on for his gift! :)

If you are bored and want to read allllll the details about our wedding, you can do so here!

Or if you just want to look at fun photos, they're on flickr. :)

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The Kindness of Bloggers

I've been faithfully blogging for almost 2 years now and I have met and corresponded with some amazing people! I want to share just a few of those people because I've been the recipient of some awesome kindness from bloggers lately!

First up, I won this awesome giveaway from Betty Crafter! She has a love for crewelwork (like me!) and she even developed her OWN crewel pattern inspired by some of the most popular vintage patterns. I am so impressed by her talent! She held a giveaway on her blog and I was so ecstatic to win! I am completely intimidated by the project but I hope to work up the gumption to start it soon.


Secondly, through my mom, I was introduced to Robelyn of Redneck Chic. She is SO crafty - I don't think there's anything she can't do! She recently visited Nashville and she stopped by my booth at the antique mall and LEFT ME A PRESENT! What! She is so kind and thoughtful!!! Check out this awesome messenger bag she made!!


And finally, the oh-so-wonderful Eartha Kitsch opened up her garage to me, Lisa, and Rae and let us raid a stash of amazing vintage items that she was getting rid of. We could take as much as we wanted! It was like a vintage-lover's dream come true! I came home with 4 boxes full of awesome things, some of which you can sorta spy in this photo. I was running out of daylight and wanted to pack everything safely, so I was working like a madwoman to transfer and wrap the breakables into rubbermaid tubs.


Amazing, right????

I feel so thankful to be in such a kind and generous community!

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Friday Fun: Vintage Family Photos + Play house

Growing up, I had a really awesome playhouse that I think was repurposed from a shed (before we knew "repurposed" was a word). It had dutch doors, a window, a porch, and cute homemade furniture inside.

Even back then I liked to clean!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

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thredUpdate

See what I did there? Ha!


So, this is my thredUp update. If you remember, thredUp is an online consignment store. You order a bag to fill, fill it with clothes, then send it back free of charge. They process your bag and you make money! Read my first post about it here!

I'm pretty pleased with how much I made. At first, though, I was livid. I'll explain!

I was getting a little impatient because the process takes awhile and I logged into my account. I saw that I made $7.20. SEVEN DOLLARS! I was so disappointed and mad. Some days later, I received an email from thredUp saying that my bag had been processed. I visited my account prepared to see $7.20 as my balance but was VERY pleasantly surprised to see $60!

In my impatience, I visited the website too early. They weren't done processing my bag and the $7.20 was what I received for a pair of jeans. Moral of the story: don't be impatient!!

I made another $60 on my second bag. Not too bad for clothes that were just cluttering up our attic!

If you want to join, click here to earn $10 off your first order! The deposit for thredUp clean out bags is currently waived, so you can get a bag to fill for free! I ordered a third to have on hand as I continue to clean out the attic! We have an Ikea trip planned (it's a hike from Nashville!) and I'm going to re-do my attic office. Exciting!

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Old School Ceramics, Part 2

Last week I told you about my new hobby- ceramics! I went back on Saturday to keep working on my Santa and Mrs. Claus. When we arrived, they were sitting on a shelf with a few other pieces that Barbara has done. I grabbed them so I could put two coats of primer on them:


Primered up! I used a color called "whisper gray" for priming. You have to make sure ALL the white is covered up - the little crevices of the hair and his beard can be tricky. Barbara has some magnifying glasses that she inspects the pieces with to make sure you've covered everything.


While I was priming, Nanny worked on cleaning up a Christmas tree. She removed all the seams. I found out that Christmas tree molds normally come in 3 pieces, so they have 3 seams to clean. It's a lot of work but at least the ridginess of the tree is forgiving!

After I primed, it was time to antique. Antiquing helps give the piece definition. I covered them in black antiquing stain, then wiped the stain off. The antiquing medium stays behind in the little crevices and when I dry-brush them, it will show through and give the piece depth and definition.


They almost look like stone or concrete now!

This is a much longer process than I anticipated, but I'm so glad I'm learning this craft! This Saturday, I will start learning how to dry brush them! WOO!

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Thrift Report: Risk & More!

Hit some fun sales last week! Check out this great RISK game!


The colors are so beautiful and it was well taken care of! I've never played RISK (is that weird?) so I was delighted to see such fun colors when I opened up the box. And look at this adorable whale detail on the game board!!!
He's so cute and happy!!

Picked up some glassware, which typically doesn't do that well in my booth, but here's hoping! I grabbed 7 of these red and gold striped glasses (SO beautiful!) and a Utah glass, Smoky Mountains glass, children's glass, and "garden measure" glass. (Looks like a shot glass-- but has lots of different measurements on it.)

I love vintage etiquette books, maps, eyeglass cases, and sewing boxes! This drawer unit is full of sewing notions!


I found these pretty paintings in Hendersonville and also bought a crewel kit and some really cute painted chalkboards! I kept the owl but the other 4 went to my booth. :)


I hope you found great stuff this weekend too! If you see anything you like, it's all up at my booth at the Tennessee Antique Mall!

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Friday Fun: Vintage Family Photos + Hot Air Balloons

Each Friday, I post vintage family photos from my childhood. My mom usually chimes in with more details in the comments, so be sure to check those. :)

Once, hot air balloons landed on our street. It was magical!

This is the view standing in the street, in front of the house my dad grew up in. You can see him there, videotaping the balloon invasion!

Isn't that so cool? There's something just so mystifying about hot air balloons, I think!

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30 Ways To Welcome Spring!

As I was waiting for Spring to finally get here, I realized there were lots of little things I did to make it FEEL more like Spring even though the weather wasn't cooperating. I started jotting those down and then thought of even MORE ways to welcome Spring. SO, if you're still feeling wowed by this great weather (or if the weather still isn't cooperating where you are!), here are 40 cheap or free ways to welcome Spring!

Home

1. Next time you need laundry detergent or fabric softener, buy a new scent to fill your home with a new fragrance.
2. Even if you're only awake for an hour before heading to work, open all your blinds and let the light in.
3. Spend $1 extra to buy the "fancier" soap or dish detergent. (You know, instead of buying the normal brand, get JR Watkins or Method, etc).
4. Get a bright new dish towel to hang in your kitchen.
5. Clean your stove. Not fun, but really rewarding.
6. Purge utensils if you have an overflowing spatula caddy.
7. Clear your fridge off--removing all those magnets and invitations can really make your kitchen feel clean and fresh.
8. Use your fabric scraps to sew a new table runner, cafe curtains, pot holder, etc.
9. Pick up a candle in a new scent. (Smells are so important for welcoming spring, I think!)
10. Follow your favorite florist on Facebook to find out when they have clearance blooms for sale for a cheap bouquet.
11. Keep an eye out for clearance plants after holidays. (I got shamrock plants for $2 a piece after St. Patrick's Day!)
12. Fix that thing you've been meaning to fix. You know, that squeaky door or broken tile that's been driving you crazy.
13. Trade chores with a friend--help clean out a garage in exchange for help with landscaping, for example.
14. Pick up a colorful welcome mat next time you're at the store.
15. Grab a gnome in the garden center for a few dollars for a cheery flowerbed addition.
16. Have a friend with a green thumb? Ask her to make some cuttings for you so you can try your own hand at growing.
17. Buy Rit dye for a few dollars and dye curtains, pillow covers, even your clothes.
18. Pick up "oops" paint at the hardware store (returns or color mistakes) for a room makeover for under $10.
19. Spray paint something! Grab a frame or knick knack and give it a color makeover. 

Living

1. Take a few hours to be a tourist in your town--scope out attractions you've always wanted to visit but never have.
2. Learn how to make a new, refreshing cocktail.
3. Host a potluck brunch.
4. Host a jewelry swap.
5. Spring clean and make some extra cash by having a yard sale.
6. Learn a new craft.
7. Make a craft date with a friend on a coffee shop patio.
8. Listen to only "oldies" for a week.
9. Color your hair! Buying box color is between you and your stylist (if you're brave enough to confess to her that you DIYed your color) but you could also visit a local hair school to get all-over color for as little as $10!
10. Grab your pup and head to the dog park!
11. Get out to a local festival or concert in the park.

I hope this list gives you some fun ideas this season! What are your favorite ways to welcome Spring?? Share in the comments!

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Did I miss the trend? Over-dyed rugs!

I like to decorate our house, but I'm definitely not up on the latest trends...and I still have a LOT to learn.

For instance, I had never heard of over-dyed rugs. (I should probably re-subscribe to Apartment Therapy to stay up to date on these things!)

Jenny from Little Green Notebook posted about a rug she recently bought and linked to an over-dyed rug she was considering buying. I thought it was so beautiful and interesting.

Then Nicole from Making It Lovely did a pink rug round-up and I spied a beautiful pink over-dyed rug. 


image source
I headed to RugsUSA.com to check out their selection of over-dyed rugs and I was majorly impressed. I always crave color in the springtime, so maybe it's just my spring fever kicking in, but LOOK at these... GORGEOUS!








The best part about Rugsusa.com is that they're constantly running sales and they offer free shipping! I bought our living room rug from there and I love it! I wish we had room in our house for tons of rugs but unfortunately we don't! I wish I could squeeze one of these over-dyed rugs in!!

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Old School Ceramics, Part 1

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with vintage ceramics. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and buy them often at estate sales.


Last month, Andy's grandmother mentioned that she had recently started doing ceramics again and I was delighted to hear it. I told her I'd love to join her and we set a date. I was soooooo excited! I was about to do real, old-school ceramics!


Nanny does ceramics in her friend Barbara's basement. She has known Barbara for 50 years! Barbara used to own a ceramics shop but now she is a hobbyist...but don't be fooled, she is seriously legit.


Her entire basement is filled to the brim with supplies and she even has a kiln!


She has hundreds and hundreds of ceramics molds and has already poured hundreds of figurines ready for cleaning.


Once you pick what you want to do, you clean it, which means you scrape the seams off, sand them, and restore the definition that was taken out through that process. She will fire the piece, then you glaze or dry brush it.

I am so drawn to Christmas ceramics, so I decided to do a Santa and Mrs. Claus (even though it's April!). I cleaned them up and this Saturday, she will teach me how to paint them. SO EXCITING!


I am so happy to be learning ceramics from such a talented teacher - and someone who has been doing it for decades! It makes me feel a little closer to the generations that have gone before me and it's fun quality time with Nanny!

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Thrift Report: Just a Little Bit!

Thanks everyone for your comments on my Restor-A-Finish post! I am excited to try some of your tips!

I went out to the Family Tree sale on Saturday and was surprised to find a line before it opened! I'm not used to lines on half-price days but the house was still full of great stuff and everyone was looking for a deal!

I picked up a handful of things...


I like this bag of coasters- I'm going to split them up into sets - I hope there are multiples. I'm going to enlist Andy to help me figure out which ones should go together if there aren't multiples.

Aaaand of course, more drink umbrellas. Summer is coming and you'll want to make your fruity beverages look fun, right? :)

And I found these Hanukkah candles and really loved the packaging. I'll hold them for the holiday season!


Picked up two games... Password and a Miss Piggy card game! Very fun.

Hope you found great stuff, too!! :)

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Friday Fun: Vintage Family Photos + Dream House

My mom scanned all the photos from my childhood several years ago and these were included. They went to look at a dream house in '84 but didn't get it. Here it is!












 

Looks a little rough, but it WAS built in 1899!

According to Google Maps, this is what the house looks like now! It really IS a dream house!!


It's beautiful! Looks like it's been lovingly restored... I love the white paint!

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