Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!

I can't believe the year is coming to an end. Although I'm a little sad that the holidays are officially over after this weekend, I am really looking forward to the fresh start a new year brings.  I have lots of goals and ideas for the coming year that I am excited to share with you.  I'll be back on Monday and will resume my normal, daily posting schedule.  I hope you all have safe and wonderful holiday!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Bertoia

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Mine was amazing, it was just the perfect amount of family time, baking, eating, celebrating, and relaxing.  I feel energized and ready to begin the new year and I have so many ideas and projects that I can't wait to start working on.  My incredible husband got me a set of 4 Bertoia [style] chairs for Christmas, can you believe it?!   It is so amazing to have a husband who shares my insane love of mid century design and I can't wait to display the chairs throughout our house.  One is definitely going in our studio, the others maybe in the dining room.

Our home is really starting to take shape and we plan on putting a lot of our efforts into home projects in 2011.  We finally finished the couch but I use the term 'finish' loosely.  The back piece is pinned in place because we are waiting on some cardboard tacking strips to complete it, but we moved it into our living room and all I can say is wow!  I am so in love with the way it turned out and the personality it brings to the room.  I promise to take pics soon and do a whole post on project details but like I said, there are still a few finishing details that need to be worked out but I am sitting on it as I type this and it's so comfy and perfect in this space.

I am still planning on a light posting schedule this week as I make preparations for the new year and savor the last fleeting moments of 2010. I hope you all will do the same!

bertoia_mid century_modern_chairs
Photo: Cottage Living

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Checking in

I've been so busy getting ready for Christmas, I can't believe it's this week! We're hosting Christmas dinner so we've been busy getting the house in order and doing little things like putting in a closet, finishing our couch, making last minute Christmas gifts, and baking up a storm. I've been scouring thrift stores looking for last minute additions to our Christmas table and our Christmas records are on repeat mode this week as we prepare for the holiday. I'm also busy planning lots of projects and new features for the blog after the first of the year which I can't wait to share with you. I have a really cute little last minute gift idea to share with you as well which I hope to find time to post in the next day or so. It's busy and hectic but I love it, it's a time of year that always goes so quickly but that I really try to relish every moment of. I hope you are all enjoying the holiday as much as I am!

vintage pink ornaments

Monday, December 20, 2010

White Christmas

I know I'm supposed to be taking a little blogging break but I had to share this little bit of inspiration with you. Do you every once in a while spot a photo that just stops you dead in your tracks?  This photo found via poppytalk did that for me, I literally can't stop staring at it, it is so beautiful.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Happy Holidays!

As Christmas quickly approaches I will be taking a short break from blogging to finish up all of my last minute holiday errands, take some much needed time to spend with family and friends and to really enjoy what this time of year is all about. I will be checking in from time to time with some scheduled posts and behind the scenes I will be planning lots of fun new features and ideas to come in the new year. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

DIY Project

While we were in Germany over the summer, all of the places we stayed had these fabric and crocheted hangers.  I really wanted to sneak some home in my suitcase because they were so cute but I restrained myself.  Then I found this tutorial for making wrapped hanger.  This would make a great last minute Christmas gift and there is also this super cute bonus bracelet tutorial.

diy_tutorial_craft project_fabric wrapped hangers

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

apt22 gets a new look...

A few weeks ago I got in touch with Kristen of Ahoy Graphics to have her help create a new logo and look for the shop.  To say she did an amazing job is an understatement!  I am blown away with our new logo and banner.  I picked one of my favorite color palettes, grey and yellow, gave Kristen a general direction and she did the rest. I really love the concepts she came up with and am so pleased with the final look.

In the process of giving our shop a new look we also created a tag line which is something I've been wanting to do for a long time but couldn't really come up with anything until we started the process of creating the logo and then it just came to me - "where vintage lives". 

I'm so happy with Kristen's work and we are already discussing a little blog makeover after the first of the year! 

new logo design apt22 vintage

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Happy weekend!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.  I will be running a lot of Christmas-y errands and I have a baking day planned with my mom and Mike and I are pulling out the Christmas movies...I love this time of year!

hot cocoa_snowman_white_christmas_winter

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Cabin life

As I sit here writing this post I'm curled up in my favorite chair listening to Christmas records with a pot of tea and a blanket and feeling very cozy.  This time of year always makes me think about cabin living.   It's one of our dreams to own a rustic cabin somewhere someday.  If you've been reading this blog for a while now you know that my parents own a cabin in North Carolina and it is like my sanctuary - it is one of my most favorite places in the world and a place of extreme peace and tranquility for me.  Mike and I hope to own a place like it someday.  When I saw these rustic cabin photos I was in awe, this is exactly what envision for our someday cabin....

rustic_modern_chic_ cabin

rustic_modern_chic_ cabin

rustic_modern_chic_ cabin

rustic_modern_chic_ cabin

rustic_modern_chic_ cabin

Friday, December 3, 2010

Happy holiday season

I hope you are enjoying the gift guides I put together.  I will be adding more through the weekend so be on the look out!  Other than that I have a busy weekend ahead, an estate sale tomorrow morning, more holiday decorating and preparation, catching up on my blog reading, Christmas card writing and maybe some baking and gift buying.  I hope you all take a little time to stop and enjoy this fleeting but magical time that is the holiday season.  It is my absolute favorite time of year and it always seems to go by too fast but sometimes the magic is lost in all the chaos.  I always try to stop and take in all the little moments that I love so much about this time of year - baking days with my mom and my girlfriends, late night gift wrapping sessions, incessant amounts of Christmas music, planning holiday get togethers with friends and family.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a wonderful holiday season!

holiday entertaining

Gift Guides - For the Little Ones

I love simple toys that educate children and foster creativity. These are some of my favorite finds for the little ones in your life...
gift guides for kids

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gift Guides - Sister, Mom, Best Friend

I'll be sharing gift guides over the next few days with my picks for all those people on your list.  It's only fitting that we start with gift options for the fabulous ladies in your life...


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

Getting into the holidays...

I had such a wonderful long weekend.  Dinner with the fam on Thursday was wonderful.  We picked out our Christmas tree on Friday and I've been listening to Christmas music non stop since Thanksgiving!  I also found time to get a lot of work done on the couch, if all goes well I think I'll be done this week and I'm really looking forward to moving it into the living room before Christmas.  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

christmas tree
poinsettas
vintage german nutcracker
Photos: The Design Boards

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Gifting

Have you seen the new gift tab on Pinterest?  It is a genius way to hunt for gift ideas.  Almost all of my shopping is finished but I am definitely having fun perusing all the options and finding ideas for my gift guides which I hope to have up by next week.

I finished ordering all my wrapping supplies over the weekend.  I managed to find a red and a white matte paper.  I've been gathering lots of ideas and inspiration and can't wait to get started.  I am beyond excited for the holidays to start this year.  Our tradition is to get our tree the day after Thanksgiving and I am really looking forward to decorating and putting beautifully wrapped gifts under it!  Another Christmas-y thing I am looking forward to is listening to Christmas music on our record player.  I've been collecting Christmas albums all year and I can't wait to finally try them all out.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will be back on Monday to share my holiday weekend with you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

pretty packaging gift wrap

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wow

I know it's crazy to even be thinking about spring dresses when fall weather has just arrived but I spotted this dress on Elsie's blog and fell in love, isn't it amazing?  I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend, mine was a little crazy running around getting ready for Thanksgiving and spending a little too much money antiquing (I found a couple of great new spots but more on that later).  Happy Monday!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Holiday gift wrapping ideas

So glad the weekend is finally here.  What are your plans?  At the top of my list is ordering all of my supplies for holiday gift wrapping.  I just ordered some washi tape for packaging gifts this year.  I still have a large supply from last year but wanted a few more options.  I'm planning on using solid colored wrapping paper this year in 3 colors: red, white, and kraft.  I am searching for some affordable white butcher paper in small sizes (everything I've found so far is 1000 feet long - way too much!)  Anyone know any good sources for this?  I am also looking for a great solid red paper in a matte finish.  Everything I am finding seems to have a gloss finish.   What are your ideas and inspirations for holiday gift wrap this year?

holiday packaging ideas and inspiration

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Collections - vintage black and white photos

Lately, one of my favorite things to look for while vintage shopping are old black and white photos. While in Arcadia a few weeks ago I came across an entire box full of vintage photos. I started digging through them, there were some amazing shots - a bunch of black and white photos of Vietnam, probably taken during the war. I also love finding wedding photos  and old post cards with family photos on the front and a message to a loved one written on the back.  It's amazing to me, these moments captured in time so long ago.  I wish I would have bought some of the photos I found that day, some of them would have been perfect to frame as artwork for our house. 

vintage

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

west elm holiday goods

This weekend in the mail I received a tiny little catalog from west elm filled with awesome gift and entertaining items for the holidays. I have been eyeing these little lacquered nut bowls for a while now and finally ordered a few last night (free shipping right now!). I was a little bummed they were out of the red already. Over the weekend while thrifting I found a vintage nutcracker (straight from Germany) that would have been perfect with the matching red bowl.  I was tempted to order every other color but instead chose three.  I can't wait to start decorating for the holidays!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Things that make me smile...

I am obsessed with Christmas.  In August I literally start counting down the moments until I can decorate and bake Christmas cookies and listen to Christmas music.  All of my Christmas festivities commence the day after Thanksgiving and not a moment before.  Seeing as how that day is rapidly approaching I have Christmas on the brain right now.  I am so excited to decorate this year, as one of the items on my 30 before 30 list is to deck the house out for Christmas, I really want to go all out.  The house isn't anywhere near the shape I hoped it would be in when I put that on my list but I'm going to ignore all the half finished projects scattered throughout the house and really put my heart into decorating this year.