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. 



 



Monday, November 15, 2010

Some fabulous vintage finds

I scored some great vintage finds over the weekend. I feel like I've been having the worst luck lately and end up always coming home empty handed but this weekend definitely made up for recent trips. My favorite find was an old carboy from the 1950's. I plan on using it as a vase and putting some large decorative branches in it or something.  I love the industrial look it has to it with the worn label and the gorgeous blue tint.  This definitely makes up for that demijohn I wasn't able to bring back with me from the Berlin flea market. 

The Design Boards

Friday, November 12, 2010

Happy weekend

So glad the weekend is here.  I have a long list of projects to work on including:

getting in a little photography practice
shop work - projects, photo shoots, etc.
thrifting & antique shopping
starting to work on the cushions for the couch
ordering supplies for xmas packaging and wrapping and getting so inspired by all the lovely ideas on pinterest
ordering frames for the artwork sitting in a pile in the corner of our living room
braving Ikea for some Xmas supplies and items for the house
What are you all up to this weekend?

source unknown
(this photo reminds me of the breakfasts I had while I was in Germany.  I was
looking at photos from our trip last night and really missing it.  I can't wait to go back.  I think we are planning a trip for next summer...)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Collections

There is one thing that has never turned up on any of my thrifting trips and that is a piece of Catherine Holm enamelware.  I would love a collection like this, even just a piece from this collection would be amazing....definitely drool worthy!  I am also really loving that yellow and white creamer/pitcher on the bottom shelf...anyone know who makes that?  Is it vintage?

Vintage bus turned into vintage shop...

How amazing is this?  Inspired by all the mobile food carts popping up around the Portland area, Erin Sutherland took the idea on step further turning a vintage bus into a vintage shop.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Almost finished

I finished a few major pieces of the couch over the weekend and the whole thing is really coming together.  I can't believe it will be done soon...eek!  So excited to see the final outcome and so proud of myself that I have taken on a task of this magnitude without knowing what the hell I was doing!! 


Friday, November 5, 2010

One year ago...

This weekend Mike and I will be celebrating our first year of marriage. I cannot believe a year has gone by already. We had originally planned a little get away trip but Mike is in his final semester of school and his work load is crazy right now so we are deferring our trip until January but I am taking a little blogging break so we can spend a long weekend together. We plan on cooking a few nice meals, lighting up the fire pit, spending time together and reminiscing about last year at this time...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Wishing for...

I still can't believe Christmas is like next month.  I was in a craft store over the weekend and they already had Christmas items marked down. With my favorite holiday being right around the corner I thought I would put together some things that are on the top of my list this year (hint, hint family and friends!).  What are you wishing for this year?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Another project...

With the couch nearly finished I've already started thinking about my next project. I really want to focus on my studio/office space. We just installed a closer system and now my head is swirling with ideas for the rest of the room.

I've had this old dresser since I was in high school. It's from the 60's or 70's and my parents rescued it out of a rental property they purchased. My dad painted it white and I've had it ever since. It has a matching nightstand that is taking up very temporary residence in our bedroom until I find a better replacement.

Mike and I sanded down the white paint a few months ago which had turned yellow from years of being stored in a Florida garage while I moved all around the state and detoured to NYC. After we sanded it down we weren't really sure what to do with it and I was about to get rid of it until we needed a place to store stuff while the closet was being put in. I kept thinking about a picture I had pinned on pinterest of a black dresser used as a credenza in a dining room that I just couldn't get out of my head. I realized my dresser had a similar shape and thought maybe I could try to re-create the look.  What do you think?  (I also love that turquoise chair from the inspiration photo.  I have a very similar chair I thrifted a few months ago that is begging to be painted a bright pop of color!)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Things that make me smile...

I love fresh flowers in the house and lately our markets have had an overwhelming vareity of great flowers, really cheap so I've been having a blast putting together little arrangements for around the house.  Of course, we don't really have a lot of places to put things.  Mike won't let me put anything on our mid century credenza and the coffee table is a collect-all for too much stuff to even think about adding a flower vase to it....I'm making a mental note to keep an eye out for tables while thrifting.

Here are some little flower arrangements that I found inspiring and brought a smile to my day...







Mid Century Moment

If you obsessed with mid century design the way I am I'm sure you've already checked out The Brick House, but if not you are in for a real treat.  The Brick House, is a hilarious account of a couple  renovating a mid century home in California, on a budget.  The blog is full of beautiful inspiration and ideas and their house is nothing short of mid century amazing and they somehow manage to find everything on craigslist...