gingham apron happiness

I posted last Monday that I had won an apron at our family reunion auction. I think it is the perfect apron! You can't go wrong with gingham and aqua!

Michael's mom contributed it to the auction. After I won it, she confessed that she almost kept it at home to put in my Christmas stocking this year. Clearly, this apron and I were meant to be together!

I love the simple cross stitch along the bottom.

I love to wear aprons as often as I can. I have even been known to wear one outside of the house. (Which reminds me, did you see Shannan's skirt? It is perfect!) When I wear an apron I feel homey and nostalgic. Oddly enough, protecting my clothing is the last thing on my mind...that's just an added bonus! I love what Heather had to say about aprons being a reminder of the importance of serving others. I am glad for that little reminder and great reason to tie one on!

the view from here

I am on day six of a cold and it is finally kicking me in the rear. The view above has been my main one of the day with a couple of others thrown in just for variety. Day four of this cold had me believing I had recovered. I got up and went to a small's soccer practice, visited the farmer's market, canned scuppernong jelly, cleaned the entire house, and organized our library. Late that night as I was getting in bed to read, that sneaky little guy snuck up on me and took away my ability to breathe without sounding like I was wearing scuba gear. So here I am riding it out.

Lucy made me a lovely flower with her vegetable chips...

On a happier note, I made a little Etsy purchase last night while watching one of my favorite Cary Grant films. I am so excited. Studio Mela has some amazing prints! I couldn't wait to get this one...

And this weekend she is having a buy one get one free sale, so this little beauty will be coming home with it. I am so excited!

Happy Labor Day my American friends!

a little pink

A couple of weeks ago I picked up this little table at the thrift store just up the street from our house. It was eight bucks. My original plan was to paint it a nice turquoise blue and put it in our living room. However, the spot I had picked out for it dwarfed the poor little table. Fortunately, I needed a bedside table for Lucy's room. So, I decided to paint it a soft pink, Bubble Bath by Behr to be exact. I love the way it turned out and I think it looks lovely with the wall color we picked out for her room (Robin's Nest by Benjamin Moore).

I love the little "pocket" under the table. I am sure there will be some fun collections placed there by Lucy. I have a couple of other fun things to share from her (very unfinished) room, but I will wait to share those next week, mainly because I do not have photos yet and I am too lazy to go take some right now :) Have a beautiful weekend!

all that for free?

Last weekend I hit the jackpot on freecycle. Someone posted a variety of vintage Christmas decorations. I didn't know exactly what I was getting except that it involved some Shiny Brite ornaments. Well, I got a total of 31 of those ornaments. The photo above gives you an idea of the selection. I also got these little paper buildings...the ones with sparkles.

I have wanted some of these for a while. In retrospect I should have taken them out of the package for a better photo, but too late now as they are packed up in the attic. I also got this little kitchen wreath. It has some damage, but it otherwise rather cute...

I am very excited about these items and am looking forward to being able to use them next Christmas. OK, just so you don't have to worry, that is the last of the Christmas related posts for at least ten months. Coming up? Some one quilt related posts since I have been a little behind.

my new room

does anyone remember this post? yeah, i didn't think so. well, our bedroom has been repainted for quite some time, but i have been reluctant to post about it only because the room still needs some attention. we needed new bedding (read bedding. period.) i have been on the hunt for that oh so perfect vintage quilt for what seems like an eternity. i got very lucky last week at one of the local antique markets. i found this jewel for just $22. i was not sure how it would work in the room and it was a little different than what i had been searching for. but, when i got it home and put in on the bed, it was love. instantly. there are so many fun fabrics and colors...

i mean, look at this scottie! right next to cowboys and an old coffee kettle?

i truly am in love with this quilt. and it makes me so happy to see it in the room. i feel like i finally have some direction for the room. and i love it with my little glimpses original on the table.

yay for me!

more about quilts

i am so excited to be part of a new project called one quilt. dorie emailed me a while back to see if i was interested and of course i was! a group of twelve very talented women are joining together to help each other make a quilt. each month the selected block recipient will decide what they want their quilt to look like and they will send the fabric out to each of the other participants who will then make a quilt block and send it back to them. and the other months they will receive fabric and do the same for the other participants. so by the end of the year each participant, after they assembly their blocks and quilt them, will have their very own quilt made by women from all over the world! that is twelve quilts! i am so excited. dorie started us off this month with the fabrics above. my month is not until february, so i have a little time to decide on my theme. you can see all the participants and check our progress here.

in other quilting news...dana is having another quilt giveaway. and again, i hesitate to tell you about it because i really want to win. but it is so beautiful and her blog is a lot of fun, so go and enter the giveaway here.

and just because, check out these great finds i got while we were in florida last week. two books from a thrift store for only fifty cents for both!

and i got two yards of this cute fabric and vintage pattern from a great little shop in ybor city just before eating at mr. empanada (a place dedicated to empandas? yes. need i say more?)

well, i am off to work on that same project for this weekend. stay tuned...

my find

this weekend we hopped in the car with our dear friends leroy and janelle and spent the day traveling through the 90-mile yard sale. well, we actually only made it through 70 miles that is still pretty impressive, right? the kids were amazing. i don't even remember them whining. people, the heat was extreme. it was in the mid-nineties. but, in case any of you are not familiar with georgia weather, it is very humid here. no dry heat here. you get nice and "damp" out in our heat. we were all so hot and gross. i mean really gross. we didn't have a ton of great finds, but the company was excellent. my greatest find was this haba doll cradle. the bottom is stamped "HABA 1980" and then some wording that i can't quite make out, but i think it says something about being made in germany. it is so odd to me that i was a kid when this was made and that it was 29 years ago. i mean, this piece could be considered vintage (according to who you ask). have you ever googled vintage vs. antique vs. classic? there are a wide variety of opinions on the subject. but, i digress. ok, back to the cradle. the best part of this find is that it was only five dollars! they had it marked at seven dollars, but i talked 'em down to five (are you impressed yet?). here is a detail of the side.lucy is quite pleased with it. actually, right this very minute she is on the floor next to me spreading my fabric scraps all over it and saying something about putting her blog on it so the bugs won't get on it. wow.

vintage children's books

over a month ago, while i was visiting my family, the local library had another book sale. i fared pretty well at the one last fall. this year when i walked into the room i actually gasped. there were tables and tables and tables and boxes and boxes and boxes full of vintage children's books. i actually had to steady myself. much like last year all hardbacks were fifty cents. i picked up a few on the first day. well, about a week into the sale, the library staff apparently went mad. you could bring in your own bag, and no matter what the size, you could fill it up for fifty cents! yes, you read that right. i got over twenty books and a big stack of highlights magazines for only fifty cents! can you believe it? there were some really great finds, but i will only highlight a few for you here. among them were several by lois lenski, tasha tudor, francoise and maj lindman (four of my favorite authors/illustrators). here are a few great illustrations from some of the books...


where were the fawns when i started kindergarten? one of my favorite finds was a lovely alice in wonderland book illustrated by maraja. here are two illustrations from it...

in all, i would say that i now have a pretty good size library of vintage children's books. i dare not count them!

mixed bag

i love tiny things. i went to an estate sale this weekend at the home of a miniaturist. there was an entire basement full of miniatures. it was quite overwhelming. but, just as i was leaving, i spied a box labeled birds. i love birds. and the thought of tiny birds had me very excited. well, there were no birds. just cages and such. then i saw these two bird nests. they are actually acorn tops. i love them! i tried for quite a while to get a decent photo, and this is the best i could do. (one day maybe i'll have a fancy schmancy camera with a macro lens)

what else do i love? buttons. and i found this treat at a yard sale a few weeks back. the tin actually still has the original buttons, with a few extras. thanks to my friend janelle for spotting it.

and last but not least, this is a baby blanket for a friend. nothing to fancy, but i did want you to know that i have made something recently.

happy halloween

so, my intention was to take a picture of our pumpkin last night and post it this morning with a happy halloween message. well, i forgot to take a picture of it last night, and so much for that idea. then, i figured i would post an old photo. well, i thought this photo was on an external hard drive that we have that i thought was tied up in a music project with michael. it is not and i just took it and scanned through the photos looking for the photo and couldn't find it. well, after all of that and making costumes and mailing birthday invitations, alas, the photo was right here on the computer already, just not in my iphoto library. geez... i think this will forever be one of my favorites of larkin. he was twenty months old here and was amazed by the pumpkin. but, aren't we all still fascinated by carved pumpkins? i know i am.
do you know what else i can't get enough of? old children's books. the sale that i mentioned in my last post was at the library in my hometown. my mom and i went last week and it was amazing! a huge room full of books and the hardbacks were only fifity cents! here is a sampling of my finds. and this is only a small fraction of them...

cupcake anyone?

so i found this yummy carrot cupcake recipe over at not quite june cleaver. this was the first time i had made carrot cake from fresh carrots. they were easy and quite tasty. thanks for posting it susan!
in other news, my friend janelle and i went over to an estate sale this weekend. quite a few bargains to be had there. i think these two items set me back about 60 cents.

i love the potholder. i have seen this type before and would love to try and make some, but i have no idea what this technique is called. anyone know?

itty bitty apron

while in st. augustine, we visited a great antique store with lots of booths. (couldn't tell you the name of it, of course) but this adorable apron was our purchase. lucy is quite happy with it and wears it often. here she is modeling it at the beach...

thrifting find

i have been trying to post for a few days but i have not been able to upload any pictures. i feel like i have neglected my blog, even though it wasn't my fault. this is the find i got a couple of weekends ago with my mom. yes, i am just now posting it. i love the little chicks. i can't decide where i want to use it, or in what capacity. any ideas?

1940s finds

i found these two books while in mooresville, nc last weekend. waggles was published in 1945. i love the color scheme. the black, aqua and red are the only colors throughout the entire book. and the eyes still glow in the dark! poppy was published in 1942. i love old fairy books. not some of the more current scary fairies - no, i like poppy-style fairies. oh, and arthur rackham fairies. (that is another post all together!)