Sometimes You Get Lucky

Thrift shopping can be like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get... I mean... find. And a few weeks ago, strolling through our local Salvation Army, I got the foil-wrapped truffle bon bon from the center of the box! There, by all the other worn out, dated sofas was this brand spankin' new looking mid-century modern couch.

I looked it over.  Lusted after it.  Wondered over it.  Could it be vintage?  It looked so new!  No, after closer inspection, I could tell it was authentic vintage.  And I also knew it would look perfect on my 60s retro turquoise porch.  But (OH NO!) I just got another cute frisé late 40s, early 50s sofa from a friend, so I just couldn't use this darling piece!  Sigh!  And how much did it cost?  There was no price.  Perhaps it had been sold already.  Oh well, couldn't buy it anyway.

Upon returning home, I casually mentioned it to my oldest son who, with his wife, is temporarily living with us in between stints in China and possibly Glasgow.  Anyway, this son enjoys quirky and retro and he's very curious.  So, unbeknownst to me, he went over to the store to check it out.  He also got them to price it.  Would you believe only $20?  YES!  So, he bought it.  And it ended up on my 60s retro turquoise porch anyway... in front of the other couch... for now... or at least until someone returns from Glasgow I guess...  hmmm...

Well, it does match.  Take a look at the weave close up in the sunlight.  

So cute.  Some blue, some olive and some brown.

How perfectly mid-century modern.  

Happy thrift shopping to you and yours and

may you also find the foil-wrapped bon bon of chocolates on occasion!

That's what keeps us going, right?

Carly's Kitchen - Update!

A post ago, I showed you some Victorian die cut roses I framed up for a friend. Well, she has them up in her new kitchen and isn't it all perfect so far? Nice job Carly!

 

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

In schools throughout America, today is Read Across America Day:  a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually on March 2nd - Dr. Suess's birthday.  "In honor of my years on the school board" (I am not running for reelection after almost 13 years - my term ends in April), I was invited to be the guest reader at one of our elementary schools this morning.  So, thank you Valley View School for such a fun visit today.  I loved reading to you and having you rhyme with me in your colorful pajamas! 

Keep reading!

err... um, I mean... your school board president... for another five weeks

Consider a Fabric Covered Mat

I was recently contacted by Carly, the daughter of a friend who told me she was obsessed with some roses I framed a while back that her mother now owned.

What I would consider very shabby chic, they were made from diamond cutting some reclaimed oval mats and mounting them onto a pink ground with very antique repainted oval frames.  In the center of it all were some 100 year old embossed Victorian die cuts.  Scrapbooking had another heyday in the late 1800s and these bits of ephemera were all the rage for scrapbookers back then.

Carly considered making these disappear from her mother's home, but instead thought she should contact me and find out where she could get roses like that.  After a brief email discussion, we decided if Carly could find some die cut flowers and frames she liked (I steered her to Etsy), I would put something together for her.

She choose these die cuts from Vintage Cornucopia on Etsy.

 

We chose these oval frames.  I suspect these were from the 60s-70s when the gold trimmed French provincial bedroom furniture was popular... and yes, that was my bedroom furniture as a teenager.

The flowers arrived.  The frames arrived.

Oh this little Louis XV fancy lad sitting on a white stump soliciting the large vase of flowers sure looks French provincial, doesn't he?  I wonder more about why someone would paint a picture of a little man proposing to a vase of flowers...

Surprise, surprise... the "mat" was painted on the glass!

Easily removed with a razor blade.

A bit of sanding was in order before painting.

I put a few wood screws lightly in the back to raise them off the table for painting.  (I've since heard that push pins would work as well - great idea!)

Custom matched the paint to the fabric.

The fabric.  I wanted to find something fresh like a damask, trellis or suzani but to no avail.  When I saw these perfectly colored dots in the decorator fabric at JoAnn's, the decision was made.

Using a drafting compass, I marked the lines of the mat about two inches in from the frame edge and cut out the oval with an exacto knife.  It doesn't have to be a perfectly cut mat because it will be covered... but make the shape right even if you have to sand out bumpy imperfections with a paper nail file or fine sandpaper.  (My red lines are for lining up the fabric once the mat was sprayed.  I wanted the dots placed the same for each mat.)

Spray glue the mat board and place on your fabric.  Cut the fabric at least a half inch bigger than the mat board.  For wrapping the fabric around the mat, notch at half inch to one inch intervals depending on the curve of the oval.  Closer for the tighter curves and farther apart for the straightaways.  Cut 1/4 - 1/8th inch away from the mat.

Fold over a couple of tabs at a time with a light touch of hot glue.

With clean hands, press the fabric over tightly.

Fabric covered oval mats are ready.

Think of the possibilities - a scalloped mat would be cute.

Frame them up.

Add a fun backing paper (wrapping paper).

Who wants plain ol' brown bag craft paper anyway?

The framed roses are complete.

I hope Carly likes them as much as her mother's!
Update:  check out how they look in Carly's kitchen.

Pinsanity

Pinterest.  Sometimes I feel like this:

But most of the time I just feel hooked.  Pinterest is the creative person's visual drug of choice.  The best of the best ideas coming to the surface in a bottomless depth of swirling ideas.  I have to admit... I love it.  It's a convenient tool for organizing creative inspirations while also a source for endless more creative inspirations... so back to the top of this post and the thank you note.  

Oy vey.

There's Nothing Like a Man in Uniform... or a Ruffly Manshirt!

Long before Captain Morgan...

 

Long before Jack Sparrow...

Long before Brad and Tom did Interview With a Vampire...

Even many years long before Seinfeld's puffy shirt...

There was Frank Langella's dracula shirt...

or maybe it was Romeo and Tybalt sword fighting

in their Italian cottons way back when...

 ...which gave birth to the appeal of the RUFFLY MANSHIRT for me.  Perhaps every decade Hollywood produces one great ruffly manshirt episode.  Oh yes.  Give me a man with dishpan hands...  and a ruffly manshirt!  I once told my oldest son he should get a ruffly manshirt for his honeymoon and it has amused him ever since.  And never did I have occasion to make one... 

...until now.

My youngest, Keaton, was cast as Edwardo the overly confident and romantic vampire in the highschool's annual Band Revue this month.  And that was all I needed to hear.  

"You need a ruffly manshirt," I said. 

The pattern books offered several choices,

but since this one was on sale for 99¢, it would do just fine.

And I found a nice slinky knit that actually looked like cotton gauze.

The better for your ruffles to ruffle, my dear...

I told Keaton to be ready.  Girls might giggle a little more or

behave a little differently in the presence of his ruffly manshirt.

But, I think the girls should be the least of my worries.

Sugar and Spice

It's way more fun to decorate a place that's way more fun...

                                                         ...and filled with character.

Like my sister's bed & breakfast.

Last weekend, we held a baby shower for my niece, Amy.

You remember her, don't you?

She seems to keep me busy after Thanksgiving.

Two years ago - wedding dress shopping.  White Friday.

One year ago - her sister's baby shower.  Blue Friday.

This time it's Pink Friday!

It's always fun to decorate in pink.

These jumbo cupcakes were out of this world

with French buttercream frosting and so cute!

They are sold at our local Pick 'n Save.

I cut custom cupcake wrappers out of scrapbook papers

using my wavy rotary cutter on the top.

Got the words using a free online template for wrappers.

And what's a shower without a few pompon flowers on fishline?!

This was the mother of all pompons - about 18" across.

You can buy pompon flowers pre-folded and fluff them yourself -

or you can fold them with your own tissue like I did.

They are simple.   Here's how Martha does it.

Even the milk glass candy dish got dressed up.

I'm so happy Amy liked this sugar and spice garland enough

to take it with her for her nursery in California!

Once I got rolling, pompons started spewing from my fingers!

Garland!  On stems in a vase!  A corsage!

Oh, don't get me started!

You see, me and flower pompons go way back.