Friday I'm In Love

Things that made me fall in love this week ...

1) I had an item make it to the front page on Etsy!  My 1950s yellow Swiss dot fabric was used by Amyswicks in a treasury chosen for FP.  The number of favorites for items & the shop views went absolutely through the roof.  Little victories, but so exciting to me!

2) On Tuesday afternoon I finally got around to sharing Pee Wee's Big Adventure with my 12 year old niece, Madison.  I was 12 in 1985 when it was released & went to see it with my two best friends, Suki & Rue.  We were properly obsessed with anything & everything Pee Wee related after that.  I was so elated to see Mads enjoying it right along with me, I had forgotten just how amazing it was & was touched to get to share it with her.  Her very first observation, "That looks like somewhere you'd live Aunt Poppy."

by MonsterGallery & soon to be hanging in my living room

3)  Artist & ever awesome Natalie Perkins from Definatalie.com & Definatalie.tumblr.com has been sharing some amazing artwork lately, much of it related to her campaign against the invalidation of ugly.

4)  Imagine perfume by Lollia.  For Christmas I was gifted a bottle by my sister, she also got me the tall perfumed luminary.  It's an intensely dreamy scent, very light ... slightly floral (Lotus blossom); creamy (rice coconut milk) & well rounded.  It makes me feel very girly; my person & the studio both smell like heaven.  The packaging is just as lovely as the fragrance.

5)  This would be the haircut I am swooning over lately.  I think I may go from my normal level 4 mocha back to my natural level 5 auburn, but finding a cut I like is the hardest part.  I'll keep most of my length, but I love that these layers will let my hair be curly on days when I don't feel like straightening it & those bangs are damn near perfect.

Beth Ditto of Gossip & super awesome fatty fame

Upcycled Vintage Owls

We have had an uncharacteristically dry fall & winter here in Northern California.  I hate to complain about all of the sun, but I like rainy days.  Love them in fact & it saddens me that they have been very few & very far between so far.  Never one to lose an opportunity though, I have been taking advantage of the sunshine by painting.  Specifically owls.

I found one of these cute little cast iron owl trivets at a thrift store for a quarter over a year & a half ago.  I painted it to cover the layers of grime & rust & discovered that it was the cutest thing ever to set my tea on (& it looks so cute on the kitchen wall in between cups of tea).

After that I would just find them everywhere (sadly no more were that cheap) ... estate sales, thrift shops, rummage sales, flea markets ... & was compelled to buy up every last one of them.  Like I need that many owl trivets, no matter how cute.  Good thing other people thing they're cute too, they sell very well in the shop & I just enjoy sprucing them up in bright colors & taking their picture.

Aren't they just so darling?!  Apparently  rain is headed our way & it is so chilly outside I wouldn't be surprised if the storm brought some snow as well.  I guess I finished up my painting just in time ... we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Thrifted Finds # 4 : Saturday Sun

I joined my friend Megs & her daughter (my goddaughter) Amanda today for a few junk sales & some Saturday afternoon thrifting.  I grabbed a huge Ziplock full of vintage cake decorations from the 50s & 60s; among them were these sweet wee pink bird candle holders.  I have a few of their yellow cousins in my cupcake decorating cupboard already, so I was delighted to find these darling pink ones.  I added two sets of 6 to the shop & both sets have already sold!  Crazy.

I'm glad I kept 12 for myself.  It's just so much fun running a little vintage shop on Etsy that sometimes I forget I am a vintage collector as well as a vintage seller & later regret selling things I would have loved to keep.

They looked so sweet perched atop some vintage spools of pink thread!

I have yet to decide whether this little sweetie will stay or go.

I love the look of these guys, sweet & simple in lovely icing colors.

Megs was hunting for a chest to use as Amanda's hope chest.  Do girls even have these anymore?  Amanda saw the one my parents made for me on my 14th birthday & freaked out after I explained what it was & what it was for & she decided that she had to have one of her own.  Mine is black with a tufted black & white polka dot fabric lid which is decoupaged with a huge Guns N' Roses poster on the inside.  She's looking for something a little less rock & roll ... we didn't have any luck today, but we'll keep hunting.

I found some more amazing things for my home & for Bliss & Vinegar Vintage though ... like this amazing, never used ThermoServ daisy beverage set.  A mint pitcher (with the large gold ThermoServ sticker still on the front) & six mint tumblers.  It will make its way to the shop, I haven't got the space to store it ... even if it is truly brilliant!

Straight from Kitty's kitchen on That 70's Show.

My find of the New Year ... so far ... has got to be this plate.  Though it isn't really a plate as it's made of tin & could hold a very large turkey, so it's more of a platter.  It's giant in fact, measuring a whopping 19" across the middle.  It tested the limits of my largest plate hanger, but I wrangled it on without losing an eye & it now graces the kitchen wall beside the front door.

So very darling with its scallops & hearts & other details.

There are no maker's marks to be found, so I don't know much about it, but there are little initials next to the gentleman's boot toe that read, "TE".  I don't suppose I need to know much more about it than the fact that I LOVE it however.  It is staying put.

I took our tree down after I came home this afternoon.  Oh, how sad to tuck all of my holiday goodies away for the entire next year!  It was such a busy December that I feel like I didn't have enough time to just sit & enjoy our decorations.  Chucky's favorite part of the tree was the tiny blown glass caravan & his second year in a row stocking stuffer Spam single serving packet (it has now been tucked away for next year's stocking as well - its expiration date is well into 2013).  Traditions are important.

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