Homemade

Way back in the day when I first started my blog, one of my first posts was on these chairs that Aaron bought and refinished, and for which I made chair covers.  Well, it's been almost three years and they have finally made their way out of our downstairs office and into our living room.  Since the old green covers clashed with our new couch, it was definitely time for some new covers!  While I was taking off the old ones I couldn't believe they even looked halfway decent - I really tortured those things while I was making them.  This time around things went much smoother and I made much better-fitting cushion covers.  I don't know when it happened, but sometime in the past three years my sewing skills improved!  Yay!

I know- we went with a kinda boring off-white.  We couldn't decide on a fun color, so we just decided to go with a safe neutral and I bought some fun fabrics for future accent pillows. 

So I sewed away this weekend.  It may sound funny, but I love being indoors on a super beautiful day, in my pink sewing room with the warm sun shining in through the windows.  I can appreciate a lovely day just as much as if I were outside.  :)

Inspired

Today I read an article in the Winter edition of Modernism magazine and I can't help but feel a little inspired.  The article was Fabulous 50s Fabrics, and it featured three British women textile designers, one of them being Lucienne Day.  Ms. Day was a textile designer who worked to lift the spirits of a nation, post-WWII, through her designs.

Day conveyed her innovative and modern design aesthetic with abstract shapes, a graphic style, and bold use of color.  She was interested in modern painting, but instead became a designer so that her work would be seen and used by the general public; she liked that many consumers who may not be able to afford a modern painting could alternatively use her textiles in their homes for curtains and upholstery. 

I'm always amazed at what my generation's grandparents have lived through; to see the world at its worst and then to be reborn.  It is inspiring to read about a woman who was nothing less than groundbreaking at a time when the world needed regenerating. 

[Lucienne and her husband, furniture designer Robin Day.]

Thrifted

I'm not really sure what this is.  Some sort of panel, obviously, but it also has lighting attached to it.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I saw it and knew I had to have it.  I'm a sucker for some mid century panels.

 

Mr. Man is going for an industrial look in his office.  He found this chair at the thrift store last week and the printer stand this week.  He also got that Fisher-Price record player.

 

I love looking through old books at the swap meet.  They are so cheap and you can find some really good stuff!  I picked up a French Dictionary and some French visible vocabulary readers - one is from 1936 and the other is from 1893!  I also got some more vintage cookbooks to add to my collection.  I'm going to start experimenting with these soon!

 

I never shared the wonderful presents Aaron gave me for Christmas.  He gave me this pretty mid century magazine rack and sewing stool.  I'd been wanting a magazine rack, but I never even knew a sewing stool like this existed.  I love them both so much!

 

I love the holidays, but I'm glad they are over so I can get back into my normal routine of treasure hunting every weekend! 

Time for "New" Things

Sheesh It's been a while since I've posted anything new.  I don't know if that is because I'm boring or busy ... or busy with boring stuff.  I think that's probably it.  Well whatever it is, it has really cut into my fun weekend activities.  I did get out to a thrift store a couple of weeks ago and found this lovely mid-century dresser. 

Which, by the way was like meant to be.  I saw it, then went to go find Aaron to show him; he saw it, then went go find me.  He did a quick search to see what mid-century dressers were going for and he found the exact same dresser online for $350.  This one cost us $130.  It's in pretty good condition.  Also, my Ikea dresser was on its last leg.  The drawers were so stuffed that the bottoms kept falling out and the drawers wouldn't close all the way.  There is a down side to this dresser though - small drawers.  People must not have had many clothes back in the day.  Or maybe not so many band t-shirts that they were emotionally attached to, that they never wear, but can't let go of ... ?  Anyway, the dresser sat at the end of our bed for a couple of weeks until we couldn't take it anymore and made the switch.  It was a nightmare condensing all of my clothing, and sadly there were a lot of casualties.  But it's pretty.  And our mid-century furniture collection is growing.  Slowly. 

It's About Time

We bought this vintage starburst clock in an antique mall in Bellingham, Washington. My family finally mailed it to me and I couldn't be happier to have it in my possession.  (Along with my favorite pair of flats that I also left there...boo!)  The clock is so beautiful, we love it so much. 

We hung it in our living room, next to our tribute to Disneyland.

We also made a trip on Saturday to some antique malls in the North County.  They didn't have a ton of mid-century stuff, but I did find a couple of neat things.  These canisters are pretty awesome.  Bummer we couldn't get a whole set.

A set of three super cute little deer figures that I've already distributed around the house.   It's not much, but I guess it's good enough for one weekend. 

Mid Century Magazines

I found a whole stack of vintage magazines at the swap meet this weekend.  The guy was selling them for .75 cents each.  FYI - that's only .25 cents more than they originally cost.  I can never get over how the overall design of the mid-century was so much better.  Maybe it's just novel to me because I'm not from that era.  But regardless, I love it, and it's very inspiring to me.  

Oh, how the life of a housewife could be excited by a refrigerator!   (But this wall cabinet refrigerator is actually pretty neat!)

Weekend Finds

The swap meet wasn't that great this weekend, but I did manage to find a couple of things.  We also visited the La Mesa Antique Mall.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't super over-priced like the antique mall in Ocean Beach.  There was a really loud, but nice man in the shop who Aaron and I fooled into thinking we could speak French.  That was kind of fun.  Anyway, I found this Scandinavian wall hanging.  I liked the colors and I just think Scandinavian art is really cool.

 

I also picked up a pretty collection of vintage thread.

I got two more brooches at the swap meet.  They seem to be harder to find now than they used to be...

And, last but not least, I found this recipe book: The New Joys of Jell-O.  It is from the seventies, so it has some fun pictures in it.  I'll share some later. I love that people used to show up for a party with a big jiggly Jell-O mold.  It has helpful tips and even a section on serving your Jell-O in style.  Luckily, I have a lot of my Grandma's serving dishes so I can be as authentic as possible.  I can't wait to try a new Jell-O dessert!

The Prettiest Thing I Ever Did See

I made this amazing Jell-O mold for a family Labor Day bbq.  And let me tell you.  It was worth the four hours it took to make it.  I just can't get over its beauty.  I've been wanting to make one for a while because of its mid-century qualities, and then I saw this on my Craft Magazine Daily e-mail and I knew I had to make one, like, NOW.



Behold its stripey amazingness!



Want to make  a jello mold? Well, first you have to have patience.  Second you have to have 9 or 10 boxes of Jell-O.  Mix each box with 1 1/4 cup boiling water. Pour your first  layer in the bundt pan, stick it in the refrigerator, and wait 15 to 20 minutes.  Gently pour your next layer of room-temperature Jell-O on top of that.  Repeat with each layer.  Yes, you have to wait 15 minutes between each layer.  For the opaque layers, add 2 tbs sour cream; or 1 tbs if you want to split up a color (half regular/half opaque).

A couple of tips:  I was really worried about it getting stuck in the pan.  You're supposed to put it in a bowl of warm water for 10 seconds to loosen/melt the outer layer a bit.  Mine slipped right out, along with quite a bit of melted Jell-O. Oops!  I'd say maybe 5 to 10 seconds next time.  And you can see it pulling away from the edge of the pan, while it is in the bowl.  Another thing, don't make all your flavors at one time.  I'd say maybe three at a time, making your next batch with enough time to cool completely before you pour it on the previous layer.

Now I know better for next time ... and there will be a next time.  Oh, and it was delicious.  There's always room for Jell-O!

Before and After

Out with the old, in with the new.  I was getting tired of our damask wallpaper, as it didn't match anything else in our home.  I meant to decorate around it, but that didn't work out too well.  I still think it was super pretty, but it had to go.  I've always heard taking down wallpaper is a nightmare and I was happy we only had half a wall to de-wallpaper.  But it actually wasn't so bad.  We just sprayed some wallpaper remover stuff on there, waited 15 minutes and peeled away.  Sure, there are a few spots on the wall that have a little extra texture now, but it's a textured wall anyway so you can't really tell.  This picture was taken after Aaron ripped off the chair rail and we peeled back a little wallpaper just to see what it was like.

We painted a pretty new color ("aqua bay"), added some paintings, and presto change-o, dining room makeover.  We finally put up our paint by number paintings.  There was some debate (mostly with myself) about the framing of the paintings.  I thought all the different frames would be cute and eclectic - but then again, our home isn't really the most eclectic place.  In the end I decided the paintings themselves were kitschy enough and stuck with the same black frames that house every other picture on our walls.  Gotta keep it consistent girl.  We have a few more paintings to frame, and lots of wall space to expand.  Now that I can compare the before and after, I think the damask looked a little boring.

Fan Love

How awesome and beautiful is my "new" vintage fan?  We found it at the swap meet and Aaron was wonderful enough to snatch it up for me for only $25.  It's in super good condition and it works too!  It's small and I love the color; it's perfect.  The color is inspiring us.  We might paint our newly de-wallpapered dining room wall the same color.  I also got an enamel brooch that is in perfect condition and Aaron got another camera, of course, to add to his ever-growing collection.

More Treasures

As far as I'm concerned, I left with the best loot at the swap meet on Saturday.  Eight brooches for only $3 a piece and one for .50 cents?!  Madness I tell you.  Plus I adopted this super cute little pink piggy.  The people I bought it from found it real funny that I wanted it.  I think he deserved a better home.

Childcraft. Sometimes Creepy.

I was going through and editing my collection of photos from our Childcraft books and noticed a few that struck me as odd.  Something just doesn't seem right here:

What's up with all these men trying to give this little girl candy?  The whole set up of the photo is just creepy.  Even the little girl.

Puppets.  A clown.  'Nough said.

A Busy + Fun Weekend

Let me just start out by saying:  Happy Father's Day to the best grandpa in the whole entire world!  I love, love love my grandpa so much!!!

It was a fun and busy weekend.  Saturday morning a friend and I went to the swap meet to treasure hunt.  It never ceases to amaze me how I can go every week and there is always new stuff.  Where does all this stuff come from- it's so crazy.  But keep it coming, I'm not complaining.  I found three more enamel brooches, but my more exciting treasures on this trip were the three vintage paint by number paintings I found.  I love the style so much and I'm really excited about expanding my collection.  The landscape painting is the oldest as far as I can tell - it's dated 1958.  The one of Venice is dated 1979 and the horse one isn't dated.  The horse one was only $1 and the woman was amazed that I even wanted it.

Then Saturday evening we went to a wedding, Sunday morning Father's Day brunch for Grandpa and then a bike ride to burn off some calories and work up another appetite for an afternoon Father's Day lunch for my father-in-law.  Not a lot of time left over time for crafts and such, but I squeezed a little in; I gave my art journal some love and crocheted some more granny squares for a blanket (that is going to take me forever to make at two squares a night!)  I made these last week and forgot to post them - I think they are so cool looking and  I want to make a ton of them when I have time!  There is SO much fun stuff to look forward to right now.  Hooray for Summer!

You Buy Stuff &Then You Die

This weekend Aaron and I went to an estate sale.  This was the first time I've been to one and it was a little weird walking through someone's house and picking up whatever I wanted to buy.  There was some cool furniture, but we aren't really in the market for anything big at the moment, so instead I snagged this old school two-drawer metal filing cabinet.  It's like card catalog style (love card catalogs!).  I rounded out my purchase with a couple more metal boxes.  One is like Dexter-style, so I can keep all my blood slides in there and hide it in the air vent.  I guess I will keep ribbons and such in the other one.  It made me a little sad to walk through this man's house and pick up all the stuff his family doesn't want.  There were pictures of him in one of the boxes.  An old man with hundreds of model cars that he meticulously cataloged.  These things meant something to him.

Now, back to the "buy stuff" part.  I found these vintage Pyrex loaf pans at the swap meet for only $3 a pop.  It was nice to see them at the antique mall later that day for oh, around $20 each.

Some more enamel.  I'm enamored with it.

Some cute little mini figurines for $1.

And a vintage owl.  Quite possibly the cheapest thing at the antique mall.  In the productivity department, I made good on my promise to my mom last week that I would make her this bag if she bought all the materials.  I just have a couple loose ends to tie up and then it's hers.  All in all it was a very good weekend.