Vintage Sheet Windfall

First order of business - Gah!  No blog posts in over a month.  I hate when that happens, but life is busy - like, crazy busy.  So from now on; when I blog, awesome!  And if I don't blog, no apologies.  But if you really care to know what I'm up to, (or what I'm eating, or sewing, or thrifting, or what crazy things my kids are doing) then you should be following me on instagram - because I'm on there alll the time.  EmmmyLizzzy.  Follow me.

Anyways, a windfall has blown my way.  A windfall of vintage sheets that is.  The picture above is what I picked up in ONE DAY.  One estate sale and one thrift shop.  I hit it big.



Brand new, in the package, never been opened vintage sheets - I've got em!



An entire sheet set of retro kitties?  Got that too!  Plus lots of other fun prints such as vintage trains, astronauts, clowns (cute or creepy - you decide!), and of course butterflies and tons of retro florals.



These are taking over my house, so in order to get them outta here, use the coupon WINDFALL to take 20% off of your order through November 18th.  I've got most of the sheets listed, but I'll be adding some additional items such as vintage tea towels, some silk scarves, and other retro linens in the next few days.  I look forward to seeing what you make out of these beauties!

New and vintage fabric acquisitions

I've been stuck in a bit of a thifting rut lately.  It's pretty much darn near impossible to scour the cut throat estate sales with a toddler and a newborn in tow.  Plus, estate sales are pretty few and far between in the middle of winter.  Luckily, I've got quite a backlog of items that have been in need of being washed, photographed, and listed in my shop.


A couple months ago I went to an estate sale that happened to be in the home of a former quilter.  In addition to this quilt that I already showed you, I picked up eight doll quilts, a lap quilt and two gorgeous, hand pieced, trip around the world quilts.


This lady must have finished each quilt then immediately stashed it away, because all of these are in such amazing condition - they look like they were just made yesterday.  And each one of them contains the most beautiful little pieces of vintage fabric that look like they were just cut right off the bolt.


All of these - plus lots of more vintage sheets, fabric, and pillowcases - are all now available in my shop. 


And if vintage quilts and sheets aren't your thing - how about some new fabric?  Brenda, owner of Pink Castle Fabric, has asked me to come up with my own fabric Blogger Bundle to celebrate the move of Pink Castle from their Etsy shop to the new PinkCastleFabrics.com!

I usually gravitate towards aquas, greens, and blues, but I'm ready for some sunshine and warmer weather, so this bundle entitled Citrus Sunrise is full of cheery lemon yellows, watermelon pinks, and tangerine oranges.  Delicious!  You can find this designer 12 fat quarter set available here in Brenda's shop.

Penelope's Nursery

Deer print is from here, bunny was thrifted.

I'm happy to say that so far Penelope has proved to be a pretty patient little baby, and didn't seem to mind that her nursery was still in shambles when she arrived.
 
Thankfully, she's also been a great sleeper, so I've been able to finish it up before she outgrew it! 


We recycled most of the furniture and main baby items from Phoebe's nursery, but went with a completely different color palette. 

Want to see a before picture (as in, before we bought the house)? Click here. But be warned, it's a little scary.
 

Once again, Polly finds herself right at home in the crib.



I want to secure and paint that darn cord the same color as the wall, but with a newborn and a 2 1/2 year old, I've got better things to do with my (almost nonexistent) free time.
 

I found that sweet little Hansel and Gretal lamp for $3 at my local thrift store and added a clearance lampshade from Target.  The house lights up too!

More info on the ABC crewelwork sampler here.
 

I totally copied these doily clouds from here.


I picked up the bird screen print from local artist Marcy Davy of All Things Grow, the book was thrifted, and the cat was my great-grandmothers.


I made the crib sheet from one of my favorite vintage sheets using Dana's tutorial - which is ridiculously simple and fantastic.  I ended up getting Phoebe to sleep in her big girl bed by letting her pick out her own fabric for her sheets.  Now she has kitty sheets, snowman sheets, and butterfly sheets.  It's crazy how much joy a fitted sheet brings her.

The stuffed lamb has been around for awhile, but has seemed to take up residence in the crib because she matches so darn well.
 

Stay tuned for a post on how I made this super-sweet crib skirt!
*The post is up!  Click here for a how-to*






The doily lamp will be getting it's own post too. 
 

The nursery at night.  Such a cozy place for a sweet baby!

Thrifting find of the year.... or at least the last couple of months

I've been a bit of a thrifting maniac lately.  I attribute it to a couple of things....  

1)  I've been kicking some butt in my Etsy shop

2)  I know my thrifting days are limited once I'm dealing with two kids instead of one.  Phoebe's pretty good at getting in and out of the car and even asks to go to garage sales every so often, but dragging two kids in and out of carseats will be another story.  Plus, I'm sure it will be a lot harder to dig through piles of junk with a tiny baby in my arms.

3)  It's totally in my blood.  My dad started taking me thrifting when I was Phoebe's age and once you start making those amazing finds and getting great deals, there's just no turning back.  

Also, all of this old "granny chic" stuff (as I like to call it), is completely my style, and you just can't find these things in stores nowadays.  Unless of course you go to Anthropologie, but then it costs an arm and a leg :)

Sooooo imagine how thrilled I was to find this amazingly, fantastic, wonderful vintage chenille peacock bedspread at one of my local thrift shops this weekend.  It was balled up in a bag and laying on the floor.

I actually didn't even know what was on it until I got home, but I saw the multi-colored chenille and the price tag of $2.50, and didn't think twice.  Turns out it's in amazing condition with no stains or holes, and there's only a few small spots where some areas of chenille have been pulled out.

I've never seen anything like it, and after a quick search on Etsy, found that they are currently going for $150-$300, based on the condition, design, and size.  Zoinks!

Of course, my husband is giving me major hell for not listing it in the shop, but I've decided that this lovely lady will be staying with us for the time being.  Plus, Phoebe is enthralled.  She keeps petting it and insists that it be laid out on the floor at all times for her own personal gymnastics mat.

Here is is on our queen sized bed.  Not exactly the style I'm going for in our bedroom, but definitely something to plan an amazing little girls room around someday.

More furniture makeovers

I think that my husband is more excited than I am to have this piece of furniture finally finished, since it's been taking up a good chunk of garage space for the past 4 or 5 months.  I'm always on the lookout for this style of furniture (whatever it's called) because it reminds me so much of my childhood.  I had standup dresser with similar curves when I was younger and my great-grandmother's house was filled with pieces like this.

When I saw this dresser at an estate sale this past spring for a mere ten dollars I could barely contain my excitement.  

Nevermind that I had to drive back and forth across town to borrow my friends truck, or that I had to lug most of it by myself (with some help from strangers who took pity on me) down a super steep set of stairs.  And let me tell you, this baby is solid wood.

Aside from the surface looking like crap, it was in pretty good condition and just needed a lot of sanding and a couple coats of primer and paint.  You can see a bit of a before shot here.  I ended up going with the color Sea Glass from Martha Stewart's line, and I'm still debating about painting that hardware.  It actually doesn't look so blatantly gold in person (it's much more dull and distressed) and I don't terribly mind it, but some white might brighten the whole thing up. 

I'm slowly working on transitioning Phoebe's nursery into more of a big girl room, so I'll be swapping and moving around her current furniture and giving the room a fresh coat of paint.  If only we could do something about that hideous carpeting, but it's just not in the budget right now.

Now we just have to see if all of these drawers will hold the wardrobe of a 2 year old girl.  It's gonna be pretty close...

Coffee table before & after

Remember this little guy?  Of course you do!  I just posted this before shot a couple of days ago.

I picked him up at an estate sale for a mere $3.  Yup three whole dollars.  

And with one child free weekend, some white paint, Mod Podge, and fabric from my stash, my little thrifty find was transformed into....

The cutest darn coffee table you've ever seen!

After sanding, priming, and painting the legs, I cut a piece of fabric to fit the table top and glued it down with Mod Podge Hard Coat.  It's actually still not quite finished, as I have a couple more coats of Mod Podge to apply to the surface, but aside from building up a good topcoat it's pretty much done.

And isn't this fabric just fantastic?!  I found it at Hancock's not too long ago for a mere $4 a yard.  It actually looks suspiciously similar to some of these Orla Kiely prints, with some variations.  Unfortunately there is absolutely no information on the selvedge (it's printed edge to edge), so it stands to remain a mystery....

Open for Business!

Even though I've still got 4 months before this baby gets here, I have been in major nesting mode lately - which I have been quite enjoying since it never really kicked in when I was pregnant with Phoebe. 

I guess I just keep thinking that if I don't do it now, then it will never get done once I have two kids.  Plus, I might as well use all of this energy while I have it.  I remember all too well how I felt last time during my 3rd trimester! 

So we've been doing lots of cosmetic work on the house lately - painting, making curtains, rearranging rooms, hanging pictures, and refinishing some recent thrift store finds.  I can't wait to show you the final reveal on the dresser above - including the amazing price I got it for!  Here it is all sanded, primed, and ready for paint.

This little table has gotten a new paint job, and I just need to pick out some fabric that is going to cover the top.

To go along with the nesting, I've decided to put a few things in my Etsy shop that has been sitting abandoned for way too long.  I'm still not quite sure which direction my shop is going to take - be it quilts and other handmade goods, custom orders, vintage finds, or fabric destash (particularly vintage sheets :), but I'll add a few things here or there until I get a better idea of where it's going.

This quilt was actually made over a year ago as a gift, but it didn't end up being large enough after I used up all of my Jenean Morrison's Moondance line.  However I think it would make a perfect baby quilt and playmat - especially for a boy or gender neutral nursery!

I'm also putting this little gem in the shop as well.  I love it to death, but we seriously just have more quilts than we know what to do with around here.  I'm sure it will find a great home with someone who will really treasure it!

I hope you all are having a great weekend.  Wish me luck in the coming week - we've decided it's time to break Phoebe of her paci, so I'm hoping we can all make it through in one piece!

Estate Sale Jackpot (Part 1)

This past weekend my mom was visiting so I was lucky enough to be able to hit up some estate sales - sans Phoebe.  I don't really do much thrifting with her, because well, she's a toddler - enough said.

Anyway, I happened to come across an estate sale taking place in a house where two antique dealers used to live.  I found all kinds of goodies, and while I was waiting in line to pay I spotted this little gem of a couch hidden and lost in the shuffle.

 

It is in just about perfect condition, and even better was the amazingly too-good-to-be-true price of only $145. 

Thankfully I was the next person up in line and after hearing it was still available, I wasted no time in snatching it up. 

I know absolutely nothing about furniture styles/periods/eras, but I do know that I just love the design of this couch and it has some pretty amazing lines.  Even though the upholstery is in great condition, I'm just not digging the green velvet with gold trim.  So once it's in our budget (waaaay down the road), this lovely lady will be getting a makeover a la Anna Maria Horner.  Ohhhh, what scrumptious fabric will I cover her in....?

So it's currently hanging out here in our dining room until we eventually get a dining room table (most likely another hand-me-down), but it's final home is going to be in my studio.

Some recenty thrifty finds - for both me and you!

If I had a day all to myself, thrifting would definitely be a part of it.  My dad started taking my sister and I to garage sales before we could even walk, and it became a weekly occurrence every Saturday throughout the summer.  Some of my most treasured possessions are from garage sales and thrift stores and I love how my entire house is pieced together with these finds.

I haven't been able to do as much thrifting as I would like because a) I've been put on a budget (bleh) and b) thrifting is HARD to do with an 18 month old.  But here are some pieces that I've picked up here and there these past couple weeks.

I'm lucky in that Ann Arbor has some seriously good thrifting spots to keep me busy all year round.  The pink depression juicer and the cookware above are both from the Treasure Mart.  This place is probably more pricey than your average Goodwill or Salvation Army, but they always have amazing goods and are considerably less expensive than an antique shop.  And with three floors and 8500 square feet, you can always find something you can't live without.

I found this little tea strainer at the State Street Salvation Army for a mere fifty cents.  I usually can't tell one Salvation Army from the next, but this one is seriously HUGE.  I never leave there without finding multiple sets of vintage sheets, and they have a huge selection of glassware, furniture, and wool sweaters for felting.

I also found this child's folding chair at Salvation Army for only three dollars.  Three dollars!  I am so in love with this thing.  I only wish they had a whole set in my size.

Phoebe likes it too :)

This green, cut-glass, spouted bowl was found at the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop.  All of the proceeds from the store go to the Ann Arbor public schools PTO organizations, and they by far have the most gigantic craft section I've ever seen.  More about that in an upcoming post...

And finally, I found this coat at Such a Find Antiques.  

This coat brings me such joy and such sadness at the same time.  Joy because it is so amazingly awesome, and completely my style; sadness because it does not fit me and never will.  Even if I did lose 20 pounds (which I'm working on because my sister is getting married this summer :), it is just too tight across the shoulders and short in the sleeves.  

 

So I decided to offer it up to you guys!  This lovely gal is for sale in my Etsy shop.  I hope that someone will be just as excited about her as I am.