Pa rum pa pum pum

These guys sat on top of my mom's gift this year. Why? Well, she's never been a fan of The Little Drummer Boy song. And as you can see, the fellow on the right isn't either.

I found them at an estate sale recently and knew just where they needed to go. I'm so glad I have a mom who completely got and appreciated such a gift topper. We have always enjoyed handmade vintage Christmas people like these guys.

Oh, and what was inside the gift? This lovely creature from Bossysfeltworks. Isn't he sweet?

The Perfect Home

That little church went from my shop to this wonderful place. I think it's safe to say that it found the perfect home. I love it when that happens- and I think it usually does. I'm so glad Dawn showed me this picture.

Be sure to take a look at the other pictures from her home. They are just so beautiful and peaceful. Don't you just want to go curl up on that sofa right now?
Oh, and also, check out Dawn's shop: Kiki La Ru (temporarily closed for the holidays). She is the maker of (the original) cake bunting. Aren't they darling? If I could go back in time, I'd put one on my wedding cake.

Tick Tock...

I went to an antique mall last week and walked out with these 2 items. I sat them down side by side when I got home and laughed. Is someone trying to tell me something?
Maybe instead of hunting around at antique malls I should be Christmas shopping. After all, 2 weeks from today, that timer with go BUZZZZ and I had better be ready! I'm avoiding the real mall at all costs though. Are you ready?

Flea Finds

My local Flea Market has been OH SO good lately. These are just a few of my finds from today!

Vintage Fairy Tales

*update: Rebecka sent me another photograph of a doll from the shop (scroll to end).
Here's a fun blog to add to your reading list: Vintage Fairy Tales
Photographer Rebecka Ryberg Skött has a wonderful, whimsical style. It's always fun to see her new photographs that usually include some fun vintage characters.
In this post she shows some glimpses of her "Vintage Fairy Cottage". The image above is from that post, and if you look carefully, you'll see another bellalulu shop alumn! I do believe she found the most *perfect* home!
Rebecka kindly sent over another photograph of a former bellalulu doll. This particular photograph is in Copenhagen right now in Rebecka's exhibition, "Stop breaking down".....
The title of this picture is "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen".
So neat to hear this Rebecka! Thank you for sharing this with me!

Where are they now?

(images on left from Rue magazine; images on right are mine from the shop)

Have you read Rue yet? It's a wonderful online magazine. The first issue features Victoria Smith's home. Victoria has a must read design blog: sfgirlbybay. She has bought a couple of things from my shop and I was so thrilled to spot them in the pictures of her home tour! You can see many more pictures of her amazing home in Rue Magazine.

Vintage Dairy Crate Turned Photography Prop

I just love seeing where my finds end up going. This old dairy crate now holds babies! :)
This photograph was taken by a very talented customer, Deanna Ryan of Deanna Ryan Photography. Thanks Deanna for sending it along and allowing me to post it here!

Boo! A Sneak Peek

It's coming...Halloween. I'm not sure there is a holiday that better works with vintage. Just about anything vintage could be used in Halloween decor. It's pretty easy to mix vintage with spooky. Here are the things I will be listing in the next few days...

Concrete Table Top + a GIVEWAY!

Meet my new kitchen table. I love it! I saw it here first. Ashley is an incredibly talented photographer and DIY genius. When you get a few free hours, go ahead and start reading her blog, Under the Sycamore. Then you are going to need a few (ha!) more free hours so you can do all of her projects. I was able to participate in one of her SnapShops last year and I learned so, so much.

Ashley had her table done by these talented people. Kara and Tim design and build incredible things. Really, just check out Kara's blog. too (again, you'll need some time because you won't want to stop reading!). Don't miss the pictures of her home. Amazing. Oh, and while you are there, you can enter a pretty fun giveaway! :)

So, you may notice that I have no chairs with the table. Actually, I do, but I pulled them out for the picture. My old chairs just don't work with this table.

I'm thinking maybe these (the plain metal) from Pottery Barn:


or these from Ikea:

or these (a little darker than this, in burnt oak) from Restoration Hardware:

Or these from CB2:

What's your vote? Please let me know if you have any other suggestions! Don't forget the giveaway at Kara's blog!

Fall Picnic in Orange

I love Fall. It's been in the 100s here most of this week.
I love Fall. Did I already say that? I think the heat must be getting to me.
Anyway, my "Fall Picnic" treasury was on the front page very early the other morning. I posted it above, you know, in case you aren't usually browsing Etsy at 5am!
Oh, and I love Fall, don't you?
featured:
TOP ROW
amischievousmarriage
springtidepress
astralboutique
soradesigns
MIDDLE ROW
sweetnaturedesigns
idoweddingwares
aziedesigns
makye77
BOTTOM ROW
indiecityvintage
katherinejlee
amarketcollection
flightpathdesigns

Saturday Flea Market Finds

Good stuff today!

Still, I can't quit thinking about the the nifty retro-mod magazine rack with big round yellow feet that I saw someone ELSE carrying around. Argh! I wish I would have beat him to it!

PS, I did not intend to make it look like the lion head thing was getting sick into the big bucket. Ha!

Pin it Forward: What Home Means to Me

I'm participating in Pin it Forward, hosted by sfgirlbybay. The theme is "What Home Means to Me".
I had so much fun answering that question in pictures! I had to stop myself, because I had a great time searching and adding. It forced me (in a fun way) to really think about what I am striving for our home to look like right now.
In a few words, home for me is: comfortable, rustic, industrial, modern, vintage, with a touch of the unexpected and whimsical. Hopefully that is all reflected in my pin board here.
This is a small mosaic of my board, but please click here to see more detailed pictures and, of course, *links* so you can grab these wonderful things too!

Pin it Foward is a neat chain of boards.
Lovely Cruise kindly linked to me. Her board is here.
Next up on the Pin it Foward list is: of friends five, and her board is here.

(photo credits for above pictures, left to right, top to bottom: 1. anthropologie, 2. (mine),
3. modernlogic, 4. blueclara, 5. daisytoad, 6. housecandyla, 7. luckylittledot, 8. heshke7 (Ebay),
9. vintagechicfurnniture, 10. modswirls, 11. ashleyannphotography (photo), table top from karapalsaydesigns, 12. brandmojointeriors, 13. hindsvik, 14. economica, 15. anthropologie, 16. hudsongoods

Saturday's Flea Finds

Good stuff found yesterday....soon to be here!

Memories in a bucket...

If only vintage items could talk. They would have such stories to tell! Judy from San Antonio, Texas wrote me about my Purina Feed Bucket. She has one just like it, and it certainly has a story. Thank you Judy for letting me share it!

Judy says..
"...I am an Okie by birth [Stillwater] and have GOT to share info with you!
my Daddy and Mama lived on a farm south of Ft Worth for about twenty
years after Daddy retired - he had cows, and treated them like indoor pets - he
hand-fed them what he called "sweet feed" every day, from a Purina bucket
like the one you have listed!
the three holes secured a curved handhold, and mine still has it
my Daddy passed some years back, and the Purina bucket is one of
my treasures, but not as much as I treasure the memories of my lovely
father, of course..."

I love that Judy's Daddy treated his cows like indoor pets. He sounds like such a sweet man. Thanks again Judy, and Happy Father's Day weekend everyone!

Here Comes the Sun!

So excited for Poppytalk's Here Comes the Sun market! Here's a sneak peak at the goodies going on my "table"....available for purchase on Monday!

I bought something NEW

I like vintage. You may have guessed that. But every once and a while, something NEW catches my eye. I was at Pottery Barn last weekend, and fell in love with this wonderfully round bird cage. And it was on SALE. And I bought it.
(It's sold out online, so check your store quick if you have to have it too!)
The lady that checked me out wanted to help me decide what to put in it. And so did the lady standing in line behind me...votives! plants! pinecones! no, no, no! (but thank you, ladies)
I still don't know what (if anything) I will put in it. I thought I would browse through Etsy for some ideas:

Primitive Miniature Chair (you know, for the hypothetical bird in that cage) from stanley:


Croquet balls from thepetitemarket:

Big Ben Alarm Clock from MidwestFinds:

Milk glass bud vases from jwhite2:


Toy Bowling Pins and Ball from CampHobachee:

Oh, this is fun, I could go on and on...and yes, all of that stuff was from the vintage side of Etsy...I like vintage!

First Ever SALE! 20%

take
20%
off all items
in my shop

(refunded through Paypal)
(20% applied to item cost only; shipping remains the same)
*May 29- May 31 only*

Estate Sale Finds and the Matching Kitty

Here's what I found today at a really good estate sale. Oh, how I love really good estate sales!

And here is what my girls found:

No, little precious gray kitty didn't come home with us. My first (design related) thought was...Oh! she matches our dog! They are the exact same beautiful gray! Ha!
Matching or not, I'm about 210% sure our Riley would not like us to bring her a kitty friend.

Quirky Finds

Quite a quirky batch of upcoming listings!

A funny thing happened...

A funny thing happened as I was taking pictures for my shop.
I had just taken Suzie-kin's pictures, so I sat her down on the floor behind me.
And the next time I turned around, this is what I saw:
Please know that my sweet, crazy Weimanraner doesn't always lie amongst my shop inventory. She just happens to like to nap in the room where I take most of my pictures. She also likes to cuddle, and apparently, Suzie-kin was okay with that.

Grab a Grab Bag {from McMaster & Storm}

I've always loved the idea of grab bags. Sure, it can be a gamble since you pay and THEN you get to see what is inside.
However, I don't think you can lose with a grab bag from McMaster & Storm.
They are do a little bit of spring cleaning right now, so they are offering these $7 grab bags. Each will have a value of $30 inside! Once you look around their store, you'll quickly see that no matter what you get, it will be good!
Oh, and don't miss their cute blog!

Hippity-Hop!

I've been busy gathering things for my table at Poppytalk's Spring + Easter Market. All but one of the above items were just added to my shop last night.
I'll be adding more as things sell. Happy (almost) Spring!

Meeting

Mrs. Blue really does stand out from the crowd, doesn't she?
In case you are wondering, the others will be up for grabs soon!

Inspiration from Country Living

I'm a little behind on my magazine reading. This is from the November issue of Country Living, which has an article featuring Maureen "Mo" Ecke's farmhouse. I just love the table with the scallop trim paired up with the industrial style chairs (from Sundance). Etsy seller UrbanAccentHome has some similar vintage chairs, along with several neat pieces of industrial style furniture.

Also in the November issue of Country Living is an article featuring Caroline Scheeler's home.
Just look at that shadowbox frame stuffed to the brim with vintage horse show medals. It provides such a wonderful and unexpected burst of color!
From the same house, isn't this tabletop just perfect?

Can I give you a hand?

Head on over to blackwhiteyellow for a bellalulu GIVEAWAY!
You can win this wonderful old gray glove mold...enter HERE.

While you are there visiting blackwhiteyellow, be sure to check out her Etsy shop! She has such darling little banners. After I sent my mom to her site, she couldn't help but grab a Valentine's banner.

***Also...just one more day of voting remains! :)

Why I LOVE my local Flea Market...

I mean, I LOVE it!

{all coming soon to my shop}

Oh, and P.S., did you VOTE yet? :)

I'd LOVE your vote...

{vintage category}

Voting is open NOW (through Jan. 29).
Even if you don't vote for me, you really should go check out this wonderful list of nominees!
It truly is an honor to be a part of this group!

Click HERE to vote.

Thank you! :)