Vintage Inspired Palette

From The Cottage Chick

I wanted to find a vintage-inspired space that I really liked, in order to do the palette for this week's submission to Brandi Girl's blog.I love the soft pinks, as well as the use of gold, in the picture above (from Better Homes & Garden) but I didn't like gold in the palette. I think these muted tones are more representational of the vintage colors in this photo. I would love to find some large letters in the initials of my boyfriend and I. It's hard to find them for a reasonable price, though! This old mantel is amazing! I love the peeling paint.... I don't think I could fit it into my Mini, though, do you? I can barely fit the small things that I find in my search for cool vintage! I think I'm going to have to get a little trailer to hitch to the back of my Mini!

Flea Market Finds

One of my favorite treasure hunting activities is going to flea markets and yard sales. You never know what kind of awesome deals you're going to find! You can get so lucky in finding something to re-purpose or reuse in your home... something that someone else has become blind to because it's been in front of them for too long. I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to take something someone else is tired of and turn it into something new and exciting for you.

Wire basket for $0.25

 This wire basket, for instance, that someone had had around and sold at a yard sale. I bought it for a quarter and have a cool looking way of organizing my bath stuff! It's more than purchasing something for little money, though... it's the thrill of the hunt! It's also the opportunity to rethink the usage for something that you think is cool and has a nice feel, or look.

Minnow trap for $10

I was really excited about this metal mesh minnow trap that we found! It has an unusual shape, and opens up. I plan to fill it with lights and use it as a lamp! It can be hung as it stands, or sideways, which is how I think I will hang it. We also found this really neat metal cabinet, which has a shelf inside, and we plan to use it for a little bar out in the living room. We just need to find a tray or something to use on top. As seen in the photo, I was testing out a mirror to use as a top, but it's too square and a little large for what we wanted.

Metal Westinghouse cabinet for $10

 At the last apartment I lived at, there was a little bar, similar to this, though smaller, and it was really handy for keeping wine glasses, extra bottles of wine, etc. The other one had a little drawer, which was nice, but we can just put a little tray inside for holding small items like bottle openers and extra wine corks.
 All in all, I felt like our excursion was very worthwhile and fun! Our living room is coming together nicely, and has that funky edge to it that I love.... and there are lots of one-of-a-kind things that really show our personality and creativity. I'll follow up with more photos once we get a top for the cabinet, and put up the Minnow-catcher lamp!

Finch - A New Fascination

After Brandi Girl turned me on to a cool blog site called Kris's Color Stripes, I dug around her archives and found a link to another inspirational artist/crafts person, named Finch. He's from the UK, and he's brilliant! He makes things from vintage materials, and found objects, and turns them into magical creatures and enchanting treasures...

His creations are what I wish I could do... I'm not a seamstress or even handy with a sewing machine, but I LOVE fabrics and threads and buttons and ribbons. I've always wanted to be able to express myself with soft-goods. The best I can do (up til now) is make felt creatures. I have to hand-stitch everything, though, as it's all I know how to do. Here's a picture of Satori, a bunny pirate I made for my sister a couple years ago.

Satori

 The fabrics I used for his clothes were all vintage fabrics, in a way... they were bits of leftover fabrics that my mom still had from clothes she made us when we were really little. My sister recognized them pretty much right away. The eyelet lace was also a leftover from outfits my mom had made us when we were children. Maybe I'll try some more plushies. I don't know. It's hard with cats, because they're always going after the trailing threads! It makes it hard to create things when they're around, sometimes. However, I wouldn't have it any other way!