Decorating with selfies.

Since our dining room is all decked out in red, white and blue for the upcoming holiday,

 I thought I'd share some photos of the room and a few selfies, too.

By now, you all know what a selfie is, but for those of us who don't own an iPhone,
(I'm assuming there are more than one of us?) a selfie may be something
  completely different.

For example, last winter I came across this vintage bathing suit
and I purchased it as a birthday gift for a friend with a lake cabin.

How thoughtful of me!


Of course, now that summer's arrived, I couldn't bear  to part with it!
This is my first example of a selfie.

Selfie: gift purchased for somebody else but kept for myself.  Shameful, I know.

The suit is stitched up in our high school colors of navy and white, and it's even
got the school emblem of an anchor tacked under the mesh overlay.
Go Bluejackets!

(I hope you didn't expect a selfie of me wearing the suit!)

Around the corner, my plant stand holds the sea captain that was made for me

 by a talented friend.  He's dressed appropriately for Minnesota summers,

 freezing cold one day, hot and humid the next.

  I hope he's wearing his Speedo under his wool knickers.

My window treatments are finished!

I showed up for work one rainy day this month, only to find that the schedule
 had been updatedand I had the day off.  (I'm sure you've all done that, right?)
  Since I was already in work mode, I worked at home instead.
  I spent the day cutting and sewing my stagecoach blinds
with music playing in the background, and coffee brewing in the kitchen.
Now that's my idea of a good day at work!

I didn't get paid for the day, but I got my blinds done!

The blinds add a pop of color without blocking the light.

Continuing with the nautical theme, I rolled the blinds around
pool noodles from the dollar store to keep them from drooping.
It's a cheap trick and it works like a charm!

 

I brought out the transistor radio as a summery accent in my cabinet because
it brings back memories of sunbathing while listening to pop tunes on AM radio.
Nowadays, I live more like a vampire, trying my hardest to escape the sun's damaging rays!

My drum major stands guard outside the cabinet while Shirley Temple smiles from within.
*Can you see her ghostly image on the blue glass next to the drum major?

Over the extremely long winter (it ended last week),
 I knit up a pint of wool strawberries.
Once you get past the first round, they're pretty simple to knit.
Free pattern here.



I've always thought that heart shaped items were somewhat contemporary,
but look what my sister sent me for my birthday......

...a sweet vintage heart shaped clock!!!
be still my <3

Spot's looking a bit forlorn these days and I know just how he feels.

We're both a little sad that cherries from Pottery Barn
 have replaced the chocolate that once filled my candy dishes.
woof woof

Pop bottles in patriotic colors hold miniature flags.

I may be tempting fate by screwing a hook into our
much-adored-by-the-3-and-under-crowd-sparkly-ceiling,
but it was necessary to hang my birdcage.  There are teensy weensy hairline cracks
near the edges of the textured ceiling and I hope I didn't start a
mini ceiling earthquake up there!

As for the empty cage,
there's a nasty merlin hawk in our neighborhood I'd like to stuff into the cage,
after he's been stuffed!  Bad, bad, bird.


I actually made 3 blinds for the room, but I didn't care for the look
on the double-hung window, so I made floor to ceiling panels instead.
 The blue & cream ikat fabric from Hobby Lobby drapes so beautifully
 that all I had to do was finish the raw edges and hang the panels from drapery rings.

Sew easy!
(Iron on hem tape would work just as well for those of you who don't sew.)

There are 2 finished panels, but I'm standing at the far end of my kitchen to get this shot!

There.  

As you can see, they're purely decorative since they won't close around the radiator,

but we've got plantation shutters for privacy and a roller shade to keep the sun out.

Remember, no central air at 911.

Do you recall the $2.99 thrift shop chairs from my last post?


I had absolutely positively no interest whatsoever  in keeping the chairs for myself
until I brought them into our dining room to photograph.


  I loved that I could place one at each end of the table and they didn't block the fireplace.

Perfection!

Well, they were already promised to our daughter, so I added them to my search and find list.

We took a road trip to Duluth on Lake Superior the very next day,
 and what do you think I discovered at the only antique shop we visited?
 Another pair of the exact same chairs!!  Same chippy paint, same size,
 not quite as cheap, but reasonable.  Coinkydink?  I think not!

Perhaps they were quadruplets separated at birth.


Selfie: purchasing a gift for somebody else and then
      purchasing the same gift for myself.

haPpy biRthday to me!

Thanks for bringing your little selfie over for a visit and have a....

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants What's it Wednesday

I'm gonna pop some tags.......

Now I'm singing the Thrift Shop Song!

I'm gonna pop some tags,  I only got 20 dollars in my pocket.......


If you gloss over the "f bombs" in the rest of the lyrics, this song is a pretty darn humorous take on
the way we buy junk at the thrift store just because it's cheap!

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won a total of 4 Grammy Awards this year.
For "Thrift Shop", they won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance,
but I'm not quite sure if they're musicians or comedians.
It's obvious that at least one of them knows the pitfalls of shopping at the thrift.


About a month ago, our local thrift store moved to a new location where they're no longer
competing for street parking with the Corner Bar. ( Doesn't every small town have a Corner Bar?)
  Even in the early morning hours, the bar patrons hog all the good parking spots
 whilst sipping their morning brew?  Hmmm.  Shame on them.
  All that gluten!!!    burp

 Now that there's convenient parking, I've been popping in (the thrift store, not the bar)
 during my not-so-quick-trips to Walmart and Lowe's.  I'd like to think now that I'm older and wiser,
 I'm a bit more discerning about what I buy these days, but I'll let you be the judge.
 Did I impulsively buy this stuff just because it was cheap?

Here we go.

Two old farmhouse kitchen chairs.

$2.99 each!

These chairs have already been claimed by one of our daughters
 and will not be cluttering up our garage.  Whew!!!

(If you remember, I vowed to quit buying old junk for our girls,
 but for that price I couldn't pass up the chairs!)


Inspiration photo from Pottery Barn Kids.

Sweet.

Better Homes and Gardens.

Swoon!
Not exactly the same chairs, but close enough.
Loving the green chandelier, too.  And the shades.  And the plank walls.
And the art.  And the sailboat.  And the bench.  And the wicker table.

Country Living.
Wouldn't you love all those windows in your dining room?

Two old English transferware plates.

50 cents apiece.
Score!

Inspiration photos from Romantic Homes.

 I love this color combination.

Country Living.
What could be more festive at Christmas than red & white plates in a green cupboard?

Simple and elegant at A Country Farmhouse blog.

My beginner collection.

Shop class wall shelf.

99 cents.


Inspiration photo.

Source unknown.  Pinterest.

 I've been searching for one wood element to add to
my gallery wall and this little shelf fits the bill.

Cute and slightly kittywampus.  Fits right in.

Two straw hats.

$4.99 each.
Not so cheap for the thrift store, but they give a lot of bang for the buck.

Inspiration.

Audrey, Audrey, Audrey.  Has any woman ever looked more fetching in a stylish hat than Audrey?
Do you look good in hats?  Me?  Not so much.

  Look!  Hats on the wall and an old farmhouse chair, too!
If Sara Richardson is decorating with this old junk, it must be good stuff!



Love this!

(Source unknown.)
Note to self.  Lots of straw bags available at the thrift shop.
Must check out during next outing.

"Bill, I need to make a quick run to.....ah.... Walmart?  I'll be right back."
(The thrift shop is exactly 9 blocks from our house.)

My hats and new straw bag will be added to this coat rack.

So, there you have it.
All for under $20 and I still have change in my pocket!

Pause a moment before you buy to make sure the items
in your cart are not only cheap, but useful, and most of all
make your heart go pitter-pat!

Thanks for visiting and go out and pop some tags today!

yo,
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Revisionary Life Thrifty Life Thursday
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

Time flies!

It's been 3 months since I last published a blog post, and
who woulda thunk?  The blog world has survived just fine without me.  : )

I took a much needed break for various personal reasons
and to finish up a laundry list of projects around 911.


  When we bought our house back in 2004, I set a goal for myself to have everything completed
 within a decade, and my deadline is just around the corner.  Ten years sounds like an eternity,
but when you factor in putting our girls through college, two weddings, the arrival of 4 grandchildren,
thousands of miles in our car traveling back and forth to visit them,
  and trying to juggle it all while working full-time most of those 10 years.......
well, the time has literally flown by.

Guest bedroom.  Started Feb. 2011.  Finished May 2014.
(I may be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
 for the slowest room rehab in blog history.)


Sooooo......have I met my goal?
No, and it's entirely possible I never will.
  I was stuck in limbo for years because my master plan was

 to fix all the plaster walls and ceilings in this old house.

Once I let go of that idea, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Over the past few months, I've painted right over the cracks in the master bedroom above
 (more photos in an upcoming post), so I have only one bedroom left to tackle.
  It's not so daunting now that I've embraced
 the imperfections that are an integral part of this old house.

 Flat finish paint covers a multitude of sins.

It's my new best friend!

 You've seen bits and pieces, but the guest bedroom is finally done.
A six month project that took over 3 years.

Come on in!

My resident carpenter made me a small wood shelf to display my red sewing machine.
The cuckoo clock was a $3 steal from my favorite local antique shop.
Unfortunately, it was a going-out-of-business sale.

I found an old green dress at to "hang out" with the red one.

 I was kind of stumped when it came to dressing the windows.

I tried floor to ceiling curtains, but I didn't like the way they covered the trim detail
 around the windows, not to mention, a guest could get hopelessly tangled in all
that fabric stuffed in the measly few inches between the bed and the wall!

When I came across jumbo red rick rack at Hancock Fabrics last winter,
I bought a few yards and tucked it away for a rainy day.  I cut up a vintage
tablecloth and a few pieces of mismatched fabric and trim and stitched it all together
to make simple valances to cover the roller shades.

  The rick rack grabs your attention so you don't notice
 the vintage food stains on the tablecloth......I hope!

I painted the $1.50 estate sale 1960's wood mushrooms to add a spot
 of quirky landscaping to the dollhouse shelf.

Mini gallery wall featuring Smirky the Bear.

What's that I see reflected in the mirror?

This dollhouse was a $10 fixer shoved in a crate in the basement of St.Paul Antiques.
You know it had to come home with me!
It's painted in my favorite colors (never mind the rust)
 and fits perfectly on top of my old cupboard.

I hope to find an old braided rag rug for the room,
 but other than that, the room is done.  Top to bottom.
 Done.   I love that word!

Sigh.

Lastly, I've come to the conclusion that for me, working 3 or more days a week
 and blogging on a regular basis leaves me very little time to DO the things I love.
Since I'm not retiring in the near future (unless our crew at work wins the lottery),
 I've decided to cut back on computer time at home.
There are just not enough hours in the day to do it all,
 so if I'm gone for weeks or months at a time, I'm not going to sweat it anymore.
 Life is too short!!!

Case in point:

 On Saturday our baby turns 30!!!

Happy Birthday Megan!!!

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you do something that makes you happy today!
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants What's it Wednesday
Jennifer Rizzo Fabulously Creative Friday