Monday, December 29, 2008

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Do Your laundry!


Why is the IDEA of laundry so appealing,
and yet DOING laundry so...not?
Here are a couple of fun etsy
offerings with the laundry theme.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

It's Not Your Mother's Tupperware Party






What fun! My home was turned into a store for a day this weekend as I hosted an art show for my virtual community on etsy, the NCTriangle Street Team. The theme was Handmade for the Holidays, and shoppers were invited to feast on Christmas treats while browsing through the tables of 15 sellers. I love living in a store! Stop by our team blog, http://nctriangle.blogspot.com/

Saturday, December 13, 2008

O Christmas Tree! (and the husband with issues)


There are so many things you don't find out about your man until after you're married. Tiny, irritating habits, wonderful, deep running character traits, things both good and bad. And some revelations don't quite fit into either the good or the bad categories. This is one of them.
My husband has Christmas tree issues. The problem surfaced during our first Christmas, 11 months after we were married, on a bitterly cold afternoon in Connecticut. We went to a tree farm to find a tree. I was dressed for going to a tree farm to find a tree. My husband, as it turned out, was dressed for a Quest, as in The Quest To Find The Perfect Christmas Tree. Oh sure, it was romantic and fun- for the first 3 hours anyway. Then as the cold from the frozen tundra beneath my feet crept into my brain, I began to get a little sarcastic. "How about this tree, HONEY?" I would say, jabbing at a two foot Charlie Brown Christmas tree look alike. He was undaunted. 47 hours later we tied The Perfect Tree on top of our Just Out of College Married Poor People car, and headed home. In the years that followed, I tried all types of intervention to help my husband, all for not. The Quest resurfaced every year. I gave up, and began producing children who could take my place accompanying my husband, while I stayed home and made cookies. "You go on ahead," I'd say in my martyr voice. "I'll stay home so you can have hot cookies when you return."
Our marriage was saved.
We moved 5 years ago to a house I fell in love with because of its big and beautiful kitchen/sun room combo, with a 14 foot ceiling, and in doing so, unknowingly added another dimension to the Quest: not only is it to be perfect, but it must be as tall and as wide as the White House Christmas Tree.
Perhaps I'll convert to Judaism...

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Winter Pale






Just my mother's wedding nightgown, and some soft etsy finds!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

A Simple Christmas: decorating your home when time, patience, and money are lacking!




After Christmas, 75% off little trees deocorate the bath and foyer. Vintage Christmas postcards (literally shoved on the tree- I was in a hurry!) can be found on etsy, ebay, and in junkie antique shops for a dollar or two. Oragimi boxes (okay, these take a little patience!) made from vintage sheet music add fun to a bowl of 75%off ornaments from Pottery Barn, along with a giant jingle bell, which was also on sale (of course!) at a local boutique.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Birds




Lovely winter offerings from
VintageScraps.etsy.com
siskastudio.etsy.com
ara133photography.etsy.com

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

The Vintage Man Gift




"For the man that's hard to buy for" is misleading, as it implies that some men are NOT hard to buy for! Here's an idea for a manly man gift: go to your parent's house, steal tools from the garage that are 20 to 60 years old, and create an assemblage from them, using an old parts manual and vintage ads for background. This example shown (tools stolen with permission) is for sale at VintageScraps.etsy.com

Monday, December 1, 2008

How to Craft instant Vintage!



While Halloween themes are expensive and hard to find, antique and vintage postcards with Christmas themes are out there in abundance! You can pick up inexpensive, beautiful postcards in most antique stores and flea markets. These pictured have been turned into tree ornaments using vintage seam binding and Shiny Brite (a little harder to find) mini ornaments, and a hole punch, easy enough for even the craft-challenged individuals. The Christmas greetings on the backs add a little history to your holiday celebration, with charming old handwriting and hopes of peace and joy.