Some fun vintage finds for my girls' room.... and a little redecorating!

Kinda funny... I sell on Etsy... I love Etsy... but I rarely ever shop on Etsy.  In fact, this last week was the third time ever to shop  on their lovely site!
You see I had some Christmas money, and I've been drooling all the pretty "granny squares" blankets that I've been seeing on Pinterest.  So I thought I'd check out the selection on Etsy!  And I found a lovely one that matches my girls' room!  And I also found a set of adorable vintage children's books that I knew would also go very nicely in the their room.  Once my fun items arrived... I decided it was time to do a little revamp in the girls' room in order to accommodate my new finds.  I had never decorated the long shelf that runs the length of their room above their door and closet.... so this was the perfect time!

Take a peek at my Etsy finds... and the girls' revamped shelf.  I think it turned out darling :)  And oddly enough (just when I thought they couldn't care less), my girls really appreciated the re-styling too!

If you'd like to see the rest of the girls pretty pink vintage room... you can find it HERE! :)

 

 

Blessings,

Sadie's Nursery... a KS HOME TOUR

Earlier this summer I gave you a little tour of JJ and I's bedroom from our little bungalow back in Kansas.  Well, I thought I'd show you Sadie's Nursery today!  Whenever I think about this room, I have to smile.  It was such a happy place for me :)  I loved the wall color.  I loved all the vintage baby decor. I loved the custom bedding that my mom-in-law made for me (although you can't really see it in these pics... I had taken the front bumper pad down already).  I loved the high ceilings and old woodwork and doors.  I loved how all you saw out the windows was tree branches and sun... because it was on the second story.  Hmmm... it was wonderful. 

Anyway... the pictures aren't the best... but you get the idea.  ENJOY!

 

 

Blessings,

Honey... make me a chalkboard... please! and PINTEREST

A month or so ago, I told Jeremy about an idea I had for a chalkboard for the school room/my work area.  I went on elaborating about how I thought we should do it, what the top should look like, what I'd use it for... on and on, as I always do when describing ideas I have.  He liked the idea, but I didn't really expect him to think it was worth pushing to the top of the project priority list. To my amazement, only days later it was complete!  ... my dear sweet, hubby... thank you!

Our walls are textured, so we had a thin piece of wood cut to size from Lowes.  Then I drew the shape I wanted for the top and Jeremy cut it in the garage with our Dremel :)  He painted it with chalkboard paint,  and screwed it to the wall.  Ta-Da!  I love it.   I love the way it looks, and it's awesome for school.

You can't really tell from the pictures, but it's on the open end of our school room/ my work space,  in our kind of open hallway.  It perfect because it's very central in the house and it's also above tile... making for easy chalk dust clean up. 

And one more thing...  Do you PINTEREST?  You probably already do, but in case you haven't discovered this LOVELY thing... check it out.  Its a place to "pin" fun things you find on the internet to save for future reference and inspiration!  Not to mention, you can look at other peoples "pins".   fun, fun, fun.  By the way... if you ever care to check out what I'm pinning these days... HERE ARE MY BOARDS :)

Blessings,

HOME SWEET HOME... The Girls' Room Tour

You know, I don't think I could ever tire of pretty little girls' rooms!  They are just so happy...

I'm so glad that I have three little girls... that means lots of girly decorating yet to be done!

And can you imaging the fun I'm going to have with their weddings!!!!  oh, the thought...
3 WEDDINGS...  (wow... okay, Amy, this is about decorating... not future weddings of now teeny tiny girls!)

Anyway... back to pretty girly decorating...

Enjoy the tour!  (and don't forget to peak back at some of the other rooms in the HOME SWEET HOME or Decorating categories)

 

If you want to see a few new additions to the room... you might enjoy this post, too :)


Blessings,

Looking Back... a KS HOME TOUR... our bedroom

I was looking for a certain photo the other day... from our old house in KS.  In the process, I stumbled upon a whole bunch of photos of our house I had taken for this blog way back when I first started it.  I had made little collages of each room of our house... but they were small and hard to see...  And many pictures didn't make it into the tiny collages! 

So I can't resist...
I just have to show you... my home back in KS.

It was a craftsman style bungalow that had been completely redone... using old wood and fixtures...it was adorable, adorable, adorable.  It was a gift to get to rent it for 2 years.
My decorating style was makeshift and random... I was used to making do in rentals... but we were allowed to paint in this rental, which was a first for me!

This was the home where Elsie took her first steps...where we lost Sophie... where Sadie was born... where we felt God's call into ministry...  This home was such a significant part of our lives. 

Anywho!  On with the tour!

OUR BEDROOM/OFFICE

 

Blessings,

Using Vintage Tablecloths Part 2: EVERYDAY USE

For part 2 on Vintage Tablecloths I wanted to share two things... How to actually use  your vintage tablecloths on your kitchen table and an idea for salvaging irreparable retro kitchen chairs....

If you're like me, you love the look of vintage tablecloths but are scarred to use them!

I have two suggestions for this:

1. Buy cheap faded vintage tablecloths... which still are quite charming... and use them!  Don't worry about it... use, wash, and enjoy!   I have several tablecloths that are worn enough that I feel comfortable doing this with... 

2. Cover  your tablecloth with plastic or a glass top.  I cover my tablecloth with plastic...  This way I can enjoy the color and beauty a tablecloth provides without my children literally destroying it!  It's not quite as pretty as going without plastic... but for families with kids a nice tablecloth used on a daily basis is not really an option!   A couple pointers...  Keep a basic white tablecloth (I bought one a Target) on your table as a base under the vintage tablecloth.  This way, any size of vintage tablecloth will work.  You can find this type of plastic at most fabric stores... just measure your table before you go and make sure to buy it a little larger than your base tablecloth (maybe an extra inch or so on each side).  You can always cut it down later if you need to.

 

Awhile back I saw a pic on Pajama Mama's blog where she used glass on top of her tablecloth... check it out...

Okay... onto the retro kitchen chairs!

So ever since I was in high school, I've always wanted a 1950s chrome table and chairs.  Well, on my 19th birthday, 2 days before I got engaged, my then future mom-in-law gave me one!  Oh, I was thrilled!  She surprised me... it was bright yellow.  But, it didn't have chairs that went with it :(  Well, she found some very beat up chrome legged chairs and we set out on a mission to find new/retro looking vinyl for them.  We searched and searched, but had no luck.  Then she came up with the idea to cover them with fabric and the clear plastic vinyl (same stuff that goes on the table).  I had the idea to use a vintage tablecloth as the fabric.  It worked wonderfully!   I bought an average sized tablecloth and she managed to squeak all fours chair out of the one!   I treasure that table and chairs... so many memories!  ...bummed our family is too big now to use it  :(  

I don't have any specific tips for how exactly to re-cover chrome legged chairs... she did it for me :)  But they turned out perfectly and as far as I know she is not a professional is this field!  

Here's some pics of the chairs from our old house...

Do you have any creative uses for vintage tablecloths?  ...I'd love to hear...!!

Blessings,

Using Vintage Tablecloths Part 1: EASY CURTAINS

So I love vintage tablecloths...  This love stems from my love of 1950s Kitchen items in general! As a result, I've been gradually collecting vintage tablecloths since I was newly married.  I thought I'd share a few of my uses for them in this post and in another post later this week!

In our 9 years of marriage JJ and I have lived in 8 different houses...  this has forced me to get creative with window treatments!  I've used anything and everything to avoid the cost of buying new curtains for my ever-changing window needs.  One of my staples, has been using my vintage tablecloths for curtains...

Most of the time when you see tablecloths used for this purpose, it involves sewing and usually cutting the tablecloth.  I just can't do that!!  This idea involves no sewing and no cutting! 

I decided to draw some little diagrams for you instead of trying to take pictures of this  process!  so....

This works best with a square or almost square tablecloth...

 Voila!

I've used this method with various tablecloth sizes and on almost every window size... obviously though, a small tablecloth is going to work best with a small to medium window, etc..  Each window and tablecloth combo provides a unique version of this look.  ...so have fun with it!

Here are a couple examples from some of my past houses...

Here are some fun links and examples of more vintage tablecloths... Enjoy!

VINTAGE TABLECLOTHS ON ETSY

CUTE 1950s KITCHEN WITH TABLECLOTH CURTAINS

EXAMPLE OF SEWN TABLECLOTH CURTAINS

Blessings,