VTT - Vintage Aprons

I'm participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday for the first time in forever. Check out the others that are also participating over at ColoradaoLady's blog. 

For years, I've had a bit of an obsession with collecting vintage aprons. I have them hanging in my kitchen, in my pantry, in storage boxes. I don't find them as often anymore since moving from Maryland, but on occasion, one will pop up here and there. I keep the ones that match my decor and then instead of hoarding all of them, I put some in my Etsy shop to share the wealth with others. Here are some of my latest acquisitions. 

11 Months til Christmas! Are you prepared??

Haha! Just kidding. Well, technically, it is only 11 months til Christmas but let's not dwell on that, okay? 


It is, however, only 29 days until I pack up my life and move to SC!! Yes, there is a definite move date and the only thing that would stop me would be a repeat of Snowmaggedon 2010. 


I am nervous and excited and anxious to get back to my hometown and get on with my life. I'm so sad that I'm having to leave my honey here in Maryland though but it is what it is and I have to do what is best for me. Hopefully in time, he'll find a job in SC and can join me. 


Those that live in the DC Metro area can attest to how wicked expensive it is here. I've talked about it ad nauseam for years but here's the major reason I can't wait to get back to SC:


Our rent on a 2 bedroom/1.5 bath apartment with a 'den' is $1465 a month. Now, this is a basic, run-of-the-mill apartment, circa 1970 that has had a few upgrades but nothing to make you think it's 'luxury' by any means. 


And, in SC, you can BUY A HOUSE for less than $75,000. In fact, my parents are being extremely generous and are looking to buy a house for me to live in and 'rent' from them. There aren't a lot of suitable rental homes in their town and the few that are available are either too expensive or won't allow pets. Speaking of pets, pet rent in this apartment is $600/year. That is RIDICULOUS!


One of the houses they are currently looking at to perhaps buy, the mortgage would be less than $200. Yes, TWO HUNDRED dollars. 


You know, for pretty much my entire life, I couldn't wait to get out of my hometown. I wanted to move north, to experience life in a bigger state and a bigger city. I was SO tired of the heat, the humidity, the small town that didn't have a Target. 


Well, thankfully, the town has a Target now, and lots of other necessary retail shops (plus a drive through Starbucks!) but now that I'm older, I completely understand why people never leave there and/or so many people MOVE there. Because it's AFFORDABLE!! 


Sure, it's hot as hell during 8 months of the year, but the fact is that people can afford to live there. You can make an average salary and have enough money to live in a house, take vacations, have a life. I can't do that here in MD. I am barely scraping by month to month here. Barely. If it weren't for the generosity of my parents and my Etsy gig, I would be flat broke and eating at the soup kitchen and living under a bridge!! 


So, within the next couple of days, I get to start boxing up  my life. A lot of my stuff is still in storage at my bff's garage but the things we've been living with for the last 9 months have to get packed away. I am stressing out over the details. Since the bf will continue to live in this apartment until his lease is up at the end of April, he'll need to acquire pretty much everything - dishes, furniture, etc. Everything in this apartment, minus a tv and a crockpot, belongs to me and they have to come to SC. 


Trying to nail down the logistics of all of this is proving to be a huge stress but I keep reminding myself that in 60 days, I'll be living somewhere that I can afford, surrounded by my family and finally moving forward in the life I wish to create. I'm so excited to have my very own house that I can decorate how I wish, with a backyard for the puppies, with family close by. Now, I just need to get through the next 30 days without freaking out every step of the way. 

Twelve Weeks til Christmas

Are you prepared? I'm not. Not even close. I have no idea if we're going to exchange gifts. I'm thinking not but I hope we do because I am going to be awfully sad if we don't have at least some gifts under the tree. 

 

I finally bought a new all-in-one printer the other day. I have been meaning to get one for a while but kept putting it off but the other day, I walked right into Office Depot, determined to not leave until I had a printer in my cart. I ended up buying a Kodak, which wasn't my first choice, but they no longer carried the Brother one that I really wanted. I had one hell of a time installing this printer and ended up having to redo the entire wireless network at my house!! I was so frustrated, I swear I was on the verge of tears! I did eventually get it all worked out and I'm happy to say that I can now print invoices and postage, pictures, well, everything really, all from the comfort of my sofa! Wireless printers are the best invention ever!

 This morning, I took a few minutes to scan in some of the antique Christmas postcards I bought last fall at the Baltimore Big Flea. I fell in love with all of the gorgeous graphics, the pretty pastel colors and most of all, the sweet letters written on the reverse of the cards. Most of the paper is still in pristine condition for being 112 years old but I wanted the ability to print the cards onto cardstock to use in crafting. I would feel so guilty if I cut up the original ones. 

So, the weather is finally cooling off again and I am so excited that it's going to be a crisp weekend. I think we're going to have scattered showers tomorrow and the highs are only supposed to be in the upper 50s and I am just so thrilled that it's this time of the year. The honey has drill this weekend so I get to fill my time with all sorts of fun things, like scanning in 100s of vintage cards. 

I saw on the weather channel that they are forecasting SNOW over in the mountains of WV tomorrow through Sunday. How crazy is that? The leaves haven't really even started to change yet and they're going to have snow showers? I think it would look crazy weird to have green leaves and snow! I'll admit that I'm slightly jealous that they'll be seeing flakes. 

 

I was lucky enough to find quite a few vintage sheets while I was out thrifting yesterday so today I get to iron and photograph those and get them listed on my new vintage sheets blog and also on Etsy and Flickr. I have two sheets that I've sold before to several people that have in turn used them as backdrops for photo booths. Isn't that a great idea?? And I've sold a ton of sheets to a fabulous dress designer in NYC that makes the most beautiful bridesmaids gowns out of them. I love knowing my vintage finds are being reused by people that love them as much as I do. 

Okay, well, the coffee is gone from my cup so I guess that's my clue that it's time to get busy ironing. Have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend too, friends!

Monday Morning Musings

Hola, vintage peeps. It's Monday, again. Where'd the weekend go? I would love a do-over since it seems as though the weekend went by in such a blur! And it's not like I was actually busy doing anything exciting or fun or whatever. Nope -- it was a lazy weekend, full of naps and football and chicken wings. 

Today is 25% off day at the Value Village(s) which means I must head out soon to do some junking. I need to resupply my vintage linens and hopefully find some kitschy Christmas decorations too. Then, after I finish at the VV's, I have to head to another thrift store which has 33% off and 50% off today. Whee!! That's my favorite thrift store but their offerings have been kind of slim lately. 

Also, I have to do the grocery shopping today since I was too lazy to do it yesterday. Well, that's not entirely true. I managed to get dressed and leave the house by 5:45 last night but it was too late to really shop and some of the stores I needed to visit close at 6:00 on Sunday. So, today, I get to play catch-up on all of the errands that were neglected over the weekend. 

I like to get the majority of the errands done on Monday anyway so that I can stay home the rest of the week and do domesticated things, like ironing linens. And vacuuming. Because I am addicted to my Dyson vacuum. I heart it. So, that's the plan for today: commissary, pet food, thrifting. What's on your agenda for today? 

(these pictures obviously have very little to do with the post, aside from them being vintage linens. I just hate posts that don't have pictures so I'm throwing these in for good measure!)

Glitter War

One of my good friends on Etsy, Flirtdeux, challenged a group of us regulars to try out her new creations - miniature houses, reminiscent of the old Putz houses that everyone loves so much. She graciously sent me and the other participants 3 stamped houses, which we had to cut out, assemble and then decorate, two of which were to be part of the Glitter War house decorating competition and one which was our 'practice house'. 

My other Etsy friend, Fyrecreek, did a Halloween House the other night and posted pictures and it was so adorable, that I had to steal her idea and put my own spin on it. I painted the house a rusty orange color and then glittered it with orange glitter, the roof was painted purple and then flocked with matching purple flocking and then I decided that wasn't quite enough so I went back and put darker purple polka dots on top. 

The trim was painted black and then I used black embossing powder on top of it. The chimney was painted green and flocked in darker green.I cut out a couple of windows and used pieces of yellow acetate in the spots which will glow a nice golden color when lit up. I found itty bitty bats in my old scrapbooking supplies and stuck one in a window!! It's a work in progress but I think it's pretty cute so far!!

  

The houses are itty bitty - measuring about 2.5" tall and super fun to decorate!! I can't wait to get started on my Christmas houses - they are going to be pink and aqua and kitschy and perfect!! Next time, I'll remember to paint the underneath side of the roof so that you can't see the beige color from the paper. I didn't realize I'd forgotten to paint it until I took the pictures. Oops!!

Thrifty Tuesday

The estate sale from the other week proved to be such a success. I found pretty sheets:

Fruity dish towels:

 Two charming aprons:

Four Japanese Stacking Mugs:

And two sheets of super groovy gift wrap:

I also found a ton of great vintage Christmas stuff that will have its own post!!

Monday Morning Mooos

Hola, friends. I'm happy to say that we made it through the storm with minimal damage and without any real loss of power. Unfortunately, many in the area weren't so lucky. The common area between our apartment building and the one behind us looks sort of like a war zone with tree pieces all over the place. There were several large trees down on the surrounding property when the honey and I ventured out yesterday morning. We went to my ex's house to check on things since he's out of town and as suspected, we found extensive damage to the willow tree that sits beside the deck and then of course, we found this when we went inside:

 

Yeah, that's water in the basement. Luckily for him, he removed all of his possessions from the house prior to the storm. Luckily for me, I don't live there anymore so I don't have to deal with the mess!! He did ask if I'd plug in the sump pump and drain the water but at that time, it was still raining outside and I told him no. I wasn't going to spend several hours down there draining water when it was still raining. Hopefully by now, some of it has receded. 

So, after we left his house, we tried in vain to find a restaurant open for breakfast. The couple of places that were open were completely packed so we kept driving, ended up down in Annapolis, took a really long route back home, saw more storm clouds rolling in and then decided to give up on our quest to find food and came home. We both ended up taking naps right here in the living room, beside the pooches. When we awoke, the skies were bright blue, there was a gentle breeze blowing and you'd never have known we just went through a freaking tropical storm, mere hours before!! 

I was going stir crazy from being in the house all weekend long and our recent lack of any sort of fun, seeing how the honey has been working 7 days a week for the entire month of August so I insisted we get out of the house and do something entertaining, which led us up to Timonium to the Maryland State Fair. It was a perfect afternoon, especially since we got in for free! I am cheap and I don't think this fair is all that good and I certainly wouldn't pay $8 to get in. Since it was free though, I figured why not. 

Our first stop inside the entrance was the Cow Palace. There weren't as many animals as I was expecting. We saw this cow and her baby, Kendall. At first, they had their backs to us but when Momma Cow saw I was trying to take pics, she actually turned around and walked towards us. The baby was too freaking cute!!

 

 

 

 Kendall Cow, 6 months old

 

 

The Alpacas were next to the cows. I love Alpacas!! Their cute little hair just cracks me up. Once, when the ex and I were over in West Virginia, we were driving back to his aunt's house where we were staying and as we turned into her long drive way, I noticed something at the top of the road, near her house. I thought it was a herd of deer but oh no, not quite. Seems the neighbors down the street forgot to lock up the barn and their entire group of Alpacas ventured out and ended up at the Aunt's house. So there we were, hooking up Alpaca's to leads and taking them back down the street. It was hilarious. I'd never walked an Alpaca before but I quickly fell in love, even though one of those suckers stepped right on my foot. Surprisingly, it wasn't that heavy!! 

The Alpacas at the fair weren't very friendly though and seemed kind of mad that I was in their faces taking pictures. I guess they'd been dealing with crazy city folks all day though so it's understandable. 

The honey and I didn't ride any rides, and after getting our fill of junk food, we took one last stroll through the Palace, where I promptly stepped in a fresh cow patty and then called it a night. Overall, I enjoyed seeing the animals but didn't feel it was worth the 40 minute drive to get to the fair. I probably won't go back since this was my second time going up there and I just don't think it's all that great. 

Anyhow, it's Monday, the honey is back to work, I'm home and I have a to-do list a mile long. I've been neglecting my chores and I need to get caught up on those. I also have orders to package and mail today and tons of items that need to be photographed and then listed on Etsy. I think it's time to turn off the laptop, get a refill of coffee and get cracking on those!!  

A Hurricane Party of Sorts

So, like many people here in the Mid Atlantic, we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene. We've got batteries, flashlights, duct tape, plastic sheeting, gallons of water and enough junk food provisions to last at least 3 days. I grew up in SC and have weathered my share of tropical weather so this storm doesn't really worry me too much, aside from the prospect of going days without power (thus, no hot water!).

The balcony has been cleared of all possible projectiles, the car has been emptied of any valuables that would be ruined in case of a downed tree. 

I ran out last night for last minute items and Wal-mart was wiped clean of all all soup, canned goods, water, chips, and oddly enough, bananas. We were wise enough to get our supplies on Thursday, but that wasn't without having to go to multiple stores. It took trips to 4 different stores to find gallons of water, 2 stores to find D cell batteries. 

So, instead of hitting any estate sales this weekend, I'm hunkering down with the honey and the puppies and in the event that I do have to venture outside, I bought some black and white houndstooth wellies at Target the other day, so at least while I trudge through 6" of rain water, my feet will be dry!! 

In lieu of an actual hurricane party, I invite you to celebrate Mother Nature with me by enjoying 20% off of all items in my shop my entering the coupon code "irene20" at check-out! There's the possibility that we may lose power for a while. In the event that we don't have electricity, shipping will resume as soon as the power returns.

Here's a picture of the outer bands on the storm rolling in: 

VTT - Vintage Bath Towels

Hola, vintage peeps. Today, I'm going to participate in Vintage Thingies Thursday, hosted by the lovely Colorado Lady. Please stop in and visit!! 

Today, I'm showcasing my love affair with vintage towels. The patterns are so fab! 

The colors are (mostly) delicious! 

The quality is unlike anything you'll find today, as evidenced by the fact that these babies are still in great condition some 40 years later. 

Towels I bought 3 years ago are not in this same condition. It's true when they say "they just don't make 'em like they used to". Sad, isn't it? 

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my vintage towel collection. Find towels like this in my Etsy shop!