Category Archives: Vintage

DIY Botanical & Animal Art

January 3, 2013 By in Antiques, Decor, DIY, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , 4 Comments

diy illustrated bird plates

I love the look of old botanical and animal illustrations, so I was thrilled when my friend Moriya shared an online database that has TONS of botanical literature that is free to download. PS - Check out Moriya’s blog, where she shares fantastic DIY home projects!

The site, Botanicus.org,  is a little hard to navigate, but if you click around enough, you will find scientific illustrations of plants, animals, birds, and more. I spent an entire evening looking through the site, and I ended up printing out a few illustrations to decorate our apartment.

The first two illustrations I printed are these birds:

diy illustrated bird plates

I printed them on off-white card stock for an antiqued look.

diy illustrated bird plates

I then went to Goodwill and bought old, thin, and gold photo frames.

diy illustrated bird plates

They cost me a whopping $2.

diy illustrated bird plates

I trimmed around the illustrations so they would fit in the frames.

diy illustrated bird plates

And now I have lovely and inexpensive dining room decor!

I also printed some fruit illustrations for the kitchen:

diy botanical illustrationdiy botanical illustration

And I have some flowers for our bedroom. I just need to find the perfect frames for them!

Hats Off

December 3, 2012 By in Fashion, Photography, Vintage Tags: , , , , 15 Comments

indianapolis fashion blogger

indianapolis fashion blogger

indianapolis fashion bloggerindianapolis fashion blogger

indianapolis fashion blogger

indianapolis fashion bloggerindianapolis fashion blogger

What I Wore: Sweet Heart Cut-Out Hat C/O Oasap, Forever 21 Sweater, Blouse from Nordstrom, Gap Jeans, Jessica Simpson Boots, Antique Horse Cameo Necklace

Where I Wore It: I learned a very important lesson on Saturday: Hats aren’t me. I’ve been seeing adorable hats all over and lots of bloggers looking cute in them, so I chose a very sweet heart cut-out hat from OASAP that I thought would turn me into a cute hat-wearer, too.

The hat I got from OASAP really is adorable (see it here), but I spent half of our time at the park on Sunday doubled over in laughter at how funny the photos of me IN the hat looked. Cute hat, but not so cute on me.

Are you a hat wearer? Do you have any tips for pulling them off?

Also, how was the weekend?!

A Pretty Plant Stand — Trinket Tuesday

November 20, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , 5 Comments

You guys already know that I’m big into houseplants because I go on about it all the time. With shorter days upon us, I knew I needed a new way to keep my plants as close to the window as possible so they can soak in those fleeting hours of sun.

So, two weeks ago when Chris and I went to the Exit 76 Antique Mall, I was on a mission to find a vintage plant stand. What I really wanted was a stand similar to the one Bleubird Vintage has:

bleubird vintage plant stand

But you know how it is when you’re looking for something really specific — it usually doesn’t exist. However, I did find this awesome stand that’s kind of similar, but has a bit more pizazz.

vintage plant stand

Yes, it’s purple. At first I was set on painting it, but the lavender hue is actually growing on me.

vintage plant stand

vitnage plant stand

vintage plant stand

PS – This past weekend Chris and I went to Noblesville and looked in an antique mall there. Can you believe that I found the exact same plant stand as Bleubird Vintage? And it cost a bit less than the one I bought. That, my friends, is the Murphy’s Law of Antiquing.

Exit 76 Antique Mall — Trinket Tuesday

November 13, 2012 By in Antiques, Photography, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , 7 Comments

mannequin heads

antique salt and pepper shakers

exit 76 antique mall

exit 76 antique mall

antique usa needlepoint

antique amber dog

antique christmas ornaments

Like I mentioned yesterday, Chris and I spent four hours on Saturday wandering around the enormous Exit 76 Antique Mall. This place has 600 booths, and pretty much all of them are occupied!

While there, I was looking for two things: an antique print of a horse and a plant stand. I can say that I purchased one of these, which I’ll share next week. ;)

Needlepoint, Cross Stitch, & Embroidery Fancy — Trinket Tuesday

October 2, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , 7 Comments

wedding needlepoint

Last year for our wedding, my mom made us a lovely little needlepoint to put on display at the reception. It now hangs in our apartment as wall art, and I love it.

I think needlepoint, cross stitch, and embroidery all make fun and quirky decor. Whenever we go thrifting, I’m always on the hunt for a vintage needlepoint, but many times they’re discolored or stained. Or, if they’re in perfect condition they cost a pretty penny.

I would love to learn how to needlepoing/cross stitch, but I fear I don’t have the time and/or patience to learn and then finish a piece.

Here’s  a little roundup of some lovely pieces I found on Etsy:

fox and alphabet needlepoint

alphabet and fox sampler

60s mushroom needlepoint

vintage frog and mushrooms needlepoint

vintage flowers needlepoint

vintage flowers needle work

mini cat needlepoint

mini cat needlepoint

you are my sunshine needlepoint

you are my sunshine embroidery 

Does anyone out there needlepoint, cross stitch, or embroider? I read that the difference among them is the medium that you stitch on, as well as the technique used. Any advice on what a beginner like me should start with?!

Wall of Mirrors, Part II — Trinket Tuesday

September 4, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , 6 Comments

Why can’t every weekend be a three-day break?? My weekend included lots of lounging, some delicious meals, a little shopping, and lots more fun. But more on that later :)

On Sunday, I woke up early and drove down south to meet my mom at the Lawrenceburg Antique Fair. The rain held off long enough for us to see everything.

antique fair costume jewelry

lawrenceburg indiana antique fair

We had walked around almost all of the booths, and I was losing hope that I would find anything that I wanted, when I saw this sweet mirror that would be a perfect second mirror for my wall of mirrors! (Check out my wall of mirrors inspirations HERE!) And my new mirror was only $15! I love its scalloped edges and floral etching.

antique mirror

I thought it would be goofy to have two mirrors randomly placed on a wall, so until I get more I hung this McCoy love birds planter on the wall between them. I got this piece from Salt Creek Antiques & Gifts during our trip to Metamora.

antique mirrors

I think I’m well on my way to a nice collection!

Did you have a nice weekend?

Bar Cart, Revisited — Trinket Tuesday

August 7, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Drink, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , , 5 Comments

vintage glass bar cart

spirits glasses / vintage olive picks / bar tools & ice bucket / depression glass plate / wine glasses / champagne glasses / shaker / martini glasses / rocks glasses / decanters / margarita glasses / tumblers / bitters / kahlua / mama juana

what to put on a bar cart

what to put on a bar cart

I already featured our bar cart on here, but it was before we had our nice camera and there have been a couple updates and additions since then!

In case you didn’t see the post the first time, Chris and I searched high and low for a vintage cart for a long time. They weren’t particularly hard to find, but they were all so expensive. We finally found this metal, wood, and glass cart at Midland for the right price.

Since we moved to our new apartment, the cart sits in our dining room, and it’s perfect for entertaining. Admittedly, we don’t usually have too much liquor on hand, but when we have people over, it’s fun to stock the cart with whatever beverage our company likes and to use our nice glassware for entertaining them. Our hope is to one day have a special nook in our house to keep the cart (particularly on a hard floor…it’s precarious rolling this Lenox and Riedel-filled cart around on carpet!).

Anyone else have a bar cart or a special place for storing glassware?

Milk Glass Medusa — Trinket Tuesday

July 31, 2012 By in Antiques, Decor, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , , , 3 Comments

Besides being so quaint and picturesque, Metamora’s antique shops are a main attraction. While Chris was out fishing on Saturday, I walked and antiqued so much that my feet were literally sore and blistered on Sunday. (totally worth it)

My favorite antique shop was Salt Creek Antiques & Gifts, which had a lot of pottery, ceramics, and glassware. The whole shop was very nice and organized well (can’t say that was true for all of Metamora’s shops). The owner of the shop was really nice and personable. You could tell he really likes pottery!

Salt Creek Antiques & Gifts Metamora, Indiana

One of my purchases at this shop was this really cool milk glass head vase. My first thought was to use it as a planter for a houseplant that I’ve been needing a home for, but I decided against that because it has no drainage.

milk glass head vase

So instead, I filled it with a bundle of fuchsia garden roses, and I loveeee how it looks! Don’t you think it’s kind of Medusa-esque?

milk glass head vase

Metamora Weekender

July 29, 2012 By in Antiques, blogging, Food, Photography, Travel, Trinkets, Vintage Tags: , , 5 Comments

metamora, indiana

meeting hall antiques metamora

gem mine metamora indiana

horses metamora indiana

gem mine metamora indiana

weekend trip metamora indiana

This weekend was pretty much too good for words. On Friday, Chris and I drove down to Metamora, Indiana to spend a little weekend away. We did a lot of walking, sightseeing, antiquing, eating, and Chris got to do some fishing. We stayed at the Mistover Inn, which was nice and tidy and perfect for a mini vacation. Metamora is such a picturesque and photogenic place, so expect a week of Metamora photos :) .

We’re savoring the last few hours of the weekend watching the Olympics and cuddling with our kitties.

I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, too!

Fox Hunt

July 19, 2012 By in Fashion, Vintage Tags: , , , , , 21 Comments

vintage fox hunt skirt dress

vintage fox hunt skirt

vintage horse dress

vintage skirt worn as dress

So remember my floral thrifted skirt that I wore as a summery dress? Well, the same day I found that skirt, I also thrifted this kind of grandma-looking skirt to also wear as a dress. Chris thought I was crazy, but it was only $1, so I got it.

Good thing — because I love it! What attracted me to this skirt was the horses and fox hunting scene at the bottom! (Read about my love for horses here, here, and here.) And worn as a dress, this little number goes from dowdy to billowy and beautiful in no time!

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. I was off on Monday, and on Tuesday I got to leave work early. That kind of made the first half of the week zoom by in a flash! I’ve been getting a lot of “stuff” done in the evenings, like laundry and cleaning. And I’ve also started doing yoga videos before dinner! I’d love to take a class, but I feel a lot more confident trying yoga in the privacy of our living room than in front of a bunch of people. Has anyone out there taken yoga classes?

So that’s my life this week. Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

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