Corey Moortgat- Collage Artist

Little Vintage Style & Other Miscellany

2012-01-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here's Miss Avery in another vintage Polly Flinders dress, paired with jeggings from Target and thrifted boots.

This sort of combo is such an easy choice for mixing vintage and modern. The leggings keep the dress from feeling overly fussy, while still allowing the dress to be showcased, if that makes sense!

We had a fun little photoshoot this time around. She seemed to enjoy finding different ways to pose for me. I found this My Little Pony toy at the thrift store, and Avery is in love! She sings and dances, so Avery was following along!

Then she set off to "clean" the bench...

...and stand on it!

And finally, she proceeded to pick up a stick and say, "Boing, boing, boing!" and pretend she was on a pogo stick! I have no idea where she picked that up!

Thanks for all the bedspread love in the last post! Can you believe that I wavered as to whether to buy them? Six dollars a piece seemed a little steep to me for thrift prices, and I just couldn't picture them in the room.... I'm so glad I went with my instincts though!

Anyway, the post sparked a question from Lynxymama about Avery's room:

have you taken pic of miss a's bedroom? i wouldlove to see her space too!

Well, I haven't taken photos of her room recently. Here and here and here are some bits and pieces, but I've rearranged things multiple times. I'd actually love to do a tour of her room, but we're in a transition stage right now. She's close to being potty-trained (meaning we can lose the changing table soon), and close to moving from the crib to a toddler bed. So both of those things will mean some further rearranging. Once we've accomplished those things, and I've got her room redecorated, I promise I'll do a real tour though. Next to my studio, her room is my favorite room in the house!

To those others of you who asked me questions, I'll answer them soon!

A final bit of miscellany. I'm honored to have been given the Liebster Blog Award by Barbara and Alicia from A Mother and A Daughter! Thank you so much, ladies!!

Awesome Thrift Find! (And One Question Answered)

2012-01-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

I recently had such a fun thrift score! You may recognize my boys' room from their room tour, but one thing that's changed is their new bedding!

I found a matching pair of vintage bedspreads for $6 each, in the perfect colors for their room!

I didn't dislike their old bedding, but how could I resist this cuteness??? And now we've got a couple choices, if they get bored and want a change.

So far though, they love the new bedding. It's very lightweight (like a sheet), and they prefer that to the thicker comforters we used to have.

It even has this cute blue and green fringe around the edges.

Seriously, how adorable is that zebra? And the porcupine?

I'm so glad that I still have some amount of control over the kids' decor. I'm cherishing it while I do, because I know my time is short-lived!

And I thought I'd also answer one of the questions from my previous post.

Renee asked: Have you always collected/saved the vintagegoodies?

I'd say that I've always been interested in vintage things. When I was young, I collected dolls and teddy bears and dollhouses, and I always gravitated towards the "old" ones. Then as I got older and began decorating my own places, I tended towards items that looked aged or old. The same went for my artwork- I tried to make my art look aged and worn, and often used vintage ephemera. My vintage OBSESSION didn't really flourish until I had kids though! Once I began decorating nurseries and doing baby journals, I "discovered" my true passion- vintage baby's and children's items! And my love for dolls and dollhouses was renewed once I found out I was having a daughter (I SO needed a daughter!!) And that brings us to today. I have a feeling that even once my KIDS outgrow it, I'll still be collecting vintage children's items- I can't see MYSELF ever outgrowing it!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #14

2012-01-27T03:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

I absolutely love this week's book! It's a Tell-A-Tale Book called "Pockets", written and illustrated by Lucy Ozone, published in 1955.

It's about a bunch of children who are bragging about how many pockets they have, and what they keep in their pockets.

A roller skate key!

My, my so impressive! Three pockets!

Love this little boy in his cowboy outfit!

The little boy in the striped shirt is always looking on a little sadly, because he doesn't have any pockets...

...until...

...his Daddy beats everyone with ten pockets!

Hurray!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

I'm A Project Life Convert! (or Am I A Scrapbooker Now?)

2012-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

First I'll give you some background, for those of you that may be newer followers of my blog. I've always considered myself a collage artist vs. a true scrapbooker. While I keep scrapbooks for my kids (here, here, and here), I do them in more of a collage style than a scrapbooking style. I love the books I've done, but as we have added children to the family, it's become more and more difficult to keep up with journals for all three kids! I've tried to make sure I do spreads for the younger two, but as a result, I've neglected doing them for my oldest. The last spread I did for him was when he turned five, and he's almost 6 1/2 now!

So lately, I've started hearing about Project Life, a new scrapbooking system by Becky Higgins. It consists of divided pages that house 4x6 items and 3x4 items. In addition, you may then purchase kits that have 4x6 and 3x4 decorated cards to fit into the slots, to supplement your photos.

I thought it may be a perfect solution to my dilemma. I can keep up with the collage style of book for Avery (until she turns five), and then use Project Life books for Noah and Riley (Noah turns five in two weeks).

I decided to take the jump and give it a try. I ordered one set of pages and one core kit. And, dare I say it, but I think I may be hooked! I've done three spreads, and they went so much more quickly and easily than my typical collage spreads. While they lack a little bit of the artistic, more personal aspect of my collage journals, I think I'll actually be able to keep up with them! And that's exactly what I needed!

I went on a little bit of a shopping spree (if you can call it a spree- we only have one scrapbook store in town other than Michael's, JoAnn's, and Hobby Lobby), and bought some scrapbooking supplies that I thought would be good supplements to the kit, and then organized everything all nice and pretty!

Anytime I'm going to work on a Project Life page, I can just pull out these two containers, and I have everything I need!

So now, after a novel of explanation above (!), here are the results of it all:

Since I stopped Riley's last journal at age five, I'm backtracking and doing some pages from the past year. The above talks about some of his interests- tools and science.

Then this page talks about some of the things he's accomplished in the past year- "walking" across the monkey bars, riding his bike, climbing the steps of a lighthouse.

And the last page talks about his and Noah's relationship, and how he enjoys the responsibility of being a big brother.

On some of the pages, I added my own 4x6 and 3x4 cards that were cut from scrapbook paper, when I couldn't find ones from the kit that worked. I have a feeling I'll do that a lot, just because I can never do anything by the rules (ha ha!). But what's so great is that the kit sort of give me a starting point, and I can expand from there.

So anyway, there you have it! I guess I'm a real scrapbooker now!

By the way, thanks to those of you who asked me some questions in the last post! Daniele, this post should answer most of yours, I think, and I'll get to the other questions soon for the rest of you! Feel free to ask away if anybody else has questions!

Ask Me Anything....

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get questions from you guys about various things, and I try to respond directly to you. But I thought maybe it was time to do a question/answer sort of thing here, if anybody has any questions they haven't asked me before! It can be about anything- my collections, my artwork, my kids, my book, thrift-shopping (I'm an expert, if I do say so myself!), Avery's vintage clothes, my studio, my house, etc. I always enjoy reading these sorts of posts on other blogs, so thought you may enjoy it here!

I'll start the ball rolling with this question from Kortney. (Kortney, I didn't have a way to respond directly to you, so I'll post your question here...) She asked:

Where do you find all your dolls and doll goodies. After 20long years my husband and I had our beautiful baby girl. She is 4 now and loves vintage things and babiy doll. I have Bren looking for vintage dolls for her room but I can't find any. Do you have any hints?

*I'd say about half of the vintage dolls I have are from when I was young. My sisters, mother, and I used to "collect dolls", and I held onto the ones that were the nicer ones. The others I've gotten from mostly antique stores and Ebay. I really don't consider myself a serious doll collector, but I do pick up ones that I think are cute from time to time. Vintage dolls can be so expensive, and I don't even want to get serious, because I don't have enough money!

So, ask away! I'd love to see what you guys are wondering!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #13

2012-01-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys, so sorry about the late post this week! I've been having computer issues all morning, and have finally resolved things (I hope!). As a result though, I don't have a book to show you this week. However, I know some of you still want to link up, so I'll put up our linky list below. I can't wait to see your books, and I'll be back as planned next Friday!

Vintage Corduroy

2012-01-18T04:55:00.000-08:00

Oh, how I love this photoshoot I did last month with Avery. She just was looking her most adorable! I mean really, how can I have such a beautiful daughter??? Love this little girl! So, anyway, there are a lot of photos this week because I couldn't narrow them down!

She's wearing a little vintage corduroy jumper, over thrifted leggings and a turtleneck from Walmart. And, as with almost all her outfits, vintage Goody barrettes.

Sigh, I just can't get enough of this photo above...

I'm linking up this week here and here! Thank you, Kim, for featuring us last week!

Miss Avery's Book

2012-01-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

Oh my, I have really fallen behind working in the kid's journals. With new school schedules this year, I'm having a hard time finding art-making time. When I create, I like to have uninterrupted blocks of time, but I've lost those due to our schedule. Nevertheless, I've found some time recently to do a couple spreads in Avery's book.

The first is about her first haircut. She just got a little trim to clip some of the scraggly baby ends off, but it was a fun event! She did so well (because she watched big brothers get their haircuts first), and looked so cute sitting up in the seat! I attached a bit of her hair to the page just like I did in Riley's and Noah's first haircut pages.

Next is a page about her love of pizza. Every single time she sits down for a meal, she asks for "zah!", literally. She LOVES it (can't say that I blame her!).

I know I've mentioned it here before, but I'm so torn about how to continue with these journals. I love that I've done them, and I love looking through them, but it's becoming such a struggle to keep up with them. The last spread I did for Riley was when he turned five (15 months ago!). Noah turns five next month, so I'm considering stopping his then as well.

I'm looking into Project Life as a way to continue. This looks like a quick, simple way to do a child's journal- I could get as artistic as I want with it, without feeling too overwhelmed. And I could easily go back and catch up with the time that I've missed with Riley. Have any of you done Project Life? Any thoughts?

Lil' Vintage Story Books #12

2012-01-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

This week I'm featuring a little book that I received in the mail yesterday from Renee! (If you haven't been to Renee's blog, you must go- every post she does is full of eye candy!!) She was so sweet to send me several vintage books for my boys and an adorable little apron for Avery. But first let's focus on the book. It's an old Bugs Bunny story called "Bugs Bunny Hangs Around", from 1957. When I showed the boys the books Renee had sent, this was the first one they chose.

It really brings me back to read Bugs Bunny. Remember when Loony Tunes was one of the only choices for cartoons after school?

And Petunia Pig! I'd forgotten about her!

It's harder than you think to do Elmer Fudd's voice! The kids couldn't figure out why I was talking that way!

Porky and Petunia set up a trap to catch Bugs, because he was stealing all the carrots...

When we were done reading, the boys were talking about how Elmer and the pigs were mean to Bugs. It made me realize how foreign Bugs Bunny is to them- their take on the book was that Bugs was the good guy (even though he was sneaking the carrots). They don't have the history of knowing how Bugs is ALWAYS being mischevous, and that we really are supposed to be happy when he "gets what he deserves"!

Now, I also mentioned that Renee sent Avery a little apron. It is was the sweetest thing (here are Renee's original photos from her post), but unfortunately it was a little short for her. It barely covered her tummy! So I dug into my vintage fabric stash and lengthened it up for her! My seamstress skills are not up to par with Renee's; nevertheless, I still think it turned out pretty cute after the minor alterations!

She was not into modeling right after her nap...

...but a few Goldfish crackers later (the never-fail toddler bribe), and she was all smiles!

Thank you again, Renee! As you can see, we enjoyed all of your gifts!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Vintage Clown Jumper

2012-01-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

We're getting good mileage out of vintage jumpers around here. Paired with a little turtleneck and tights, they're the perfect outfit for Florida winters, where it doesn't get too cold.

I stay away from a lot of appliqued designs, because quite often they're a little too 80's cutesy for me, but I thought this clown was tolerable, and I can never pass up adorable ruffled straps like these!

Plus, Avery's a big fan of hearts and balloons, so she enjoyed this little outfit quite a bit!

Everything she's wearing is thrifted this week! Just the way we like it!

I'm linking up here and here!

Fave Pic of 2011

2012-01-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie. I'm entering Paper Mama's photo challenge for my favorite photo of 2011. This one popped into my mind first, so it's the one I'm entering. Ah, those terrific two's!!!

And, by the way, thank you so much to those of you who commented on the last post with the boys' painting- you should have seen their smiles when I read them the comments!

The Monkey Wants a Penny, The Penny Got Spent

2012-01-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

My boys often ask to do art projects, but I admit that usually, I don't feel like dealing with the mess that would bring, so I set them up with something easy like stickers or markers. But one day last month, I thought I'd have them do a "real painting" like Mommy does. And it turned out surprisingly well!

First, I had them each choose 3-4 images out of some of my vintage image stash. After they glued them down, I mixed up some paints in colors that matched the colors in the images and suggested they add the paint in areas around the images. Once the paint was dry, they added details with pencils and some watercolor crayons. Here is the result:

The title is "The Monkey Wants a Penny, The Penny Got Spent". Riley is very into money and coins right now, thus the theme that emerged with the piece.

It works perfectly in their bedroom above these hooks from Hobby Lobby!

They are very proud of their piece, as you can see!

And I'm very proud of them as well! This really was their own creation- I honestly only offered a few suggestions as to how to balance colors, etc. In fact, I think I could take away a few pointers from their piece! I just adore the free-ness and unabandoned quality in children's art...

I know they would really enjoy it if you guys showed these budding artists some love. I told them I was going to show their painting on the computer, and they were pretty excited!

And really, how can you resist such awesome dudes as these, am I right?

Lil' Vintage Story Books #11

2012-01-06T03:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

Today's book is such a fun one to look through. It's called "The Happy Book", written by Josephine van Dolzen Pease and illustrated by Esther Friend, published in 1942. It's all about teaching children good manners and proper etiquette in the 40's. I really hope the photos are large enough that you can read the text, because that's the funnest part!

Parents, make sure you cut on that dotted line before little Jimmy gets a hold of the book!

The illustrations are so sweet!

Hmmm, looks like some kids I know...!

Awww, pony rides!!

Don't you wish there was a cure for the "gimmies"??

This one is funny, I think. I'd better hold onto this story for Miss Avery- she's a thumb-sucker!

The reason I thought to show this book this week was because I used one of its illustrations in a piece of art on Thursday. I'll show that piece in a few days, but here are some past works with snippets from this book as well!

Mother and Father, as well as the two boys are from this book...

Both sweet little girl illustrations from it as well...

The puppies, and the upside-down boy (Noah!)...

Another sweet little girl illustration...

And another Mother and Father, as well as another little girl illustration...

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Blue Checks Again

2012-01-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

I'm so grateful Stacy created "Little Vintage Style" last year, because it really got me into dressing Avery in vintage! Although I'll miss the weekly link party (she's decided not to make it a regular feature anymore), I'll continue to post Miss Avery's vintage outfits here periodically, and I'll also continue to link up over at Morgan's on Thursdays for "Small Style".

You may remember this blue checked top from the outfit she wore a couple months ago. Strangely enough, I found both jumpers at the same thrift store on different days, and they both had the exact same blue checked fabric on them, that matches the top. I suspect they somehow all came from the same person, but who knows? Maybe just a lucky coincidence!

It's such a cute little dress- I wish I'd had it when she started school, because it would be perfect on the first day, with the apple and pencil appliques!

The green leggings are thrifted, as are the shoes...

Go check out the other cuties here on Thursday!! Also linking here for a new link party!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #10

2011-12-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

I love this little book today! It's a Whitman Fuzzy Wuzzy Book called Fuzzy Wuzzy Ducklings, by Louise Rowe, published in 1945.

It's a sweet counting story, adding a new duckling on each page.

Several pages feature flocking on some of the ducklings.

I love the right hand page where they're all lined up!

Look at that dapper little fellow!

I wish the book featured a hard cover- I am wary about letting the kids handle this one, since it's so fragile!

I adore the back "cover"- it would be so adorable framed in a little girl's room. Hmmm, may have to consider that!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Some Favorite December Pics

2011-12-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! I hope you're all recovering from the craziness of the holiday! We're doing well here- the first few days after Christmas and birthdays are always nice because the kids have so many (TOO many!!) new toys to play with!

I'm entering Paper Mama's photo challenge for our favorite photo of December, and I've had such a hard time deciding on my favorite! Anyway, I decided I'd post several here. It's been a fun month, so I got lots of cute photos!

These two had fun posing when we fixed their hair in "mohawks" for the day!

Fun on the swings!

And look who decided to start drawing faces for me!

In mid-December, we took a little overnight trip to Hilton Head. When we got there, I realized it was the same hotel where we vacationed last year, when I took the photo I used on this piece of art. I had the kids go out onto the balcony, and took their photos again. Amazingly, they posed almost identically! It's so fun to see the photos next to each other!!

Fun photos from the beach...

Here's the one that I think is my favorite!

The obligitory Christmas morning photo...!

And finally, a Christmas night photo- Avery sleeping with the two light-up angel ornaments she got!

Again, hope you're all enjoying a nice, peaceful week before the new year. I should be back on Friday with another Lil' Vintage Storybooks installment!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, I thought I'd take a look back at all our Santa photos. I've shown some here on the blog before, but it's fun (for me at least) to see them all in one place here! I guess I should frame them at some point-I'm not sure why I haven't done that before...

Anyway, here we go!

2005

(how sweet is this photo? love that Santa did this pose!)

2006

(still doing well here!)

2007

(aaaand the trouble starts!)

2008

(how happy do you think Santa was here?)

2009

(oh, getting better- just barely a few tears from Noah!)

2010

(yay! the boys do well, but now Avery starts!)

2011

(hurray! no tears, finally! Avery's a little wary, but overall, a great photo!)

Thanks for coming along with me on my little trip down memory lane!

And thanks for reading my blog! I appreciate you all! I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday!!!

Little Vintage Style- Rainbow Edition!

2011-12-21T04:55:00.000-08:00

My mother recently brought me three crocheted jumpers she'd made for my sisters and me when we were kids. Above I'm wearing mine to see Santa in probably 1976. I question how short it is, but hey, it was the 70's!

And above here, you can see me in mine on the right, and my sister in hers on the left.

Well, we decided to see how they fit Miss Avery! Turns out the middle-sized one fit her (too bad we missed out on the littlest one when she was a baby!).

She had great fun modeling the jumper at the park!

She's also wearing a turtleneck from Walmart, thrifted tights, and Angel brand shoes.

Looks like it's a little short on her, too! Well, what can you expect when you're trying to climb a jungle gym?

The bright rainbow colors matched the slide perfectly-Mommy likes that for photos!

Love her hair blowing in the wind on this one!

Here, she's telling me that she's going to slide down, and motioning for me to go around and take her picture- that's my girl!

I'm linking up here, here, and here this week! Go check out all the other cutie-pies!

Pencil Toppers

2011-12-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd show you a fun little project we did for teacher gifts this year. I got the idea here, and adapted it for Christmas characters.

Sorry, no tutorial, but if you look at the photos, you could probably figure out how to make them...

The kids enjoyed making them (or helping Mom make them, since they are actually pretty detailed), and the teachers thought they were really cute!

So if you need some last-minute crafty gifts, give them a try!

What Mom Does While the Kids are Busy...

2011-12-18T14:39:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I have a new photo over there under my "About Me" heading. I've been meaning to take some new self-portraits for a while, as the photo I was previously using was from two years ago, and cropped out of a family shot! Isn't it funny how there are never any photos of ourselves in our albums? I try to make a point of having my husband take photos every so often, so I am in some of them, but even then, they usually are photos of me holding one of the kids, and not just of me by myself...

So anyway, long story short, I decided to take some new photos a couple weeks ago while the kids were occupied (I think Avery was napping, and the other two were playing). I had straightened my hair that morning (it usually looks best that way), and was dressed nicely, so the timing was right!

The first round was done by setting my camera up on a few pillows of the right height, and setting the auto-timer. I wanted to have some of my artwork in the background, so I sat on the couch. I took about 50 photos (no joke!), but wasn't terribly happy about any of them!! These two were my best though.

But by then, I was really determined to get something I liked! So I changed my tactics and set up in front of the bathroom mirror!

A slight outfit change, and a vintage sheet draped over the shower curtain, and time for a reshoot! This time, since I was able to check the photos immediately after taking them, I was able to adjust my poses, etc. much more easily.

It took a while to figure out the angles while holding the camera, but that actually led to some pretty interesting shots in itself!

After some editing on Picnik, I'm very pleased with the results! I think these photos will work for another two years, if it takes me that long again to do new ones!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #9

2011-12-16T04:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

This week I'm featuring "Frosty the Snowman", illustrated by Corinne Malvern, and published in 1950. Magie also showed it on her blog a couple weeks ago, but I think it deserves another spotlight in case you missed it, because the illustrations are so precious!

This is a fun book for our family, because my kids have all grown up in Florida, so haven't ever been around the snow. It's fun to talk about how you build a snowman...

...or what a snow fort even is! I actually hardly remember much of this myself, because I moved away from a snowy climate when I was young, and my husband grew up in California, so we're a pretty snow-deprived family!

I just adore the little snow clothes the children are wearing in this book. That little purple number on the girl on the right- to die for!

And the blue plaid coat, and the boys' hats? So cute!

Good bye, Frosty!

I will be skipping next Friday's link party, with all the busy-ness of the holidays, but will be back on the 30th with more vintage story book fun!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Rainy Day Style

2011-12-14T03:44:00.000-08:00

When I was ready to take photos for this week's Little Vintage Style, it looked like this outside! I decided to go for it anyway, but didn't get a ton of great photos due to the weather limitations...

However, these two had a great time in spite of it all, as you can see!

Avery is so enamoured of Noah, she'll mimic anything he does!

After dropping Noah off at school, I decided to have another go at it inside, with a bit better results.

She's wearing an adorable pair of vintage overalls that I got from BabyShapes Etsy shop. They are so cute!

I layered the overalls with a white turtleneck from Walmart...

...and added vintage Goody hair barrettes.
Every time I put them in her hair, I get flashbacks of wearing the exact same styles when I was a girl!

It turned out to be a nice rainy day after all!

See more cuties here and here this week!

The Christmas Dollhouse

2011-12-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

First off, thanks for all the vintage Christmas love from my Christmas decor post! I know I teased you a bit with a glimpse of the dollhouse I decorated, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer! Here it is!

You guys are probably sick of hearing about this dollhouse, but it's been fun helping it realize its full potential! When I purchased the house, it seemed as though it may have been used as some sort of Christmas display, because there were Christmas lights rigged around it (the regular sized ones), and a chimney attached that was not original to the house. So this has stuck in my head, and I decided to go with it!

We have this odd archway in our front room that has always been a difficult decorating challenge. A couple years ago, Jason built the shelves you see. It's in the same room as the Christmas tree, so here is what I did this year!

I bought several of those light-up necklaces with mini Christmas bulbs, and rigged them around the house and on a couple trees. They flash at different times, so it was difficult to get a photo with them all lit, but you get the idea.

I used some quilt batting for snow on the ground and roof, and attached a wreath and "Merry Christmas" (from vintage ornaments) to the front. (Unfortunately, we're missing a door- will have to find one soon!)

I already had the Santa, reindeer, and sleigh from my vintage Christmas collection. They are the perfect scale!

The bottlebrush trees were also in my Christmas stash.

It's such a fun little display. Frankly, I think I enjoy it more than anyone else in the house, but I just love it! I hope you did, too!!

And yes, we really do have snow falling inside our house- don't you see it in all the photos? No, I just went a little crazy with the "snow" filter in Picnik!

Our Christmas House

2011-12-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

Hi! I thought I'd give you all a tour of how I've decorated for Christmas. Nobody in my family really appreciates all the vintage goodness I've displayed, but I knew you all would!

This piece is on a wall you see as you first come in the front door. It's the perfect spot for most of my collections, since there are glass doors that can keep little hands off!

I made the vintage ornament wreath a couple years ago. The images displayed on either side are pages from a vintage Christmas book.

Inside the hutch are lots of little collections. I didn't take individual photos of them all this year, but the displays are similar to those that are shown here.

On top of my computer hutch is our first little tree. I just love it! I've put all my knee-hugger elves there, as well as a few other vintage Christmas characters.

The large Santa was a thrift find last year- he's a really nice one!

Here's our main tree. It's a pretty standard tree (fake) with all the kids' and family ornaments. In the background you can see a sneak peek of my Christmas dollhouse! But I'm going to save that for another post!!

In our bedroom, I put another small tree with lots of my vintage glass ornaments. This way, they're less likely to get broken.

The vintage tree skirt I got a couple years ago finally has a place to go! It's the perfect size!

Just some close-ups of some of the pretty ornaments!

Every single one of them was found thrifting!

This is our family room, where the fireplace and stockings reside.

My mother-in-law cross-stitched all the stockings. The Santa face painting over the fireplace came from a craft fair a few years ago.

My vintage Santa collection. My favorite is the tall guy in the middle!

Sitting up inside the wreath there is our "Elf on the Shelf". I used a vintage one I already had. The kids named him "Silly Pinnochio", and he watches over everyone from his perch!

Down the hall are the "vintage" stockings I made last year. You can see more info here.

I have many more glass balls than will fit on my tree, so the rest of them are scattered throughout in containers like this.

Outside my studio is a vintage card holder I found this year. We just put in our first Christmas card a couple days ago!

And finally, out on the coffee table are some fun things for the kids to play with!

I hope you enjoyed my tour. In a couple days, I'll show you the dollhouse I hinted about!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #8

2011-12-09T03:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

I actually don't have very many vintage Christmas books, but I wanted to keep with the season, so this week I chose "The Golden Christmas Tree", written by Jan Wahl and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard.

It's actually pretty new by "vintage" standards, published in 1988, but I guess that was almost 25 years ago, so it's still quite old (I can't believe that! I graduated in 1990!).

It's just the sweetest story about how the jungle animals celebrate Christmas. It's got such a quiet, peaceful tone and beautiful illustrations.

I just love the tiger stringing the berries- can you see him squinting one eye to see better?

Of course the giraffe puts on the star!

I really can imagine that this is the way jungle animals would celebrate- just very quietly and peacefully.

No mention of presents or gifts, just the joy of being together and celebrating!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Little Vintage Wild Child

2011-12-07T04:27:00.000-08:00

This week, for Little Vintage Style, we paired a little vintage dress (seen here with the pinafore) with thrifted leopard-print leggings and shoes! I love the mix of sweet, innocent little girl and sassy, stylish animal print!

She had a fun time modeling this week, as you can see below!

I told her to dance, and dance she did! As a sidenote, I'm a sucker for cheesy reality shows, and Avery loves to watch the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders auditions shows with me- I think that's where she learns most of her dance moves, especially the kicks!

Oh, those eyes.... I have a feeling we're going to be fighting the boys off when she gets older- good thing she has two older brothers!

Sweet little smile...

And I thought you'd all like this one- a two-year-old's got to be a two-year-old, I guess!

See the other stylish cuties this week here and here!

And I know you've seen this one before, but I'm entering a photo challenge over at Paper Mama's blog, and this is my favorite photo of November!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #7

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

This week, I unpacked the Christmas boxes, and pulled out all our Christmas books! It's fun to get to read books we haven't seen for a while!

Here we have "The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas", by Adelaide Holl, illustrated by Florence Winship, and pubished in 1972. I don't know if you can tell by the photos, but it's actually a large Golden book, about 11x14.

It's about five mischevous little puppies (the same from the original "Poky Little Puppy") who sneak off and see their first Christmas tree.

They scheme to create a Christmas of their own.

They leave a note for Santa- too cute!

Here's my favorite- they wake up the next morning to find an addition to their note! Mother always knows!!

Then the sweet poky puppy puts his own addition onto the note.

They wake up Christmas morning to lots of presents for everyone!

And a special present from their mother- jingle bell collars so that she can keep track of them! Tee hee!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

LVS-Thanksgiving Style

2011-11-30T06:38:00.000-08:00

First, I'd like to thank you all for your comments about my Studio Tour! I love it in there, and it's so fun to hear from other people who don't think I'm an absolute freak for collecting the things I do. Nobody in my family understands me, so it's nice to find people who do!

And now, onto Little Vintage Style. This is what the kids wore for Thanksgiving last week. The boys aren't in vintage (unless you consider pre-loved clothes from Goodwill vintage!), but Avery is. However, an interesting sidenote about Riley's shirt is that it is completely handmade! I was surprised to find that at Goodwill!

She's wearing another little vintage smocked Polly Flinders dress I found thrifting, paired with jeans. Perfect for running around with the cousins at Grandma's, while still looking pretty!

At this point, Riley was done with smiling, and was sporting more of a grimace, so I cropped in on the last photos, since Noah and Avery were still cooperating!

Ooh, she's excited about that pumpkin pie that's coming later!

See more little cuties here and here this week!

THE Studio Tour!

2011-11-26T16:24:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is an updated tour of my studio. For past tours, you can look here and here. As you can see, I've added a lot more stuff (um, yeah...), so I've had to do some reorganizing!

To give you an overview, the studio is in a small room that opens out into our kitchen dining area. Beyond the dining area is our family room, so I'm able to moniter the kids while I'm in there, which is helpful. It's an odd shape (sort of a triangle), so a little difficult to design, but I've made it work! On one wall is a large window that opens out to our lanai, so it's nice to work in there while the kids are playing outside. However, that window (and the small, awkward shape of the room) makes it very difficult to take decent pictures in there, so please forgive the changing lighting, strange angles, etc. in the photos. My camera had a hard time handling the job! Hopefully you can sort of figure out the layout by piecing the different photos together!

Look how perfectly all those dollhouses fit! My husband added shelves between the existing bookshelves to store them. And can you believe that he never once made any sort of comment about it? He must have been biting his tongue pretty hard!

Here's my primary workspace, facing the window.

Here you can see out into our family room. As you can see, I've got a nice baby-gate there to keep little hands off my things!!

Avery's old dresser was relocated here when she got her new one.

There's my sewing corner on the opposite side of my desk.

Hope you enjoyed your peek into my world! Believe me, my whole house doesn't look like this (I wouldn't mind, but my husband definitely would!). Just my studio and Avery's room. I'm waiting for Avery to move into a toddler bed to do an updated tour of her room, so hopefully that will be soon as well!

I wouldn't even know where to begin with describing things, letting you know about details, etc. so if you have questions about anything, feel free to ask me in the comments, and I'll try to answer!!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #6

2011-11-25T04:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

In honor of Thanksgiving, my submission this week is "My Thank You Book", written by Wanda Hayes, illustrated by Frances Hook, and published in 1964.

It's such a sweet book, featuring little stories/prayers about different things for which to be thankful.

I like how the poems aren't just generic prayers, but they tell little stories that the kids can relate to.

Love his new coat!

In my house, toys are the first thing on the kids' list when asked what they're thankful for. At least Mom and Dad fall somewhere on their list as well!

I love how something we take for granted, like arms, is in the book- it's so hard to teach kids how lucky we really are in this life, and this kind of narrative helps!

I love rain, too!

Aw, her Raggedy Ann doll is so sweet!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T04:32:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone in the States here has a great Thanksgiving! Having children and explaining the concept of being thankful helps me focus on it more myself, which is a beneficial thing. We really are so, so blessed...

(These little turkeys are a tradition we started two Thanksgivings ago. I saw the idea on a blog somewhere (can't remember where), but they're pretty self-explanatory. The boys each made one the past two years, and this year, we also added one for Avery. We're developing quite the flock of turkeys!)

Scroll down if you're looking for Small Style or Little Vintage Style!

Windy...

2011-11-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

It was a little windy on the day I was taking pictures for this week's Little Vintage Style...

But that's okay, wind is fun, right?

Maybe not REAL fun...

Okay, she's had enough!

Photoshoot done!

Dress is vintage Polly Flinders found thrifting, jeggings from Target, shoes are Angel brand.

See other cuties here and here!

Looky, Looky!

2011-11-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

I went to an antique fair with my mother and sister over the weekend, and wasn't having a tremendous amount of luck. I'd found a couple things, but nothing I was REALLY excited about. My mouth was aching (from getting my wisdom teeth out last week), we were getting hot, and overall, we were just ready to go. But I kept saying, "I just want to find one thing that's really exciting, so that I feel like it was worth coming!" (the fair was two hours away). And then, in the distance, two booths up, I saw these:

They were sitting on a table, amidst bunches of other non-dolly stuff (who knows what else, as my eyes only saw them), kind of glowing there just for me, you know?

I raced up to the table, thinking in my mind, "I'm sure they're at least $80- I couldn't possibly be lucky enough to get a cheap price." I looked at the tag. $35! I casually asked, "Would you go any cheaper on the bunk beds?", knowing in my mind that $35 was already a great deal. "Yeah, I'd take $30", she said. And I said, "Sold!"

Then I went back and found my mom and sister, and told them we could go home!

Hurray! I've eyed these bunk beds on numerous occasions on Ebay, but they were always too expensive.

I came home and promptly made some bedding out of an old cutter quilt that I've got. It turned out so cute!

However, after trying to find a place to ~~squeeze~~ fit the beds into my studio, I ~~am forced to~~ decided to use them to store vintage sheets and larger fabric pieces, so I only need bedding for the top bunk for now!

I am working on an updated studio tour for you. I hope to have it done sometime this week!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #5

2011-11-18T04:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

This week, dentists are on my mind, as I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday!! So I thought I'd share this tooth-related book with you. It's called "Davy's Wiggly Tooth", written by Marion Borden and illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship, copyright 1964.

We haven't had any lost teeth amongst the kiddos in this house yet, but they love this book because it gets them excited about the prospect soon!

Their favorite part is when Davy gets to choose a prize from the prize drawer, because isn't that the best part about going to the dentist? (Of course, the only prizes I got yesterday were some gauze pads and a pain pill prescription!)

Every time we go to the dentist, they look to see if there's a little blue treasure box in the prize bin, but sadly, there hasn't been one yet!

Now isn't he a handsome, distinguished dentist!

Finally, a lost tooth!

What proud parents they are!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

LVS- Disney Edition

2011-11-16T03:40:00.000-08:00

Living in Florida, we're within easy driving distance of Disneyworld. I'm not a huge fan of Disney in general, but my father-in-law has worked for them in L.A. for 45 years, so this means we are able to go to the parks free of charge! So, we go about once every year or two.

We realized recently that we haven't gone since Avery was born. She loves Minnie Mouse from watching the Disney channel, so we decided to go for a short trip this weekend.

For her first trip, I wanted her to wear something somewhat Disney-appropriate. She doesn't have anything with the Disney characters on it, so I was so happy to find this adorable outfit while thrifting last week! It features a little applique teddy bear on the front, which matches the gingham shirt underneath- I'm SO in love!

This is her sitting on the "It's a Small World" ride- she loved it, even though her face may not appear that way!

And, just for fun, I edited the photo with a 1960's mask on it- I think she looks like she could have come right out of an old photo album!

Overall, it was a fun trip, but it is just so overwhelming there- it's exhausting! Even/especially for the kids. I think it will probably be another year at least before we venture back again!

See more vintage cuties here and stylish kids here this week!

Latest Estate Sale Scores

2011-11-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

I actually rarely go to estate sales. The ones around here really don't seem to be that good, at least for someone who collects the things I collect. But once in a while I'll see one online that has "my kind of stuff", so I'll make a point to go.

This sale was obviously in the home of a woman who made dolls- there were hundreds of porcelain doll heads and molds, etc. I wasn't interested in those, but I was able to find a few other gems amongst the piles! Take a look at how adorable that little doll is, and I absolutely love the Ginny wardrobe! My aunt made us tons of Ginny clothes when we were young, and I still have them all- now they'll have a place to go!

And isn't this the absolute sweetest little baby doll? I am in love with her sweet face!

I did some research online, and she's a Thumbelina doll from the 80's. I hope Avery gets herself onto the doll-loving train soon, because it would just melt my heart to see her cuddle with this doll!

But here was my biggest score. A pile of tin dollhouse pieces. I asked the man how much they were, and he said, "$5?" I had just seen Rachel's post about using a dollhouse roof as a magnet board, so I thought if worst comes to worst, I could do something similar with the wonderful graphics on the pieces.

Well, do you know that every single piece was there to make the whole dollhouse? And it was 20% off day, which actually made it only $4!

These photos aren't the best- it's dang hard to take good photos of a tin dollhouse!

It's definitely a little worse for wear- there's a bit of rust and tape marks, and everything's a little yellowed. And at some point, I may in fact take it back apart to use the pieces for something else (I almost like the graphics better on their own vs. in the house), but for $4, I certainly can't complain!

And look how PERFECTLY it fits in my shelf- I didn't have to move the shelf or anything- it was an absolute perfect fit! I now have to find a place for the things that used to reside in that shelf, but that's a different story!

I really need to do an updated studio tour for you all. I show bits and pieces all the time, but I should take some proper photos and show you how it looks lately...

Tomorrow, Avery's wearing a really cute outfit for Little Vintage Style- it's one of my favorites so far!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #4

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

Today I'd like to share "Morning Noises", written and illustrated by Alain Gree, copyright 1962. The story is sweet, all about the noises you hear while going about your morning, and I absolutely love the illustrations! Such gorgeous colors and details!

Gotta love boy who can wear lavendar-striped jammies!

I just adore this drawing of the town! Love all the scrollwork details!

Wouldn't it be fun if these were really the colors of firetrucks and firemen's uniforms?

I think this illustration of all the cars would make such a cute print in a boy's room!

This is the last page of the book. I've always been tempted to take it out and frame it- it's so wonderful!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Little Vintage Meets Little Modern

2011-11-09T04:12:00.000-08:00

Last week I found a small bag of vintage baby clothes at the antique mall. There were two or three really cute things in the bag (the rest was really ready for the trash), and it made the $5 price tag absolutely worth it! My very favorite was this little yellow jumper with a duck. I searched Avery's wardrobe for suitable pieces to work with it, and I just love the combination I was able to pull together! It's the perfect mix of vintage and modern, I think!

I took the above photos of her in the hallway of Riley's school, but I wasn't really able to get a good photo showing the little duck. So when we got home, I decided to try again outside.

Well, as you can see, she wasn't in the "posing for photos" mood- she was in the "playing in the swing" mode! Oh well, I still got some really cute shots of her!

And finally, she obliged with just one, so that you can see that cute little ducky!

See all the other cuties here and here this week!

Extreme Home Makeover-Dollhouse Edition

2011-11-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

You may remember this dollhouse from a few weeks ago. I really, really need to get better at taking "before" photos, but when I got it, it was in sorry shape. I cleaned it up a bit, and did some re-wallpapering (seen below).

Since it's pretty sturdy, I decided to risk it and put it into the toy room to actually be played with (I know, gasp! Actually let my children play with my vintage toys? What kind of mother am I?? Tee hee!). But it really needed some furniture in order to be play-worthy. While I'd love to go out and get some cute vintage furnishings, I know that I wouldn't trust a two-year-old to play with them (my generosity only goes so far!), so I decided to improvise. Here are the results!

I added some curtains and filled the house with furniture.

I used a combination of wooden furniture from one of those wooden toddler dollhouses (which didn't ever get played with by the boys) and plastic furniture from a vintage Playskool Victorian dollhouse like the one here. When I found the Playskool dollhouse at the thrift store, it had tons of extra furniture and dolls, so there's enough for both of the houses!

(It resides in Avery's room- you can see it towards the end of this post.)

The beautiful master bedroom, with Mom taking a nice nap...

The bathroom, complete with training potty...

The nursery with bunk beds and baby cradle...

The kitchen with big sister watching the baby...

And the living room- gotta have the TV in there to please the kids and Dad!

It think it turned out really cute, if I do say so myself! It's completely kid-friendly, yet much cuter and eclectic than a modern kids' dollhouse. And Avery has actually been playing with it! It is just so much fun getting to play "girl" stuff with her!

Hope you enjoyed the house tour!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #3

2011-11-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another edition of Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite illustrations and stories from our vintage bookshelves!

This week I'd like to show you a real favorite in our house. Whereas some vintage books may be hard for modern kids to relate to, this book really translates into our time as well, and my kids love it!

It's called the Big Tidy-Up, is written by Norah Smaridge, and illustrated by Les Gray. The copyright is 1970. It's a story about a little girl who hates cleaning her room, so her mother lets her keep it a mess. But, of course, it becomes so messy that it's not fun anymore, so she decides to clean it up in the end.

The illustrations are just so cute and whimsical, but in a sophisticated kind of way, you know? I love the color pallette throughout the book.

You just know you'd snatch up that vintage sheet if you saw it at the thrift store or an estate sale!

Thanks for stopping by! If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!

Little Vintage Style

2011-11-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Once again, this week Avery did a beautiful job posing for me for LVS! It's so nice to take photos without chasing after her!

She's wearing such a sweet little fall dress that I found out thrifting, and some cute shoes found thrifting as well.

That's my sweet girl!!

And here are our obligitory Halloween photos:

We didn't do much as far as costumes go- the boys just grabbed things out of the dress-up bin, and Avery wore a lion costume I had made for Riley several years ago.

Just for fun, I went and found photos of the boys wearing it to compare...

I didn't get many photos of Riley when he wore it- he obviously didn't like it too much!

Noah was a real cutie pie!

And here's Miss Avery- she had so much fun trick-or-treating with her brothers!

Hope you're all having a great week! Meet me back here on Friday for Lil' Vintage Story Books!

New Art

2011-10-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece I did last week. It's probably around 16" x 22". I'm really liking it!

The "hearts" near the top and down near the bottom were done by Riley and Noah. They wanted to add something, and I love the detail it adds. I've always been opposed to hearts (too cutesy!), but Avery LOVES them, so I'm beginning to see their appeal!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #2

2011-10-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Lil' Vintage Story Books #2! In this series, I'm sharing my favorite vintage children's books. Feel free to link up with your own favorites as well! I'd love to find some "new" books that I haven't run across yet!

This week's book is one of my very favorites, for the illustrations. It's called "Fun on the Animal Railroad". It's written by Mary Windsor and illustrated by Vic Havel. The copyright is 1951.

If you can tell from the above photo, it actually opens out on both sides, so that it's four pages wide.

I think these little lambs are my favorite!

Love these bunnies, too!

That's some excellent advice on the right page above!

If you've been a follower of my blog for a while, you may recognize some of the characters from this book. A big part of the reason I buy vintage children's books is for the illustrations to use in my collage artwork. I've used the animals in this book in numerous pieces of art over the years (all copies of course-not the originals). Below are some of these pieces.

Well, there you have it! I'd love to see some of your favorites as well! Grab a button to the right if you'd like, and share your own posts down below if you'd like to join in!

LVS- Hurray for Fall!

2011-10-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

I'm finally able to dig into Avery's stash of long-sleeved vintage dresses! At least for this week anyway-not sure what the weather will be next week...

This one is a Polly Flinders dress with hand-smocking and hand-embroidering. So sweet! The sleeves actually ended up being closer to 3/4 length, but that worked perfect for the weather.

She was so nice for me this week! We got out of the car, and she ran right over to the wall and stood against it for some photos. This is a first! Usually I need a helper entertaining her or props or bribes or something! I hope maybe it's a new trend for her!

I paired the dress with thrifted brown leggings, some ruffled socks, and cute little shoes (Angel brand).

Check out the other cuties this week at Hart & Sew and Mama Loves Papa!

And don't forget to check back on Friday for our second installment of Lil' Vintage Story Book!

A Couple Journal Spreads

2011-10-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me thank all of you for your great response to our first Lil' Vintage Story Book linky party! Sounds like lots of you will be joining us next week as well-hurray! I can't wait to see all the vintage illustrations!

So I thought I'd pop in and show you my two latest journal spreads for the kids. The lighting was not the greatest when I shot them, so they unfortunately aren't as crisp as I'd like, but you get the idea!

The above is in Noah's book. He is such a shy little boy- he went for close to a year without speaking to any adults other than family members, even at school. I can definitely relate, as I was extremely shy when I was younger as well. But he's slowly coming out of his shell. This school year, he has begun talking to his teachers, and we are so proud of him!

And the above is about Avery turning into a little girl. She certainly isn't a baby anymore! But she's at a really fun age. The things she does and says constantly keep us entertained. Although I could do without the tantrums...!

Hope you're all doing well as we move further into fall. Here in Florida, it's very exciting because we have finally been able to pull out the long pants, sweaters, and boots! In fact, this morning I took photos of Avery for Little Vintage Style wearing her first long-sleeved vintage dress! Of course, by this afternoon, we'll be peeling off the layers because it will be back up to 75 degrees, but it's fun in the mornings to be bundled up!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #1

2011-10-21T04:01:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to our first edition of Lil' Vintage Story Books! I'm so excited to try out this new feature. As I mentioned in my last post, I just love vintage picture book illustration, and would love some others to share it with!

Whenever I go to the thrifts, I'm always on the lookout for vintage children's books. My eyes scan over the countless Dora books, the tons of half-used coloring books, the dozens of Disney "push the button to make the sounds" books, and they zone in on the goldmines- the ones with the worn bindings, the Little Golden Books, the Weekly Readers, you know the ones! And when I bring them home and say, "Mommy got some new books!", the kids come running! Well, maybe not running, but they do like it when I get new books...!

For this first post, I have taken photos of several illustrations in one of our favorite vintage books. In most cases, I cropped out the text, so you could see the illustrations better. But let me know if you'd rather see the whole page with text in the future. Feel free to link up with your own favorites as well! I'd love to find some "new" books that I haven't run across yet!

Our sweet little LVSB mascot to the left comes from the first book I've chosen. The title is "The Magic of Everyday Things". It's by Seymour Reit, and the illustrations are by June Goldsborough. It's actually part of a larger set called Adventures in Discovery Program by Western Publishing Company. The copyright is 1963. It's a wonderful little set, with several beautiful books, many of which I'm sure you'll see here in the future!

The thing I love most about these illustrations is the little girl's clothes- oh, those pants!!

The colors in this one...pinks, rusts, yellows, magentas, then the little touch of baby blue...

Her sweet little top and jumper...

A phone with a cord? What's that??

That cute striped art smock makes me want to paint, too!

So much to love in this one- the pink kitty cat, the hat box, the little toy refrigerator, and those pants again!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first installment! Please feel free to let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to see- I'm open to different ideas!

Grab a button to the right if you'd like, and share your own posts down below if you'd like to join in!

LVS, and Something New!

2011-10-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Another sweet pinafore dress this week. How I love this style!! Those ruffled sleeves get me every time! Oh, I am just dreading the day that she's not going to let me dress her up anymore....

As you can see, we used My Little Pony's as props today. I kept throwing them across the yard so that she'd go pick one up, so I could get some full-body shots of her dress! (And oops, looks like it should have been ironed!)

And, yes, there's also a cookie there in her hand for a bribe as well!

As with all of her vintage dresses, this was found thrifting... And I'm not sure if you can tell from the photos, but she's also wearing a vintage Goody barrette. Do you remember those plastic barrettes? I bought a whole bunch of them on Ebay- they bring back such memories!

See more Little Vintage Style and Small Style posts here and here this week!

And I'd like to announce a new feature I'm going to be doing on the blog! It's called Lil' Vintage Story Books.

We have so many beautifully illustrated vintage picture books. Every time I read one to the kids, I think, "I wish I could show these illustrations to someone who would actually appreciate them!" Well, now I can! Every Friday, I'm going to do a post showing a favorite vintage story book. And you're welcome to join as well! If I can figure out how to do a Link Party by then, I'll set it up so you can link up with your favorite picture books as well! See you on Friday- I can't wait!!

Handsome Birthday Boy and Other Stuff

2011-10-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, this handsome boy turned 6 yesterday! He obliged me with a little birthday photoshoot. I'm usually lucky to get him to smile for one photo, but he gave me bunches of the handsomest smiles yesterday! I love this kid-

Happy Birthday, Riley!

And, just for fun, here are another couple of cute pictures.

Here's Noah, being his usual happy self. Whereas I usually have to bribe Riley for a smile, Noah smiles for photos like nobody's business!

And here's a shot from a Halloween event we went to. Avery's costume for Halloween night involves a sweatshirt, but it was 85 degree on this afternoon, so I improvised with her kitty outfit and some kitty ears attached to barrettes.

Little stinker!!!

And we have a winner for the Mingle giveaway! Congratulations SewGrown! I will be emailing you shortly with details! Thanks to everyone for entering!

I'll be back tomorrow with a Little Vintage Style post- such a cute little oufit this week!!

Does This Count?

2011-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't technically a vintage outfit post for Little Vintage Style, but I am just so giddy about this purchase that I had to show it off! And I figured my vintage-loving friends would appreciate it as much as me!

And besides, it holds all of the clothes Avery wears for Little Vintage Style!

May I present Miss Avery's new dresser! While I loved the dresser I redid when she was born, it was taking up a lot of floor space (since it was horizontal), and it made furniture placement more difficult. So I've been on the lookout for a good replacement for a while. I went by a local antique store last week, and there it was!

Just absolutely perfect!!

We do have a closet in the room, but this provides a little extra hanging room should we need it.

I rearranged some of the furniture to better fit with the new dresser, and also in anticipation of moving her into a toddler bed soon.

I also had to show you who else I picked up at the antique store- this fabulous little bunny. I am IN LOVE with this guy! The sweet embroidered face, the cute overalls,...

and the adorable little tail behind!

That's all for today.... Don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below!

Mingle Giveaway

2011-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I was honored to be asked by Stampington and Co. to review their newest publication, Mingle, and also to host a giveaway of the premier issue!

If you know Stampington, you know that all their publications are great resources for all things artsy and craftsy. Well, this time, they've expanded their artistic inspiration to entertaining. The magazine focuses on throwing beautiful parties and gatherings, whether in large scale (such as a wedding) or small scale (such as an intimate family birthday celebration).

I'm not a huge entertainer myself- I tend to be more of a homebody and a recluse- ha ha! But even I was inspired by looking through this magazine. It made me want to put in the extra effort and be creative next time we have a family
get-together!

It also made me wish that I could re-plan my wedding, and make it so much prettier and more artistic! But don't we all wish that several years later?

The thing I liked best about the magazine was the beautiful photography. I have to admit that I haven't even had time to read all of the articles, but I've definitely had time to ooh and ahh over all the gorgeous photographs!

My favorite piece was about little Soul's breakfast birthday party. But Cakies is a blog favorite of mine, so I was biased!

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of this wonderful magazine, just leave me a comment!

Contest will be closed 10/16 at midnight.

And who knows, I may even throw in a few little vintage treasures for you as well (I'm doing some reorganizing, so who knows what I may find....!).

I Just Don't Know If It Could Get Any Cuter...

2011-10-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today's Little Vintage Style features what is I think my favorite vintage outfit of Avery's. I was lucky enough to win a giveaway to Oliver's Forest a few weeks ago, and chose this outfit as my prize. LOVE!!!

It just reminds me so much of the sort of outfits I've seen in photos of myself at this age. And Avery loves kitties, so it's extra-special!

Since it's a little cool here, I added the tights. And Avery added the dollar store wings we got last night!

And speaking of favorite things, here is a recent thrift find which I'm still just giddy over:

A little dolly changing table! If you may remember, it's the same style as the changing table I used for Avery when she was tiny. I mean, how perfect is that?

Funny enough, when I got home, I realized that it matches the dolly high chair we already have, as well as the doll bed next to it on the floor (I painted the wicker on that one an aqua color and added the vintage decal). Um, that's a sign that I have too many doll pieces, when I don't even realize I already have the matching set!

And you just know how THRILLED I am to see this:

She's coming around, I can tell!

Check out the other vintage cuties and stylish kids here and here this week! And I'm also linking up here for The Paper Mama photo challenge!

Stay tuned to the blog. I will be hosting a giveaway within the next week for the new Stampington publication called "Mingle". It's a great magazine full of artsy entertaining ideas!

I Think I'm Ready For a Support Group Now...

2011-09-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

I need another vintage dollhouse like I need a hole in my head. I mean, honestly! (yes, those are three separate links...) But I am just physically unable to pass one up if it's sweet and cheap! Although this is one that I probably should have left at the store...

While it may look pretty cute now, there was a LOT of work to be done to this house! There are holes drilled throughout which housed Christmas lights (maybe it was used as a holiday display?). The bottom floor walls are the same as I found them (tolerable for now), but the top floor walls and roof were covered in tacky country/cutesy 80's wallpaper and stickers. And boy, did someone use some good glue to put it all on! I spent hours scraping at it with a razor blade, and still didn't get it completely off. But now, it's coming together. I used some scrapbook paper to redo the upstairs walls, and will probably add some curtains as well.

The floors are as they came, and it's one of the things that sold me on the house! Such cute pink and blue patterns!

And really, it does look so cute in the playroom, doesn't it? This house seems fairly durable, so I'm going to give it a go, and let the kids play with it. The boys' superheroes have checked it out, and hopefully Avery will find some fun with it as well.

And now, about furniture.... Strangely, as many dollhouses as I have, I really have almost no furniture! So I guess that will be my next task...!

A Mish-Mash...

2011-09-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

This week's Little Vintage Style features a dress I've already shown. You may remember this sweet ensemble from Easter.

Well, we're moving from Easter to Halloween (the skeleton I picked up thrifting was the only way to get her to pose for some pictures!).

I used the dotted-swiss dress without the pinafore, then added modern leggings and some brighter accessories.

If she wears vintage to preschool, I usually try to tone it down a bit, because I don't think that many people in Florida really "get" vintage, so I don't want her to stand out too much in her class!

It's crazy how much older she looks in these photos vs. the ones from Easter! She looks like a little girl now- no more baby here!

I took my free time yesterday (while Avery was in school for the morning) to do some painting! Oh, I just love doing this kind of piece! No rules, no photos to incorporate, just fun, fun, fun!

I also did a piece in Noah's journal this week about learning to swim.

I've really slacked off on doing pieces in the boys' journals, unfortunately. I haven't done a piece for Riley for almost a year! I'm kind of trying to decide whether I want to continue with them, or do them until they turn five (Riley's last piece was about turning five, and Noah will turn five next year). While I love that we have these books, I don't enjoy working in them as much as I used to. My style has changed, and I'd so much prefer to do fun pieces like the one above...

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud there. Didn't mean to get all serious on you!

Hope you're all enjoying the beginnings of fall! Here in Florida, we're just starting to have some really nice days, and I'm looking forward to being able to wear cardigans and jeans in a few weeks if I'm lucky!

A Vintage Cutie & Some Vintage Goodies

2011-09-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

This week's Little Vintage Style is brought to you courtesy of the bike racks in front of Target! Please forgive the grainy photos, as I only had my phone with me at the time!

I've been waiting for this adorable little dress to fit for a while. I just love it! I am always a sucker for little pinafore ruffled sleeves.

Paired with thrifted denim shorts and navy sandals, and she's looking cute as can be!

I found the time to do another spread in Avery's journal this week as well!

I loved how this little paper doll had a flowered dress on, reminiscent of Avery's.

I'm really happy with how the spread came out! I'm getting my crafting mojo back, I think!

Finally, I've been meaning to show you my "new" dolly wardrobe!

I found this tucked into the corner of an antique shop last month, with a clearance sticker on it! I wasn't sold on the outside, but when I opened it and saw the pink, it was a done deal!

It's the perfect place to hang all my vintage dolly dresses (when they aren't up on the wall, that is!)

It's Been a While

2011-09-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in this post, I've been feeling inspired to do art lately. Finding the right time to be creative is a different story though. I'm still trying to figure out my new schedule, with various kids at various schools at various times. Although I've got more free time in the mornings, I've got less free time in the afternoons, and have all but lost the kids' nap-times due to school pick-ups. Naptime used to be my best "art time". So I'm doing some mental readjusting to determine when I'll have creative time. I'm such a creature of habit that's it's taking me some time to get it all figured out!

Anyway, all that to say that I finally took some time to do a little piece in Avery's journal!

Quite obviously, this is a piece about turning two!

I struggled the whole time working on this spread, trying to decide how to fill the empty spaces. I did a few different things, then painted back over, not liking the results. I tried the gray polka-dots as a last attempt, and I love them! They're whimsical without being too cutesy, because of the neutral color.

Hopefully, you'll be seeing more artwork out of me now, especially after I get situated into a new routine!

Little Schoolgirl

2011-09-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

My baby started preschool yesterday! Just two days a week for 4 hours, but still. Her birthday falls just two week before the cutoff, so I hesitated even signing her up, but I think she'll really enjoy it. And her class is made up of almost all girls, so she'll get some great girly time in there to counteract all the boy time at our house! I'll make a dolly-lover out of her yet, I tell ya!

Noah started Pre-K as well, which means I've got two mornings a week with no kids in the house! Whatever shall I do with myself?!

I've been saving her vintage dress (thrifted) for just this occasion, because I thought it was such a perfect little "first day of school" outfit. I'm so glad it fit at the right time! Add her little ruffled socks and brown suede maryjanes (thrifted as well), and I was just dying over the cuteness!

Linking up with Little Vintage Style and Small Style this week. Hope over and see the other stylish kids!

"New" Coffee Table

2011-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this photo from a few posts ago? Now look at the photo below, and see if you can tell what's different....

That's right! I painted our table! It was so glaring white before, so I changed it up a bit in order to blend with the room a little better. The table was a $15 thrift store find from a couple months ago, but I just loved the lines of it, and knew it would suit our needs really well.

I painted the bottom section a lavender/pinkish tone,

and the top a warm taupe-y color.

I then went over the whole thing with sandpaper and an antiquing glaze.

So far it meets the approval of all those who use it on a daily basis! After all, those little chairs wouldn't be there if we didn't want it to get some use!

I'm still working on the rest of the room- my next task is to find some fabric I like to replace our current drapes. Once that's done, I'll show you the rest of the room!

Fun Finds for the Future

2011-08-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

My sister is borrowing my camera this week, so I can't take any photos of Avery wearing vintage for Little Vintage Style. And frankly, I'm running out of vintage clothes that fit her right now! I'm surprised I've had enough to post almost every week! Coming into cooler weather, she'll have a whole "new" long-sleeved wardrobe though- I can't wait!

It seems that almost all the vintage I find is size 2T though. Once she outgrows that size, her vintage wardrobe will greatly diminish, sadly... Which is why I was so pleased to find these three pieces, all color-coordinated, and all found within about a week of each other! They are all larger, for I'd guess a four or five year old. It will be a while before they fit, but once they do, oh, so cute!

This is my favorite, a perfect little schoolgirl dress! I love the rick rack trim!

And an adorable sailor dress. Can't have too many of those!

And how about this coat?? So perfect, right? It's handmade, and done so nicely.

Complete with the most perfect polka-dot lining. Sigh... if only it came in my size!

Now, I just hope that she doesn't have opinions about what she wants to wear by the time these fit her! Or, if she does, that they match my own opinions- ha ha!

Can Chores Actually Be Cute?

2011-08-26T04:21:00.000-07:00

I loved Rachel's version of a "chore chart". However, as much as I've looked at the thrifts around here, I haven't found a time card holder just yet. So I decided to improvise for the time being. I started with the piece below, and ended with the piece above.

A pocket for each of the boys (Avery's still too little to really do chores), then a pocket on the bottom marked "Done". I took photos of various chores for which they're responsible, then laminated them on cards to fit in the pockets.

Noah's here to demonstrate how it works:

See if there are any chore cards in your pocket. If so, pull them out.

Take your cards and go do your chores, preferably with no whining or crying or complaining. (This one's MUCH easier said than done!)

When you've finished, put the cards in the "Done" pocket, and then go play!

If the system works well, I'll probably try to expand and find something with more pockets, but for now it will work. And it will be easy to repurpose it to go somewhere else (like my studio), just by changing the labels. After all, it's too cute not to be used somewhere!

Interrupted...

2011-08-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this morning's photoshoot for "Little Vintage Style" didn't go quite as planned. Lately, I've been trying to find some different backdrops for photos, since when we're in our own backyard, Avery tends to just want to go play on the swingset, and won't pose well for me. So I've taken to driving around to the backs of buildings, looking for a simple backdrop where we won't bother anyone. Today, however, I guess we were bothering someone, as a security guard came out and told us we had to leave! How embarassing!! So, needless to say, I didn't get as many cute shots as I would have liked, but these are fun anyway!

Noah was my little helper again. Now that Riley has started school, I've just got these two during the days, until preschool starts in a couple weeks.

Vintage sailor dress is thrifted, leggings and shoes are also thrifted

Remember that white table I showed you in these photos? I've spent the last few days painting and antiquing it, so I'll show photos of that soon!

So Proud of This Boy...

2011-08-22T09:18:00.000-07:00