Monday, August 24, 2015
Friday, August 3, 2012
Home Relocation and Restoration - Update
Hi Everyone, sorry for the delay in responding! It's been a hectic month at Casa CollectoratorToo! We took ownership of our new house on July 3rd and today August 3rd is the official last day of contractors for awhile! My bank account is very thankful! Believe it or not we almost got our main restoration wishes done in a month! If we hadn't had the garage flooding incident (more on that in a bit) then we might just be done! My lack of posting about our progress is due to the push to get it all done quickly and still show up to work every day (almost every day). =)
I probably invested a little more than I should have in the kitchen restoration but given the amount of time I spend in there, it seemed the most logical place to spend money. I'll highlight it in posts to come but the short list is as follows:
The bedrooms all got a coat of paint and new closet insides. I am going to have to wait on adding closet doors (no there were not any when we moved in) as I am not really happy with any of my options at Home Depot/Lowes. I have to go shopping at the restore places to see if I can find something unique and "right" for each room before I'll cave to the "cheaper" options available. My husband built the closet insides which are basic, but it allows for maximum use of the space for clothes and shoes all of which my husband says I have too much of... pshaw...
The bathrooms received some repairs and more cabinetry door work done (again to add back in doors) but the aesthetics in there will come with time. Right now I am just enjoying their blue and pink goodness.
The family room or "big room" as we are calling it turned out to have the color I like the most of all the colors I chose, although it took three of us and two ladders to get it done! Right now it's functioning as the box/stuff staging area since the garage flood. Someday though it will function as the entertainment room flush with a pool table (to appease my husband for all the work he's done on the remodel and heck yeah there is room for one), a bar, and the typical media center area including our record player. The ridiculous thing is that I think someday I'll have to get a bigger couch and tv since that room dwarfs everything. Right now it looks full but that's because of the mammoth wall of boxes and stuff that is in there now.
Lastly the other fairly large chunk of money we spent was on beginning to fix the garage and work on the drainage problem. Half way through the month of July we had a monsoon of a rainstorm which is not expected in the middle of July in Texas! Unfortunately, we had just moved the boxes into the garage for staging the day before. Because we still weren't living there, it took us a day to realize that oh hey the garage doesn't just leak it floods... I didn't take any pictures of the aftermath because I really do not want to remember this much longer but of course the boxes on the bottom of the stacks were not pottery and plastic... oh no, it was books (yes some vintage too) and my wicker under the bed box full of all of my pictures. Devastating. The good news is that the pictures, through a five day drying and crying out process, all seem to be more or less saved. I won't say they are in perfect condition still but you can still enjoy them. (I add the caveat of hopefully, they are all stacked back up in the wicker box which also survived and I haven't checked on them in a couple of weeks...so keep your fingers crossed). The books on the other hand are toast as I prioritized the pictures over the books. I'll have to make a list of the books and slowly rebuy them over time. At least for the most part I can do that. The one thing that would not have been replaceable, my grandmother's handwritten cookbook, miraculously was fine... still not sure how, but I am counting those small victories as positive. So my husband has spent countless hours ever since tearing apart the back of the garage and rebuilding it like a fort becuase he was originally going to turn the room into his man cave which needs to not have waterfront property on the inside. Now we just have to wait for it to rain again and see what happens... We knew there was a "drainage problem" when we moved in, we just didn't know a river literally runs through it... I still have to work on the actual drainage problem but that involves more contractors and given it's August I think we can wait a little bit on that.
Regardless, we've recovered from the flood and we're forging ahead. More updates and details will be coming soon, but I'll leave you with this picture, which has nothing to do with the house. The day we did the big move into the new house it happened to be our third year anniversary. In the middle of all what we had going on, my so very thoughtful husband, bought me this leather bag for the "leather" anniversary. It's a vintage bowling bag, but he thought I could use it as a traveling bag or to hold all my knitting and what not ....A collective awwww now is in order... Me on the other hand had to make up a connection of how my gift fit into the "leather" anniversary. I got him some really awesome cuff links (no connection but they were very him) and a cool vintage burnt orange dress shirt for UT game days. I used a Longhorn as my connection of the shirt to leather... LAME....queue up the Price is Right you didn't win sounds right about now... he loved it, but still comparatively I lose! The bag though is fab and it happens to have my initials on the back (well my maiden name initials but still how amazing is that?
I probably invested a little more than I should have in the kitchen restoration but given the amount of time I spend in there, it seemed the most logical place to spend money. I'll highlight it in posts to come but the short list is as follows:
- custom cabinet doors made so there would actually be doors going forward (as I am not the neatest person in my cabinetry due to over-collectorating this is important),
- a new boomerang Formica counter top (totally not necessary as a laminate counter top was present in the house. I think, though, I waited long enough to have a counter I really like instead of settling for apartment beige),
- a new VCT floor to return the kitchen back to where it belonged in time instead of the dark modern bachelor cave it was when we moved in (it was stained black concrete now it's streaky grey and white VCT!),
- a new fridge that fits in the space (arrives next Wednesday!), and
- paint (still working on that actually)
The bedrooms all got a coat of paint and new closet insides. I am going to have to wait on adding closet doors (no there were not any when we moved in) as I am not really happy with any of my options at Home Depot/Lowes. I have to go shopping at the restore places to see if I can find something unique and "right" for each room before I'll cave to the "cheaper" options available. My husband built the closet insides which are basic, but it allows for maximum use of the space for clothes and shoes all of which my husband says I have too much of... pshaw...
The bathrooms received some repairs and more cabinetry door work done (again to add back in doors) but the aesthetics in there will come with time. Right now I am just enjoying their blue and pink goodness.
The family room or "big room" as we are calling it turned out to have the color I like the most of all the colors I chose, although it took three of us and two ladders to get it done! Right now it's functioning as the box/stuff staging area since the garage flood. Someday though it will function as the entertainment room flush with a pool table (to appease my husband for all the work he's done on the remodel and heck yeah there is room for one), a bar, and the typical media center area including our record player. The ridiculous thing is that I think someday I'll have to get a bigger couch and tv since that room dwarfs everything. Right now it looks full but that's because of the mammoth wall of boxes and stuff that is in there now.
Lastly the other fairly large chunk of money we spent was on beginning to fix the garage and work on the drainage problem. Half way through the month of July we had a monsoon of a rainstorm which is not expected in the middle of July in Texas! Unfortunately, we had just moved the boxes into the garage for staging the day before. Because we still weren't living there, it took us a day to realize that oh hey the garage doesn't just leak it floods... I didn't take any pictures of the aftermath because I really do not want to remember this much longer but of course the boxes on the bottom of the stacks were not pottery and plastic... oh no, it was books (yes some vintage too) and my wicker under the bed box full of all of my pictures. Devastating. The good news is that the pictures, through a five day drying and crying out process, all seem to be more or less saved. I won't say they are in perfect condition still but you can still enjoy them. (I add the caveat of hopefully, they are all stacked back up in the wicker box which also survived and I haven't checked on them in a couple of weeks...so keep your fingers crossed). The books on the other hand are toast as I prioritized the pictures over the books. I'll have to make a list of the books and slowly rebuy them over time. At least for the most part I can do that. The one thing that would not have been replaceable, my grandmother's handwritten cookbook, miraculously was fine... still not sure how, but I am counting those small victories as positive. So my husband has spent countless hours ever since tearing apart the back of the garage and rebuilding it like a fort becuase he was originally going to turn the room into his man cave which needs to not have waterfront property on the inside. Now we just have to wait for it to rain again and see what happens... We knew there was a "drainage problem" when we moved in, we just didn't know a river literally runs through it... I still have to work on the actual drainage problem but that involves more contractors and given it's August I think we can wait a little bit on that.
Regardless, we've recovered from the flood and we're forging ahead. More updates and details will be coming soon, but I'll leave you with this picture, which has nothing to do with the house. The day we did the big move into the new house it happened to be our third year anniversary. In the middle of all what we had going on, my so very thoughtful husband, bought me this leather bag for the "leather" anniversary. It's a vintage bowling bag, but he thought I could use it as a traveling bag or to hold all my knitting and what not ....A collective awwww now is in order... Me on the other hand had to make up a connection of how my gift fit into the "leather" anniversary. I got him some really awesome cuff links (no connection but they were very him) and a cool vintage burnt orange dress shirt for UT game days. I used a Longhorn as my connection of the shirt to leather... LAME....queue up the Price is Right you didn't win sounds right about now... he loved it, but still comparatively I lose! The bag though is fab and it happens to have my initials on the back (well my maiden name initials but still how amazing is that? Friday, July 6, 2012
Library - Phase I
I have always loved to read. It probably stems from being an only child or the fact that my mom was a teacher and always had tons of books in the house. I always envisioned myself growing up to own a house big enough to have a library. Of course in my imagination it looked like something that belonged in a stately old Victorian mansion not a mid-century house. Nevertheless I am determined that I can create a hybrid somehow and make that dream a reality in our new house. It's going to take some doing but the front room of the house is the perfect space for a library. It's long and narrow and it can be closed off from the rest of the house and its not a room that we would use much otherwise. The good thing is that with the appropriate furniture it would double as a formal sitting room should the need arise.
My husband decided that given it is a library, it should have leather surfaces upon which to read. To keep the mid-century vibe going and include some leather furniture, I decided upon some mid-century style new leather furniture from Haverty's. Normally I would prefer vintage over new, but with leather, newer is always better. There is nothing more off putting to relaxing than cracked dried out leather. Luckily Haverty's Contempo line is stylish and comfortable I am getting the grey (pictured in the back) in order to go with the red accents I have planned for the room. I love the terra cotta color they have, but it is too orange for the room and would clash with the red. I already had two Billy Bookshelves from Ikea, but I plan to buy a few more to make walls of books. I'd like to someday find old lawyer-style bookcases with the glass fronts, but in the meantime the Billy shelves allow for corner bookshelves and are a dark deep color that should contrast with the wall color well.
So it came down to picking the caramel color for the wall... I tried a few different samples with differing shades of brown and gold but finally settled on Coco Rum from Behr as it seemed to go best with the other colors that will be in the room.
I've started painting the walls now, but I forgot how long it takes to successfully paint a dark color. It's going to take a couple of coats to get it right. I only had a few hours actually paint yesterday, but I am making progress around the room. It's definitely a bold commitment, but I think with the furniture in the room, soft light from the lamps, and maybe an area rug it will end up being a perfect place to hide away and read.
The only thing missing from my ideal library will be a fireplace. Unfortunately this house did not have a fireplace but that was not a deal breaker. My favorite thing about a fireplace is the overall look of it so I hope to someday find a mantel or have one made so I can properly display my mantel clock and Christmas decor!
So Phase I of the library is begun. It'll be awhile before one can read in there but we are on our way! Stay tuned for more!
I've had a lot of time to plan the move since the time we decided to buy the house and when we were able to actually close on it so I've been thinking about this room a lot. I decided in order to make it a hybrid of my imagined library in a mid-century house it should include elements of both. Paneling would have been a nice compromise, but alas the only paneling in the house was in the dining room and it is now painted over... so the next best thing I could think of was to paint it a nice rich caramel color.
My husband decided that given it is a library, it should have leather surfaces upon which to read. To keep the mid-century vibe going and include some leather furniture, I decided upon some mid-century style new leather furniture from Haverty's. Normally I would prefer vintage over new, but with leather, newer is always better. There is nothing more off putting to relaxing than cracked dried out leather. Luckily Haverty's Contempo line is stylish and comfortable I am getting the grey (pictured in the back) in order to go with the red accents I have planned for the room. I love the terra cotta color they have, but it is too orange for the room and would clash with the red. I already had two Billy Bookshelves from Ikea, but I plan to buy a few more to make walls of books. I'd like to someday find old lawyer-style bookcases with the glass fronts, but in the meantime the Billy shelves allow for corner bookshelves and are a dark deep color that should contrast with the wall color well. 
The only thing missing from my ideal library will be a fireplace. Unfortunately this house did not have a fireplace but that was not a deal breaker. My favorite thing about a fireplace is the overall look of it so I hope to someday find a mantel or have one made so I can properly display my mantel clock and Christmas decor!
So Phase I of the library is begun. It'll be awhile before one can read in there but we are on our way! Stay tuned for more!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Coming Soon!!!!
Wow I just realized it has been MONTHS since I posted anything and I apologize for that...BUT I have been packing, planning and plotting like a mad person. You may recall in my last post that I had said we found a buyer for our house and that we were waiting for things to go through. Well all did go through, and I am happy to say my house sold to my brother-in-law and his family! How lucky is that?? It could be that the fact my husband has such a large family made the odds better that someone from our family would buy it, but I like to think it was the universe directing things. For me, to let go of the first house I bought, I couldn't be happier that my niece is going to be living there, preserving what we did to it and making it hers.
I may have said it before when I started this blog, but I started packing way before I even had my husband convinced to move because I just felt like it was the right time. Well I couldn't have been more right... A few days after we decided to pursue the path of family buying our house, CollectoratorOne stumbled upon a new for sale by owner house in her neighborhood. I had been looking exclusively in her neighborhood to fulfill our dream of living down the street from each other as we grow older. I drove by immediately and even in the dusk I felt it could be a potential. We looked at it shortly thereafter and even though we only looked at one other house, we thought it'd be hard to beat this one for us. We closed on it today so now it is home sweet home...well as soon as we get some things done and move in of course. I am really looking forward to the end result though including many long evenings hanging out with CollectoratorOne! Who knows what kind of adventures will ensue when we live so close to one another!
The house is almost twice as big as our former house and the layout is perfect for being married to a musician! It was built in 1960 and sits on a corner lot. The last owner did some updating to it, but the original intent is mostly still there, but unfortunately not many original fixtures and small details like I had hoped. The bathrooms though retain their original tile, a pink one and a blue one thank you very much so I am satisfied at least with that! (Another pink bathroom is saved!!!) Thankfully there is also no granite to speak of, but we'll be changing the counter tops out anyway. The main thing that was changed was the flooring. All the original flooring is gone (most of which was carpet and so I should probably be thankful for it being gone), and it was taken down to the concrete and stained. Although not my preference, its very well done and it is a nice dark color. So, for now, we are leaving it EXCEPT in the kitchen where it makes everything look just a little too manly in there. I am re-formica-ing the counter, putting in VCT and getting glass pane cabinet doors added to show off my kitchen collections (oh yeah forgot to mention that they took all the cabinet doors off as well). These updates should girl-ify it up again!
Mostly I am excited to get started with the move in etc and will blog as I go... Here's a before picture of the outside of the house. We are eventually going to take the trim and facings back to the original color which I have learned was white. A nice red brick with white trim house... Love it! I should probably say it's also a before picture of the grass too because I am notoriously bad at keeping grass alive in the Texas drought! Stay tuned!
I may have said it before when I started this blog, but I started packing way before I even had my husband convinced to move because I just felt like it was the right time. Well I couldn't have been more right... A few days after we decided to pursue the path of family buying our house, CollectoratorOne stumbled upon a new for sale by owner house in her neighborhood. I had been looking exclusively in her neighborhood to fulfill our dream of living down the street from each other as we grow older. I drove by immediately and even in the dusk I felt it could be a potential. We looked at it shortly thereafter and even though we only looked at one other house, we thought it'd be hard to beat this one for us. We closed on it today so now it is home sweet home...well as soon as we get some things done and move in of course. I am really looking forward to the end result though including many long evenings hanging out with CollectoratorOne! Who knows what kind of adventures will ensue when we live so close to one another!
The house is almost twice as big as our former house and the layout is perfect for being married to a musician! It was built in 1960 and sits on a corner lot. The last owner did some updating to it, but the original intent is mostly still there, but unfortunately not many original fixtures and small details like I had hoped. The bathrooms though retain their original tile, a pink one and a blue one thank you very much so I am satisfied at least with that! (Another pink bathroom is saved!!!) Thankfully there is also no granite to speak of, but we'll be changing the counter tops out anyway. The main thing that was changed was the flooring. All the original flooring is gone (most of which was carpet and so I should probably be thankful for it being gone), and it was taken down to the concrete and stained. Although not my preference, its very well done and it is a nice dark color. So, for now, we are leaving it EXCEPT in the kitchen where it makes everything look just a little too manly in there. I am re-formica-ing the counter, putting in VCT and getting glass pane cabinet doors added to show off my kitchen collections (oh yeah forgot to mention that they took all the cabinet doors off as well). These updates should girl-ify it up again!
Mostly I am excited to get started with the move in etc and will blog as I go... Here's a before picture of the outside of the house. We are eventually going to take the trim and facings back to the original color which I have learned was white. A nice red brick with white trim house... Love it! I should probably say it's also a before picture of the grass too because I am notoriously bad at keeping grass alive in the Texas drought! Stay tuned!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Warrenton 3/30/12 Aftermath
Well the live blogging from Warrenton didn't turn out to well, good idea in theory but turns out that you need good internet service on your cell in order to do that! Considering that the cell service is spotty at best I shouldn't have expected the internet cell service to be any better! oh well. I did score a few good things that I'll share soon. I was VERY good for me at Warrenton though given the move is pending... oh and it's really pending now! We found a buyer for our house and assuming it all goes well in the option period, we will be feverishly looking for the next place! That means I have to finish PACKING!!!
Check back soon for what I did let myself buy today!
Warrenton 3/30/12 12:00
Relaxacizor!!!! I am going to need this after the chicken salad sandwich I am going to have shortly!!
Warrenton 3/30/12 9:45am
Blogging live from the Warrenton Antique festival!
Spotted the cutie pies!!! Wish I could buy!!!
Spotted the cutie pies!!! Wish I could buy!!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
All that Glitters is Gold! - Part1
For now, you'll have to settle for what was easily accessible and now packed up. My favorite in the part 1 collection is the Petite Hi-Snacks set made in Burbank California by the Alexander and Wilson Company. Frankly, I'd like to throw a party just with snack set trays. It'd be fun to see all the guests walking around trying to navigate their glass in the cup holder whilst piling their plate with yummy tidbits and trying to enjoy both at once. I am sure my dog would be following everyone around though waiting for the inevitable spills and drops. The more I think about it the more this party would be for him... hmmm.... I'll have to wait for a special birthday for him to warrant such a feast! In any case, these snack trays are marvelous, complete with their box. Funny, on the inside of the box it says....."do not use as ash trays"....hee hee
I also love the little coasters in their stand although I never understood how these make good coasters. Capturing water I am sure they do well, but they are not flat on the inside so setting a glass on the raised star designed seems to welcome a mess to come along. Nevertheless, they make a nice display. Rounding off part 1 of the gold glitter collection are much more sensible party food trays, and essential bar ware of a jigger and stir sticks. I'll admit I didn't pack the jigger. It is necessary for the perfect cosmo and since I have more time left here I might need a perfect cosmo or two to get through this process! In case you are wondering the cosmo is easy, but I'll warn you, I like it limey and not so cranberry-y:CollectoratorToo's Perfect Cosmopolitan
1 large part vodka (overfill if it's a bad day)
1 small part fresh lime juice (I usually overfill that too)
1 small part triple sec, curacao or if you can't afford it cointreau is best (I am on a budget because of moving so it's triple sec for me!)
1 small part cranberry juice
Make a pitcher and serve up in a modern size martini glass with a game of skip-bo out in the sun room. Trust me you will have fun.
Friday, January 13, 2012
A Little Birdie Told Me...
See I love birds, not in that crazy Alfred Hitchcock way, but so much that I have a hard time turning down a good vintage bird print or figurine when I see it! So needless to say you can find a bird or two or three in just about every room in the house. This new birds in flight set will go nicely with my other wooden birds in flight set that CollectoratorOne gave me as a present awhile back. These are really superb. Navy blue to go with my blue glass topped furniture, and they are wood! How cool is that?
And if that isn't enough bird watching for you, CollectoratorOne found me a 1952 chartreuse Claire Learner bowl (finally!) for Christmas, and it came with an egret figurine to boot. It also makes a really nice home for my other Claire Learner bird figurine which has needed a home for a very long time...
All of the birding is very apropos because it has been in the news lately that two families of whooping cranes have decided to make Granger Lake their home for the winter, which is just right up the road a piece from our fair city. Of course I am dying to see a bird that is as tall as me, but they are discouraging people from flocking out there...hee hee... Apparently they flew to Aransas, Texas from Canada as usual but decided the foodstuffs were better in central Texas. Apparently we are becoming more of a foodie town than I thought! =) Anyway, I'll settle for seeing them on the news, and looking at all the birds around my for now. Of course, now I just have to pack up the new additions to my nest but I am happy to welcome them home.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cocktails Anyone???
I've always wanted a bar cart, I don't know why really. I don't ever really have the need to cart barware anywhere, but maybe I just imagine retiring to the sun room with CollectoratorOne and our gal pals for an intense game of Skip-Bo and cocktails whilst my husband carts in fresh cocktails to us. Positively decadent. The room would be nautical and star inspired and would be filled with Alamo and Gilmer pottery, and of course we'd be wearing appropriate matching attire! Can you just imagine?? I figured for this scenario to ever have a likelihood of happening I would need a bar cart. God knows I have enough Alamo and Gilmer pottery to make it happen!
There was a bar cart for sale for the longest time at our favorite antique store here in Austin, and I hemmed and hawed about it for too long and then it was gone. I did manage to snag the glasses from it, which did not match at all and now I use for my everyday glasses. The cart had four cutouts for glasses, and every time I bought four glasses, I'd go back and for awhile and there were four more until it was gone! I always wonder were12 glasses all of the glasses or were there more????
Finally one day, CollectoratorOne happened upon another bar cart for me. She did the best collectorating friend thing one can do and told me to come there right now and buy it, which I thankfully did... The one I passed up was nice, but no doubt but this one was perfect for me. Gold...stars...rolls nicely, what more could one ask for?
We still have to figure out how to get my dream scenario to happen with the husband carting in cocktails, and oh and I still need the sun room, but at least I have the cart. It's a start!
There was a bar cart for sale for the longest time at our favorite antique store here in Austin, and I hemmed and hawed about it for too long and then it was gone. I did manage to snag the glasses from it, which did not match at all and now I use for my everyday glasses. The cart had four cutouts for glasses, and every time I bought four glasses, I'd go back and for awhile and there were four more until it was gone! I always wonder were12 glasses all of the glasses or were there more????
Finally one day, CollectoratorOne happened upon another bar cart for me. She did the best collectorating friend thing one can do and told me to come there right now and buy it, which I thankfully did... The one I passed up was nice, but no doubt but this one was perfect for me. Gold...stars...rolls nicely, what more could one ask for?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow Snowflake Bar-ware
Thankfully then I have three sets of cocktail glasses! My favorite are the etched deco glasses, but I have no idea who made them or when but they are awesome. Another set I use as cocktail glasses is the Libbey Silver Leaf Sherbert glasses. They hold larger 4 oz cocktails and champagne as well, and they have a nifty pitcher that matches! I also lucked out and found a set to match the snowflake barware which I use most often.
The thing I love about vintage cocktail glasses is they are the correct size! 3oz! Unlike in today's world of 5oz to 6oz cocktails, back then they drank in sensible portions. Granted it was usually pure alcohol in their concoctions so it's probably better that it was only 3 oz! But the idea was to drink the drink fast while the cocktail was still ice cold. I think I'll be using these a lot to get through the move!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Happy Birthday to Me!
Ok, it's not actually my birthday today, it was over a month ago, but given I was sick on my birthday and then bombarded by the holidays I am just now getting around to showing off my 40th birthday present haul. CollectoratorOne is the best gift giver and this year's birthday gifts were so fun! First is this lovely red quilted robe that is just my size, small and petite, and would definitely fall under a "do" in the Fashion Do's and Don'ts for the Short Girl booklet that CollectoratorOne gave me a couple birthdays ago. That booklet is so funny by the way, all the badly dressed short girls are also depicted as "bad" girls, as if "bad" fashion leads to "bad" behavior. You never know, maybe it does!!!! I scanned in a few pages of the booklet on my flickr site if you want a laugh check it out.
Second, are these awesome shoe protector boots for rainy weather called Drizzle Boots!!!! Instead of having to commit a fashion "don't" and wear ugly rain galoshes, you can slip these on over your regular shoes and still be styling! They even have a space for the heel of your shoe! I can't wait to try these out. I think these will do a way better job of rain protecting than my disposable footguards, although they are a quite humorous I must say. I am not sure if the art work, or the fact that they come on a roll like foil makes me giggle the most. They haven't ever been opened but I am dying to know what they are like. They look they wouldn't help keep the rain out at all! Too funny.Of course I had to buy a present for myself which was this neato sewing basket. I just love the star on it. I outgrew my other sewing basket, and given my sister wants to learn how to sew, I filled it up with all the basic sewing essentials and sent it to her for Christmas. She doesn't know, but that's exactly how it came to me from my mom. She bought a new one and gave me hers filled with new gear, so it's been passed down again in the same way. That ought to fill you with warm fuzzies!
Lastly but bestly, my husband gave me four vintage pins, one for each season, he said, but I think he was being cute and really meant one for each decade. There is a Christmas tree with pearls as ornaments, a plastic one that is a spray of spring green flowers, a gold filigree style butterfly, and a rhinestone leaf. He knows how much I love pins!!!! I am so thankful for my loved ones and that they know me so well! Thanks you guys for turning a lousy birthday into a happy time and thanks for all the years of friendship and love!!!!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Knit One, Purl One
I am determined to learn how to knit. I can sew, crochet, and even tat a little but knitting has always alluded me. I have no idea why really as there's only a few stitches to learn and I can sew just fine which can be intimidating when you think about making a full outfit. I recently got out my knitting needles, my how to book, and you tube videos and started up again. I am doing ok so far and have gotten further along than ever before, but I still have miles to go before I am ready to make anything real like this:
My good friend made this amazing leaf scarf for me for my birthday to help keep me warm while we wait for me to learn. She wanted to try out a vintage pattern that had been reproduced in a book, and I couldn't resist requesting this scarf. It's absolutely beautiful and looks perfect with my vintage coats. She's brilliantly good at this, and she is serving as my inspiration to learn to do this craft once and for all! I am having her make me this shrug below next. I figured that by the time I finally figure out how to knit this well I will be too old to wear anything this cute! I am going to have her make it grey with cream edging. Can't wait! Maybe I shouldn't worry about learning and just commission her to make me a new winter wardrobe! =p
My good friend made this amazing leaf scarf for me for my birthday to help keep me warm while we wait for me to learn. She wanted to try out a vintage pattern that had been reproduced in a book, and I couldn't resist requesting this scarf. It's absolutely beautiful and looks perfect with my vintage coats. She's brilliantly good at this, and she is serving as my inspiration to learn to do this craft once and for all! I am having her make me this shrug below next. I figured that by the time I finally figure out how to knit this well I will be too old to wear anything this cute! I am going to have her make it grey with cream edging. Can't wait! Maybe I shouldn't worry about learning and just commission her to make me a new winter wardrobe! =p
Friday, December 23, 2011
Fire and Ice - Christmas Tablescape!
I apologize for my absence, I wish I had a good story to explain my whereabouts but truth be told, I've just been sick and then catching up from being sick. Being sick really but a damper on the start of the holiday festivities for me. I missed my birthday and Thanksgiving. I was bound to not let it take me out of Christmas too, my absolutely favorite holiday. Thankfully, I am well again and Christmas festivities can begin in earnest! Merry Christmas Everyone!
We decided to scale back Christmas this year though due to the pending move in the spring. It didn't sound like a lot fun to have to wrap back up all the ornaments etc when I am also wrapping up everything in the house. However, that did not stop me from creating a festive tablescape! I like to think of this one as fire and ice. Almost hate to burn the candles tho since finding gold candles was a bit of a chore so it might just be called would be fire and ice....
This tablescape features my Manhattan vase and collection of vintage glass candelabras. On the ends are my newest additions, Cambridge Caprice trindle holders followed inward by an unknown maker deco pair, and then my favorites, the Cambridge Arms and bases which are a super fun set. They are modular and all sorts of accessories were available. See the advertisement photo I copied in below for some examples of their versatility. The arms can stack on one another for a huge centerpiece, or they can stand on their own for a wider centerpiece. You can buy different bases for the arms or even have the arms set in a big bowl. They made peg vases to fit inside the candle holders so flowers could be included in the arrangement. There are also bobeches, prisms, peg figurines, and nappy bowls that could be added. I like the nappy bowls the best. I saw one advertisement where they used the nappy bowls as a lazy susan. Clever! Course I have none of the accessories yet but that's just something else to collect! Darn!
We decided to scale back Christmas this year though due to the pending move in the spring. It didn't sound like a lot fun to have to wrap back up all the ornaments etc when I am also wrapping up everything in the house. However, that did not stop me from creating a festive tablescape! I like to think of this one as fire and ice. Almost hate to burn the candles tho since finding gold candles was a bit of a chore so it might just be called would be fire and ice....
This tablescape features my Manhattan vase and collection of vintage glass candelabras. On the ends are my newest additions, Cambridge Caprice trindle holders followed inward by an unknown maker deco pair, and then my favorites, the Cambridge Arms and bases which are a super fun set. They are modular and all sorts of accessories were available. See the advertisement photo I copied in below for some examples of their versatility. The arms can stack on one another for a huge centerpiece, or they can stand on their own for a wider centerpiece. You can buy different bases for the arms or even have the arms set in a big bowl. They made peg vases to fit inside the candle holders so flowers could be included in the arrangement. There are also bobeches, prisms, peg figurines, and nappy bowls that could be added. I like the nappy bowls the best. I saw one advertisement where they used the nappy bowls as a lazy susan. Clever! Course I have none of the accessories yet but that's just something else to collect! Darn!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Super Cute!
I still haven't gotten back into the swing of things packing wise, but the contractor is coming tomorrow to do a run through on the current house of all the things we need to fix. That'll be a fun list I am sure... Once we have that list we'll sketch out the overall timeline for getting everything done including the overall plan for packing/staging. I am dying in anticipation of getting thing moving forward (literally), and I am trying hard not to get ahead of myself thinking about what the new house could be like. It'd be nice if I could just twinkle my nose like Samantha and everything was done, course then I'd have less to blog about so I guess I'll just stick it out and entertain the masses... =)
Gimbels got me thinking about Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday other than Flag Day when I certain sister of mine arrived. Although I love Christmas, it's not in that every-day-is-like-Christmas-decorating way, I just love the smell and sparkle of it more than any other holiday. The food and decorations are a close second though to the excuse to sing Christmas carols at any moment. My husband and I have an agreement that between Thanksgiving and New Years I can sing as many carols as I want, but I am not allowed a single peep after New Years Day. Sigh... I do love to decorate, but this year I have a conundrum. I've put all my packed boxes thus far in the spot where my tree goes... So I guess I have to make some changes to get a real staging area for my boxes. Christmas is also the perfect excuse for creating tablescapes and no boxes are in the way for that endeavor! Here's the past couple of Christmas tablescapes. I have this year's all planned out already so I better get it started before I pack it all away! Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I've been super good about shopping, and I haven't bought hardly a thing! I did allow myself to buy this super cute hair comb this past weekend while my sister was here (does this count as a fascinator or does it have to have feathers to be one??). We made the rounds including going up to Georgetown to visit a friend of mine and eat lunch up there and while we were there she took us to a consignment store that apparently used to have a whole backroom of vintage clothing. Unfortunately all they had vintage now is some aprons and a slew of hats. I couldn't resist this little number as it was super cute, super cheap and from Gimbels! How fun is that. I think I'll wear it on my up coming birthday.
Gimbels got me thinking about Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday other than Flag Day when I certain sister of mine arrived. Although I love Christmas, it's not in that every-day-is-like-Christmas-decorating way, I just love the smell and sparkle of it more than any other holiday. The food and decorations are a close second though to the excuse to sing Christmas carols at any moment. My husband and I have an agreement that between Thanksgiving and New Years I can sing as many carols as I want, but I am not allowed a single peep after New Years Day. Sigh... I do love to decorate, but this year I have a conundrum. I've put all my packed boxes thus far in the spot where my tree goes... So I guess I have to make some changes to get a real staging area for my boxes. Christmas is also the perfect excuse for creating tablescapes and no boxes are in the way for that endeavor! Here's the past couple of Christmas tablescapes. I have this year's all planned out already so I better get it started before I pack it all away! Stay tuned.
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| Snowglobe/Snowman Christmas - 2010 Love the excuse to buy net Christmas Tablecloths! |
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| Poinsetta/Gold Glitter Tree Christmas - 2009 |
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Collectorator Game Night 101
Well, I think I've officially entered into a new exciting era of life! Maybe it's because I am about to have one of those milestone birthdays (do not want to talk about that!), or maybe it's because I am on the brink of moving and it's becoming real as we are starting to plan out the early stages. Ultimately, though, I think it's because we had an official game night the other night for the first time in a really long time and there are more such nights in our future! CollectoratorOne and I used to have infamously fun game nights but after boyfriends and friends came and went we were down to just two of us who love to play games. Not that playing games with just us two is no fun (trying to beat CollectoratorOne at any game is fun enough to make it last a lifetime), but games turn into a party when you have three or even four at the table. We recently lucked into finding our new third, a recent transplant to our fair city who I think may love games just as much as us (not to mention shoes.... you know you want to give me those shoes!!!!), and my sister visiting for said milestone birthday gave us a lucky fourth! So of course I couldn't resist planning out a game night this week!
So what do you need to throw a Collectorator Game Night of your own? Funny you ask... Snacks (always good, and I forgot about that one!), party ware (would have been nice if I had remembered the snacks AND if it hadn't all been packed way!) Champagne (it is requisite and I remembered that), but really you just need one lovely hyphenated word... Skip-Bo!
Oh Skip-Bo, how do I love thee? Is it your velvety red box with the divided built in tray? Is it your sailboat-backed cards that seem to make no sense of why the sailboats are there? Or is it 30 plus year old memories of playing it with your grandmother... probably the latter although the sailboats on the back of the cards are pretty nifty. I don't know officially when I learned to play, but I remember playing it all the time when I was a kid with my great grandmother (whom we called mom), my grandmother and my auntie. Later in life, when I met CollectoratorOne we discovered that we had the same Skip-Bo upbringing. How weird is that especially given we grew up on opposite poles of the united states (me in Texas and her in Illinois), and it was a game made in Texas! So you can only guess what ensued next. At the time though, I only had the new version of the game. And I tell you right now if you have that version from Uno, throw it out now and buy yourself the official 1967 version. You might pay a little more, but it's worth it as the new version does not have the right number of cards!
Because of our obsession we researched all we could about the game and found out it was produced by Skip and Hazel Bowman in Brownfield, TX in 1967, so you see where the Skip and Bo come from now! I don't know the reason for the sailboats other than maybe he liked to sail? It's a super fun game modeled after Spite and Malice consisting of blocking, getting on a roll, and revenge. Of course CollectoratorOne beat us all at it the other night! We also played another favorite game that we hadn't played in a really long time because you have to have three players at least. It's a German card game of bean bartering (yes beans) called Bohnanza. I won that one some how... =) Game night 1 of the new era is in the books! Let's schedule Game night 2!!!
So what do you need to throw a Collectorator Game Night of your own? Funny you ask... Snacks (always good, and I forgot about that one!), party ware (would have been nice if I had remembered the snacks AND if it hadn't all been packed way!) Champagne (it is requisite and I remembered that), but really you just need one lovely hyphenated word... Skip-Bo!
Oh Skip-Bo, how do I love thee? Is it your velvety red box with the divided built in tray? Is it your sailboat-backed cards that seem to make no sense of why the sailboats are there? Or is it 30 plus year old memories of playing it with your grandmother... probably the latter although the sailboats on the back of the cards are pretty nifty. I don't know officially when I learned to play, but I remember playing it all the time when I was a kid with my great grandmother (whom we called mom), my grandmother and my auntie. Later in life, when I met CollectoratorOne we discovered that we had the same Skip-Bo upbringing. How weird is that especially given we grew up on opposite poles of the united states (me in Texas and her in Illinois), and it was a game made in Texas! So you can only guess what ensued next. At the time though, I only had the new version of the game. And I tell you right now if you have that version from Uno, throw it out now and buy yourself the official 1967 version. You might pay a little more, but it's worth it as the new version does not have the right number of cards!
Because of our obsession we researched all we could about the game and found out it was produced by Skip and Hazel Bowman in Brownfield, TX in 1967, so you see where the Skip and Bo come from now! I don't know the reason for the sailboats other than maybe he liked to sail? It's a super fun game modeled after Spite and Malice consisting of blocking, getting on a roll, and revenge. Of course CollectoratorOne beat us all at it the other night! We also played another favorite game that we hadn't played in a really long time because you have to have three players at least. It's a German card game of bean bartering (yes beans) called Bohnanza. I won that one some how... =) Game night 1 of the new era is in the books! Let's schedule Game night 2!!!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Will You Believe More Sharkskin?
CollectoratorOne and I were out this past weekend for Phase I for the search for her wedding dress, and we went by a few places we hadn't been by in awhile to check their stock. There are still a few places in our fair city where you are guaranteed a good find, but you'll have to pay some $$ for it. One of our old favorites didn't fail to deliver and amazingly it wasn't expensive as we remember. Either they've come down in prices or having adult-jobs has made us realize that the prices weren't that bad after all. We didn't find the dress at the first stop, but we found a maybe dress, and I finally found a navy sweater. I've been looking for a navy sweater small enough for me for so many years I can't even remember how many years it's been!
Then I came across this fab Dijon mustard yellow and blue sharkskin dress that was something so nifty I couldn't pass it up. We learned from the owner that it was brought in with a few other items by a lady who had some clothes made in Thailand while she was stationed with her husband during the war (Korean/Viet Nam??). He said all of the dresses she brought in were made with Thai silk. I always feel better about Collectoratoring when I know the backstory.
Our second stop actually led to the DRESS for CollectoraorOne, but I am going to remain mute about it until it's been cleaned/altered for her as to not let it out there until it's time... BUT suffice to say it's a really stunningly beautiful dress, and she looked amazingly beautiful in it already and it hasn't even been altered! What made it better is we got it for a really good deal. Can't beat that. I am so excited!!! I already had my dress for the wedding, which also I am not going to post for awhile, not because it's secret, but because it really needs to be pressed as it was wadded up in a barrel for a long while....
I also tried to get my hands on a really super cute plaid playsuit, but I was priced out of it pretty quickly. I should always be leery of things I want that don't have price tags on it! But given that it was just as much as the wedding dress (how is that even possible??) I knew it wasn't coming home with me...Later I learned the owner wanted to sell it on etsy so look out for a super cute red plaid playsuit on there soon!!! I could have shown you how cute the playsuit was, but I have to admit that I failed on my first chance for using my new phone on a Collectorating adventure. Sigh... Oh well, I'll get used to having that technology for the taking sooner than later.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sharkskin and Velvet
Hey y’all sorry I disappeared! It’s been super busy at the CollectoratorToo camp. First and foremost I broke my phone which caused all sorts of problems in and of itself, but I entered into the modern age and got a super smart phone. This phone has a PhD whereas my other phone had probably dropped out of elementary school! What I love about it most is I can blog from anywhere, post fun pics on the road because I have a real camera on the phone now, and do just about anything I want to do when I want to do it. I am left wondering why I did not do this sooner.
I also got sucked up into the baseball playoff/World Series vortex. I am not a big sports fan at all, but I am a loyal fan to the Texas Longhorns and Texas Rangers. See the Rangers were in the World Series this year and last year, which is a huge miracle if you grew up with them like I did (literally down the street). Because it was something I may only see once or twice (now) in my lifetime, like a chance to see a comet, I had to tune in. Never mind the fact that we lost, it was worth the pain of loss to see the experience. Baseball is one of those sports though I really do like in general. Something about it is still so old school and vintage America. I love that they have not modernized it too much other than the crazy ballparks. If only people would still dress up to go to games. You look at baseball crowd pictures back in the 1940s and they have suits and day dresses on. Heck yeah. Most people just seem to have lost the desire to look put together at all in public anymore…
Anyway, I digress. We also have had some our friends from overseas visit so we had a party. It was challenging in a fun way to figure out how to have a party with all my party-ware packed away, but I managed through it although it wasn’t up to my usual par. We even played Skip-Bo as the party wound down (here’s my Skip-Bo card case by the way in all it's red velvet glory, I’ll write a whole blog on Skip-Bo soon because it totally deserves its own blog). Playing Skip-Bo made it close to my favorite kind of party. As I said before I always long to have the Dick Van Dyke style party where it breaks into a mini variety show or games ensue so this was pretty close!
Even with all this going on, I did manage to make it back to the flea market in town and once again my husband had better luck than me. No wonder he keeps agreeing to go with me to this flea market! We got this awesome sharkskin coat for his stage outfits for $3. Course the lady also had this lambs wool wrap and muff I wanted, but it was $60. Hello. Not fair. In any case, we bought the jacket and the next day I found the tie to go along with it. He’s lucky he has me to design his outfits for his shows!!
I’m back though now and I'll back to packing… more soon!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Playsuits, Jarts, and Badminton... Oh My!
Playsuits, or "onesies for adults" as CollectoratorOne calls them (ha!!) are a very utilitarian clothing staple that has unfortunately gone by the way side. Yes, we still have shorts and tops, but do they often include a matching overskirt or wrap that you can don so you can go just about anywhere comfortably? Nothing against shorts, I have my fair share of cute shorts, but you are stuck being casual without the overskirt or wrap. See, with a playsuit with an overdress/wrap, I could take a walk around the lake in the morning, brunch with a friend on her veranda, go by the grocery store to pick up some food for the early evening lawn party, prepare and serve the food, and then off comes the wrap, and I am ready for a game of Jarts or Badminton just like that! Tell me another outfit you could do all that in?
CollectoratorOne officially endorses playsuits as the most comfortable thing to cook in as well so we should all give that a try! Of course, some playsuitss, like the ones pictured here from CollectoratorOne's collection, are more akin to one piece bathing suits so probably not the best thing to go grocery shopping in, BUT I think they'd still get the husband stamp of approval for cooking in! CollectoratorOne and I have vowed that as soon as we have grass again to play lawn games in that we'll play Jarts and Badminton often in our playsuits. Unfortunately, I don't own any playsuits (amazingly enough if you've seen my closet) so I an going have to make my own so i can join in the lawn game fun!
I have been collecting vintage playsuit patterns for awhile like my favorite one pictured here, and I found this nautical fabric that I think is just a big enough piece to make it. It's been a long while since I sewed anything, mostly due to lack of time, and excuse, after excuse, after excuse. I should probably concentrate on packing up things in my free time instead of creating more things to pack, but if I start working on the pattern now maybe I'll actually finish it by the time the grass grows back! I don't have any coordinating fabric to make the wrap though which means I'll have to buy more fabric! yay! I told myself if I made something I could buy more fabric so that should be extra motivation to get started! Stay tuned!
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