Lasso The Moon

Saving a Super-Old Mirror

Remember my entry collage of old mirrors?  I still haven't stopped looking for mirrors whenever I'm out and about. They seem to catch my eye everywhere.  When I was at the thrift store recently, I came across an old mirror in really bad shape.  It was in a frame, but there was no back.  And over the years, the silver backing had been worn away, so that most of the edges of the mirror were now just clear glass.  When I picked it up to look at it, even more of the silver flaked off and fell to the floor.  I had a feeling that if I left it there, it would be just a pane of glass within a few days. 

So of course I brought it home.

I'd asked the girl at the counter to wrap it in newspaper so that it wouldn't flake off everywhere, and that's how it stayed for a couple weeks while I figured out what to do with it.

Here's the front, with the newspaper showing through the clear glass:

And the back:

I knew I wanted something old to put behind the glass, because whatever I put there was going to show through.  I looked through my fabric supply.  (I have a lot of old fabric.)  But most of the prints were from the 70's, and this mirror feels at least 20 years older than that.

Then I remembered a box of vintage wrapping paper that my mom gave me for my birthday several years ago.  My mom gives great gifts.

I have lots more than this, but these were the most metallic-looking.  And I thought metallic would be great to show through the edges of a mirror.

I tried out a couple to see how they looked.

Which one would you have picked?

To me, the geometric star-like pattern was the clear (no pun intended!) choice.  I cut it to size, 12 x 18 and placed it behind the glass. I taped it to the back of the frame so it wouldn't shift.  Then I found a big piece of chipboard from the back of an over-sized coloring book. (Thanks, kids!) I cut it also to size, and set it in, bending down the little nails in the back to hold the chipboard and paper in place.

Can you believe that frame! Oh, man.  I love it.

I hung the mirror in the entry for pictures, but it's still waiting to find it's permanent spot.  I'm just glad the silver is finally protected and intact.

It's hard to take pictures of mirrors, but I tried to get something nice in the reflection.  That cross is hanging in our dining room.  Donnie welded it from steel. 

He's so cool.

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What fun things are you working on this week?

Date Night

Donnie and I like to get out at least every other Thursday night to spend some time together without all the little guys around.    My mom feeds them dinner, gets them ready to bed, pops some popcorn, and snuggles in for a movie on the couch with all her grand-babies around her.  Do you think they even notice that we're gone with all that fun?  I doubt it!

Last night while Mom had them occupied, we headed up to the a Lakewood area to eat at one of my favorite Chinese food spots.

My dad used to take me on dates to the Snow Pea when I was little.  When Donnie and I started dating, Dad took him there to have a man-to-man talk.  It has some sweet memories built in to it's strange window-less facade.  But last night when we opened the door to go inside, we saw this:

Huh?

Ever feel like you're in a dream even thought you're fully awake? I think we were just here last month.  Where did the restaurant go?  Did it ever even exist?  Was my whole life really a dream? *spooky organ music* 

We were bummed out, but fortunately another of my favorite places is on the same strip.

Curiosities is a big warehouse store full of antiques, housewares, vintage collectibles, and strange "other" curiosities.  I had my phone with me, so I snapped some pictures so you could see what I mean.

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This orange wire shelf would look so cute in our turquoise girls room.

vintage game pieces

cage fans

I'm a sucker for old paint-by-numbers.

a bed pan with a funny name

I'm always on the lookout for wire locker baskets, but at $45 each, these were way out of my league.

Someday I'm going to have a collection of vintage rolling pins with colored handles.  And a kitchen to put them in.

There are hundreds of quilts, linens, sewing notions, and vintage fabrics in this shop. It makes me a little giddy.

This portrait looks exactly like my brother Jon.  I don't know that guy standing next to him though.

Here's a side-by-side so you can see what I mean. The real Jon is on the left.

I almost got this giant nursing mother sculpture, just to commemorate my recent breakthrough with Elijah. 

And if you have a thing for taxidermy this is the place for you.  There are antlers, alligator heads, and furry creatures big and small around every corner. 

Don't judge me that I wanted one of these ducklings really bad.  But I left them all right there next to the register.

If you are local to Dallas and are looking for a cool place to peruse, or need a one-of-a-kind gift, stop by Curiosities.  You will be entertained I promise.

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Have you been out lately without the little ones in tow?  Where did you go? What did you eat? Who did you go with?

 

 

Thrift Therapy

Found some great stuff while thrifting this Sunday.

My mom came over to relieve me for a couple hours, since Donnie had been out of town the whole weekend.

This sweet little vintage child's chair is perfect for Emma's girly turquoise bedroom.  The price? $1.21

And on the other side of the store I found this:

Double wedding ring quilt with a perfect blend of pinks and blues.  In "good" condition, with only a handful of rips or stains. 

They even look darling together!

The quilt was only $6.50.

I felt a little guilty using my tiny home-improvement fund to take these home, but for $7.71, there was no way I was leaving them there. This is why I keep going back.  You never know what you might find.  This is also why I try to never bring something home from a thrift store that I don't love.  Because the perfect something is waiting--you just have to keep looking.

I've already put these two treasures to work in a photo shoot.

You can buy the bunny here.

The Thrill of the Thrift

In all the vintage sheet excitement of my previous post, I forgot to show you another great find at the thrift store last week.

I was heading for the register to pay for my last load of sheets, at the last store of the day, when this little beauty caught my eye.  I almost let it go, but then thought even if it's a little beat up, I can still use it outside for picnics, right?

Turns out, it's not even a little bit beat up.  And it was only 12 bucks!

And it's one of Denyse Schmidt's retail designs!

Does anyone know what store this came from originally?  Did she have a line at Target? I don't know, but I'm happy I looked twice on my way out the door.  Yay for thrifting!

If you don't know about this designer, you need to.  She is one of the top modern quilt designers of the decade.  She uses simple fabrics and simple designs to make stunning works of art.  And while you're at it, check out her book  

It's one of the first quilt books I bought, and what I used to make this!

Keeping Busy

The weather in our part of Texas is absolutely stifling.  With temperatures continually hovering over 100 degrees, the babies and I are trying to do as much inside the house as possible.  This weekend we went on a short thrift-store tour (that's what I call it when you go from store to store without a break...) and we could hardly get from the car to the store without breaking a sweat!

But while we were there, I picked up a "few" things to keep me busy indoors this week.  Behold:

There are over 35 modern and vintage prints here.  They have been washed and folded, and in the next few days they'll be measured, cut, folded, stacked, bundled, photographed, uploaded, and listed in the shop.   See something you like? 

Here's another shot, just for scale.

Better get to work!  See you back here next time.

Anna

More about me me me, and a GIVEAWAY

Hey, just thought I'd pop in and tell you all about a fun interview about selling and sewing with vintage linens I just did with Jen over at The Vintage Sheet Blog. 

 

There's also a sweet little giveaway at the end, so make sure you pop over there and leave a comment!  Have a great weekend!

Anna

Soaring Eagles Thrift

Last week in church there was a presentation about a local thrift store called Soaring Eagles.  The company employs adults with intellectual challenges, and the much of the proceeds go toward Special Olympics, and other organizations along those lines.  I love a good thrift store and hadn't been there yet, since I'm new in town--so I went the first chance I got.

 

The store was clean and well-organized.  I found lots of vintage sewing paraphernalia and some sheets in great condition for the shop.  They were having a great sale, and almost everything I found was 1/2 off. 

These containers will be a big help in setting up my work room, which I really need to get around to.  And that roll is my favorite find of the day.  It is yards and yards of orange-grid drafting paper.  I can think of so many uses for this.  In fact, I've already put some of it to work as pattern paper on the project I started yesterday.

 

Overall, the store is a great find.  Head over there and check it out, if you are local.  But not all at once--leave me something good for next time.

And speaking of books...

I cannot believe I have not mentioned this book before.  It might be my all-time favorite parenting book.  This book was Montessori before Ms. Montessori was taking her first step.  I got it at a goodwill for the funny drawings, and only later discovered what a treasure it was.  I hope to go through it chapter-by-chapter, and take you along with me.

I'm currently buying every copy I see for baby gifts, and I'm thinking of selling some in my shop, since they are officially vintage.

Library Sale

They were $2 apiece, and I had a stack of more than twenty.  Time to make some criteria.  I decided that this time through I would only buy books that would inspire the kids to do something creatively, using their hands and their imaginations.

Growing up, we had many books of this kind, and as you can probably imagine, I ate them up!  I still use ideas and techniques inspired by my collection of "make and do" books from childhood.  So here's a start for my own kids.  I could buy new, but then you wouldn't have these hilarious illustrations from the 70's!

Note:  I did not get my stack down to 5 books, but these were the only 5 I could find at photo time!

Good Thriftin'

I have found tons of great thrifting the last couple of weeks.  Much of it will end up in the shop, but some of it will actually stay with me!  Like these scarves:

Ooh, la la!   Okay, some of them may end up in the shop, too.
Then there was this piece of fabric I found at the local arts and antiques market:

I never spend much on things for the house, so this East Indies-looking fabric was a special treat at $20.
I also picked up this amazing kids' teepee for $8, but I  guess I forgot to take a picture of it.  I tried to set it up for the kids to use in their western-themed room, but it was stretched out, so (as I was secretly hoping) the funky yellow canvas with red indian screen-print will have to be used as yardage!  (The actual print is in red ink--I just realized that sounds kinda funny.)  I'll have to show that to you after I get it all cleaned up.