#40: Vintage Supplies

After all the years of collecting/hoarding these beautiful pieces of vintage paper, office accessories and books, it's time to put them on the Fairview Place shop. For a while you were able to find these goodies at Kitsch, but for now they'll only be available online. My most beloved pieces are the Paper Parcels (above). Each pack comes with 30 carefully selected papers, which include flash cards, labels, envelopes, sheet music, maps, stickers, button cards, doilies, graphing paper, tickets, book pages, memo cards, postcards and more. They are great for making cards, Smash Books, scrapbooking, adorning gifts or just for collecting.

Other items include paper doilies, air mail envelopes, bridge tally cards, invitations, library cards, clothespins, books (with goodies inside that tell quite a story) and more to come soon. Most of the fun for me is finding the ephemera at estate sales and thrift stores and then making the perfect packaging for it.

Please take a look at what's at the shop and pass along! I'm always happy to do custom, or bulk orders (like if you want 100 pages of sheet music, I can make that happen) or keep my eyes out for something very specific!

I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. Click here to read all about it and here to a see a gallery of pictures of everyone participating. 

#20: Guest Room Artwork

It's only taken us a year to get these up. But I love them. On the left, a hand-stitched textile Emily brought me from Panama. Centered, a vintage typeset drawer I bought at Barrett's Antique Mall last Winter. On the right, my most favorite photo I took in Thailand. All said and done....$35! Now I just need little trinkets to help fill the drawer. Donations accepted.

I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. Click here to read all about it and here to a see a gallery of pictures of everyone participating. 

Felt Flower: Christmas Collection

I know a certain someone who has already claimed this first Christmas Bouquet. She's made a pretty good trade offer and if the bouquet doesn't sell this weekend, I will just have to take her up on it. This was the second bouquet I made and it makes me want snow and hot chocolate and my living room to be lit up with Christmas lights (pretty impressive a few felt flowers can do all of that, right?). I used a variety of materials for this bouquet, including vintage buttons, burlap, 1950s tinsel garland, pinecones and yarn. Just makes you feel like turning on some Bing Crosby and snuggling by the fire, right?

For this bouquet, I experimented with some satin fabric I had left over from this dress (which I still have not worn). Turn out to be a nice and lovely addition to the felt. I used lace for the accent pieces and centers of the smaller flowers.  

Some of my flower arrangements are inspired by massive amounts of felt I never use, i.e. greys, blues and purples. You'll never find grey flowers in the real world, but here they look plain pretty! I placed the bouquet in a maple syrup bottle we got for a housewarming present, so you might just get a whiff of that sweet, delicious smell with your bouquet.

Thrifty Thursday

Picked up this vintage mirrored tray for $1 (happy hour sale at Good Mojo, it's the place to be!).

And these cutie glass bottles were spotted at a church sale down the street from our house. Less than $1 for both. I think they'll make cute vases for my felt flowers...whenever I get around to making those!

Thrifty Thursday

Invites, flash cards and bridge score pads from the Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach.

I have always had a love of paper, especially old, slightly yellowed, unique pieces that just can't be duplicated. Since Kitsch has started selling my paper parcels, my ephemera collection has grown quite quickly. After a quick search to see what others are doing with all these vintage papers, I discovered there is a rather large "ephemera" community...meaning single-sheet or page documents which are meant to be thrown away after one use.

Scruples actually seems like a pretty fun game of 'how terrible of a person are you,' haha.

Christmas sheet music, perfect for greeting cards!

A recent stop at the thrift shop gave me a heap of gems for the parcel packs and some other very exciting products coming to Fairview Place. The top two favorites finds: the Clue game (50 cents) and the Cocktail Party invites ($1). Stay tuned for some new additions to the shop coming very soon!

Already used some of the darling 1950s baby photographs for a friend's shower card.

#72: Salvage/Junk Yard

I have dreams of randomly stumbling upon a salvage or junk yard when I'm out driving nowhere. I mean Frank and Mike do it all the time, why can't I? So far in my 79 days of Summer that hasn't exactly happened, so I'm posting about my favorite salvage store: Country Boys. I stopped in today and fell in love with the knobs, drawer pulls and door knob plates. I should have looked here when I was searching for my drawer shelves - next time!

Country Boys is a great resource if you're ever looking for specific pieces for older homes. They have a huge collection of newel posts, shutters, windows, doors, fireplace mantles and other architecture necessities that are hard to come by. I think some of their prices are a little high, so don't forget to haggle down. Today I walked away with a Smurfs (drinking) glass for a friend who had one that broke. I promised I'd quite with big projects for a while (until on my drive home I picked up a desk from someone's trash....but that story is for another day).

Do you know of any local salvage yards to recommend? What's your favorite place to go "digging"?

 

I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. To learn more about it, click here.

Thrifty Thursday

I found this beauty at the Five Points Community Farm Market book store. If you haven't had a chance to check out the book selection, it's seriously a must. The collection isn't overwhelming, but there's a little bit of everything. The prices are reasonable: $2 for hardbacks, $1 for softback books and magazines are free.

I had the original intent to use this 1958 Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex for my greeting cards. My very first batch of cards were made from a health encyclopedia and they are still some of my favorites. Although after Adrienne spent an evening reading the book she convinced me it's just too interesting to cut up. I couldn't disagree, and honestly it's in really great shape so I couldn't bring myself to hack away a quality book. And, it's pretty racy for 1950s, right?!

Thrifty Thursday

Cookbooks and sewing books - two things I just can't say no to. I recently found this Complete Family Sewing Book at an estate sale for $2. I am absolutely in love with all the illustrations and can't wait to get started on a new crafty project with them. Perhaps some of the pages would make great art, put a colorful matte behind it and an interesting frame. I need to find a contact who would be interested in selling (or consigning) art like that.

Monday Musebles

#91: Farmer's Market

The past four days were packed full of Hampton Roads must-dos for my visiting parents. Lucky for me, there were also a lot of 92 Days items to cross off too. Here's a short preview of trip (including running the boardwalk, visiting Yorktown and Fairview Place's anniversary). We went to the Portsmouth Flea Market, which is in Olde Towne, the first Saturday of every month. Mike and I hit up this market a few years back and boy has it grown! I was so excited to see the entire first floor of the parking garage full of vendors with loads of people.

#49: P*Town Flea

We picked up a few small things for house (glass milk bottle, wire basket and some mint), while my Mom purchased a gorgeous windmill locket. The prices are pretty reasonable and most vendors were willing to haggle. I think we might have missed out on a nice iron piece for above the bed, but I'm not 100 percent bummed we didn't buy it.

I think it's a crime not to have been to Chick's Oyster Bar as a visitor! We corrected that on Sunday afternoon with lunch and the infamous Bloody Mary bar.

#36: Freebie: Drive a Convertible

I played chauffeur on Friday when I took my parents to Yorktown. Lucky for me, I got to drive their brand new VW Convertible! That is a treat I could definitely get used to. Although, I have to admit, driving with the top down through the tunnels was terrifying.

#58: Watch a Movie

Okay, I will admit Henry Cavill made this movie worth watching. All the doom, gloom and destruction that today's Superhero movies must include is really just not my thing. I needed more Superman flying through the air with Louis Lane in his arms :)

#84: Go for a Walk

I love that when my Mom comes to visit we stay so active. The first morning we woke up, drove down to the Oceanfront and ran the boardwalk. On Friday we walked around the neighborhood, gawking at the houses and getting ideas for my yard and future plan of adding a balcony to the front of the house.

And of course, plenty of time relaxing (#13) in the sunshine. I'm working on the healthy tan this Summer, and making a good habit of applying sunscreen before heading outdoors. So far, it's working!

 I'm participating in my third 92 Days of Summer challenge. Read about the project here.

#12 Slapjack Vintage Goods

I learned about Slapjack Vintage Goods through Leigh Greer at Table 7. Leigh partners with Slapjack and River Front Rentals for weddings and parties (best idea ever - just rent the stuff instead of buying it!). Anyway, I put this shop on the list because I've seen so many cute pictures on their Facebook page and wanted to see for myself.

I didn't realize they were located inside of the Town Center Antique Mall, which was covered in my first 92 Days of Summer. Mike and I dropped in yesterday because I'm looking for a vintage hutch, china cabinet or armoire of some sort for all of my craft supplies. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but narrowed down my direction.

I would have to invest in some better storage bins...everything I have right now is stored in plastic shoe boxes. I do want something with a lid, and not open wire or wicker baskets though.

This is red is lovely! And the cupboards on the bottom would be nice to hide away the not-so-pretty bins.

I pretty much love everything about this room - down to the mis-matched handles on the hutch. I'm 100% positive I could not keep it that tidy looking though.

Cute piece from Joss & Main that I know Mike would absolutely love. For this I could just get rid of the bins and throw everything into its own drawer, but there'd be no room for any fabric in this piece.

Yes and yes. It'd have to be weathered a little to match my desk. But, does it bother anyone that it is so close to the bed?

 I was a little surprised to find this piece from Ikea. Again, I love the color and the yellow inside matches the guest bedroom! I'd probably have some excess supplies that I'd have to find a home for...

I Spy...

Fairview Place cards at With Lavender & Lace...? That's right! The adorable vintage clothing (and local's favorite) shop is carrying Fairview Place greeting cards and tags. I stopped in to drop off some lace I received and saw my cards, they look like they're fitting well and liking their new home. Don't let them get too comfy though!

Recipe Cards Made into Gift Tags

I picked up a box of these 1970s recipe cards at an estate sale a month back. I sold a few of them as the plain recipe cards at Better Block, but knew that wasn't going to cut it going forward. The photos are great and the recipes themselves are hilarious, so I wanted to save as much of the card as I could. 

After many attempts I decided to add a little "to" and "from" tag, along with another contrasting tag for a little note (and of course my logo). They will be selling for $1 each and you'll find them online and at next month's Town Fair.

Before & After: Tea Cart

Would you believe I found this vintage tea cart at an estate sale for $6? It was originally $12, but Sundays are always half off - my lucky day! It doesn't look too bad here, but was actually rusted pretty bad, so it couldn't stay as is. 

I decided I wanted to do a really bright, loud color. My friend suggested coral, which I thought would be so pretty. However, the full can of green spray paint I bought several months ago to refinish jewelry boxes (like these) was sitting in my closet screaming to be used.

I unassembled the cart easily since it was missed three of the eight screws that held it together. With heavy grit sandpaper I gave all the parts a 15-minute sand job, then wiped clean with a towel. I taped up the white rollers on the feet and gave the entire cart two heavy coats of paint. 

Since it was a gorgeous day outside the whole thing was dry within an hour. I reassembled, added the glass back on top and voila! You might remember this below from Better Block. It was one of our centerpieces when you walked in the shop. I am so happy with the way it came out, it'll be perfect for serving drinks on the patio one day... or maybe a plant holder in the garden.