carrie girl

home again!

it feels nice to dust off the cobwebs and get myself back on the blogging train.  two weeks in kansas city with my family was lovely and i was sad to say good-bye, but it does feel nice to be back in iowa.  the water is still pretty high and some roads are still covered, but all in all it looks pretty good.  we won't be here for long, though, because on thursday we're packing up the yaris and starting our drive to upstate new york.  it seems pretty hectic, but i just keep reminding myself i will have a month and a half to relax once we get there. 
while in kansas city,  i managed to do a little thrifting and found this vintage little red riding hood set. i have no idea what i'm going to do with it, but for now it will probably sit in a box until i get home from the adirondacks. i also hit up a couple vintage clothing stores and stocked up on cute shirts and sundresses.  now i'm off to clean out the fridge--we're not sure how long the power was out last week and we're not taking any chances...

deer in a row

my computer is fixed and back home on my desk.  happy day!  i managed to do a little thrifting this week, and hopefully will have a  shop update before i head to upstate new york for the summer. first we need to make it through two weddings and then a 20 hour drive, but the destination is so worth it. 

vintage telephone desk

after the giant armoire i got from goodwill, i swore i wasn't going to buy any more furniture, but then i saw this...

it was $6.38, and on top of that it was 30% off and it fit in the yaris, i couldn't say no.  the wood needs to be sanded and stained, and one of the corners of the seat cushion has been torn off, so it does need a little help. 

i'm thinking a darker stain, and a bold (maybe vintage) fabric for the cushion. 

now i'm really done with buying furniture...i think.

deer family

so i'm off for another weekend adventure, but this time i'm headed to kansas city for a bridal shower.  it also happens to be the annual garage sale of the neighborhood where i grew up.  i couldn't believe my luck when i saw it on craigslist.  i remember walking around the neighborhood when i was 10 with my good friend kristine buying bags of crap for a quarter. i guess i had to get my start somewhere.

i found this nice deer family sitting on a shelf in this exact pose at a salvation army in downtown cedar rapids.  they'll end up in the shop during my next update, but for now i think they'll enjoy ushering in spring from my bookcase.

have a great weekend!

happy easter!

last night i did a huge vintage shop update. when i first started the store i had this panic that maybe i would stop enjoying going to the thrift stores if i started selling on etsy.  so far so good, in that i still enjoy it and do occasionally find something i can squeeze into my apartment for myself. i have, however, run into a bit of a storage issue.  so during my (much needed) spring break in a couple weeks i'm going to head next door to the ikea in illinois.  i haven't started looking online at all the fabrics and organizational stuff yet because i know if i do, i won't be able to contain my excitement or anticipation for this entire week. 

oh, and a big special thanks and a hug goes out to melissa for being my first customer over at the handmade store.  thanks, melissa!

off to do some sewing and to eat a ton of easter candy!

sunshine!

i woke up this morning and the sun was actually shining and i didn't have to cover up every inch of exposed skin to avoid frost bite...a very good sign that spring might be making it's way to iowa city...i hope i didn't just jinx myself.
anyway, during my normal saturday thrifting trip i found all this ribbon in a bag marked 15 cents. even though i've never used decorative ribbon in my entire life, i knew i had to have it. i also picked up an old green chalk board, a pillow i'm going to take apart for fabric and a christmas table cloth i'm going to use for stockings next year.  is it too early to already be thinking about decorations for next year?
i solved the whole "i don't have room for more linens" problem.  i bought a shelf from the thrift store! (did you really think i could refrain from buying linens?) it fits perfectly into my craft room and helps me keep from piling everything on top of everything else on the floor.  oh! and do you see my new iron? i finally broke down and threw out the iron i took with me to college 8 years ago--turns out it's easier to get a new iron than to just clean off the interfacing you've fused to the old iron.  i can't believe the difference it makes with my projects--it's so smooth and heats up so fast and it's much prettier to look at than the old one.  sometimes it's the little things that make me so happy.

the last of the linens

i'm putting a hold on buying any more linens after this batch.  there's really nowhere else in the apartment to store them, and until i figure out what i'm actually going to make out of them i need to take a break. i was at the renegade craft fair in brooklyn last summer and a girl had made cute summer tops out of her vintage linens. they were really sweet, but i haven't quite mastered (or even attempted) to make clothes, so i need to probably explore other options. 
i'm not, however, putting a hold on buying miniature mushrooms.  those are totally fair game. they're cute and they don't require a lot of storage space.

off to watch the wisconsin/hawaii returns...

a partridge in a thrift store

i love the feeling of walking into a (usually stinky) thrift store, grabbing a basket, and holding onto the hope that through the piles of crap, you'll find something good. that is exactly how i felt today. i was at the end of a rather unsuccessful thrifting trip (and a very long week) when i got to the last goodwill on my list.  i waded through knee-high aisles of crappy luggage from the 80's, and dodged baskets discarded from country-style kitchens hoping to find something that would validate the 2 hours i spent rummaging through stuff.  then i saw it...a ceramic partridge painted to look like wood. a perfect item to end a not-so-successful thrifting trip.

i'm off to chicago this weekend for an oyster happy hour (yea!) and a hockey game (this one is more of a yea! for ted.) let's hope the 1-2 feet of snow predicted for sunday doesn't happen...

thrifting and icing

i didn't get nearly enough done this weekend, and i actually have a valid excuse for it.  saturday i started off the day with a pretty successful thrifting trip, and then the plan was to go out to the state park and do some cross country skiing.  i'm pretty new at the whole nordic skiing thing, but i'm a quick learner so after our first go round on the easy loop i didn't think twice about going for the intermediate loop.  well turns out the intermediate loop should be called the "watch your life flash before your eyes as you ski downhill and try to turn yourself around a bend going top speed before you slam into a tree" loop.  i had two options here: slam into a tree or bail out onto a nice fluffy patch of snow.  i picked the snow, but there were a few knotty roots under that snow that met both my knees as i dove. the good news is that i can walk and i didn't tear any ligaments or break my knee caps, but the bad news is that i have a bump the size of a golf ball on my right knee and a giant strawberry to keep it company.  i've been elevating and icing it for the last 24 hours, so here's hoping i won't be hobbling around school tomorrow.

so i did have a pretty successful thrifting trip that resulted in the above 6 vintage pillow cases and full sheet.  i know that there's a vintage pillow case challenge going on over at handmade parade, and i certainly have enough pillow cases to submit a few entries, but i just have no idea what i would make. entries can be submitted until february 15th so i have some time to think on it.  the other amazing thrift store item i found on my trip was this avon creative needlecraft doll-making kit.  it is fully intact with everything i need to create this little rodent (except the batting.) it even includes the little piece of cheese he's nibbling on. priceless.