Holy Thrift Score, Batman!

So, maybe it felt more exciting than it looks but I went thrifting yesterday. ALL. BY. MYSELF. It was my one and a half hour reward for catching up on the major priorities on my to do list for the last three weeks. There are plenty of things left to catch up on but I needed a breather.

I managed to find this lot, minus the little cowboy boots, plus another pair of shoes and a vintage cardigan, at Red Racks which is run by the Disabled American Veterans. How fitting that I should score so big on Veteran's Day, eh?

Speaking of checking off the to-do list, if you've been waiting on one of my Thought Bubble Chalkboards they've been restocked at Red Velvet Art. They've been in high demand ever since the lovely Ashley Ann shared how much fun her family had with them here, here, and here. Like... they sold out within six hours of her posting about them the first time (Umm...THANKS, ASHLEY!!) and Emma has been getting daily e-mails asking about them. It's the best kind of problem to have and I'm working hard to make sure we can meet the demand through the holidays!

As always, if you've purchased one of my chalkboards from RVA and taken photos with it I'd love to share them on Smile And Wave. I'm saving up for another round of customer show and tell in the following weeks so send your photo(s) to racheldenbow(@)gmail(dot)com to be included.

I owe you a dollhouse post and a felt board tutorial. It's on the list. Promise.

xoxo,
Rachel

Genius Idea

When Jen of Made by Girl, shared a few shots of her new home office, I was instantly drawn to her luxe mousepad...

Can you believe it was actually a little DIY project?? She made it using a piece of an old handbag pasted onto an existing mousepad! What a creative way to upcycle!

Beautifully Organized Space of the Week

This week's beautifully organized space of the week is from the home of graphic designer and fellow blogger, Sheila Vu, a.k.a. Miss Vu. She keeps her desk clean and uncluttered, organizes her pens, pencils and markers, etc. in pretty cups from Anthropologie, and my favorite thing of all, has created a giant wall calendar using numbered large black squares. I love that it not only can be used for organizational purposes, but it makes a beautiful graphic statement.

october 2010

While browsing through Sheila's flickr albums I noticed she had archived other photographs of her home office. She has used the wall space above her desk to display, organize, and change as needed, the images that inspire her creative work. Keeping the inspirations in this dedicated area, keep them from looking messy or too chaotic. Take a look at how it has beautifully evolved since January of 2008:

january 2008

february 2009

march 2009

april 2009

november 2009

december 2009

january 2010

july 2010

Birthday Cupcakes and Flowers

Last night my husband surprised me with pink roses and baked me a dozen pink birthday cupcakes. He's the sweetest!

Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday yesterday on facebook, twitter, etc.! XOXO!

Vintage Here, Vintage There

I have become pretty comfortable in the last few years with my eye for vintage furniture and kitchenware and have taught myself how to mix certain silhouettes, play with patterns, and pair the old and new for a fresh look. I'm not quite as self-assured in the vintage styling department when it comes to fashion. However, I've been inspired by a host of vintage-loving friends to explore a more exciting (and sometimes more affordable) wardrobe infused with vintage pieces.

The darling, RubyEllen, and I have been hatching up a plan for a few months now to share how we wear vintage throughout the changing seasons and to encourage others, moms or not, to do the same. It's also a way to keep us interested in dressing up when some days the cold weather might tempt us to stay in flannel nightgowns. Just kidding. No flannel nightgowns in my closet.

We decided to do a little Q&A to get familiar with each other's vintage back story.

Q: When did you start wearing vintage and why?
A: My best friend, Katy, and I used to hit up the Salvation Army for grandpa cardigans and fun shoes in high school. We lived in Central California at the time and had a casual, surfer, boho style. My vintage fixation shifted towards home goods and random industrial pieces about midway through college and our current furnishings are mostly vintage. I'm most excited to start figuring out vintage shoes!

Q: What do you look for in a piece when you're shopping?
A: I have been gravitating towards blue and red dresses and feel most comfortable in classic prints but I'm trying to diversify!

Q: Favorite vintage find to date?
A: I found a pair of vintage FRYE boots in college for $4 that I wore until I got pregnant with Sebastian and my feet got wider. They stopped fitting so I sold them to a consignment store in the U-District in Seattle and now wish I'd kept them just in case. I'm happy to know that someone else is enjoying them.

Q: The one piece that got away (or would've broken the bank!)
A: Oh, there are so many beautiful 50's cocktail dresses on Etsy that I would add to my cart in a second if they were about $80 cheaper.

Q: How do you style your daughter(s)?
A: I have a lot of vintage dresses for Ruby but not a lot of pants and shoes so I tend to mix the dresses with leggings or skinny jeans to even out the silhouette and have recently stocked up on adorable tights for the colder days.

Q: Favorite sources for online vintage?
A: Obviously, I love the vintage dresses at Red Velvet because they have such a strong collection. I also have purchased items from or plan on purchasing from 3 Ring Circus, Lishy loo, Cherry Bloom Vintage, Ms.Tips Vintage, Oh Sydney, and Fine And Dandy Vintage, and Freckle Wonder!

I'm Wearing
Vintage dress gifted from RubyEllen
Vintage belt, thrifted
Shoes, Target

My Ruby is Wearing
Vintage sailor dress found locally
Jeggings from Target
Mocs from Old Navy

Head on over to RubyEllen's beautiful blog to see more on what she and her sweet girls wore on a recent trip to the pumpkin patch. They are darling! We're going to be posting 'Vintage Here, Vintage There' once a week and can't wait to share some of our favorite vintage mamas and online sources with you. Stay tuned!

xoxo,
Rachel

Designer Spotlight: Chloe Redmond Warner

Today I happily to browsed through the portfolio of talented San Francisco Bay Area based interior designer Chloe Redmond Aldrich and added these beautiful rooms to my inspiration file:

To see more of her work, click on over to her website here.

Doll House Inspiration

source

I put Ruby's doll house together yesterday morning while she climbed all over me trying to help. She's already taken to scaling it like King Kong and has decided the second story is a good sitting spot. Oh my...

I was truly taken aback with this photo above. I love the styling and simplicity of it. It's the kind of place I'd want to display all of my treasures. Doll house post coming soon!

Source for Affordable Art

Have you heard of Zatista.com yet? It's a great source for original and affordable artwork. Here's a few of my favorites from their Under $250 section:

(1) Yipes Stripes painting, oil on canvas $70; (2) Wise Math Print, digital on paper $35; (3) Sunrise Over the Peninsula painting, oil on wood panel $150; (4) You Should Think On painting, acrylic on canvas $250; (5) Scattered Light painting, oil $250; (6) Quiet on the Lake painting, acrylic on canvas $125 (7) Viola painting, acrylic on canvas $125; (8) Summer Roses painting, oil on wood panel $175

P.S. If you're an artist, you can sell your art on their site.

Inspirational Quote

via absolutely beautiful things

Ruby's Pony Party

If Ruby could talk she'd tell you the cupcakes were delicious and the wrapping paper was right up her alley. She wore a dress I bought for her when she was only two months old because I loved it so much and the red velvet shoes that I had when I was her age! They were the perfect party shoes and I'm so glad my mom saved them.

The pony party theme was mainly inspired by some beautiful vintage horse ribbons I've seen here and used in a Dwell Studio photo (source no longer available). I loved the pink, peach, yellow, cream color scheme for Ruby's party and was thrilled to be able to use mostly supplies I had on hand. I did purchase satin ribbon from FM Store and found the vinyl doily tablecloth at a flea market for $2 a couple of days before the party. The larger toy horses were from my collection when I was little. My parents were sweet to bring them with them for the party and now Ruby can play with them!

I used this tutorial to make a satin ribbon but then got impatient and decided to use felt for the next two. Originally, I was going to make a garland with a ton of ribbons clustered on each end but ran out of time and went with what I'd finished. I hung them with straight pins on the table cloth and draped the extra satin ribbons between them.

I had a blue vintage USA platter and fun mid-century platter with pink and yellow designs on it that we used for the mini cupcakes and white chocolate dipped pretzels that were catered by Emma from the Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe. The black cake stand is from Hobby Lobby, the pink bowl is from Anthropologie, and the blue one is vintage. We used leftover napkins, forks, and cupcake cups from Sebastian's party and our vintage amber glasses and thrifted white dessert plates for serving our treats.

I'll be able to reuse the table cloth and might keep the felt ribbons up as decoration in Ruby's wardrobe. If you're going to make your own...give yourself some time! ;)

photo by Elsie

Elsie took Ruby's first portrait at six days old and we used this vintage floral sheet as the back drop. I thought it would be fun to use it in her first party decorations and take a photo of her in front of it at every birthday party! I can imagine looking through years of birthday photos and always spotting the yellow floral sheet!

Ruby loved all of her presents but enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper off the most. Sebastian helped her with the biggest box and then continued to open the rest of her presents for her while she played with the box. I've got the cutest video of it and someday hope to figure out how to load it online!

Ruby loved all of the attention and held on especially tight to her handmade doll from The Rice Babies! More on that later this week.

It was a memorable event and I hope Ruby looks back and feels celebrated on her first birthday!

I'm happy to say the bib did it's job and then survived the washing machine! I think it might go in a keepsake box so Ruby can have something of her own to share with her baby girl someday.

Thanks to everyone who shared birthday wishes online and for all of the sweet gifts and cards and phone calls from family members! I think I'm going to blink and we'll be celebrating her sweet 16! AAAAAAGHHHH!!

xoxo,
Rachel