Pretty. Quirky.

Shadowboxes.

Lara Jo — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:25:45 +0000

NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. And because they're frickin' huge. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

I’ve been meaning to do this for so long. The nursery might be my impetus to finally start this project.

I have so many 3-D pieces of memorabilia from family members that are difficult to display, so this would be perfect for that. Since we live so far away from our families, it’s really important for me to have our family represented in the nursery so we can familiarize the babies with our families as soon as possible.

This is such a great way to display all of those little vintage items that I can’t pass up but I don’t have a place for.

Sparkly! Blingy!

Lara Jo — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:16:11 +0000

This is the kind of thing I see myself creating with the myriad of vintage broaches and earrings I have stashed away — from Martha Stewart Living:

But, seriously, people. Where would I wear something like that? Plus, there’s the fact that I can’t bring myself to part with any of the vintage rhinestones I’ve collected over the years. Every now and then I like dumping them all over the floor and pawing over them, but as far as using them for the art projects they were purchased for? Yeah, haven’t been able to bring myself to do that yet.

Actually, this has been something I have meant to do for some time, because I love vintage jewelry so much but never wear it…the least I can do is look at it on the wall. From Country Home:

Letterpress Photo Mat.

Lara Jo — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:07:28 +0000

I LOVE letterpress anything. When we were picking out our invitations for our wedding, the only thing I was sure of was that I wanted them to be letterpressed. By the way, if you’re in Chicago, we used Rohner Letterpress — Justin designed our invitations and Rohner printed them, and it was WAY more affordable than any other options.

ANYHOO (just took a ten minute detour to figure out whether to spell that “Anywho” or “Anyhoo” — I might be overtired right now), I love these photo mats:

These are from Sycamore Street Press, and can be had for about $15. I’m thinking these are a must for the nursery.

I Sure Have Enough Vases for This.

Lara Jo — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:58:55 +0000

This is such a simple idea, and could make a ho-hum centerpiece into an awesome one — on the cheap.

From Martha Stewart (who else?):

Mmmmmm.

Lara Jo — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:46:39 +0000

I love everything about this picture. The benches as shelves, the color in the background, the delicious collection of hobnail milk glass.

From O at Home:

See that ruffled vase on the top shelf? The big one? I had that at the Bazaar, and it didn’t sell. It was only marked $16! What gives?? After reminding myself of this photo, I think I’m going to have to keep it.

Fun with Wallpaper Samples.

Lara Jo — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Oprah Magazine has featured this idea twice now (I’m pretty sure that both of these pages are from separate issues):

Using wall paper sample books as a patchwork wall. I LOVE this look and think it would be cute in the nursery, but where do you find wallpaper sample books with such cool wallpapers in them? Do you just walk in and ask a wallpaper store if they have some they’re getting rid of?

Plus, how do you affix them to the wall? Do you have to, basically, wallpaper with them, or could you rig them with something that would be easier? I can see it ending up being a hot mess, with curling edges and falling squares. But so cute!

The Aftermath.

Lara Jo — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:06:29 +0000

Sorry I haven’t written in a few days — I think I’m still in recovery mode, as pathetic as that sounds. I went back to work for three days last week, and I am ashamed to say that that kind of did me in. Seeing as how I start back officially on Wednesday, I guess I’d better adjust ASAP. I will miss waking up at 9 am and going to Dunkin’ Donuts for my two Boston Creme donuts (WHAT? The babies insisted. Shut up.) and meandering around town at my leisure. Of course, in the last week, I’ve tried to squeeze everything I SHOULD have been doing over the past two months into these last few days — there was just so much I couldn’t do while I was trying to get ready for the Bazaar, because I was storing so much merchandise in the dining room and the soon-to-be-nursery, there was no room to navigate. Over the past three days, I’ve gotten everything moved out of what used to be the craft room in preparation for painting — and its eventual transformation into the nursery. As soon as all of the final touches are on the new craft spaces I want to put some pictures up as I’m proud of some of the “found” spaces I’ve utilized around the apartment to re-locate my crafting supplies.

I have not been doing a lot of thrifting lately, though I did score some awesome baby clothes on Saturday (all girls, though — why is it easier to find girls’ clothes at yard sales than boys’?) but here are two recent finds. First, a set of four lustreware tea cups:

They’re really beautiful and delicate but as soon as I got them home I had buyer’s remorse — they’re exactly the kind of thing that I am trying very hard not to buy: something with no resale value and something that I can’t really do anything with — I have no room for them anywhere and even if I did drink tea, I would need more than the thimble full that these would provide. Sometimes, you have to look at a really lovely item with a good price and say “pass;” my overstuffed apartment is evidence of that.

I found these apothecary jars on Saturday at a yard sale and am intending to put them on eBay. There are 13 of them in all, in various stages of disrepair.

Those are glass plates over the labels. So cool! There are probably three of them that are in really good shape, including this one, which has a recessed label:

And in the batch there were these two unmarked, unlabeled amber bottles with stoppers:

And this one is the oldest one, but I don’t know what to do with it. The cork stopper is pushed all the way down into the neck of the bottle and I would have to dig it out to get it out, probably ruining the cork. It’s still got wax over the cork — surely it’s been opened?

So I know nothing about these — I’m hoping my bottle expert friend Roxana will sound off on what she thinks.

Tomorrow I’ll be finishing up the house and shopping for paint samples, then school starts, and there won’t be any good yard sales this weekend because of the holiday, so I’m thinking I won’t have a lot to post about — however, tonight I have to got through all of these magazine tear sheets I found while cleaning out the craft room and if I find anything particularly interesting, I’ll probably scan them in and set them to post over the next week. The weekend after Labor Day weekend is the Andersonville Yard Sale, so look for some thrifting news after that!

More vintage nursery.

Lara Jo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:04:33 +0000

So far, the nursery will be two cribs and five thousand nursery themed knick-knacks. Who needs a changing table or a dresser?

Vintage print by one of my favorite vintage illustrators, Bessie Pease Gusman.

Okay, I love these, but what’s the story? Two high school graduates died immediately following their graduation ceremony and went to heaven as angels? It didn’t strike me as strange (because I was so taken with their cute faces) until I got them home.

These three hang on the wall.

I have always loved Lefton’s bluebirds. I usually can’t afford them, but this one had some small chips, so it was affordable.

OMG, my feet are still tired — Vintage Bazaar, Round 2.

Lara Jo — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:03:33 +0000

WHERE TO START.

Let’s just say that it’s a little harder doing a flea market when you’re five months pregnant with twins than when you aren’t. However, thanks to my husband and my AMAZING friend Shannon, we managed to pull this off. It started Saturday evening, when we loaded the 10-foot rental truck at 6 pm; we FILLED the truck and the back of my car. I really, really need to learn what to bring and what to leave behind. (More on that later.) We got up at 4:45 and were at the Congress Theater doors by 6 am.

I have never been to the Congress Theater. When we first walked in, I was a bit concerned: there had been a music fest there the night before and the massive concrete floor was littered with beer cans and trash; puddles of stale beer dotted the space. The topper was when Justin found a condom wrapper in the area taped off as our booth. Now I’m not a prude, but what the hell goes on at the Congress Theater during a concert? Sheesh. Kids these days. By 7 am, the floor was swept and the beauty of the space was more obvious — though the main floor has been stripped to concrete, the walls and ceiling of the space retain the loveliness of majestic theater it once was.

By 7 we had everything inside, and I was in the throes of the beginning of my mental breakdown. The good news was we were right by the stage, with no booth in front of us, so we could spread out while we tried to get the booth set up. The bad news was we brought so much stuff it seemed impossible to imagine that we would ever get it set up. I had a moment where I thought, “I’ll play the pregnancy card, claim I’m sick, and go home.” That’s how desperate I was! Justin suggested we just start taking boxes and tubs, unopened, back to the truck, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t go through everything to get what I thought were sure sellers. Slowly but surely, with Shannon and Justin’s help, we got everything unpacked and displayed in the booth — but I was putting the last touches on it at 12:10, when the flood gates opened. That’s ridiculous, ya’ll. I really need to get better at this. We ended up bringing a lot of stuff that I saw, as soon as it was in the space, was not going to sell. I guess experience is the only thing that can eventually help me figure that out.

I’ve also got to figure out a better shelving unit system. The ladders take up so much room and just don’t provide enough display area. Plus, I noticed that the milk glass, that flew off the shelves last year, didn’t move very quickly this year — and I think it was because it was on the bottom shelf, near the floor.

Big sellers included globes, glassware, frames, and storage units of all kinds — every size drawer-thingy I brought I sold. This year the Bazaar was three hours longer, and I’m thinking that maybe four hours is the perfect length. The traffic really slowed down between 5 and 7, but until then, things were anywhere from crazy crowded to very steady. We were very, very pleased with our take for the day, but at 7 pm, I wanted to DIE. It took us nearly 2 hours to get everything back in the truck, and we still had to unload at home and turn the truck back in. I was delirious by the end of the night and Justin was pretty much running the show.

I didn’t even get a chance to make a round to see the other booths, though I did pop over to see Roxana’s booth, which was AMAZING, just as I predicted. Here are some shots of her awesome wares:

She had a few of her big pieces left at the end and is offering them at great prices, so head on over to her site to check that out.

Highlights of the show included the AWESOME pie from Hoosier Mama Pie Company — Justin and I headed down to their storefront on Monday afternoon because we were craving another slice only to find that they’re closed on Mondays. I’m going to try and get down there tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and introduced themselves — it’s so nice to meet people who share the same love of vintage that I have. I’ve gotten some e-mails asking where else I sell, and I will keep you posted on that. We’re contemplating selling things directly from the website while I ‘m waiting to find an antique booth to move into in the area. Now that the Fayetteville booth is closed and the Vintage Bazaar is over, I can’t stand the thought of not having a retail outlet in the near future!

I spent today trying to put the house back in order and will start on the nursery tomorrow. I work half days on Thursday and Friday and then go back full time on Wednesday, so the clock is ticking on getting as much finished as possible in the next week.

I’ll see you at the Vintage Bazaar, right?

Lara Jo — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:36:14 +0000

Just a few additional purchases I’ve made in the last couple of days…I’m just afraid I’m going to miss THE most perfect thing to bring to the Bazaar…

My favorite is the wee little pink and gold dresser.

I’ll try to post on Sunday but it’s possible I’ll be in a coma until Tuesday or Wednesday or so…I’ll take photos and let you know how it all goes. If you’re in Chicago and you come, please do stop by my booth and introduce yourself! I would love to meet you!

Have a wonderful weekend!