happy cinco de mayo!

hell hound vintage

sand fibers

u lucky girl

wink artisans

Wishing you a fun-filled cinco de mayo from zuzu girl... and sharing some of our favorite Mexican inspired Etsy finds!

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industrial wednesday

 Due credit for all these fabulous furniture pieces on this board on my pinterest page.

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fabulous friday. (finally!)

vintage card catalog craft storage by bits & bobbins 

via apartment therapy

living room photo wall by tara whitney

mid-century storage cabinet by vintage avacado

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etsy eye candy

upcycled dress

granny pin cushion

festival of color

never enough...

Maybe a few last minute gift ideas. 

Or just some pretty things to look at. 

You choose!

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remember when?

 I've been going through a lot of reflection this past year and I often find myself thinking that I just wish things were easier.  Now, if you follow my blog regularly you know that I clearly like "stuff" but sometimes I truly wish it would all just go away.  And life could just be simple again. And then I stop and ponder exactly when it all got so complicated. And why. 

I also want one of these.  And I want to use it.  I want to take the time to look up a number or even memorize one (gasp). And I want to take the time to dial it.  And then I want to take the time to talk.  Like we used to.  Remember when?

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tea time

 

I am seriously in love with this teapot. But I already have a teapot that I seriously love. It's orange enamelware with a wooden handle.  It's so lovely (and old) that I'm humbly hesitant to use it.  It just sits proudly on the stove top looking pretty.  As it should. Then, when I do have tea, which is all too infrequently to own fancy vintage teapots, I pull out the trusty stainless steel number from the bottom cabinet to boil the water. While the fabulous orange vintage pot watches. To make things even more interesting, only three of the four burners on our stove work. So if I'm making tea, you see, we're down to one.  

You'd think I would have talked myself out of buying this fabulous blue teapot with all this mindless stove top banter now, wouldn't you? Hah! You don't know me all that well at all now do you....

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vintage love

 Isn't it just lovely what a little paint can do?  I adore amye 123's use of upcycled materials and fabulously happy paint colors.  The little deer props certainly don't hurt the cuteness factor either!

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mid week. mid century. totally cool.

1.knoll tulip chair 2.thread bobbins 3.teak ice bucket 4.needlepoint pillow 5.hanging scale 6.etched glasses 7.desk lamp 8.magazine rack 9.catherineholm fondue pot

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my new love affair... with melmac

images courtesy of jess james jake on Etsy

image courtesy of by the way side on Etsy

image courtesy of ismoyo on Etsy

image courtesy of retro active treasures on Etsy

I became interested in vintage Melmac for several reasons.  One, I have two small kids (with lots of friends) and I'm just not ready to serve their food on grown up plates.  However, I was beyond ready to say goodbye to the kid's stuff.  I've also been looking for something to brighten up the dark corner shelves in the kitchen.  They were screaming loudly at me for color.  It doesn't hurt that the price tag is super affordable as well.  And because I'm buying them used I am saving them from landfill and not contributing to further production of icky plastic.  It's a win, win, win, win!  

I admittedly haven't done tons of research on the product but I've found that there were enumerable factories producing the fashionable tableware in the 50's and 60's.  When shopping for vintage Melmac, I decided not to concern myself too much with the factory of origin but focused on one cup and bowl style and have limited myself to five colors; pink, aqua, avocado, orange & yellow.  The table looks fabulous when I randomly assort the platters, bowls, plates and cups.  

Someday I'll post a picture of that quickly morphing corner in our kitchen but until then I've got my eye out for some more great finds.  Oh, did I mention that I bought this while writing this post.  Yup.  Addict.

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bluebird vintage

This is one of those blog posts that I hesitate to write. Not because I'm not absolutely in love with the product I'm sharing. Quite the contrary. I'm actually rather terrified that you all will go and buy up all the good stuff before I get a chance. Really, it's that good. The shop is called Bluebird Vintage and the talented stylist behind these fab photos is James Kicinski.  So go...enjoy the goods, but hands off my favorites, ok?

oooh, and thanks must go to Lori Marie for the introduction!

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jen's closet

Welcome Jen's Closet to our newly formed flickr group "it's beautiful here!". These are just a few little lovelies that you will find in her vintage shop on Etsy. I can just picture myself curled up with that fabulous lavender set sipping hot tea on a cold day like today. Beautiful!

If you'd like to chat with Jen you can find her where I did...on twitter! Oooh, and she has a second vintage shop that specializes in milk glass... and it's beautiful there too.

If you'd like to join our *beautiful* flickr group please do. We'd love to have you!

reduce, reuse, recycle

1. I loved the color & styling of this orange enamel tea kettle so much that you will now have to view it in the sold section at Modish Vintage
2. This electric blue metal fan is so hot it's hard to believe it's made to cool
3. How could a piggy possibly be this cute? I just adore the sweet blue cheeks
4. Adoring this unique combination of vintage letters on a plump vase...and, of course, the savvy photograph doesn't hurt
5. Exactly what would you drink from these fabulous melamine tumblers? I'm thinking it's the perfect 3pm diet coke on ice cup. But just which color would I use?
6. Seriously. This pyrex coffee carafe set is way cool. I honestly don't think I'd ever actually use it but who cares? It's that cool.
7. Can you tell I like orange? Now I just need someone who wants to cook for me in this stylish orange pan.
8. Apparently this divided relish tray is a rare piece in a popular collection. To be honest with you, I could care less. I just thought the color was absolutely lovely.

jen's closet

There's something really special about adding vintage accents to a modern home and I have so much fun perusing Etsy for kitchy finds. And, there's something really special about Jen's Closet. She stocks 21 pages full of dinnerware, clothing, accessories and linens. To name a few. Pictured above are just two of my favorites. Apparently milk glass has been a successful venture for her as she's just added a new shop dedicated entirely to the category. Here are a few of my favorites from "my milk glass shop" too...




She has a blog...and she tweets...so you have absolutely no excuse not to find her somewhere in cyberspace...

tigerluxe

I stumbled upon tigerluxe and it's proprietor Rachel Amen in an Etsy chat room this weekend. The above images are just a few of my personal favorites and I am struggling to choose one from the bunch for Zuzu's room (so don't go and buy them all before I get my hands on one!). Her shop, however is far more eclectic than what I've depicted. Tigerluxe offers a thorough selection of vintage finds including housewares, clothes, accessories, jewelry & books. She even has a section called "fun".

But what I enjoyed just as much as the whimsical assortment was Rachel's profile. Here's a few lines taken directly from her shop...

"I'm a firm believer in reusing to save our environment. My love of vintage also stems from a desire to make the most of the past in order to enrich and protect the future."

Sounds like reason enough to shop at tigerluxe for me!

bounty hunter

These are just a few of the kitchy & whimsical vintage items for sale in Nickie Frye's vintage shop. From decor...to toys...to clothing & accessories she's got it all. Funny enough, Nickie and I worked together in a past life and "ran into" each other in an etsy chat room last night. She is a stay at home mom that drags her two young children along with her to local estate sales to snatch up her great finds. How worlds collide. Anyway, check out her shop...she's having a market sale November 8th and 9th... so move quickly!