Shop Update.

I've been sewing up a storm lately. The blog's been kind of neglected but there's only so much time you know?

To make amends I'm offering FREE shipping storewide. Just enter the coupon code FREESHIP11 at check out.




That includes all vintage items! Go ahead clean me out!

Giveaway Winner.

The winner of the book is...

Annie!

Congratulations Annie! Shoot me an email and I'll get the book out to you.

Chair.

My chair re-upholstery job has gotten a little attention.

No, not from these guys, Apartment Therapy did a post about the chair. It's always kind of prickly when a project you've worked hard on ends up there because the comments are usually unkind. I know a few bloggers who actually dread being mentioned by AT. A lot of commenters take advantage of being an faceless opinion. They forget there are real people with real feelings who worked hard on a room/project/design. Instead of constructive criticism it just ends up being 'that's the ugliest thing I've ever seen'. Meh, That's life on internet message boards though.

 So far the chair hasn't had a lot of mud thrown it's way, people have been surprisingly kind.  My favorite comment so far is "Jesus, what an eyesore". Niiice, glad I didn't redo the chair for that guy, he's probably pretty hard to please.

Check it out here.

Long Beach Flea Market

 The Long Beach flea is becoming my favorite. There's a good mix of professional sellers and regular folks. Plenty of Pyrex and always some gems to be found. I wish some food trucks would show up, maybe it's a permit issue but man it would be awesome to have food that isn't hot dogs at 10am.

This weekend I had a really manly haul at the Flea Market.

A sea captain, lucite cowboy hat and 8-track player. Rad.

The Sea Captain was picked up by my husband he really fell in love with it. He rarely does this at flea markets. We aren't sure where it's going to live (maybe his office) but for $15 it made him happy.

The Cowboy hat I spied early in the morning and when we were leaving it was still there. I kinda needed it. I mean who doesn't need a lucite cowboy hat? I know what you're thinking...of course I tried it on. I knew it seemed familiar to me but couldn't confirm it until I went over my pictures from my visit to the Parker in Palm Springs.

Sure enough, it's the same hat sitting in the lobby of the Parker.

The 8-Track player is the first thing I found and I had been looking on ebay for that exact same model a few years ago as a present for my husband but it would regularly sell for $60-$100 and most sellers weren't even sure if it worked. I found it for $20, there was still no guarantee that it worked but $20 is a gamble I can make. We didn't find the two 8-Tracks until the very last booth we stopped at. Barry White and Earth, Wind and Fire for $2. Score.

We stopped and grabbed batteries on the way home but of course I bought four C batteries and this bad boy takes six. The fact that it takes C batteries blows my mind. What takes C batteries anymore? Why are they even still made?

 When we got home we dug around for a DC adaptor that would fit, we found one and now I bring you to the Audio/Visual portion of this blog post:

I know, I know it's all sorts of awesome. This player and those cartridges are older than both my husband and I and they still play. This is a happy addition to our home, we're both audiophiles and love any form of music. I wish I were kidding when I tell you that we're thinking about getting a reel to reel player.


The bulky sea captain and the awkward to hold cowboy hat made me realize that we need an old lady shopping cart. Does anyone have recommendations for one? Do I need swivel wheels? I think I'd definitely trick it out with a horn, people need to know to get out of my way.

Book Review

The folks at Wiley were kind enough to send me a copy of "Sewing with Oilcloth" by Kelly McCants. 

It was pretty serendipitous because I've had a yard of oilcloth sitting around for almost two years now. Shameful I know but you know, craft happens.

I was excited to crack this book open and see what I could create. Turns out a lot. With my one yard of fabric I made all of this:

Plus I've got fabric set aside to make a wallet from the book but I ran out of snaps. The small pouch with snaps and the three key fobs are my own designs (in my shop if you're interested). 

The book was really easy to follow and made it simple for a dummy like me. I've been sewing my whole life but I have no clue what most of the jargon means. The directions were nice and clear.

The make-up bag (pictured on the far left) is my favorite, it's going to see a lot of use.

The pillow I simplified. The book's version had a lot of applique and trim. I just sewed two 16" pieces of fabric together and called it a day.

You can check out some free projects from the book: Farmer's Market Tote and Table Runner. If you'd like to check out more of the book you're in luck! I've got one to giveaway. Leave a comment below and I'll pick out a random winner and announce it Wednesday September 21st.

Vintage Finds

I hit the Rose Bowl flea market this Sunday. I had cash in my pocket from selling my Heywood Wakefield chairs and was ready for some old stuff. Since I was two chairs down I was sort of hoping to find some more like the ones I found on my first trip to the Rose Bowl but no such luck. You never find what's on your list anyway.

Here's what I did come home with:

Up until earlier this year I was under the impression that I owned all the Doors albums on vinyl. I remember trolling thrift stores and music stores looking for them as a teenager apparently I was either wrong or someone broke in and only stole my Doors studio albums and left the live ones. Stranger things have happened.

Anyway, I found L.A. Woman, my favorite Doors album, with rounded corners and a rare inside sleeve for $8. The Pyrex I bought just to cannibalize the lid for another piece. I'll either sell the dish or use it for the sink or something. The Billy Joel shirt was $5 and from his 89-90 tour. It's for one of my favorite albums. I love me some Billy Joel.

The Phyllis Diller book is a neat little story. I picked it up initially because I mean, who doesn't love Phyllis Diller? It's a cute little book about her imaginary husband named "Fang" and it's signed.

Turns out the "Bill" it's to is Bill Daily from I Dream of Jeannie. For $10 I figured it was worth the cool graphics alone.


I did find a pair of yellow and orange Tensor Lamps. The seller wanted $15 a piece which is a steal. When I asked if they worked, I swear all he did was laugh like Butthead. I took that as a distinct "No". I can rewire a lamp but Tensor lamps are tiny and probably pretty hard to rewire. It was just a can of worms I didn't want to open. But who laughs like that at an honest question? Weirdo.

Vintage Finds

This Saturday I had plans to drive out to Whittier, CA, which is about a half hour away, to pick up an awesome Craigslist find. It was a sweet little Mid-Century swivel chair with great lines, hairpin legs and a great flair detail on the arms. It needed reupholstering badly but for $30 I figured I could make a tailored slipcover and pass it off as Bohemian Casual.

On the way out to Whittier I took a turn on a street right near my house that I don't usually go down and passed a garage sale with some great stuff outside. I stopped and it was a couple unloading a ton of teak, Mid-Century and all around neat stuff. I only had $35 on me, the cash for the chair I was picking up and an extra fiver.

I spotted the ice bucket immediately, like a beacon on this couple's lawn. I asked how much and the lady yelled to her husband "Honey, How much for the vase, urn, bucket thing?". It was one of those moments where you know you're about to get an amazing deal because the seller doesn't know what they have.

Five dollars was the answer.

The wood was pretty dull (easy fix with some Feed-N-Wax), the handle has a large chunk taken out of the back and the lid isn't correct but FIVE DOLLARS and the Teak Dansk ice bucket was mine.

When I got back to the car my husband said he had seen it sitting there and knew that it was something I'd be coming back to the car with.

As for the chair, when we got out to it. I spun it around and sat in it and sadly, so sadly, it came crashing to the ground. At some point it had broken before and someone repaired it hastily with nails and removed all the cushioning in the seat. A cat could've sat on it and it would've broken. So it wasn't just my fat ass that did it in and the store it was in did have the super cute brass candle holder (pictured above).

Oh well, it happens and if I hadn't gone out to check it out I wouldn't of scored my $5 Ice Bucket.