Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (7.08.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds:

I love thrifting needlepoint and embroidery art. In fact, the image on my blog banner of the little squirrel playing the flute on that crazy tree is actually a large piece of needlepoint art that I thrifted for Clover's room (which is actually only a corner of our office, we call it "Clover's Corner"). This reminds me that I've wanted to do a post on this type of thrifted art for months but I can't seem to tear myself away from the style posts. I'll try harder...

Originally uploaded by Iwantamonkey

Originally uploaded by Iwantamonkey

Hannah Scores!
Originally uploaded by Sew Darn Jenny

Anywhoo, I'd love to come across these three lovely specimens in a thrift store! Ballerinas, birdies, and mushrooms... Oh my!

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (7.6.08)

Gardening at the Institution, originally uploaded by sunshineupton.

Alright, granted I may be biased when it comes to this girl, as she happens to be my long lost style twin who I have thankfully been reunited with via the wonders of the internet. We've struck up a long distance friendship bridging the gap between California and Finland by gushing over each other's outfits on flickr, following each other's blogs, periodic emails, and even thrifting treasures for one another. But all that and my girl-crush aside, this pick is all about the perfect summer sundress!

I think Milla (aka sunshineupton) has nailed it here. This dress is so lovely, not to mention perfect on her! That shade of blue, the flowers, the pretty and delicate detailing with the lil' bow at the top... It's light, it's airy... perfect for a hot summer day. I love the flower child meets Grecian goddess feel of this. I'm always inspired by her skill at adding the perfect finishing touches to an outfit. Here, the brown lace-up sandals and shoelace headband adorned with a single daisy make the perfect outfit "bookends" adding charm and interest without taking the focus off of the dress. Nicely done my lil' hippie friend!

Color Inspiration

the snail and the cyclops

Marcine

trash.picker

Loving the acqua and golden mustard color combos I've been seeing on some of my favorite thrifty flickr gals lately!

Friends, Family, and Finds

Yesterday was gorgeous. Blue skies, the sun was shining... a perfect day to break out my new finds from Fun Friday. Also a perfect day for BBQ-ing with friends and family.

Every 4th of July there's a fireworks show set off at the fairgrounds near our house (this year they switched it to the 3rd). Our friends down the street have a perfect view from their front yard, so we BBQ-ed, watched fireworks, and then sat around the outdoor fireplace in the backyard, Clover asleep on my chest. Basically the perfect summer day!

I took this pic today of my lovely friend Laura Jane in her adorable vintage house dress from the flea market. She took that sweet photo of me and Clover last night right before going out to sit by the fire in her backyard.

When you make something beautiful, you are an artist.

While I'm on the subject of vintage kid's stuff, I thrifted this 1960's Golden Book Encyclopedia for a dollar awhile back and have been meaning to share it. The book is full of wonderful images and I get a kick out of reading the charmingly simplistic explanations of things:

What I reeeally love about it though, are the beautiful full-page letter illustrations at the beginning of each section. Each is depicted with things that start with that letter. They're all pretty amazing, but I'll leave you with some of my favorites: