More Family Fun on the Farm

As promised, family pictures from Red Barn Farm.

As usual Clover clung to her favorite person for most of the day and even decided she would rather be in Vida's arms for the full family portrait.

They do make quite an adorable pair though :)

Since we were going to be on a farm, one of Lucas' sisters had the idea to change into farm clothes and do an American Gothic style family portrait for fun.

Lucas decided to take things in a different direction by bringing along an unopened package of fake teeth that we've had hanging around our house for years, I don't even remember where they came from.

The second family portrait didn't end up happening but we did have some fun with the teeth and there were some pretty funny and very toothy outtakes on the CD of photos I received, so I thought I'd share a few of those too:

New profile pic maybe?

Poor Clover can't even look at her Papa in those teeth.

For most of us the "Gnarly Teeth" (that's what the box called them), were less than flattering...

... and on some even scarily real looking, my brother-in-law Tim won the award in this category!

Though, I must say, Clover does have some cousins whose extreme levels of cute can't even be overshadowed by big creepy teeth.

Plaid Flannel

The 90's revival has brought back the flannel shirt in full force. I'd been looking for one I liked for awhile but all the ones I was seeing in the thrift stores were too big and bulky.

If I were a sewing aficionado there would have been the option of altering one to fit the way I'd like, but as I've already discussed, I'm not, and there was no way I was about to shell out fifty bucks for the folks at Urban Outfitters to do it for me.

Luckily, on a recent thrifting trip, I stumbled upon this perfectly shrunken gem of a flannel. Where else, but in the boys section! Of course, I should have known one would be hiding over there among the shrunken blazers (still looking for the perfect one of those by the way).

It's exactly the fit I was looking for and a couple rolls of the sleeves gives them that perfect 3/4 length. Another plus is that the Welfare League Thrift where I found it charges next to nothing for their kid's clothes so it was only 50 cents! :D

I wore this outfit on Saturday to a crafts fair and then to a barbecue at a friends house which ended up being lots of fun. BBQ-ing in cool weather is always much more fun when there's an outdoor fireplace with a raging fire involved.

The cool weather, has also given me a new sense of appreciation for this cozy cashmere grandpa cardigan I thrifted last Spring, and yeah, speaking of Spring that will probably be the next time you will see me without this hat on my head ;) The scarf is a favorite, thrifted ages ago, I don't remember where. The rest is non-thrifted, complete outfit details are here if you're interested.


This is my friend Julianne. She is awesome. She makes these amazingly GORGEOUS paper garlands. I purchased a lovely one from her at the crafts fair on Saturday.

I have just the place for it too. I recently cleaned up two large curly willow branches that Lucas pruned from a tree in our backyard. I intertwined them together and now they live in the corner of our bedroom like a leafless tree with lots of wispy windy branches, tall enough that some even reach the ceiling. It looks really cool and will look even better I think once I've strung my new paper garland on them. I'll be sure to post pics when I do :)

Ever Wonder?

...what happens to all the unwanted holiday bric-a-brac?



This still cracks me up every time.

Wishing my fellow 'Pumpkin Towners' a Happy Thanksgiving!

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (11.27.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. To avoid any confusion these items are not mine... though I wish they were ;)

found photograph

kokeshi love

butterflies...

deer

pagoda

Tinct. Pimpinell
Originally uploaded by allerleirau

All of these items were thrifted by the same person and I must say, I am quite smitten with her eye for lovely things!

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (11.26.08)

, originally uploaded by Erin Liz.

This adorable all-one-piece jumper dress is just too cute! You really have to see it full-size to appreciate all its wonderful details, like the the tiny polka-dots on the shirt. It has a wonderful shape and I love the front pockets and all the buttons. I also like how Erin Liz continued the button theme with those cute lil’ flats.

I even love the big 60’s collar! It’s funny, ever since I mentioned having an issue with huge collars in this post, I’ve been seeing really cute ones everywhere. I am stating for the record that I am now officially over any sort of aversion I may once have had toward them :)

Indian Summer

(images: from here and here)

Late last week we had some amazingly gorgeous weather. One night was so warm that Lucas, Clover (our lil' night-owl), and I went out for a walk at 10pm, no jackets or sweaters required, to the store to get ice cream bars. There was even a warm wind blowing, very rare for the middle of November, it was somewhat surreal.

It has since chilled again, but this was an outfit I wore earlier this week, towards the end of the run of warm days. It's 100% thrifted and yup, still wearing my new favorite hat :) The vintage skirt and sweater are new finds that I got on the same day from different thrift stores. The skirt was $1.50 from the Salvation Army and the sweater $3 from the Welfare League Thrift. I love how their shapes work together and how the sweater picks up that raspberry shade in the plaid skirt.

Perhaps Indian Summer was subconsciously on my mind when I picked out my Native American accessories. The beaded headband worn as a bracelet is newly thrifted from Sacks ($6) and the 50 cent medicine bag I found at the flea market over the Summer has been mentioned before.

The skirt is made of the softest, lightest cotton ever and has a couple of interesting features. One being the tagline on the label: 'SOME LEADERS ARE BORN WOMEN' (you've gotta love those vintage taglines :). What does that even mean? It almost sounds a little demeaning, as if such an occurrence were as rare as a warm night in November ;)

The other being the fact that it has only one pocket. Don't get me wrong, one pocket is better than no pockets, but it's still a bit odd. Perhaps it was thought that the leader who would be wearing it (who by some strange twist of fate just happened to have been born a woman) would have had far too many responsibilities to be standing around with BOTH hands in her pockets, who knows, it's still a lovely skirt :)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (11.19.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. To avoid any confusion these items were thrifted by other people, they are not mine... though I wish they were ;)

Oct. 26
Originally uploaded by Lisl S

Vintage Aprons
Originally uploaded by mame*

old quilt
Originally uploaded by chelsaramas

A somewhat random assortment of items this week. I like the group of vessels in the first picture, especially the numbered canisters, the three vintage aprons are all very sweet and I'm loving their colors, and the vintage handsewn quilt is quite lovely (view it in all its glory here).

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (11.18.08)

, originally uploaded by nemrešpobjećodnedjelje.

, originally uploaded by IBelieveInUnicorns.

11/12/08 - Thrifty Wednesday, originally uploaded by madam0wl.

Kitty, originally uploaded by missemma.peel.

Feeling inspired by the cozy abundance of big cardigan sweaters in the 100% Thrifted flickr group this week. Ranging from oversized to down right ginormous, the array of yummy colors and variety in shape, texture, and styling here show that the possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to interpreting this 'warming' trend!

Vintage Tins

Cute vintage tins are one of those items that I always keep my eye out for whenever I'm browsing at thrift stores. I recently picked up these two lovelies to add to my growing collection. The one with the girl and her dog is a Thorne's English toffee tin which I got for 99 cents at Angela's Attic and the winter scene tin, former home to a Christmas fruitcake back in the 70's, was 50 cents from the VNA Hospice Thrift.

Some flickr TIN-spiration (all photos link to source):






A few pretty tins I saw for sale on Etsy (photos link to source):







I know that tin collecting is quite popular among those of us who love thrifting. I'd be curious to know if any of you have collections of your own and what you do with them? While I do love the way they look, I'd like to come up with some ways to use them other than purely as display items, which is what I have a tendency to do with them.

With the holidays quickly approaching, I was thinking they would make perfect vessels for giving out yummy homemade baked goods, maybe not fruitcake though ;)

Red Barn Farm

This 100% thrifted outfit is what I wore last weekend to a lovely place called Red Barn Farm. The little vintage sweater vest and wool skirt with belt were posted about here, the boots were thrifted a couple of years back for $5 at the VNA Hospice Thrift (I still remember how excited I was when I realized they were a perfect fit :), the blouse is from a local consignment shop long ago, and the hat was a recent find at the Welfare League Thrift for $2.

Little Miss Clover is wearing a vintage velvet dress with sweet lace and button details (visible in later pics) and coat, both handed down from her cousin. Her jeans (necessary for crawling around outside) were thrifted from Salvation Army and the shoes are from Target.

The nude color blouse has tiny black polka dots and little black flower shaped buttons. The tricky thing about this blouse though is that it is totally sheer, so the sweater vest turned out to be a perfect alternative to wearing it with a tank underneath.

We gathered for an afternoon of family fun at Red Barn Farm with Lucas’ Mom, his three sisters, and their families, eighteen of us altogether. One of the sisters was house-sitting here for the weekend with her family, not a bad gig. Even on a gray and drizzly day the location was a bit magical. Surrounded by huge oak trees and rolling hills with that woodsy damp earth scent in the air...ooh, I love that smell.

My brother-in-law actually had to learn how to milk “Bella” the cow while the owners were gone.




Clover had a blast checking out the animals, Bella in particular, and playing with her cousins. Clover and Lucia were pretty cute together in their red velvet dresses.


The farm owners have three young children that they home school and they turned the inside of this old chicken coop into a darling classroom with a wood stove, vintage school desks, chalkboards, and colorful maps on the walls.

The main reason for gathering everyone together was to do family portraits with my brother-in-law’s fancy camera, an annual tradition that was started around this time last year. I haven’t seen the actual pictures yet but Lucas snapped a few while Clover and I were posing with all of the girls. I don’t know what’s going on with that face I’m making …

… ok, that’s better. The plaid blazer was another thrift find from our camping trip.

Inside the farmhouse was just as magical. It had an eclectic country bohemian style that I loved with vintage touches scattered about and children’s art on display in most every room.






With a roaring fire going in the wood stove, it was quite cozy as I ran around taking lots of pictures.

The other reason for the gathering was to celebrate two birthdays that week. My niece Fiona turned seven. I thrifted her this wonderful old fashioned frock for dress-up, along with a vintage Winnie the Pooh and Piglet coat from the Salvation Army.

The other birthday was Lucas’ which actually fell on Election Day this year, so I’d say he got a pretty good gift ;) We ate yummy lemon caramel cake baked from scratch by my sister-in-law. She used the delicious Meyer lemons from the tree in our backyard.



Towards the end of the day the sun did finally peek out from behind the clouds a little and as we were leaving to head home, oak leaves rained down on us from the trees in the wind.

I feel so lucky to have in-laws who I always enjoy spending time with :) This was last year’s group photo taken at a local park. I’ll post the new one when I get it.

This was our cheesy family shot. Clover was only a couple of months old. Look at how tiny she was, and all that dark hair that has since fallen out and been replaced with blond.

She’s changed so much over the past year and is becoming such a sweet little kid. Oh, and newsflash: she’s just recently started walking!!!

I will now end the world’s longest blog post with this fitting quote that I photographed during my picture taking frenzy at Red Barn Farm :)