A is for Alphabet and Awesome Illustrations

Over the summer I posted about thrifting this book for its gorgeous alphabet illustrations and I think it's now safe to say that I have developed a full-blown 'thing' for great examples of the illustrated alphabet.

Another children's book I recently thrifted called Erni Cabat's Magical ABC Animals Around the Farm. It was published in the early 90's and the psychedelic illustrations truly are magical:



The beautiful colors and intricate designs make them look more like spirit animals than farm animals. I also like that many of them aren't animals one typically associates with a farm.



The owl and the fox are my favorites. I'm almost tempted to remove them and use them as wall art, but I wouldn't want to disrupt the alphabet, that just seems wrong somehow. Besides I've already got some alphabet wall art that I love.

Here's a peek at the area in our office we call 'Clover's Corner'. Since we don't have enough space for her to have a whole room of her own, she's stuck with just a corner for now but at least it's a cute one, right? Her corner is home to many a sweet little thrifted treasure :)

The Ida Pearle alphabet cards hanging above her dresser, however, were something I saw on a design blog while I was pregnant and immediately fell in love with. These were a gift from my mom last Christmas when Clover was only a few months old.

The prints are of the sweetest cut-paper collages and again, the colors are just amazing. Clover and I have this little game that we do where I pick her up and point to the cards while saying the ABC's and acting out little things for certain letters, like when we get to 'D is for dance' we do little pirouettes and when I tell her 'F is for friends' we give each other a big hug. If you're ever looking for the perfect baby shower gift, I highly recommend them :)

You can check out more of Ida Pearle's wonderful art here. This wintry beach scene is one of my favorites. Also, while visiting her site for this post, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she has a new children's alphabet book out too! Which of course, I now must have ;)


I'm also quite tempted by this super cool Alphabet of Endangered Species of the British Isles poster I found by P&C on Etsy.

I'm thinking this love of alphabet illustration could possibly stem from many an hour spent watching Sesame Street back in the 70's. Is anyone else old enough to remember this?

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 ;)

Under Reconstruction

During my travels across the interweb, I come across lots of wonderfully altered articles of thrifted clothing which make me wish I was savvier with my poor neglected sewing machine. Luckily for us not-so-DIY-inclined (or just don’t have the time for DIY projects) types, there’s always the lovely folks of Etsy who are out there thrifting, altering, and embellishing for us.

I would love to be able to turn an oversized vintage dress into this cute little number, like Etsy seller NENEEE has done…

… or a baggy pair of overalls into an adorable jumper like this one by Junkhouse Dollyard Designs...

...and how sweet is this reconstructed vintage wedding dress from Etsy seller Lynn’s Rags?!?!


Customizing thrifted clothing with yarn is a new one for me, but I think it’s a great idea. I saw these reworked pieces (previously a basic full length denim skirt and fitted tee) on the blog NIBS the other day. They are from a spread in the gorgeous knitting magazine Rowan. You can check out the rest of the feature here.


While putting this post together, I also came across a darling Etsy shop called Photosynthesis. Megan, the seller and lover of ferns, hand prints thrifted vintage items using actual fern leaves that she collects, dries, and presses herself.


Myself being a scientist who once dreamed of studying botany, the fact that her inspiration to print ferns on clothing came from the specimens she collected for fern ecology studies in college, tugs at my heartstrings. The pieces she creates are one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly, and just plain lovely :)

But reconstruction is not just for clothes. In my experience, there’s no shortage of vintage jewelry out there for the thrifting, and jewelry reconstruction is one of those things that I’ve long wanted to try my hand at.

I found this NylonTV clip with Lulu Frost designer Lisa Salzer to be extremely inspiring and there’s even a little DIY project at the end. If you pay attention to the background there are also some lovely ideas for jewelry storage to be found.

How cool is her studio?! Oh, to have vintage card catalogs full of magical doo-dads and walls of vintage chains to choose from… *sigh*

I LOVE these gorgeous necklaces from Etsy seller Capricious Traveler:

Minya

The incredibly crafty Diane of Little Birdie's Nest has just opened her new Etsy shop, The Little Birdie, and is currently selling these ADORABLE matryoshka softies. She makes them from lovely thrifted fabrics and hand embroiders their sweet lil' faces!

This one's name is Minya and I just purchased her for Clover, whose first birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I love that she was made from a thrifted pillowcase and is embellished with vintage lace! The fact that the lace matches the flowers on her "outfit," well, that just makes her beyond perfect in my book ;) I'm so excited to see her in person!

Diane is an appreciated reader and every time I visit her blog, I always leave wishing I was a crafty mom like her! Thanks Diane, I'm sure Clover will adore Minya and I'll make sure she takes good care of her :)