Terrariums

Every once in a while I stumble across a blog that I fall in love with immediately. This happened a couple of months ago when I first came across Amy Elizabeth Merrick's blog An Apple A Day. It's one of those blogs that just oozes charm and inspiration.

One thing I was especially inspired by when reading through her archives was her infectious love of terrariums and since reading this post in particular, I've been wanting to try making some of my own.

Lucky for me and anyone else interested in trying their hand at terrarium making, Amy put together this wonderful easy-to-follow tutorial for the Domino Magazine site which takes you step-by-step through the process. I am now officially left with no excuse not try it for myself.

I've been spending more and more time in the glassware sections of thrift stores these days looking for suitable vessels. I got these three for about $1.50 a piece. The fact that this type of glassware is usually cheap and easy to find makes this hobby even more appealing.

I love the way they look grouped together with their similar, yet slightly different, shapes and sizes, unfortunately they're quite small at around 4 inches tall not including the lids. I would have to find something pretty tiny to plant in them. So I'm thinking I may just fill these with something interesting to display.

I like how the glass jar in this inspiration collage looks filled with seashells. Incidentally, this image is from another love-at-first-site blog that I discovered through Mila's inspirational treasure trove of a blog, Loveology.

The blog, called Record the Day, consists of pictures of the most beautiful collection of date stamped inspiration collages. If you're like me and love looking at other people's inspiration boards, notebooks, etc. or just enjoy collections of lovely things, I highly recommend checking it out.


The other glass jar I picked up for $2 at the Goodwill was this Planter's Peanuts jar from 1979. It's got Mr. Peanut on the bottom and the lid (monocle, top hat, cane and all :) and it's nice and tall.

So we'll see what I'm able to come up with. I'll do an update post once I get some completed. In the meantime, these are some recent flickr favorites that I've found inspiring:

Originally uploaded by alicesaunders

ferns under glass
Originally uploaded by melissamh

Originally uploaded by alicesaunders

Originally uploaded by palindromepress

bhg - terra
Originally uploaded by tiny palpitation

tiny terrarium
Originally uploaded by Justin and Elise

Terrariums
Originally uploaded by SarahIvy

P.S. - I hope you all had a really lovely holiday!

The Fussy Bohemian

With the cold wet weather we've had lately, I've been hard pressed to come up with outfits that involve much beyond the same old boots, jeans, and warm cozy cardigans to get me through these final days of last minute Christmas shopping.

Most of my dresses are better suited for warm weather, but when I started thinking about putting together an outfit that might be worthy of posting, I remembered this peach dress that my friend Laura Jane thrifted and gave to me months ago. It was too hot out to wear it for so long that I kinda forgot about it. I love its little pearly buttons :)


Especially paired with the granny boots, this dress could easily have gone the fussy secretary route, but I liked the combination of the peach with the plum colored floral vest and the subtle mix of patterns. Along with my little Guatemalan belt it brought me right back to my bohemian comfort zone.

I picked up this vintage 70’s denim jacket last year at a local consignment shop. It’s a little beat-up but I fell in love with it’s shape and the faded purpley corduroy detailing. All the corduroy bits were once the navy color where the sleeves have been rolled once. The original owner must have had short arms because if you roll the sleeves one more time the corduroy is the same faded purple color as the rest.

In other news: my hair continues to grow like a weed.

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (12.17.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Today
Originally uploaded by kristenaderrick

Orange & Yellow Sherbert Bowls
Originally uploaded by jenscloset

birds
Originally uploaded by rags and bones

Milk & Cookies
Originally uploaded by kendra-jane

Some lovely vintage milk glass and a lovely glass of milk. Mmm... those cookies look gooooood.

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (12.16.08)

Dec 12 (coat), originally uploaded by Ashleigh E.

What a score on that coat! I would be overjoyed to thrift me one of these, both the shape and the color are pretty darn perfect. Those puffed sleeves, those buttons, those pockets… oh my!

I love Ashleigh E’s styling too, that mustard hue paired with the fuchsia tights is spectacular and small details like how she matched her bangles to the colors in her scarf make me smile, nicely done!

Check out the 100% Thrifted flickr group for more fabulous fully thrifted outfits.

What We Wore

On Me:
Flowery cardigan: Vintage (scored for me by my sister-in-law at a clothing swap :)
Stripey top: Thrifted
Jeans: Passed on to me by my sister :)
Shoes: old from JCPenny
Socks: Target
Shoe bows: Gift from Milla :)
Headband: Thrifted scarf

On Clover:
Vintage handmade quilted floral smock dress with pockets in front: This may be my favorite garment I've thrifted for her.
Longsleeve shirt with pink stars: Thrifted
Leggings: Hand-me-downs
Shoes: Target

We had a little mother/daughter pose-off the other day...check her out! She's got Blue Steel DOWN and I swear she practices Magnum when I'm not looking ;)

Red, Gold, and Green

When I thrifted this dress a few weeks ago at Salvos for $4.50, I was filled with thoughts of Autumn colors and the changing leaves. Imagine my delight when I went out to the spot where I’ve been taking my outfit photos to find that our Japanese maple tree was thinking the same thing.

Its leaves were still quite green just a couple of weeks ago when I took my last outfit photo, but on Monday afternoon (jeez, how did it get to be Friday already?) the sun was shining on it in a way that set the leaves aflame.

This green cardigan is a favorite, bought while I was pregnant (hence its large size) from a local vintage store on sale for $5. I love the colorful yarn embroidered flowers, the big covered buttons, and the shape of the collar. Other than the tights, the outfit is 100% thrifted.

My cat Guinness basking in the sun. Poor thing has been limping around with a hurt paw :(

Monday evening we went on a little family outing to pick out a Christmas tree from the lot down the street. We had to get a little one that would fit up on a table high enough that you-know-who would not be able to reach the ever-so-tempting shiny ornaments.

Here’s our cute little tree, which you can see is about the size of an average window. It’s decorated with a mix of things thrifted and non-thrifted, vintage and new-bought items. Clover is quite taken with it and so am I. She was barely three months old last year so this is kind of her first real Christmas which is fun.


These weird blown-glass animals with strange pointy ears in tutus and pink ballet slippers are my absolute favorite ornaments ever. They’re not vintage, I actually bought them a few years ago at Cost Plus World Market. They are however, oddly alien-ish, totally bizarre, and even a little bit creepy… oh how I love them so!

We decorated the tree while sipping hot cocoa and listening to the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas. The best Christmas music there is in my opinion, it sets that perfect warm nostalgic mood without being cheesy and is absolutely perfect for cuddling up, dimming the lights and gazing at our sweet lil’ tree… I’ve been listening to it a lot lately :)

In case that first clip was too melancholy and you need some cheering up :)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (12.10.08)

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 ;)

Tis the season, for thrifting lovely vintage Christmas decorations!

blocks
Originally uploaded by marusica

Angels play accordion, too
Originally uploaded by marusica

shiny brite goodness
Originally uploaded by Dayben

Vintage Christmas Ornaments
Originally uploaded by sarahridgley

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (12.09.08)

11.30.08, originally uploaded by _venusinfurs_.

I’ve been a little bit obsessed lately with cream and white crochet lace. Wishing I had more of it in my wardrobe and home décor like lots of doilies and lace curtains. So last week when I saw this gorgeous crochet dress thrifted by venusinfurs I fell in love instantly. Since I missed doing my pick for last week I just had to post it this week.

I love how she kept the styling simple with just the little black boots and black slip underneath. I’m also loving her hair, the perfectly unkempt updo with the tiny headband and the little white shell.

Hmm… crochet, lace, doilies…
I wonder what all this could be reminding me of ?

All I know is I would love to thrift me a dress just like the one venusinfurs has and sail off into the sunset for an evening in a boat just like this. Oh, and I guess Lucas can come too ;)

Check out the 100% Thrifted flickr group for more fabulous fully thrifted outfits.

(final photo credit: Tim Walker via Girl Meets NYC)

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?