Sunday, December 25, 2011

merry christmas...





I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

The festivities are now over. I am back home in my cozy sweats...make-up washed off for the day....my hair in a ponytail...and all I can say is.....ahhhhhhhh. 




Hope you all had a wonderful day. 

I know I did. 

Good food. Lots of laughter. And fun. And family. 

Life is good.






Tuesday, December 20, 2011

its a wrap! (and a giveaway winner, too!)




 This is one of my favorite days of the year! Sounds crazy...but tonight it is gift wrapping night in our house! I love saving all my gifts until I am done shopping so the hubs and I can have a little 'wrapping party'. I went back to my Pinterest board "gift wrapping" this morning for a little inspiration, so thought I would share. 




Tonight, I will make a couple appetizers. (Also ideas from my Pinterest board "yummy") The hubs will build a fire in the fireplace, open a bottle of wine and we wrap gifts until every last thing is under the tree!

 He is the official gift wrapper in this house...you should see his attention to detail - amazing! I design, he executes. We make a good team that way. (Actually, he couldn't care less what they look like, he is just the man that has a mind like an engineer, so the gift come out wrapped perfectly every time.) Most guys I know wrap like a 5 year old, but this guy has some skills when it comes to paper and scissors, I tell ya! 

(And yes he would DIE right now if he knew I was telling the world this right now. Thankfully the guys at work don't read my blog! Haha!) 




I like to use simple things...I don't spend a fortune of all kinds of glittery paper. My favorite thing to use brown or white kraft paper, since I already have big rolls of that around the house. (I use it for the dust jacket backings on the mirrors I sell.) When my show season ends in October, I bring the big roll home from my warehouse so its ready for Christmas!




Oh gray, how I love you so. So simple and pretty. 




And I have to say, I cannot believe that I do not own a single shred of this pretty baker's twine yet! I am trying to find a good source where it doesn't cost a fortune.




 Trader Joe's bags used as wrap....what a fantastic idea this is! It mixes my love of kraft paper...white...with the perfect amount of red thrown in for good measure! 

{LOVE!}


This is my favorite idea for this year...as soon as I am done with this post, I am heading to Home Depot to steal a few paint samples in reds and greens! I won't even need to write the "from" portion on the tag. Everyone will already know! 

(I am a little famous for being the nut that is obsessed with paint swatches the diligent and prepared business woman that carries every fan deck of paint colors with her. You never know when you need to whip out 500 shades to find the perfect color for a client, right?)

 So my friends and family will get a kick out of this. 



 I am off to steal paint sample cards and buy some food and wine for tonight. Wish you could all come over for a wrapping party...wouldn't that be awesome? How fun!

Oh, and do you want to know who won the giveaway I hosted for the $50 credit to Post Road Vintage? 

Sasha from Lemonade Makin' Mama!

Thank you to all that entered! I have a few more giveaways up my sleeve, so stay tuned!




Sunday, December 18, 2011

Last Call - POST ROAD VINTAGE GIVEAWAY!





Just a quick reminder...



My giveaway with Heather from Post Road Vintage ends tonight at MIDNIGHT central time!

Go here to get your name in!

You could win a $50 credit to her beautiful shop!

Good luck, girls! I will announce the winner in the morning!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

POST ROAD VINTAGE $50 GIVEAWAY




{GIVEAWAY CLOSED...WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER TODAY!}


Giving is such a fun part of this time of year! In that spirit, my friend Heather from Post Road Vintage has so graciously offered one of my readers a $50 credit to her shop!  

Have you seen the beauty that resides in her shop?? It is beyond amazing...I love her style...her craftsman ship...whoever wins this giveaway is going to be truly lucky! 

She has {GORGEOUS} handmade coat racks...




And these lovely white soap dispensers! Heather was sweet enough to send me one of these, and it was one of the happiest packages I have opened in a long time. I couldn't wait to run over to my sink and fill it up with my favorite yummy Holiday soap! 




And another of my {FAVORITES}....her blue Ball jar soap dispensers! So simple and pretty, aren't they? Who wouldn't love to have one of these by their sink?

{sigh...}




So here's the scoop on how to win...

1. LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST. 

2. FOR A SECOND CHANCE TO WIN, SIGN  UP FOR HEATHER'S INSPIRING NEWSLETTER HERE. (Be sure to leave me a separate comment to let me know you did!)

Oooohh...and did I mention....Heather is offering a 20% discount in her shop right now! If there is something in her shop, that you must have, she will guarantee arrival by Christmas (within the Continental US) if you order by Dec. 19th! Just use the discount code MERRY20 at checkout. 


Good luck, girls! 

Giveaway ends Sunday night at midnight Central Time! I will announce the winner Monday morning!




Friday, December 9, 2011

$50 ETSY SHOP GIVEAWAY!!!





So who wants to win $50 to spend in my Etsy shop????

If YOU do...click over to visit Heather at Post Road Vintage!

There are 7...yep, thats right....SEVEN ways to enter so you have a great shot at winning some vintage goodness before Christmas!


Good luck!

(And just so you know...my shop was almost picked clean yesterday...THANK YOU! I will list more goodies tomorrow so come back to take a peek!)

Ok, now go over and see Heather and get your name in to win!



Thursday, December 8, 2011





Just wanted to let you know I added a few new things added the the Etsy shop...


 A little vintage ironstone...rusty metal...scales...more to come this weekend, too!

Happy Thursday, girls!

I am off to rural Wisconsin to visit a man that makes dining tables out of salvaged barn wood! Someone may just have a new table for Christmas dinner...fingers crossed!!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Northwind Perennial Farm 2012




Hello, girls! I have a busy day today...taking LOADS of photos of new things for my Etsy shop! Today I have scales, signs, transfer ware, a few industrial pieces and a collection of roses china and paintings from my grandmother's estate. 

Just thought I would check in with some photos from my weekend...I went to Indy on Friday and Saturday to pick of these 'ugly duckling' pharmacy cabinets but Sunday I made the trip to my beloved Northwind Perennial Farm in Burlington, WI. 

I love this place. Seriously. 

I would move into the barn and live there if they would let me. And not even care that I didn't have running water and heat. It is that beautiful in person.

{sigh...}

Anyway, just some photos from around the grounds. If you want to see the barn or more photos when there was snow on the ground...you can read my two posts from last year here and here


On with the show...




Oh, amazing industrial light fixture, how I love thee. 






Have I ever told you I dream of owning one of those little old 1-story motels someday? I have had that dream since I was a little girl. The kind of retro hotel that used these chairs outside each room...it is a dream of mine. But in the mean time, I will just obsess over the pile of rusty chairs. SO pretty!







Rusty goodness is everywhere on the grounds at Northwind...




And we all probably know by now of this farm girl's obsession with a barn. This is one of the many little ones around the property. 

{Love...}







I have always had an obsession with doors! Simple beauty. It is what I love the most. 




But this one is my FAVORITE!!!! Wouldn't this make a fabulous Christmas card for Urban Farmgirl this year??! Hmmm....I think I just had an 'ah-ha' moment!




If you are from the Illinois/Wisconsin area...you MUST make the trip to Northwind. (This weekend will be the last they are open for business for 2011.) Springtime here is the BEST! Amazing plants fill the farm   (just about everything for my landscaping comes from here) and in June they have an antique show on the grounds that I LOVE, too! When I was there on Sunday we talked a little about my being a vendor in 2012! I have a warehouse busting at the seams with things waaaay to large for Etsy. I think its time to let some go!

Ok, I have to get back to work. The Etsy shop needs stocking! Don't forget to take a peek tomorrow morning for new things!


Thursday, December 1, 2011

pharmacy cabinet potential...




I do the craziest things. 

Constantly. 

I fly by the seat of my pants, jump in with both feet and hope it all turns out for the best. 

And I think this time I've done something that just might turn out to be quite fabulous!

Today my sweet hubs is taking me 5 hours to Indiana to pick up {FOUR} of these beautiful old pharmacy cabinets....once upon a time they were all lined up along the back wall behind a pharmacy counter. I found them in a little town in Indiana on my way to the Country Living Fair in September. They are so worth the trip back to pick them up! I hope you can see the potential like I do! 


( My apologies for the ugly photo...but I took it with my iPhone in a very dark antique shop. )



Not so spectacular now...but just you wait!

Each of the 4 cabinets has had a 1960s refinish job that went bad. Very, very bad. The pulls they put on are just tragic, the shelves hurt my eyes and the color of the stain....well...I am not having a love affair with that either. 

I plan on spending a little time this winter giving them the library pulls that would have been original...the kind that hold the little paper card - {LOVE!}....new stain....new 'old' shelves. I think the cabinet may reach out and hug me for making it pretty again. 

Happy Weekend, girls! 

Indiana here I come!