Hello friends!

Lets get caught up...OK?

Lately my life has been a series of events, changes, holidays, 

family, work and gardening...all of which, 

has left me with very little time to devote to blogging

But I'm still here and would love to get re-aquanted with you 

and share a few fun new decorating projects 

and my usual musings and antics 

in the garden and kitchen

lets get going...

 This is my scary old garage/guest room (kidding) just before we loaded up for the

 Remnants of the Past Vintage Market

in beautiful San Luis Obispo in November

 I was pretty organized and the packing was not all that bad....yes we made the trip in a u-haul

I know right?....what a way to travel!

My husband kept saying to me....

"Don't ever tell me I don't take you any place nice"

however,

during the unpacking at the venue I fell into 

a complete insane panic.....

 I only had about 5 hours to unpack everything and completely merchandise my booth 

before the opening day on Saturday

It all came together...in the end...

at least I think it did

Flowers from my garden made the trip 

as did lots of signs, pillows, folk art and garden goodies, 

including some fresh limes from the orchard...just in case we wanted  a margarita maybe?!!

 The tractor sign sold almost immediately...remember it from Country Living?

 When the gates open to this event,

 it is a crazy surge of shoppers.

But, most people seemed to know exactly what they were looking for. 

 My booth was pretty packed and super busy, 

but it was fun...yes it really was a ton of fun!

 I managed to meet a few friends...Trino 

from Atelier de Campagne 

was just around the corner.

His booth was amazing and he and his partners are so nice. 

Talk about pros...they know exactly
what goes where
and not a single item looks out of place!

I purchased a really great basket from him and probably should have bought a few other items
but now I will have to visit him at another show....right?

 Clearly, I am seriously cracking myself up about something?

By the way...yes those are overalls...a fashion statement
chosen just for this type of thing.

Notice the extra pockets for:

phone

pens

sales tickets

business cards

wine opener

Carhart work pants, size mens XS...perfect

luckily I had a leather strap on my glasses too or I would have really been in deep trouble

On a side note...I wore a great vintage beaded sweater early in the morning
and set it down in my booth later....could have sold it 10 times!

 On Sunday is was a bit damp and chilly 

 It was great to have a few hours before the gates opened to rearrange and tidy up

 I sold quite a few items for the holidays and baskets went quickly,
probably for Thanksgiving tablescape's

quilts and linens sold too

 My husband was such a trooper.
I really can't believe he did this event with me.

He had a couple of cups of coffee and acted like he'd done this a million times

 SOLD

 SOLD

 all of the small purchases 

found their way into a Polished Pebble Goods gift bag

this was a great item..a vintage 1950's brushed steel lawyers cabinet

I marked it way, way WAY down on Sunday 

and sold it to a really wonderful young college student...she was seriously happy!

Just before we ended the event my husband took my picture

shirt untucked

totally pooped

frizzy hair 

lost glasses

 but still smiling

and yes I might do this again...just in case you were wondering

Thank you

 to all of the friends who so graciously stopped by 

to say hello!

I so appreciate you and your support

and to my blog family

thank you so much too for hang'in  in there with me 

cheers and love

kelley

French Sheet Slipcovers: Part 2

Ok...on to the details

Over the years, having completed tons upholstery projects 

(which I love to do, in case you hadn't guessed)

I have found the best way to communicate how I want the finished project to look is to give the upholsterer visuals.  

In the case of the couch, in addition to explaining it, I gave them this: 

What I was looking for is a very relaxed slipcover 

with nice details but not too frilly

There are three monograms so I wanted to be sure the seamstress fully understood the placement.  

If they cut up the sheets prematurely with out knowing where the monograms were meant to go

"ouch"

the whole batch of sheets is wasted 

I also washed the sheets twice to be sure they had fully shrunk.  

Linen can shrink big time...so always prewash!

If you are unsure how you want your sofa skirting to look 

here is link to Houzz...there is about 43,000 photos to browse through

And here is a yardage chart to pin or print out if you need
some help knowing how much fabric a project takes

 The best thing about slipcovers is this

My dirty little country girl Millie, likes to rub and ich her back side all down the side of this white couch so you can about imagine the big brown stripe of dirt that appears after a week or so

I wash them and then dry them just  until a bit damp, 

before I pop them back on the couch

Here you can see the embroidered monogram and the cut work along the top of the back

 Every exposed seam got a 1 inch French or flanged welting
This is unusually large but I wanted this to look very hand sewn and loose

 The corners are softly gathered and puddle just a bit.
 I always have my skirting lined so it hangs better.
Now I suppose you could iron these but I really like them this way

 The corners get a little pinched treatment

 Here are the flanged seams along the back which I really love

 One of the monogrammed sheets had a seam and the other did not
 but its all part of the vintage quality of the fabric

you can get so creative with pillows and throws

So there you have it!

Don't forget to stop and see Wendy's lovely fabric 

A bientôt !

Collecting: Vintage Christmas Ornaments

 My poor little blog got stuck in "Thanksgiving land" 

sorry about that ; 0 (

I would love to show you some really pretty

 vintage ornaments that I have collected over the years

 Almost all of these were purchased at small antique malls or on eBay

 and none of them were very expensive

I have heard that there are some really avid collectors who pay hundreds,

for antique and rare glass ornaments 

but mine usually cost about a dollar each

 I started collecting these in groups of two or three, but the more I collected, the more I began purchasing in larger lots of 12 to 24

I actually find that a good way to start a collection like this

 because you get a larger, nice variety right from the start...

the down side is that the condition of some may not be very good,

 but they are still usable.

Above is a box of 24 which originally sold for 99 cents!!!!  

These were made in Poland and are probably 1950-1960's

 Most have pretty hand painted details and come in wonderful colors

 The three above are newer from Germany

 but still very vintage looking and shiny

 I originally used these on a very small little table top tree, which children love by the way, I think because the ornaments are so tiny

 I have about a dozen of these little baskets...which are about 2 inches in diameter

 These long icicle shapes are interesting

 with the glitter and flocking

 Adding little odd items, like the miniature flocked trees and the wreath makes the collection 

more interesting I think

 This is an old tinsel tree topper...super cute

 I have quite a few of these little pine cones too...they are just 2 inches long

 Once I started collecting this type of ornament I stumbled across garland ...which is just as pretty and you can find it in all different colors and sizes

Its funny, but I am sort of attached to these little guys, even though I don't use them every year

Here is my favorite...this tiny little stocking

It is just 3 inches long and gets lost in the tree, but I know its there and so does Santa!

Happy collecting...and if know more about these vintage ornaments...please share!

xxx's

kelley