My Vintage Soul

A Tale of Two Projects

Remember this?

The slipcover for cats?

It's finally progressed to this.

And the cats approve.

It's not quite done, but a little hemming and some skirting, and it'll be good.

Which means it's time to start another project (or two), and this one(s) a doozy.

This is my youngest daughter's bedroom. We painted it when she was 10 and the color was inspired by van Gogh's "Starry Night." 

And now that she's 18 and loves all things vintage, she wants to paint it Jadeite. But before we can do that, we have to deal with the glossy royal blue  paint on the walls and that's been quite a challenge. First, we had to sand the finish down and then apply primer. What you're looking at is that process about halfway -- two primed walls and two blue walls. 

And guess what? When this room is done, I get to do it again because my other daughter wants to paint her room too, with a nice buttery yellow. Of course that yellow paint has to go over purple walls.

The moral of the story is this: Don't let 10-year-olds pick paint colors.

Rummage Roundup

I go to a lot of rummage sales. And so, I spend a lot of time waiting to get into said rummage sales. I suppose I could spend my time, talking with Crazy Glass Guy or Crazy Jewelry Lady, but did I mention that they're crazy? So, instead I stand there and I think. And often, I wonder: Is it worth it to spend all this time, waiting to get into rummage sales?

The answer is yes. Especially when, after rummage sale season is over, I look back and see what I've hauled home. Here's some of the good stuff:

Probably the biggest reason that I go to rummage sales is vintage Christmas. There's a lot of it because the sales are run by little old church ladies who have had this kind of stuff around their house for years and say it's "that old junk."

It's not unusual, in fact, to find some thing cute in its original box.

And you can scoop up nativities right and left, from those that include your classic dimestore paper mache figures.

To teeny-tiny plastic pieces that are that no more than an inch or two tall.

I also brought home some figures in "Similegno" plastic, which I had never heard of before. Now if I could just find more of those old plastic Shiny Brite mangers.

Of course, there are also ornaments although they're getting a little harder to find. I did discover a few nice Polish ones and a small green and silver tree topper. And I had to buy the plain bulbs because they screamed SUPER BUY! at me. And actually there were, because they were only a quarter.

I even found a little vintage Halloween. My favorite item is that Jack O' Lantern blowmold, which I bought to sell but I just might have to keep.

And speaking of Halloween, a few old patterns, including a couple for costumes. See the little witch on the lower left and the Statue of Liberty on the upper right?

And a few odds and ends: A metal Ohio art globe with a zodiac base, a beaded 1960s bag and fun pink floral tablecloth that still has its original label.

What have you found lately?