When two crazy best friends get together.....

So I've just had a whirlwind of a week so far...on Monday morning I drove up to Portland to see my best friend. We've been saving up our stashes for each other for almost a year now, unable to make it work to get together. It finally happened. I arrived at her house Monday morn and she had a "pile" of goodness for me...these aren't even all the pictures of everything....she has a new name now.
I'm gonna start calling her the "Vintage Whisperer" because this girl can find THE most awesome things out there. Check out this carry case above, it has an old pennant of my dh's alma mater so she bought it for me. Cool huh?

How about this awesome barrel that someone covered in the most luscious wallpaper?
but wait, there's more!

old drawers from a steamer trunk....there are few things I love more in this world because they are always covered with the most amazing old paper. Think what you can store in these!

gorgeous old paper, right? These make me giddy..:)

and how did she know I needed a new trash can for my studio? (it's that "vintage whisperer" thing again)

more vintage ribbon spools....

gorgeous and soft old ticking....

now this set of old wallpaper drawers I found at Monticello (because we just weren't feeling the thrifting vibe that morning)

beautiful old crochet lace from some old pillowcases (this was found at Monticello as well)

we stopped in at the Salvation Army and I found this pitcher for $1, can't even describe to you how much I love it.....

a present indeed, that's what my best friend is! Then, on the spur of the moment she decided to drive back home with me and stay over until Tuesday! Yep, we had us some fun and now she's back to work, but I just have to say what a fabulous time I had Mel!!!! Let's do it again soon....?

My studio closet makeover.....

I finally got around to solving a small "problem" in my studio... see, everytime we needed to access something in the closets in there it was a problem.  Apparently someone in our house has issues with buying too much stuff....I'm not naming names, I'm just sayin'....anyhoo, they were bifold doors, and actually very nice ones, you know the old heavy kind. 

But we got tired of having to move several things out of the way to get into the closets soooooooo,
I had the grand idea of moving the drapes (aka Simply Shabby Chic shower curtains) off the windows where they're not really needed anyway and placing them across the room where they are!! Don't they look happy in their new home? 

I love my little thrift store chair that I got for $35 but she may be moving to make way for my favorite dressform......stay tuned, big changes coming to my studio.


On a more serious note, let's all send up some prayers for the poor folks in Japan, what devastation going on there right now. We used to live in Taiwan and I well remember earthquakes and typhoons on a regular basis (although certainly nothing of this magnitude). Prayers to them all.....

When you have no expectations at all...........

you can't be disappointed, right? I had to run an errand at Target today and since it was near a thrift store I decided to run in because I haven't been there for a few months. The first thing I found was this set of very old paper tablecloth and napkins for..............$1.

Pretty, pretty napkin....I'll use these in some collages or some of my other paper arts, they're too pretty not to use. I'm so jealous that "back in the day" people had choices like this when they went to the store to buy party items~

A pretty frame in a great shade, not quite cream, not quite grey, just in between.

Pretty details

My favorite find was this chippy white folding chair with really old decals.....it's very sturdy and only has one panel (the one in the picture above...on the left) that is lifting up a bit....I care not.

LOVE old decals.........:)

Cool old hardware that's a bit rusty....ok, a lot rusty.

Love this paint effect

These lovely pillowcases I've had for a long while, it's time to let them go....they're in my shop.

As is this single pillowcase

and this cutie.....

and this.........

and this.....LOVING this colander, it's a really old and heavy one.  I almost hope it doesn't sell!

I'm working on taking down some old bi-fold closet doors in my studio.....it's going to take another trip to the store before I can claim victory on that one but as soon as that projects finished I'll post some pictures. Hope you're all having a productive and fun week....:)

Til next time

Shoes, shoes, and, oh yes......more shoes!!!!

Well, it was an interesting thrifting day....I guess it's true what they say. Once you find one item in a category it just multiplies from there....:)
The shoes above are a stunning find and they are now for sale (sniff, sniff) in my etsy.
Can't keep it all....

These little cuties above will also be making their way there this weekend. Love the bells.

These next two "little" pairs I have to keep, have to. They both measure about 3 1/2 adorable inches long, must have been doll shoes....

Oooooh la la.........

Sigh........a last look. I added the silk shoe keepers, they just look like they would be friends.
I  ~heart~  shoes....

Voila! a french inspired blog party....come join in the fun!

So there's a really fun party going on over at www.frenchcupboard.blogspot.com
called Voila! a french inspired party. I made this collage some time ago from images on the Cote de Texas blog....sweet Joanie over there told me I could use these images. Their all black and white and such great street scenes and shop scenes in France. Check out the corset shop window above!

I used a vintage parcel handle (french, of course) to hold it...

Little french touches.....

Isn't this flower vendor to die for?

I basically made this for myself, to gaze upon when I need a dose of "calgon take me away"....

It's fun to dream, isn't it? Thanks french cupboard for hosting such a fun party, now I'm off to check out the other french goodness...:)

So many new pretties..........

I've been busy purging some items...more to come soon. It must be this time of year, but it always causes me to look around and see what I can share with someone else....all items can be found in my Etsy shop here....www.etsy.com/shop/LittleBeachDesigns

What I did on my snow day....well part of it anyway.

Remember this tool caddy from my last post? It needed a makeover but I wasn't sure where I was going to use her.....

Here she is now, on top of my washing machine, holding cleaning supplies and a little lavender.

This is one of the ends that I decided to put some upholstery webbing on with a french label.

Close-up of the label....

Had to use my "vintage" stamp somewhere on this!

Old fabric trim with lace softens the handle and makes it easier to carry....

My really old sprinkle bottle for ironing.....notice the wallpaper? There's a different paper on the front and the back......

Detail on the other end....

Lavender tucked in......

I lined the bottom of the cubbies with old wallpaper....
So there's my cleaning caddy...I look forward to adding more supplies to her.
Tomorrow is probably going to be another snow day here...yippee!


I'm linking up to Rebecca's Studio Sunday at 
www.rebeccaforvintageliving.blogspot.com