christmas stockings and treats

here is a sneak peek at some christmas stockings that i will be adding to my etsy shop shortly. the stockings are made up of chenille, candy cane inspired piping and vintage buttons all lovingly hand sewn by yours truly.

a little love and a flower sticker

i bought this table at a yard sale in the spring. i already have an old metal typewriter table, the kind where the sides fold up, that i painted red as a bed side table for my son's room. when i saw this table, i knew i had to have it as well, plus the $3 price tag didn't hurt. the coolest part is that you can pull up on the black handles and the table folds in half, very easily and it becomes really skinny. the top of the table did come with some rusty scratched parts, but i thought i could spray paint it and all would be good. upon closer inspection, i decided not to spray paint it because the entire piece is held together with grommets, not screws. because of the grommets, i wouldn't be able to take it apart to get a clean paint job.

instead, i ordered a lovely vinyl flower decal from this etsy store and positioned it so the decal covered as many of the scratches as it could. i also had some left over white vinyl mini circles that i placed around the top for more visual interest.

i love how it turned out, i am just bummed that i didn't take a close-up before photo!

fall and fairs

this weekend was the bi-annual cotton pickin' fair in gay, georgia, which meant i spent all day saturday going to yard sales along the fair route. i love heading out early in the morning with a packed lunch and a car full of blankets and tools because you never know what you will find and need to take apart to fit in your car! i found this amazing blue carnival glass lamp at a little sale off the beaten path - literally, my car is filthy from the gravel road. i know exactly how to update it and i can't wait to share photos of its transformation. we have been toying with the idea of moving my office to the first floor so i can be more available to the little munchkins in this house. i have been hesitant because i couldn't see the space in my head, but now, thanks to this lamp, i have the entire room planned out.

my biggest purchase of the day was an old 6ft by 4 foot metal shelving rack. i have been wanting to change my festival displays up a bit and this piece is perfect. it has 5 shelves, each progressively deeper as you reach the bottom. the shelves will showcase my shades perfectly while getting them off the table away from little sticky hands :) the best part is the thin metal strips that i can slide custom designed pricing tags and Linwood Avenue signage into. we finally figured out how to collapse the piece and get it into my trunk with only minor damage to my car (ooops). i am hoping that my plan to bungee it onto the top rack of my car on festival days will go more smoothly! now, the only question i have is what color i should paint it!!!

custom made and beautiful

i am loving this batch of aprons i recently finished for a custom order. they are from one of amy butler's fabric collections and the different patterns work together beautifully (as she always plans!).

walking and loving

i am back, safe & sound, exhausted, drained and in love with london all over again. the first time i visited this amazing city was in my early 20's. i was there for 5 weeks and visited every tourist spot in existence. this time around, i really wanted to experience the city by walking and getting lost. looking with my eyes, not necessarily through a camera lens. my plan turned out better than i thought when one of my traveling partners discovered her camera was broken. jessica is the face behind peachtree photography and i was all too happy to lend her my camera - her beautiful visions on my memory card, it couldn't get any better.

graffiti off the beaten path of brick lane. this eclectic area was by far my favorite experience of the trip. basement antique/thrift stores, vintage clothing, craft vendor stalls. a little bit of my home abroad.

art everywhere.

lovely house in notting hill. within the city limits, there is very little personal green space. the small garden vignettes you pass by are so amazingly beautiful, and make you realize that you don't need a lot to have beauty. as americans, we are constantly being drilled with the notion that bigger is better. when you travel abroad, you realize how completely misled this thinking is.

glass goblets that i fell in love with.

a bit strange taking photos of someones knickers, i know, but this was such a completely european moment, we couldn't pass it by.

gorgeous chandeliers at portobello market. and yes, it was very difficult for me not to pack every one of these up and buy a return flight home for them!

british royal academy.

macaroons at a fancy corner bakery by the royal academy.

pocket watches in notting hill.

installation artwork outside the waterloo station (i think). made of paper shipping cartons.

jessica and i on the millenium bridge on our last day.
(thanks to the nice guy taking our photo, much appreciated!)