New Home Library

We have three bedrooms in our house.  One for daughter, a master bedroom, and one extra room.  A year or two ago our computer up and died, and husband replaced it with a teeny-tiny, Mini Mac that makes no noise and takes up very little space.  Now, every year for our anniversary husband gives me a children's picture book, but this year I just didn't have anymore shelf space for books.  So, he proposed moving the computer from the office in the spare bedroom to my "creative space" desk in the master bedroom, and turn the office into a library!

Ummm, let me think about this...YES!!  So now the creative space is office space (but I still get to keep creative odds and ends in most of the drawers and cupboards).

We went to Menards and bought tall book shelves, and husband put them together lickity-split!

 

 

The doll house is daughter's that we were given second hand.  She loves it and isn't quite ready to part with it yet, so it will stick around for a while.

  And I have to give a big shout out to my parents for taking our piano off our hands for awhile.  Thank you Mom and Dad!  Having the piano gone has freed up quite a bit of space.

 

 

The artwork above is a book.  Yes, I cut a book apart.  No Jumping On the Bed by Tedd Arnold is one of my all-time favorite children's books.  I found a paperback copy at a garage sale for 25 cents and seeing as how I already had 2 other copies, I decided to make some wall art.  Bought the frames at Hobby Lobby (used a 40% off coupon to save a little cash to put towards a temporary chair)

 

I found the chair above at Target for a reasonable price.  I call it a dorm chair because it looks like something a college student would have in a dorm room.  It is surprisingly comfortable and with a fleece blanket thrown over the top, it doesn't look too bad.

The little box underneath used to be a toy box.  It has a padded top and we store the daycare's board books inside.  It makes a nice foot stool.

 

 

I've been collecting Children's Book Week posters for the past few years and bought frames for all of them.  I wish the posters were the same size as the frames, but they'll have to do for now.
The daycare playpens have to stay in this room and that's fine.

 

 

We haven't done much with the shelf above yet.  It will store some craft items and maybe our library books.  That's my closet off to the right.

 

 

Here is a panoramic view of the whole room.

Since we did this mini-makeover, we use this room more than we ever have!  We may need another comfy chair because Daughter always beats me to the new one!  The kitty likes it too.

 

Someday...I dream of having a chair and table much like this, but, that's a ways down the road.  For now I am just so thankful for this new space! 
 

 

 

Well, that's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy day!

Cute Pot Holders

Not much to report today, just wanted to share these CUTE, vintage potholders I spied at the Flickertail museum.

 

 

I especially like the yellow fabric along with the red trim on the top kitty. 

 

That's all for today!  It's been a busy week so far and I'm hoping to get some blogging done soon, so please stay tuned!  Until then, have a happy vintage day!

 

A Few Recent Finds

Found these little items at Vintage City a couple weeks ago.  The little white jar with red lid doesn't have a label, but it is a cute addition to my kitchen cupboard goodies.

 

The Lawn Grass Seed bag from GTA is just plain old cool.  I have three little bags now, one for sugar, salt and grass seed! 

 

 

I love children's hangers and when I have enough of them I will use them to hang my little "Sally" dresses in my laundry room.

 

 

That's all for that little bundle of goodies.  Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

Ah, The Smell of a New Book--Stella's Starliner

After drooling over Stella's Starliner by Rosemary Wells since the beginning of the summer, I finally decided to purchase it the other day, while out shopping. 

 

The book kept calling my name every time I was in earshot.  It told me it was meant for me, that it was written for me.  How often does that happen?  How could I say no?  When a book grabs your heart in such a personal way, and has such a learning message to children and adults, it's tough to walk away. 

 

The main character, Stella, lives in a mobile home, as do I.

Stella gets teased by a gang of weasels, as do I. (well, I'm not teased by weasels, but I do hear what some people have to say about mobile homes and those who live in them).

When these gum snapping, bike riding weasels give Stella a hard time about her house she feels so awful that she hesitates to share the "stinging words" even with her mother.  And I love the brilliant illustration technique on the following pages, with the use of the silvery, shadowy weasels to show that they still linger in Stella's mind.

 

But in the end it all works out because Stella's father and mother have a surprise for her.  I won't spoil the ending, but I will say they don't get a new house, (and I mean, why would they?  They love their little starliner, it has everything they need!)  but they do make a fresh start and Stella learns that it doesn't matter what kind of a house you live in, "East, West Home is Best". 

 

One of the reasons I love this book is because I can totally identify with Stella, and I am sure there are many children who can identify with her as well.  Like I said before, I have had stinging comments said to me about our mobile home. There have been people who have said, "well, maybe someday you can get a real house", or "you really need to get out of that trailer".  But you know, we kind of love our little house.  It's not so big that it's a pain to keep clean, it has high ceilings, is more spacious than you would think with it's big kitchen, bedroom and laundry room.  We even have a small library room, a large yard, and two small flower gardens.

Even though there have been some days when I've felt the walls closing in on me a bit, and even though there have been times I've had a few items fall on top of my head as I open a jammed-packed closet door, I still love it.   And just like Stella's Starliner, our little mobile home has everything we need.  

Another reason I love this book is because it is written and illustrated by Rosemary Wells.

The illustrations are fantastic with their silver papers and starry skies.  I like the use of "vintage" items:  a vintage radio that looks like it could be picking up an episode of Fibber McGee and Molly, a vintage pickup truck, and vintage lawn chairs.  It's one of those books that I can look through over and over and still see something in a different way or something I hadn't seen before.  And I LOVE that Stella gets excited when the bookmobile comes!  Hooray for bookmobiles!  So far, Stella's Starliner is my top choice for the next Caldecott Medal. 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

 

Flickertail Museum House

Come on in and have a seat at the kitchen table. 

 

 

I was just getting lunch ready and I hope you'll join me and the children.  I'll just grab some bread and peach sauce from the pantry...(Can you imagine this pantry below full of canned goods, flour, sugar, and jars of veggies and fruits that the lady of the house had put up for the winter?)

 

 

...And some leftover turkey bits for sandwiches from the icebox.

 

 

I'll put the baby in the high chair...

 

 

Thank goodness I did my baking yesterday while it was cool.  I baked this week's bread and a layer cake.  Today is a much warmer day so I won't be using the stove.  But there's a nice cross breeze between the windows.  

 

 

I'll send Edith out to the garden for some lettuce and tomatoes and we will have a nice salad with our turkey sandwiches.  Salt and Pepper?? Why, of course.  Charlie bought me these new little shakers in town just last month.

 

I'll just grab the dishes out of the cabinet and set the table.  (I love the four little drawers and figure there were probably napkins or silverware stored in them.)

 

 

It's time to holler out the window for the children to come in and wash up for dinner.

 

 

 

After dinner is over and the dishes are done, we can send the kids back outside then sit for a spell in the living room.  Maybe we can catch Big Sister on the radio, while I get some mending done.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  See you soon!

 

Abandoned Houses Are Cool

It's been a couple of weeks but we have been Busy Busy in our house.  School has started, I'm busy with the preschoolers and our family has been doing a bit of running here and there.

 

Our extended family had family pictures taken at an old abandoned house.  My In-laws know the owners and we were given permission to have a look around.  Here are just a few of the photos I snapped of the house.  I love abandoned houses and towns and enjoy photographing them when possible.  Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone camera handy for this house. We were able to walk through it with it's horribly damaged 1950s furniture, kitchen cupboards unattached and laying hap-hazard on the dining room floor.  Sad really.  The only thing that looked "okay" were the green bathroom fixtures and those are also beyond cleaning.

 

 



 

 

Off to the right of the living room there was a large bedroom and a bathroom beyond the bedroom. Off to the left of the living room was a beautiful sun room!  I'll bet this house was a beauty in it's day.

 

I really liked the wall paper in the bedroom.  I'm sure it was beautiful in it's day.

 

 

 Needless to say, I took a HOT shower after this shoot.  Uff da what a mess.  When I was standing there, I couldn't help but wonder why the place was left to go to ruins.  It had a nice concrete foundation, electricity, running water, etc.  Why was it abandoned in such a way.  And as always, I wondered where they put their Christmas tree. 

 

Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!