Nothing is more than twenty-five dollars and everything is something I would put in my own home. I couldn’t be prouder of the little business I’ve built. Y’all have been so supportive of me over this last year (as have my friends and family), and I want to do something special to thank you. I wish I could reach out and give each and every one of you a big smooch. But since I can’t, I’m offering a special coupon code for folks who read my blog or are friends with me on facebook. Just enter the code HEYDONTIKNOWYOU at checkout for 15% off. You can’t combine it with other coupon codes (that’s etsy’s rule, not mine), so if you’re local to the Baton Rouge area and would like to arrange pickup or delivery within BR city limits let me know and I’ll refund your shipping costs (or convo me in advance and I’ll just make the listing have free shipping for ya).

I plan to keep adding more items throughout the holiday season, so if you don’t see anything that strikes your fancy today be sure to check back periodically. The discount for blog readers runs through the end of time. Thank y’all so much for all of your words of encouragement (and purchases!) over this last year. I really don’t think I would be nearly as successful without y’all. =)

I’ve been working hard to get my etsy shop ready for the holiday shopping season, and was growing tired of all the things I wanted to get done scribbled on scraps of paper scattered around my desk. Then when I saw this image on Pinterest I was inspired to make a chalkboard backdrop for photographing some of my listing items…

All the Frills

And bam, I got the idea to make a chalkboard that could double as a photo backdrop and to-do list.

I was at Hobby Lobby to pick up a piece of foam core to paint with chalkboard paint, but when I saw one with the perfect dimensions just sitting there waiting for me I decided to give myself a break and not DIY something for the first time in a while. I actually love the unfinished frame. The only downside is that I guess I have to erase it every time I want to use it for photos, but I’m still kind of unsure about venturing away from my standard white background anyway.

I’m so proud of how much I’ve done to get my shop ready! I usually have a big backlog of items to be listed, but everything on my shelves at this very moment is actually up for sale. I even bought supplies yesterday to craft a few more upcycled creations (including doily hoops–I’m going to try affixing it with fusible interfacing). My goal was to have it all done by Thanksgiving and so far things are looking pretty good! If you want to see all the cool new stuff I’ve got you can check it out here. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Perhaps you’ve noticed by now how much I love to decorate with book pages, and clothespins are quickly moving up on the list of things I find charming, so this simple craft project using wooden clothespins and book pages is right up my alley. I started with a 1989 Reader’s Digest Condensed Book. I understand that some of you hardcore bibliophiles out there may be offended by my apparent mistreatment of a book, but keep in mind that it was 50 cents at an estate sale and likely headed for a landfill. The cover isn’t especially beautiful to me so I figure I might as well make something pretty out of the pages. I also gathered a pencil, small paint brush, mod podge, and some clothespins (duh).

First step: carefully cut or tear a page from the book and trace the outline of a clothespin lightly onto it. I didn’t want any blank space on my clothespins so I started inside the margin. Then I just moved my clothespin over and traced it again right next to the first one, repeating across the page.

Now cut along the lines you traced to get a bunch of little paper strips. I was able to get nine strips out of one page. If your book is taller you may be able to get two rows of paper strips, but mine was too short.

Next, I painted a thin layer of mod podge onto the front of the clothespin, laid a paper strip down, then painted more mod podge on top. I figured out I got the best seal by smoothing it down with my finger.

If the paper overlapped the edges I just smoothed it down along the sides. You could also trim with a sharp knife or maybe even tiny manicure scissors.

Bam. So easy.

To turn them into magnets, I cut small strips from this roll of magnetic tape I had left over from this project.

The adhesive wasn’t all that great and they kept rolling up, so I ended up using superglue to get ‘er done.

It would be fun to try to arrange them in order so you could read the paragraph! It’s like a puzzle!

How beautiful is that paper card I’ve got clipped to the fridge here? It was actually a thank you note I received recently. I loved the paper so much that I held onto it.

I’ll have a couple sets of these listed for sale in my shop sometime next week. Another bad business move: writing about something on your blog before it’s ready to sell! I’ve got a pretty good reason for waiting that I’m excited to tell you about on Monday. Have a fabulous weekend and stay warm!

Part of this sudden surge in thriftiness is due to the fact that I’m in a bit of a pickle with my camera situation. Perhaps you’ve noticed a general vibe of crappiness to most of the pictures posted on my blog lately? That’s because I have two point and shoot cameras and both of them are broken. Can you believe it? What a bummer. I’ve been using my phone to take pictures, which leaves quite a bit to be desired. I’ve finally decided that instead of throwing more money at another point and shoot that will only make me moderately happy I’m going to save up for a DSLR. So all the money I’m making selling baby stuff is going into a jar and all of my shop proceeds are staying in my Paypal account until I can save up $500, which is about the cost of a basic entry-level DSLR. It’s a big leap for me but I’m hoping it will really improve the quality of the pictures here and in my shop, plus save us money on having family portraits professionally taken.

So that’s where I get my thrills these days! Selling unused baby gear and saving my money in a jar. Haha. I’ve never saved up for a big purchase all by myself before. When I was younger I would’ve just used a credit card and in recent years its always been a joint effort between Nick and me. But since Nick could care less about what kind of camera we use I’m on my own here. It’s kind of fun, actually. Hopefully I’ll have enough saved up by Thanksgiving so I can maybe take advantage of Black Friday sales!

Before it was just a list of links that hadn’t been updated in over six months! Now it’s got images linked to over 100 DIY projects and nuggets of genius. Just hover your mouse over an image to see a description of a project, then click to be taken to that blog post. I heart it so much. Please feel free to give me a giant ego boost by spending the rest of your weekend perusing every project I ever completed. Haha, just kidding, no pressure.

I also updated our House Tour page–the last big update was last September. Some rooms, like the kitchen, laundry room, and master bedroom, haven’t changed much at all (so I didn’t even bother with getting them clean enough for pictures, haha). But others, like the living room and dining room, had, and the nursery and office weren’t even included before! The house tour page now features wide-angle shots of all those rooms that give you a much better view than ever before.

I also updated our About page to reflect the minor detail that we’ve got a baby now. I always find it hard to explain what exactly it is that I do with my time (am I a stay at home mom, work at home mom, part time working mom?), but I think I did alright.

And last but not least, I took the scary step of setting up international shipping in my shop. I’ve been totally intimidated about estimating costs and figuring out packaging (since I usually use free Priority Mail boxes which are crazy expensive to ship internationally), but after getting yet another request to ship to Canada I bit the bullet and priced out some boxes and dove into the lovely world of USPS price charts. So if you hail from the Great White North (or Europe, or Australia, or anywhere else in the world) and you just have to have one of my silver platters today’s your lucky day.

Now, if only I could get the motivation to tackle some of the nagging projects I’ve been avoiding around the house, like cleaning our disgustingly dirty porch in time for trick or treaters. Seriously, it’s bad.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I’m spending all day today interviewing potential babysitters. Please please please let me find someone wonderful.

I still felt like it had potential, though, so I didn’t toss it right away. Then I remembered seeing some dictionary art on Pinterest and even at a local art shop. I decided to try printing a favorite quote on one of the pages and popping it into a frame. First I downloaded this font to keep with the vintage feel. I have only recently figured out how to find fonts online and download them for free, but it’s a pretty handy trick for projects like this. It makes it look a little more fancy and professional and less like I whipped it up in Microsoft Word. Then all I had to do was choose a quote. That part was easy as I’ve always got quotes and phrases rattling around in my head.

It took a couple of tries to get it to print right. I found I had to adjust the page size in Word to be the same size as the page I was printing on and run it through the printer with the straight edge (as in, the side that hadn’t been ripped out of a book) toward the outside. But once I got it aligned right and the paper wasn’t jamming I loved the way it came out!

Then there was the issue of framing. It’s about 7×10, so my first thought was to put it into a matted frame with a cutout for an 8×10 print (the frame was on same for $6 at Michael’s). It was a little too small for the hole so I put a piece of white paper behind it, but it just looked kind of tacky. Maybe if I’d had a piece of ivory cardstock to mount it on it would have looked alright, but I didn’t so I moved on.

Next idea: mount it on top of the mat in a smaller frame. This Ikea frame has a 5×7 cutout but is a little bigger than 8×10 overall. I centered the dictionary page on the front of the mat and secured it with some double-sided tape.

Perfect!

At first I hung it on the wall near my desk, but when I stepped back it just didn’t feel right. So I took it down and decided to lean it on the mantel instead.

I love it there, and I love the way it looks in general. Plus the quote is a nice reminder to view everything in life as a learning experience. I’m glad to have found some use for this old dictionary rather than sending it to a landfill (okay, recycling plant, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it). Of course there are like 500 more pages left to do something with so I’m thinking of making more prints to sell in my shop. Waste not, want not, right? Maybe I’ll print that on a page, haha.

I’m going to make some more chalkboards out of the silver platters stacked up on the left. Everything else is pretty much ready to be listed, save for some wax I still need to clean off those candleholders. Anyone know a good method of removing wax from an uneven surface? I tried freezing it but that didn’t really work.

My shop seems to be doing really well lately, which makes me pretty excited because the more successful my shop is, the more likely it is that I’ll be able to continue spending my days with this guy:

He’s starting to give little hints of a smile. Can you see it? I’m still having a hard time figuring out how to balance motherhood vs. getting anything else done ever. I don’t know how moms of more than one kid manage to not just live in complete filth, much less work from home. I actually ended up writing out my priorities in order and putting it on the wall near my desk so that when I get him down for a nap I can go look at it to help me decide what to do with my few minutes of freedom. First priority: getting myself fed, dressed, etc. After that comes the blog, shop, studying for my social work licensure exam (still haven’t even applied to take it so I am way behind on this one), exercise, and wouldn’t you believe that housework is way down at the bottom of that list? Funny how that happens. I figure Nick helps a lot with housework when he’s home so it’s not critical that I squeeze it into my precious daytime hours. Although I do do the laundry several times a week since we’re cloth diapering, but that takes hardly any time at all. I’ve only made it all the way to exercise like once since I started this priority system. We were taking walks a few times a week earlier on but I wasn’t getting much else done and that started to wear on my sense of self-efficacy (see how I’m still working some social work chatter into my everyday life? Gotta stay fresh). I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight at my postpartum visit this week, which is amazing and blows my mind because usually I am packing on the pounds instead of seeing them melt off, but I still have about twenty pounds to go to reach my goal (which is what I weighed when we got married three years ago).

So overall, things are going just swell. I figure it’ll take me about seventeen and a half naps to get all that silver photographed, priced, and listed in my shop, but the little thrill I get every time I make a sale is so worth it.

Anyway, I’m glad I waited, because earlier this week I had the greatest idea for two silver platters that I just could not get as polished as I would like. I always like to leave a little tarnish–I think the patina gives character–but these two were just looking a little rough. So I transformed them into chalkboard message boards!

I already had chalkboard paint on hand left over from this project.

The first coat of this stuff always looks a bit disastrous.

But after two more coats they were looking pretty good.

I waited the recommended 72 hours before adorning them with some words of wisdom and setting them up for a photo shoot.

I love them so much that I decided to leave them out until they sell. One is still in the spot pictured above at the top of the stairs, the other is on the mantle in the office. I’ll be sad when they leave me. So much so that I’m thinking about giving the same chalkboard treatment to one of the platters already hanging in my dining room. (this photo is from last October when I made the book page bouquet, hence the presence of a pumpkin atop that stack of books)

These little message boards weren’t the only fabulous thing to happen in our house this week. Yesterday marked three weeks since Jack was placed in his harness, so we went in for an ultrasound to see whether it was working. If his left hip was still dislocated we would abandon the harness and start planning for surgery. I squinted at the screen trying to understand what I was seeing. It looked good to me, but I really didn’t know what I was looking for and of course the tech couldn’t tell me anything. I waited by the phone all day with bated breath and cried tears of relief when I finally heard from the doctor that Jack would not need surgery. He’ll keep wearing the harness for now, and that’s okay with me. A little bit of fabric and velcro is nothing compared to the cast he would have had to wear for months after having his hip moved back into place under general anesthesia. Thank you so much to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers, it really has been such a source of comfort to have so many people supporting us through this. Hopefully his treatment will continue to progress successfully and we’ll be out of that harness in no time!

Update: Wow, those chalkboards sold in less than two hours! I’m thinking I will definitely make some more but I’m not sure how many. Let me know if you’re interested in buying one!

Fortunately I got out of my funk a little bit this weekend. I hit up an estate sale with my new friend Jillian and it turns out she is my lucky charm. Look at how much stuff I got! The lady whose estate was being settled must have loved silverplate as much as I do. I say she had great taste.

I rarely buy this much stuff at once but I just couldn’t help myself, especially since it was the third day of the sale and everything was 50% off. I wish so badly that I could brag about how little money I spent for this entire pile, but that seems like a poor business decision. Jillian asked me while we were checking out how I usually price my items. I told her my number one rule is that I don’t ask for more than I would be willing to pay myself. When I’m unsure I’ll search for similar items on Etsy to get a general range to start from, but for most estate sale items I usually rely on the sale coordinators’ expertise and mark it at the same price they did. Since these sales are usually run by experienced vintage and antique dealers, and I usually only go on the last day when everything is half off, this guarantees a 50% profit for me and a reasonable price for my customers.

Jillian also asked about how I choose what to buy and sell. The truth is that I try to stick to my own personal style. I buy things that I would love to have in my own home but don’t really need. I’m still new to this vintage dealing thing and a few times have bought things because I thought they were trendy or in-demand items, and I’m not sure that was a wise decision. A great example of this is the small collection of vintage cameras in my shop. They’re not really my thing but I know others collect them, so when I saw several priced really reasonably at a thrift store I thought it was my lucky day. I don’t know enough about them, though, to write a really engaging or impassioned description in the listing and they’ve been sitting unsold for months. Lesson learned: follow your heart, not the money.

But back to stuff I love! I paid for these three small bowls separately, but I think I may sell them as a set. They nest inside of each other perfectly and will be so cute together after a good polish.

I have always loved these trays with the cut-out edges. I’m sure there’s a technical term for it that I’m not aware of. I have them all over my house set out on tables or even affixed to the walls. Most of these don’t even need much in the way of cleaning. Just a quick pass with a soft cloth, maybe, since I like the patinated look (did you know that patinated is the adjective form of patina? Just learned that myself thanks to Professor Google).

I don’t see more ornate dishes like these often, so this was a special treat. I can’t wait to give these a good cleaning and really highlight the pretty textural details.

Hopefully now that I’ve announced my most recent purchase publicly I’ll be held accountable to actually get these cleaned up and listed in a timely manner. As far as cleaning goes, I usually use a combination of toothpaste and this method. Do any of you love buying vintage as much as I do, or even have your own shop? Is there a special type of item that draws you in every time? Vintage silver always does it for me, with aged brass coming in a close second. I guess I’m into the metallic look, haha.

But then I had so many left over that I started putting them in little bowls and vases all around my house. I love the way they add texture and interest, plus there’s a bit of sentimental value, as well. A couple of years ago there was a great bunch of girls who would come over on the first Friday of every month and we’d all sit around drinking wine and making fabulous, meaningful conversation. Many of them have since moved out of town and the gathering sort of dissolved, but I cherish those memories and the corks are a nice little reminder. I’m getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about it. Probably the pregnancy hormones, and the fact that I haven’t had a glass of wine since October, haha.

Even after making the bathmat and placing little bowls all around I still had a ridiculous amount of corks sitting in bags, so I decided to start selling them in my shop. And let me just tell you, they’ve been going like hotcakes. I can’t keep them in stock. I recently had to actually buy more corks to sell because my stash ran out and I was calling Jen every month begging for another bag and still couldn’t keep up.

50  Wine Corks at Living la Vida Vintage

I’m always curious about what buyers are doing with all the corks I sell them. One lady bought like 500 to fill up a giant glass jug. Another customer, Cara, was sweet enough to send me pictures of how she used them to decorate for a wine-themed party.

Aren’t all those ideas so clever? I think my favorite is the second picture, where she used them to surround a small cylinder vase placed inside a larger vase with a candle in the center. I’ve seen lots of pictures on Pinterest where folks fill the outer vase all the way up to the top with corks and the result is very pretty, with candlelight flickering between the corks and making the whole thing sort of glow.

If you want to go beyond corks as vase filler, Pinterest is full of ideas on using them for small craft projects. I’ve seen everything from sticking bits of green garland in them to make mini Christmas trees to trivets made from corks and a hose clamp.

I sell corks in my shop in quantities of twenty-five, fifty, and one-hundred, plus larger quantities upon request, but you can always stock up the old fashioned way. Invite a bunch of friends over to help you empty those bottles, or if you’re not such a lush maybe just ask everyone you know to save all their corks for you. Or find a good restaurant source like my friend Jen, although I think it’s pretty rare for bars and restaurants to save their corks so diligently. And if you’ve found a clever way to decorate or craft something with corks I’d love to hear about it!