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Chris is working full-time on coding my online calligraphy class, so you’re going to see a lot more thriftiness around here.
My grandmother has given me the most fantastic belts. I love how unique each of them is. It’s so fun to have something in my closet so special. Each time I wear on of these belts I think of my lovely grandma and how much I love her.
I’ve got a few great projects in the works for you next week. I can’t wait to share! Have a great weekend.
Happy Friday! I feel like this week has just flewn by. There are officially 10 days left until Altitude Summit starts. I’m in full-blown crunch mode, finishing business cards (for me & others), class curriculum and wardrobe choices to name a few.
One of the most stressful parts of the wardrobe situation is that they’re hosting a winter whites party. Everyone is to wear white. AAAAHHH! I guess I could wear my wedding dress (If I can track it down), but that’s hardly appropriate. I bought a white dress from Asos, which is totally gorgeous, but I’m not entirely sure I want it in white. I ordered it in Peacock as well so I’ll decide which one to keep once the delivery arrives. If I decide I don’t want to go with the white dress, I’ve got some off white items: This shirt, this skirt and the above boots. The skirt isn’t really white, but it’s close enough. I guess.
I am excited about wearing the boots, though! I love these babies. I found them in Provo where thrift shopping is insane. Insane in a bad way. When I bought these boots I was wearing a vintage yellow jacket of mine & another girl in the store asked if I was planning on buying it.
“Excuse me? This is my jacket. I wore it in here.”
“Oh. Oh, my mistake. Sorry.”
In some cases it’s like day-after-thanksgiving shopping with ravenous sharks. Pretty darn hilarious. In any case, that makes this find even more miraculous. I didn’t have to fight anyone or rip them off anyone’s feet. They were just sitting on the shelf all by themselves in practically unworn condition for $8 (I’ve added scuffs & dirt since then). Did I mention thrift stores are more expensive where we’re living, too?!? Crazy.
It’s been some time since I’ve done a Thrifty & Chic feature, no? As you know, I’m not a big Christmas (or any holiday) decorator. Next year will be so different, I tell myself. I’m going to go all out.
Like I’ve mentioned before, It’s so hard to invest in Christmas decorations when you don’t know where you’ll be in the next year or you have little room for storage. Despite that, I found this adorable Martha Stewart table cloth at the thrift store a couple years ago for something like $2. I like that it’s not your typical red & green decor and it seems to go with the other two Christmas decorations we own, too.
Also, I just had to mention that I planted the above succulent arrangement a few months ago & never got around to posting about it. I had the base on hand for some time & got all of the succulents from Ikea. I LOVE IKEA. My mom would be so proud that this thing has survived not only four months, but four months & a move. Chris boxed up all of our plants a week before our actual move and a few of our plants haven’t quite recovered.
How are the holidays done around your house? Have you scored any vintage/thrifted Christmas details for your home? Share links in the comments! I’d love to see!
I never considered myself “done” decorating my bedroom (or my studio for that matter), but since we’re moving in less than a week & a half, I thought I’d at least document what it look(ed) like when it was clean. I’ve actually taken pictures of every apartment/home I’ve ever lived in since I moved off to college. I had the best decorated place in college, mostly because I have so many paintings. Too bad most of those pictures were deleted sometime about 3 years ago when we upgraded computers. *sigh* Here’s a little tour of our bedroom.
The focal point of the room is our bed, we have a nice bay window opposite of the door, so we decided to put the bed up to the window. I’m sure the bedroom wasn’t designed for the bed to be oriented this way, but I love waking up to all of the light flooding in right above my head. We have east-facing windows, which also makes it easier to wake up in the mornings. I’m not a morning person.
The side tables were originally all black, but the tops were looking incredibly ratty. Chris sanded them & painted the tops yellow. I love the bold statement they make.
Chris has been playing the guitar for just about a year now. So now we have a dedicated music spot in the room. Every once in a blue moon we have family jam sessions with Chris on the guitar, Penelope on the drum & me on the synth.
The painting on the bottom right is one that I did while Chris & I were dating – Chris was the first guy to actually take me up on the offer to come study with me at my studio space. I had fantastic studio space just underneath an amazing bell tower during college. It was well-lit & smelled of the hard work of the BFA painting students. I did this painting while Chris was studying. I love the mixtures of greys & golds.
I have vivid memories of my mom using a large spice of life container for storing her delicious bran muffin mix for hot breakfasts during the school year. She gave me the container when they moved & Penelope promptly broke it. I was so heart broken over it, I scoured the internet for the same jar & found a set of 3 for $15! Score.
I love this picture of the two of us. We had to get passport photos in order to apply for visas when we were planning our Brazil trip back in 2007. We got an extra set of pictures that we didn’t know what to do with. Chris found this frame in a box somewhere & framed the photos as they were mailed to us. Love that.
The plaster death masks are something that we made together while we were dating. We originally tried to do this on our first date (and failed miserably), so I love how it serves as a reminder of our first date & how perfect we are for each other.
A home isn’t complete without wedding pictures, right? I think my hair is longer now than in the pictures. I store my earrings on a metal lunch tray on top of my dresser. It’s great to have them organized by color all out for me to look at. The dresser is high enough that Penelope doesn’t mess with them at all. To the right of the masks is a mini hand-bound book that I did several years ago. It’s got a few miniature art pieces in there & it’s bound in leather with a very faint black-on-black brocade pattern that I designed. It’s fun to flip through every once in a while.
Here’s the thrifty dresser I picked up several months ago. It’s all naked & sanded down, ready for a coat of awesome. I just can’t decide what color(s) I want to paint it. STILL! So for now, it’s nude. Penelope found my spray starch & attacked the front of it some time ago. You can see the faint watermarks from that. Crazy girl.
So there you have it. This is as good as our bedroom is gonna get, for now at least. I’ve already taken down all of the wall hangings & Chris has packed up all of the books. I’m definitely looking forward to decorating a new space. Perhaps a space with real white or grey walls? I always find it interesting & fun to see how the same furniture translates to a new space.
We’re moving. Chris took a job in Provo last week!
I was so looking forward to a quiet winter without the stress of a newborn or a new place, but apparently that wasn’t in the cards for us. I’m both excited & stressed about our relocation, but I’m convinced it’ll be for the best.
Before the madness of boxing & packing happens, I thought I’d clean up & take some pictures (and video) of my studio. I’m mostly doing this so that when I’m packing & going crazy with the stress of moving, I can look at these pictures & remember how clean things once were. I’ll do my best to cite sources, but if there’s something I’ve left out, let me know. I’ll do my best to respond in the comments.
We’ll start with the studio-side of the room. This is my craft desk where I take my table top shots.
I attached paper to the wall with bulldog clips for my photography backdrop & added plexiglass atop the lower paper. It’s the perfect permanent backdrop. I can always wipe up my spills & messes off the plexi & snap away. Also I like the Apple-esque reflective effect it gives to my photos.
Lunch box stores my calligraphy supplies.
I love that this globe has markers indicating how old it is. The USSR & other colonies are on here. I believe this globe is circa 1979-ish.
Here’s my sewing space. I just bought the thread rack right before we found out we were moving, so that’s just hanging out there. I plan on wall-mounting it at our new place (wherever that new place may be!).
I love having my fabric stash organized by color palette. Each basket is as follows: warms, cools, greyscale, browns. The other side is separated out by large cuts & projects needing to get done.
Here’s my desk. I’ve got the 27″ solid state iMac (SO FAST!), Wacom tablet stacking robots & a stash basket on the actual desk. I mounted two shelves with a break between them right behind the computer. This allows us to store & have easy access to all of our hard drives & for me to easily move the Silhouette cutter onto the desk when it’s in use.
I’ve got a few treasures on the shelves themselves.
This might be my favorite corner of the whole room. It’s my Christopher shrine. On the left is a painting done of him when he was a baby. The middle two paintings are mine and the right is a stenciled self-portrait on a suitcase. He used this suitcase in college & made it long before we ever met. I love this stencil of him.
Like the goiter on the side of the ironing board? Yeah, turns out our ironing board is not a full-sized ironing board. Maybe one day I’ll upgrade to a full-sized ironing board.
I love baby Chris’s striped shirt & chubby cheeks. The yellow border is adorable, too.
This explains Chris perfectly when we met. This is a stencil of him rocking out to music. I love everything about what this suitcase says. Perhaps we could collect more suitcases & stencil the entire family!
Here’s a little video tour of the room. Please excuse my awkward pauses. I can’t seem to operate a video camera & talk at the same time.
