DIY: A Fresh Coat of Paint

There are so many inexpensive things to be found at garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, etc that just need a good eye and a bit of elbow grease to transform! This post is dedicated to some of my favorite home furnishings seen around the blogosphere as of late, giving everyone out there the incentive to see past a used piece of furniture's ugly wood stain or weird handles and giving it a facelift instead of picking up something cheap that everyone else owns from Ikea.

Alyssa's dresser before:


Alyssa's dresser after:


Vixen Vintage Before:


Vixen Vintage After:


Liz's Before:


Liz's After:

Designers to Know: maryy

I love sewing. I love vintage. Which means I love BurdaStyle, and ESPECIALLY pretty much every sewing project this girl maryy creates and posts. Capes. Peter pan collars. Scallops. Every one of them has gone into my "inspiration" folder, even if just for photography tips.

Check er out:

Better Living Through Crisco

My day-job is in marketing, so I can appreciate this cookbook I came upon, sponsored by none other than Crisco. Entitled "New Recipes For Good Eating" and showing a happy family reaching for a huge pile of freshly greased doughnuts on the cover, or course. I am sure Crisco was a key ingredient in every recipe in this book, but that the families weren't quite as overjoyed when they found out that "Good Eating" like that leads to obesity.

Vintage Destination: Retro Ranch, Phoneix AZ

Every time I visit a new place, I do a little research first on their thrift stores and vintage/antique shops. I was in Phoenix with a little extra time, recently, and spent all day crawling through some of their thrift stores. I've made a (hopefully) helpful map of Phoenix Vintage shops and other places that seem like they should be of interest if you ever make it out that way, and will share a few of my favorites on the blog.

Retro Ranch
4303 N 7th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85013
(602) 297-1971


Retro Ranch was a nice little shop specializing in mostly 50's - 70's furniture and housewares, with a neat little vintage clothing section in the back. Prices seemed reasonable, and the folks at the counter were friendly. Plus, the area it was located in had lots of similar vintage shops nearby (called the "Melrose" district, I believe).



Clothing section run by Lollypop Vintage.


I was excited to walk away with a set of four mint condition Frankoma (which I love was named after creator John Frank and the last three letters of the state of Oklahoma) mid-century platter plates, with the best imprint designed into the sides that reminds me of little aztec robots.

DIY: Vintage Lace Jewelry

I made it out to the Vintage Clothing and Textile Show in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, which features a number of sellers vending antique textiles and some lovely vintage clothing.

I love looking at all the dead stock lace and trims that the vendors have managed to find.




Even if you don't sew, I like the idea of turning some of the pretty delicate lace pieces into jewelry, like these necklaces and earrings from White Owl:




Or Ruche:

Estate Jewelry - Antique Wedding Rings

So, a major reason for the radio silence around the shop (besides all the traveling that has been happening lately) is the fact that I am engaged and getting married in under three months! So, rather than just ignore the internet like I have been doing, maybe I will blog about some of the wedding details that I am working on. We are incorporating a lot of vintage touches into the wedding, so there should be plenty to talk about!

I knew I wanted a vintage ring, and would have loved to have used some of my own family jewelry, though the rings my grandmother left us are a little more ostentatious than I wanted for my every day ring. My fiance ended up finding this little gem at a rummage sale benefit for a local museum - we got a really great deal on it since we didn't buy it from a store that had already marked it up past its appraised value, and I love the art deco feel to it and how low it sits to my finger. (it is actually a platinum ring from the 40s)




One of my favorite vintage/antique engagement rings is owned by my friend Emily, and was purchased at Lang Antiques here in San Francisco.

It is an estate ring, probably Edwardian, with a 2.5 carat rose cut diamond. Rose cut diamonds stopped being produced around 1900, but the cut gives it a low profile from the side and makes that 2.5 carat look huge.

Obviously I really like the round rings - if you want to emulate the look without spending too much, fake it here with a CV vintage style ring for a mere $38.



I looked around quite a bit online for good estate jewelry, but found that it didn't compare to checking the rings out in person. Do you guys have any good estate jewelry sources?