Inspired by my past

I was a weird kid that played with barbies till like 9th grade. Before we had kids, during the holidays, I'd get them out and dress them up all fancy and put them under our tree.

This is my Barbie chair from when I was a kid.  

You can see here that my daughter was playing with  Barbie's pool outside and my little chair helped set the scene.

As I was soaking in the hot tub, I spied this view of our green Ikea chair by our pool just like Barbie's pool and her green chair.  I wonder if when I bought this new chair, the little Barbie chair made me want it more?

Made By Girl- LOVE

Every year for my birthday I get my self a present.  This year I ordered something I've wanted forever, A LOVE CANDY print by Jen Ramos of Made by Girl.  I love Jens style and I'm so happy to have one of her pieces in our home.  I recycled a really old frame large frame that once held a photo of me circa 1976.  I was planning on spray painting the frame white or turquoise, but I'm glad I just kept in it's original faux wood finish.  Here's my new modern vintage aka Mintage art work.

my new dish towel

I was so excited to get this brand new vintage dish towel for my birthday.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

New Loot!

Vintage Upholstery Tapes

I picked these up at a yard sale a few weekend back.  If I ever get my act together I'll put these in the shop.

This would be nice on a crisp linen drapery panel.

A little busy, but on the paired with the right fabric this could be fab.

Denim tape, so versatile.

I love the green and blue combo.

Here's some trim on this bed skirt form House Beautiful.

And again, some velvet trim on this bed skirt from Elle Decor.

A thrifting we will go!

On my recent trip to Palm Spring I begged the husband to take me thrifting so I could find cool vintage stuff for the new kitchen. I did my research and wanted to check out Angel View. I guess they have a few out in the valley, we went to the one in Cathedral City.

This tufted leather sofa was awesome, only $99. Of course someone already swooped in on this great deal, as it had a sold sign on it. The husband like this one, this one is very manly.

I loved this faux bamboo metal etagere. This would have be great in my daughter room. But it was also sold. If by chance I did buy this one, I would have spray painted it and relined the faux wood shelves. I guess if I had the cash I would replace the existing shelves with new glass ones. This was $80 by the way.

Two really cool ottoman's $15 each.

I really should have bought one of these, heck two of them.

I actually think this crazy fabric is cool, but the husband not so much.

This beautiful set of china was only $40. I'm kind of regretting not buying it. It was gray with silver rims, so pretty and modern. Oh well, I'm going back to the desert two more times this spring and I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy stuff.

Thirfting Score

Please excuse the wrinkles on these linen Calendars from the early 70's.

I love vintage linen dish towels and use a couple everyday instead of paper towels. They can get worn out from so much use and washing. I really needed some new ones and was happily surprised to find the mother load, five in all for $.75 at a local thrift store. Yey me, and birdies to boot!

Oh My: Buttons

To keep my children occupied, I have to get creative sometimes. On this day, I pulled out my button collection and we sorted them. So many memories of clothes long gone. We all had a blast looking at all the different kinds buttons.

Vintage Mirrors

On my morning run last week, I went by a house that had just sold and it's new owners were emptying the house. The previous owner was an artist (we have the same color blue door) and had just recently passed on. The new owners bought the house and everything inside. They were basically taking a whole house of vintage to the Good Will. I was all red and sweaty, went right up and introduced myself. The young new home owner was a fireman (so is my honey). So next thing I knew, I'm taking some really cool mirrors home. I have always wanted a shell mirror. The little green mirror will be repainted shiny white and hung somewhere around here. As for the shell mirror, it's big and I have to figure out where to place it. Maybe it doesn't belong in this house. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

craft lab: sand castles

What do we do at the beach? We make ourselves at home. First thing, I have to set up camp. On this day, we packed light, so just a vintage sheet and some towels. Next up, building a castle in the sand. Castles were the theme of this trip(we hit up Hearst Castle a couple days later). Boy, was I excited to build a new version. No drips on this beauty. We dug lots of underground tunnels and filled them up with water. The kids loved it.

Craigs List I love you

This summer has been a bit crazy over at Mintage Home. Filling our days with lots of fun has been easy. When will the craziness end? I've been having a bit of fun on Craigs list. We purchased a cheapo garage 3 drawer dresser a year ago from Home Depot and it totally fell apart. So, I've been searching endlessly on Craigs List to find a replacement. I was looking for vintage and well made. I finally found one after a 3 week search, right around the corner from my Grandma's House. They also had a nice Highboy. Guess how much for both? $40 bucks!!!!!. It did take me two trips to pick up the pieces (no biggy). I got the first 2 coats of paint on these babies, and they look great already. My son requested the highboy be painted gray. The 3 drawer will be white. Stay tuned.

My new Vintage Dish Towel

My mom got this for me at a yard sale recently. I love vintage dish towels. We are a paper towel free home (OK, I have some, but rarely, rarely use them. I keep them in the garage.) So, I use a lot of dish towels. This one matches our kitchen perfectly. Way to go mom!!!

Treasury Time

I'm featured in a Circus themed treasury over at Etsy today. Check it out Here.

Free to Me!

I found this a couple doors down a few weeks back for free on the curb. It had a broken door and some really messed up drawers. I was planning on giving it a fresh coat of grayish paint, then painting the drawers white and then decoupaging the drawer pulls. However, the piece is very cheaply made. The drawers will not last in our family. So, today I'm shipping it off the Salvation Army down the street. I'm a bit said because I saw so much potential in this piece. I'm confident a vintage piece will fall into my lap soon, so I'll be OK.

Grandma Tea Day!!!!

The excitement is brewing around here in anticipation of our Annual Grandma Tea, to honor our beloved Grandma. We meet up a local tea house and enjoy a nice time. Here's my darling daughter's special hat for the party. She'll be a vision in pink. Grandma found the hat at a yard sale and steamed the hat back into hat shape. Then Grandma disassembled an old Easter decoration, and we hot glued the silk floral around the hat. I can't wait to see and catch up with most of my cousins and aunts today. It will also be a little gift to spend time with my Grandma Mary, too. I hear she had a day of pampering to ready her for today. I just might wear make up today!! I haven't planned my outfit yet. I'll get the vintage hat box out and see what I can come up with. I hope you all have a great day!!

Solana Beach- Village 202

I stumbled across this fabulous consignment store, Village 202 in Solana Beach. The owners take in lots of model home pieces and have some beautiful artwork and vintage pieces as well. You really have to take your time so you don't miss anything. I have a thing for sunburst mirrors and was happy to see some. The funny thing about this store, was I found out days later, the store is owned by a friend's Aunt and Uncle. What a small world.

Village 202 is located at 202 North Cedros Ave, in Solana Beach. 858-847-0345.

Solana Beach-101 shops Antique Warehouse

I escaped the family for about 20 minutes the other day on our vacation and literally ran through this treasure filled Antique Mall. I have tried to visit this store on many occasions, but it's always closed on the days I visit. But not this time. On my run through the store, I saw lots of fun mintage items. They had great chandeliers and lots of turquoise glass.