~little christmas vintage car~

hello friends, thanks for hanging in there with me!

November was market mania month and now we are right on into Christmas….

I wanted to show you one of my favourite little vignettes this Christmas.

I have had my eyes out for a long time for a vintage truck, red or green or white, to use at Christmas. Haven’t found one yet {let me know if you find one for me!}

But I did come across this vintage car from the 50s, and well, it is green and white and has red taillights. That works!

The plan was to tie this tree on top of the car, as if we were on the way home from the tree farm, but it just didn’t work with this car! The tree just would not stay on top of the car.

 Which is kinda what our tree looked like last weekend by the time we got home, hanging off the back of the van!

So I added a vintage shiny brite and created a little tree farm vignette instead. 

Yes, that is my chippy aqua door you see in the background, love it so much I decided just to incorporate it into the Christmas decor this season!

Sometimes the little vignettes are the most fun to play around with!

 Hope your Christmas plans are going well, I’m off to finish some shopping and decorating, then hi-ho, it’s on to the gingerbread men

Tracey

PS. posting snapshots over at instagram @ raggygirlvintage and my fb page

raggygirlvintage

~dropcloth, burlap and hydrangea fall wreath~

Well that wonderful warm weather I was bragging about came to an abrupt halt and so we are now well and truly in fall mode! Nesting mode. Make a new wreath mode.

I had been wanting to put together a new wreath for fall, something a little more neutral and natural. When I saw one over at Craftberry Bush I knew that was the direction I was headed.

But first I needed dried hydrangea blooms. Preferably greens and browns for fall, but my bush was pink. 

Or was it. 

Here’s the interesting thing, when I went out there the blooms had all turned green in the fall, I had never noticed that before. Maybe the warm dry weather helped. 

So I picked tons of blooms!

If you’ve never dried hydrangeas before it is dead easy, you just cut the blooms, plunk them in water and leave them to dry out. I have pitchers of hydrangeas all over the house, from my yard and a friend’s.

I’m still undecided on how I feel about dried flowers, I have tended to steer away from dried flower arrangements, but pitchers of green and brown hydrangeas feel very fresh and fallish in the home.

So, moving on to the wreath, I made it just using what I had on hand, and it honestly took less than an hour. 

I used strips of dropcloth and burlap, as well as hydrangea blooms and dried white roses. 

I tied 3 or 4 dropcloth strips for every burlap strip.

Here’s a close up of the fabric strips tied around the wreath.

The white roses mostly disintegrated when I tried to handle them! Less is more definitely applied here!

 I just hot-glued on a couple buds and petals as best I could.

Lucy over at Craftberry Bush gives a great tutorial on making this wreath, so hop on over there and take a peek.

If I were to make this again there are a couple things I would do differently.

 I would use a larger wreath form, mine was a little small for all that fabric and my big front door!

I also wouldn’t knot the fabric, just a single loop is enough {like the first tie you make on a shoelace}. That way it is less bulky.

Though my wreath could use a little tweaking at least it is up, and I am happy with a finished project for now

Happy Fall!

Tracey

I love the contrast of the neutral colours against the black, and the slightly messy look of the fabric ties.

~making fabric pumpkins~

Well, our unseasonably warm and dry fall continues up north, and as much as I am enjoying my beachy coastal decor, it’s time for some pumpkins don’t you think?

Or "punkins" as our Grade Ones insist on calling them

"pump" as in "jump"

~pumpkin~

yes, they say, punkin!

sigh, they are so cute!!

This year I have enjoyed making some fabric pumpkins, they are not very difficult to make and are a really fun project. 

What I love is that you can pretty much use the supplies you have on hand : fabric, stuffing, bits of lace and ribbon and a glue gun. 

{Hint: you also need a good, strong needle to stitch the bottom up.}

And there is something very fallish about going out looking for the perfect sticks to make pumpkin stalks!

I used a tan chenille for this pumpkin, prettied it up with lace and wrinkly seam binding ribbon, jute and a vintage earring. 

Isn’t this such pretty vintage lace! This pumpkin has a pearl earring glued on.

I love the rustic touch the twig stalk gives the pumpkin.

I also made some smaller pumpkins out of natural osnaburg. Really you can be as creative as you like decorating these pumpkins. This one I “segmented" with jute.

Added a few pretty pearls…

Give it a try! If you don't find a clear enough tutorial let me know and I'll post some directions. 

Right, I’m off to make pecan pie ready for our Thanksgiving dinner! 

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

Tracey

linking up at these fun parties:
 We did it! Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Primp your Stuff Wednesday @ Primp 
The Inspiration Board @ Homework 
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts 
the 36th Ave party 
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home 
Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo 
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 
Air your laundry Friday @ Freckled Laundry
SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors

~as promised, my simple beachy party post~

Hello friends,

Well here we are with fall nipping at our heels and I still want to show you a couple photos from that little beachy party we had in the summer, as promised!

 As we are having the most gorgeous dry and sunny fall up north I am going to go right ahead, and perhaps my southern hemisphere friends will appreciate it too as you head into summer!

So here goes, kept it super simple and mostly used what I had on hand:  wicker vases, white pitchers, mason jars, white sand and tealights.

Oh, and a bunch of baby's breath, one of my favourite flowers to decorate with, a bunch goes a long way.

Simple, that is, except for these jolly tissue pom-poms. Word of advice : don’t leave them until the night before. Like I did. I don’t generally consider myself a craft-challenged gal but these pom-poms got the better of me! Especially the big ones, which ended up piled in the corner of my farmhouse table and no one was any the wiser that they had big holes underneath!

Here’s a close up, aren’t the ruffley layers pretty!

Another word of advice : you can order them online and just fluff them out!

I also hung some up high from the gazebo outside with a couple paper lanterns, with a bit of fluffing they are quite forgiving:-)

The smaller ones turned out much better and I tossed a couple on the tables here and there.

So I used a white cotton tablecloth with a wide burlap runner down the middle, and an assortment of candles, starfish, blue mason jars, and accents. 

~Simple~

I laid a similar table outside with a few different accessories, and strung up twinkling fairy lights. So sorry I didn't get any photos of the other table!

Scattered starfish along the tables.

The white shells looked so pretty piled in a blue mason jar.

I am so in love with vintage paper straws, they not only look cute they are sturdy and so versatile in decorating and they photograph so well.

I ordered them in a couple different colours, but just used the blue ones here.

So there you have it! It was simple to put together but looked so fresh and beachy! 

As beachy coastal was loosely the theme I went with this summer in my living room it was fun to extend that through the house for the party! 

You can read more about my beachy coastal living room here and here.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into the party!

Tracey

~this ‘n that and beach coastal shots~

Hello friends,

Well that was a rather long unplanned blogging break! I had great intentions for me and this little ol’ blog in the summer months, I always seem to forget just one small detail : my kids are home too!! 

So I didn’t get to post here on the blog but if you follow me on facebook or instagram {raggygirlvintage} you will know a little of my summer goings-on. {I must say I am having a lot of fun with instagram, it is so on-the-go user-friendly and the filters are FUN!}

So I spent much of the summer ferrying the kids to their various activities, but evenso we all enjoyed the change of pace. I hadn’t realised quite how much until I had to start getting up at 6am again. I know for some of you that is the norm, but I find it rather early!!

The highlight of the summer for me was undoubtedly a family trip down to the Oregon coast, it had long been on my wish list and I was smitten, it was love at first sight, simply gorgeous ocean and waves. Loved every minute of it!

Long golden beaches, frothy waves, sunshine, fires on the beach….

This was the view of sunset from our bedroom window. I know. 

I KNOW!!

We woke to the same view each morning and watched the tide ebb and flow.

And of course I got to do a little of this…

and this…

which about makes for a perfect vacation!

This was one of my favourites, in an old church building that also served as a school once. Gorgeous wood floors and quaint white siding.

Well I just wanted to pop in and say hi and let you know I’m back!

 Remember that beachy coastal party I told you I was planning for the summer, well I have some photos of that to show you too. 

I am not quite ready to leap into fall, I’m holding summer tight with both hands, so we’ll stick with beachy coastal just a little longer shall we?

Just loved this gorgeous weathered board fence down at the beach, wouldn’t it be awesome for making signs. When it falls down of course!

Here are a few more coastal shots:

Some of you may recognise this landmark, yes, it is Haystack Rock!

Be back soon!

Tracey

~as promised, raggygirlvintage beachy living room summer makeover~

Hello friends,

I am happy, SO happy to report that summer has finally arrived up north in British Columbia, and what a beautiful place this is to be in the summer! Just in time as we’ve had company in town the past two weeks and it sure is more fun to be out and about in the sunshine. If you’re following me on instagram you will have seen some of my shots out and about, you can find me @ raggygirlvintage.

Well after the peeks I gave you at my gorgeous chippy aqua door and beachy mantle raggygirlvintage style, it seems I left you wanting more. I felt like I was holding out on you, that was so not my intention! It’s just that really my living room is a very ordinary room that I just like to play around with, but today I will show you the whole room, as promised!

~You may want to grab a coffee at this point, you asked for photos and that’s what you’re gonna get, aplenty!!~

My home is very open plan, which I do generally love, but it does leave me with limited options for moving furniture around and utilising wall space, most of my spaces have windows, open walls or a fireplace. So in this room I really haven’t moved the main furniture pieces around much, but I do like to play around with the accessories in different seasons, especially now that my walls are a crisp, clean white

Okay, so let’s start with an overview shot from the entryway. The front door is to the left.

Here’s a before photo. As you can see the furniture placement is pretty much the same. At Christmas time the sofas have to get moved around to accommodate our tree!

I didn’t hate my living room before, but the colours were tired and our climate is wet so much of the year, I wanted lighter and brighter. The pictures on the wall were also tired and dated, and I wanted a change from the red accents in there.

Here are a couple shots through the living room into the dining room. I really, really would like to slipcover these chairs one day….

I love how much lighter the dining room is now that the walls are white, it is a small room and it just feels bigger and brighter now. I haven’t decided yet if I will paint the furniture in there or not. 

The chandy is making it look creamy in this photo, but it’s really not, it’s true white in natural light.

This is the window wall with my chippy door, the windows are super tall in here and let in lots of light. 

{you can read my chippy aqua door post here}

The drapes are from Pottery Barn, I picked them up instore some years ago as they were on sale, and I was thrilled to find drapes almost long enough for my oversize windows. 

Now I am looking for a sheer to hang with them, I have mixed sheers and drapes in our family room and I really like the look the different textures give, particularly on windows where you don’t close the drapes.

On the opposite wall I have a couple white suitcases stacked, one more and they will be side table height! You can see them in the next photo too.

The living room is on the front of the house and looks out onto the street, you can see a peek of my rocking chair through the window on my porch. The porch gets all the morning sun so it’s a great coffee spot in the early morning. 

This is to the right of the fireplace. The vignette on this little table changes all the time, I’ve already switched it up since taking this photo! {Did I mention I really would like to slipcover these chairs…}

Here’s a closer look. The trim you see to the right is the open entryway to the dining room.

The vintage “E” is again for our last name, and I love using vintage frames in my decor.

Always a little lavender going on.

This table has a smaller version underneath, where I’ve tucked some of my favourite decor reads. Which one do you think is my favourite??

Here it is again after I changed things up a little, I wasn’t loving the birdie so popped a boxwood tree there instead.

This chest sits in the centre of my living room, I believe it is called a Quaker chest and I had it custom made many years ago. It is honestly one of the most useful pieces of furniture in our home, it is so well built and both sides lift up so it is great for storage, I keep all my scrapbook albums and photos in there. Just don’t try and move it!

 I’m not crazy about the fireplace you can see in the background, one day I’d love to replace the tile.

So here are some of the goodies that are sitting on my chest currently. A sweet wooden tray painted white and a pretty summer bouquet in a white pitcher. 

You can see a bit of wicker in there too, that one is filled with white sand and a candle, ready to use for a beach themed wedding party, which I’ll post about soon.

I don’t usually buy yellow flowers but I found this bouquet at a roadside stand and it was too pretty to pass by! 

I know some people find it cheesy to use shells and starfish in beach decor, but personally they are not all that common around here and I happen to like them! I think it can be tastefully done. 

A little bit of white pitcher, a little galvanised metal, a little bling, it all can work together.

Around the fireplace I kept it simple, you’ve seen my beachy mantle already. You can read the full post here.

Down below I have more shells and starfish, baby’s breath and a giant white pitcher on the one side…

…and a vintage kiddies chair on the other side.

Finally, here’s a view from up top of the stairway.

Well I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my raggygirlvintage beachy summer living room.

I’ll leave you with the before...

...and after

linking up to Whatever Goes Wednesday 
Primp your stuff Wednesday
White Wednesday 
Feathered Nest Friday 
Potpourri Friday 
Vintage Inspiration Friday 
It's Inspiration Friday 
Friday's Unfolded

happy sunshine days!

Tracey

you can follow me on raggygirlvintage fb here

and raggygirl pinterest here 

and on instagram @raggygirlvintage