~finding my groove again, party decor and bunting~

hello friends,

Sometimes we plan a blogging break, other times life just comes along and knocks the stuffing out of you! That’s how it’s been for our family this past year, and I’ve wondered how much to share here, in my “happy place“. 

But this crazy thing called life does happen, and if there is one thing I know to be true from this past year, it's that we’re all dealing with something! 

A sorrow. 

A challenge.

 A story. 
Your story.

We all live in this real world. And sometimes that is just plain tough.
 So I’ll try and give you a little snapshot of this past year in our family.

 my three kiddos

Early last year a longtime favourite verse was so impressed on my heart, 

“Be still and know that I am God” {Psalm 46;10}

Little did I know how meaningful those words would become in the months ahead.

In early January 2013  my 19 year old daughter became very ill, and deteriorated quickly.  She was ultimately diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. There is nothing more devastating as a mamma than watching your child become sicker and sicker and not knowing what else to do. It has been a slow journey back to health, a journey we still find ourselves on. As some of you may know my daughter is developmentally disabled, so this brings with it some extra challenges. 

Hot on the heels of her illness crisis, my 17 year old son sustained a concussion playing volleyball. It ended up putting him out of school for the remainder of the school year, and out of sport for even longer. It was a tough, tough time, we adopted a cautious approach to his recovery and are so blessed to see the way he has fought his way back.

We muddled our way through all this and it seemed everytime we were about to draw a deep breath, something else was around the corner:  injury, water damage and repairs, rear ender....

 I started to enjoy a “normal” day for what it was, just plain old “normal”

I didn’t need extraordinary or wow, just normal!

We were feeling pretty worn down and looking forward to a fresh new year.

 This January “courage” was the word on my heart. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I didn’t want to be courageous anymore. Hadn't I been courageous? 
I wanted peace. rest. refresh!

 Anything but "courage"!

In late January I underwent major surgery, not at all how we pictured 2014 starting. I am doing great, but it will be some time yet before I resume my normal activities, like hauling furntiure!!

The amazing thing is, when life just keeps coming at you, you truly are stripped bare of pretence. My faith has been shaky at times, but surer too. I have gotten to know people a whole lot better by being a little more real with them. I don’t understand it all, or any of it really, but I have known God's grace through this time, sometimes just for the next moment. And that is enough.

There have been bright moments along the way! 

Our daughter graduated high school in June 2013,  and we were involved in advocating to get a new adult program started in our community, that she is now a part of.

We had a fun little teaparty with her friends to celebrate.

It was so much fun putting together a girlie teaparty, using mostly vintage and thrifted decor items.

the vases, linens, cake stand, tea cups, and mason jars were all thrifted goodies I already had. 

I love these mirrored balls.

I

vintage china teacups

and lots of yummy treats

bunting made from pretty vintage linens

 

Yes, I’m still in love with stripey paper straws! We served lemonade in these mason jar mugs.

We also celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday western style:

You can see I had a bunting thing going with these celebrations! This one I made from bandanas. 

we used bandanas to wrap the cutlery too! Yup, we used a lot of banadanas!

painted mason jars and white baby’s breath blooms

a sheriff’s badge for the birthday boy

those mason jar mugs again, with cowboy black and white straws this time!

We vacationed on the beautiful Oregon coast during the summer.

gorgeous unspoilt beaches

and epic sandcastle building…

We got to visit with extended family, and I participated in a couple of vintage markets.

Although I have not been blogging this past year, if you follow me on

facebook,

instagram 

or pinterest 

you will know I have stayed connected. 

This creative world that we share has been such a lifesaver to me when I’ve needed a break, to just soak in the beauty and creativity you have shared, and for that I thank you all!! There have been many days I have opened instagram to find just the words of encouragement I needed for right then in that moment.

These past few weeks I’ve been sewing up some pillows and making raggy bunting and it is just so energising to be creating again!! Thanks for sticking with me and here’s to lots more beauty and creativity ahead! 

If you’ve made it to the end of this post, I hope that in sharing some of the “real” stuff in my life this past year, that you leave encouraged.

“His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me” 

Tracey

xox

~Vintage bottles, jars and flowers ~ easy floral display~

Hello friends,

Don’t you just love all the inspiration we glean from each other?

I first saw this idea over on a beach cottage blog (awesome blog if you don’t already follow) and knew with my endless supply of glass bottles I just had to try it!

I used freesias, probably not the best choice for this project, but they sure smelled good! 

Any flowers will do really.

All I did was pick out a bunch of random glass jars and bottles in a variety of sizes and stick blooms in them, then dumped arranged them in my big wooden crate tray in the living room.

 I loved it so much I found myself slipping in there just to sit and stare for a few minutes.

 Yes, I am very visual!!

Of course I had to throw an aqua mason jar into the mix!

So if you’re looking for a

*simple

*inexpensive

*effective floral display or centrepiece

…give it a try!

So looking forward to doing this outside once it is warm enough.

Thank you for all your kind comments and emails about my previous post, I treasure each one of you and I have been touched by your kindness!

One thing I know peeps, for many of us our blog is our happy place, a place we come to forget the challenges of daily life, a place we protect. It is that for me too. But let's not forget that behind each smile is a circumstance, and let's continue to offer kindness to our fellow bloggers.

Hugs,

Tracey

PS. Next week I'll be sharing my raggy bunting how-to

~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