~handmade beachy summer pillows~

hello friends,

Well the little warm spell we had up north this past week sure put me in the mood for summer!! 

Today is cool and wet, but at least we know what we have to look forward to.

Anyways, all that sunshine really made me think about the beach and the ocean, and I thought I would show you some of the beachy and coastal inspired pillows I’ve been working on recently.

This is my “beach” pillow, I love the simplicity of it. Here it is in white.

 I’m also making this in the prettiest aqua, 

and another ~surprise~ colour {wink}.

The starfish is one of my favourites!!

I love the white on the natural background.

They look great together too!

I also pulled out some of my blue grainsack style pillows. 

Although I originally designed these with french country cottage chic in mind, I love how well they fit with a beachy themed decor too. 

I think the side ties are a nice touch. {I also make these in red and charcoal stripes}.

All of these pillows are made on a durable natural canvas with envelope closure at the back {except for the side ties}, and are listed in my raggygirletsy store.

And here’s a pretty shell just because….

happy dreaming of summer days!

linking up to Amaze Me Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal
Share Your Stuff Tuesday

Tracey

xox

~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

~beachy summer mantle raggygirlvintage style~

Hello friends,

Well I have been having fun putting our living spaces back together after the white wall transformation…..

 

For those who are interested, the final colour choice was Benjamin Moore “snowfall white”. I tried several whites before settling on this one, as all the other whites I tried were reading very cream in this space. I am very happy with this white, it is neutral and does not read overly warm or cool. 

HOWEVER, I can not recommend it as a colour choice as what should have covered in 2 coats (we were using their top end Aura paint) ended up taking us 5 coats and cut-ins. Good thing I actually like it, right!

So, if you read my chippy door post here, you will know that I am going with a beachy coastal look in my living room for the summer. So I thought you might like to see my summer mantle, I wanted to keep it super simple and fresh.

This shabby little mirror is the focal point, I really love this mirror! It has been very versatile as it has moved around this raggygirlvintage home!

 I added a blue mason jar for that touch of coastal colour in an otherwise neutral mantlescape, with a white gerbera daisy. And yes, that is a real flower, it’s just this thing I have, I like fresh cut flowers! Even if they have wiggly stems!

I picked out three of my smaller white pitchers, you can never go wrong with a white pitcher. Let’s hear a cheer for the humble white pitcher!! 

Some of my pitchers are vintage, some are brand spanking new, I buy them if I love them, I’m not really concerned about their value.

I have silver candlesticks at either end of the mantle, and of course a couple white starfish to complete the beachy theme. Starfish are also very versatile in decorating and these have shown up in vignettes all over raggygirlvintage home. They are not always easy to find, so I recommend if you see them snap a couple up. 

I am doing a beach themed party next weekend and the starfish will be making an appearance there too.

Finally I have a couple vintage wooden and metal stamps, I love them for their patina and interest factor. The numbers are kinda random, the “E” is for our last name.

I have had several requests to show more of my living room and home, not just peeks of the door or mantle, and while I’m a little shy to do that {how silly am I??}, I have taken a few shots and will be putting a post together soon, so you can see the full beachy picture!

So, whatcha think? I love being greeted by the simplicity of it all when I walk down the stairs in the morning, fresh white walls, chippy aqua door, calm coastal mantel. Feels like summer:-)

Here’s a picture of my fabulous chippy door, in case you missed it. You can see more photos here.

linking up to Transformation Tuesday
 Take-a-look Tuesday 
 Ta-da Tuesday 
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday 
Inspiration Board
White Wednesday
Primp your stuff Wednesday
Feather your nest Friday 
Vintage Inspiration Friday 
Potpourri Friday

Tracey

PS. You can follow raggygirlvintage fb here

raggygirl pinterest here

and instagram @ raggygirlvintage

~chocolate eggs and stuff~

Hello peeps, had your fill of chocolate eggs? Me too! 

They are yummy, aren’t they!

We had unseasonably warm weather for our Easter long weekend up in the Pacific Northwest, what a treat! 

It was my turn to host Easter dinner, so here are a couple of peeks at our day and decorating, super simple and springy.

 

White flowers in small ironstone tureens. I had planned on white miniature roses and tulips, all sold out! These worked too.

 

Flatware dumped stacked in a pretty container.

More eggs and bunny marshmallows.

We had some Easter and coastal and spring all happening on the mantle! I think this vintage egg cup is so sweet, even if it is missing one eye.

These Easter nests were yummy, I’ll have to remember to post the recipe before next Easter! Loving the robin’s egg blue of these eggs. 

Here’s a quick trivia fact for you: Cadbury chocolate eggs in the US and Canada are not the same, the US ones are bigger, the Canadian ones are prettier colors. All sampled as a courtesy to bring you this important fact of course!!

Of course the day would not be complete without an egg hunt! Do we ever outgrow egg hunts? I think not…

Look easy to find? Hmmm, actually took them a while. Sometimes the obvious spots are the best! 

Certain teenage boys in the home had to line up their loot military style and engage in bunny battles. No comment.

My favorite part of the day : having the family share what Jesus means to them.

Well I’m off to raid the kids stash, hope you had a lovely Easter.

Tracey