~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

~weathered wood and beachy inspiration~

Hello friends,

Today I’m missing summer and I thought I’d post some inspiration photos from last summer.

These were all taken while we were on vacation on the beautiful Oregon coast.

I hope you enjoy them, especially if you’re also longing for summer days again!

I got to play around with weathered wooden chairs and gorgeous hydrangeas.

Such a pretty colour…

A perfectly weathered fence by the beach.

I just love all the nautical elements down by the ocean.

weathered floats

rusty old crabbing baskets

canoe ride anyone?

Stairway dappled in the sunlight... 

don’t you love the driftwood stair rail?

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of summer!

Tracey

~raggy bunting love and how to~

Hello friends,

I have been busting to show you my raggy bunting, 

you might have seen a peek over on my fb page here or my instagram {raggygirlvintage}.

I have to warn you, it is highly addictive.

 And it will leave threads all over the sofa.

 And you!!

I have been in love with bunting forever, I showed you some mini white bunting here…

I also love to make it in ticking and vintage florals. 

Hanging bunting gives that yummy vintage, handmade feel.

I wanted to make a less formal raggy bunting, 

I’ve seen similar bunting inspiration floating around.

 Anthropologie even has a version too.

This bunting is hot right now at weddings and baby showers. 

It makes an awesome backdrop for photoshoots, across an arbour, or tied across the front of a table.

To start I pulled out my stash of aqua and white sheets. 

It’s super easy peeps.

 Just rip strips of varying lengths, mine were probably 1.5”-2” wide.

 Then tie them along a length of sturdy twine.

 Make sure you use tidy knots so the strips hang downwards.

I made mine 3 feet long plus extra twine for hanging, and it took me around 2 hours to make.

I have it draped over one of my doors here.

Can we say LURVE…..

I just couldn’t stop!!

Next up I knew I wanted ~all white, lacy, ethereal, romantic~

 So this time I ripped up white muslin and pulled out my stash of vintage lace.

My, did this ever use a ton of lace.

Lace is just soooo pretty.

This bunting has headed over to The Passionate Home ready for spring and summer weddings. 

It is so pretty but there is only so much bunting one can hang with 3 guys in the house!

Now I realise this may not be everyone’s taste, but it’s a fun and simple way to add a whimsical touch to your next special event, or to your home decor just because

Next up vintage linens…just gotta make that first rip, I find it really hard to rip up vintage linens, how silly is that!

A couple of my instagram gals have already been inspired to make their own version, why not give it a go??

Hugs,

Tracey

~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