~picking white paint, my chippy farmhouse table and instagram-ing~

Hello friends, 

Well I just wanted to pop in and say hi, there’s been lots going on around the raggygirlvintage home and we’re counting down the days till the summer starts! 

Tomorrow is last day, then we’re on vacation, yay!! We have family arriving for the first half of July, so we’re sure hoping summer arrives up north soon, we are having our coldest June on record and it is NOT FUN!!!

This past week I had painters come in to paint the downstairs living space, I was so excited, but had a really hard time picking a white.

 The first couple Benjamin Moore whites I tried were just reading too cream in my space. 

Finally I found the one I wanted : Snowfall White. 

The only problem was it didn’t cover well at all and they ended up cutting in and painting five coats, which pushed us way over budget. Especially as I was using their top of the range Aura paint!

All that being said, I love walking down the stairs in the morning to my light, white, bright space! 

In this photo you can see the previous background wall colour on most of the walls. It went pretty well with the house and furnishings, but it was tired and scuffed and I really wanted to lighten and brighten things up.

Here’s a photo of my white drapes against the white walls to give you an idea of how true a white it is now, love, love, love it! 

As we were doing all the downstairs walls and the upstairs hallway that was a lot of stuff to move and pack away, wow! Mr rgv very kindly filled and sanded all the holes for me. Things were a bit chaotic and I am still putting the house back together again!

In the midst of all the paint prep I brought a new table into the house which I wanted to give you a peek at. I bought it intending to use it in my new booth space (more on that later), but now it’s in the house, I think it just might be staying! 

That’s my problem really, too much stuff comes in and I have a hard time parting with it right away! It will make a great little “studio” for my photo shoots for my blog and etsy store.

Isn’t it a perfect farmhouse style table? I love the size, not too big, not too small, sturdy and perfectly chippy. Just a hint of green under the white paint.

I haven’t even staged it yet, just plonked my empty vintage milk carrier on it along with a pitcher of peonies and it is wonderful! I have a spot in mind for it once the painting is all done…

I also wanted to let you know that I have finally climbed on the instagram bandwagon. What took me so long?? It is fun, fun, fun.

 I haven’t had a chance to figure out linking it up to my blog, but you can find me on instagram by searching for well, raggygirlvintage of course!! One day I will have to share how I ended up with that name! 

So if you’re interested in following a bit more of my day to day life you can find me over there instagram-ing away. You will see peonies {of course}, chippy tables, ladybug cookies……

and who knows what else, that's the charm of instagram, snippets of day-to-day life!

Well that was a lot to cover in one post, I hope you are still with me Have a lovely week, and I’ll be back soon to show you my wonderful market treasures!

linking up with Courtney at Feathered Nest Friday

Tracey

~chasing my tail and yummy muffins~

Hello friends, how was your week? Aren’t these pretty, they were a gift from my Mamma. So bright and springy and of course they are in my favorite vintage milk carrier! You can read more about that here.

Ever felt like you were “chasing your tail”? Yup, I hear you! That was the kind of week it was for me, throw a couple extra things into the schedule and it was crazy town around here I tell ya! I am so happy I have today to play catch up, AND the sun is coming in and out from the clouds. It always makes me sooooo happy to see the sun!

This week also involved some real hands-on parenting here in the RGV home. Raising kids can be pretty hard at times. I know we set the bar pretty high round here when it comes to our family values and parenting, and sometimes that creates dilemmas. Do you ever feel like you are swimming upstream against all the influences out there?

I had to dig my heels in this week over one such relatively small issue that conflicted with how we have chosen to raise our kids. It was tough. But you know what :  I.am.a.good.Mom. We need to tell ourselves that more often. We “earn our stripes”! If you are in the trenches of parenting right now, stay with it. Stand by your family values. It counts, it really does.

Oh, and I also went on diet this week. It’s my first real diet ever, and it’s tough! But that’s another whole post!!

So with the “d” word still in mind let’s move right on to the yummy muffins shall we? No, I did not eat any of them, but in the interests of not starving my family along with myself I made an extra effort to do a little baking this week.

These Banana Oatmeal Choc-Chip muffins are great if you have bananas that are beginning to look overripe and no one wants to eat them anymore. Did you know that if you can’t bake with bananas right away you can throw them in the freezer? They will look disgusting as the skins go all black, but the banana inside is perfect for baking with. When you are ready to bake let them thaw, split the skin and squeeze out the banana and mush it up a little more, it will already be squishy. Just remember you threw the bananas in the freezer, don’t be like me and discover a dozen bananas staring at you when you open up the freezer one day….

Here you go then, the muffin recipe just in time for the weekend! This recipe comes originally from the Company’s Coming muffin cookbook. We added the choc chips ‘cos in this house we seem to throw choc chips into most baked goods! Thank goodness for Costco’s jumbo bag!

raggygirlvintage Banana Oatmeal Choc Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/4 cup milk

1 cup mashed bananas (3)

optional: choc chips, raisins

1. In a large bowl stir first 6 ingredients together. Make a well in the centre.

2. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy. Mix in cooking oil, milk and bananas. Pour into well. Throw in choc chips/raisins if you like.

3. Stir just to moisten. Batter will be lumpy.

4. Find some cute muffin cases and fill 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 mins or until done. Makes 12-18.

Aren't these the cutest gingham cupcake cases! I am such a sucker for pretty cases, I have these in pink and aqua too! I found them instore but if you're looking for pretty cases check out etsy.

These muffins are good with a slathering of butter or a slice of cheese! They will stick to the cases when warm, let them cool. If you can’t wait go right ahead, they are good warm! {You can bake them directly in the muffin pans, I just don’t like the cleaning involved with that!}

Let me know if they make it onto your weekend breakfast menu

Have a lovely weekend,

Tracey

For more raggygirlvintage recipes check out my pinterest board here.

~french farmhouse stylin'~ vintage milk carrier~

Hiya, I wanted to start talking about a few ways you can introduce a french farmhouse feel into your home and decor, and we’re starting with a ~vintage milk carrier~

I shelled out a pretty penny for this one, but I had passed up one too many and knew it would be one of those “I wish I woulda” deals.

Sometimes this vintage carrier sits on top my kitchen cabinets with a couple old milk bottles inside, but quite often I pull it down and fill it with flowers.

Currently my runner is just an old floursack on my family farmtable. We use this table all the time, so I like to have something that is quick and easy to move on and off. Even everyday spaces should have something to pretty them up and make you feel ~happy~

I popped in a few of my favorite blue mason jars and white tulips, and instantly have a pretty focal point in front of the window that shouts to me “french farmhouse stylin’”!! 

I closed the blinds to shoot these photos but typically the light floods in the back of the house in the afternoon.

Heart the old wooden handle and worn metal.

It’s a quick and easy decor item that you can change up in so many ways, with BIG impact, so next time you see a vintage milk carrier, don’t pass it up!

linking up to Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Home and Family Friday at Home is Where My Story Begins
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday over at Coastal Charm
Take-a-look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts
Cowgirl Up at The Farmhouse Porch

~Tracey~