~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

~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

~a mother’s heart and aqua palette~

Hello friends,

It’s good to be back! 

2013 has been a little rocky for the raggygirlvintage household.

 In January my daughter became very ill and her health deteriorated at an alarming rate. Long story short she has been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.

 It has been a slow and rocky path to recovery. Thankfully the past two weeks her health has stabilised somewhat, and we are feeling some degree of normality again. 

We are still figuring out how to manage this long term, but as I posted on fb recently, an uneventful day is a good day right now! 

Here’s a photo of our sweet girl, this is one of her grad shots this year.

As any of you who have had a critically ill child will know, it is hard on a mother’s heart. 
So hard. 

I am so thankful for the friends and family who have supported us through this time, and our church community who have stood with us in prayer. 

I can tell you this journey has been all about choices, choosing to trust God in desperate situations. Sometimes I have failed miserably, but I like to think that the roots of my faith are that much deeper having walked through this time. 
Faith is really in the walking peeps.

I want you to know that you also have been an encouragement to me. 
When my world was in crisis and each day was focused on surviving and getting through, it was just so awesome to pop on your blogs/fb and see beautiful creativity still happening. 

The world was still turning. 

I was blown away by how it seemed every time I opened my instagram feed there was a scripture or word of encouragement that spoke right to my heart, and mostly from gals I have never even met.

God is in the small stuff, peeps, He really is!

So, I hope that wasn’t too heavy, but I wanted you to know why my blog has been silent for a while

Now let’s move on to some fun stuff shall we!!
 The last few days have felt like spring up north here in Canada, blue skies, sunshine, such a treat! 
I have to admit, I started thinking spring even before it brightened up, and as I’m still in love with the aqua, beachy palette I’ve been changing things up a little in my living room.

For starters I switched my old barnwood door around so it’s back to it’s aqua side. 

How do you like the mini bunting I have up there, so fun and easy to make!
 I love the look of mini bunting like this draped over a door or mirror.

I change this little table up a lot!

 I love the white hydrangeas against the aqua, they sure are springy!

I also pulled out a couple of nests and popped them here and there. 

Tucked on the mantle…

…on my chippy ol’ chair

I do still have my basket of birch wood beside the fireplace and cosy throws around as I know we’ll have plenty more rain yet, but I love the lighter, brighter elements.
 Our fireplace is gas (shhh), but I love the look of birch! 
Plus I paid an arm and a leg for the stuff!

I did a copycat floral arrangement which I’ll share on Thursday, it was so effective, I also want to show you my raggy bunting which I am now totally addicted to making! 

If you want a sneak peek you can pop over to my fb page here or follow me on instagram @raggygirlvintage

Well, it’s good to be back! I have missed blogging soooo much! Look forward to hearing how you are changing things up for spring!

hugs,

Tracey

~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