Vintage Gifts, Just in Time for Christmas!

I know everyone has their tree up, presents wrapped, and activities all planned out, right? After all, Christmas is just nine days away... But if you are like me...shopping isn't done, haven't even bought a tree and running around like a crazy person...then this blog post is for you!

I promised to buy only local, handmade, or vintage gifts this year so I have put together a list of few of my favorite etsy shops in case, like me, you are looking for last minute gifts and want to support a small business at the same time.

I have been drooling over these poodle gravel art pictures since I first saw them. They are adorable and I know if I woke up everyday and saw them, they would totally put a smile on my face. They are from SpaceModyssey. She has a ton of great stuff in her shop!

Pyrex is always the perfect gift and these Snowflake Garland fridgies from GypsumMoonVintage are adorable! Snowflake Garland is one of my favorite patterns and fridgies can be hard to find!

TTLGFurnishings has amazing glassware in her shop including tons of Pyrex- even full sets if you are looking to jump start your collection. This owl by Fenton is no exception. Pretty and adorable- he would make the perfect gift!

I love lazy Susan dishes and I love California Pottery from the 1950's.  We have several we use to hold our keys, condiments on our kitchen table, and as a catch all for change on the bedroom dresser. This fish themed lazy Susan  from AtomicKittenVintage is cute and useful.

And if you are looking for handmade, this gorgeous crochet scarf from YarnWorksStudio would make the perfect gift. Trust me, I have one.

Of course, the list wouldn't be complete if I didn't throw in an item from my own shop LivingAVintageLife.  I listed new items today, just in time for your holiday shopping.  My favorite is this vintage carpet bag tapestry purse. It was hard to let go. 

I hope this helps you guys with your last minute shopping and gets the word out about some great etsy shops with vintage items that you should definitely follow!

Have a wonderful day!

-Tricia

Pyrex For Days.

As most of you know, I'm a Pyrex collector/fanatic. So I decided it would be a good time of year to mix it up a bit and try to make a Pyrex Christmas display...unfortunately, I think it looks like a hot mess.

  

I think I am trying to mix too many colors and patterns together...put really, when am I going to get a chance to pull out the green Pyrex...this cabinet usually holds red, yellow, and black. Back to the drawing board on this one...

I've had lots of interest in my Pyrex necklaces on my Etsy shop LivngAVntgLife. 

I thought I would give a quick tutorial on how to make necklaces with any image you want, be it a photograph, patterned paper, or your own artwork.

The first thing you need to do is gather all of your supplies including the Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Tool Round 25, Bubble Caps, and Charm Settings. You can print out your artwork in a one inch circle (I like to use photo quality paper) or simply download one inch sized artwork you can find on sites like Etsy.

Simply insert your desired artwork into the front of the Shape Studio Tool.

Drop the matching Bubble Cap right on top and press until it touches the paper.

Close the lid and press.

Out pops your custom epoxy shape!

Use a metal glue to adhere it into the coordinating charm. I like E-6000. I usually buy the clear but I accidentally picked up the white. I think the clear is best just in case you get messy.

And there you have it! One custom charm ready to add to a bracelet, necklace, or key chain.

I buy my chain from www.ballchain.com I like to buy it in the spools and cut it the length I need. The one I order is the smallest- chain #1.

This would make perfect last minute holiday gifts! Or find something you love, make some necklaces and start your own Etsy shop!

Follow me on:

Twitter: @livingavntglife

Pinterest: livingavintagelife

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingavintagelife

Instagram: livingavntglife

Have a wonderful day!

Tricia

  

Hello Strangers!

So...it's been a while. But I'm back. So much has been going on here but I will give you the "Reader's digest" version.

1. We moved. We are now proud residents of Washington state. Best decision we ever made! We love it up here soooo much. We were lucky enough to find a mid century modern house built in 1955. It fits our style perfectly. I will share pictures once we actually unpack. Right now it's about "halfway" there.

2. We moved the company. Yeah, that was fun. But we have our own warehouse now. It's awesome to be able to control what happens on a daily basis instead of relying on a third party.

3. Davis started a new high school. She is doing really well. She made friends quickly and even got asked on her first date.

So, with all this going on, why would I need more to do? Well, I might be nuts but I decided to start a little side project. Because of my hobby of collecting (which I can't seem to stop) I decided to actually turn it into a little side business. I have so many awesome vintage finds that need new homes. So, I decided to launch "Living A Vintage Life" as a real business. That way I can keep collecting without having a guilty conscience.

Our website is www.livingavintagelife.com
which plugs in to our Etsy shop.

We are on:
Instagram @livingavntglife
Pinterest @livingavintagelife
Twitter @livingavntglife

So, if you are interested in vintage items from the 50's-60's, I hope you'll check it out. I am adding new items daily as I dig stuff out.

I had my first booth at a vintage market in Seattle this weekend. I had a lot of fun and met a lot of people. It was my first foray out as a seller instead of a buyer.

The booth looked great.

 

 I had a few Christmas items as these are the hardest things for me to let go.

Lots of vintage fabrics and notions. After all, I am a crafter.

Of course, lots of handmade kitchen items. And that owl cookie jar? Adorable. It needs to be someone's Christmas gift!

Costume jewelry. Because the old stuff is so much prettier than what you can buy at the mall.

And of course I used our Epiphany tools to create vintage Pyrex patterned necklaces. Because, who doesn't love Pyrex.

This weekend (yes, Thanksgiving weekend) I am going to give the Christmas Bazaar in Portland a try. We will see how it goes. Wish me luck :) And don't forget...

 -Tricia

And That's a Wrap- CHA 2014!

Well, I guess it's time to dig myself out of my post show hole and explain what we've been up to the last week. We attended our biggest trade show of the year, the Craft and Hobby Association Show in Anaheim, CA. We are so lucky it is a local show for us. It makes things so much easier to transport but it also allows us to procrastinate until the last minute to get stuff done. We started set up on Thursday and the show ran Saturday through Tuesday so it has been a long week. Everyone who has ever done a trade show knows you need about three days to recover after you get home. That was especially true about this show- people were dropping like flies from what we dubbed the "CHA flu." Despite our best efforts we came home exhausted and fighting off the bug. This year we went with a mid century modern theme. It was easy because we borrowed most of the furniture from our living room. 

 It was comfy, cozy in our booth. This was the first show in thirteen years that we have ever had seating in our booth!

 

  The cabinets held up our canvas walls which Brian painted in the garage.

 The catalogs looked great. Thanks Brian!

  

 We had lots of displays to show off the projects with the new product!

We introduced two new shapes- the Chevron and the Butterfly! People loved them both!

Chevron Project

Butterfly Project

We had lots of fun seeing old friends and making new ones!

We were lucky to have Mandy Koeppen, one of my favorite people, design all of the project layouts in the booth. Her work is amazing! 

After four days we were ready to wrap it up! Tear down was pretty quick since we were in the back of the hall and didn't have to wait for a crate.

Then it was time to celebrate a successful show!

I haven't really recovered yet. My goal is to be back up and running at full steam on Monday! We have a lot of exciting things in the works that I can't wait to share! Have a fabulous weekend!

-Tricia

Christmas is Officially Over!

The last event we were waiting on was Davis' Christmas party with her best friends this Thursday. We had to keep all the decorations up in anticipation for the party. I threw the party together in a day because I was still so worn out from Christmas I just didn't have the energy to plan anything. So I cheated a bit and got Panera catering for the main dishes.

Brian made the labels for the "Melted Snowman" water. Thanks Pinterest!

Reindeer root beer because they needed more sugar!

I did make all of the desserts. Reindeer cookies and reindeer noses!

I used my aluminum tree as the centerpiece since I figured none of the kids have ever seen a color wheel before!

Even though it was eighty degrees outside I made homemade hot chocolate in the crock pot. Totally worth it- it was so good!

The kids had planned a gift exchange. My the time they all arrived there was three times the presents under the tree!

Dani opening her "gag gift" that they all found hilarious...except Dani, lol.

Of course, Davis gave Peter My Little Pony stuff.

Gino opening his DVD from Davis.

There were lots of laughs to go around!

Molly received a unicorn mask from Davis. She already had the horse mask!

Davis received her favorite movie on DVD Coraline.

These are the greatest kids. They all accept each other for their quirkiness and weirdness. I'm so glad Davis had friends that are so accepting through those awkward junior high years. I was so impressed with their gifts for each other. They really put a lot of thought into them. It was really amazing to see how much they care for each other.

The aftermath.

The party lasted from 1:00-11:00 when I finally had to kick the boys out. They were having so much fun playing games and talking. If I could have stayed awake I would have let them stay longer.

Davis is so blessed to have such great friends!

And with that our Christmas officially comes to an end and we can look forward to whatever 2014 brings for her!

Happy New Year!

-Tricia