No Pattern Required

By RetroRuth

Wow, I am actually kind of proud of myself!  I have something to show off this week for Vintage Crafty. Woo!

A finished set of Housewife Cupcake Toppers! 

I think this set is the prettiest one yet.

I especially like that I got to use some of my new paper that I bought with my mom.  I LOVE the colors on this set.

Ohh…pretty!

If you just gotta have some of these toppers for your very own, they are available here and here!  I must confess, they are perfect for a retro-themed bridal shower or birthday party. 

By RetroRuth

I found the cutest salt and pepper shakers while out thrifting recently, an adorable little mouse and his piece of cheese. I decided to name the mouse Jeffie.  He just kind of looks like a Jeffie, you know?

Jeffie and his cheese are a nested set of S&P shakers from Lefton.  And no, I did not recognize them.  Jeffie was considerate enough to come with a label on his little backside.

I was drawn to this set because of Jeffie’s enormous eyes, and the fact that he is kicking through a piece of cheese!

Ooooooo…three dimensional!

For now, Jeffie is hanging out with my Harlequin collection in the big china cabinet.  But I hope to find a shadowbox for him and his cheese soon!

What do you think, Sara??  Would Jeffie and George be good friends???

Tell us what great stuff you found this weekend, guys!  We would love to rejoice with you!

By RetroRuth

I was so pumped about the thrifting haul three weeks ago I brought it home, unpacked it, photographed it…and then promptly forgot about the photos. Sigh. So, here are some of my thrifting finds from a few weeks ago.  Also, I love our new camera!

A vintage Danish Modern stainless steel bowl.  I dug this out of the kitchen cabinet at a estate sale with killer, rock bottom prices.  This pretty thing was 50 cents!

I officially declare it the best chip bowl ever.

This shot looks like a set of nested bowls, but it is actually….

Measuring cups!!! From the same estate sale as the bowl, and barely used.

I fell in love with “Foley” on the handles, and couldn’t walk away from them.

And excellent set of aqua melamine trays.  Not sure how old these are, but I loved them anyway.

A bunch of scarves and hair-wraps snagged from various sales. Some silk, some rayon, and some made of pure awesomeness.

A few have signatures.

This entire basket of ornaments was 75 cents at another excellent estate sale. At first I thought it meant 75 cents each, but then a really nice lady working the sale pointed out the price was for the whole basket!

Once I saw this little reindeer deer inside, I was sold.

More vintage Christmas ornaments from the same sale. This box of striped lanterns was 25 cents.

Yeah, I would say that was a pretty good haul! 

How about you guys? Find anything awesome this weekend? Let us know!

Today’s post is from Renee at  Crash Pad Designs, a cool retro shop that offers some fantastic linens, textiles and homegoods. Renee was nice enough to answer some questions about her designs and her obsession with vintage, and send us some great pics.  Enjoy! 

Q: How did you get started designing? 

 

  Q: What designs/products do you offer?   

 

A: I design  earth friendly  retro textiles, and make lampshades,tea towels, dinner napkins, pillows and cocktail napkins. I will be adding wallpaper soon.  

 

 

 

 

Q:What was your inspiration for your line of retro textiles?

A: I was inspired by my obsession for everything mid century, finding my perfect house that came with my perfect(not really,it needs work) 1963 yellow & white Philco electric stove, but  mostly by my frustration with the cookie cutter options I found when I tried to decorate my new home. All I wanted was to fill my house with things that would make me smile. When I couldn’t find those things , I started making them myself.

Q: Which design is your favorite?

A: Right now homer is my favorite, but that always changes.
 

Q: Do you have any vintage or retro collections?

A: Of course!  I told you,  I’m obsessed.  My favorite and the biggest  is the one I share with my Beau,  it’s our colored plastic  radio collection. I also have a 50′s lamp collection and  lots of mid century barkcloth,oh and  rotary phones. 

 

Q: Have you always loved retro/vintage?  

A: Pretty much.  It all started in high school,  with vintage clothes.
 
Q: Describe your house right now. 

A: Cozy

 

Q: What is your favorite retro/vintage possession? What is the story behind how you came to own it?

 

A: I have to say it’s my Philco stove.  After searching for a house for two years and seeing over 150 houses I was discouraged and afraid that my dream house didn’t exist. I walked into a house I wasn’t very enthusiastic about and, as silly as it sounds my life changed. We had to enter through the kitchen,and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Yellow and gray plastic tiled walls, immaculate white metal cabinets, a yellow double sink and my stove. Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there,we made an offer that was not accepted and  had to walk away from my dream house. I had never been more dissappointed. Miracously seven months later my house was still waiting for me. I guess not everone was crazy about those yellow and gray plastic tiles. We made another offer and now it’s five years later. That first day in my kitchen, looking at that stove, I knew I was where I belonged. 

Check out Renee’s awesome stuff at Crash Pad Designs!

By RetroRuth

Wow!  My friend Kathryn and I recently stumbled on the most amazing estate sale.  Unfortunately, everything was priced a little too rich for us, but we sure did have a great time digging through boxes of stuff and taking pictures. A lot of pictures!  Check out the slideshow below of over 40 pictures of the house.  It had some great, colorful combos, and lots of really interesting pieces to drool over!

By RetroRuth

Welllll….it’s Monday again.  What the heck happened to the weekend??  I feel like Tom and I worked and worked and didn’t get a single thing done.  But I won’t prattle on about house repairs. Instead, I’ll give you guys some eye candy.

Behold!  Our “new” vintage vinyl sofa that Tom and I picked up recently while thrifting.  We were out originally trolling for some Tiki-themed furniture for our three season porch, but we found this bad boy for our basement instead.  Pretty sweet, isn’t it?  I love the shape of it.  It is very swank and is going to be great for the “50′s Martini” theme in the basement. 

It is also a futon, can you believe it?  It need some oil before it will fold all the way down, but it is supposed to actually fold flat.  This is good, because it is actually sprung like a mattress rather than having foam cushions.  I am pleased because then it will never get that smashed look some vintage sofas have.

The only down side is that it has that old, musty vinyl smell.  I am not sure we are going to be able to get rid of it, so I have put all my resources into figuring out a way to contain it or cover it up.

As you can see, it is already being thoroughly enjoyed by the cats.

We also picked up this excellent set of vintage vinyl rockers at the same sale.  I have to say, these are incredibly comfy and fun to watch TV in.  Not exactly the same style as the sofa, but I love ‘em just the same.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Did anyone else have some good finds over the weekend?  Let us know in the comments!

By RetroRuth

Well, I am excited!  We have started our summer renovating on the house.  Maybe renovating is too strong of a word.  We have started our “refreshing” of the house and Tom and I did a ton of stuff this weekend and had a lot of fun.  Mostly we dug in the dirt in our garden, hacking out years of overgrown plants and enormous bushes to make way for the new fruit vines and bushes Tom got me for my birthday.  But we still had some time to head out to Bay City to shop around for the house. 

This mint green toilet has a pink cap!!!  This cutie was already sold, but we also saw a small gray sink that I forgot to take a picture of.  I love these old colored fixtures.  I was trying to talk Tom into working a few of them into our garden, but he seems to think that would look trashy.  What do you guys think?

Anyway, so we were on the hunt yesterday for house furnishings, and came across a few possibilities for a kitchen table.

Gray cracked-ice formica.  We would have to get new chairs, but the table was in great condition.

A Hey-Wake table, but it was refinished poorly.

Or a giant tulip table!  The padding would have to be peeled off the chairs.

I really love the Formica one, but Tom wasn’t as excited.  He wants a reproduction table with boomerang Formica, so we will have to discuss.

Oh, and then there was this room!

Whoa.  Lots of choices here!  But now that we are picking things, I just can’t seem to find anything that is just perfect.

Oh, except for this:

Our new Sputnik fixture!!!  Holy god!!! 

I am so excited about this one.  We found it at Americana in Bay City and just love it.  It is the perfect size for our entryway. It has 24 arms, which I think is great!  Oh, and it does have all the bulbs, we just removed some to store it safely.

More, better pictures are coming soon!  What about you guys?  Find anything amazing this weekend! Let us know!

By RetroRuth

I am SO EXCITED! Tom and I have finally saved enough money to start work on some of our redecoration and small renovation projects. And if I am careful, I might even have some money leftover to buy some furniture.  Cross your fingers on that one.

One of our priorities is to turn this room:

Into a Tiki room!!! That is our three season porch, or Florida room, and it already is more than 50% Tiki-ed out if you ask me!  The panelled walls and dark beams are perfect!

So, here is a gallery I made in Flickr of some fabulous vintage Tiki I am going to use for my room inspiration.  How about you guys?  Got any great Tiki or Tiki decorating ideas to share?  Any big projects going on this summer? Leave a comment or email me!

By RetroRuth

After showing  you guys a few weeks of thrifting/antiquing, I am finally pulling out the stops and showing you all the pretty things I brought home!

Three adorable figurines to add to the collection.

A tiptoeing kitten.

A mischievous Mr. Fox.  The label on his tails says “Bone China” and “Japan”.

A bunny with a puffy tail!!! Here puff! Here puff!

Oh, and the tray is something I found for $1 at a rummage sale. Score.

An interesting looking twisted gold wire tree with pressed metal leaves.  This is so cool, and it was only 80 cents!

Gotta love a seagull wallhanging!

Metal butterfly and flower wall decorations. Love ‘em!

Did anyone else find anything good this weekend?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Oh, and Tom came in 10th in his 50 mile ultramarathon!  Isn’t that crazy??? I am so proud of him!

By RetroRuth

Hey guys, got a TON more pictures for you from thrifting.  Now, don’t droll too much on your keyboards.  I don’t want to be responsible for breaking anyone’s computer!

I loved this pattern!!

A Mink Poodle!

Ta-da!  Hope this eye candy made your day a bit better!