Party Time

Some of my recent thrifting finds...I seem to be drawn to all things "party" lately.
I love the faded paper doilies the most. So sweet and delicate.

A Love Letter

Dear Johnnie Boden,

Thank you for making clothing that is truly inspirational.

Even though I cannot afford even the smallest stitch of anything from you, I remain a loyal and devoted fan. I promise that if my ship - or even my paddle boat - ever comes in, I will spend lots of pretty shinny pennies at your shop.


For now I can only draw inspiration and hope. Hope for the gal like me who likes a little whimsy in her grown-up clothing.


The kind of gal that appreciates color and texture.


The kind of gal who places value on both covering the majority of her nakedness and not looking like a prude.


The kind of gal who does not enjoy wearing things that make her look pregnant when she is not, or things that make her look boring when she is not.


A gal like me who needs to be able to look stylish and wrestle polar bears in the same day, in the same outfit.



Also, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your deep understanding that a denim skirt is a timeless & never to be under estimated wardrobe essential. Your continued endorsement means more than you can know.

Thank you for inspiring me for the coming season when so many others have failed.
I will do my best to honor your vision, while patching together my best attempt to re-create your look from my existing items, thrift store finds and clearance bargains.
I promise to give all the credit to you for any compliment I may receive and will always remember to spread the word of your loveliness far and wide.

Your loyal and devoted window shopper,
Jerusalem Greer

The Life of a Couch...and a new chair

This is a story about a couch. Our couch.
We bought our couch 11 years ago. It was (is)a Broyhill, a good solid brand, and we got it at a good price. I think. I honestly don't remember the exact amount, but I remember being happy to have found it and thinking that it was a good deal.
What I really, really wanted was a red couch but they were hard to find in Central Arkansas in 1997, and if you did find one it had to be custom ordered and cost a pretty penny. So we went with the Clearance Brown version instead. The shape and overall style was exactly what I had been looking for and I loved the piping and it was comfy. What more could I want?

Phase 1: Brown Couch
This is our little brown couch in our itty bitty Broadmoor house... Oh I loved those green walls!

Phase 2: Patchwork Style
By the time we moved to this house a lot of living had been done on that brown couch. Lots of hippie brother sleep-overs and baby spit-up sessions and soy sauce explosions. The little couch that could needed a make-over. So my magical momma came to the rescue and recovered my couch in a "patchwork" style for me as a birthday gift.

We detached the previously attached back cushions so that I could flip them from the red side to the back side (which was a very similar brown to the original couch.) In theory this would have helped the poor cushions keep their shape better. But alas I loved the red too much and we rarely flipped them and they got all squished and misshapen and just turned blah.

Phase 3: Whitewashed
2 Easters ago my sweet Maw gave me this great white fitted slipcover. She had found it on sale at Big Lots and snatched it up. I had been wanting a white - true white - slipcover for ages, but they are impossible to find. Lots of "linen" and "natural" and "ivory" out there, but not a lot of white. So when I saw this sitting on her dining room table last summer I squealed with delight and may Maw knew instantly then that she would have to give it up. Happily she did and my dream of having a white couch in the spring and summer months finally come true... But those pesky back cushions were still wearing out and getting squished further and further down...

Phase 4: Three is a Magic Number
Enter the Euro Pillow treatment. At some point this past year - I think it was in the middle of a late night banner stringing session - I had the brain storm that if we took off the 2 long back cushions and replaced them with 3 Euro Pillows that they would be easier to fluff and clean and it would be a whole new look for not a lot of cash...

So for 6 months I have planned to design/make/ask my mother to make some back Euro Shams for me. But I could never decided on material or style and frankly I have just been to busy to worry about the pillows... That is until we went to Memphis and I had a good nights sleep and another brainstorm design moment. What if I simply bought some Euro Shams and insets instead of making them? What if I looked at the Pottery Barn Outlet (our fav Memphis shoppin' stop) and just took a gander what they had to offer? What could it hurt? I had a gift card on hand after all...


I could not believe my luck when I spotted these 26" Quilted Brushed Twill Euro Shams from Williams Sonoma Home on sale for 5.99 each. I am pretty sure I did a happy dance right in the aisle. I am pretty sure that I got some weird looks, but who cares? $5.99 a piece - I couldn't believe my eyes.
They had white shams but I decided to be a tad more practical than I am usually inclined to be about such things and got the light khaki color instead, thinking that I could use the khaki color with both the white slipcover in the summer & the red patchwork look in the winter.



So hear is my couch, newly dressed with the 3 square euros, ready to finish out the summer in style...

Oh and here is the chair I got for 6.99 at a thrift shop and covered with a sage green, Ebay purchased slipcover. I also used another one of my new found Euro's as the back cushion on the chair, just like on the couch...I thought this would help pull the 2 pieces together and add more originality to the chair.

This is a 2 piece slipcover so the seat has it's own cover, which I love.

I adore slipcovers and believe you just can't take no for an answer when working with them. It is the only way to win. Also I adore the cotton look, and I like the slightly rumpled look, so none of that bothers me... It's like little girls in sundresse's to me. A little wrinkle adds to the charm... I have a wingback chair that better watch out. I have my eye on a slipcover for it as I type...

So there you have it. The life of my couch and an introduction to my new comfy chair. If you want to come test them out feel free - I would love to share a cup of coffee and chat for a while!

the post I had to rename because someone threatened to sue me

@ Vintage Indie!



My latest article for Vintage Indie is up &  it is all about Flea Market Fun!



Stop by and see more pics of some of my favorite Flea Market stops and read a few of my Flea Market Buying and Selling tips, and share some of your own...


Hope to see you there!

4!

Today Miles and his pal Paxson celebrated their 4th Birthdays with a joint parties.
They were born only 2 days a part and Paxon's mom Amy is one of my nearest and dearest friends. After a few years of running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to coordinate birthday party days and times and guest list we finally said to heck with it all and began having joint parties. Even though the joint parties are loud and crazy and full of chaos it is well worth it for our sakes and theirs. It is cute because they don't seem to mind at all, and they don't even seem to feel like they are splitting or really even sharing, they are still able to see it as their own party. Whether they are opening presents or blowing out candles they each think it is all about them, which is so great. Oh to have the self-confidence of a 4 year old! They have no self-image problems at all. Too cute.

This years theme (loosely) was Fishing and it was Amy's turn to host, so off to Conway we went to party...


We had cute nautical paper goods.


We had water activities, including a huge homemade Slip-n-Slide made (and tested) by Darrell, Pax's dad.


We had a Sandcastle cake that had been "ruined" by the tide coming in and bringing with it a ton of little fishies...
(like my clever solution to a cake that fell a part?)


We had worm topped cupcakes, the perfect bait for little children...


and we had Tackle Box Favor Packs for our guest tied up with string.


And, now we have a 4 year old. I can't believe it. I am a lucky Momma indeed.
Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Pillow Love

My little vintage pillow collection is growing. Last week I found the 2 middle pillows (baby size) @ an Estate Sale with Jeanetta.
Times like this, it comes in handy that I love lots of things that other people seem to look right past.
How could anyone not love these vintage feather pillows with the floral pillow ticking fabric?
It is a mystery I will never understand, but for which I will always be grateful for...

From the Archives

My "Donna Reed" Kitchen Circa 1999 @ our 1st House (a 1950's little ranch-ish home that looked a like space ship on the outside) on Broadmoor...
Tiny little house, tinnier kitchen. We finally got it painted this great aqua and then we moved...



We loved that kitchen, tiny as it was. The nice thing is that it had a window and it was open on either side so though it was small you never felt closed in...

The aqua color is now my bathroom color & we recreated the window-shelf idea at this house, only the window here is big enough that the shelves don't cover my tea-towel curtains. Hurray!

Oh happy times & good memories in that house...
Can't believe we have been at this one for 5 years. Crazy.

A Staycation is all the rage...

What to do when you don't have enough time or money to go on VACATION?

Why, you have a STAYCATION of course, and do all the things in and within 3 hours driving distance of your hometown that you never do...





@ the new City Park


@ the Pea Ridge Civil War Museum & Park



@ the Clinton Library


(I think my exact instructions before taking this pic were - "look presidential")



In Memphis


@ the new Rock-N-Soul Museum

@ the Memphis Children's Museum...



Now Staycation is over and the Boys have moved on and left for "Camp Meme" @ my parents home...
This gives me some (much needed, VERY appreciated) time to get a bunch of word done, some house projects finished and a jump on the back-to-back birthday weekends we have coming up...

Our summer started out slow and easy, but it is going to go out with a bang... We still have 2 birthdays, 1 VBS, 1 Summer Camp and 1 Trip to Maw's house before it is all said and done and school is here...

I better get busy!