Showing posts with label Atlanta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atlanta. Show all posts

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Dollhouse Makeover

My mom's had this dollhouse in her garage, for I dunno, a few years maybe? Maybe just a year or so. She bought it for $10 at a yard sale. The previous tenants were mice. We know because it was filled with plenty of mice poop when she bought it (gross, I know!), but my mom can't resist a bargain and she could see its potential. This last visit, I said to her, lets work on the dollhouse while I'm here. Mom thought that'd be fun too, so she immediately put on some rubber gloves and got to scrubbing. I let her do the dirty work. GROSS, I tell ya! First she evicted the mice and all their dirty furniture. 
After a thorough scrub in bleach solution and dry in the sun, we painted the inside a cream color.
We covered the living room wall in mismatched vintage floral wallpapers. The rug is linen. We bought it at an antique mall in a pile of napkins and hankies. Below more of the interior was coming along.
We found some cute kitchen furniture at Hobby Lobby. They didn't have much that we liked, but this table and chair set was adorable. We used an embroidered linen for the rug here. Other than the living room wall, all the other walls so far are covered in scrapbook papers that we got from Hobby Lobby. 
For the bedroom, we did a redish-grey-brown toile print. And another embroidered linen napkin for the rug.
I love the bathroom. These pictures aren't the best, but this paper is one of my favorites that we used. It's a navy paisley sort of print. And we found the porcelain toilet and sink at an antique mall during my visit, both for $4. We still need to make curtains for most rooms. And I'd like a claw foot tub, though the bathroom is itsy bitsy. 
We painted the outside charcoal grey (same color as the outside of my mom's house) with cream trim. I took this picture before the outside was finished, but it does look much better now. I think we'll cover the roof in moss or bark chips. 
For the bedroom, my mom spent a few hours making a custom bedskirt. She did it all by hand. She's going to make pillows and a cover too, but here's the bed so far. We also made a headboard out of twigs. The mirror above the bed came from Hobby Lobby.
We turned one room into a library (a man cave since the rest of the house is turning out a bit frilly, not that the library is just for the man of the house, but we did want a masculine sort of room too). We covered the walls in book pages from an old worn Shakespeare book. I know it's terrible to tear up a book, but it will likely have more eyes on it here than in its original state.
And the kitchen. We have cake and that's about it for now. But does one need more than cake? We made some little curtains from a hankie. And we re-used the old kitchen appliances until we get some new ones (we bleach soaked those appliances). 
We need more furniture and have quite a ways to go on some of the rooms. Before I left we did find some adorable vintage nursery dollhouse furniture, and the nursery is coming along too. My mom says she'll wait till I get back in November to work on this some more. It was soooo much fun working on it with my mom, and I can't wait to find more furniture and get back to it when I visit again. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Georgia Junkin'

One thing I wanted to do on my trip back home was go junkin' with my mom in the sticks. We thought about driving to Opelika, AL since my mom knows of some junk stops along the way and some in Opelika, but she had also heard that Monroe, GA was a great place for junkin'. A quick Google search led to Sassytrash, a cute blog where we saw some pictures of the great antique malls in Monroe. Monroe isn't exactly the sticks, but the photos were all we needed to see to make a decision. And off to Monroe we went! Our first stop was The Cotton Depot. It's a great antique mall, with booths that are very nicely merchandised and with prices on everything. I swear I did not look at one thing that didn't have a price. And the grounds outside are so pretty too, with beautiful plants and garden furniture. The prices were very reasonable too--downright cheap compared to London prices! Here's a peek into The Cotton Depot, our favorite junk spot in Monroe. 
So many beautiful linens here!

A lot of creative walls in the booths, like using old doors to hang pictures. 
Cute bike up high on a table with an umbrella lamp. 
 A lot of creative ways to display merchandise.
 Old tins and trays. I just love old tins and trays all mixed up.
 More displays on doors.
 Lots of cute vintage toys and dolls. Looks like Raggedy Ann got pooped from all that ironing. But still happy.
 My mom and I loved this rattan sofa, and I liked the globe too.
 Lots of great, old chairs. I wanted these two to bring home.
 Lots of great, chippy painted furniture too.
 I loved this plant stand.
And this wee iron bed. It's hard to tell the size, but this bed was child sized and thought it would be great on a porch.
 I saw so many great quilts, also at very reasonable prices.
 And more chippy furniture. This table was pink. Cute.
We were buzzing with excitement when we left to hunt for more junk. We went to three other pretty good places before stopping at the Monroe Cotton Mills Antiques. This antique mall is HUGE with a mix of everything. In general it's not as cute or well merchandised as the Cotton Depot, but there are still lots of treasures to be found here. I'm going to let these last pictures speak for themselves because my sister is here and we gotta go take all these kids someplace before we go nutso!! But Monroe is definitely great for antiques and junk, and if you get hungry, head to The Butcher Block for some country cookin'. Enjoy your junk eye candy! 
Head to Sassytrash to see some wider shots. 

Monday, August 1, 2011

Historic Roswell Antique Mall

Last weekend my mom and I went to Roswell, GA, which is the town I grew up in. I wanted to go back and see our old house and just see how things looked. Roswell is quite a ways north of where my mom currently lives, so we haven't been back in a long time. It was nice to see the old house but a little strange too. It wasn't the emotional experience I was expecting, which was a good thing because we had some fun things planned for afterwards like hitting the antique mall. The Historic Roswell Antique Mall is right around the corner from our old house, and it was just as fun to browse around as the old days. They had a great selection of linens and fabrics this visit. And as usual, I'm always drawn to red and green. I don't know why really, but those are two of my favorite colors that always catch my eye, like the cabinet above. I loved it.
And green Majolica plates. I didn't used to like Majolica, but I love it now. I'd like to have a set of mis-matched green Majolica. 
Fabric, fabric, fabric! Most of this was barkcloth. Some really great prints here. 
And linens! Most of these were embroidered pillowcases and napkins. 
And tablecloths. I like these 50's and 60's prints as tablecloths or for making things, girl's dresses, aprons, etc. 
I'd love to have this rack for towels in our bathroom. Our bathroom is too tiny though. But one day I'd like one like this for towels. 
I'd also love one of these industrial racks one day. I think it would be great for towels too, or magazines. It would be good for so many things really, pots and pans in a kitchen, plants, books...
Quilts. I love old quilts. 
And some cute toys and kid's furniture. This antique mall is really big and they had so much great stuff, but that's just a little bit of what caught my eye. More junkin' with mom later this week....

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Fireside Chat


Oh my, time sure does fly when you're having fun. And I'm home in Atlanta, so time is whizzing by! I'm sorry not to be posting regularly. After dinner, clean up, bath time, reading... I'm tuckered out. But here's a bit of what I've been up to down south, in the ATL. Right now, kicking back fireside at my mom's, sipping hot cocoa.
Last week we had a great Thanksgiving at the hubber's mom's house. The leaves above have all made their way to the ground, but when we first arrived, the leaves were so bright and fiery. 
We re-visited a few of our favorite places. Star Provisions is where lots of gourmet goodies live in Atlanta, and where we got our Thanksgiving turkey. I bought one of their smores cupcakes. It was quite tasty. 
I took a few morning walks with Lois. 
I've spent a lot of time with my family, including these three adorable monkey's (my nephew's, my sister's kids). It's practically impossible to get three boys 5 and under to look at the camera and smile--at the same time. I must have taken at least 50 pictures just in this position, with candycane props. Still, this was the best I could do. I don't know how family photographers do it. 
Speaking of photographers, I got to spend some time with my top favorite photographer, Greg Miller. He's the real deal. 
I've seen a lot of pretty Atlanta days and nights. Even the bad weather is good weather to me just because I'm here.
We've had fun visiting with friends big and small. 
And I've been trying to get lots of sleep, not very successfully though, because I'm too excited to be here! But I should try to sleep now. Nighty-night. Just realized I have all these big pictures of myself in one post! In case you weren't sure what I looked like, well, there you have it. ME.