around

Hello! I am still around. Christmas was pretty chill around here. Not that I minded at all. Ben was feeling pretty lousy so we ended up staying in town. We ended up grilling French Lamp chops with fingerling potatoes, drinking hot toddies, and opening gifts Christmas night. It was nice having it be just us two.

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I received some very nice gifts from Ben: Short Ilse Jacobsen boots (!), A moon in my room, a necklace made from horse hair (thanks to Shana), a new pillow, and a Learn To Speak French kit (which I plan on listening to when I drive to and from work).

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The sun has been coming out these last few days and I couldn't resist taking some photos of the house in the nice light. One is of a new lamp I recently purchased at an antique shop. I love the green enamel on it.

There's so much I still want to change and re-do around the house. I am trying not become overwhelmed by it all. I still need to finish Ben's drawing room and now I want to change up the living room. My plan is to take my time and thrift for most of it. Change it slowly as long as my patience doesn't run out. Crossing fingers.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and I look forward to catching up on your comments and blogs this weekend. Sorry I have been so hit and miss.

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Oh- the second picture is from 1914. It's a handmade frame filled with different varieties of seeds. On the back are all the names with a signature and date. It looks really good against a window with the light coming through. I found it for $2 at an estate sale.

guest room + Happy Friday

We have lots of people coming in town for our sailboat party* this weekend, so I've been trying to get the guest room finished. I would say I am pretty close and I'm at least pleased enough to let people stay in it without cringing. Besides a few things (bed + curtains + wood art) I've found all the decor in the room through either estate sales or thrift stores. The most money I dropped was on the rug ($80) which was a total steal in my opinion. The mid-century white table won't be in there permanently, but for now I need it for Hello Victory. I would also like to hang something (maybe Bull horns**) over the bed. TBD.
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*This weekend is going to be OUT OF CONTROL fun. Some of my favorite people in the world are coming up for our first annual Sailboat Picnic/BBQ. On Sunday we are throwing a little shindig down on the sailboats, where we will be taking people out for rides, grillings, enjoying the sun (fingers crossed), and drinking fun beverages. THEN, thanks to some super awesome friends of ours, Leslie is debuting her slide show at our indie movie theater. She has been collecting photographs of all us good friends for the past 6 years and it will be shown on the BIG screen! Should be an amazing time. If you are in Duluth stop by the marina from 6-9! Have a great weekend!

**totally unrelated and the definition of random, but my great grandfather was killed by a bull. no joke.

new glasses.

While thrifting with Helen a couple weeks ago I found these drinking glasses. They're covered in this really cool woven fabric kind of like a cozy. I bought all six for only $10! Major score. I thought they looked pretty cool with this wood cooler I am selling in the shop.

suet cages

A few people have contacted me in regards to the metal cage that has appeared in some of my Etsy photo's. I came across it a few estate sales ago and didn't know what it was but the fact that it looked industrial and was a perfect place for my air plants was all I needed for it to be mine. A few days later I was mowing my mom's lawn and I saw one of these cages hanging in her neighbors tree. It's a suet bird feeder! Although I won't be selling this one, if you want one of your own I would just check your local hardware store (I also saw a bunch online).

I'm still deciding on what to do with this one, but I think I might hang it near a window or in the center of our two kitchen windows. TBD.
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Also-The air plants in the pictures came from this Etsy shop

rats!

My heart broke a little when I saw these arrows had already sold.

I really wish I saved some of the arrows I found last year instead of selling them all.

If you guys ever see any cool vintage arrow decor let me know! I'm kind of on a kick for them right now.

for keeps

I go thrifting quite a lot for Hello Victory, and though most of the time (99%) I sell pretty much everything I find, there are instances when I can't let some things go. Case and point: today. I spent a few hours hitting up some local thrift stores and I found a few things that I am not willing to let go (at least not yet). adorable white brush Christmas tree with built in lights AND faux tree stump

{$10}
gold ceramic deer
{$1 } arabia finland infamous heart bowl
{65 cents!!} red high waisted skirt
{$3}
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total spent: $14.65

h.o.m.e

My friend Grace is moving into a new house soon. She was asking me for ideas, so I went through all my bookmarked favorites and began e-mailing her sites I thought she might like. Of course while doing this I started bookmarking even more stuff I liked. I wish I could wake up one day and find all these things in my home.... {Couch above from Pinch via Bliss. Cylinder Lamp here}

{Mongoose Tea Towel}

{Everybody needs a pretty decanter}

{Simple modern pot}

{Gold knobs for jewelry or stringing xmas lights}

home.

{bedroom}
{bathroom}

Over the weekend I decided to re-arrange the house a bit. I love doing this because I get sick of things really easily. I started in the bedroom where I removed my homemade plant/bookstand (made out of old asparagus crates) and all the empty wood frames from the wall. I hung my biology chart on the wall in their place and decided to keep the space more open by putting just a chair and old fruit crate as a small side table. I like this new look much better. The room looks a lot bigger and has a little more color to it which I find cheerful. I also got around to hanging some art I had laying around and finally put up my ceramic skull in the bathroom. I think I want to get some more taxidermy to hang in the bathroom because who wouldn't want dead animal keeping watch over your bowel movements? Hehe.
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On another note: I am starting to feel sick (again). I woke up with a pounding headache and I am beginning to get that weird sensation you feel when getting ill....
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It's only been 2 days since I started my no alcohol, no eating out, no shopping kick for the month. I realize that isn't long, but I already came across a few things I really want. Bad. Like those fingerless gloves below, booties I have been looking for, and a sequined jacket that I finally like. Not to mention Ben smugly drinks a beer in front of me every night. UUggggh. Only 28 days to go....

{I love this idea! If I only I had more wall space in my kitchen....Elisabeth Dunker from Studio Violet has one the cutest homes I've seen. Check out more here.}
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Speaking of home. This summer I have not done a lot of work on ours.
We're in the process of fixing our front porch (sanding, painting, leveling) and this winter we plan on tackling our depressing basement where we spend a lot of time as Ben's office and my packaging room is down there. I would also like to get our dining room decorated more, and think about wallpapering a wall or two...That's one nice thing about Duluth's winters. You have plenty of time to spend indoors working on your house!

I can't believe its August already! This month is going to be crazy busy for us. We have 2 cabins to visit, a trip to the BWCA planned, our 4 year wedding anniversary, off to Vegas for a clothing show, and a day after that I fly to Hawaii for 8 days.... So basically, starting next week I'll be gone A LOT. I can't complain too much though. Its all pretty fun stuff!

Before summer is completely over I do have a list I'm trying to check off:

1.) hike the split rock loop 2.) kayak the Brule River
3.) pack a picnic 4.) beat Ben in Bocce
5.) swim in the Lake 6.) go fishing 7.) canoe the north shore coastline

Do you have end-of-summer plans?