Estate Sale

Sunday's paper ran an ad for an estate sale of a woman who was considered a master quilter and baker.  Estate sale + sewing + someone who loves sweets?  Yes, please.

I just had to go check out this curious adventure!

Apparently the woman had 5 children and she and her husband built their house which was secluded among the trees on 26 acres.  Her sewing room was huge and included french doors that opened up onto a second floor deck with views of the thick woods and large creek in her backyard.  Sounds romantic but the house was a complete mess!  I believe she was a bit of a hoarder!  I expected to be the only crazy person who would travel way, way, out of the way to get a bargain, but the house was packed with lots of other crazy people just like me.  What fun Wade & I had scavenging for a bargain!

Here are a few pictures of the randomness that was this estate sale.

Wrapping paper, anyone?

Vintage sewing machines

There was an impressive sale on fabric. 

Yes, that is a tree trunk in the center of the room. 

I scored two bundles of striped knit fabric. 

Several yards of charcoal gray and red velvet - thinking about making some matching Christmas outfits out of the red for Mc and Wade. 

I fell in love with this childish flannel - it has a little boy dressed as an astronaut and his dog shooting a rocket. It looks vintage, but I have no idea. 

I spun the flannel into a blanket for Mc with soft minky fabric on the reverse side. Wade's matching blanket is in the works. 

If you are as curious about this estate sale as I was, and would like to see the pictures of the merchandise before it was picked over, click here.  You won't believe your eyes.

Wade's Baptism

Wade was baptized this past Sunday (or " 'tized" as our little friend Libba calls it!) and we had a great time entertaining family at our house afterwards. We have been in our house for a year now and it is finally starting to feel like us.  Did you know that in the past year we sold our first house, moved into our second, renovated it - gutted 2 bathrooms and added a third, got pregnant and had a baby. It's been a big year for us!

Here are some pictures of the baptism, the family, and a few shots of our house that my mom took while getting ready for a family brunch. It was a rare occasion that all of the toys were out of sight!

The family. Right before going to church.

One of my favorite photos of the day!  My mom caught this unsuspecting moment.  Doe Doe (my dad) was talking to McCord about how Wade was going to be baptized at church today and McCord would get to go in front of the church next to the baptismal fount and be next to him and what a special privilege that was to be the big brother.  I think he understands much more than we give him credit for.  

This is my mother-in-law, Gee Gee.  Wade is wearing the gown that she was baptized in as an infant.  Since then, Bo and his sister wore it during their baptisms as well as each of our children.  We are so thankful for Gee Gee for sharing this special tradition with our family.  In retrospect, I wish I would have gotten a picture of all of the people who have worn the gown.  It would have included: Gee Gee, Meredith (my sister in law), Bo, Emily, Kyle and Will (Meredith's kids) and McCord and Wade.  Amazing!

And here's the house.  I pulled out my collection of vintage children's prayer books and used them around the house as decorations for our brunch. 

We hope to renovate this kitchen one day - but we're slowly making peace with one another. 

The playroom - it takes a beating every day, got to love a hard working room!

And it would only be fitting to include Wade's prayer for the day, the same prayer McCord offered on his baptism.  

God in heaven, hear my prayer,

Keep me in thy loving care. 

Be my guide in all I do. 

Bless all those who love me too. 

Amen. 

Vintage School Desk

You'll never believe what my friend Lacey found at a yard sale!

Check out this amazing old school house desk she picked up for a mere $6!!!!  What a steal!  Somehow she knew that I was looking for one and snagged it for me.  Thank you Lacey!  I owe you big time!

McCord helped me scrub it down before he got distracted with playing with Rocky and the hose. 

And Wade supervised our work from the back porch.

Right now the desk is being used as a bedside table in the kids' room.  I plan to paint the metal portions of the desk and chair a high gloss fire engine red.  I've been inspired by these photos I found on pinterest.  Many, many thanks Lacey for sharing this great find with me!

The Big Boy Bed

One of the things on our "to do" list before Baby #2 comes is transition Mc to a big boy bed.  We switched him over last weekend, so we're one week in, and thankfully it's been pretty uneventful.  We talked a lot about his big boy bed and read books about sleeping in a big bed before making the switch and I think that may have helped.  Right now McCord is sleeping peacefully upstairs, and we are so relieved that he likes his big boy bed.  We fully expect for him to regress when the baby comes, but for now, we're enjoying that he's sleeping through the night.

This has been a fun family project that we've worked on for the past few months.  Here's the before shot - I found the headboard at the Habitat ReSale store for $10.  The wood was split on the top and needed some major TLC.  My dad stripped it down, sanded it and repaired the split.

You can see that it has a removable insert.  As you know, I've got a thing for upholstered headboards (like this and this), so I was excited about finding this particular headboard at such a good price.  I stained it blue and added 2" foam wrapped in batting to the insert.  Then I used a staple gun to secure the linen fabric after adding an applique monogram for McCord's initials.  The applique fabric is the same used on the roman blinds I made for the room.  I hope to make some pillows out of this fabric too.

I found a simple white bed skirt and bed rails when I was out thrifting.  My dad assembled the whole thing (with McCord's help of course) last weekend.  

Here's a quick shot of the vintage quilt that's presently on his bed - it was given to me by a good family friend who was like a grandmother to me.  I think the fabrics used are from some of her clothes she wore growing up. The teddy bear was my dad's when he was young and can you see the embroidered pillow case?  That was a gift from my sister for Mc's first birthday.  

And Mc has found that his big boy bed is the perfect place to practice using his drill.

Girls Weekend + McCord

Last weekend my mom, sister, and I had a wonderful time hanging out at the farmhouse where my mom grew up, and McCord loved playing with his cousin Calla who is about his age.  My mom has been renovating the house for the past few years and decorating it with sentimental items from her childhood. Thought I'd share some photos of the interior of the house - the vintage vignettes are so thoughtful and sentimental.  The decor makes it so warm and welcoming.

Memorabilia under the coffee table glass

We worked on this Valentine's craft



...and we made these heart-shaped crayons for McCord and his cousins



And we managed to find some time to do some thrifting.  It was a great weekend!