For the love of reading

I don't normally do linky posts. I love bloggers who do though- they give me a chance to find little secret gardens on the internet that I normally would never have stumbled upon.  I don't often share them because I believe that most people will have already seen the coolest things before they stumble on this little corner of the internets, but this link I just had to share.

Underground New York Public Library

Click and enjoy. 

Then grab a book.

Cheers!

ONE WEEK UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!!!

Hey there gals and ghouls, the real countdown begins! One week from today is Halloween! Saturday I am helping with the nerd-fest known as the Harry Potter themed bday/Halloween party and as such I am going to be sharing Harry Potter posts all week.

Here is a little something to get you warmed up. Which house are you?

Little House in the Big Woods

These are just a few shots of the inside of the little cabin at the local history center. This summer they had a reading program where kids (and their parents) could sign up to hear Laura Ingalls Wilder books being read by volunteers. I was one of those volunteers. I dressed up in my little pioneer dress and apron that I made myself and would sit in a rocking chair and read to youngsters. This is the last week it is happening this summer. After this is over I don't know what else I will be doing at the history center but I plan on continuing to volunteer my time out there.

Book Sale!

Sometimes things just work out. I had to go to the library to return a book/ pick up another book that was ready for me when I notice that there is a sign pointing towards the library auditorium- "Book Sale". Heck yes! They do these book sales every once in awhile and since all the books are either old library books they are getting rid of or donations all they charge is a 'donation'. My donation was rather small since I wasn't ready for the sale. I was almost late to work but I walked away with a few gems.

1. How to Write Letters for all Occasions (1947)
2. Vanity Fair (1960)
3. Hip Hoptionary - how could I say no to that?! (2002)
4. Treasure Island/Captains Courageous (1948)
5. The Victor Book of the Opera (1938)

Epic win.  This week is looking up.

Church Rummage sale

I am convinced that Church rummage sales are the way to go. There is usually a good amount of stuff gathered inside warm buildings and the prices are better than many thrift stores. (Why are thrift stores getting so expensive?)

I went to one in town and walked away with a couple fun things.

 I have a thing for sewing books. "The Vogue Sewing Book" and "The Dressmaking Book" had to be added to my collection. Then there was this funny little box. I figured out it was an ice bucket and for 75 cents I feel it is quite the steal.

 There are six funny little cartoons on the outside of the ice bucket.

 This is my favorite- "no more for me I wasn't even invited".

I did a little digging into who did the cartoons. Each picture is signed with a little Wm Box. After a bit of time on google (how did we live before the internet?) I found this wikipedia article on Studio cards. Apparently Box started off in the card business in the 1950's when humorous cards of this sort were not very common. I didn't find any like this on etsy vintage or ebay but I did find a newspaper ad for the ice bucket! The paper is from Dec. 7th 1959. Now that is cool!

You think you are random?

Here are my shopping buys of the day:

 That's right. In this picture you see two vintage books, a couple of mini Christmas loaf pans, AND a leopard print skirt. 3 stores, 3 very different types of purchases. I adore the skirt. I have been wanting a skirt like this for awhile and this one was on sale!

 At a thrift store I found this gorgeous 1946 "A Treasury of Grand Opera". It is a soft cover book with tons of music inside. A little beat up but for some reason I couldn't pass it up.

 Also at the thrift store I found this cool "Cash" book. It is an old ledger with nothing written in it! I might start using it to 'keep the books' for the RubyMarilyn etsy shop. I love that it says "U.S. Government Printing Office Property No. 50185". I wonder how it found it's way to me?

The the craft store got me. I went on the pretense that I wanted to get Halloween stuff on sale. Well that didn't happen. Instead I got sucked into the wonder that is Christmas stuff. It was actually fairly impressive that I only walked away with 10 of these little cuties (5 of each design). Oven-proof, Christmasy, and only $1 each? How could I resist. So cute. I was really tempted by all the gingerbread stuff though. For some reason that is going to be my Achilles heel this holiday baking season. Gingerbread. I wants it. I wants it now!

Any other fun purchases out there lately?

Bookshelf Love: Part 2

Here we go. After some technical difficulties with the internets we are back in business and ready to rock! And now for the much anticipated (at least for me) follow up to my recent bookshelf love.

In July I quit my job and though I am much happier (even being unemployed) I did have to make some sacrifices including giving into the dreaded adult-child-moving-home syndrome. Well damn if I am not going to make the best of it. First things first- redecorate the room. I left my childhood room in a state of disarray. Actually it looked more like Armageddon. I come from a long line of pack rats who know the true value of that bauble you picked up for me last minute on your way back from Hawaii. I keep everything!

Here is a glimpse of the madness of my room:

Madness I tell you. So after going through EVERYTHING I had huge piles of stuff. The mounds consisted of garbage, things to be donated, things to put in storage, things to put in the 'craft room' (until THAT gets cleaned), and then everything that was going to stay in the room.

Though I loved the shade of blue my walls were the Snow White border wasn't really working with my 20 something style.

Before my Snow White phase the walls were baby pink with unicorns and castles adorning the wallpaper. Gag. It took me a LONG time to get back to liking the color pink. Cute when I was five though.

So now no more wallpaper. The walls got a fresh coat of 'classic silver' paint and I decided to get rid of my 3 or 4 random bookshelves and to make some built in shelves.

This is the 'original' shelf that is the length of the wall and had been there since we moved into the house. Being over-ambitious as usual I thought it would be a breeze to continue the shelves down the wall. After a couple of minor breakdowns and one large one I got the shelves I always dreamed of...and I did it all myself! (With a little help from my little sister who helped in painting the shelves in the garage and hauling them up to my room. Thanks sis!)

Shelves!

And finally my books! (and shoes)

Lets take a look at that before and after one more time.

Bookshelf Love

I am in love with bookshelves.

I may have mentioned that I am moving back home. Lame? Yes. Cheaper? Hells yes. Though this is not a perfect situation I am determined to make the best of it, including building a wall of shelves in my room. How hard is this? Apparently it is very hard for me to do. I already have one long 'built in' bookshelf that I am planning on continuing down the entire wall but it is such an odd length. 10' + 3 and 3/4". Lamesauce. If I buy 10' boards it will be short and look weird but if I go for the 'correct' length then I will be spending more monies and I will be creating a lot of waste by cutting off the bits I don't need. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it goes. Until then I looked to flickr for some inspiration.

Overload

U1315234INP
Originally uploaded by Ruben Brown

Well I am still coming down off of a whirlwind couple of weeks.

I got to celebrate my birthday for not one day but an entire gorgeous weekend filled with great music (A Night in the Box at Lee's Liquor Lounge), amazing friends ( I love you all), and soooo much good food!

On Saturday my mother gave me a plethora of books that I cannot wait to read from cover to cover. She also took me shopping so I could pick out my very own trench coat for my upcoming trip to Ireland. (I have this vision of me in my long trench running around the Irish country side in my rainboots. )

Sunday I was lucky enough to head to St. Paul with one of my bestest friends in the world to pick up her wedding dress. It is so lovely, so her. I am in two weddings this summer and it has made me obsessed with all things bridal. My other bride Sarah had a cake testing THIS weekend that I was lucky enough to get invited to. Who would say no to cake testing? Methinks I will have to start a series of wedding related posts.

Today I finally had time to catch up on reading all of my favorite blogs and I am just so inspired and excited and ready to tackle 20 projects at once! I might be in a bit of sensory overload and it might take me a few days to collect myself but nevertheless I will harness this new energy. New projects include hat making, wedding fascinator making, yarnbombing, and hopefully trying some new recipes (I WILL master macarons!)

daily flickr- Pin Cushion Queen

Pin Cushion Queen
Originally uploaded by FiberArtsy

FiberArtsy has created this fantastic work of stitchery! The image is from Tim Burton's book 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy'. I have always thought that his sketches would translate well to stitches and here is the living proof. And isn't it great that she is the pincushion queen? I mean how much more stitcherific can you get than that? I also think the pincushion queen would make a really cool/creepy Halloween costume. Part voodoo doll/part crafty-creepy this may have to be added to my list for possible costumes this year.

Too early to make a list of Halloween costumes you say? HA. Never too early for Halloween costumes.

VINTAGE HAIRSTYLING!

'Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Modern Techniques' is hands down my new favorite book. Thanks SO MUCH to Lauren for this FANTASTIC BOOK! Be sure to pick up the book and check out her super sweet blog where she posts on all things vintage beauty related.