The Wall Collage - Finally

We moved into this house a couple of months ago, sight unseen. Long story, but we had been on the road for a year. My best friend Juliana checked it out for us. The only photo we saw of it was a tiny picture of the kitchen in the corner. Anyhow, she loved it and I trust her so we signed a lease.  Now we're here and we love our place.

This house is an old house that has a big add on room in the back. The add on room is about 16 x 24 feet, carpeted, has recessed lighting, and loooooongg flat walls. Kind of feels like a basement .  When we first moved in there was also HEAVY gold and red drapery which as soon as the landlord left I took down and put in storage. Really helped lighten the room.

 For the next couple of weeks we did alot of sitting in the room, some lying on the floor and alot of pondering on how we were going to use the space.   Well I'll keep this short, but we've made it our dining room/living room. Most of it has been done for a while except this darn wall collage that I wanted to put up.  I thought wall collages were easy: buy some pictures and hang them. I was sooooo wrong. It's been months of buying pictures, changing my mind.. blah, blah, blah. I was making my husband nuts. He said he wouldn't patch the holes in the wall until I was done with the collage. He thought it would motivate me, but we've just had an ugly wall for months...

Anyhow the other night I was at Goodwill "Anthropolotiquing" and I found all of these gold frames. 9 of them. I thought they cost too much so I didn't buy them. Got home,regretted not buying them, thought about them all night. Woke up the next morning still thinking about them. Finally I decided to go back and see if they would take a lower price. They did! I didn't realize you could bargain at Goodwill, glad I tried! Got 6 of them for $60 (Hey, I'm on a budget!)

That night my husband painted the frames white for me.  I went and pulled out all of the pictures I had been collecting.  Still wasn't working. The next day I hit up some garage sales and found a couple odds and ends. My friend Juliana talked me into buying this small mirror that I almost put down and it ended up being the magic piece to fit it all together!

Mixed the mirrors in with vintage black and white etchings and some vintage prints. On a side note, if you ever need to make a dining room work in a carpeted room, USE and OUTDOOR rug. They are way cheaper and the chairs slide on it super easy! 

See the gold mirror my friend talked me into? It totally makes it all work, in my opinion. Anthropolotiquing is best done with a buddy! I still want to tweak them a bit, but my husband is refusing.

That bronze wall hanging was an estate sale find from the weekend. Needs to be cleaned up, but I love it! 

Here's how we've structured our Living Room/ Dining Room. Still want to add ceiling fans to break up the recessed lighting and a curtain on that random door on the right wall in the middle. AND new couches, but who doesn't want new couches?

Another piece I picked up at the estate sale. Cool vintage ceramic piece.

 

Gold pots, lace table cloths, pottery. Seems to be a gold and white weekend.

Cool mid century pottery piece with gold flecks. Adding it to Anthropolotique Vintage soon if you're interested!

Cheap and Cute - 99 Cent Store Etsy Packaging

Things have been slow this week in terms of sales at Anthropolotique.... So what to do with my free time? Work on my shop. I used to sell on Ebay and a big difference between Etsy and Ebay is what customers expect in terms of packaging. On Ebay it doesn't matter so much, customers are just happy you are not a scam and that they got what they ordered.  Well Etsy customers  really like it if you make your stuff cute. And I agree, half the fun of buying something on Etsy is getting something in the mail that is wrapped cute.  I'm sometimes amazed at the packaging that arrives, the packaging looks like it cost more than the actual item I purchased!  It's hard to make money on Etsy and I'm surprised that sellers are able to afford such cute packaging...

Last night I had 2 whole hours to myself and created a mission for myself instead of staying home and watching trashy reality TV.  Mission:  find cute Etsy packaging for cheap. So I headed to my favorite cheap place... the 99 Cent store.

First I grabbed several rolls of this brown kraft paper. I like to recycle boxes for shipping and I use this to wrap the boxes.  Quite often the 99 Cent store is sold out so I stock up when I can.

I was actually looking for some cute string to wrap with but I felt inspired when I found the yarn. Everyone does string, yarn is different... I think.

My Treasures. A dictionary? Retro looking contact paper? Just wait and see.

 

My prototypes 

No I did not get that tag punch at the 99 cent store. But I did get it for super cheap at Joann's with a 50% off coupon. I use those tags for everything.

 

Prototype 1 - Kraft paper, white string and a tag punch from contact paper. I can also peel the back off and use the tag as a sticker.  I'm going to go back to the store and see if they have contact paper in a Christmas print. Wouldn't that look cute?

Prototype 2 - Kraft paper, yarn and tag punch from the DICTIONARY. I love this idea because it's also like a fortune cookie, what word will they get? One of the tags I did this way happened to be the word "encourage" and another was "transcend". 

Prototypes 3 and 4 for clothing. Clothing looks much neater wrapped in tissue vs. the kraft paper, so I think I'll stick with the tissue paper. Also that's a "Thank You" stamp that I bought at the $1 section at Target.

Stamp from 2impress 

I'm also thinking of purchasing the stamp above with "Anthropolotique" in the middle. 

Thoughts?

Bestee's Nursery - So Anthropolotique

Before I get to it here is some definitions of terms I have made up, just so there is no confusion as you read on.

Bestee - A best friend. In this case it's Juliana.

Anthropolotique - 1) Anthropologie mixed with Antique. An item that is vintage but looks like it could be in a Anthropologie catalog/ store. 2) It also refers to my Etsy store "Anthropolotique Vintage" See my Etsy mini on my sidebar to check it out.

Anthropolotique Style - The art of mixing Anthropologie (if you can afford it) items with your vintage finds to create your own authentic, electic and global style.

Anthropolotiquing - Going to antique stores, thrift stores, estate sales and garage sales and hunting for those perfect items that will help you with your Anthropolotique Style home/closet.


Now that that's settled....

 Today I popped over to my Bestee's house because her baby nursery is finally finished! This is VERY exciting for 2 reasons. I just recently moved a couple of minutes away from my Bestee and being able to just "pop over" is a dream come true. Secondly, I never thought this nursery would get finished (she's 39 weeks pregnant) but she pulled through! It's very Anthropolotique Style.  She used lots of color and mixed new and old pieces to create something very unique.
One night there was a fiasco when I tried to help her sew some curtains and thought the nursery was over....You should have seen the curtain that we were attempting.  Sometimes you just need a Bestee to just look at what you're doing and tell you to keep going in that direction and sometimes you need a Bestee to tell you not to buy that $85 tree wall sticker and SOMETIMES you need your Bestee to just tell you stop making that ugly $*%&# curtain :-)

There was moments when I tried to convince her to buy some expensive Anthropologie curtains, but she held steadfast and was able to accomplish the entire room for less than the Anthro curtains would have cost. She's awesome.

Anyhow here is the room. It's very tiny about 8 x 9 feet but the white walls keep the color from being too consuming.  I love all the mixed prints and colors.

This is a hand-me-down crib that she painted white. She assembled the "mobil" with a tree branch her hubby found (so glad I talked her out of the sticker!) and some lanterns she got anthropolotiquing finished off by decorations from World Market. (World Market has great Anthropolotique Style options)

 The nursery also double as the guest room. The curtains are from Pier One (Clearance!) as well as the throw blanket. How Anthropolotiquey of her to turn an old crate into a side table.

Her handy husband made that headboard for her! She made the covered buttons and used a sheet for the fabric. Sheets are way cheaper than fabric by the yard.

She bought these CUTE wall stickers from Love Mae.  Real non-sticker stick was free!

More of the imobile "mobil".  She's going to make them a little higher, no worries. Definitely my favorite part of the room! So creative and cool!

Oh wait! Where did she get that cute succulent in the tea cup for her side table you ask? Oh it's just a favor that her Bestee put together for her "Baby Sprinkle". Gotta have a Bestee....

I'm really into the prairie style. I like it in home decor and street fashion. It's comfortable, effortless and feminine all at once. I read somewhere that it became popular again along with the Farmhouse and  Shabby Chic looks because of the recession. People wanted to go back to comfort and familiarity not to mention it's affordability. 

Check out some of these Prairie Style fashions on Etsy.

I love these Prairie style boots. Not too costumey. Would be awesome with a midi skirt.

  I find old stuff interesting and romantic.  My house is full of it.

 

 Prairie style dress, if I only I could pull it off. You can find to link to the Etsy shop that sells the above 3 items in my treasury here:

Prairie Dreaming

The following are in my store. I love the sweet side braid Belle is wearing with the looks. 

 

 Prairie Style Corduroy Midi Skirt

Gorgeous Floral Style Prairie Skirt

Me Versus "The Model" - Etsy Photos

When I first started my Etsy shop I KNEW what I wanted it to look like.  Eclectic Anthropologie like items, great prices and super cute pictures.  I had  the inventory so it was time to do the photos.  I put some makeup on, found a white wall and told my husband to snap away.... I was so excited to see the photos. Ahem... cute photos don't just happen. Trust me. It was dreadful.  I wish I had an example but they were quickly deleted.

It's one thing when someone tags an unflattering photo of you on Facebook from some random family gathering, but it's another thing entirely to edit photo after photo of yourself when you are actually TRYING to look cute.  Depressing. I actually started re-think my vow to never get botox.... Solution?  Crop my head off, and call it "artsy"

To be honest I did get better at modeling and my mother might actually say I looked nice (but you can't trust your mom). Regardless, it was time to find someone else to model.

One day I met my friend's daughters. Cute, model sizeAND one of them is an aspiring model but she's a bit young.  I don't want to sound predatorial but the wheels in my brain got turning.... "Would your daughter like to model for my Etsy store? Yeah, you don't know about my Etsy store because I'm too embarrassed to let my friends see my modeling attempts...."

Anyhow I now have a model. I actually enjoy editing photos. Instead of only having 1 useable photo out of 10 photos where my husband lovingly reminded me to "suck it in".  I now actually have the awesome "problem" of choosing which photos are best out of the 10 gorgeous ones. PLUS I don't have to bug my husband to photograph me and "my model" and I are having a blast!

Now to be quite fair the photos I posted of me are not the worst. Somehow all the bad ones have mysteriously disappeared and the "OK" ones all have the heads chopped off. 

Well here you go.... Me Vs. "The Model"

Meet Belle. She is just lovely inside and out.

 

Meet Me. Classic example of "cropping my head off". Looks artsy, right?

 Sheer Beaded Dress 

 When I posted this gorgeous photo of Belle my store got tons of hits and the sweater sold fast.

Not terrible... but when I posted this photo... well let's just say the jacket never sold:-) 

Belle from the back - Pink and White Lace Dress

Me from the back. Took a year to sell this jacket AND I had to mark it down to cost, but hey it sold.

Hello hottie. One of my best photos. They are few and far between, but sometimes the stars just align. I HAD to show the slit, good thing my legs are my best feature.

St. John Wrap Dress

I love when she looks back over her shoulder. Lovely.

90's Floral Jean Style Jacket

Well we can't all be models, but we can try! 

** This is NOT a shameless attempt to fish for compliments. I am very secure in myself, otherwise I'd never have written this post:-) Thanks Mom, I know you love me and think I'm beautiful.

Letting go is hard to do....

It's happened twice this week. I get an email in my inbox that an item from vintage Etsy shop has sold.  I should be excited, but truth be told I get attached to my vintage items and get a little sentimental when I pack them up to ship. Especially the purses...

One of the reasons I started my shop is that I LOVE to shop and find hidden treasures.  So often would I find something that didn't work for me but it was such a good find that I would buy it and hope to find someone to give it to.... Then I ended up with alot of stuff.  Why not sell it on Etsy to someone out there who is desperately searching for this item that I was lucky enough to unearth??  But that doesn't mean it isn't bittersweet to see them go...

Anyhow this afternoon I sold this awesome leather satchel purse... As soon as I saw my email for an Etsy transaction I just KNEW in my gut it was this purse... Bittersweet.

  I'm sad that I no longer get to gaze at in my inventory closet. On the other hand I also smile knowing that this purse is going from being boxed in someone's garage to walking around on the streets of New York. 


Purses are probably my best seller in my store.  It's not surprising, I was shopping at Anthropologie the other day and lots of their purses look vintage.  Leather looks better with age.

This Anthropologie Embroidered Geo Backpack reminds reminds me so much of the 80s southwestern tapestry print purses. 

I had this southwest print purse in my store awhile back and it sold fast.

Lots of fashionable ladies are carrying vintage purses right now. I got so excited when I spotted that wicker purse in the bottom left corner. It's got to be vintage... right?

70's Wicker Purse

Just like this purse that's still my store. It's still looking for a good home but I'll be sad to see it go.

Have you seen the new these tapestry purses from Dolce & Gabbana??? I LOVE them. So vintagey.

Lucky me was able to score the vintage piece above for about 99% less than the D&G one.  

I'm too attached to put it in Anthropolotique right now. Maybe one day when I'm feeling stronger....