|
Recent Posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
City Wide Sale This Weekend!
 |
| When it comes to French Monograms and English silver, say yes. Always say yes! |
It's time for City-Wide Garage Sale! And January's show is huge. My vintage goodies will be there along with 131 other exhibitors. The show dates and times are tomorrow, Saturday, January 25, 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday, the 26th, 11 am - 5 pm at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd here in Austin. Admission is $6 for adults and free for ages 12 and under. Early Shopper Passes can be purchased for $10 Saturday morning, giving you early access to the show between 8:30a-10am.
The Vintage Laundry will be in the third row in a corner spot in spaces 313 and 320. Come shop our lovely monogrammed napkins or pick up some silver, a damask tablecloth, or vintage china for that dinner party you've been planning!
 |
Bet you didn't know that Austin's recent snow and ice clouds had silver linings . . . .
lots and lots of silver linings!
|
 |
We can actually promise you a rose garden . . . sure, our roses are on vintage china, but still! |
 |
The Vintage Laundry will be in the third row in a corner spot in spaces 313 and 320 |
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Tuesday Ta Da!
I am not, intrinsically, one of those people put in this world to meet deadlines. Despite this handicap, I persist in trying. I missed the reveal for the DIY upcycled champagne lamps on Makers Monday. So, I thought I could try and save face and sneak by with a Tuesday Ta Da post to show you how they turned out, but unfortunately I committed to a four day show out of town last week and simply didn't finish what I started. This serves as a brilliant illustration of how I've made a much closer acquaintance with over-committing than I am entirely happy with …
So, basically, what I'm saying is … I got nothin.
Perhaps I can get my "To Do List" done by next Monday!
Perhaps I can get my "To Do List" done by next Monday!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Come See Me in Fredericksburg!
Come see me this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Fredericksburg Trade Days at Sunday Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas. This show is famous for its antiques, collectibles, tools, crafts, shabby chic, primitives, vintage furniture, candles, clothing and jewelry. You can shop with over 350 vendors in 6 barns. Picturesque Sunday Farms is surrounded by local wineries, Lavender trails, the Pedernales River, delicious country peaches, Luckenbach, Enchanted Rock, and hundreds of bed and breakfasts. Fredericksburg Trade Days also hosts a Biergarten that offers over 50 varieties of beer and live music.
I'll be in Barn 3 in spaces 11 and 12.
Date:
January 17th, 18th & 19th, 2014
Hours:
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Friday & Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday
Tweet
Monday, January 13, 2014
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas And Happy 2014
 |
Merry Christmas and Happy 2014 from all of us at THEVINTAGELAUNDRY.COM |
Follow my blog with bloglovin
Tweet
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Heavy Sigh, Face-palm With an Eye Roll Dismount
It has been proven to me again, and again that life is a great unfolding ... that opportunities, wisdom, and understanding will be revealed to me as I go along. I wait, as patiently as an instant-gratification junky can wait, for cues from the universe as to what I should fix my gaze and energies upon next. But here's the thing … and I hate "The Thing" …especially "my" thing. Because my thing is … STARTING. I'm a marvelous starter, a comer-upper of great ideas, an enthusiastic believer that if you work and live and love hard enough that everything is possible. I've started hundreds of things, DIY projects, blog posts, paintings, book writings, entrepreneurial ventures, relationships, conversations, thoughts, sentences … the list is endless and more than a little embarrassing. But here's my "Un-Thing" … FINISHING. I'm like the opposite, evil twin of a premature ejaculation … the iceman never cometh, if you know what I'm sayin'.
And, naturally, the only logical next step in my ever-so-cluttered mind is to start a new project … (insert face-palm.) The new project is a book (insert combination heavy sigh, face-palm with an eye roll dismount.) The chapters are good-natured pokes at all that is me, but are also turning out to be a kind of love letters to myself and to others that share "The Thing." Writing about this has offered me a revelation that although I want to escape, running and screaming from this utterly frustrating habit I have of putting off till tomorrow what I could do the day after tomorrow - I've just decided to embrace it. Because, as they say, you are defined not so much by your imperfect moments, but by your reactions to them.
So, only time will tell if I can see this "reaction" through to the end … wish me luck, think "finishing thoughts" and if necessary shame me into completing and publishing it.
Below is a snippet from one of the thirty-five chapters in the book. I hope you enjoy and have a marvelous Thursday!
Chapter 1
Read Label Before Use
You know how packaged products are required to have a label listing ingredients and such? Well, I think some people should come with them, as well … and I'm sorry to say, that I'm one of them! Before you even think of speaking to me or engaging me in any manner, you should probably read my label. It has recommendations for your use and safety (see label below.)
Nutritional Facts:
Calories: None of your business
Sodium: Queen of the Swelling & Bloating Float in the High Blood Pressure & Congestive Heart Failure Thanksgiving Day Parade
Carbohydrates: Girl please!
Sugar: Can I get a witness?!
LeAnn Stephenson is fun for the whole family. Made from 100% morose introspection and existential crisis, she was founded in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1965. She played in the White Sands Basin Range where, twenty years earlier, the Trinity nuclear (atomic) bomb was tested (which explains a lot.) She contains more than 75% of the world's eyebrow hair (see nuclear bomb) and in a blind taste test, 2 out of 5 children tested chose LeAnn Stephenson as their mother.
Warning:
LeAnn Stephenson's singing voice has been described as "very disturbing."
So, as you can see, I may appear to be perfectly harmless, but I can assure you that I am anything but.
For starters ...
Follow my blog with bloglovin
Tweet
Monday, December 9, 2013
Catnip Roasting on an Open Fire
We have a crazy cat. She's called Eva June. She's a beautiful Maine Coon with striking yellow-green eyes . . . . she's also the spawn of Satan . . . wicked, evil, mean, and totally unsocial. She won't let anyone touch her, except me and on occasion my daughter, who's her Mom (but not her real Mom). Most of the time I want to dragon-kick her across the room for using the furniture as her own personal scratching post or string her up by her elbows for hacking up little kitty cigars that I will, without fail, step in with bare feet. But, for some reason, when she does want to cuddle, I'm her girl. Which makes me fairly sure that if we were trapped in the house in a blizzard and everyone died . . . . She'd totally eat me last.
I tell you that to tell you this, Christmas decorating at our house is like hugging our crazy cat, "Evil June:" a little dangerous, a little warm, and a lot of awesome. Tradition follows that we crank up the psychotically-challenged Christmas carols in her honor. To start, we play the old standard, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" to soothe Eva's schizophrenia. We celebrate her multiple personalities with, "We Three Kings of Disorient Are" and poke fun at her paranoia with, "Santa Claws Is Coming To Get You." As a tribute to her dementia we play, "I 'Think' I'll Be Home For Christmas" followed closely by her personality disorder's favorite, "You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pee, Maybe I'll Tell You Why." And finally we all join in with a rousing-ly manic rendition of, "Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Office and the Stores and the Cars and the Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and . . ."
Hope your Christmas decorating is bright, beautiful, and full of crazy kitty power. Here are few photos of our efforts.
 |
| We hung our Christmas wreath on our newly painted door! We added a bit of vintage silver and a wide red satin ribbon to our boxwood wreath to give it a little patina. |
 |
My girl baby was home from university and got to hang all of her childhood ornaments and reminisce . . . she loves to decorate the Christmas tree … … and my baby boy just loves the Christmas tree! |
 | |||||
| Baby It Was Cold Outside! We had temperatures in the teens during our decorating extravaganza, so, the Hubbs built a roaring fire, chilled a bottle of champagne and threw down a sheepskin rug to keep our tootsies warm! 
I'm kind of partial to our Shiny Brite collections! I love to contain them in apothecary jars on the mantel, in silver Revere bowls on side tables and in niches!
 And this is what happens when I clean vintage brass and gold flatware all afternoon . . . |
Friday, December 6, 2013
Simply Brilliant: Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel
My girl baby is in the middle of her sophomore year at university. My boy baby is in the middle of the exciting ordeal of applying to universities he would like to attend next Fall after he graduates from high school this June. He would like to be a filmmaker and is concentrating his search on universities that have exemplary Radio-Television-Film colleges. Austin's very own University of Texas is well-known for its program and boasts some very successful alumni. Topping my son's list of favorite directors and screenwriters is fellow Texan and UT alumnus, Wes Anderson.
Which brings me to today's Simply Brilliant talent. Anderson's next film will be entitled The Grand Budapest Hotel and will star his regular collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, along with many others cited below. It recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune - all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
Other Anderson films that might be of interest are Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), a stop-motion animation adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, Fantastic Mr. Fox, released in 2009, and perhaps his best received film to date, Moonrise Kingdom, which opened the Cannes Film Festival 2012.
Which brings me to today's Simply Brilliant talent. Anderson's next film will be entitled The Grand Budapest Hotel and will star his regular collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, along with many others cited below. It recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune - all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
Other Anderson films that might be of interest are Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), a stop-motion animation adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, Fantastic Mr. Fox, released in 2009, and perhaps his best received film to date, Moonrise Kingdom, which opened the Cannes Film Festival 2012.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is to be released March 7, 2014 in the U.S. with cinematography by Robert Yeoman and screenwriting/direction by Wes Anderson. I can't wait for its release and would like to suggest you not miss it either!
Follow my blog with bloglovin
Tweet
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Two Words, One Finger
The life that I think I lead and the actual life that I have are two distinctly different states of being. Each comes with its own appalling revelations and pace. That is to say, that the past week or so has left me a little ruffled, unsure of myself, and questioning every move. I appall this state of being and I have something to say to these feelings … and I'm sorry to say it involves two words and one finger.
Hence, the touch-y, feel-y quote above. Just needed to remind myself to live an authentic life and relish the messy unplanned parts, as well as the perfectly planned ones.
Happy Thursday to you!
Hence, the touch-y, feel-y quote above. Just needed to remind myself to live an authentic life and relish the messy unplanned parts, as well as the perfectly planned ones.
Happy Thursday to you!
Follow my blog with bloglovin
Tweet
Friday, November 29, 2013
I Be A Grinch
Thanksgiving has come and gone. Black Friday is underway. Merry old soul or not, the Christmas season is officially upon us. And, this Monday will mark what is called "Cyber Monday," which to me, sounds a lot like the business-end of a pervy 1-900-number conversation, only online.
This year, my sugar plum imagine-ings have been slow in coming - my festive spirit missed it's flight and is on stand-by, and I'm thinkin' this lack of merriment basically makes me a heathen! And as it turns out, my children and the Hubbs agree with the "you-be-a-grinch" diagnosis. So, I've put together a Christmas playlist on The Vintage Laundry Spotify and I wanna share.
This year, my sugar plum imagine-ings have been slow in coming - my festive spirit missed it's flight and is on stand-by, and I'm thinkin' this lack of merriment basically makes me a heathen! And as it turns out, my children and the Hubbs agree with the "you-be-a-grinch" diagnosis. So, I've put together a Christmas playlist on The Vintage Laundry Spotify and I wanna share.
Tweet
Pin It
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Girl Please! Pink and Gold
PINK VINTAGE PLATE | GOLD FLATWARE | PINK GLASS STEMS | DAMASK NAPKINS |
We at the Vintage Laundry are kind of partial to pink, and when we pair it with gold and make it all vintage, well, all we can say is GIRL PLEASE!!
In our opinion, this lovely combo can make anything more elegant, without a smidgen of pretentiousness. We've taken some gold-plated flatware and gold-rimmed vintage plates, paired them with some pink glass stems, finished it off with vintage Damask napkins and Presto! ...your table is a showstopper!!
So, forget silver and gold this year and check out The Vintage Laundry for an arsenal of pink and gold vintage entertaining essentials to make your holiday table unforgettable this year!
So, forget silver and gold this year and check out The Vintage Laundry for an arsenal of pink and gold vintage entertaining essentials to make your holiday table unforgettable this year!
Tweet
Pin It
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle
 |
| Take a sneak peek at our first-ever magazine/catalog! Full version available December 1, 2013 |
I feel about the premature promotion of Christmas sales and holiday shopping the way some people feel about plastic surgery. It's a tragic reflection of our beauty-obsessed society . . . unless I need it, in which case, nobody say anything.
Enter the first-ever issue of our magazine/catalog, Comfort & Joy. I hope you find inspiration in our Holiday Issue, we searched far and wide for content for these pages and we're hoping that you will find our festive playlists, exciting Christmas decorating ideas, and vintage gift ideas from thevintagelaundry.com worth the read. Here's a sneak peek of our full version that will be published December 1, 2013. Make sure to follow The Vintage Laundry on ISSUU so that you won't miss any issues!
Follow my blog with bloglovinTweet
Pin It
Monday, September 23, 2013
The Crack Cocaine of Antique Shows
I visit shows all year long, selling and shopping. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than visiting with and making purchases from my fellow vintage and antique dealer friends.
One of my all-time favorite shows is Antiques Weekend in Round Top, Texas. Round Top, in case you're unaware, is the crack cocaine of the antique's show world and happens to be going on right this very minute (September 21 - October 5, 2013!) The field that I set up in is called The Texas Rose and is located directly across from Marburger Farms at 2075 South State Highway 237, Round Top, Texas 78954. You'll find directions from Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio here.
Bottom line, I "owe" this show; I wouldn't own my own business or be an out-of-control vintage collector (AKA hoarder) without it! And the only shopping advice I have to offer is to forget portion control … it is futile! … there are just too many vintage and antique goodies to pass up!
I just drooled …hmmm … perhaps an intervention is in order …
**Note**
I emailed these clips and photos to my talented son, Noah, and he put this video together for me. He even supplied the music for it! That's him on the guitar, playing one of his original tunes!!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Book 'em Danno: Remix: Decorating with Culture, Objects, and Soul
You know 'em, you love 'em, you can't get enough of the husband-and-wife team behind the blog AphroChic, Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason. I love their take on upcycling. The pair always manages to live "green" on the glam side of things. In my travels through the interwebs today I came upon a cover shot of their new book, Remix: Decorating with Culture, Objects, and Soul, a lush style guide that mixes high-end pieces with travel finds and artisan objects, and then immediately went to pre-order my copy. Authors Hays and Mason have always managed to blow my socks off with their genuine, personal style online and I'm sure I will continue to be rendered sock-less with this offering, as well!
So, if you're all about stylish, unforgettable rooms, then I have a feeling this book is for you! The title will be released on November 5, 2013 but can be pre-odered here.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Thingy Thursday Revival
I admit freely, without apology to anyone, that I'm a collector slash hoarder slash "if-you-don't-want-it-I'll-take-it" kinda chick. If someone put it in a garage sale, I bought it. If someone trashed it, I dumpster dived it. There is not a minimalist bone in my body and I have the junk to prove it. I come by this green-recycler-obsessive-compulsive behavior, not because I abhor overflowing landfills (which I do,) but because I'm neurotic - and I'm only sorta kidding here!
So, to make myself feel better about all that, I've decided to resurrect a weekly post that I began a few years ago and then let wane. It's called "Thingy Thursday" and as the name suggests, it will serve as a vehicle to showcase collectors and the "thingies" they collect. The plan is to begin with my own personal collections next Thursday, accompanied by specifics and rules and regs for a contest we'll be hosting on our Instagram and Pinterest.
But while you wait with baited breath for next week's "Thingy Thursday" post, I have a few archived posts that I would like to share with you from my friends, Stan Williams, author of The Find (also known as The Elegant Thrifter) and Lynn Goldfinger-Abram, the woman behind the marvelous online store, The Paris Hotel Boutique.
Take a look and walk away, as I did, with a case or two of collection envy!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Want It Wednesdays: Cheetah, Cheetah, Pumpkin Eater
MAXI VINTAGE COAT - Etsy/Doreen's Vintage • LOUIS XVI OTTOMAN - The Vintage Laundry
ITALIAN CERAMIC CHEETAH - 1stdibs/Fat Chance
Posts
