Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!!

I didn't get to decorate the house for Easter this year for a variety of reasons, so I've decided to go all out decorating myself for Easter instead!!  Vintage pastel sweater, check!  Pom pom bunny brooch, check!  Painted Lady butterfly necklace, check!  All set for a day of yummy food, family, and hopefully a nice stroll through the woods.  :)

Happy Easter to all!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

New Mermaid!

 Isn't she pretty on her dapper horse?  Now in my Etsy shop!




Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Where o Where is Spring??

 Where is spring?  I suppose all the willing in the world won't keep the snow from falling!  And I suppose according to the calendar, we do have one more day of winter...it didn't want to be dismissed as early spring I guess!

 Ben woke up early to snow blow...good thing he likes using it!

 The trees knew better than to bud out when I wanted them to!

 Sigh...it is a beautiful sight I can't deny.  Just melt soon snow...I've scheduled the first frost hardy seeds to go into the garden in just ten days and I need that soil thawed by then...or I just might have to start biting my fingernails!  lol

I suppose it does make it nice to work in the studio all day...no longing to get outside today.  :)

 And while I'm blogging, I might as well show you a sneak peek of the downstairs bathroom...wallpaper and wall paneling and light fixture...check!  The plumber is installing the sink today.  Can't wait!

And I've just got to share a cute sleepy photo of Sophie and Paige.  They just love each other...

Happy last day of winter!  :)

Monday, March 18, 2013

Look at what I caught!!


A few months ago I was working quietly in my studio when I heard some scratching sounds...my ears perked and I listened closelyIt sounded like something big...like a possom was jumping, trying to grip the wall unsuccessfully and then sliding down.  Over and over again...for hours.  It was obviously something that fell into the wall from the attic and was trying to get back out.  I was hopeful it would figure it out.  But the scratching got less and less I knew the poor thing was tired.  So finally after much hemming and hawing.  I got my saw and cut a hole in the wall.  Luckily I could cut from the inside of the ugly old bathroom and close the door, being able to trap the thing once it climbed through the hole.  I left the hole open for a while and after checking a second time...I saw he was out and peering at me from around the corner.  I was sure it'd be a gray squirrel, but it wasn't.

It was.....











 

 A little flying squirrel!  So incredibly adorable!
 

 Ignore the stained little carrier...but look at his arm skin...used for flying...so cool!

 And his tail is wide a really flat.  It's really hard to see these guys in the wild (I think they're nocturnal), so it was awesome to see him up close.  He was definitely tired...so I gave him a German cookies, which he gladly ate.

And then after a nice long rest, I brought him outside and let him climb up our old oak tree where he flew away!

I know flying squirrels can do a lot of damage if they get into your house, so I listened closely after that and didn't hear anything coming from the attic.  I'm hoping this little guy simply was just looking for a warm place to spend the day and got more than he bargained for.  :) 

Bye bye Mr. Squirrel! 

Friday, March 15, 2013

Late Winter Walk

 The other day Ben, Winnie and I went for an early spring (technically late winter) walk.  The Hudson River is directly across the street and there are paths galore down there to explore whenever the heart desires.  

I didn't bring a "treasure container" thinking it was far too early to find any treasures.  But alas I used my coat pocket to store some shore bird feathers and teeny tiny fresh water shells.  There were tons and tons of large shells, but they were boring by comparison and too dirty for my pockets. 

 Look at the teeny weeny clams!!  Just babies!

 We ventured onto a small long and skinny island and stopped for some photos at a nicely crotched tree.  Winnie wanted to get up too, but she's not a very accurate jumper.

Neither is Ben.  

A wonderful way to spend a nice (sort of) warm day!  :)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Easter Update!

 Going for a Drive - SOLD 

One week more and it's officially Spring!  And to celebrate I have one last batch of Easter goodies!  Some children hanging out in baskets, some bunnies sitting on eggs, a little row of duckies, and more!  I hope you find something to brighten up your Easter display this year! 

As usual, blog readers get first dibs on my new spun cotton one-of-kind figures. If you see something(s) you love, just email me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com and I'll let you know if they're still available. First come first served! I'll update item statuses in this post as often as I can to make it easier for you to know what's available. Items often get scooped up quickly, so make your selection as swiftly as you can, you can always add available pieces to your order later. Also feel free to include second choices in case your first choice is unavailable, but make sure you label them "second choice".  Click on photos to enlarge.

Shipping is $3.50 for one item and $1 per additional item up to $6.50, then additional pieces are free. All paid orders will ship out immediately via first class mail and should arrive within a few days.  I send Paypal invoices via email unless you specify that you'd rather pay via check. And of course email me if you have any questions!


Happy Shopping!

The Easter Bunny (candy container) - SOLD
 Blue Bonnet Basket - SOLD

 Miss Butterfly Sprout - SOLD
 The Egg Lifter - SOLD

Teeny Bunny Basket - SOLD
 Miss Bumble Bee Basket - SOLD

 Miss Over Easy - SOLD
 Miss Nest - SOLD

Miss Easter Bonnet - SOLD
 Mamma Duck and Babies (Candy Container) - SOLD
Sarah Bunny - SOLD

Winter Bunny - SOLD
 Miss White Hare (ornament) - SOLD
Daisy - SOLD

Miss Patty Pink - SOLD
 Blue Mini Bunny - SOLD
Pink Mini Bunny - SOLD

 Miss Pansy - SOLD
 Chucky Charles - SOLD

 Carla Candy - SOLD
 The Springtime Garden - SOLD
Miss Spring Breeze - SOLD

 Tulip Owl - SOLD
 Clear Water Owl - SOLD
Annie Owl - SOLD


                      And don't forget about Saint Patty's Day!

Good Luck Lass - SOLD
Irish Isles Bunny
- SOLD
M
iss Erin Go Bragh -
SOLD

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Last Easter Update Announcement!


I'm quite fatigued with spring fever at the moment and while there's not much I can do in the garden outside right now, I've been getting out my Easter decorations and adding some color and fun inside.  I just love all the bunnies and baby chicks and eggs.  The same has been happening in my studio.  I've been working on a few last Easter pieces before I get busy in the garden...flower girls, sprouts, bunnies, egg cups, chicks, etc. etc.... and I hope you like them as much as I do!  Vroom vroom!!  I wish I could drive an egg car too!  :)

Blog readers get first dibs as usual and if you'd like to be notified about upcoming blog updates and special events, just sign up for my mailing list on the right side of my blog, or leave a comment with your email address.

New one-of-a-kind pieces will be available for purchase on:

Thursday, March 14th - Here, the blog - 11:00 am EST

See you here on Thursday! :)

Monday, March 11, 2013

Garden Plans!

Is anyone as insanely anxious for spring as I am??  This being my second spring back home, I am starting to once again do what I always did as a kid…take walks outside in early early spring trying to get a glimpse of some kind of life that may be getting a head start.  When I was a kid I used to brush back the dead leaves in my rock garden hoping to spot some bright green somewhere among the sea of brown.  I also used to take my pond net and drag it along the water’s edge hoping for tadpoles…or at least some icky water insects that I was always afraid to touch, but still happy to see.  I always started too early and for weeks came up with nothing…until finally…the first fat tadpole…the first sharp bit of daylily breaking through the earth, the first tiny leafy buds popping up on the willow tree.  Even though we had a huge snow storm just a few days ago, the warm weather has melted all but just a bit of the white stuff and today at lunch time while Winnie was wondering about in the brush, I bent down to inspect the areas where I planted bulbs and perennials.  I didn’t see a whole lot yet…but I did see some blue green iris sprouts!   



And much to my extreme surprise, the spinach I planted late last fall isn’t only still green and delicious looking (still half covered in snow mind you), it seems to have grown!  Incredible!
 
 The brussel sprouts are mostly brown and gross, but there are still a few that I could eat if I really really wanted to.  I planted waaaay too many last year and pick a bunch throughout the winter and also have tons in the freezer (except I shouldn't have blanched them first).

I have learned so so much in my first year of gardening and am sooooo incredibly anxious to start again this year.  This time my mom and I are starting all of our seedlings ourselves instead of buying them (I already have most of the seeds).  We are also starting waaaay earlier…two months earlier to be exact.  No wonder our spinach did horribly in the spring (in my garden, and in hers), it should have been planted 8 week earlier when it was still cool and nippy outside.  We are also going to try growing peas for the first time.  She likes snap peas, while I want shelling peas.  We’ll plant them along the fence in our respective gardens and let them (or help them) climb, climb, climb! 

I can't remember if I posted about my garden wall last fall...It took me three different days (one in spring, one in summer and one in fall consequently) to build it.  My dad and I went around to several of his fields where he spotted large rocks...and when I say large, I mean huge!  I was surprised that we were able to get them on the back of my truck...and then surprised that the tires didn't pop!  My dad also has two huge boulders (I mean...they probably weigh a few tons) on the edge on one field that he wanted to bring over to my house and put on either side of the stone stairs.  As awesome as that would have been, I decided they would take up too much space and compromise the more delicate English garden wall look I was going for.  Hopefully I can convince him to bring them over to put elsewhere.  Ben and I picked up the smaller rocks, also from my dad's fields. 

The stairs were a bit tricky to make compared to the wall...I had to pick and choose pieces that would fit together nicely...especially a challenge when most of the rocks I had were round.  The stairs could probably use a little mortar, which I may add later, but we'll see how they do for now.  I think this spring if I have time I may try to build a simple locust stick arbor for in front of the gate to grow vines around (I love vines!!)

 As I mentioned, I already have most of the seeds we'll be planting and organized them according to planting time.

I also have been writing down my schedule for planting.  A smart thing to do for any sized vegetable garden!  Next thing I need to draw out is my plan for arranging the vegetables in and around the garden. 

Last year I really focused the majority of my time and energy on the vegetable garden.  While I did plant a bunch of perennials bought from plant sales (like garage sales, but for plants), they were planted willy nilly and with little thought or planning.   I also planted some shrubs along one side of the house and am excited to see how they do this year...like this peony...

 I think I was supposed to cut the foliage off last fall....oops.  I'll get rid of them when I rake all the leaves out of the bed.

It's hard to see in this photos, but it looks like my azalea survived the winter...the leaves look healthy, albeit kind of orange.  The sedum actually still looks bit pretty in it's dried form, but it's surrounding do little to showcase it's beauty.

One major project I'm struggling with is figuring out what to do with our hillside area.  It's a rather large area, quite steep in spots, half full sun and half partial shade.  Last year I planted wildflowers in the sunny spot, and while I got some beautiful flowers, they were real weedy and overall it wasn't pretty.  I'd like to build some simple stone steps that go right up the middle (on the far side of the trees), but am not sure what to plant...something mostly low maintenance that will be interesting and beautiful.  Plants that attract birds and insects is a plus...especially in the winter.  Any ideas?

Another major project we plan to work on this year is the foundation and under the porch.  Our 5 year old basement foundation is completely exposed in the front.  The large area of concrete is too tall to cover with landscaping and makes the house look unfinished.  My plan is to collect medium sized rocks (the size of my hand and smaller) and cover the entire foundation with them, including the concrete porch supports. 

The second part of our plan is to dig out the slope of sand under the porch to level it off a bit and install dark brown lattice behind the stone covered porch supports.  We'll leave the side open and the resulting enclosure will become a potting shed and winter storage area (it's sort of serving as a junky looking winter storage right now...ew.  I planted wisteria on either side of the porch last spring and it's been growing quite well.  I'd like to grow some more vines as well...any suggestions for good ones?  They need to grow tall as our porch is technically at a second story height!  lol   

I'd also like to repaint all the yellow on the house too...but that's a whole different year!  lol

Spring I can't wait for you to truly arrive!!!  :)

Friday, March 8, 2013

Surprise Saint Patty's Day Collection!

Good Luck Lass - 28
Irish Isles Bunny
-
28
Miss Erin Go Bragh - 28

Surprise!  I just finished a few sweet gals that want to say "good luck!" this Saint Patrick's Day!  I'm not having a full fledged Saint Patty's Day update this year, but couldn't resist making just a few figures anyway.  These sweet little gals are available on Etsy or by emailing me at vintagebycrystal@yahoo.com.  First come first served!


“If you're lucky enough to be Irish, then you're lucky enough.”
                                                                              - Irish Quote


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Master Bathroom Tour!


Welcome to my new bathroom!  After lots of work and a bit of patience, I'm so happy to say that's it just about finished!  Come on in!

I am so so in love with the new sink!  I found the top on Craigslist for $75 and I built the bottom part out of barn wood from the shed my dad took down at his house to build my mom's studio.  The legs were angle supports for the upper floor.  I kept the v shaped ends and now they look like dainty feet and sort of mimic the shape of the tile in the shower.  The shelf underneath isn't finished.  I need to raid the barn for another piece of wood.

Here's what it looked like before...Not super terrible or anything, just boring and plain and definitely not very fitting for our antique Victorian house.

My photos are little bright, but there are sun burst lines in the sink top.  It used to be a kitchen sink.  The faucets are new, but say "hot" and "cold" on the porcelain handles...love it!

 A 50 cent towel bar I've been saving from a garage sale is perfect for the side.

On the side against the wall I put in three antique square head nails to secretly hold the washcloth for when I wash my face (some of my washcloths aren't super pretty).

I bought these three bathroom cup holders at a Boston flea market years ago.  I wish I bought the towel bar that went with them!! 

I kept the mirror that was in there because of it's functionality, but painted it white (ironically we saw the same mirror at Lowes that already came in white...grrrr...lol).  It holds a ton of stuff and has those mirror doors that let you see the back of your head (good for checking out fancy hairdos).  The light fixture is going to be getting a mega makeover sometime soon hopefully (I have a new found fascination with making light fixtures, but am at the beginning stages of figuring it out).

To make this ho hum looking mirror more interesting I added wallpaper to the back of the inside.  My bathroom routine went from "just want to get it over with and get outta there, to "just want to stare at my toothbrush holder".

Having pretty containers in places that normally hidden away from view is a really nice surprise.  I'm big into decanting and that goes for bathroom stuff too.  I also hung a coat hook to the underside of a shelf for hair bands and such and screwed a small piece of old molding to the back as a tiny makeshift shelf within a shelf.

 Functional but pretty too!


I got the vintage toothbrush holder at Brimfield a while with thoughts of this very bathroom redo.  A tiny bisque doll sits on the shelf within a shelf.  I'll have to find her more friends.

Ben gets his own side...I am thinking about hanging that awesome brass soap holder (bottom shelf) up inside the cabinet, but also want to hang it outside for all to see...maybe in the downstairs bathroom...we'll have to see...


 Onto the closet...

I only spent about an hour or so on the closet...It originally had a clothes bar with no clothes and one shelf piled high messily with linens and a pile of tools and other random stuff on the floor.  Very inefficient.  I wound up taking materials that I had removed from other parts of the house to build shelves.  The dark wood pieces for the sides were the frames on the mantel I just rebuilt.  The shelves were the shelves that were in all the other closets I redid in the house...Lucky for me, this closet was the smallest and I just cut down the other shelves to size.  Easy project!  I think in the future I might wallpaper the back or add other interesting things, but for now this is great!

I made a place to hang towels on the inside of the door simply using an old piece of molding and 5 old hooks.  A five minute project...literally.

The bathroom is pretty much laid exactly the same way.  My dentist cabinet still proudly stands near the balcony door. 

I've been using this pair of vintage necklace holders for a few years now...they are great because I can see everything all at once and nothing ever gets tangled.  The cool little shelf was scored last summer at a local flea market for $20.  The brass owl I just got last weekend at a small annual town flea market just down the street at the VFW. 

The many drawers in the cabinet are completely perfect for bathroom storage.  The top few drawers are shallow and hold my earrings and brooches...I cut some vintage velvet for the bottom of the drawers. 

Again, I can see everything all at once and nothing gets jumbled.  I love it!

We put our old toilet (which was pretty new) in the guest bathroom to replace the bone colored one that was in there, so we bought a new Kohler toilet for our bathroom.  It's nice and tall for us tall people!

The fixtures and soap are finally in the shower!  We had to put up our old shower curtain for now while we decided whether or not to get glass doors.  My vote is an extra long clear curtain with chrome rod, Ben wants tall frameless doors...a few dollars vs. waaaaay more than a few!  lol

Here's the shower before...Just a premolded insert.

The darker gray marble really contrasts with the light, almost yellowed marble. 

We have teeny tiny hex tile on the shower floor...it feels nice on your feet!

Our ceilings are really tall, which makes our shower quite tall...the large shower head is perfectly proportioned I think and I love the curve of it. 

A broken extra long acorn hook is perfect for hanging a towel or robe while in the shower.  I hung it high so it wouldn't poke any eyes out, lol.

 For the floor I used inexpensive, but classic hex tile with 1 inch squares.  

I added a white marble threshold and somehow it really makes the whole bathroom seems that much more fancy!  All the grout is bright white...over time it will discolor a bit I'm sure...which I'm actually kind of looking forward too.  We did seal it though and probably will continually seal it...so that might take a little while.  We'll see.

A view in the from balcony...I can't wait for the warmer weather...it's so nice taking a shower with the fresh breeze coming in. 

I hope you enjoy the tour!!  There are few more little things left to do with this bathroom, but we'll take our time with those.  I'm so happy it's finished and just lovely!  I hope you think so too!  I'll show you the other bathroom soon!  :)