Whoa, whoa, whoa. What a busy week. Am I the only one feeling incredibly relieved today is Friday? I thought I’d celebrate by sharing the Christmas mix I made for last Saturday’s Mighty Swell giveaway. It starts off shaky, but like they say, all’s well that ends well, and this ends with Canned Heat, so yeah. I’d say it ends well enough. Me hope you likey.
xo,
Meghan
I skipped grocery shopping after work the other day to stay in, cozy up and make more paper packs. Sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by such unique, old materials motivated me to look through my Flickr favs for collage inspiration. I can’t wait until January to have more time to work on projects of my own! As you probably surmised, vintage paper and ephemera will always trump newly purchased materials for me. When it comes to collage-ing, it’s also no surprise that my favorite artists incorporate old images, illustrations and scraps into their works. Enjoy the eye candy!
{both c/o mishuevospeludos}
{c/o tinylights}
{c/o goofbutton}
{c/o Bill Zindel}
{c/o woefoep}
{c/o franz falckenhaus}
Ugh, I could go on and on and on. Peruse for your own favorites in The Vintage Paper Collage, Collage Crazy, Cut ‘N’ Paste & Notpaper groups.
xo,
Meghan
Word to the wise—we’re giving away a mix of holiday songs, hand-picked by yours truly, at Mighty Swell tomorrow. It’s a lot of fast-paced jams, from Bob Seger to James Brown, Canned Heat to Chubby Checker…no sleepy slow songs allowed! I love Christmas music in the most ridiculous way, so this project was a dream for me. Quantities are very limited, so get there on the early side to nab one. (We open at 9 a.m.) Oh, and one other sort of awesome thing? Our stupendous team of vendors brought by heaps of new vintage tonight. We promised new merch every Saturday, so that’s what we’re going to give ya. I already have my eye on a leopard fur muff from Valise Vintage and a cute mini from Patterns. Can’t wait to see y’all there!
xo,
Meghan
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I finished my first macrame project last night and already cannot wait to start another. Discovering Sally England’s simple, lovely work this morning (pictured above) just added fuel to my nascent rope-knotting obsession. My sweet little plant holder doesn’t hold a candle to Sally’s large-scale works of genius, but it was a fun starter project to be sure.
Supplies (two packs of blind cord and a small metal ring) cost me $15, and it took two episodes of “Gossip Girl” worth of time to complete. So yeah, craft-night success! The only downside of the process was having to lock the pets away while I knotted. Twelve 16-foot strands of rope flying around everywhere = heaven for my playful kitty! Don’t let the innocent face fool you, havoc-wrecking could be this gal’s middle name.
Now that winter’s nearly here, have you gotten back into the swing of making things? If so, what are you working on? Who is inspiring you? I’d love to hear!
xo,
Meghan
Is it wrong if I want to skip actually shopping for presents this year and skip ahead to the part when I spend an entire evening listening to Christmas music and wrapping them up all cute? The trio of gift-toppers featured below can all be made mostly with materials you can find easily at, where else…your local thrift store!
♥ These Monopoly tags, c/o Glossary, give new life to a vintage game that was missing some pieces.
♥ Personalize a prezzie with a yarn-wrapped pipe-cleaner letter or go all out and do the lucky recipient’s name. Once the gift’s unwrapped, these would make great ornaments. (Idea c/o giddy giddy.)
♥ File this under why-didn’t-I-think-of-this: Dyed paper doilies, c/o Blue Eyed Freckle. How sweet would a single poof be atop a package? Very, I say.
Ahh, now all I want to do is sit around and wrap gifts! Fortunately, I do have some crafting action of my own going on tonight…working on this Saturday’s limited edition Mighty Swell giveaway. It’s going to be so tight…I can’t wait to share it with y’all!
xo,
Meghan
I stumbled upon this print tonight, the work of a Portland-based designer, Elsa Lang. Cute right? I thought so too. If you need a daily dose of encouragement to hit the thrifts, you can download the iPhone-wallpaper-sized version right here.
xo,
Meghan
{Ann and Nancy Wilson, image c/o Gold Dust Stevie}
Rae and I spent all day decking the halls at Mighty Swell, in preparation for our sale tomorrow. Our electricity bill is going to be through the roof this next month–so. many. twinkle. lights! If you’re in town, stop by between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. tomorrow and enjoy 20 percent savings on everything in store in honor of Small Business Saturday. We’ll have coupons from our neighbors Chris and Rob’s (spend $20 and get a free Chicago dog or hamburger!) and our friends Tim and Thom, owners of the super cute boutique You and Me, who have generously offered all our customers a coupon for one free basic alteration. Both are such fabulous deals, I can’t get over it. All right, now that I’ve got my shameless plug in, I’m off to hop in the shower, nuke some Thanksgiving leftovers and head down to First Avenue to see my honey sing at The Replacements tribute show. Since he’s retired from rocking full-time, I never take for granted any chance to see him perform.
xo,
Meghan
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Just popping in to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re having a relaxing holiday, filled with food, friends, family, family friends and friends that are family. I’m spending mine at home cooking with my love. We’ve got a feast in the works…honey-glazed ham and ham gravy, potato-squash mash, green beans, pineapple casserole (my favorite favorite favorite!), spinach salad, shrimp cocktail, mac and cheese and his grandma’s pumpkin mousse pie for dessert. I’m so thankful to spend the day at my favorite place (home) with my favorite person (and my awesome pets). Oops, timer’s a’buzzin’…wishing you beautiful days!
xo,
Meghan
I’m terrible at a lot of things. Getting my dry cleaning out of my house and to the cleaners being one of them. Fortunately, I was recently introduced to a fabulous Woolite product, “Dry Cleaner’s Secret.” Unlike Dryel, which I’ve had so-so luck with and requires you to use an annoying bag, Dry Cleaner’s Secret is basically a wet dryer sheet with stink-busting super powers. Toss one into the the dryer along with one to five dry-clean only garments, and 20 minutes later you’re set to go. Funky thrift-store smells = totally gone! Clothes with stains and specialty items like leathers, velvets, suedes and furs will still need to go to the cleaners, but for things that just need a simple quick freshening, this is my new jam. Deal-seekers can get a free sample of the stuff by filling out this form (and attaching a recent dry-cleaning receipt), printing out a coupon for it here or you could be like me, and mooch a couple packets off your mom. (Thanks Mom!) In Minnesota, it’s available at Wal-Mart, Cub Foods, Menards and K Mart…you can find locations in your area here.
xo,
Meghan
high plains thrifter 