Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer - Round 2!

I am super excited to announce that I will participating in this year's Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer! I had such a great time at last year's very first show so I am thrilled that I was chosen to participate again this year.

What's even more exciting is that this year the Mixer will be held in conjunction with 'Vintage Pittsburgh' and will take place at the Heinz History Center. Vintage Pittsburgh will be a two day event with the Vintage Mixer taking place on Saturday, April 13th from 10AM - 3PM. Over the course of two days there will be a fashion show, antique car show, food, demonstrations and, of course, the chance to buy awesome vintage fashion, decor, art, etc... at the Mixer on Saturday. You can find more information about 'Vintage Pittsburgh' on the Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer Facebook Page (Click Here) or on the Heinz History Center website (here).

I have been collecting a lot of great vintage dresses, purses and home decor pieces over the past couple months and am really excited to be able to share them in this venue and send them back out in to the world! :) 

DIY Wedding Bouquet

Probably the most time consuming DIY we attempted for the wedding were the bouquets. Even before Jon proposed I had decided that I definitely wanted to try making a vintage brooch bouquet. Jon and I had talked about marriage and I knew that a proposal would be happening eventually so I thought 'why not start collecting vintage brooches so you are ready?' ;)  Being the vintage treasure hunter that I am, this was just another fun thing to look for while out at sales and thrift shops!
So that is what I did. At first I was just collecting any floral looking pin in any color. I started purchasing some off of Ebay as well. And then I realized...I don't really know what color scheme we are going with for our future wedding...but it probably won't be rainbow! So I then decided to just start collecting rhinestone 'starburst' type brooches.
Jon proposed at the end of August and by mid September we had decided to get married at the end of December (just a few short months away!). I realized then that I probably wouldn't really be able to collect enough brooches to do a whole 'brooch bouquet'. I was finding that coming across enough that I liked at a reasonable price just wasn't going to happen. I had also hoped to incorporate brooches in to my girl's bouquets so I had to get enough for them as well. Luckily, the amazing Pinterest came to the rescue. I came across this pretty DIY bouquet (first photo below - but the link doesn't appear to work anymore and I can't remember where it went to exactly) that incorporated vintage brooches into a faux flower arrangement. I am normally not a big fan of fake flowers but I thought this bouquet looked pretty and we were trying to cut costs where ever we could - so I hadn't really planned on using a florist.

                                             My wedding Pinterest Board - Sorry, the link to the DIY doesn't appear to work anymore

                                      So I went out and bought a couple fake blooms to give a 'brooch and fake flower bouquet' a try. I experimented with wiring a few brooches and placing them in between the flowers and was pretty happy with the way it looked. I also found the DIY shown below to be helpful as well.

                                                                             Source: fancypantsweddings.com via Hollie on Pinterest

                                                                                                      My only issue was that some of the brooches were fairly heavy and even a fairly heavy gauge floral wire didn't want to hold them up. I also ran into a few brooches whose backs did not want to stay pinned. My mom and sister helped me to hot glue the ones I was having issues with. They also helped me secure everything well with floral tape. AND they came to the rescue when I was having Bouquet DIY burnout! LOL. They made my bouquet look awesome by finishing it off with pretty black sparkly ribbon around the stems and hot gluing leaves around the bottom of the flowers to make a sort of 'boarder' that made the flowers stand out better and look a little more polished.

The photo below shows the girls bouquets laying around mine. We finished off the 'bridesmaids' bouquets by using wired ribbon to make a sort of collar boarder around the bottom of the flowers. Again, like my bouquet, it made the flowers stand out more and make the whole bouquet looked more polished. Each of the girls got 3 brooches and we wired a few black beads in as well just to add a little more interest. 

I am super happy with the way the bouquets turned out. They are a great keepsake for myself AND the girls. A few days before the wedding I found the most perfect vase at Target. It held my flowers on our table at the wedding and I now keep it on my nightstand at home. A beautiful decoration in our bedroom at home and a lovely reminder each day of our wonderful wedding :)

Husband & Wife

Well, I have been MIA for over a month but for good reason! I got married! :) And as I am sure most of you know, that can keep a girl pretty busy!
Jon and I got married on December 28th and were fortunate enough to be able to go to Florida for the week after. We got to celebrate New Years Eve at Disney World which was really fun. I figured I would share some of my favorite photos from our wedding today, and in the next couple posts I will share some of the ideas we used for decor, the cake, etc....We tried to incorporate as many handmade and vintage items as possible!
Besides being a little under the weather on our wedding day, I couldn't have been happier with how everything turned out. And I am excited to share our special day on the blog :) So stay tuned!

(First 3 photos were taken by Kehley Shank Photography. The last photo was taken by my sister-in-law)

Winter Wedding!

Yowza!! I didn't mean to be MIA for so long! But when you are planning a wedding in only 4 short months (give or take a few weeks) you get kinda busy ;) Yes, that's right. Jon and I decided to get married this December 28th. We only got engaged at the end of August (see this post for the story) so that obviously hasn't given us a ton of time to plan.
We decided to marry so quickly mainly because both his brother and sister are getting married next year and we didn't really want to wait until 2014. Besides....we are in LOVE and there really is no reason to wait!! :) Luckily our families have been very supportive and helpful in everything and it is all coming together quite nicely. It IS possible to plan a wedding in only 3 months! Once things settle down some (probably AFTER the wedding) I will share some of the DIY's we did and other details.
But for right now I thought I would share some of the inspiration I've found online and on Pinterest. I am going to be trying - or have already tried - some of these.

                                      Ideas for Centerpieces

                                                                                   Source: soc.li via Hollie on Pinterest

                                                                     Source: twotwenty-one.com via Hollie on Pinterest

            Ideas for Favors - little pine trees or cinnamon and sugar covered almonds??

                                                                     Source: marthastewartweddings.com via Hollie on Pinterest

                                                                       Source: onecharmingparty.com via Hollie on Pinterest

                     

I have been collecting vintage pins for awhile and already started putting together my bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets. They look pretty similar to the one below.

                                                                    Source: zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com via Hollie on Pinterest

                                       

    I think this 'guest book' is super cute and my sister is working on making me something similar

                                                                                     Source: etsy.com via Hollie on Pinterest

           And I think we are going to put up a sign like the one below....such a sweet sentiment!

                                                                       Source: rusticweddingchic.com via Hollie on Pinterest

I look forward to eventually sharing photos from our special day and posting all the little DIYs we accomplished. It is such an exciting time and I am looking forward to becoming Mrs. Swope ;)

Bunting DIY

Today I wanted to share this super easy DIY Fabric Bunting I made a few weekends ago. Believe me...if I can make it...it is super easy! :) AND super cute! All you need is some fabric, scissors and rope!

I am a sucker for any sort of bunting or garland so when I came across this pretty idea on Pinterest (below) I knew I had to give it a try. I have been collecting vintage fabric (and some non-vintage) for awhile now and, not knowing how to sew, was never really sure what I was going to do with it. Once I saw this required no sewing I knew it was right up my alley :)

                              Source: intimateweddings.com via Hollie on Pinterest

                                                

Since I am not much of a DIYer, you might want to check out the link above for more complete instructions. But make sure you keep scrolling down to see my finished product!!

This was the beginning of the process. My sisters, mom and I were having a crafty afternoon so that is why the work space is such a mess. The fabric below isn't vintage but it is one of 5 that I added to the bunting. I measured the fabric to be about 22 inches long and then cut slits in the fabric edge about 2 inches apart.

The fun part is then ripping the fabric into 2 inch strips. You just tear at those slits you just made and the fabric tears pretty nice and evenly!

Once you have torn all the fabric you need, start tying it onto the rope at the midpoint of the fabric. Make sure you leave enough space at the end of end of the rope if you will be tying the rope to something.

I decided to tie my bunting to the bed. I have a canopy style bed and love to find different ways to spruce it up (as you can in this previous post).

I just love the results. I keep thinking up other places in the house that would benefit from a little bunting :) And even an upcoming wedding that it would be perfect for.... ;)

  

A very memorable vacation

Hello again! It has been a busy few weeks but I am finally getting back in to the groove of things. I wanted to check in real quick to share the news that I got engaged two weeks ago!! Jon and I left for vacation on August 24th. We were headed for Myrtle Beach for a week with my family but made plans to stop in Asheville, NC for a night to check out the Biltmore Estate. We arrived in Asheville late Friday afternoon to a beautiful Bed & Breakfast Jon had booked. When we walked in to our room there were roses, wine and chocolate covered strawberries waiting. He pulled a ring from his pocket and proposed!!

I said yes, of course! :) We are both very excited about this time in our lives and I look forward to sharing our future plans...of which we haven't really decided much yet.

I am so glad I decided this year to try and document our vacation a little each day since it turned out to be extra special! I bought a Smash journal by K & Company and some cute extras to make the process easier each day. I also made sure I had plenty of film for my Instax so I could take an instant photo every day to add. I didn't end up using the Instax as much as I had hoped but I am pretty happy with how it all turned out. I need to add a few finishing touches to it but hope to share the finished product here soon! Have any of you used a Smash journal before? I think it is a great idea for quicker scrapbooking and capturing more of the everyday with a more 'journal' type feel. I really enjoyed it and plan on using one again for our next adventure!

My favorite Flea!

I have lived in Oakmont, PA for a few years now and just love it! The little town is just so quaint with its brick paved streets and great shops/restaurants.... I don't think I could be happier with another town!
One of the things I love most about living in Oakmont is the festival that one of the churches has each year. The Saint Irenaeus Catholic Church has a festival once a year at the beginning of August...and the best part of it is the FLEA MARKET! :) I will never forget the first time I stumbled upon the festival. My friend and I had walked from our townhomes down the hill in to town for dinner at one of Oakmont's yummy restaurants and on the way home we walked past the festival happening in the church parking lot. My friend, having lived in Oakmont a lot longer than me, told me it was something they did every year and that they had great food. Having just eaten, I wasn't that impressed but we walked through anyway just to look around...and that is when I saw the sign pointing to the flea market!

It was more than I could have hoped for! :) A multi-room, 2 story flea market open on a Friday night until 10pm! I was just in heaven (my friend is such a sweetheart. She followed along but these kinds of things really don't interest her) and probably could have stayed and searched for hours. But because we had walked there I told myself not to get too excited because I didn't really want to buy a bunch of things and lug them up the hill. So I took a quick look around and decided to come back first thing the next day. 

And I have gone back each summer since! This year they put all the clothes in a whole separate building so I had 2 buildings & multiple rooms to look through. Below are a few things I picked up this year. They always have a pre-sale the Wednesday before the festival starts so I went there straight after work that night. I got a few things but most of it I got Sunday morning when they slash the prices.

I got this cool Santa. I believe he is from the 50s. He does have a tag on him but it is pretty worn. I believe it says the Stufflo company? Anyone know anything about him??

I also bought this amazing fondue set still in the original box and the writing is all in French! The only sad thing is that the people running the flea market wrote on the box! Ugh... but I just couldn't pass it up when it went half off.

And I got this pretty olive green and white chenille bedspread! I am pretty sure I had been eyeing it up last year as well but didn't buy it. This year I just couldn't leave it again! I don't have a bed to put it on right now but it is in excellent condition and it WILL one day be on a spare bed in my home :)

 

So - the moral of this story is to definitely check out the St. Ireneaus festival and flea market next August if you live in the Pittsburgh area! .... or don't... More for me! ;)