Vintage ribbon and notion giveaway

In my last post I showed you a picture of some of the vintage trim I found in a huge old box at the Long Beach flea market. Most of the ribbon that was in it's original packaging was hidden under huge tangled piles of vintage ric rac (rick rack), seam binding and ribbon. It is amazing what you can find if you are willing to dig and work a bit.


It took several days to sort out and wind up all the vintage trim, and seperate out the buttons, bells, wooden spools and poker chips. Yep, I have BAGS of them. The Fashionista and Sweet boy helped, as did the dog.


Then the fun began. I had purchased some dishtowels in the clearance bin at Pottery Barn. They were a little plain.



I added a bit of vintage cotton seam binding and ric rac in the colors of the Fashionista's new woodland kitchen. Cute?


When I attend college or hang out at home I am a jeans and t shirt girl. But I thought it might be nice to jazz up some of the plain "t's" with a bit o' rick rack. (The necklace is my own creation.)



This shirt I made to match a cute sweater, but for some reason it just leaves me wanting Baskin Robbins. :)


I also have been making a shower curtain for the Fashionista's apartment using some vintage fabric she loves. It is now also covered in yummy vintage trim. (I will reveal the entire bathroom soon, but I imagine you can figure out the theme.)




Of course there is nothing like jazzing up a ho hum gift with a bit of vintage seam binding. I have been using it in my scrap booking endeavors too.




Yet even after all these projects I still have enough vintage trim to last three lifetimes. So, I have decided to share. I am listing close to two hundred packages of trim in its original packaging in my Etsy shop. It is priced to sell at 2 for $1.00! The first 20 buyers will also get some bonus trim added to their orders.



For those of you who don't need the original packaging you can get an even better deal, 4 cards of trim for $1.00! The average amount of yardage on each card is 2 yards. Each has a minimum of 1 yard, some have 3-4 yards.

As a thank you for listening to my spiel I am hosting a giveaway of vintage trim, lace, ric rac, and seam binding. Please leave me ONE comment. A winner will be selected next week.

And pretty please, the dog is begging you, could you kindly visit my shop and take some of this trim off of our paws?

Update: The random number generator has selected Jill Elaine of Sew A Fine Seam. Congratulations Jill! I "sew" hope you enjoy your vintage trims.

Where Gypsies Shop

My friend Mary lives very close to Venice in California. She took us shopping on Abbot Kinney Blvd. which was definitely my kind of place~adorable shops and restaurants tucked into darling old homes. First up: Tumbleweed And Dandelion.


I knew I was going to fall in love with this sweet shop when I read owner Lizabeth McGraw's message board. I like her thinking!

Pure bliss.

Ooh the chandelier!

I love what she did with the kitchen.

What do I adore the most~a linen lampshade, the hand painted walls or the gorgeous mirror?

In the backyard are bits and pieces of wonderful salvage~ perfect in any garden.

Next, we ventured into Bountiful.

Where do I look first?

My heart almost stopped when I spied these chairs. They had to stay because alas I have no where to display their beauty.

The next morning we were up bright and early to go to the Long Beach Flea Market. I first spotted this wee deer who was begging to live in the fairy woodland that is the Fashionista's apartment.

You know how I love these vintage trays. I have more than I probably need but this one was a steal at $5. Of course it did take awhile to clean it up.

Christmas in July?

Yes, if it is 1940's loveliness.

Two pillowcases that have long ago lost their mates. Perfect for an apron I am currently sewing. More of that to come in a future post.

I am always so saddened when I see old photo's for sale. Probably because I have so few of my own family. This sweet mother and babe came home with me for $1. It has the old domed glass in the frame.

A few vintage patterns for the Fashionista who adores Pucci and Vogue.

A vintage piece of tin for my friend Heidi. Her birthday is this month.

And the biggest box of vintage trim and notions that you ever did see! It took me hours~ no days~ to sort through it all.

Come back on Friday to see a few of the projects that I am using this yummy deliciousness on.

UPDATE: All images contained in this post are from my own personal collection. Copyright laws apply. These images are for private use only. For further information please contact me at arrangingelegance@hotmail.com Thank you!

To the individual who left yet another anonymous comment proclaiming I am not the owner of the photos, please refer to the first photo again. It is quite evident I personally took the photo because I am the only one missing from the picture. Thank you for your concern. I believe that your blogging police services are no longer needed on my blog.

The Cutest Craft Studio Ever!

I spent the weekend responding to each and every precious comment from over 400+ new to me bloggers after I was featured on SITS last Thursday. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Onto prettiness! Last Monday's post featured my friend Mary's adorable cottage bungalow. Today I am sharing her truly inspiring creative space. It is right outside the french doors of her master bedroom.

On the way I passed by this pretty table.

Sweet happy sighs.




I never thought I'd say this, but there was almost too much beautiful eye candy. Almost. :)



Vintage wallpaper and great new wrapping paper.

Dream? Absolutely.

It's so much goodness~ let's stop for a lunch break. Here is the centerpiece that was on Mary's kitchen table. She is so talented in SO many areas.

Why didn't my school lunches ever look as good as this? I am almost ashamed to admit that I ate everything.

All the girls: Maria, Mindy, myself, Trisha, Fran and Christi. Thank you for taking the picture Mary!

Ok, back to the studio. I love this flamingo! Thank you for the image Trisha.

Luscious vintage ribbon.

I could spend hours...no days~ creating here! It was so much fun.

Mary does rent out the space for birthday's, showers and great crafting events.

Thank you my sweet gypsies for a beautiful memory.

On Wednesday I will be taking you along to some of the places that gypsies shop. Prepare to dream.

UPDATE: All images contained in this post are from my own personal collection. Copyright laws apply. These images are for private use only. For further information please contact me at arrangingelegance@hotmail.com Thank you!

To the individual who left an anonymous comment proclaiming I am not the owner of the photos, I am indeed the photographer. The last image was taken with my camera by another wonderful gypsy attending the event. I take copyright laws very seriously and am the first to give credit where credit is due. Please once again refer to the the group lunch photo where from the original post date I graciously indicated who the photographer was. While I appreciate your concern, I believe that your blogging police services are no longer needed on my blog.

A Caravan of Gypsy Crafts

I had planned for this post to cover Mary's unbelievable craft studio, but I am still currently sorting through my photo's and gathering a few links. Instead I thought I would share what I made in her awe inspiring space. Our beautiful instructor was the truly gifted Tricia of Vintage Bliss. Each ladies album was dazzlingly different. Here is the cover of my Gypsy Boheme Voyage book.

I attached a ticket to the first page that provided free admission to crazyworld. I left room to admit some crazy photos and yes, they do exist. :)

The delightful and lovely Miss Billy Carter, an original gypsy, graces page four. (Thank you for the image Tricia!)

Next there is a page dedicated to the idea of a gypsy fortune teller. I wrote "What is your fortune in life? Love, Health, Happiness"

We had seven gypsies total in attendance. I wrote down each name.

The vintage hippo popcorn bag holds business cards of sweet shoppes and restaurants.

I had to have a peacock feather in the book as Mary's floral centerpiece featured these brilliant plumes.

Next up is a page inspired by Mindy, an attendee.

I plan on placing a photo of my flea market finds on the page entitled "Junk Gypsy". Don't worry, a post featuring my haul is coming up... along with a surprise.

The last page features a tag and more room for photos.

Here is the back cover of my album.

Our second project was this absolutely adorable tote bag featuring the Gypsy Boheme image. This is Miss Tricia's sweet bag.

My bag suffered an accessory malfunction that involved a can of Hawaiian punch during the long ride home. I really needed a new tote bag as I will be taking 3 classes this next semester and I find that keeping each class in a separate tote helps to keep me organized. So, I bought a new heavy duty pink tote (Wal Mart $2.46) and carefully cut out the image and sewed it onto the new bag. I also transferred all the yummy vintage trim that Tricia and Mary so lovingly provided.

While I was at it I added the image of Miss Billy onto the bag.

I placed a favorite image of a sweet Gypsy girl on the back of the tote.

Tricia is truly talented. She also created this cute candle and this beautiful necklace for me. Thank you so much!

My girl Mary had me select something from her shop to take home. I chose this piece of artwork as it reminded me of the Fashionista. It will go in her new apartment as it fits

the theme of a Forest Storybook Wonderland.

Thank you sweet ladies from the bottom of my big wheeled heart.

UPDATE: All images contained in this post are from my own personal collection. Copyright laws apply. These images are for private use only. For further information please contact me at arrangingelegance@hotmail.com Thank you!