Lil' Vintage Story Books #22

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

Well, if you couldn't tell from this post, I have a bit of an addiction for vintage nursery decals.  So when I saw this Little Golden Book, I knew it was meant for me!  It's called "Fun With Decals", written by Elsa Ruth Nast, illustrated by Corinne Malvern, and published in 1952.  Originally, it came with its own sheet of Meyercord decals, but sadly, the ones in this book had been taken out.  But that's okay, I know I can always find more on Ebay or Etsy!

 In addition to the decals, this is also a little storybook about a family who takes a trip to their new cabin.

 Unfortunately, it begins to rain on their very first day.  Never fear though, Mother and Dad have plenty of projects to do!

 I just love the illustrations of these little girls- oh, those sweet little pinafore dresses!

 A break for lunch-   five sandwiches for Ty!  Oh my!

 Hurray!  Dad has a surprise!  Meyercord decals for everyone!

 The whole family has a grand time putting decals on everything!

 How much would I pay for this adorable shelf at an antique store these days?  Too much!

 The rain finally stops, and everyone goes out for a swim, knowing how fancy their new cabin looks now!

Yes, yes, yes, and yes-I'd take one of each of these little pieces, please!

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Little Vintage Style

I haven't been dressing Avery in vintage as much lately.  I've felt so busy, I usually just grab the easiest thing out of her closet in the morning!  But these photos are from a few weeks ago, and I realized I never shared them!

This was a sweet little vintage dress that I paired with houndstooth leggings and little red shoes.  Everything's thrifted.

 I sort of like the quirkiness of the mismatched prints.

 She wasn't into any fancy posing on this day, but at least she sat on the chair for me nicely!

I'll be linking up here tomorrow...

Avery's Room Addendum

Well, hello!  I know it wasn't very nice of me to post all those photos of Avery's room, and then disappear for a week.  We went out of town for Spring Break, and the highlight of my day was checking in and seeing everyone's sweet comments about her room!  Several of you asked questions about things, so I'll try to answer them here.  But before I do that, I'll show you what has already changed about the room since our return!

Avery now has a sweet little toy chest by her window!  Isn't it just wonderful???

On our trip, I went to probably 6 different antique malls, and can you believe that this was the only item I bought?  There was seriously just nothing I liked anywhere!  But that's okay, because the fabulous-ness of this piece makes up for the slim pickings!

 It was only $30, which I thought was pretty inexpensive for a nice wooden piece, and what's so nice is that it doubles as a little seat for her!  And of course, look how many Meyercord decals!  Five!  I am SUCH a sucker for vintage nursery decals!

So, now onto some of your questions.  I had several people ask about the paper doll on her wall.  Really, this was just a lucky Ebay find a few years ago.  I frequently look for vintage paper dolls there, and just happened upon this GIANT one!  But you could probably make your own by taking a smaller one and making enlarged copies of it at the copy shop...

I also had questions about how I hang some of the things on the wall.  Well, really, I am not the best person to ask about this.  Honestly, most things are just hung with regular nails.  If I were to ask my husband to do it, he would use huge dry-wall anchor screws that make a mess of the walls.  And I like to rearrange frequently, so I try to avoid that.  So, it's probably not the best way, but I haven't had anything fall, so I'll stick to it for now!!

And finally, the bed.  It used to be just a regular white toddler bed from Babies R Us (these kinds are a dime a dozen at thrift stores around here).  You can see pics in this post.  But I knew I wanted something more vintage-y for Avery's room.  So I spray-painted it (I used Montana Spray Paint in Malachite- I had to order it online), then distressed it.  The "decals" are actually not decals, but are images printed out and decoupaged onto the bed.

So there you have it!  I hope I answered all your questions, but feel free to ask if you have any more!  If you missed the original room tour, you can find it here.

Avery's Big Girl Room

Little Miss Avery would like to introduce you to her "new" big girl room!  

As you may remember, we sold our crib, and I also moved her changing table into the bathroom to free up some space.  So it was time to do a little bit of updating!

I should mention before we really begin that virtually every piece in this room has been thrifted, handmade,  or purchased second-hand, even the toys!  

My biggest splurge in the room was the little dresser, which I found at an antique store for $150.  But the cost of that far outweighs anything else in the room.  I purchased the wicker shelves at the thrift to house some of her toys, and painted them pale pink.

It's very difficult to get a good photo of this side of the room, with the light coming through the window...!

I mentioned that I was painting her toddler bed (it was originally just a standard white toddler bed from Babies R Us several years ago), and here's the result!  I couldn't resist also adding some vintage decals!  (There are closer photos down below as well.)  I found that quilt at the thrift-isn't it beautiful?

I moved our vintage tray puzzles in here, and it's her absolute favorite past-time!  She likes doing puzzles much better than taking naps, in fact, which I probably should have considered!

This blue chair is one of the only things in the room that was purchased new (from Home Goods), and even that was in another room before it was in here.

Her little dolly changing table, with princess shoes underneath, of course!

You've seen this shelf recently.  I spray painted the butterflies to match her bed.

If you follow my Pinterest boards, you'll recognize this idea for holding all the handmade dollies.  

Avery LOVES the little bunnies on her bed!

This bunny here is one of my all-time favorite finds- he is just adorable.  Actually, the piano and teddy bureau would probably be up there in my top ten, too!

A little curio shelf.  The prayer above was made by my mother-in-law from a vintage pattern.  You may remember the curtains from before Avery was even born!

Oh, how I love this little dolly.  I can't say Avery loves her as much as I do, but isn't she just the sweetest?

Another shot of our little puzzle-lover.  I found the little red play sink for $5 at the thrift, and it's the perfect size to hold all her puzzles.

Another embroidery by my mother-in-law!

Here's this cute little dolly bed again!

Cute shelves with vintage baby planters...

I love these quilted wall hangings that Kari from ArtsyMama sent me!

Another item in my top ten list is this embroidered wall hanging- sigh, I just love it...!  I keep all her scrapbooks/journals up here as well.

I've begun collecting Madame Alexander dolls and Josef figurines for her- they're in the shelf on the left.  On top of that is the very first doll I had in my childhood doll collection- the green Bradley doll, as well as two others I've found over the years.

A closer view of the art on her wall.  She loves kitties, so lots of the artwork reflects that!

Avery would like to thank you for stopping by her big girl room for a tour!  Please come back and play anytime!

Bye-bye!

Lil' Vintage Story Books #21

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!

Today's book is just wonderful.  It's called "I Can Fly", written by Ruth Krauss, and illustrated by the fabulous Mary Blair.  It was originally published in 1951, although my copy is a very new reprint.

Mary Blair's illustrations are just breathtaking in this book.  This first page just stills my heart every time I look at it!!  

Her color combinations are so wonderful.  In fact, once I publish this post, I may go "pin" some of the images into my "Color Combos" board!

 Love how her little dress matches the chicken!

 So, so cute!

 Look at the details on the plates up on the shelf from the above spread!

 Such pretty designs on the clam shells!

 I adore everything about these pages- all the patterns, the kitties, the colors- just wonderful!! 

Couldn't you just live forever in a world created by Mary Blair??  I could!

*** I will be skipping next week's Lil' Vintage Story Books (March 23rd), but will be back the following week ***

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