Summer Fun!

We have been inundated with rain here in Florida the last couple weeks, so much that our backyard playground has been completely flooded out!  Here it is at its worst a couple days ago.  But yesterday we were overjoyed to have a nice sunny day, and Riley had the great idea to go to our neighborhood park in the evening, and use that playground instead!  It was a nice way to end the night, and ease the wait until our set is dried up a bit!

Linking up here for Paper Mama's "Summer" photo challenge!

The Dollhouse Nursery

 Well hello!  I know I haven't been visiting my blog as frequently since the kids are out for summer vacation. Trying to keep up with three kiddos and their summer camps, bible schools, etc. is definitely a full-time job. But I do have to admit that the kids running around isn't the only reason for my absence...  

Ever since acquiring my big dollhouse, I have sort of become OBSESSED!  I have spent countless hours online, learning about vintage dollhouses and furniture and dolls.  It's funny, even though I have other dollhouses, I really haven't ever spent much time furnishing them and working on them- I looked at them more as decoration, I guess.  But with this dollhouse, I've really gotten interested in refurbishing and decorating it.  I see an even more pronounced collection brewing.  I am in love with the dollhouses and furnishings like those on this blog, and boy, does she have a serious collection of them!  I know I'd have to do some real sweetening up to my husband in order to even come close to that though!!

But anyway, onto the point of this post.  I've decorated the nursery and added some little dollhouse children to the residence.

 Above is the way the nursery looked when I received the house (the changing table and matching white beds were already mine).

 And here's how it looks now! I found the two Strombecker pink beds that matched the existing one on Ebay, and found the little twin girls on Etsy.  I am really in love with the little girls- so, so cute!!  I already had the baby and the little boy.

 Aren't those girls sweet?

 I also wallpapered (it's actually scrapbook paper), painted, and added artwork to the walls, as well as some little vintage flashcards for the kids to practice with!

 Their own little play table in the nursery!

I do have to say that I'm a little bummed that I'm already done with the nursery, since it's the most fun, and fits my style the most.  I wish every room could be a nursery- how I'd love to decorate a house like that!  So I hope that I have just as much fun working on the other rooms.  And if not, then I guess I'll just have to get another dollhouse with another nursery to decorate!!

Vintage Yellow Style

 This week, I decided to combine Paper Mama's photo challenge ("Yellow") with a little vintage style post.  It's been a while since I dressed Avery in vintage, so it was the perfect time to try on this adorable thrifted yellow sundress I've been saving.

 It's a bit hard to see in some of these photos, but it's got wonderful smocking and embroidery all across the front.

 The Hello Kitty necklace was from Target's dollar bin a few weeks ago!

 She was having some fun in her bedroom, and loved that I was allowing her to stand up on her little puzzle shelf!

 Noah got in on the action and tried to make her laugh!

 Then we took a trip out to the backyard to see the dress in full twirling action!

 It rated pretty high for twirl-i-ness!

 We'll be linking up here...

 ... and here this week!  (Oops, just realized Mama Loves Papa is taking a little break, so I'll link up with her next installment!)

And since we're on the subject of sweet vintage dresses, here are a few more that I've added to my shop this week!  I'm slowly working through my stash.  Once I'm done listing the clothes, I'll slowly add some other vintage goodies I've been hoarding!

Kitty Cat Quilt

I showed you a bad photo of the kitty cat embroidery I got for my birthday last week.  Well, this is what it has turned into!

 A new quilt for Avery's bed!  I made quilts for Riley and Noah when they used the toddler bed, so I've been wanting to do one for her as well.  (I'm using the term "quilt" loosely here, since I really don't do much detailed quilting on them, but they seem to hold up well despite that!)

 It was a pretty easy project, which is what I need while I've now got three kids running around for summer!  

To take these photos, I tucked everything in around the edges so that it's nice and neat, but of course that's not very realistic...

   Here's a more realistic view of what it looks like on her bed!

 And when it is tucked in, you miss the best part- the pink pom-poms!  That's Avery's very favorite part of the quilt!

 I absolutely adore the fabric I found for around the edges- it's a Joann's brand.  Lately I've been pleasantly surprised with their fabric selection, which is nice because they are pretty much the only fabric store in town for me.

And for those of you who are embroidery buffs, here is a closer look at the work.  Sorry it's a touch blurry- I didn't realize it until I started doing this post!  

As I mentioned above, all the kids are now officially home for summer, so it will probably be a little quieter than normal here, but I'll still post when I've got fun things to share!!

New Items in the Shop!

I've listed several new items in my Etsy shop!  Many of these I'm letting go with a sniff, because they are ones Avery wore when she was a bit littler!

Please check out my shop if you're interested!

More Vintage Birthday Goodness!

Hi Guys, I told you I would show you some of the other goodies I got for my birthday this year.  So I took time away from my Ebay surfing (I'm glued to Ebay lately looking at vintage dollhouse furniture/accessories!!) and shot some photos of my fun presents.

 My sister gave me this sweet dolly (the one with the arrow pointing at her) after we saw her at an antique show together.  I mentioned that I was considering buying her, and my sister snuck away and bought her for me- it was such a fun surprise because I really didn't suspect a thing!

And actually, as long as we're on this photo, you haven't seen the little doll wardrobe with the puppies on it behind the dolls.  That was an early birthday present to myself- I snuck a few of those in- don't we all?

 This large doll bed was from my mother, after I hinted about it with a link to the auction!

 I wasn't sure where I could fit it in my already tight studio, until I had the brilliant idea to put it out in our family room to hold some of our vintage books!  

 It couldn't be a more perfect match right between these two little school desks and underneath the artwork!

 Two more gifts that I hinted about to family members were the blue doll wardrobe and the yellow doll dresser above.  They are so, so happy and sweet!!  I adore them!

And finally, this embroidered piece also came from the same sister who surprised me with the doll above.  She did the same thing with this piece, and snuck away to buy it for me.  It appears to be an unfinished crib blanket.  Sorry I don't have a better photo for you, but it is in the process of being transformed into something new! I will show you as soon as it's finished!

Like I said in a previous post, the dollhouse I got for my birthday was such a wonderful present that I really didn't need anything else, so it was so fun to also get all of these wonderful goodies!  Every year, I email my family little hints of things I'd like (usually in the form of Ebay links!), but I think this is the first year anybody has actually bought anything from those lists!  Maybe this means they have finally stopped trying to find reason in the things I collect, and have just given in to my craziness!!