a collection of vintage clothes

i think i may have mentioned it before... but i have an ever growing collection of vintage baby and child clothes. i started buying them years ago as gifts and then realised how freaking gorgeous some of those little dresses and shirts were... so i started putting some of them aside. now i have almost two plastic crates full (and no immediate plans for children) so i thought that it was time to share the love and open my collection to some of you who do have children or nieces and nephews or friends with children. i am finding that it is becoming really difficult to find vintage childrens clothes... so look no further!

i will be starting to sell a few little goodies through my 'green tea and red nails' facebook page which you can find over HERE. like this page to receive blog updates, lovely images and access to some handmade and vintage goodies!

on this facebook page you should find an album full of vintage kiddies clothes (mainly for little girls - but a few things for boys and more will be added) in a variety of sizes. simply comment on the image with any questions or if you would like to purchase that item. alternatively, you can send me a private message. now for the good part...

as an OPENING SPECIAL - all items will be $8 only until the end of the week! Postage will be charged at $4 for as many items as you wish to order!

all items will be washed, ironed, gift wrapped and delivered to your door via Australia Post!

payment can be made via paypal or bank deposit!

Thanks for your love and support - you guys are the best!

Kel xx

p.s - will be back tomorrow with some vintage sheet crafty inspiration...

scenes from my weekend...

breakfast in the sun, new jeans, magazine reading, a 21st birthday and some whale watching...

now, before you go and start thinking what a lovely weekend i must have had (which i did) i'll balance it out by telling you that whale watching ended... and began... with me seasick and vomiting into a bag! I have been wanting to go whale watching for years (it's on my 101 list) and i couldn't even enjoy it as i was curled up in the corner. I did manage to see a couple of whales before scurrying back inside to my vomit bag... eek!

hope you had a lovely weekend too... minus the vomiting!

p.s - dont forget to join up for the vintage sheet FQ swap - there are still a few more places left!

a morning on the farm...

i use the term 'farm' very loosely as we currently have one acre, one dog, three fruit trees and four small beds of vegies... BUT we have big plans to expand the vegie garden in the next few weeks and as soon as hubby has finished the chicken coop we hope to adopt three chickens! I have wanted chickens for years and have been pestering hubby about building me a chicken coop for almost as long. Apparently nagging works because he woke up last weekend with coop building plans... hooray!!

As far as fruit trees go, we have two lime trees and a lemon tree which are growing VERY slowly... the soil we have on our 'farm' is terrible! I am planning to add some orange, mandarin and avocado trees to this in the next little while. Does anyone know the best time of the year to plant fruit trees?

I have a small blueberry plant that is looking very sad and sorry... am not sure that the Brisbane climate really suits it. Anyone in Brissie had success with blueberries or raspberries?

This time next year, I am hoping to be getting most of our fruit and vegies from OUR garden rather than the local farmers markets. While I love our weekly trips to the markets I would happily substitute them with daily walks out to the vegie patch to pick dinner :)

Have a happy week - Kel x

a winter holiday

a winter school holiday in queensland means dress-up dinners, family picnics, lots of coffee and walks on the beach.

my mid year break has reminded me of how good life can be... now if only work didn't get in the way!

a vintage sheet FQ swap... take two

lovely people...

Thanks so much for the support and positive feedback from the last vintage sheet FQ swap! since then I have been getting lots of comments and emails asking if there were plans for another one... last week i floated the idea on the blog and got such a great response that i have decided to take the leap and host round two of the AUSTRALIAN VINTAGE SHEET FQ SWAP!!!It is a big job but it was so lovely so see all those sheet squares coming through my living room (mu husband might disagree here) AND i have met some awesome people in the blog world through this swap which makes it completely worthwhile! have a look at part one over here and check out some of the lovely creations that came from the swap here and here.

This swap will be a little smaller than the last one and i will cut off sign-ups at 40 people or the postage date - whichever comes first! If you do sign up PLEASE make sure that you are sending your FQ's by the due dates. If you need to pull out that is okay but please let me know via email as soon as you know - it was difficult last time as i was waiting for FQ's to come in that never came!

What you need to do... if you are keen to be involved in this swap then just leave a comment on this post indicating your interest with your EMAIL ADDRESS (this makes it a lot easier for me)! Alternatively, you can email me at kellie_fm (at) hotmail (dot) com and let me know that way.

As people sign up for the swap I will send out all the necessary information via email to participants.

The time frame... Please have your vintage sheets washed, cut into FQ's and posted no later than the 17th of August. You have a little less time than the last swap but it should still give you plenty of time to scout your local oppies for lovely sheets to cut and swap. I will attempt to have them back in the post for you by the end of August and you should receive your new stash of vintage fabric sometime in the next week ready for spring crafting!

Sign ups... I am happy to take sign ups until the 17th of August or until we reach the limit of 40 people signed up. Please make sure that you have your FQ's in the mail by the cut off date.

Spread the word... the more people we have involved in this, the more variety you will receive in your vintage FQ's. Feel free to blog about this and save the above image to use as a button for this swap... just make sure you are linking back to this post.

How the swap will work... it is up to you how many fat quarters you want to contribute to the swap. The number of FQ's you send to me will be the number that you receive back. THEN... you will need to place your washed, cut up sheets into a pre-paid parcel post satchel (available at the post office in 500g and 3kg varietys). You should be able to fit about 15 FQs in a 500g satchel and 50+ in the 3kg satchel. you MUST also include a self-addresses pre-paid post satchel in your parcel to me for me to mail your new vintage loveliness to you.

A few more things...
*sheets must be washed prior to being sent
*this swap is for AUSTRALIAN residents only (sorry to my other readers - it is just easier for postage)
*your fat quarters should measure approx 50cm x 56cm
*ensure your fat quarters are free from marks, rips and stains. only send sheets that you would want to receive (i reserve the right to return to you any sheets you send which do not meet this quality standard)
*only COTTON or COTTON BLEND sheets please (nothing flannelette or polyester - thanks!)
*it is more than okay for you to send multiple fat quarters from the one sheet!!
*please do not send any sheets with cartoon characters, kids sheets or any solid colours.

I will be updating all the swap participants through email and through this blog so stay tuned! i am so excited for this (again!)... I do hope that you will join me!

woohoo! KEL xx

p.s - feel free to ask any questions that you have in the comments section of this post...

four happy things on friday

a finally finished craft project (you know the ones that you start and then they sit around your craft room for months!!), some lovely mail from an even lovelier lady, finding a favourite lost polaroid, vintage goodies from wonderful people

leave a comment if you are playing along on your blog so i can pop over and see what has made you happy this week!

p.s - stay tuned for an exciting announcement on Monday of the vintage sheet variety :)

just a minute in... july

reading... the hunger games. again.

listening to... silverchair. frogstomp is always somewhere in my rotation.

cooking... lots of yummy winter soups.

wanting... some shelves in my wardrobe. we have HEAPS of hanging space but no shelves which makes for a nice big pile of jumpers and t-shirts on the floor!

wishing... for a simpler life.

feeling... cold. all the time.

excited about... an upcoming wedding!

blessed by... a husband who scrapes the ice off my windscreen at 6.30am before he leaves for work.

looking forward to... Harry Potter!

*photo is of my bridesmaids flowers from two weekends ago. more photos to come!

a few things...

*my very best friend got ENGAGED on the weekend! hip hip hooray for wedding planning :)!

*a new blog crush! (and where the above image has come from)

*the loveliest little jacket! that vintage sheet lining is perfection....

*i am thinking of hosting another vintage sheet swap in the near future. yes it's a big job but my love for vintage sheets is outweighing the big time sacrifice! i have been getting a few emails and comments asking about this so thought i would float the idea again. would definitely need to have a cut off number this time. Let me know if you are keen :)

*THANKS for all the comments about binding a quilt and commenting with blogger. i seem to have the commenting problem fixed and will hopefully get the quilt finished in the next few weeks (just need to find some spare time.. eek!). can't wait to show you the finished product!

a bridal shower

a bridal shower for my little sister-in-law! lots of blue and white and lace and cake. perfect!

at the op shop...

a few recent op shop finds... some more wooden toys, baby announcements (not for me!!) and some sheets and pillow cases.

I have sewn all the squares of my quilt together but am a bit scared to go any further! haha! I have bougt the batting and found the backing sheet (the top one in the last photo) but having never bound a quilt before i don't want to ruin all my hard work. do any of you quilters have any tips?

p.s - is anyone else having trouble commenting on blogs? I have been trying to commant on all the lovely posts of late but blogger seems to keep signing me out. i do not care for this. grrr.