valentine crafty round up

those who know me know there are two things i love (well, hundreds of things really, but these are two of them): giving presents and handmade crafty-ness.

photo and tote bag from Not Made in China.

for that reason, i've always loved valentine's day (even for the many, many years i was a single gal). i look at it as just one more excuse to make and give the people i care about crafty presents! i know others find it cheesy, or think it's some kind of greeting card company holiday (i'll be sharing about the history of valentine's day tomorrow), but i enjoy it.

photo and 'Wheelie' valentine from Thirty Handmade Days.

this year though, i haven't had much energy and other than making a gift for my mister (which i am dying to share with you, but it'll have to wait until wednesday), i haven't done anything for valentine's day. thanks to the magic of the internet however, i can live vicariously through all the crafty goodness everyone else is sharing with the world, and you can too!

photo and 'Crafty Like a Fox' pattern by Penelope Waits.

so here's a round up of my favorite valentine's projects- most of which can (and should) be made with vintage materials...

cupid's arrow sweater embellishment from Elegant Musings- perfect for a vintage cardigan with a hole or other imperfection that needs covering up!

a new friend from Alt and fellow Seattleite, Brianne, has a sweet and simple vintage scrap bookmark how-to on her site- The Ravenna Girls.

another Seattleite pal, Megan from Not Martha posted a great tutorial for valentine's day surprise crackers! crackers have been around since 1847 and though generally used at Christmas, they can make any day or event special! find out more about the history at Absolutely Crackers).

The Lettered Cottage has a great cupcake stand DIY, using vintage plates and other fun things. this would be so cute at a valentine's party!


one of my favorite design sites, Design Sponge, had so many cute valentine's projects last year! my two favorites:

repurposed packaging in old cigar boxes from the BBB Craft Sisters. so many ways to use this idea!

and the

vintage typewriter tin valentine from Ashley. i even have a typewriter tin sitting on a shelf right now, i might have to whip one of these up today!

i dug back all the way to 2010 for this cute vintage spool valentine idea from Papernstitch. 

one of my recent favorites- these arrow valentines from Two Shades of Pink. (i'll admit it, i'm a bit obsessed with arrows)! these are so easy and you could incorporate so many vintage materials- fabric, paper, yarn, measuring tapes, tags, and more!

speaking of my arrow obsession, another one of my new pals from Alt, Muffin, has an entire week of free valentine's downloads on her site- Sweet Muffin Suite, and i love this printable arrow valentine! the mister and i were planning to make these on saturday, but cleaning and chores got in the way. sad. i think these would be so cute with vintage pencils inside!

last year i had a blast making flavored butters, inspired by Maize Hutton's 'Spread the Love' post. this year she even has a printable PDF so you can make an easy and cute label! another project with so many ways to use some vintage- fabric for the covers, paper for the labels, even vintage jars to make the butter in! 

today i stumbled upon these beautiful photos on Simply Bloom Photography and thought- cootie catchers (you know, those origami fortune teller things) would be such a fun valentine! did you make these when you were a kid? i remember making them with my friends from daycare (these, and playing MASH were extremely popular daycare activities)! Ruffled has a PDF template with instructions on how to make them.


what are you making for valentine's day? i'd love it if you'd share a link or send me a photo!

p.s. i'm experimenting with photo size today. if you love or hate the extra big photos, leave me a comment to let me know!

fridays are for fightin'

today i awoke with a rather large list of to-do's in my head. hit some estate sales, sort/clean/price inventory, work on the website, clean the house, show an apartment. i also awoke with a migraine in said head. a battle ensued. the migraine won for awhile. i skipped the sales and stayed in bed a bit. then i decided to fight through. i'm still not feeling great, but with a mountain of vintage goods to deal with, and a desire to have a life, i couldn't let the migraine win.

here's to fightin' through! what are you battling today?

gratitude

when you live in a small apartment, and run several businesses out of said apartment, keeping things organized is essential, at least if you don't want to go completely crazy! so today i am grateful for:

fun vintage things to use as storage...

i found this great drawer unit at the Funky Junk Show this past fall.  i recently found a mate for it at Goodwill! it will soon be replacing that white cabinet on the left.

funky old office organizer, turned embroidery thread storage. i love the color of this one!

handy mini drawers for small things. my sweet mister even made illustrated labels for them!

i'm a bit of a locker basket addict! here's a few holding some of my numerous craft supplies.

i find old safe deposit boxes very useful. i even have the combos for all of these so they can double as cash boxes.  right now they're holding all my packaging supplies for the businesses.

oh look, another locket basket! i especially love the long basket on the top shelf.  Melissa from re.stock and i found matching ones at a crazy sale in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle years ago.

more pretty greens. this drawer currently holds all our sweet treats in the kitchen.

what's that i see? yep- more locker baskets!

i've had this crate from the National Tea Co. in Denver since i was in high school

a great old milk bottle crate sits near the door, holding my everyday shoes (yes, i have a lot of Toms!).

i'd love to know- what are you grateful for this week? 

new arrivals

my apologies for the silence here over the last few days. i do have a bit of an excuse though- i've been busy gathering up new goods for both the vintage mall space and the farm chicks booth!

here's a peek...

sweet cow creamer

a travel bar set!

the cutest little 'baby brownie' camera

antique car horn- still working

some fun odds and ends

horse photo and some new frogs (i'm contemplating keeping all of these)!

cool world map mini trash can

brass directional light

a whole stack of suitcases!

a plethora of old atlas canning jars (love that green color)

a whole bunch of great office supplies

so that's what i've been up to. now to get it all organized and cleaned up! what have you been up to?

gratitude

photo via grey square designs

i have a confession. i spent way too much time on etsy yesterday. now, don't get me wrong, etsy is wonderful- i love etsy. but i notice that days when i've spent too much time on there (or on blogs, pinterest, etc) i find myself slightly less content with my own home, my own wardrobe, my own website, my own life. i don't like that. i go to those sites for inspiration, or maybe to find something i'm looking to purchase, but i don't want to become a less content person because of all the wonderful things that i find.

so, i've decided to do something about it. i'm going to focus on what i already have in my life that i'm grateful for, and i'm going to share those things with you. sometimes it might be tangible things, other times things that you can't put a price on. i hope that not only will this new segment help me to dwell in gratitude more consistently, but that it will also inspire you to look at your life and find the things you are grateful for.

today's gratitude: a vintage star chart that served as the keystone piece for our bedroom decor. i found it at an estate sale a very long time ago and even though i hadn't figured out what to do with it i held onto it. when we moved into our current apartment i knew it would be the perfect centerpiece for the new look i wanted.

isn't it fun? it may seem silly, but i really am grateful for such a simple and unique piece. plus, the lovely blue shade adds some calm to the bedroom.

what are you grateful for? i'd love if you'd share in the comments! or, if you have a photo, send it to me and i'll share it in a post tomorrow!

p.s. a special hello to all of you who are visiting for the first time via The Farm Chicks, Brookelyn Photograpy, or Bowtie and Bustle. i'm so thankful that these lovely sites and the amazing ladies behind them would link to lil' ol' me! thanks for visiting Gather and Hunt- i hope you enjoy your time here!

farm chicks love

over the weekend i received a fun email- my 2012 confirmation and the digital promo materials for The Farm Chicks Show! i admit, i had a tiny moment of panic when i realized that the show is only 4 months away (ack!), but then i remembered that just means i get to spend even more time out at sales, hunting down more amazing, beautiful, and fun vintage goodies to take with me to the show!

a few things i've been saving for the show

if you haven't heard about The Farm Chicks Show, it is a meticulously curated antique/vintage/'junk'/handmade show happening annually in Spokane, Washington. co-founded, organized and juried by the lovely and talented Serena, the show is a two day extravaganza of amazingness! vendors save their best goods for the show and you will see things you can't find anywhere else.

Funky Junk Jennifer's booth, photo by One Girl One Camera

last year, my bestie and partner in Dear Darling Vintage, Melissa and i were honored to be selected as vendors and we had so much fun!

this year, i'll be taking Gather and Hunt on the road to Spokane and i'm so excited! i hope to see some of you at the show this year! if you already know you'll be attending leave a comment below- i'm working on a special project for the weekend of the show and i'd love to be able to invite you along!

new arrivals!

some fun new goods arrived at the Gather and Hunt space in the Fremont Vintage Mall today! i know not everyone reading this is in Seattle, but i hope you can all enjoy a peek at some of the treasures i've found lately!

fun horseshoes

player piano scrolls

great brass whale bookend

a few new industrial office goodies

kitschy ceramic unicorn and eagle crewel

new business cards are available now!

on the hunt in Salt Lake City

during my recent trip to Salt Lake City for Alt Summit, i managed to escape the hotel for an afternoon to do a little thrifting with my friend Jenn from Scout. Vintage Rentals. we didn't have much time but we fit in a couple of great shops, and had a little fun in the snow too!

the snowflakes were huge and slushy

our first stop was Capital City Antique Mall. i had seen a spread about this shop in Cityhome Collective and it looked like a good spot- filled with treasures. it didn't disappoint.

i have a thing for lightbulbs ever since seeing the Edison exhibit at the Smithsonian in December

serious looking couple

a plate from my home state

i really wanted to take that blanket home (such pretty shades of green), but opted for some items that would fit into my suitcase a little easier.

after our taxi finally arrived (SLC is not really a taxi town), we headed over to Decades, the most amazing vintage clothing store i've ever been in! everything was immaculately organized and the store is just packed full of everything you could imagine. unfortunately, they didn't want us taking photos, so i only have one pic that was snapped before i asked if we could take photos. they also don't seem to have a working website, so the link above will direct you to a NY Times Magazine post about the shop.

the only photo from the shop- a case (that filled a whole wall) with amazing vintage jewelry

a few clutches i couldn't pass on (that peachy one is my favorite color right now)

as i write this, i'm wishing i had driven out to Salt Lake so i could have gathered even more treasures to bring home with me! there was some amazing vintage out there and the prices were so affordable. those of you living in SLC should count yourself very blessed! 

a new look

did you notice something a little different about the site today? it's a new look!

as i mentioned in a post last week, i've had my friend Chris, from Shipwreck Design, hard at work creating a new logo and a few other items for me. i couldn't be happier with the results. he really managed to bring what was in my head to life!

i hope you enjoy this new look. stop back by later today to check out my little vintage adventure in Salt Lake City!

taking a day

having arrived home from SLC (i'll share some highlights from Alt Summit later this week) yesterday afternoon, i kinda planned to be back to work today. waking up this morning, i realized that my back has other plans (i think it's protesting the far-too-heavy-to-be-hauling-around-the-airport suitcases from yesterday), so i'm taking a day to rest, process some of the things i learned at Alt, and recharge so i can get back to work tomorrow.

speaking of heavy suitcases, i did manage to find some time to do a little hunting while i was in SLC, so i'll leave you with a peek at what i brought home with me...

if you're wondering what other vintage loveliness is to be had in SLC, take a look at my new friend Heather's post over on Joy of All Crafts!

wanted : your submissions

you know that thrilling moment when you score some amazing vintage? i want to share those moments with the world- your moments of vintage victory!

i'm excited to launch a new feature here, where i can share all the wonderful things you've been gathering. i'm looking for your photos of things like:

great vintage you found thrifting
trunk shots from your weekend at estate sales
favorite vintage pieces
and more!

as long as it's vintage and the photos belong to you, i'd love to see them! each week i'll pick a submission to share with all the readers, so start snapping some photos and send them my way!

please email your submissions to danae {at} gatherandhuntvintage {dot} com. please do not send emails with attachments totaling more than 1MB. i'd also love to hear the story behind the score, so feel free to include some info!

can't wait to see what you've found!

a horstlee holiday

a few years ago my mister and i, my bestie (and former business partner at dear darling) melissa and her husby aaron, and their kids (well this is the first year with multiple kids) began a tradition of celebrating holidays together. though not usually on the actual holiday, we dubbed our celebrations 'horstlee holidays', and each time we gather we put our own unique stamp on holiday celebrations.

this year our christmas celebration ended up happening in mid january (darn those busy holiday schedules!) and we had a wonderful time together in the lee's home town of yakima.

usually, i'm so distracted by all the fun i forget about pictures, but i made a goal to take lots of them this year, so here's our day in photos...

we kicked things off with some delicious tacos and horchata from a local taco stand.

yum!

the mister, aka bill, enjoying tasty horchata

snuggles with one of favorite girls!

after lunch we got started on presents.

zula had lots of fun opening things this year!

what's inside?

helping daddy open his present...

and bill...

and mommy too! what a good helper!

this had to be staged since i had the camera when i opened it for real!

cool

cuddles with mommy

reading her new book

effi- what a darling

best pic ever! (taken by the mister, on accident)!

cute vintage card from the lee's to us

the inside- how awesome is that?

vintage napkins that match my brushe dishes perfectly! melissa made them from a table cloth- she's so talented.

biggest vintage lightbulb i've ever seen! (shown near a normal sized bulb so you can see just how big)!

zula made us a card this year- she's getting so big

of course, i couldn't resist taking some shots of the lee's always amazing home. they have such fun things and melissa changes things up frequently so it always looks fresh! you can follow all the happenings around the lee house on melissa's blog- re stock.

i realized after the fact that the ball jar was probably a water glass- not part of the decor!

melissa and i even had a chance to do a little vintage hunting together! thanks fellas for hanging out with the little ones!

melissa's finds

some of my goodies

and a few more (some of this will be in the shop soon)

after a few hours on the hunt, we returned home and made fancy drinks and a traditional horstlee dish- nachos! (our favorite).

fun drink supplies

nachos are an artform with us! so good!

the table was loaded with lots of vintage dishes, of course

zula even got her own fancy drink (sans the hard stuff)

before bill and i headed home, for the first time ever, we managed to take a group photo with everyone in it!! we had a little trouble with the timer, and i forgot a tripod, but we did it! i love these photos- so classically horstlee!

can't hardly wait for our next horstlee holiday!

new arrivals!

today's new arrivals are all mine!

love this vintage canvas and leather bag i ordered from etsy to replace the vintage pleather carry on bag i've been using for 3 years (that one will be in the shop next week)! it's huge, which is great for me because i carry a lot of stuff around with me constantly, but it also has 2 large compartments as well as 4 smaller pocket compartments so things will stay organized and easy to find!

even more exciting? my new business cards!! aren't they great? my good friend and talented designer, chris from shipwreck design, designed these and the new logo/header (coming soon to this site!) for me and i love them! i enlisted local print company girlie press for the printing/blind letterpressing/die cutting and beyond doing an amazing job- they also saved the day by expediting part of the order so i'd have some to take with me to alt! i highly recommend both shipwreck design and girlie press if you're in seattle and happen to need design work or printing!

if you'd like to get your hands on one of these beauties i'll have some in the space at the fremont vintage mall starting next week, or you can ask me for one when you see me!

snowed in

well, it's 10:27 and in my dream world, my flight to salt lake city for alt summit would be taking off right about now. in the real world, that flight was cancelled and i'm ninth in the standby line for a 3:50 flight. we'll see what happens!

snowy seatac airport- no fun

on the upside- i have a lot of time on my hands today so i figured i'd put up a few new posts! if you're snowed in too, you'll have a few new things to read today. see you in a bit!

punk rock snowman from the other day- when the snow was still fun!

let's go to alt!

have you noticed the button at the bottom of this site, the one that says 'i'm going'? well that little button is there to share my big excitement at being able to attend altitude design summit, better known as 'alt', this year!

alt is a conference in salt lake city for design and lifestyle bloggers of all kinds and it looks to be an amazing time! everyone i've talked to about it has great things to say and i am so grateful that i have the chance to attend this year.

needless to say, things have been busy around here as i prepare for the trip and the conference. there have been outfits to plan, lists to make, new business cards to order (excited to share photos once they are finished later today), and a million other little things.

thankfully i had a little help with the outfit planning, courtesy of my friend rebecca from we are large, people. rebecca is a stylish lady, with a passion for helping others find their own style, and has recently started her own style consultation business. with so many outfits to choose for alt (about 2 per day), i enlisted rebecca's skills to help me narrow down my wardrobe to a suitcase full of stylish choices.

after pulling the options i liked best out of my closet, armed with the alt wardrobe planner and packing list from design crush, we started making a plan.

several hours, and many outfits later, we had a complete set of outfits for alt! rebecca was so helpful in the process, giving me honest opinions about what looked good on me and helping me decide between different options.

i won't reveal all our choices here- you'll have to wait for the daily posts while i'm at alt- but here's a small peek! honestly, i'm not bringing as much vintage as i would like, but a lot of my vintage isn't super flattering and i want to bring my 'a game' in the style department to this stylish conference! don't worry though- i've got plenty of vintage accessories to keep things real!

snow day!

it's snowing in seattle! considering we only get snow about once a year, it's a big deal. i mean, a closed schools, abandoned cars, chains on (even when the roads are just wet), big deal.

even though it's making me nervous that my wednesday morning flight to salt lake city for altitude design summit won't make it out, the mister and i took some time to enjoy the snow...

new year refresher

as i mentioned the other day, i've been making some slight changes in the gather and hunt space in the fremont vintage mall. one of the biggest is trading out the grey shelves, which were a remnant from the dear darling vintage days, for some larger, brighter pieces. in addition to the new fixtures, and some rearranging, i'm also planning to recover one of the walls this month with some natural canvas fabric. i think these changes are slowly helping to give the space the gather and hunt feel.

while i was bringing a few new items in yesterday, i actually had my phone with me so i snapped a few photos...

what do you think? i feel like it's coming along nicely!

here are a few new arrivals as well...

perfectly patina'd typewriter table with two folding 'wings'. i really wanted to keep this one, but now someone else can give it a good home!

really old, cast iron music stand with a beautiful decorative base.

rustic and useful, this drawer unit is made from an old wooden liquor crate and has some cool old shipping tags from portland and seattle stuck to it.

that's all i have for today! this weekend i hope to share with you some of the happenings around here as i prepare for alt summit!

this just in

today brought a little remodel to the space at the fremont vintage mall, as well as some fun new goods...

unfortunately, i ended up without my camera or my phone while i was setting up the new displays today, so a peek at the new look will have to wait!

i hope you're all enjoying the weekend! if you've been gathering some vintage of your own, i'd love to see some photos- send them to me, along with your permission to post them, and i'll feature you in a new series i'm working on- 'get anything good?'.

this just in

a few new arrivals to the gather & hunt space at the fremont vintage mall...

cool orange mechanics laundry shop towel

a little silver sparkle- pewter pitcher and tin measuring cup

just in time for those holiday ice rinks

lots of science lab goodness

my favorite item right now- canvas tote with leather straps and handles

from my personal collection- a howard miller world clock (light works, clock needs some work)

happy shopping!

thankfully yours

we each wrote things we are thankful for on little tags

i can scarcely believe thanksgiving has already come and gone! this year just keeps flying right by me. we had a wonderful thanksgiving- a bit lower key than usual due to a little travel misadventure (namely, our flight home from san fran being delayed by 5 hours for a 3AM thanksgiving day arrival!)- but very lovely nonetheless. 

a little breakfast treat- cinnamon pull aparts (baked in vintage pyrex) and eggnog (in my vintage 'fly holiday' glasses)

i started the day as i usually do (albeit a bit later than usual)- making a breakfast treat and starting the stuffing while watching the parade. this is a tradition my mom began when i was a girl, and i enjoy continuing. once bill woke we had breakfast together and finished watching the parade. 

the finished turkey

later, after my mom and i got the turkey in the oven, my good friend katie arrived and we had a great afternoon playing games, snacking, and cooking together before dinner. 

our vintage place settings: a pretty tablecloth, 'brusche' by bauer plates,  and cloth napkins

thanksgiving is one of my favorite days for many reasons- family and friends, good food, reflecting on all we have to be thankful for, setting a pretty table, and, of course, having a reason to use all my fun pyrex! 

pretty candlelit table

the tasty spread- in vintage pyrex of course!

mmmm...

cheers to thankfulness (and old timey cocktail concoctions)!

i hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving too! i'd love to hear about your traditions! 

later this week i'll share some new posts from our trip to san francisco- stay tuned.