weekend plans...

The forecast is calling for sunny skies in the early part of the day tomorrow, which is perfect,

because you will be able to find us here at the 

Detroit Eastern Market

actually right about in this area, between Sheds 2&3

in front of the Welcome Center.

We will have lots and lots of this,

our natural lavender laundry and cleaning provisions

and these,

our lavender soy candles,

can't forget the repurposed art jewelry,

aka: the baubles.

After the market, for the rest of the weekend,

you can find me here...

here

still here,

here,

riding the trails with this guy,

and ending my days here

with the same guy...

and of course taking time from our weekend to remember

the reason for the day...

to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can

do all of the things I mentioned above.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Happy Memorial Day!

love,

t.xoxo

Painted Farmgirl & Friends...

It's official, I have a booth to call my own in a local brick and mortar!

Welcome to
Painted Farmgirl 

 it's just outside of Grand Rapids, MI.

in the sweet town of Hudsonville. 

You can see my booth from the front door, but stop and look around the front 

area before you grab some of our lavender goodness ;)  because there are so many great signs, pillows, flowers, a booth full of vintage clothes, and fabulous vintage goodness everywhere you look!

My booth isn't large by any means, but it does have enough space for an

abundance of our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products, 

as well as my soldered vintage marbles, soldered initials,

and assemblage art jewelry.

one of the assemblage art pieces you can find at 

Painted Farmgirl...

Let's not forget the power of lavender...

I use our lavender linen and room spray for more than just our beds

 and to naturally freshen the air in our home...

My TaDa list was full today,

so I spritzed myself and my work area

with our lavender linen and room spray,

and it helped to keep me calm, relaxed, and focused

(well, mostly focused, let's not push it!)

So if you have a long TaDa list like I do,

head on over to the shop and pick yourself up a bottle!

And while you're there, meander around the shop.  It's has rooms & rooms

full of fabulous jewelry,  Maison Blanche chalk paint, vintage inspired clothing, beautifully painted furniture,

handpainted signs, the most luscious soaps & bath bombs, 

and vintage treasures from one end to the other!

I am beyond thrilled to be part of the Painted Farmgirl Family!

On top of the excitement of having my first booth in the shop,

you will be able to find me at the 

Painted Farmgirl Flea

on May14, at the Hudsonville Fairgrounds!

Have a fantastic weekend!

love,

t.xoxo

it's show time!

The Vintage Green Antiques store in Grand Haven, MI. 

is our first official show of the season, 

and I am pretty excited to make my way to one of my 

favorite MI. cities!

        

I will have our space full of our lavender goodness of course...

perfect timing for all of your spring cleaning needs!

Let's not forget about the baubles...

perfect for all of those spring birthday gifts you may be on the look out for!

I'm having a little love affair with the vintage buffalo/Indian head coins 

I now have in my stash... they give a soulfulness to everything I add them to.

Plus I will have my soldered marbles, a fan favorite!

Another fan favorite is our new diffuser pendants, 

complete with a vial of our French Grosso Lavender oil.

Perfect for those days when you need to 

have a bit of aromatherapy for peace and calming

at your disposal.

I have those days, don't you?

I just love these necklaces, each one had a bead or dangling from the locket,

and they handle the request that many 

of my customers have said about our sachets...

"I wish I could just smell this all day"

well, now you can!

I hope to see you at the Pop-UP shop!

Vintage Green Antiques 

7 N. 7th St. Grand Haven, MI

love,

t.xoxo

newest creations...

Happy Monday!

I've had the soldering iron going a lot lately,

and thought I would show how I finished the large (knocker) crazy quilt scrap pendants.

this is the same one, I left the stitching on the backside, the side that the 

quilter usually keeps hidden as the flipside because I think her work 

deserves the spotlight on both sides!

I then hung the pendants with a stack of the sweetest vintage 

cream and milkglass buttons.

The MIlove charms that I showed in the last post I have now added to rings as well.  

This was my instagram and FB page post letting

our customers know we were on the way to Detroit.  :)

When I find a stamp that I think will add a little fun to the sachets

I get a little giddy.... this one definitely did the trick!

So not only do they smell beautiful, but they are just as pretty

when you pull them out of your dryer.

Here's a group photo of the knockers and a few other pieces before I added the buttons and chains. 

See how much bigger they are than the quarter?  

I LOVE THAT!  

They have a great weight to them, and make a gorgeous necklace for layering.

I wore mind with a winter scarf at the market and I loved how it peaked out 

from the bottom of my infinity scarf.

I don't create my soldered pendants with vintage photos like I used to these days,

(unless I have a commissioned order)

but this boy has a hold on me and when I found the print on fabric that 

I made of him a couple of years ago he immediately was preserved under glass. 

 I will most likely be sporting him around my neck.

I just love his look of determination.

It's Monday and that usually puts me in a funk with less focus than usual, 

but today the iron will once again be hot with a few orders to get done.

So there you have it, a little update on what's on the worktable.

I cleared off the dining room table so that we could once again have meals together,

and have set up shop in the workroom where I belong.  

let's see how long this will last ;)

I want to add that if you ever see anything on my instagram page

the old white house

or my facebook page

the old white house

and have any questions or would like to purchase a special bauble please msg. me

and I will put up a reserve listing for you.

My etsy and website have all of our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 but I haven't listed any of my jewelry in some time because by the time 

I get everything made I am packing up to go to a show or market.  

I of course would love to have my friends that do not live close by be able 

to wear a little somethin somethin that I've made also.

So please don't hesitate to contact me!

I hope you have a week full of grand adventures, love, and laughter! 

love, t.xoxo

summer is in full swing...

and I'm singing the blues.  Not really, I'm just drawn to the blue hues

of aquamarine, amazonite, and turquoise semi-precious stones.  I love to 

create with them and mix them with vintage treasures.  I've been

restocking my jewelry for upcoming markets and shows, and I always 

seem to reach for these!

Of course the neutrals always have my heart also!

These aquamarine rondelles are some of my favorite, add a little

rhinestone bling and well, perfection!

I've also been making lots of resin pendants to hang

on a simple chain, as they are a favorite in the booth.

This is where we spend our Saturdays.  The Detroit Eastern Market.  

We love coming here, the atmosphere is really amazing with so many

wonderful people from every walk of life mingling with each other, shopping for

produce and specialty products created by Michigan small business owners.  

On a rare occasion Duane and I get away from it all, usually to celebrate us.

This year for our 28th anniversary we made it to one of our favorite places in MI.

Traverse City

he had to be up there for work, and I tagged along!

(the sunset made it look like we were glowing, and well glowing is good)

We only had one day up there, but I will take what I can get :)

I used Rhonna Designs photo app to really capture the gorgeous sunset 

that we watched as we sat on a blanket on the beach on the  Leelanau Peninsula.

The kids and I spend most days at home 

either making product or just hanging out, but we have been

taking a few days here and there for adventures too.

The zoo has been a favorite and as a family we have been 

to a smallish lake close to home for a little R&R for all.

I hope that you are having a lovely summer full

of adventures of your own!

love,

t.xoxo

the beautiful north...

Recently I was lucky enough to go on another girls weekend

with some of my favorite girls...

my sisters.

I only wish that all of them lived close enough 

to join in the fun.

we would have made room in the 

'must visit' phone booth!

Our stay at my SIL's parents cabin was fabulous!

Here is the view from the living room...

heaven.

Lake Michigan is gorgeous

in every season.

What used to be cherry orchards and farm land has now

a vast amount of excellent vineyards.

...So we went to a few

MANY

wineries.

MANY.

here is the run down of some of the ones that we went to...

Really, something for everyone!

I fell in love with this little old school house one,

the theme of all of their wine was about a school house.

I'm going to apologize now,

right up front,

I do not remember the names of most of the places we visited.

Although that has NOTHING to do with

wine tastings...

MANY.

They are scattered all up and down
the peninsulas.

Black Star Farms

(I only remember this because we went there last time!)

Thanks for the fun girls!

This one is the newest and has won many awards for their wine.
The whole decor was very contemporary with a focus on the view,
they built it on top of the tallest hill on the vineyard.
perfection.

It was the last one of the day and 

oh my gosh, I could work here,

if just for the view!

Those huge windows are actually doors

that open up to a patio for wine tastings in the summer.

how perfect is that?

ok, this one is called 45

(thanks to that t-shirt for sale!)

They had about 5 of the sweetest dogs

wandering around inside,

waiting for the little oyster crackers that 

they gave us for between wines.

This is the old asylum in Traverse City

that has been converted into

condos and low income housing

with restaurants, boutiques, and a farmers market on the bottom floor.

There was also a winery on the property.

Very beautiful, but I know that I couldn't live here...

all I could think of was some of the awful movies

about places like this.

way too eerie for me.

We did eat in the Cellar Restaurant there

and it was fabulous and we went to the

winery and that was awesome too.

We also visited the old fishing village...

but we were the only visitors!

That's what happens when you go up north

Michigan in March!

I wish I was a better tour guide and could remember the

names of the wineries, but honestly

all of the wine was delicious and if you are the

level 1 of wine connoisseur like I am

then you will be fine at all of them!

Just get yourself a map of the wineries on

the Leelanau Peninsula and you will be fine.

Now as much fun as we had tasting, and 

staying up late laughing and 

conquering world problems,

one of the highlights of the trip had to be this lady...

Our Aunt Virg,

last remaining sibling of my moms,

84 years young with the ability to make us

laugh so hard that my face hurt when I left her!

She is doing her diva pose for us as we pulled away.

love. her.

Now how do you top a weekend like that?

I'll tell you how...

You get dropped off at the movie theatre to meet your family

to see 

OZ the Great and Powerful

because if you stay til the end,

then you see what for me was the best part of the movie...

see that name, 4th one down?

...yup, that's our girl!!

and then to add more pleasure to the day,

we picked up our copy of the NY Times...

NY Times, T.mag

...yup, that's our boy!!

That's going to be a tough weekend to top!

wish me luck,

tomorrow's Saturday and my day will

be spent grocery shopping.

I don't think it's going to cut it.

Have yourself a fabulous weekend!

love,

t.xoxoxoxo