A look into Flea-for-All | Portland, Maine

 Ahhh the smell of spring. New beginnings, boots put away, windows being washed, and making room in your home for new things (well, for me anyways!) What perfect timing for Flea-for-All in my beloved Portland, Maine! Nathaniel and Erin started working on this idea over two years ago, and with a lot of hard work, planning, and meetings with the City of Portland- they are opening their doors on Saturday, April 14th to the public!

I had an informal chat with them today in the new space (formerly Asia West on Kennebec) to get a little more insight on what the new Flea-for-All is all about! While touring the amazing three floors (two will be used for the market) of the old building that exudes character I learned that Nathaniel and Erin had a vision for a flea market that was a hybrid of crafts, handmade goods, vintage, antiques and one of a kinds you can only find at a flea market. Although juried, they have a low key process and want to ensure the variety and mix works for the market. Inspiration form Brooklyn Flea and SoWa in Boston encouraged the duo to start a similar idea in Portland. Years ago there was the Expo market in Portland, but since that has been closed (we think maybe 2004-ish) there has been a gap in the community for artist, crafters, antiquers, jewelry makers and the like to come together and sell their goods. They admit many of the vendors look at these types of markets as a 'stepping stone' for possibly a shop of their own, but like to take it slow, and get their feet wet before jumping into their own place.

I was amazed at the space and size of the venue (I had been there when it was Asia West, but there is something about huge rooms with hard wood floors, beams and exposed brick that looks so nice). There are lots of possibilities for what Flea-for-All will become over the next few weeks and months (possibly food vendors in the future) and I know I am excited and cheering them on all the way!

                                                                                   Photo courtesy of Lucilles

 A taste of some vendors at Flea-for-All include Lucilles which specializes in vintage, retro and handmade. I loved the amazing vintage fans!  Below: quick shot of a few items getting ready for opening day. 

Erin and Nathaniel will also be representing their own vintage finds at Clever Chickadee. Below is an amazing chair from their collection.

                                                                                  Photo: Courtesy of Clever Chickadee 

 Shot of the space before the hustle and bustle on Saturday!

Nathaniel and Erin while showing me around the amazing space.

 Really great calendar made out of old CDs with chalkboard paint by Erin!

 And if you know me, I love this little stool. Might have to go back for that on Saturday ;)

I am totally obsessed with this lamp shade! Look at the great knob on the top. You can find these at the market- be sure to visit Re Go. 

                                                                                                                           Photo courtesy of Re Go

And this amazing typewriter from Jack's Sprats! 

   

                                                                                                                    Photo courtesy of Jack's Sprats 
 



                    

There is ample parking in a leased lot across the street and in front of the building. 

Doors will be opening on Saturday, April 14th from 10AM- 5PM with no admission.

I hope you check it out- and if you cannot this weekend, don't worry- they will be open year round! Best of luck and congratulations Erin and Nathaniel!! So excited and cannot wait to check it out! 

April Showers bring... New Closets!

I am so excited to have been featured on Mainely Mara's Spring 2012 Style Selection of her blog! You can check out the full reveal of the closet here. She offers some of the best deals on all of the must haves in Portland, Maine from fashion to spa and beauty! I highly recommend you check out her blog and sign up for her daily deals! I wanted to do a quick re-cap of the master closet Matt and I did...after a lot of back and forth, we settled on this! Enjoy

This photo is so before, this was taken during the inspection of the house before we even bought it!

After a little elbow grease, Matt ripped out all the rods and patched up the walls.

And we are getting there...

Still getting there! We decided to do a built-in bench at the end to make it kind of like a room, since it has a window in it. It is a great place to put your shoes on! 

I have a million scarfs and pashminas- so I came up with this handy dandy little contraption (with a little Pinterest inspiration).

And the finished product! I had the bench cushion custom made with fabric I got for a steal at under $3.00 a yard! I made the curtain to match, and found a few accessories around the house. 

I hope you enjoyed the total closet renovation! I am so glad we did it- it makes putting my clothes away not so unbearable! Thanks again Mara for featuring it on your blog! I greatly appreciate it.

That's Just Swell...Caroline!

One of my new favorite online shops is Swell Caroline out of Atlanta! They have the best assortment of jewelry and Scout bags. So if you are looking to add to your collection for the summer, I highly recommend checking out Swell Caroline! Here are a few of my favorites, I have both monogrammed (remember my love for it here) necklaces on my 'must have list'!


These are really cute rings. I love the stacked look!

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

LOVE these!

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I can picture Brooke and Judi in these :)

Source: swellcaroline.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Enjoy, and let me know what you end up buying :)

Spring Shopping | Devon Baer

I was so excited to find this amazing designer Devon Baer out of NY- and cannot tell you how much I love everything! I love the color pallets and use of patterns. And now that it is officially spring- it is time to switch over your closet and add a few new items. I know one of her tunic dresses is high on my list. Her jewelry is also super cute and classic. I love how it is simple, yet makes a statement. I hope you enjoy browsing as much as I have, and be sure to check her out at Devon Baer. Enjoy!

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

This is the dress I want! Ahhhhh

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I hope you are enjoying your spring (freezing again in Maine, but I know the warm weather is coming back!) and have fun picking out some new fun pieces for your summer wardrobe. Share more unique, fun finds with me!

Matching It Up! | DIY Favors

I am preparing for two fun parties coming up- my niece Lucy's first birthday, and my dear friend Anna's 32nd birthday- which I am hosting little get together for. I have always loved thinking of useful, cute and economical favors. Here is the one I decided on today- while shopping. I think I have seen it done on Pinterest, but never thought to try. It is funny what you start to think of while wondering the aisles... for a couple of hours... ;)

I found match boxes at a discount store, 3 for $1.29- you cannot beat that. I also found a book of cute basic prints and colors of paper at Michael's for 50% off, so it was only $9.99 for over 200 pieces of cute paper!

I have rick rack scissors from my mother-in-law that are great. All I did was trim the sides of the paper, and glue gun it onto the boxes.

It was so easy and pretty cheap! I know I am always looking for a match to light candle- these are so cute you don't need to hid them :)

The candles were just as easy. Just use rick rack ribbon (I got 2 yards for $1 at Michael's- I used a total of 2 yards). The tea light candles are from Michael's as well- it was $6.99 for the box of 24.

Just hot glue gun a dollop on the back of the tea light, and connect the rick rack- trim and you are done.

I am excited to share these favors, and have a fun girls night celebrating Anna. Stay tuned for more on party ideas...and see how the entire party comes together!

Guest Post! DIY On The Cheap

I am so very excited to introduce you to fellow blogger, Erin from DIY On The Cheap! She has amazing ideas, and uses so many different things I know we all have around the house (and a great sense of humor!) Much like Erin, I love up-cycling and am always inspired by others ideas. Here is Erin's excellent coffee can into vase. Amazing - enjoy!

{ From Erin}

I love the whole idea of creating useful things out of items you would usually throw away. The trend of up-cycling and re-purposing things, or turning trash into treasure, is something I've written about on my blog in the past and something I enjoy doing often. For a fun, crafty little project, I decided to turn a coffee can into a cute little burlap and ribbon-covered vase. This is a quick and easy project, and can be customized to coordinate with any type of decor. I chose to use burlap for mine, but any fabric will do. You don't even have to use a coffee can, any type of food canister would work just as well. I've used bread crumb canisters for projects before and they are about the same size.

Materials used for this project: Coffee or food canister; burlap (or fabric of your choice); ribbon; double-stick hem tape; and scissors.

Here is how I did it:

First, cut your fabric to fit the height of your can. For the fabric length, leave some room. I wrapped mine around twice just to make sure the can didn't show through the burlap. Depending on your fabric, one time around may suffice, but just wrap around until you can no longer see through to your can label.

After you have cut your fabric, apply a strip of hem tape along one side of your can, from top to bottom. Then, peel away the backing and stick the edge of your fabric down.

Apply a strip of hem tape to canister.

Next, wrap your fabric around the can once or twice. Apply a second strip of hem tape in the same manner as the first, this time on top of your fabric. Leave enough fabric to cover this second strip of hem tape. Fold your fabric under about an inch or so, creating a little hem so the raw edge of fabric won't show. Then peel the backing off your hem tape, and stick your fabric down.

Create a hem by folding fabric edge under, then secure with hem tape.

After your fabric part is finished, cut 2 strips of ribbon, each of which should fit around the perimeter of your can. Apply strips of hem tape around the top and bottom edges of your can. Then, peel off the backing and slowly attach your ribbon about an inch at a time, smoothing as you go.

Attach strips of hem tape around top and bottom of can.

Attach your ribbon by adhering it to the hem tape.

And.... you're done! Couldn't be easier. Bonus: If your husband sees that you've made a vase, maybe he'll take the hint and buy you flowers. Mine did! (Tip: Sometimes you have to make SURE he notices that you've made a vase. Example: "Honey, don't you LOVE this vase I just made? Wow, too bad I don't have any flowers for it. Hmm.. Hint, hint." This may need to be repeated a few times to produce the desired outcome.)

This project actually cost me nothing at all because I already had all of the supplies (except for the flowers). If you don't have extra fabric lying around, the good news is burlap is extremely inexpensive. There are many online fabric stores that sell it for under $2/yard. And of course ribbon is inexpensive too. And a great thing about using hem tape (aside from it being extremely easy), is it can be temporary. If you want to change out the ribbon or fabric, all you have to do is peel it off and replace it. It's one of my favorite products and I keep finding new uses for it. (You can find a couple of my other easy hem tape projects here and here.) The funny thing about this particular project is I don't even drink coffee! Luckily, my husband drinks enough for the both of us. He even brought the canister to me and said, "Do you want to make something out of this or should I just throw it away?" He's learning!

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Thank you so much Erin! I love it, and will be trying this with my old Trader Joe's coffee cans soon! xo

I heart The ROPES

Where to begin?! First of all, I love The ROPES for several reasons. A. They are handmade in Maine B. I love how you can wear just one, or layer them up to mix and match C. They have amazing brass/gold hardware which I love D. They are unique and one of a kind, and last but not least in the very bit, E. They are the brainchild of my good friend Shana Aldrich Ready (we go back about 25 years- jeeze we sound old)!

I was lucky enough to have drinks and dinner at Zapoteca the other night with Shana to catch up and 'talk some shop' - oh, you know, blogging, learning more about her amazing business, being amazingly stylish Mainers and much more :) Shana started The ROPES on somewhat of a whim. While having an extensive background in fashion design and a graduate of RISD, after moving back to Maine, she was playing around with some ropes and decided to put some bracelets together. Well, after hitting up a few boutiques in Maine and introducing them to The ROPES, people and shops now come knocking on her door for more orders! They can now be found all over the U.S (you can buy online at Spaces in Kennebunkport) and has some great press as of late- like ELLE, Style Pantry and Refinery 29! So needless to say, I was eager to hear more about her successes, and she spoiled me with some amazing samples. Which means, a lucky reader gets the chance to win one (more on that in a minute.)

So many awesome colors and textures (and great bag too!)

I LOVE them stacked up!

There are a few different styles, some with big chunky hardware and some are a bangle style.

This is my new favorite, it is several thinner ropes- and my favorite reds and blues!

Ahh! I love them all!



So here are the deets on how to win the one above!

- Please leave a comment on my blog letting me know you want to win The ROPES!
- Please 'Like' my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter
- Please 'Like' The ROPES Facebook page and follow them on Twitter
- To get another chance to win, please pass along this post and help share! Tweet, retweet, post on Facebook, tell your friends- whatever works. After you share, post another comment on my blog letting me know you did, and you will get another chance to win! I will pick the winner on Thursday, March 29th! Good luck.

So, there you have it, a great friend, awesome bracelets and representing our great state of Maine! Win-win-win!

xo