KNOB SWAP

I have a vanity, well first my mom had a vanity, then it was mine, and actually it isn't mine anymore. Thora has a vanity. This vanity is well-loved and has seen many facelifts in its lifetime. It was built by the Rockford Standard Furniture Co.. What? Never heard of it? Great company in my hometown, been around forever. Anyway, I think my mom said she may have painted it black during her teen angst years, then it had this awesome green 70's faux finish during my childhood until we painted it a nice cream. I moved the piece with me while I was in college, but not before my mom stripped and stained it. It's something of a pecan color, a bit orange but I like it.

And once I broke the mirror and had to replace it. This tragedy I try not to think about.

Today it sits in my daughter's room. And she already uses it the way I envisioned. If she stands on tiptoe, she can just see herself and it makes her smile! We put bows in our hair here, and she crawls underneath to read or be sneaky. It's an outdated piece of furniture that offers little by way of storage, but lots and lots for imagination.

So when my husband gave me a gift card to Anthropologie for my birthday, did I think of pretty dresses for Spring? Nope. I thought of that amazing knob carousel. The one I've casually spun, more than once, wondering when and for what would I ever get to use these? The time had come.

The vanity uses 6 knobs. Currently they are all the same, cute little chunky round swirly wooden knobs. Not a thing wrong with them really so I tucked them away in a ziplock for the future. Then know what happened? I went to TWO different Anthropologies AND I shopped online to get the six knobs of my dreams. I even bought, then exchanged, one that wasn't quite working, scoring the final sacred coral knob on clearance. Then I bought myself some earrings. It was MY gift card for pete's sake.

Side note: Have you ever taken a toddler to Anthropologie? Unless you are wearing running shoes, I do not recommend.

Here's another pic because hello. gorgeous.

Thora helped me put these on, saying Beep! Beep! Beep! all the while. She loves a knob too, or a button, whatever you want to call it.

I love that these knobs are playful, but not too playful and girly without being trite. I think she will love them for years to come, possibly even through her teen angst. Would they look good against a black vanity? Sure. Why not.

So there you go beloved family heirloom, yet another little girl for you to charm.

EASY ART FOR THE NURSERY

I used to be a carefree single girl who lived a raucous Chicago lifestyle yet visited antique malls and thrifts with her mother on the weekends. (We also took line dancing lessons together, but that's a story for a different day). On one such outing in Rockford, IL, we came upon the unassuming garage sale of a schoolteacher. Where I found treasure.

See what it says there on the right? $5.00. Want to know what's inside? Literally an entire box of mint condition grade school story strips! If you hit up the Alameda Flea circa 2008, you would have seen the booth of the guy that sold similar strips and flash cards for $1 a piece, or MORE. Goldmine.

But why on earth would I buy these? It's my mother's fault really. What can I say? She is an artist and she molded me in her image. This box oozed potential. I imagined if I were lucky, that someday I'd have a baby, or someone I know would have a baby, and I would paper an entire wall in its room with this patchwork of '70s color and fragmented sentences. It would be genius, ambitious, impressive even.

So the box traveled with me to a few apartments, spent some time in my folks' attic (hence my name on there which is code for DON'T THROW OUT OR TONYA WILL KILL YOU). Then it made the cross-country journey to California where it waited and waited and waited...

And then I had my chica.

Because we were drowning in kitchen renovation my entire pregnancy, projects like this had to sit in my head, stewing and torturing me—symbols of my failure. Then Thora showed up 5 weeks early and we were in a mad scramble. Her room wasn't ready at all, no crib, no mattress, let alone artwork. Oh, it was hilarious.

But then a few months went by and she became a good sleeper and I started to catch my breath. And I remembered the box.

And the colors! And the Helvetica!

And the illustrations! Did I mention the illustrations? Charm explosion.

Screw the patchwork wall. I wanted to make something for my kid and I wanted it now. A quick trip to Ikea for the largest frame they sell, followed by a quick sort and organize of my favorite colors, sayings and drawings, followed by a session with spray adhesive and some good ol'eyeballing it and I had this:

And I love it. Best of all, Thora loves it too. She loves to touch each letter and point to the dragon and the girl and ok, I kind of regret this, the peacock. The piece brought instant color to her room, color that I can pull from and use elsewhere. That coral is to die, it may very well serve as the inspiration behind her big girl room. It's also the perfect anchor for her other art. And this kid has it in spades, clockwise from top: Tim Biskup, Jen Corace, Kostas Seremetis (that piece is signed TO Thora!) and Lark Pien. She is a lucky girl.

If you ask me, totally worth lugging from all those apartments.

Disclaimer: In case you are worried for Thora's safety, I mean we do live in earthquake country, please note: All art is hung with proper picture frame hangers and attached at the bottoms with Command velcro strips. Best invention ever. Also, the Ikea frame uses plexi, not glass.