Flea Market Decor

Toward the end of last year, I treated myself to a subscription to Flea Market Decor magazine.  It comes out quarterly, so by the time I receive one every 3 months I have usually forgotten that I am still subscribed, so it's always a wonderful little treat when it does arrive.

As I flipped through my latest copy recently, I thought others might be interested in this magazine as well.  It gives all sorts of decorating ideas on how to incorporate your vintage finds into your existing decor.  It also tells you approximately how much you can expect to pay for certain types of vintage items and lists some of the biggest and hottest flea markets and their dates around the country. Nashville's flea market has been mentioned several times already.    

I love seeing how other people decorate.  It helps me develop my own style and helps me to understand better what I like (or don't like).  They also show little DIY projects that you can make using vintage pieces to upcycle into something else.  I really enjoy reading this one.  

If you are interested in subscribing for yourself, it's currently $19 for a yearly subscription (4 issues) here.

As always, happy treasure hunting!

Potato Pancakes

I vaguely remember having potato pancakes a few times when we were kids. Ryan Barrett Walkush, however, contends that this food was one of his fondest memories growing up. So, every now and again he will ask me to make them.

This recipe is a good way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, and it cooks up quickly! Give it a try and I'm sure you'll like it too.

Potato Pancakes

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 large egg, beaten lightly

6 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbsp minced onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the potatoes and the egg.
2. Stir in the flour, onion, and salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
3. In a large saute pan, heat 1/8 inch of oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking.
4. Drop the potato mixture by large spoonfuls into the heated oil, flattening slightly with the back of the spoon.
5. Fry for approximately one minute on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked onto paper towels to drain.
7. Serve topped with sour cream or applesauce.

Make sure to check out these other tried and true Harris Sisters potato recipes:

Crockpot Potato Leek Soup

Rustic Au Gratin Potatoes

Retro Cherry Baby Dress

Sweet Baby Lexi just celebrated her first birthday. And in honor of the occasion, I wanted to make her something special. I thought a handmade dress would do the trick. The original pattern was a solid color, but I thought that I could certainly do a little better than that for my precious niece. So, I set out to modify the pattern just a tad to arrive at a retro cherry baby dress.

I used the Little Sweetie free crochet pattern and followed the directions for a size 18 months. (Directions for size 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months are included with the pattern.) The only modifications I made were to the colors of yarn used. 

I made the body of the dress with yarn that I inherited, and it came without a wrapper. The red is Caron Simply Soft Red. I changed to red only to complete the last Edging Round 2 row, Neck Edging, and Armhole Edging of the pattern.

This YouTube Video Tutorial will walk you through the pattern if it looks daunting to you (but it's really just a long pattern because it's written for multiple size options).

Instead of finishing the pattern with the flower given on the pattern as recommended, I completed the cherry part of this free Cherry Crochet Dishcloth pattern using more of the red yarn and some scrap brown and green yarn. I appliqued the cherry to the front left of the dress.

You can add these patterns to your Ravelry queue here:

Little Sweetie Dress

Cherry Crochet Dishcloth

Have fun crafting your retro cherry dress!

And here's an update to the post with a photo of our sweet Baby Lexi modeling the dress - looks so adorable on her!

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