Camping Trip: Copper Falls

This weekend we went camping with our friends Nathan & Helene at Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin. It rained for the better part of Friday, but Saturday was a picture perfect summer day. It was my first time in Northern Wisconsin, and now I totally understand why so many people buy summer cabins here - so gorgeous and peaceful.


Friday morning I made some portable bourbon peach pies and then we hit the road. That afternoon we met up with our camping buddies in Hayward, WI -- home of the Moccasin Bar, a great little dive that is filled floor to ceiling with bizarre taxidermied wildlife. One of the most cute AND disturbing being these baby fawns fetus'. We arrived at our campsite just in time to set up our tents and whip up some tacos that we ended up eating in the car while it poured rain. After it let up we snuck in a late night swim!


The weather was so amazing on Saturday... we made camp waffles, went on a gorgeous hike filled with waterfalls then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. It really was a perfect day.
We drove home exhausted on Sunday and enjoyed a pool party and some fireworks for the 4th. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Treasure Rescue: 003

1. A pretty-much-new Duluth Pack satchel. I almost squealed when I found this gem for $3 at a garage sale last weekend! I have been wanting one of these forever, but they're pretty pricey new. Best score of the day, for sure.

2. 2 Old school desk chairs, $2 each at a yard sale. I love the mission style, and the shelf underneath is super handy for magazines and books. These are now living happily on our front porch.

3. Folding step stool/chair, $5 at Saver's. We had one of these growing up, and I always loved it. This one has quite a few paint splatters, but that just adds to the character, in my opinion. Another perfect porch seat!

4. Stacking milk crates, $1 each at Saver's. These need a good hose-down, but the price was right! I see some good merchandising possibilities with these, so they'll probably end up at the shop after I clean 'em up.

I'm off to prep for our Mighty Swell sneak peek shoot tonight, then pack for a camping adventure in Wisconsin. Have a good weekend!

Pie Crust: CONQUERED!

(Photo Source.)

I come from a long line of bakers. My grandpa was a baker by profession and I grew up in a house where we rarely got store bought junk food, but we were never deprived of sweet treats or home made bread. It has even become tradition for each child to get a shiny new kitchenaid mixer when they graduate from college! My mom is a wizard in the kitchen, and many of my favorite desserts of hers were whipped up sans recipe. I'm not that confident, but I'm pretty good. However, until recently, I had quite the baker's shame... I had never made my own pie crust.
Armed with 6 perfectly ripe peaches I had my sights set on pie. I knew that store bought crust would not do these beautiful stone fruits justice, and so my search for the perfect recipe began. Thankfully, the search was short. I found exactly what I needed over at one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen; a step-by-step (with lots of photos) tutorial for an "all butter, really flaky pie dough". I may have par-baked it a little long, but it was otherwise perfect! If you have, like me, feared making your own crust - don't be scared! Just dive in, it's actually pretty easy.

*On a side note: A highly recommend clicking on the photo source link. I stumbled upon this adorable wedding a couple of weeks ago. I have had so many of these same ideas for my some-day wedding (ball jars for guests to drink from, pie instead of cake, herb centerpieces) - it was so inspiring to see them so beautifully executed!

A Collection of: DOGS

So, I have a few collections. Okay, I have A LOT of collections. (Some, like my loving boyfriend, would say too many... but whatevs.) When you thrift/treasure hunt as much as I do, it's hard to avoid. I've decided to share a collection a week, starting with one of my favorites... an ever growing collection of dogs (who's surprised?).

1. Picked this hand carved dachshund up at a garage sale while I was visiting my sis in Colorado a couple of weeks back. The woman selling it had lost a dachshund in a break up, and the ex had given her this guy. She was glad to see it go, I was ecstatic to take it home. Perfect!

2. This little red fella was given to me for my birthday by my dear friend Rose of Valise Vintage. She knows me so well :)

3. These little gems were scored at a thrift store for 69 cents a piece. They were originally destined for a Mighty Swell grab bag... but I just couldn't let them go.

4. This one is a pretty common thrift / antique store find. I think it's a pipe holder... or a planter. Hard to say.

Well, there you have it. What collection will I share next week...Pyrex? Deer? Keys? White ceramic things? I guess you'll just have to come back and find out. The anticipation is killing you, isn't it?

Designing Mighty Swell

Our summer sale has been announced! Mighty Swell has been such a fun venture in so many ways, and one of the best parts for me is designing our collateral for every sale. I'm particularly happy with the direction of our most recent stuff (website, postcard, window dressings, etc.)

Our goal was summery, bright, colorful and a bit whimsical. Meghan and I had been pouring through pics online and off and found so much inspiration. After a brief stock photo search, I realized that I was never going to find what I was looking for online. So off to the beach I went, vintage tote, sandals and purse in tow. Our theme is 'Summer in the City'... and what is more unique to a Minneapolis summer than our many wonderful beaches? So a very large iced tea and 60 photos later, I got the perfect shot.

The back gets a little trickier. I knew what I was going for; a retro "day at the beach" feel, but that's a lot of info to organize in a 7x5 space. After a lot of messing around with the color palette, funky shapes and our usual fonts, I got it! I've always loved those little diamond details on 5os era packaging and advertisements, so I jumped at the chance to throw them in there. The blue "lakes" were a good way to separate some important info, and the little birdie has been with us since the beginning so I kept him too :)

Now we start working on the windows! This was definitely the most exciting part of getting our own space (besides, ya know, not having to move EVERYTHING after each sale). Our beautiful bay storefront windows mean endless possibilities. And heck, who knows, maybe it will help me get that dream visual merchandising job someday!

A great group of gals

From left to right: High Plains Thrifter, Audrey Rose Vintage, Ramble & Pluck, Valise Vintage, Retro Wanderlust, Top Drawer Vintage, Teacup Vintage

Well, it happened! The big weekend came and went. I'm talking about Mighty Swell's opening day, of course. It was our most successful sale to date in so many ways. Our lovely group of vendors brought their collections in and together we created a vintage shop full of love. Each piece hand picked, each tag hand-made. One of my favorite parts of doing this is seeing how each vendor's personalities come through in their selection of clothing and accessories as well as their merch tags. We had quite the group of stylish and creative gals, and none of this would be possible without them - thank you SO MUCH ladies!

Weekend in review

It was a short, but fun-filled weekend. Worked late Friday night, woke up early Saturday morning. After prepping the set for our Mighty Swell sneak peeks all week, it was a blast styling the shoot. My beautiful friends Meggie & Lindsey make everything look good, so it all came together pretty easily. Photography was done by the crazy talented Kate Sommers. I recently created a new logo/identity for her, so she was happy to lend a hand. Swapping with creative friends is the best! We'll start releasing our sneak peeks tomorrow - so keep an eye on the facebook page!
After the fun/exhausting morning, we trekked down to Buster's where we enjoyed some well deserved food & drink. As much as I wanted to take a nap, I decided the weather was too nice to waste and Herman & I headed to the dog park with friends. All this excitement was followed up by a date night with Eric - Mexican food & Black Swan. (Which I think my mind/body are still recovering from).
Woke up early today and enjoyed the sunshine with our unbearably cute animals and a couple good reads. Now back to work...
Hope y'all had a lovely weekend too!