themes with a vintage twist

I can’t remember if I told you guys already or not, but the fam has been planning a trip to Disney World since January — yeh, before the whole economy scare. (Our timing is always stellar.) Anywho, we decided to stick with the plan, forget reality for a week, and head to sunny Florida. This will be Gracie and Aidan’s first time to DW. We’re really looking forward to it (minus the 10-hour road trip) and as you might expect, the kids are bouncing off the walls already. Granny & Pop are even joining us (it’s their first time too)!

So in the spirit of our upcoming adventure, I thought now was the perfect time to talk about vintage Disney! When it comes to decorating, I’m personally not a fan of the Disney Princesses, Cars, and Buzz Lightyear decor which is available in every department store from here to eternity. But believe me, I know how much the kids love them. Lightning McQueen is a member of the family. But I’d like to think that maybe there’s a way to fulfill the Disney dynasty with the kids while throwing in a bit of vintage flair that stands apart from the aisles and aisles of Disney-branded merchandise. Is it too much to hope for?

Believe it or not, yesterday was the 80th anniversary of Mickey Mouse’s debut in Steamboat Willie. (Who says my timing is bad!) Finding vintage Disney really isn’t hard. It’s incredibly popular and collectible. Prices on rare pieces can get pretty high, but there’s so much Disneyana (that’s the avid collector’s term) out there, you’re sure to find something in even the most modest price range.

I went through eBay looking for vintage pieces that I thought might inspire you. Let me take you on a little tour…

If you have an extra, say $1000 or so, you might want to check out this fabulous 1930′s Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse doll (shown above) currently up for auction on eBay. Even if you can’t swing the price (yeh, me neither), it’s still worth a peek. It’s the epitome of vintage Disney collectibles.

Another vintage Disney treasure I found was this Mickey & Minnie Vintage Pail. Wouldn’t it look great filled with vintage wooden alphabet blocks? (Stuff the bottom with newspaper first so it doesn’t take so many blocks to fill the pail.) You could use it as an adorable bookend or display it as a central focus on a wall shelf or dresser. This particular one is sold, but you can find many more like it on eBay.

Disneyana isn’t only about Mickey and Minnie though. Bambi, Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Dumbo (my personal all-time favorite) — the list goes on and on. You can find vintage versions of all of them and more. Here are two more examples of great oldies that are just itching to be rediscovered and adored…

Vintage Bambi Alarm Clock, circa 1964

Vintage Classic Dumbo Comic Book

Are you just giddy now with inspiration? Ok, well maybe that’s overstating a bit, but I hope you did enjoy the trip down memory lane. That’s truly one of the best things about Disney — the characters that we grew up with are still there among the Jasmines and Lightning McQueens our children are growing up with today. And you better believe I plan to point out every one when we get to that amazing wonderland in the sun — Walt Disney World.

One of my dearest friends, Renee, is pregnant with her second child — a boy (her first). Renee’s dad and her husband’s dad are both retired Navy, so she had this great idea to decorate Baby James’ nursery in a Navy/nautical theme. Perfect, right? Well, in addition to that she really wanted a vintage flair to it which made it a definite challenge. But with all the WWII memorabilia out there, I thought, “We can do this!”

So I began hunting and hunting and hunting for vintage + nautical + baby themed items (no pressure here). A lot of what I found was either sailboats (not really Navy or sailor) or serious WWII collectibles (no babies in sight). I was getting frustrated looking at eBay and searching all the flea markets and antique shops in town. Then one night like a shining beacon (cheesy pun intended), I found this:

Now, come on. Is that perfect or what? I about (excuse my expression) peed in my pants when I saw this! This is the cover of an authentic vintage coloring book from 1943. Can you say inspiration piece? I’m framing it for her to hang in the nursery. I can’t wait to give it to her.

Of course I really couldn’t stop there. Finding the coloring book gave me the shove I needed to keep looking. So, in addition to that, I’m giving her some other vintage-inspired goodies. I won’t show them all (I went a little crazy), but here’s the highlights…

Vintage-inspired Whale Rattle: The vintage fabrics are great. And he has a little braided ‘stream’ coming out of his blow hole. Truth be told, I loved this so much, the artist is making them for the shop! Grab him up at The Baby Gardner!

Sailor Blankie: Another vintage goodie for Baby James will be a small blankie made especially for him by his Aunt Dee using this vintage-inspired sailor fabric and minky-dot backing. Pretty adorable, right?

So what do you think overall? Did I meet the vintage nautical nursery challenge?

While I’m writing about Renee and Baby James, I have to get your opinion on one other thing. Please settle a debate we’re having. Renee had asked for some help picking colors and fabrics for his nursery based on the vintage nautical theme. I sent her two groups: 1) Classic Navy & Red or 2) Nautical with a Modern Twist of Red & Green. I’m not going to tell you which she picked or which one I encouraged, but I can tell you that we didn’t agree. Both are great, but I had a definite favorite and so did she. The question is, which one would YOU choose?Renee and I are more like family than friends, so the fact that we didn’t agree on this is so typical. But I love her dearly and I cannot wait to be an aunt (again) to her precious baby boy. Maybe our saga with her ever-so-complex nursery theme will inspire you!

Nautical in general seems to be a really popular style these days. If you’re pondering that one, why not make it even more unique by infusing it with a vintage twist. It is doable!

UPDATE! Looking for unique vintage nautical items for baby? We have some great new additions in the shop, including:
• On the Seashore Invitation or Birth Announcement
• Personalized Nautical Soft Blocks Set with Drawstring Bag
• Ahoy Sailor Toddler Set
• Vintage-Inspired Wally the Whale Onesie
• Little Moby Dick Baby Rattle

Flower Babies: This has to be one of my all-time favorite vintage embroidery patterns. The pattern is as precious as the finished piece itself! Embroidery is one of those things that I admire so much but have never done. The hilarious thing — that doesn’t keep me from collecting the patterns!

Click on the image for a larger view. Enjoy!

So I was thinking that a recurring feature on the blog might be tips related to all sorts of vintage baby topics. Let’s call it ‘Here’s A Tip.’ For our first tip, I’m taking you to my daughter’s room for some first-hand experience designing a vintage nursery. Sound good? Here we go!

First things first: Don’t let the word ‘vintage’ intimidate you. Just because it’s not a theme available at Pottery Barn Kids or Babies ‘R Us, doesn’t mean it can’t be fabulous! The great thing about vintage nurseries? Just about anything goes. It’s a very eclectic style. There’s just a few key tips you may want to keep in mind…

1. Inspire me: You may have tons of vintage stuff that you’ve collected over the years or you may just be getting started. Either way, find a vintage or vintage-inspired object that you dearly love. Maybe it’s something you’ve held onto from your own childhood. Maybe it’s something you found at The Baby Gardner. It could even be an illustration from a vintage children’s book. Whatever ‘it’ is, let it be your inspiration for the room.

2. Color me crazy: I’m about to give you the holy grail secret of design. Ready for it? COLOR! Color is what will pull a room filled with all kinds of random, eclectic stuff into an awesome and unique design all your own. Choose 2 or 3 coordinating colors as your ‘color palette’ and stick with them when picking your wall color, window treatment and bedding. Those three things are usually the main color focus in a nursery. If their colors coordinate, everything else in the room is gravy. Fill it with all the vintage-y things you love and you can’t go wrong. Not sure what colors to pick? Pull them from your inspiration piece. If your inspiration piece doesn’t have a lot of color (like a silver rattle or such), find a favorite fabric pattern and pull your colors from there.

3. Show me the love: Give your inspiration item a place of prominence in the room. If you love it that much, you’ll want to show it off!

For my daughter Gracie’s nursery, my inspiration piece was a children’s book from the Victorian era. I also had an assortment of vintage-inspired items I had accumulated and adored. I placed them in a grouping on the wall and it really made them the focal point of the room. Adding scrapbook paper in the back of the shadowboxes was another fun and easy way to throw in color and add interest.

Thinking about designing a vintage nursery? I highly recommend it and here’s an added bonus… Vintage never goes out of style. Gracie is now 8 and she still loves her room and guess what? The room is still as perfect for her as it was when she was a baby — we just had to get a bigger bed!

Little boy nurseries (like my son, Aidan’s) can have a vintage flair too! I’ll show you photos from his nursery in a future post. Stay tuned!

Looking for a place to start on your quest for the perfect vintage nursery? The Baby Gardner is filled to the brim with vintage and vintage-inspired pieces for the nursery, for baby, for showers and more!