i miss you, followers! where are you?? blogger is trying to find you, apparently . . . 

vintage-y storage for kiddie collections

inveterate collectors, take note.  
Next time you're thrifting, or estate sale shopping, or out at the flea market, pick up a few of those old, sorta beat up, possibly painted, drawer organizers that we all see from time to time.  Use little nails right through some of the sturdy wood to attach them firmly to the wall, and arrange, or, if you're me, let your kiddies arrange, collections to their hearts content.  I love this idea, because previously I just used to set these things up on windowsills, but breakages tended to occur. This is just a bit more "away", and it seems to work well.
These collections are, from top, Wade Whimsys, just like the ones I collected out of tea packets and I think cereal boxes when I was little in Scotland.  Caroline has a big collection thanks to her treasure hunting grandma who lives in England, and to our English neighbor who very kindly gives us the ones she finds in her Red Rose tea packets of today.  You can find these charming little ceramics at flea markets for a few dollars each.  The middle box has lots of vintage Scottish terriers, like Fergus.  The bottom one has a collection of quirky primitive painted Spanish figures of unknown origin -- but we liked them! 
These work really well for collections of matchbox cars, trains, acorns, shells, rocks, fossils, interesting pieces of wood -- all of which I think we've used them for.  It's a way to add fun and spirit and personality to boring spaces, like here, where we hung them in dead space in the laundry room bath where we wash the dog. And let your kids arrange them -- they will love it.

treasures found

Here's Caroline on Saturday with a sampling of her favorite estate sale find of the day.  She was thrilled to find shop cards full of vintage early 1970s sunglasses, some mirrored, some not, some with bugs bunny, some even made in Italy . . . she's going to put them on our etsy shop, which I'm glad about, since I think there are about 50 pairs.  Her big brothers and little brother quickly claimed a few, though.  The teen boy verdict: cool! Looks like those ones we've been buying in Nordstrom all summer!  The little boy verdict: can I take the lenses out?  Can I have one for my bear? My verdict: sweet memories - as soon as I saw that card with bright and cartoon festooned kiddie sunglasses, I felt like a little kid again, begging my mom and dad for a pair . . .  

san francisco, candyland

if you're like us and you love the candy colors of Candyland and the painted ladies (houses, we mean!) of San Francisco, then you'll appreciate this montage that we found over on The International Chapter of the Junior Society

you'll recognize Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world" all decked out as a life size Candyland to the delight of a bunch of happy, happy kids; sadly, over now, but it tickled us pink, and yellow, and blue, and all those other candy colors~

photo courtesy of the International Chapter of the Junior Society

 

first day of the last year of preschool

 

fifteen years ago (unbelievable), our first child started preschool, and we took posed photos with a 35mm camera (that we still like to use) . . . the other day, our eager little one headed off to his first day, of the last year . . . end of the beginning, i guess.  but hey, thanks iPhone for making this easy (he didn't even realize) . . .

jonathan adler goes all bertoia on us

 

jonathan adler's strong-but-sweet, fun sensibility is reflected in this Bertoia-inspired wicker chair from the Shelter collection -- it's a cool juxtaposition of vintage and modern, a wonderful interpretation of a modern wire and metal icon in wicker, a softer, cheerfully retro material. And the orange upholstery provides just the right color blast ~~ love it.

(photo courtesy of jonathanadler.com)

oilcloth, our take

 cath kidston's boats oilcloth, thirty-two pounds a meter

life in the fergusandme family is a swirling hurly burly of craft projects, icing cupcakes, painting random pieces of furniture, and slurping spaghetti hoops (teds!), and to counteract all that mess, we have become devotees of oilcloth, in its many prints and patterns. To say that it is a life saver around here would be putting it mildly, to be honest.  we generally get ours from John Lewis in the U.K., dragging back duffels loaded with yards and yards of it, but oilcloth is becoming more popular and accessible in the United States, perhaps because of trend toward sustainability, reusability, and vintage chic. Or maybe it's just the ubiquity (and i mean that in a positive way) of Cath Kidston's design ethos. We've used oilcloth to cover kitchen chairs, create wall panels in kids' rooms, upholster entire walls (it's easy to do as the fabric has a heft that others don't), and, of course, protect our Crate & Barrel Big Sur kitchen table, which we love, from the aforementioned paint, glue, glitter, and spaghetti hoops.
(photo courtesy of cathkidston.co.uk)




here are some more oilcloth sources and ideas ~

 

thanks to bowiestyle over at printandpattern.blogspot.com for this note about John Lewis's "apples" oilcloth ~

(photo courtesy of bowiestyle) 

check out justwipe.co.uk for lots of fun prints, like these ~ (thanks to Lisa and her excellent site u-handbag.typepad.com for this link, also check out the amazing bag she made using oilcloth -- we've never been this adventurous!)

(photo courtesy of u-handbag)

 

there are lots of lovely Marimekko oilcloth options at txtlart.com, like these ~

(photos courtesy of txtlart.com)

and, we can't forget the lovely offerings at pedlars.co.uk

(photo courtesy of pedlars)

fairy cakes

fairy cakes, not just for fairies

we had a birthday celebration yesterday, and as usual, time was short, so we made our favorite fairy cakes (thanks, Nigella!) (check out Nigella Lawson's cookbook, how to be a domestic goddess, chock full of british standards and yummy stuff . . . available here
the absolute best baking book ever~

fairy cakes (a british birthday tea standard)


one half cup unsalted butter, softened
7 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
three quarters of a cup self rising cake flour
one half teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk

preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
put all the ingredients except the milk in a food processor and blitz until smooth, then pulse while adding milk through the funnel until you have a soft, dropping consistency
pour as evenly as possible into 12 cupcake cups; feel free to double or triple the recipe
bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fairy cakes are cooked and golden on top
(we have substituted unsweetened soymilk with excellent results)

it is really fun, though very messy, to set up loads of bowls of icing (confectioner's) sugar for children to mix with a little water and a very little food coloring -- use the kind that comes in packs of twelve, like these rather than the boring primary color kind available at the grocery, and go really slow and scanty with the color ~ then, decorate with whatever sprinkles and other doodads you prefer ~ yum

hooray! now we're linked to fergusandme on Etsy

our fergusandme blog is now seemlessly linked to fergusandme on Etsy. wow. the wonders of modern life. check it out to your right . . . and, if you're in the above fergusandme.etsy.com logo, and you know who you are, congrats, you're famous!

yerra lambswool stools

these new Matero lambswool stools from Argentinian wholesaler Yerra are delicious -- so snuggly in an organic kind of way . . . natural wood and fuzzy wool, a yummy combination.

perfect paper party lighting

isn't this amazing -- i'm guessing they used the ubiquitous
paper globe and stuck cocktail umbrellas in it . . . paper party deco supremo.

beautiful blues

a favorite place, and fabulous color

for a calm, quiet space, there's nothing better than a cool, watery blue green on the walls . . . this is Farrow & Ball's Powder Blue, but Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue is also beautiful ~ or, if you prefer a clear, sky blue, try Farrow & Ball's ethereal Borrowed Light. Heaven!