Retroranchrevamp's Blog

During my last trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, I found this vintage Expan-Tite adjustable rod holder — to use for my soon to begin master bath remodel. I know I haven’t mentioned much about my master bath remodel on my blog — I’ve been keeping most of my master bath related posts on Retro Renovation — and honestly, lately there hasn’t been too much going on that makes for an exciting post. To give you guys an update — I have all my contractors lined up (for the stuff I don’t feel comfortable attempting myself), building permit is in my hand, B&W pink tiles are ordered and I’m hoping to start the demo in just over two weeks. Yikes right?

Anyway, back to the rod holder. It seems to be in NOS condition — perfect for a mid century modern bathroom remodel! All I have to do is find the right diameter rod — maybe something like this shower rod from Home Depot?

Even if this vintage rod holder didn’t come with a rod — at least the installation instructions are printed on the box — and I just love the vintage packaging, don’t  you?

I come from a family full of “car guys” — my Dad always enjoyed car shows, driving cars, fixing cars and watching car races — basically he was game for anything car related. If I had to guess, I would say Dad is most fond of vintage cars from the 1940s and 1950s — one of his favorites being the 1957 Chevy. The other thing my Dad loves is a good chuckle — so when I saw this vintage ’57 Chevy toilet paper holder — I knew it would be the perfect birthday gift for the car guy with a sense of humor who has everything — everything except the most unique toilet paper holder I’ve ever seen. (Yes, Mom and Dad have birthdays only a few weeks apart!)

The ’57 Chevy TP holder also reminded me of the car couches that we saw in Disney World when we were there in 1989 — yup that’s my Dad and I — and my little brother — sitting on a larger and very similar (pink!) back end of a car couch in a car themed restaurant.

This TP holder is pretty funny — you mount the roll of TP on the axel between the wheels and it hangs down just under the bumper, where there is a little piece of jagged metal to help tear off the paper…

…if you need to check how much TP is left on the roll — all you have to do is open the trunk and take a peek!

The verdict — Dad LOVED this gift. He said he and Mom just laughed and laughed for quite a while — exactly what I was hoping for. It was definitely something he never knew he wanted — but now that he has it — it makes a great addition to his car memorabilia collection. Even more fitting — this TP holder isn’t going in the bathroom, but in the garage on the wall next to his collection of tin signs, license plates, clocks and thermometers — to act as a tissue dispenser in case he needs to blow his nose while working in the garage. Perfect!

Happy Birthday Dad!

After fighting with out of control trees and weeds for nearly three years, some kind help from a neighbor and a stumptastrophie — the most out of control part of our yard is now a blank slate (well almost — I’m still raking up pinecones and other pine tree debris). Now it is time to figure out the master plan to make this side of the yard a little more presentable — preferably before the weeds try to take over again. Oh the joys of living on a corner — it is like having two front yards!

The space I have to work with is about 45 feet by 45 feet — a pretty large space. With our soon to begin master bath remodel (yes, that project is still a go — countdown to demo is about a month!) we don’t want to drop a ton of cash on the yard this year. It would be nice to make a plan that we can work on a little every year.

I came up with the rough idea above — something that is not just lawn — since adorable husband Jim hates to mow and we already have tons of grass for him to take care of. The area around the remaining large pine tree it pretty shady so I’ll have to take that into consideration when selecting plants. I’d also like to plant some lowish shrubs that would restore some of the feeling of privacy around our tiki room and also give us something pretty to look at when we are longing in there — the pink ovals would be some sort of shade loving flower.

In the middle of the yard, the large brown oval is a raised bed with a smallish decorative tree placed in the middle (maybe a Japanese maple?). My Mom (who loves to garden) suggested getting some knock out roses — which I like and would do well in this spot since it gets full sun through out the day. I’m also interested in some decorative grasses and other plants to fill the space. The easier the care, the better since I have so much yard work to do around here.

I also thought about using some patio pavers to even out the driveway and add a decorative strip (the brown area). This doesn’t have to be done right away, but I think it would look very nice.

What do you think I should do with this side of the yard? I am completely open to suggestions of how to fill this large space!

It all started with one trip to the local tiki bar — I brought home one “souvenir” mug and then the floodgates opened. I’ve started a tiki mug collection. Possibly the funniest thing about my little collection is that I managed to “accidentally” buy the same vintage Westwood tiki mugs that I bought about a month ago again — only this time in miniature. It was a happy accident for sure.

I saw the Ebay listing for these little guys about 2 weeks after my full sized mugs arrived. Without realizing it — I bid on them and won — and it was only when they arrived and were displayed right next to the big ones that I realized they were related! Mama and baby of each face — and I absolutely love them!

This smiling mug is my favorite of the bunch — though I love them all — because he is just so happy. They make me giggle every time I look in their direction.

Now that I have a whole family of tiki mugs — and my shelf is full — I’ll have to pause my mug collecting for a while. Someday I hope to have a proper tiki bar in the basement to display a larger collection, but for now — or until my next trip to the tiki bar — this amount will do.

Have you started any collections lately?

Since I’ve been on an old photo sharing kick lately and Mom’s birthday is this week — here’s another one — Mom and I circa 1983 at Nana and Bob’s house. We make such a cute couple.

My Mom will get the unique spelling of the birthday message in the title of this post right away — she’s been a fan of Sandra Boynton as long as I can remember. One of the reasons my Mom likes Sandra Boynton so much — other than her silly sense of humor — is her excessive use of hippos. Mom has always been a collector of hippopotamus stuff — which I suppose is unusual. When I was growing up, we even had a “hippo bathroom.” Every square inch of this bathroom was decorated with hippos — complete with a copy of Boynton’s book, But not the Hippopotamus as bathroom reading material.

So when I saw these adorable vintage green (Mom’s favorite color) hippo salt and pepper shakers — I knew I had found her the perfect birthday gift.

Mom unwrapped them while she was on the phone with me — when I called her to sing happy birthday — and she was absolutely thrilled.

Happy Birthday Mom!