More fun stuff!

It really has been crazy around here. But, I did manage to sneak on a few more items for the shop before Christmas. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a sale!

Fun stuff like this...

Head on over to the SHOP and pick something out! (Or at least let me know what catches your eye.)

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I promise, I will be back after the new year. But taking a break really has relieved some of the pressure I put on myself. My arsenal is getting fuller ... watch out! Pictures of the tiny girl ready to overwhelm you!

Shop Update! - 12/7/11

Hey all! Just checking in with a shop update. Click HERE or click the button in the margin to go see the fun new stuff I've added!

I have a lot more to add, but for now I've listed a bunch of new fabrics like these.

And some sweet baby clothes like these:

Remember this one?! So CUTE!

So hop on over and show me some love!! :-)

P.S. We did get back a week later than expected, but all is well.

Fall wreath and a holiday confession

Blog posts have been few around here. After the big "ONE" celebration, there hasn't been much to document except that my grandma passed last Tuesday, Nov 8. Her funeral was on Monday and we said goodbye. She is laid to rest next to her husband who's been gone for over almost 27 years. That's a long time.

After two funerals this fall and the holidays upon us, I feel like I'm trying to hurtle through space at top speed. So, to take some of the pressure off myself, I'll be blogging less until the beginning of 2012.

I realize this is not the way to up my blog following or have more traffic to my shop, but right now, it's what I need. Besides, I just need to spend time with family and giving meaningful gifts.

The positive of this is that I'm sure to have a full arsenal of DIY gifts and decor and little girl stories to blog about.

Thanks for your understanding. I'll pop in here and there, but for the most part, I need to recharge.

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Ahem. Back to the fall wreath.

So, my mom asked for a wreath and hanger - for Christmas - but since it's still fall, I was able to make it and give it to her early last week!

Here's the inspiration (hanging on my front door):

I got it at a specialty shoppe in St. Charles, MO several years ago, so there wasn't anyway I could buy her a duplicate. Instead, I'd do my best at making one myself. I went to my favorite craft store and grabbed a small vine wreath.

source

Then I went to the 50% off fall aisle. Christmas is taking over but there are a few sprigs of fall berries left. I grabbed two that I liked and planned to use ribbon I had leftover from mine.

Then, I went to work. With the more expensive sprig I planned to use all along. AND ... I hated how it was turning out. So, I turned to the other sprig (which, I just happened to have another of the exact one from a couple of years ago) and it was perfect. Down to the little curly cues.

(Excuse my lack of a more detailed picture. I meant to get a few close-ups before I wrapped it, but then I got too excited. Then, the funeral weekend was too crazy and I just couldn't get everything done - i.e. take close-up pictures. You'll just have to use your imagination for the details. It really does look great!)

Is it Thanksgiving or Christmas?

For all of the American readers out there, Thanksgiving is in just a few weeks.

But ... according to the stores, you'd never know it. Literally the day after Halloween (or before in my favorite craft store) it's Christmas all of a sudden.

This image has been floating around the web in the last few days. Have you seen it? (according to the date, the picture is a couple years old, but still.)

source

It may be a ploy to get customers like me (who agree) to shop there after November 25 this year, but if solely by principle, I love it.

The consumeristic tendencies around Christmas here in America drive me nuts. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I really love the season, the songs, the decor, the fuzzy feelings ... I really do. But I also really love autumn, harvest and Thanksgiving.

It's been this way as long as I can remember, but our stores glossing over Thanksgiving to go straight to Christmas really bothers me.

Does it bother you?

birthday low-down.

A few miscellaneous birthday details ...

this cupcake template

this ruffled streamers tutorial

this Hummingbird cake recipe

decor

smash cake!

birthday things

birthday party coming right up! :-)

sneak peek at Saturday's festivities! :-)

shop love 5: GRAND OPENING DAY!

Today's the day! Click the button below or in the sidebar to visit my shop. If you stop by, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

:-)

shop love 4: vintage patterns

Usually the patterns I find at thrift stores and garage sales are the absolutely ugly shoulder pad styles of the 80s and 90s. Gross! I always was looking for patterns from the 50s, 60s and 70s but never seemed to score them. Until... I finally found a box of antique and vintage patterns at a sale that I just happened to stop at (I almost didn't!) in the neighborhood. Oh, how I wish more sales held beauties like this!

Another way to enjoy vintage clothing (when you can't find the same or don't want to pay for them) is to make your own from old patterns like these.  Casey from Elegant Musings is one of those types of people. Oh, how I wish my sewing skills were better and time abounded! I'd be one elegant and vintage-inspired lady.

:-) But, for now, I'll do little by little and enjoy these patterns I happened upon one wonderful day...

shop love 3: vintage costume jewelry

I adore vintage jewelry.

Maybe part of me just wants to be little again and play dress-up. In second grade I distinctly remember finishing my schoolwork and going to the reading corner and reading one specific book over and over. It was about a little girl in the "olden days" and how she got dressed in the morning. Underthings, petticoats, dress, apron. I wanted to be her. I wanted to live back then. I wanted to dress like her.

I still see pictures of classy ladies, especially from the 40s and 50s, and wish I could live then and have easy access to the clothing they wore. What fun! However, it was commonplace then - not magical - and I, obviously, wasn't born in that era for a reason. Something I can't change. In 50 years, someone might think the same about our time now. Who knows.

But, I just enjoy vintage jewelry and clothing so much that I hope my collection (and shop) allows other people who enjoy the same to snatch a special piece and just have fun with the magical in it.

shop love 2: tiny little vintage-lovers

Well, "tiny little vintage lovers" isn't exactly accurate. To be truthful, the tiny ones have no choice, but mamas who love vintage tend to dress their little ones in vintage.

Interested in seeing other mamas who dress their kids in vintage?
See Smile and Wave,
Bleubird Vintage
or hart + sew.
cuz it's just so fun! (I'm sure there are lots of others, but those are some I read regularly.)

I think the thrill in vintage clothing, for me, is imagining its past life. Like when this polyester onesie was brand-new on the hanger. A new mommy tucking a tiny little baby boy into its mint-green goodness. His eyes staring up at her in contentment.

A little girl, wishing with all her might to don this hopscotch skirt and go to school with her big brother and sister. 

Whatever the real story behind the past life of previously loved items, the fact remains. Little vintage things are just so darn cute! That's why I'm including them in the shop. I'm excited to show you them all!

the "chevron" wristlet turned houndstooth

so i decided to try out a gift idea with my vintage (thrifted) houndstooth. boy am i ever glad i did!

how cute is this little wristlet!? i love the pop of orange inside and surprise (!) my handmade tags for my etsy shop. but i can't sell these wristlets because it's a pattern for personal use only. but, i did make it, so i'll put my tag in it, even if i can't sell them. :-)

i really wanted to make it a chevron wristlet but Hobby Lobby had NO striped cloth! Can you believe it!? appalling. Jo-Anns was too far a drive, so I went home to use the houndstooth.

oh well, i even tried my hand at putting a zipper in for the first time. (at least HL had those!)

not too bad if i say so myself!

shop love: the art of the handwritten note

this week, I'm going to feature some of my favorite items in my new shop with a little blurb every day leading up to GRAND OPENING day on Friday! (did I tell you I was excited?!)

Oh, I am.


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the art of the handwritten note

I'm sure it isn't lost on you, but the art of the handwritten note is dying. a quick (yet rather painful to me) death to email, paperless billing, fb messages, the smart phone, the tablet ...


Oh, isn't there just something about receiving an unexpected note in the mail? If written with care, it tickles my heart and makes my day. And it doesn't happen very often, mind you. So, I try instead to be that person who sends. Not in order to get one in return (although I don't mind!), but just to make another's day. And to be a little different. Although, in honesty, I have to admit that since the events of 2010, the frequency of my random handwritten notes has lessened. However, I still highly value it.

As is evidenced by my love of antique and vintage things, I love to read old letters, find old cards and notes. The next generations won't be able to happen upon a stack of old love letters - they'll be hidden away somewhere in cyberspace in another's forgotten inbox. This, I think, is simply terrible.

True, I won't say there aren't any perks about keyboard and mouse communication.  It's wonderfully nice to get a email chock-full of news from your best friend or a sincerely written note over fb. I love those too. I even find that I can express myself better by typing fast while I'm thinking it rather than penning it slowly. Some days it's just easier and makes much more sense to just send a little note over the computer (especially when I have limited time because of a certain little lady). There are people I never would've kept up with or known about their lives if the age of technology hadn't made it so.

So, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that.

But, there is something almost inexplicably different about giving and receiving heartfelt, handwritten text. It's more human, more connecting, more tangible. You can literally feel the note, see from where it came, appreciate the effort and time it took to compose. That humanity is something that technology, no matter how wonderful, will never be able to duplicate.

So, as technology continues to trend in this direction, I hope to pass on this dying art to my child, even if it is only sometimes utilized and under-appreciated. For, perhaps, someone might be blessed and the tangible care of others might be instilled.

a vintage strawberry jumpsuit: updated

Remember this strawberry jumpsuit I got in the mail the other week?!

Well, it was missing some buttons. So I went strawberry button hunting. Sure these buttons would be too small, I got them home. Lo and behold, they were too big! Eh. So frustrating and sad. I really loved them. Perfect color, size, shape, not too modern, etc.

Then, a thought occurred to me: the belt serves no function, so why do the buttons need to!? So, I promptly sewed them right on. They are non-functional, but who cares!? They are so cute and the belt is now in tact.

One more item ready for the shop! If all goes well, the GRAND OPENING is set for next Friday, October 28! 

Ah! So excited. (And, if this one doesn't sell, I'm keeping it at the back of the girl's closet...)

Halloween onesie to tutu dress

So, like I said earlier this week, I'm not that into Halloween. I hate horror movies, and crazy masks and dark mazes freak me out. I like autumn and pumpkins and leaves and warm mugs of cider and snuggly blankets and romantic or intriguing movies.

But, dressing up is fun and I don't mind tasteful costuming for Halloween. ((Plus, who can say no to CANDY!)) There are some pretty fun and impressive costume ideas floating around the blogosphere like this, and this, and this!

This time, last year, Ladybug's auntie Jenn gave her a little Halloween onesie. She was supposed to come no later than October 30. She was a very naughty little girl and didn't come in time to wear it (sniff!) so I promised my sister that I'd do something with it for her first Halloween this year.

And, here it is! I cut off the bottom of the onesie. Luckily, it's a wide one, and she's still tiny, so it still fits her. Although the sleeves are transitionally 3/4 length now. And, if it's chilly, she'll just wear her cute little black shrug sweater with it.

Remember the NFL tutu? I just attached a lining and the onesie to another basic black tutu. Same tiered idea. Unfortunately, some of the layers didn't get caught in the main seams and I was up to my ears in frustration trying to get them all together.

It ended up WAY shorter than I intended, but she'll just wear black leggings underneath anyway. :-) 

(so cute! the little ghosts even glow in the dark)

(here I adjusted the lighting so you could see the black layers.)

Linking up:



 Despite the sewing frustrations, I live and learn. Especially with sewing.

{Birthday plans and posts coming soon!! Can't believe my little girl's gonna be 1!}

A new purse hanger.

So I've really needed an inside-the-door hanger since we moved in. Nothing felt right ... until Little Lady decided to start getting into everything. Love it how she motivates me!! Like when we got this. And when I made this.

So, diaper bag and purse pulled apart daily (well, almost), we're going to put up this:

The hangers I got at Hobby Lobby for 50% this week. (Score!) and even though the wood screws don't match their patina, I don't hate them as much as I thought I might. I used the colors and distressing technique I used for my sister's bachelorette sign (scroll to the bottom of the page to see the MADAME sign), but distressed almost all of the white off. And I love it! Even the weird wood filler part that I didn't know was there. It just brings a little character to it.

And, I'll let you know when we get it up.

LOVE!

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