jump up and down

happy halloween

 

Hello!  I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween and before it gets too much past, I wanted to share our costumes.  I know I said earlier that I wasn't making anything for the boys, but after waking up in the middle of the night early last week and having the thought that I wasn't making their costumes be the first thing that came to me, I changed my mind and made an emergency trip into to town for fabric and accessories.  I convinced myself to buy pleather for the first time to make Batman costumes for both of the boys - one in black and one in silver.  You won't be seeing the black one here, because when it came down to it, Ned was still pretty set on being the "green dinosaur" that he had picked out of Grandma's costume box, so now I suppose I have something for next year if he wants, or just for dress-up. 

The pleather was actually pretty easy to work with and I loved using it for the appliques because there weren't any raw edges that had to be sewed over.  I just used a straight stitch to attach those bats.  I did have to be a bit careful about not pinning too much and pinning in inconspicuous locations because the pleather isn't very forgiving when it comes to pinholes.  Other than that, it really wasn't that difficult to work with.  And he didn't actually end up wearing the mask even though that was the only part of the costume he wanted to wear to school for his party (and the only part I really thought he should leave out for school).  

And my costume - it has been a really long time since I have dressed up for Halloween and I really wanted to this year, so here I am - the fairly friendly witch.  I made my skirt from a $4 piece of vintage grey and black woven plaid and then added some vintage trim on top of grosgrain ribbon to the hem.  I did have to make a tulle underskirt (with some help from my mom) to add a little volume to all of that skirt.  You can't see my shoes very well, but they were incredibly pointy and thrifted for $4.  I added some rick rack and ribbon to a $2 shirt.  I actually tried to reconstruct another $2 shirt first, but that turned out to be a disaster, so I got a shirt that fit the second time around and just embellished!  My Mom gave me the hat from her costume box (the one that I remember from my childhood, although I don't think I've been a witch before) and I also embellished that.  I made some of my first Wisecraft Fabric Flowers and added one to the hat and one as a brooch at the top of the cape.  I had a lot of fun with this - I just might have to make another one next year!

And our little green dinosaur.  My Mom made this costume for my younger brother about 20 years ago.  It was a little big for Ned, but that made it easy to put his jacket under it.  He also wouldn't wear the headpiece that went with it.  He actually didn't even want to go trick or treating.  I was convinced that he wouldn't be too happy with that decision when his brother brought home a big bagful of candy, so we finally got him to tell us that he thought there would be scary monsters there.  Once we assured him that there wouldn't be any and that if there were, Dad would be there to keep him safe, he put on a smile and his costume and we made it out the door.  Now I just need to figure out the best way to deal with all that candy.  This is the first year that they are both begging for it constantly and the first year that I think they might notice if some accidentally went missing.  What do you do with it?

this and that

Apparently, I am having some issues with finding my blogging groove lately.  I'm not really sure what it is...a combination of the shop being pretty busy, the schedule being a little more hectic with both of the boys in school, some lighting issues in our house that are making it harder to get consistently good photos, and this issue of "going to town."  If I have to "go to town,"  it seems to take up the entire day and when I get home I am so tired from trying to hit 4 or 5 places in a row (with boys in tow), that I usually don't get anything else done that day.  And I usually end up going to town about twice a week - once for our therapy day and then there is inevitably some other random event or appointment.  Is this just part of small town life?

So here's what I've been up to lately, all in one post....

I had so much fun with these the Christmas Block Swap.  I really need to figure out how to fit more quilts into my sewing schedule.  I haven't taken a pic of the ones that I got back yet, but there were some great ones.  Thanks again to Beth for organizing this great swap!

A huge cold front is forecasted to come in tonight, so I'm afraid my favorite summer lunch might be coming to an end.  I just slice some zucchini, saute it in a bit of olive oil with some onions, and then add tomatoes when the onions and zucchini have softened and cook a bit more.  You can season it with just salt and pepper, or add some garlic, or basil - whatever you like.  And after the tomatoes have stewed for a bit, pull it off of the burner and add some fresh mini mozzarella balls.  I got mine at Costco for a great price.  Mmmmm.....I think I know what I'll be having for lunch today!

And thrift shopping - I have been doing lots and lots of thrift shopping lately.  I've been really trying to be open to finding more of my clothing at the thrift store.  It's so much better for my wallet and the environment.  I have normally avoided finding clothes for myself at the thrift store, as I usually have a hard enough time finding clothes I like and that fit at a normal store.  I cut two pairs of my pants into shorts at the beginning of the summer and got rid of several things that were worn out or just didn't fit right and I knew my fall wardrobe was going to need a real boost this year and that the budget for that wardrobe would be fairly small.  I haven't had much luck finding pants at the thrift (but I have found several on the clearance rack - a total of 5 for about $50), but the shirts and sweaters and even a skirt or two have been rolling in - usually for $5 a piece or less!  Hooray for that!  Here is one of my favorites - a vintage red gingham shirt.  I think I got this one for $2 and the shoes you can see were totally new for $3.50.  

I'm going to get myself a tripod and hopefully deal with some of my lighting issues and hopefully I will get more used to our new schedule soon.  Peter is currently in the middle of his two week Spud Harvest vacation (apparently we are one of only a few schools left in Idaho who actually let out for Spud Harvest) so that's not helping either one of us get used to the new schedule, but I am learning how to pass lots of slow moving trucks full of potatoes!  I even have my next post planned - check back for those Oven Dill Pickles, plus a couple of other refrigerator pickle recipes that I tried.  Hopefully I'll be back soon and in the groove again!  I've missed all of you!  

a clothesline full of sheets

Last weekend I found what might possibly be my favorite vintage sheet ever - I am loving that one in the middle with the big bouquets of daisies and poppies.  I think the color scheme is what gets me the most - love that red, yellow, and blue combo.  It's got me dreaming of an all white kitchen with bright red, sunshine yellow, and pale blue accents.  

And I love seeing them hanging on the line out in the sunshine.  We had a nice wind yesterday and they were doing a lot of flapping and blowing too.  I think I will always enjoy the feeling of hiding between the rows of laundry - sunshine above and clean laundry on either side of you.  I love our clothesline!

a few finds

My last few thrift store trips have brought some fun treasures into my home.  First off, four Pyrex bowls all found at one store - what I consider the motherload, as Pyrex has been so difficult to find lately and these were some great colors, especially the larger green bowl.

These are so fabulous that they deserve a few pics!

And one more...

More sheets - there is one store in the city where our families live that always has the best sheets.  Every time I go there are so many that I have to decide which ones to put back. If you know where my "motherland" is and live close by, I may even share its location with you if you ask nicely.

A couple of tins that I'm not sure what I'll do with, but the boys are enjoying hiding treasures in them right now.

And a fun napkin holder with some thrifted napkins that are in perfect condition.  I haven't bought paper napkins for a long time and have just been using a towel for myself, but the boys have picked up the habit of using their shirts.  It's time to break the habit.

before and after: the entry

 The curtains are finished and the maps are up - yes, I used vintage road maps to cover up what one commenter aptly referred to as "puke on walls."  If the house were mine, I probably would've done something more permanent, but I think this really works for a rental. 

The idea came after I saw a vintage map tablecloth on a wall.  It made me think of the cupboard full of road maps that my grandparents had in a cupboard in the house I grew up in.  My grandparents have driven their car to a lot of places.  My grandpa worked for IBM and was sent to school in New York once.  The whole family drove the car across the nation and spent a few months there. My mother always talks about how much that experience opened the eyes of a born and raised in Utah girl. Unfortunately, I encouraged my Grandma to get rid of most of those maps a couple of years ago when I was helping her purge, so I bought a couple of lots of maps from eBay.

There are a few other walls in the house that have been or will be covered with these maps.  We all enjoy looking at them, especially Ryan.  And Peter brought one of the leftover maps to the table today and said, "Where do you want to go, Mommy?" so we're all getting from these maps what I hoped they would accomplish - a sense of adventure and a feeling of wanting to hit the road.  At some point in my life, I want to take a cross-country road trip, so I'm fueling the desire in those who will hopefully join me on that journey.

I think the entry is going to look even better after I re-do the two pieces of furniture I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the thrift store.  Along with this chair, I've got three other wood chairs with upholstered seats now that will all be painted white and have various homes throughout the house, but I haven't decided how to do the re-upholstering.  And I'm thinking about a nice golden yellow for the side table - it is actually painted in some sort of faux wood finish right now and I'm trying to decide if I need to strip it or not. 

more furniture finds

This couch has really started something.  Since we previously just had room for our current couch and chair in our fairly small living room and most of our other rooms are small or full of furniture already, I've resisted the urge to buy too many pieces of furniture while thrifting.  Now that we will have a little more room and I'm trying to create something fabulous in that house, apparently I am resisting no longer.  I've picked up a lot of pieces recently.  Most of them need some work - painting, a little reupholstering.  I have a mountain of projects here.  I'm so excited to get started on them...next Wednesday afternoon when I am a free women...well, free except that I still have to pack up the entire house. 

This desk was a steal at $20.  I think I'm even going to leave it the same color.  It will need a bit of touching up though - there's a big scratch in the paint on the other side.  I'm having a hard time deciding if I should use this one in my sewing room or use it for the computer.  I might have to keep it for my own.

These two chairs were both under $8 a piece.  They are definitely getting painted...red, maybe?  And they'll get new upholstery too.  Currently I'm thinking about some version of Beki's Anthropologie knock off (aren't they fabulous?) pillows.  I'm excited to have an excuse to buy my first staple gun!

 And this thing - I'm not even exactly sure what it is (does anyone else know?), but it was $5 and it looked like it could be useful and pretty.  They'll be some paint on this too.  I'm actually planning a whole lot of painting - all of this stuff and some of our current furniture that is dark wood.  I will probably just hide out in the garage for a week and paint after we move in - let the kids ride their bikes and run in the sprinklers and paint.  It's going to be a good summer.

 And the super cool $5 side table.  I've been holding off on getting another one of these (they are all over the place here) for two reasons - I'm not sure if another is going to fit and I think I'm going to spend all of my time telling my children that it is not a set of stairs!  And yes, it will be getting some paint too.

There's a whole lot of planning going on here and not a whole lot of finished projects...hopefully that will all change very, very soon.  But for now, I better get back to the wonderful world of Anatomy...

inspiration board: vintage couch

I successfully cleaned the couch and it's sitting in the garage now, waiting for its new home.  I just open the garage door and it's my favorite place to sit while I watch the boys ride bikes in front of our row of garages.  We are the only ones in our building who actually park in the garage (or we did until the couch took residence there), so it's a fairly good spot for the boys to turn circles. 

I decided to drape some of the fabrics  over the couch that I'm thinking about using for other projects - my new inspiration board, I guess.  I'm super excited about keeping my favorite pillow from that last set that I made.  I think I'll move the other two to my bed, but the big red vintage print has to stay out in the living room and I think I'll make it work.

I've got so many plans here...just need to get school (only a week left) and the move over so I can get to them!!  My mom is coming next weekend for Ned's birthday and to help do some sewing. The Kaufman pears print is going to be the bottom panel of the curtains, with the white on top.  I thrifted the white fabric (which is actually a subtle white on white stripe) for less than $1 a yard.

Actually, the great thing is that most of these fabrics are thrifted - things that I already had, or things that I've found since we decided to move - really, everything is from the thrift store except for the Amy Butler there and the Kaufman pears.  The light teal is a wool fabric that I will use for some pillows or maybe some sort of rug.  The houndstooth in the back right there is also a wool that I picked up over a year ago and just happens to be the exact same colors as the couch.

I'm thinking about adding a splash of yellow to the mix too, what do you think?

more finds

Thifting is in full force here...yard sale season has commenced and it seems the thrift stores are brimming with spring cleaning castoffs.  Combine that with the fact that I can justify every purchase by telling myself how great it will look in our new place and I am raking in the finds.  I've got furniture, decor, fabrics - all sorts of things that I haven't shared yet.  Today I'm showing some of the smaller items.

A set of Pyrex - not my favorite of my very small collection, but I haven't seen Pyrex bowls in a long time, so I had to have them.  I love them for their functionality as well as their vintage charm.

And underneath those bowls, a tablecloth (that actually fits my table) that I am going to love looking at when the weather turns crisp and the leaves turn colors.

A great plate that I may use as a wall hanging since it's in the same color scheme as the couch and a new vase.  I love blue glass - the light blue stuff, not the dark blue.

And I had to fill that vase with daffodils to celebrate that spring is finally here!  It's been sunny and warm here for the past couple of days and the rain is supposed to be back tomorrow, but hopefully the snow is gone.

busy

The to do list just gets longer and longer here these days.  I'm just trying to keep my eye on the prize - a lazy summer.  But between the end of school tests and assignments, thinking about moving, stressing about getting everything packed, and everything else that is part of our everyday life, I have to admit that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Part of it might be that I am absolutely obsessed with this rug.  I think I have figured out a decent technique to get it to lay fairly flat (more on that later).  Another part of it is that I haven't hardly packed anything - moving day is still more than a month away, but the last two times we have moved, I started packing two months ahead of time - just a few boxes everyday, but it really helps ease the stress of looking at all of your stuff and thinking about getting it to another place.  And another part is the literally dozens, possibly hundreds, of decorating and improvement ideas floating around in my head and not really having the time to get to them right now.   It's all going to be OK, right? 

And it might seem that I've been obsessively acquiring thrifted sheets (this is not even close to being all of the ones I've purchased in the last few weeks) - I can't seem to say no to them now that we are moving to a town without a thrift store.  We'll still be going into town at least weekly for Peter's speech therapy, but we'll have other errands to run then and I can't guarantee that I'll want to take the boys with me to the thrift store.  I also scored a few more embroidered pillowcases to add to the collection.  One of those ideas floating around in my head is a banner from them to hang in my sewing room.  I think this time I will actually get to it since I have a place to put it. 

Anyway...we are off to get Peter registered for Kindergarten today...something else that is totally stressing me out because I'm not sure how my little babe got old enough to go to kindergarten!

embracing

This is what I call, "Me, Embracing the Wood Paneling."  Thank you Idaho Youth Ranch Thrift Store.  Maybe I do have the budget for some new furniture (this number set me back $50 and with a little cleaning I think it will be as good as new).  Now back to the birthday celebrating...