Yard Sale-ing Away

I enjoy a good yard sale, but my husband is the real yard sale king in our family. He has some sort of weird yard sale mojo, where he sort of decides what he is looking for and comes home with it that day. His best yard sale scores have been of the practical nature (shop vac, weed eater, seed spreader thingy), where mine have been more happenstance-things-I-like.

My favorite yard sale find is not my cheapest, but I must share it here (as part of the linky party over at Nesting Place today) with some poorly-lit photos. YOU'RE WELCOME.

This is a vintage 1950s floor lamp from a Miami hotel. I bought it from a collector in my neighborhood who was moving. I paid $35 for it--a princely sum in yard sale world, but a major steal by any other standards. It works great, it's in pristine condition, and I'm constantly getting compliments on it.

Not that you can see it that well in the photo above, but it totally fits with the vibe of my living room. Plus it's turquoise, which is always a plus for me.

Cost-wise, our biggest yard sale score was our dryer. We had just been forced to buy a new washing machine because our old one (which came with our house) was twenty-plus years old and finally gave out. We had a feeling the old dryer wasn't far behind, when lo and behold, we saw the dryer that matched our BRAND NEW Whirlpool washing machine at a yard sale. FOR FIVE DOLLARS. The homeowner was buying a new set and just wanted to get rid of it. I will spare you a photo because my washer and dryer are in my basement, and good Lord, nobody needs to see that mess. Just know that Seth and I are still high-fiving over that deal. Well, we would be if we were the high-fiving type. Pin It

Lil' Dee Dubya--Artwork in the Nursery

When I was pregnant with Graham, I tried to think of some fun way to display his name in his room. Then I gave up and went with the ubiquitous wooden letters over the crib solution. I think it's cute but nothing new.

With this new little nugget, I thought I might try initials instead. I had seen a few typography posters here and there and on Etsy, but none offered something I liked in the letters and colors I was looking for. I thought I might as well try my hand at creating something with whatever s(crap) I had lying around--it's free, and if I ended up not liking it, I could still go buy something else.

I had a lot of scrapbook card stock left over from Mimi's baby shower, some of it conveniently in red and turquoise. I searched online for silhouettes of images I liked, a deer (well, a fawn, because baby animals are cute. Except baby scorpions, which I learned last week. Thanks a lot, Zooborns.) and a wagon (being pulled by a little boy! Or a girl with kind of a mullet, whatever), to correspond with D and W. (New baby's name is Dean--have I said that here? Probably not, since my mother is the only one who reads this, and she already knows his name. Anyway, welcome, Dean Eliot!) I printed them out, cut them, traced them onto the white card stock, cut them again, swatted Graham away when he kept trying to take them, cut out some more for him to play with (of course he had lost interest by then). I then did the same thing with the upper- and lowercase letters for D and W (you could do this with a die-cut machine, if you have a font you like, but I just wanted old-school Times New Roman and I didn't want to pay $50 for a Cricut cartridge for four letters).



Card stock tends to come in weird sizes at the craft store. My sheets are all 12x12, which I thought I would need to trim to 8x10 to fit a standard picture frame, but then I remembered that we had some random LP frames lying around the basement that might work!

This is the LP Seth had chosen to frame. Hmm, I can't imagine why this never made it up on to any of our walls.

I spray painted them white. Then, I pieced together some pieces of white cardstock to fill the gaps around the edges--fake matting, if you will.

For the space behind the glider, I commissioned some lithographs from a local underground artist. I'm totally kidding--I found these for 3.49 apiece on clearance at Target. I am so lame. But look, a scooter--we have one of those!

And a bike--we may even have two of those. It's been a while since I've visited that corner of the Hoarder Basement beneath my house. Sorry, bikes. Anyway, I pretty much had to buy these at $3.49 apiece. I couldn't have made anything that cheaply.

The other little piece of artwork currently in the nursery is an adorable painted canvas from my sister Mary Ruth--a cute take on  "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" featuring sock monkeys, hanging over the dresser/changing table. (Better picture of it to  come soon.)

I have a couple other art-y things to put in the nursery, and if I ever get around to finishing them, you'll be the first to know. Pin It

Nursery: As Good As It Gets

Or rather, as good as it's going to get. I am out of time and patience and funds. Here's Baby 2.0's new digs!

Sources.

Crib: Ariel Stages crib, originally from Target 2007, hand-me-down from Graham

Bedding: bumper and skirt made by my mom with Moda Funky Monkey fabric via fabric.com; sheets from Koala baby

Bookshelf: Dolce shelf from Target, circa 1998. Has followed me around since college. Painted white. Red fabric bins are Closetmaid, $6 apiece, available at Target and Lowe's.

Glider/Rocker and ottoman: Dutalier via Craigslist three years ago, $60. Painted white; cushions recovered with red microfiber from JoAnn.

Robot pillow: gift from sister-in-law, handmade by via Old Made Good shop in Nashville.

Dresser: vintage Bassett via Craigslist, $30. Painted with high gloss Candy Apple Red from Glidden.

Rug: Ikea Sveje, no longer available, $12. (If anyone spots another one, please tell me! I want one more because just one is really too small for the space.)

Window valances: Target, $11 apiece.

Roller shades: KMart, $10 apiece. I hate these, by the way.

Lamp: Adesso Millennium Wood Spindle lamp, originally in our living room. Shades replaced (after Graham shattered the original ones) with JC Penney drum shades.

Corner table: Lowe's (?), circa ten years ago. We used it in the kitchen of our first apartment after we were married. I think it may have been $18 back then. It has lots of random paint splatters on it that I try to hide with books or lamps.

Light Fixture: Lowe's, $42.

Artwork (more on this later): various--made by my sister, made by me, purchased from the Target. Pin It

Lulu's Rainbow Party

Rainbow parties have been making the rounds in the ol' blogosphere for a while now, and it's a charming theme I really love. When my friend Marianne, co-writer of the hilarious and adorable Looks Good from the Back, decided to go with a rainbow theme for her daughter Lulu's second birthday party, she did what she always does with her clothes: takes a trend and makes it look effortless, chic, and better than most people do it.

I love this giant "2" balloon:

What a clever and easy (though I'm betting time-consuming) way to dress up some plain wood columns:

 Marianne made the cake herself and painstakingly placed every M&M to make the cool rainbow stripes.


 
Taste the rainbow! (Sorry, I just wanted to say that. In fact, I probably would have said it multiple times if I had been at the party. I guess this is why I don't get invited to things?)

Food included M&Ms, rainbow goldfish, multicolored tortilla chips with salsa, and this awesome fruit rainbow.

Activities for younger guests included bubbles and finger painting (activities for older guests likely involved that box of wine I spy in the background above. That's what I'm talkin' about). The kids also enjoyed feeding the fish in Marianne's parents' koi pond, and taking "fairy walks" in the woods. Favors were fun rainbow crayons individually wrapped in wax paper.

Rainbow tutu?! Stripey babylegs? Sponge painting? PIGTAILS? I think I just died from cute overload.

Happy Birthday, Lu! And great job, Marianne!

Pin It

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" First Birthday Party

Camilla Drew, you darling you,

How does your garden grow?

With sunny skies and butterflies

And cupcakes all in a row!

Hi it’s me. I have been lax about updating, but it’s not for lack of stuff to write about. Plus, I was sort of busy having a baby (more on that later)! Speaking of that baby, three days before he arrived, my niece Camilla turned one.  I was so excited when my sister-in-law Kara asked for a little help with her daughter’s first birthday party. As the mom of two boys (wow, that will take some getting used to), I really don’t miss girly things that often, except when it comes to sweet girly parties. Okay, and I might have a twinge of longing when friends post their daughters’ ballet pictures on Facebook. I mean, come ON. And I never even took ballet as a kid! But I digress.

Kara wanted the party to be relaxed and garden-themed, with an eclectic, flea-market feel. I think she did a great job!

Kara and I made the banner with a patchwork quilt in mind. She cut out different squares of patterned scrapbook paper with scalloped-edge scissors, and I matched them up with solid background pieces, put letters on them, and sewed the pieces together. We kept all of the words as separate banners, in case she wanted to put the "Camilla" banner in the nursery later.

 

We did so much with a couple packs of scrapbook paper! Kara made these adorable paper chains--definitely one of the easiest, least expensive ways to add some color to a party. 

 

The centerpieces of the party were two gorgeous dogwood trees in full bloom in the backyard. Kara took advantage of this by using them as a place to display Camilla's monthly photos from her first year of life. She made little paper "frames" for each photo with cardstock backing and, you guessed it, scrapbook paper, and hung each photo with a simple ribbon. So cute!

Kara set-up a "photo booth" in one corner of the yard by simply hanging up a pretty vintage quilt and providing flower- and bug-themed masks and props she found in the Target dollar zone. She made a few signs for guests to hold.

The entire party was adorable, and the food was no exception. Kara displayed little tags for all the food in miniature flower pots. We made collars for the cupcakes out of--what else?--scrapbook paper, using a template we found online.

Kara made these little dessert stands out of vintage china from the thrift store and "crystal" candlesticks from the dollar store.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are so much cuter in flower shapes!

Sources

Cupcakes, cake pops, meringues: The Almond Tree

Banner, invitation, paper decorations: all handmade

Photography:  Stella Dolce photography

Coming soon: the nursery, a work in progress. Pin It

4 weeks to go! Nursery Sneak Peek

Well, the clock is ticking. In 4 weeks (at most), we will have a new little family member. I have been having fun putting the nursery together, with lots of help from Seth and from my mom. It's not done yet, but here are a few blurry, hastily-snapped sneak peeks. 

Smudgy iPhone photo, apparently taken as I was falling down or running through the room with my eyes closed.

Bedding. My mom made this bedding to my annoying specifications with some fabric I bought on fabric.com for $40, some red bias tape from JoAnn, and a clearanced bumper from Target underneath. She did a fantastic job. We still have to add the ties to secure it to the crib. Wow, that's blurry. But that will just make the final reveal that much more special. Or something.

When we reassembled Graham's old crib, I was amused and a little horrified to see all the teeth marks on the back of the railing. I didn't even realize he had been gnawing all up and down the front of his crib. Sorry, buddy!

Dresser. Sigh. It's not perfect, but after seven million coats, a girl has to know when to throw in the towel and accept "good enough." Overall, I love it (if I don't look at it too critically). I'm pretty sure my newborn won't care at all. It will be a little low as a changing table, but that's okay. Here's a blurry iPhone photo with the promise of a slightly less blurry picture to come.



Please excuse the crap leaned up against the wall, including but not limited to: shattered picture frames, mop handles, curtain rods, and an Ikea twin mattress! Believe it or not, I am not a professional prop stylist.

I totally dorked out and busted out the label maker for inside the drawers. This is helpful if you have lots of sweet folks over watching the baby (or if you have a Virgo OCD streak and don't want your husband putting a sleeper in with the onesies--heaven forbid!) (or maybe if you got a label maker for Christmas and haven't yet had time to flex your OCD muscles with it). Sidenote: I am only OCD about things that don't matter, like labels and how towels are folded. The rest of my house, particularly my floors and my bathroom, could benefit from this kind of attention, but they do not interest me.

Rocker(s). Oh my gosh, you guys. I am so spoiled. My very sneaky, very sweet family and friends surprised us with a baby shower at brunch a couple Sundays ago! I thought we were going to meet my sisters, mom and grandmother for brunch, but I was shocked to find about 20 of our friends and family waiting for us!

Our varied and hilarious reactions as we rounded the corner into our surprise shower. Me: beginning of the Ugly Cry. Seth (who knew)--well, that's about as excited as he gets. Graham just loves any kind of a surprise and a chance to work the room. Also, I think he may have just spotted the tower of cupcakes from across the room.

And if that weren't insanely sweet enough, some of them pitched in and bought us the super-hip rocking chair of my mood board dreams!

This rocker looks SO CUTE in my living room--note how it perfectly matches the round throw pillows on my sofa. I dug up this random yard of Amy Butler fabric I bought a couple months ago to see how it might look as a throw pillow, and it and the rocker became fast friends. Pillow to come soon!

My first impression is that it is quite low to the ground (seriously, about 8" off the ground) and might not work in the nursery for overnight feedings those first few weeks after a c-section (it is so hard to get up and down from a seated position, especially carrying a sure-to-be-giant baby, when your abdominal muscles have been cut all to hell), so we're still going to put Graham's old glider in the nursery, maybe just at first. After I'm all healed up, we'll swap it out for the hipster rocker. Maybe. I'm really getting attached to how cute it looks in my living room! Who says you can't have a couple different rocking chairs, right? Mom stitched me up a red microsuede cover for Old Reliable to  match the new nursery.



Graham's old rocker--the sweatpants of the glider/rocker world. Neither fancy nor hip, but comfy and dependable. Also, like sweatpants, good for just after surgery. Robot pillow from Aunt Kara.


That's all I have for right now. I still have to (have Seth) hang the new light fixture to replace the glamorous bare bulb that's there right now, finish the window treatments, and make a little art project for over the crib. I'd like to get a little more done on Graham's room as well before his baby brother joins us, but we shall see.

I can't believe I only have four weeks left! Hopefully that will be enough time to finish the room and take some blurry (but less so) photos for you. Pin It

Penny Carnival Baby Shower

We finally had Mimi and Kevin's long-awaited Penny Carnival baby shower over the weekend, and it was an adorable success! My friend Sharon graciously offered up her home, which has a great open layout for parties (plus no toddlers or chihuahuas to disrupt the fun), and along with Jessica, we hosted a fun and memorable shower to celebrate little Penny's impending arrival.

The mantel sort of served as the centerpiece of the event, with Penny's big name banner (made from scrapbook paper and cardstock, sewn with grosgrain ribbon, and lettered with the help of my Christmas present--a Cricut Expression, using the Carousel Lite cartridge). We flanked the mantel with big jars of animal crackers and circus peanuts. Underneath we pinned photos of the happy couple to some leftover red ribbon. We left the hearth open to collect all the gifts as guests arrived.

Over the food table, we covered Sharon's chandelier with poms and lanterns, making sure not to let any of the paper touch the hot little bulbs. I actually "borrowed" the fabric we're using for my own baby-to-be's window treatments to make a quick table runner. You will see it again in valance form (hopefully soon!).

I wanted a fun backdrop (to cover Sharon's lovely but non-theme-specific curtains), and I had been searching for striped fabric or something else to use, when I decided just to use white sheets I already had, and make the stripes out of red crepe paper. I tried to steam the sheets (I promise!), and if I had it to do over again, I would have ironed them, but whatever. Total cost: $1 for a roll of red crepe paper.

I made silly, carnival-inspired signs for the food: "Hot Dogs! Peanuts," "Cake Walk," and my personal favorite, "Food on a Stick."

 

Amidst all the junky fair food, we wanted to work in a couple of healthy options, especially for the pregnant ladies, and we figured putting it on a stick kept it theme-appropriate.  I made little flags for the skewers out of leftover scrapbook paper. My collection of Fiesta Ware came in handy here because it matched some of our decor.

My friend Jessica made delicious sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting tinted to match the shower decorations, as well as some fantastic chocolate cupcakes topped with animal crackers.

 

I made the "popcorn" cupcakes (tutorial here), and displayed them on a red tray I scavenged from my kitchen (my coffee maker usually sits on it--picture here). I ordered the cupcake collars from Oriental Trading to save myself a little bit of time.

Jessica's little niece received a popcorn machine for Christmas, and she was so sweet to let us borrow it, even writing out some too-cute instructions on how it worked.

We placed some  different seasonings and some plastic popcorn boxes (snagged on clearance in the Target dollar zone a while back for about twenty-five cents a pop!) nearby and let people help themselves.

Candy tables/bars are everywhere, but the "penny candy" idea was just too appealing to pass up. We kept it small since we already had other sweet treats available, but we made sure to include some penny-esque chocolate coins.

Guests used the remaining popcorn boxes to fill with their favorite sweets-to-go. We added a little color to the table with one of my pashminas--how's that for cheap and cheerful?

We had big tubs of bottled water, sodas, and beer outside, and we offered up lemonade inside as well. The "Test Your Strength" version contained alcohol; "Kiddie Rides" was nonalcoholic.

We didn't have any traditional shower games (I think I've been pretty clear on how I feel about those, so I was relieved Mim felt the same), but we did have one optional guest-participation activity: guessing Penny's "fortune." I made a goofy fortune teller "booth," inspired by the machines I'd seen at arcades and carnivals, and let guests write down their predictions. The base is actually part of a hat box I bought to go in my little one's nursery.

At the last minute, I worried that we didn't have anything to hang on the front door. I grabbed the box lid from the striped base of the "fortune teller" booth, stuck a Cricut-styled "P" to it, and hung some leftover bunting over it.

We hopped on the popular "photo booth" party trend, setting up Jessica's tripod in Sharon's back den and offering up some goofy props for the guests. I can't wait to see how those photos turned out.

Kevin and Mimi passed out some fun, creative favors: scratch-off lottery tickets, complete with a "lucky penny" for each guest.

Kevin and Mimi had a great time, and I think all the guests did, too. I was so happy to be a part of celebrating their baby-to-be and her awesome parents.


Sources:
Poms, bunting, banners: handmade using the Cricut "Carousel" cartrdige for all lettering and die-cuts.
Cupcake stands, striped cupcake collars, some candy: Oriental Trading.
Lanterns: Asian Ideas (repurposed from Ruby Anniversary party)
Beverage jars: Target (snagged on clearance last summer, but still available at full price--$20-ish-- in the glassware section)
Photos: My charming sister-in-law, Kara Knox Pin It