A yard sale miracle

It's a yard sale miracle! I actually bought something. A white McCoy flower pot with a bamboo design.
And something else! A toadstool Shiny Brite.

Yes, a single ornament. LOL
Oh wait, there's more! A shabby chic shower curtain. (I actually already have one of these. I loved this one so freaking much I bought it full price at Target. You can pick up your jaw now. I was happy to find another one that I can cut up.)
Jack got something too, a free bag of pipe cleaners. He made me a bracelet, then himself a necklace, then we made glasses for his owl on his shirt (He has them hanging from the necklace), then glasses for himself.

Free pipe cleaners + Jack = 45 minutes of quiet fun. Awesome.

I think all he needs now is a cape, don't you?

P.S. He recommends putting tape over the sharp edges so they don't poke you. It was all his idea, and a darn fine idea at that if I do say so myself.

Magazine butterfly shadowboxes

Garage sales continue to be the pits for me. This past weekend all I picked up was a free pile of Elle Decor magazines.

Inside one of the magazines was an old Target ad with butterflies on it. I knew right away they were perfect for this project , which I have been in love with since January.
Simply cut out glossy butterflies, bend the wings up and stick them in a shadowbox.

Dave and I both love this thing. It really is hard to tell the butterflies aren't real.
Of course, it was also incredibly hard for me to get a decent photograph. Jasna's photos are gorgeous!
I am already tearing out butterflies for another one!

(The background paper is Amy Butler, the shadowbox was a clearance deal from Target a few years ago I knew I would eventually find a use for. Total cost? $0, everything was kicking around the house. Wooohooo.)

P.S. Take a minute and really soak up her photostream . I think it is fantastic. I want to just move right into her beautiful photos.right.now. :-)

Apple seed necklaces

Yesterday we took Jack to the "beach" at a local state park late in the afternoon since our heat wave finally broke.

I enjoyed a library book on a new to me thrift store quilt that has been deemed the "picnic blanket". (Only because most of the colored squares are polyester or upholstery fabric.)
Jack enjoyed a warm swim in the lake in his clothes.
And we watched the moon rise as the sun got lower.
Instead of doing any type of patriotic decorating this summer I have been adding some "natural" touches to the house here and there.

Over the weekend I picked up three apple seed necklaces and knew immediately they were destined for a garland. I LOVED those type of necklaces when I was small after I discovered them when my Dad's best friend brought me home one as a souvenir from a trip to Hawaii. (Wow, my mirror is seriously dirty.)
I LOVE their dark lacy shapes and the soft green velvet ribbon on the chippy white mantel.

I will be back with a few other "natural" decorating projiks this week!


EDITED TO ADD: When I was searching around the 'net yesterday before I made this post I tried to figure out what the seeds were. When I searched "seed lei" Koa seeds came up, but none of the pictures really looked like these. When I searched "seed necklace" a lot of hits for apple seed necklaces (vintage) came up, and they all looked like this. One of these does have an old paper tag on it, but it is unreadable. I suspect that one of the references is incorrect, either koa or apple, but it's impossible to tell given that everything on the internet seems to use both names. As a kid I always thought they were apple, despite the fact that it would take a coon's age to get that many apple seeds. So, apple it is, at least for the blog.

Hot it up

How about a post with a whole lot of random?
*Whenever Jack wants something heated in the microwave he asks for it me to "hot it up." Predictably, I think this is adorable.

*Speaking of hotting it up, I am pretty sure we are living on the surface of the sun here. It has been so bloody hot and the humidity has been 70%+ every single day for more than a week now. You know it's bad when the van thermometer says the outside temp is 94 at 8 am and 108 by 11 am. Holy smokes. A few days ago Jack said to me, "Mom, it's like the desert!" Yea, but worse. So humid. Either way, he was VERY excited the first time he saw the thermometer reach 100. (Obviously me not so much.)

*I decided at the last minute to send Jack to vacation bible school this week. He protested heavily, but I forced the issue. He has really enjoyed it and has spent the week wandering around singing This little light of mine. I loved that song when I was small.

*I pushed the issue thinking it would be a nice break for me for a few hours each day, but seriously, I am EXHAUSTED. All the chauffeuring back and forth, plus play dates each afternoon. And swimming pools. And lunches. And on and on. I need a vacation from my vacation!

*With all the heat my house has acquired a serious bad smell. It's been closed up tight to try and keep it cool in here and now it STINKS. There was a big leak in the laundry room which caused a mildew explosion, but that has been cleaned up and I still cannot find the source of the smell. I have no idea what to do about that. (I even tried cleaning under the fridge.)

*As I am sitting here typing in the dead quiet of the morning I AM SURE THERE IS ANOTHER MOUSE IN HERE WITH ME! Eekkkkkkk. Wires are moving in the closet. Mice freak.me.out.

*Also in the category of "it's so hot", I had to actually take down a chandelier and put up a ceiling fan. Gasp!

*Yesterday I went to 5 garage sales and 4 thrift stores and bought nothing. Nada. It's bad. And Goodwills around here are dead empty and have been for months. (While other thrifts are packed to the gills.) I wonder if people have stopped donating because of their ridiculous prices? I know I have.

*Ok, last thing. The buttons above are an insanely addictive, but VERY slow going, project. Buttons to cover are crazy expensive at the fabric stores, so I have been picking them up at the flea markets and yard sales. They are the perfect use for all those tiny scraps of feedsacks and vintage fabrics I cannot resist picking up. And I have a wonderful project in mind when I finally get enough of them!

Am I legit?

I go through phases of thinking I want entire collection of Martha Stewart Living, from beginning to end. So I am always picking up back issues of her magazine at yard sales and thrift stores.

I picked this one up because it is pretty close to the beginning of the magazine.
It was stuffed FULL of old papers, including these two pages, which I am pretty sure are pages from her Entertaining Newsletter - the precursor to Living.

Inside, in an envelope, I also found this letter. (You can click to enlarge it.) It's a response to a question about her copper collection. She says she finds them at tag sales, flea markets, etc.

It's a real signature at the bottom, not a stamp.

But is it legitimately Martha's autograph?

What do you think?

This probably shows how boring my life can be but I think it is an exciting little mystery!

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year I let Jack make his own stitching. He actually did a fantastic job, with very little help from me.
Isn't it sweet? (It's his own handwriting too.)

It's a still a little unfinished as we are deciding what to do with it. I was thinking of leaving it in the hoop, but in the shower this morning I think I decided on a mat + frame.

The idea was from The Creative Family, and the only thing I would add to Amanda's directions are that if you want to make a pattern it is easiest to use chalk on the burlap.

Oh yea, and leave yourself a few days to complete it. Jack did the heart fine, but with the letters he could only do one letter a day, max. Too much frustration otherwise.

So Happy Father's Day to the best Dad in the world - one who never complains about taking care of his kid, has never tried to get out of a parenting duty, does all the blood and guts cleaning up that comes with a little boy and makes this mama feel weak in the knees, who goes bowling and bike riding and hiking, and is generally the apple of his little boy's eye. We love you!

Big Lots

Did everyone know that Big Lots has a ton of Martha Stewart (from wal-mart) stuff right now? And that everything is $2? I bought a lot of stuff, and it's a worth a visit* (quickly though, I tried calling other stores and they had nothing left).

I had really hoped for these or the small garland version of those, but no luck.

There is stuff that is still for sale at Wal-Mart though, like the peony bouquet, which is $20 there.

Now go, happy hunting!

*It is "wedding" themed, but if you do the heart to heart swap for Valentine's Day there are LOADS of possibilities.