A golden Saturday in October

Last weekend was a perfect example of why I love autumn in Colorado: lovely blue skies, warm sunshine, crisp air and gorgeous colors all around. This weekend is a perfect example of what I don't love about autumn: the schizophrenic weather that gave us snow yesterday, cool sunshine today, and more snow (and high temps in the 30s) on tap for tomorrow. Sigh.
We took advantage of the lovely weather last weekend to drive north to Loveland to a pumpkin patch. The Mister was out of town so my mom flew in to help me out for the weekend, and we packed up the kiddos and set out for an adventure.
We had such fun! The farm itself is quite small and the whole event was delightfully low-key and uncrowded. While Maren enjoyed the pumpkins, hay rides, barrel train and petting zoo, my mom and I enjoyed the antique vendors, visiting with friends and the beautiful fall scenery. Here is my loot from the day:A great old glass jar (to go with a few others I have), a pair of cream ceramic urns (only one is shown), rhinestone sparklies, and a couple of fun old spice cans for Thanksgiving decorating. Not shown is the old Almond Joy candy bar box that I scored for a song for my mom's growing collection. The one that got away: a huge old metal canister in the perfect shade of orange for Halloween decorating. It was cheap and awesome but I didn't want to haul it around and when I went back for it, it was gone. Serves me right for being so lazy!
Beautiful weather, friends, junking and my family--what a perfect way to spend an autumn day!

Wardrobe refashion: Freezer paper stenciling

Most of September is just a blur to me. I spent so many days in limbo, waiting for Porter to be born that the days all ran together and before I knew it the month was over! I've been meaning to post about these since the first week of September, when I did my class on wardrobe refashioning (previous posts here and here).One of the reasons I volunteered to teach the class in the first place was that it would give me a good excuse to finally try out freezer paper stenciling, a technique I've been reading about throughout blogland for a couple of years. I've long been acquainted with crafting with freezer paper, ever since I taught my roommates how to make tissue paper envelopes back in our freshman year of college. In case you've never used freezer paper before, it can usually be found in the same grocery store aisle as the foil and plastic wrap. It's wide white paper on a roll that has been treated on one side with a coating that makes it glossy and water-resistant. The neat thing about that coating is that when ironed, it melts and becomes adhesive, opening up all kinds of crafting possibilities.
Complete instructions for the freezer paper stenciling technique can be easily found through an online search, but the premise is this: draw or print a design on the paper side of the freezer paper and cut out a mortise (reverse) mask. Iron the freezer paper onto your fabric, glossy side down, thereby adhering the stencil to the fabric. Paint as you normally would with a stencil and when the paint is dry you can simply rip off the freezer paper to reveal your design!For my designs I used a mixture of sources. The crow was the outline of a clip art illustration from a book, the toadstool was hand drawn, and the black cat and owl were clip art from my Microsoft Word program. You can use any kind of design, but it's important to remember which parts of your design will be positive and negative space! (Ask me how I know this one.)For the owl, cat and toadstool I used regular opaque fabric paint. For the crow I used really beautiful silver Lumiere fabric paint that I bought at JoAnn's. It didn't photograph well but it's a beautiful metallic silver! I haven't washed it yet so I don't know how it will hold up but the shirt itself cost less than $5 so it won't be a huge tragedy if it cracks.

I found freezer paper stenciling is just as easy and addictive as all of the other bloggers said. What a great way to hide a stain or a flaw or just to spruce up an existing (but boring) piece of clothing!

Vintage style that fills me with GLEE

In addition to the snappy writing, Jane Lynch's hilariously snarky one-liners and the spontaneous musical numbers, one of the things I love best about Glee is Jayma Mays' character's awesome vintage-inspired wardrobe! In case you haven't seen the show, Mays plays Emma Pillsbury, the high school's guidance counselor. I don't know who is in charge of wardrobe on the show but I'd like to send him or her a big ol' sloppy kiss! Even though Pushing Daisies has gone the way of the dodo, I can still get my fix of fabulous vintage style through Glee!The buttoned up, ladylike vintage style is a perfect fit for the character of Emma Pillsbury, a germophobe who is secretly in love with Will, the (married) Glee club advisor.
While searching the intraweb looking for photos of Emma Pillsbury's ensembles, I found this awesome blog post that details some of the outfits worn in the show's pilot episode and gives sources for the pieces. Looks like many of the items are from J. Crew and other fairly accessible brands. I wish there was an outfit-by-outfit breakdown like this for every episode! The comments for that post have some good info in them as well. Here's another blog that is cataloging the jewelry she wears (unfortunately without sources, although many of the pieces appear to be vintage).

Can't wait to see what she'll be wearing tonight!

Ten for Tuesday: Likes & Dislikes

First the Dislikes:

• Nursing bras. Unflattering, lumpy, shapeless. I'm not a super big fan of breastfeeding in general and I attribute that largely to having to wear nursing bras that don't exactly..er...lift and separate (separate yes, lift not so much) and make getting dressed in the morning even more of a challenge. Add in nursing Gs for my Mo friends and you have a sure-fire recipe for serious body-image issues.
  
• Bedtime. What used to be such a delightful relief now just signals the beginning of eight hours of sleepless frustration that leave me a zombie until at least 10:00 a.m. the next day. I know it hasn't even been three weeks yet but things need to start improving soon or I'm going to go nuts. I need sleep! And naps during the day don't really help.
  
• Cute fall clothes in all the stores...none of which I currently fit into and don't want to waste money buying "in between" sizes. I miss my old clothes.
• A messy house. Feels like I'm fighting a losing battle. Also in this category: Trying to keep the dog hair under control, another battle which I cannot win.
  
• Post-partum hormones giving me the complexion of a 13-year-old. I need to make friends with a dermatologist.

Whew, that list was a downer! Let's get to the things making me happy today:

• This rolled fabric flower tutorial to learn how to make the flower bib statement necklaces I see all over blogland & etsy these days. I can't wait to try these out! I hope it's as easy as they make it look. I'll keep you updated.
  
• This cute ruffled tank from Target. My store was out of the purple so I hope I can find it at another location. I think J.Crew might have had something similar earlier this year, but you can bet it cost a whole lot more than $15.
• Buying smaller "in between" pants yesterday than at this same point after my last pregnancy. They're still two sizes larger than what I normally wear but buying smaller pants is always a good thing, right?
• My cute new $13 leopard-print ballet flats from Target. First leopard-print item I've ever owned, actually. They're pretty comfy for cheap shoes and they make me feel kinda sassy.
• Finally figuring out how to make a 3-column template for ye olde blog. Feels like I can finally stretch out a little! I used this tutorial and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.
  

Easy Framed Halloween Vinyl Decor

During the week or so before I delivered Porter, I had several days of nothing to do. I had nothing scheduled because I didn't know when I'd actually go into labor, and I was too physically awkward to be moving around much, so I returned to my default setting--if all else fails, CRAFT!

I had this very cool Spooky Brocade vinyl Decor Elements from Stampin' Up! and was looking for a fun way to use it in my Halloween decorating. My mom and I tossed around some ideas and came up with the idea of placing it on the glass of a picture frame. (I also thought it would look neat on a framed mirror, especially if you could give the back of the mirror a cool antiqued effect.) It just so happened that I stopped by a garage sale the weekend before and found a piece of framed art that was just the right size! Here's what it looked like before:
My transformation wasn't very complicated but it was satisfying! I used cheap black acrylic craft paint to paint the frame itself. I could have used some of the black spray paint I had out for another project that I'll share later, but that would have meant removing or taping off the glass, and at that point I just wasn't up for anything that took more than the minimum of effort.
Initially I had thought about leaving the frame empty, so the wall color would show through the glass. However, I felt like the brocade design got a little lost so I found a piece of Halloweeny patterned paper in my stash that perfectly fit the frame. I applied the vinyl decal to the front of the glass (so easy, it's just like a big sticker), and added the Making Memories velvet sticker letters below it. The glass is just standard thickness but I like how there is a bit of depth separating the vinyl design from the background paper. And because I can't just leave well enough alone, I embellished the brocade design with a few small adhesive gems (eyes on the bat, the large spider's body and the swirls at the sides).
I reassembled the frame and added a black grosgrain ribbon bow at the top with my hot glue and staple gun (those don't show in the photo). Now, to find the perfect place to hang my new piece of Halloween art!

Thrifting my way to good mental health

Four straight days of nasty weather and a newborn conspired last week to give me a pretty serious case of cabin fever by the time Thursday rolled around. I made my escape to the thrift store (of course) for a much-needed hour of sanity restoration, and while it would have been good anyway just to get out, it was made even better because I found some good junk!


I went looking for a particular item for a project I'm working on for my Sweet & Sinister swap partner and thank the thrifting fairies, I found it! No picture yet because so far it's just a boring picture frame, but I have plans for it that I can hopefully share soon.

I also found two other items for the baby's room that I've been looking for: a crib bumper to match my previously thrifted crib skirt, and this green & blue paper lantern. I had a darling pink & yellow lantern hanging up when it was Maren's room but needed something different for Baby Boy. I looked at World Market but could only find a white lantern and I bought it but once I put it up I realized that it reminds me WAY too much of the fake spider egg sacs that I saw in a Martha Stewart Halloween magazine a few years back. This blue & green lantern is MUCH better! It was new in the package and it is the perfect colors for the baby's bedroom. Maybe I'll actually have that room finished by the time Porter is ready to actually sleep in there!

My other treasures: a bag of sewing notions that included 2 teeny weeny flower frogs and a baggie of covered button blanks, a Scrabble game for the tiles, an apothecary-type jar (which will probably get one of these spooky labels for Halloween), and a mushroom-shaped jar that I'm dying to fill with red & white Jelly Bellies. Not shown are an old Christmas wreath from which I'm hoping to salvage the vintage glass picks and a NWT blue and white seersucker suit from Talbot's Kids that will fit Porter in 4 years.

And speaking of Porter...
Here's the little Munchkin after his first bath last week. I love his crazy hair!

In the words of the ridiculous Rachel Zoe, I DIE.

Pumpkins + Toadstools x the October issue of Martha Stewart Living =
Heidi passes out from CUTE OVERLOAD

I haven't even looked at a single page inside but I don't care if it's all garbage, that cover alone was worth paying full price! Do you see the snail? It KILLS me! Normally I wait until I can use a 40% off coupon at JoAnn's (hey--I'm cheap) but when I saw this at Target this afternoon I HAD TO HAVE IT. Immediately.

And now we are four

Hello friends!
Porter Mackenzie German was born on Thursday, September 17 at 3:25 pm. He was 20.5" long and weighed 7 lbs 15 oz. He has a crop of long, thick dark hair and his daddy's chin. :) We're all home now and doing great!

Here's a time line of my labor/delivery:
8:00 am Arrive at hospital, change into fabulous and oh-so-alluring hospital gown.

8:45 am Doctor breaks my waters, hoping contractions will begin on their own. They don't.

9:45 am Pitocin is administered. That does the trick! Contractions--owie.

11:45 am My new BFF the anesthesiologist arrives to give me the blessed epidural. JOY!

1:00 pm Nurse checks my cervix--I have gone from 5 cm to 9 cm in an hour because I was able to relax. Nurse gets doctor in there in a hurry to check on me. She checks me and says I'm getting close to 10 cm, but realizes that baby is face-up. Whoops! She has me do some pushing while they try to get baby to flip over. Doesn't work, so they let me rest for a while to see if the contractions will get him to flip on his own.

3:00 pm Nurse checks me again--I am now fully dilated, fully effaced. Baby is still sunny-side up but he is *right there* and the contractions are telling me to PUSH so they decide to just proceed anyway.

3:10 pm I begin to push. Epidural keeps me from being in pain but boy, can I ever feel the pressure!

3:25 pm Thanks to a handy vacuum assist and a talented doctor, I only have to push for 15 minutes and baby is born, still face-up. Doctor finds that baby has an extremely short umbilical cord, which is probably why he couldn't flip over to be face-down. This may also explain why I was dilated with no progress for so long, and why he always kicked me in the *same exact place* all pregnancy long. Poor kiddo couldn't move!
Although I was technically in labor for about six hours it seemed like it all went so much faster than that--it really caught me off guard when the nurse came in and said it was time to push already! Better quicker than I anticipated than slower, right?

Maren is besotted with her baby brother and has already been a fantastic little helper. My mom was here before the birth and my dad was able to fly in the next night, and I'm thrilled that they were able to spend a few days with us getting to know Porter before they had to head home. The Mister gets paternity leave from work so he is home all this week and I'm so thankful to have him here. I feel pretty darn good and am so thankful to be able to bend over again. Oh, I missed having a waist! LOL Baby Porter is sweet and smells delicious, like all newborns do. Last night he even slept a bit between ravenous feedings, for which I am thankful.

Hope to be back later with some better photos!

Cute diaper cake gift

So...I'm still here, still pregnant, despite the fact that I've been at 4-5 cm since Friday night, if you can believe that. I feel just fine--actually more comfortable than I have in a while, but the mental strain of wondering if I'm going to go into labor at any moment is making me crazy! Thankfully, my OB doctor is a merciful woman and offered to induce me tomorrow morning, so I happily agreed! Tomorrow is my actual due date and is also my grandma's birthday, and I know she's been pulling all along for me to have the baby that particular day, so it looks like she'll get her wish!
Before I go all incommunicado, I wanted to show you this cute diaper cake that one of the ladies in The Mister's office made for us. It's a little bit different than the other diaper cakes I've seen in that it is diapers on the inside and then it was wrapped in baby blankets and wash cloths on the outside. She pinned little toys to the blankets and tucked all sorts of little baby accoutrements inside the layers with the diapers.
I was just tickled to receive such a thoughtful gift and thought it was so creative of her!

Wardrobe Refashioning, round 2

Last week I taught my class at the church on Clothing Refashioning (the one I made the corsage t-shirt for) and I think it went really well! I had a great attendance and the ladies seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was a little tricky as I can't actually try on any of the shirts I made, so I'm not entirely sure how good they actually look on a body!
This was a $10 shirt from Target. To embellish it, I simply made three fabric yo-yos. I actually had never made a yo-yo before (even though I've always meant to learn) so I used Heather Bailey's tutorial. They were easy but if I was planning to make a whole bunch of them I'd definitely invest in a little yo-yo maker gadget. Three for a shirt wasn't bad, and to fancy them up a bit I sewed a coordinating pearl bead in the center of each before tacking them to the shirt.

I haven't washed it yet so I don't know how well they'll hold up in the laundry but they were so easy that I can reattach (or ultimately remove) them as needed.The next shirt was a $5 hoodie from Old Navy. For this one I raided my stash of vintage covered button blanks that I've been slowly collecting, one thrifted bag of sewing notions at a time. I used some fat quarters I had on hand from some other project and made buttons in a variety of sizes. Those little covered buttons are addicting! I love how smooth and perfect they turn out and can't wait to make more--I'll be on the lookout for these while thrifting for sure.
To embellish the shirt I laid out the buttons in a pattern I liked and sewed each one to the shirt. That part was actually harder than I anticipated, as I didn't have a good way to mark on the fabric where each button should go. My tailor's chalk just doesn't work and since the shirt is black a disappearing ink marker wasn't an option. I ended up taking a photo of the button layout and printing it to use as reference, then just eyeballing it but I think my arrangement suffered a bit as a result. I also think this would work better on a garment with a little more heft to the fabric; the knit is very thin and the weight of the buttons causes them to lay a bit funny. The good thing is that I can easily snip off the buttons and resew them on a different shirt or sweater--heck, I can even change out the fabric if I want!
This last shirt I made to show how you can doodle with a Clorox Bleach gel pen. I don't totally love how it turned out but at least it gave people the idea of what you can do. The shirt was less than $5 on clearance at Target so no big loss if I can't salvage it.

I placed a large piece of cardboard inside the shirt before I started so that the bleach wouldn't go through to the back, then free-handed a design with the bleach pen. Using the bleach pen takes a little bit of practice to get a nice, even line without smearing or blotting. I let the design sit for about 20 minutes and then I carefully folded the shirt in half with the bleached side out and put it in my laundry sink that was filled with cold water. I let that sit for a while until the bleach gel washed off and then I threw the whole thing in the washing machine. I still got a ghosting effect from the design in some places-- I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I don't like how it looks so that's why I'm not happy with how this shirt turned out. However, this could definitely be a fun way to salvage a shirt that got splashed with bleach: it's ruined anyway so even if you don't like how the bleach doodles turn out, you're really no worse off, right?

The other technique I showed in my class was freezer paper stenciling, which was so fun and just as addicting as everyone says! I'll show those shirts in another post.

Weekend garage sale finds

It's so nice to have friends who know what you like, isn't it? On Friday morning I returned home to find a message on my answering machine from a sweet friend, alerting me to a garage sale in the neighborhood that she thought I'd like! I grabbed my purse and raced over there, only to find my friend still there shopping. :) She was right--I found plenty that I liked! Here are my purchases:These two cute pillows made from old chenille. The pink & blue one matches Maren's new bedspread just perfectly! The other doesn't match anything yet but was just too darn cute to leave behind; in addition to the chenille it has old yo-yos, buttons and cute vintage fabric.
The cherry fabric is a pair of curtain valances; they aren't vintage but they're definitely vintage-inspired and I think they'll fit over my kitchen window. The pretty shabby pink frame will also go in Maren's new room. The metal thing--well, I'm not sure exactly what it is (a mail holder?) but what I do know is that it 1) has chippy pale aqua paint and 2) was only $1, so that was enough for me!

One of the ladies holding this sale is a big fan of shabby/vintage style decorating and was doing some purging, hence all the goodies. She said whatever didn't sell by last Saturday would be moved over to another sale this coming weekend, and she said she had barely scratched the surface of things she needed to sell. We encouraged her to "get scratching" and my friend took down her address so we can be sure to hit her next sale--hopefully I'll have more goodies to show next week!

Saturday morning I went and had my hair highlighted and trimmed. Add that to my recent pedicure and brow wax, and I'm almost ready for those post-birth hospital photos--just need a quick trip to Target for some new jammies! :) After my hair appointment I started having contractions, which continued all night long. They weren't really hard but they were frequent and they were enough to scare me good and bring back the memories of my labor with Maren. The contractions stopped Sunday morning and I haven't had any since. I actually feel much like I did when I was first pregnant: zero energy, upset tummy and no appetite--funny that it has come full circle that way! I go in to the OB tomorrow for my next checkup. Mostly I'm just trying to take it really easy. Maybe my exhaustion is my body's way of telling me to cool it and conserve my energy for the big task ahead. Plus I need to conserve my strength for Round #2 of that garage sale this weekend. :)

Taking measure

I was wandering through the local Cost Plus World Market recently and found these cute decorative items made with wooden rulers:

Wooden ruler frame

Wooden ruler box

Wooden ruler chest

I especially love the little chest but I think the price is outrageous for the size & quality of the item. Maybe they'll go on clearance, right?

They reminded me of this very cool table project featured in the September 2009 Country Living:

I LOVE this! The designer used a small table and simply cut and nailed old yardsticks to the top. What a fun, innovative way to dress up a junk store table, especially if the top was damaged. I have no place to put another little table around here but I still want to make one! Seeing this photo made me wish I hadn't passed up the brightly colored yardsticks that were going cheap from one vendor at the Old Glory fair earlier this June. Rats! I knew I'd regret that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In pregnancy news, today I am officially 38 weeks! I can't believe it's almost time. I visited the OB yesterday and according to her there is some 'progress' happening down below. That could be significant, but it also could mean nothing--the uncertainty makes me slightly crazy. It was a good wake-up call for me that maybe we should quit procrastinating and 1) choose a name for this baby and 2) get his room at least started before he decides to show up! He'll be sleeping in the cradle by my bed for the first few months so I'm not feeling the need to get his room all put together in the next two weeks, but it still might be nice to not be tripping over boxes every time I go into his bedroom to change a diaper. Maybe our big goal this holiday weekend will be to get the crib put together!

Wardrobe refashion: Corsage T-shirt tutorial

Next week I'm teaching a class for the ladies at church on Clothing Refashioning. Let me be the first to admit that I don't really have any experience doing wardrobe refashioning, but what I do have is a healthy regard for my ability to learn a new skill (read: copy from other more creative bloggers) and teach it!

My friend Angie knew I was teaching the class and sent me this link showing a cute and easy T-shirt refashion and I've been obsessed with making my own version.
Here's the inspiration item: a shirt from J.Crew, original price $29.50. Not bad for a T-shirt from J.Crew, but I think my $5 version is pretty darn cute too:I used the same Old Navy $4.99 clearance T-shirt as this tutorial. I wanted to be able to wear it immediately, so I bought an XXL to fit my 37-weeks-pregnant frame. For the extra material, I bought an XL shirt in the same color. This one was also on clearance but the shirt had a small hole in the front so the salesperson gave me an additional small discount, making my total for the two around $9 with tax. Go ahead and get the largest size shirt you can for your cutter--it's probably the same price but will give you more fabric for your buck. This way you can make corsages for several t-shirts from one cutter so your final product is even less expensive!

The Little Birdies tutorial and original Enchantresses 3 tutorial both used heart shapes to make the flowers. I wanted things to be even easier so I chose to use the stacked circles method from this Hope Studios tutorial. I used a circle template and a Sharpie because I was having a hard time getting my shapes to look like circles instead of blobs (and I'm OCD like that), but you could just eyeball it if you like. My largest circle is about the diameter of a soda can.
I started out with 12 stacks of circles. To sew them, I used matching embroidery floss and starting at the shoulder seam, I just pinched each circle stack and stitched through the bottom onto the base shirt. It's hard to explain, but it was really very low-tech--if you can sew a button, you can sew these (the Hope Studios tutorial explains it better). I went through each stack about four times for security and knotted each one. It's up to you how close you want to place the flowers but in my opinion closer is better so that you get a nice fluffy fullness to your flowers.As I said, I started with 12 stacks but once those were sewn I thought it needed more, so I cut four additional stacks and sewed those. After that I washed and dried the shirt. The cut edges of the flowers don't really fray but they do become a little more rough and they shrink up and get fluffy. Originally the shapes were much more floppy like the J.Crew shirt, and I think if you wanted them to stay that way you either need to make the circles larger to begin with or try the heart-shape method. I did notice that after everything shrank in the drier, there were a few empty spots, so I quickly cut and sewed on two more circle stacks to fill in the design.
Here's a closer look at the corsage so you can see how fluffy it is. I wore my shirt to church on Sunday and I have to say that I'm pretty darn tickled with myself--for $5 and 30 minutes, I have a cute new shirt! Also, I still have plenty of fabric left from my cutter shirt so I can embellish another shirt or two--maybe Maren needs one too. I'm going to show this project in the class I'm teaching and I hope the ladies like it! I also think this would be a really fun project for teenage girls because it's easy, inexpensive and provides almost instant gratification, plus I'm sure you can take text-messaging breaks in between sewing flowers. ;)

I have two more refashioning projects for $5 Old Navy shirts in the works, so I hope I'll have those to show you soon. I also promised to teach my class freezer-paper stenciling for childrens' shirts, so I'd better get a move on learning how to do that as well. I've got a week to become an expert! :)

We're off to see the Wizard!

In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz movie release in 1939, Twyla & Lindsey over at Two Crazy Crafters are having a party!

Jump on over to see the darling decorations they made--I LOVE the pennant banner made of blue gingham, crepe paper pinwheels and glittery green letters! Every detail is just perfect.

I have always loved The Wizard of Oz--I think the sparkly red shoes definitely have a major part in that. :) I've mentioned before on this blog that when I was a senior in high school I made my own version of the Ruby Slippers with a pair of Keds and yards and yards of red sequins. They don't fit anymore (and I can't get into the dress either) but I can't stand to get rid of them! If Keds aren't your style, you can get your own pair of really amazing Ruby Slipper replicas from this artist. Let me tell you, if I had an extra $350 lying around, I think I might just have a pair--wouldn't they look fun under a big glass cloche? And if I was having a baby girl instead of a boy, she'd definitely be sporting a pair of these red sparklers.

If $350 isn't quite in your budget, how about a set of these special edition Wizard of Oz Pez dispensers?
How fun! Those are supposed to be available for purchase in September.

There are some other fun things going on to celebrate the big 70th Anniversary over the next month. A new DVD/Blu-Ray deluxe boxed set will be released, as will a standard DVD edition. And if seeing it on your own small screen isn't enough, on Wednesday September 23 for one night only, THE movie itself will be playing in selected theaters around the country! The movie will be in Hi-Def and will be accompanied by some reels of special extra footage. Click here for more information and to find out if any theaters in your area are participating (for my local friends, it's playing at Southlands at 7:00 pm and tickets are $10.00).

Unfortunately, that is right after my due date so I'm not sure I'll be able to go but I'm going to buy some tickets and somehow, somebody is going to be taking Maren. And I do believe she'll be needing some new shoes for the occasion, don't you think?

Tuesday thrift find: Oyster plates

I've never eaten an oyster and I never intend to do so (although I love most other seafood) but I was tickled to find three of these beautiful old oyster plates at Goodwill recently! The glaze is perfectly crazed and crackly and I love the relief images of mermaids and King Neptune around the edges. I had thought about selling them but as it happens too often, I got attached and now they're going to live here for a while! At least two of them will end up on my wall--wish I could have found a fourth and then they'd all be hung up. That reminds me, I need to measure them and buy some plate hangers so I can get them up on the wall!

As of yesterday I hit the one-month countdown mark until my due date and as of Thursday I'm officially 36 weeks. I can tell I'm really slowing down in terms of energy (it's only noon and I've already had a nap today) and I'm getting really frustrated at the physical limitations my big belly and swollen extremities are causing me. I'm pretty ready to NOT be pregnant anymore but at the same time we still have lots to do to get ready for a new baby around here so baby can't come just yet!

We moved Maren into a new bedroom and I've been working on that since last week, but it's been slow going given my lack of energy and physical awkwardness. Thankfully, my parents came to visit over the weekend and helped us install a closet system in her new room, something that helped us immensely. I've been trying to get her things all organized in her new space so that we can start on the baby's room next. I keep waiting for that burst of nesting energy to kick in but so far I haven't seen it!

My sad little garden

I just dug these potatoes from my garden, and I honestly don't think I could be more thrilled with them if they were diamonds and rubies!
Okay, so maybe gemstones in my backyard would make me a little more excited, but I have to tell you that I'm pretty darn tickled with a few veggies. With the exception of seven additional green beans, enough rhubarb to make one cobbler and one strawberry the size of a marble, this is the only thing edible my garden has produced so far this year. Pitiful, isn't it? I may yet have a few more potatoes and beans, the verdict's still out on the onions and there's probably enough rhubarb for one more dessert but I'm not holding my breath for anything else. Here's a little status report for what I planted initially:

Tomatoes: Started with two plants. One was ripped out of the container by my stupid tomato-loving dog (it had a tiny tomato on it). Managed to find a replacement (no easy task in mid-July). Has a few blossoms but will it ever make fruit before it gets too cold? I highly doubt it--it has a 60 day growing period. The second plant was doing just fine until it inexplicably took a turn for the worse last week and now it appears to be dead, despite my watering & Miracle Gro feedings. No BLT sandwiches for me this year.

Green beans: Started with four plants. One died during the tornado/hailstorm back in early June. The other three lived and produced beans. While harvesting said beans last week, Maren pulled one entire plant out of the ground (it was scrawny). Tried to replant it, but it died. Now down to two plants and while they're making beans, they're little weakling plants.

Potatoes: Started with six hills. All appear to have grown, it's a garden miracle! The photo above shows the first potatoes I've dug, which comprised everything from three of the plants. I had better enjoy them because I doubt there will be many more at that rate.

Rhubarb: Took a beating (literally) during the tornado/hailstorm. Was able to salvage enough to make a rhubarb crisp and cut off all the other damaged bracts. Surprisingly, it came back and it looks like there's enough to make one more rhubarb crisp this weekend.

Strawberries: Started out with six plants. Found one tiny, misshapen berry last week and let Maren eat it--she reports it was good. There were a few other berries at the beginning of the season but the damn birds got to them before Maren could (I quit filling the bird feeder in revenge). Plants are sending out runners like crazy so at least maybe they'll reproduce. If I'd thought they were going to be so robust about reproducing, I would have planted them in a different spot with more space.

Onions: Had the misfortune of being planted less than 24 hours before the tornado/hailstorm. Poor little dears were flattened but about half managed to survive. Still looking very scrawny; I haven't been brave enough to check any for bulbs yet. If they do have bulbs, they'll end up looking more like scallions than the nice round globes I was hoping for.

Pumpkin: Currently doing what pumpkins do best, which is making a bid for total botanic domination of that end of the garden. In its haste to cover the most territory possible it seems to have forgotten the whole idea of making fruit. There are currently two golf-ball sized gourds on the plant and seeing as how it's mid-August, I have a sneaking suspicion we won't be carving those as our Jack-o'lanterns this October.

Basil: Started with something nutso like 20 plants. Figured that since everyone always says that basil grows like crazy that I'd be bushwhacking my way through forests of basil and putting up fresh pesto by the gallon by now. Ha! My plants are indeed growing but struggling mightily. Out of the 15 or so remaining plants I think I'd be lucky to get one, possibly two batches of pesto at this point. Can't figure out what the problem is and why herbs seem to hate me.

Hollyhocks: More came up this year than last year but they appear to be of a pygmy variety. I dreamed of the 6-foot-tall 'hocks I see around all the houses in my grandparents' small town, but instead I got the miniature version. I swear they were taller last summer, are they just shy this year?

Sunflowers: The ones Maren planted accidentally in the front of the garden are taller than me and should bloom anytime. The ones I planted deliberately in a nice little row against the fence are suffering the same pygmy disorder as the hollyhocks. Especially strange since they all came from the same packet of seeds and were planted within days of each other.

Growing heartily: Various weeds, crab grass, aspen suckers, thistles, the ugly hedges in front of the house

Here's the thing: my garden's failure is not for lack of trying on my part. If wishing and hoping would actually make the plants grow, I'd be opening up a booth at the farmer's market by now! Last summer's garden experiment was my first but was largely unsuccessful due to a cold, wet June and subsequent late planting times. I wanted so badly for everything to grow this year; all Spring I planned what I would plant and talked about it to anyone who would listen. But then Nature took over and apparently decided that I was getting a bit too excited and put me in my place. From the tornado and golf ball-sized hail to yet another (atypical) cold wet June, to the tomato-thieving dog and whatever other maladies have made my plants die or otherwise ail, I just can't win!

I've resigned myself to the fact that Nature just does not want me to have a garden this year, and it's out of my control. I honestly don't know why anyone would want to be a farmer in this day and age--their livelihood is dependent on the whims of the weather, which for the past two summers now has been extremely temperamental. I'm just thankful I don't have to rely on the produce from my garden to feed my family for the winter. I'll probably be foolish and try it all again next year, but I'm afraid two summers of failure will probably put a damper on my enthusiasm.

So for all the rest of you who have fresh tomatoes up to your eyeballs and zucchini the size of baseball bats, please eat a BLT for me and don't take them for granted. And you had better believe I'll enjoy every bite of those potatoes with my dinner tonight!

Tuesday thrift score

After complaining all summer about the dearth of good junk at my local thrifts, I've had a pretty good run the past week or so! I have more photos of my finds to share but wanted to show this one, today's only purchase:Oh, how I LOVE this old thermos! The plaid, the cute logo & name, the RED! It's in pretty good condition and I can't wait to display it! Maybe my junking luck is changing...

A lesson in manners

Dear Neighbor:

While I held no illusions that you were the classiest person I had ever met, I thought that giving birth to four children of your own might have at least imbued you with a clue. Seems I was wrong, so allow me to enlighten you: It is generally considered impolite to tell a 34-week pregnant woman, "Wow! You are just getting SO BIG! How much longer do you have, anyway?"

Such a remark, when uttered in the incredulous tone you used, serves only to disgust and enrage said pregnant lady, and it makes you look like a total schmuck. Furthermore, it ensures that your expectant neighbor will hereby drop you from the homemade baked goods distribution list FOREVER. No more cupcakes for you, chickie!

The proper and polite thing to do when you encounter an expectant mother well into her third trimester is to LIE. When you find out how far along she is, you tell her there is just no way she could be that far advanced in her pregnancy--she looks SO much smaller than that! It doesn't matter if she knows you're lying--she'll thank you for it! The last thing she needs at that point is brutal reality, especially when she hasn't seen her own feet in weeks. The truth about her girth is really beside the point and unless she lives in a house with no mirrors, she doesn't need a genius like you to point it out. And if you don't feel comfortable telling what really amounts to a mercy fib, then by all means, just KEEP YOUR PIE HOLE SHUT! Silence is golden, dear neighbor.

If I wasn't better-mannered, I might have, upon hearing your thoughtless remark (and that of the day prior concerning my belly button and the fact that it appears to you that "my turkey timer has popped") , unleashed upon you with a Julia Sugarbaker-esque excoriation that included something to the effect that 'at least my figure is that of a woman and not a pre-pubescent 13-year-old boy', a fact you can make no claims to yourself. But I have to live next to you until you move out in December and my daughter likes to play with your girls, so I held my tongue. I am, however, baking a cake tonight and you can bet your sweet bottom that there won't be any for your family! Thank you for making me not sad about the news that you'll be moving away soon.

Smooches,
Your Neighbor
Blimpy McPorkington

My birthday, by the numbers

Number of years I've been alive, as of today: 31

Temperature outside right now, at 2:00 pm: 60 degrees

Number of times my birthday has ever been this cold: ZERO



Number of thrift stores I visited while Maren was in school this morning: 2

Number of fun things I bought: 5

Number of buttons I bought: 0

Number of bags of buttons I seriously considered buying before I came to my senses: 1



Number of Key Lime Cupcakes in the oven right now: 24

Number of Key Lime Cupcakes soon to be in my tummy: um....let's skip to the next question

Number of dinner dishes I intend to wash tonight: zero! We're going out to eat!

Number of blessings in my life: too many to count!

Is there a 12-step program for this?

Does anyone know of a support group or 1-800 helpline for the truly Button Obsessed?
Seriously, I think it's getting worse. These are some of the buttons I bought this past weekend on our trip to Durango. Help--somebody save me from myself! Forget button flowers; I'm moving on to button gardens.

Also among the spoils from this weekend's junking: a jadeite ashtray (nobody in this house smokes but you had better believe that if I see jadeite for $2, it's coming home with me--I don't care WHAT type of object it is) and a couple of strings of red mercury glass beads.