Makeover: front room chairs

I found this pillow at the thrift store a few weeks ago and I think it was actually sitting there, waiting for me.

It's the perfect shape and size to sit on the brown chair in my front room. It's a really nice quality pillow, too--down insert, zippered cover with cut velvet in a damask design, and it just happens to be the exact color of my walls. Love!

The other chairs in my front room are getting a makeover too:

I'm finally getting around to recovering the seats with fabric I bought months ago, originally intended for the cushions of my kitchen chairs. When I got my new table two weeks ago, I planned to put out the chairs for a charity pickup (the table literally fell apart so it's unfortunately headed to the dump). However, the cushions were in such bad shape that the charity wouldn't have taken them like that, so I recovered them before I set them out on my curb. They looked 1000% better and I was kicking myself all day for not doing it earlier, when I could actually have enjoyed them. Sheesh.

I have lots of red fabric leftover so I decided to give my small chairs a face lift as well. I bought these chairs from Goodwill for $15 each a couple of years ago. The fabric covers are darling and in excellent condition, but the colors (a fantastic 1970s mix of avocado green, orange and bright pink) match precisely nothing in my house, so I finally decided they should go. Except I didn't really get rid of them--I just put the new red fabric over the top, so in case I get a sudden wild hair to redo my house in olive green and orange, I'll have just the chairs to match.

Unfortunately, this recovering job is a bit more involved than the kitchen chairs, so it's taking a lot longer. When I originally purchased the chairs, I took them all completely apart and reglued each joint. I must not have done a really great job, however, because they're wobbly again, and when you sit down on one it creaks like total collapse is imminent. While I've got the seats off, I'm going to reglue all of the loose joints and get them back into good shape so my guests aren't scared to sit on them. In the end, I'll have nice sturdy chairs with cute new cushions that finally match my room. Not a bad payoff for a few hours' work!

Stuff I've Made: Vintage Book Clock Mini-Tutorial

Last week I attended a graduation party for my cousin, who was celebrating finishing nursing school. I was trying to think of a gift I could make for her when I remembered that I'd bought a cute vintage Cherry Ames book at a library sale recently, and then I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

I took a quick trip to the thrift store to pick up a clock I could tear apart. You can also purchase new clock movements at the craft store for around $8, but I'm cheap and I'll never pass up the opportunity for a trip to the thrift! :D I easily found a clock (and some other goodies I'll show you another time) that was priced at $1.99. (Now, if I'd thought better, I would have taken a AA battery with me so that I could test the clock and be sure that it worked. I got lucky but it's not a bad idea).

I've torn apart a thrift store clock to get to the innards before, so I knew exactly what to do: pop off the plastic dome with a butter knife, unscrew the hands and pull out the clock mechanism. Easy! To prepare the book, I figured out approximately where I wanted the center of the clock to be, taking into account both the length of the clock hands and the photo on the cover; I didn't want the hands sprouting from the middle of Nurse Cherry Ames' face.  I opened up the front cover and placed the black clock mechanism box on the first page and traced it with a pencil. I drew a square slightly larger than the lines I traced, then I cut through all the pages with a very sharp utility knife, creating a hole where the black box would sit.

If you're making a clock like this, it's important to make sure that the thickness of your book is equal to or greater than the thickness of the black box, so that your book will close completely. My book was just barely deep enough, but I had to go all the way down to the back cover to reach the required depth. A thicker book might not require you to cut through all of the pages.

Next, I glued all the pages shut. I simply swiped a glue stick along the outside edge and pressed the pages flat, then glued the last page to the inside of the back cover as well.

I don't have a picture of this next step, as my hands were full, but you need to drill a hole in the front cover of the book for the stem of the mechanism. To find out where I needed to drill, I placed the black box into its new hole in the pages, then closed the cover of the book tightly. The end of the stem made a tiny indentation on the inside cover that showed me where to make my hole. I selected a drill bit that seemed approximately the size of the stem, and drilled a hole. The first hole I made was too small for the stem, so I selected the next size of drill bit and re-drilled the hole. The edges of the hole were a bit chewed up from the drill (even though I tried hard to be gentle) so I carefully smoothed them with the tip of my utility knife.

From here, it's easy! Poke the stem through the hole and reattach the hands in the correct order. Insert a battery to be sure it all works. I decided to add numbers to the clock face, because I've never been good with those watches where you have to approximate the time because there are no numerals. You can purchase self-adhesive clock numbers and I actually had some in my stash (my pack-rattery knows no bounds) but they were shiny gold plastic and looked exceedingly cheesy against the vintage book. Instead, I used some metal numbers for scrapbooking. I cut the loops off the tops with a wire cutter and glued them on using a clear-drying adhesive.

And there you have it! The clock turned out really cute and I think the recipient liked it. Think of all the neat vintage books out there that you could use to make a cute clock. In fact, this might be a fun Father's Day gift, if you used a book with an author or a subject that your Dad likes. I think the book cost $1.50 and the clockworks were $1.99, but I know I've seen these clocks in catalogs and boutiques and they're far more expensive than that. What a fun way to give new life to something old!

Estate sale goodies!

What a lovely weekend I've had! My dear Dad came to visit for a few days, we attended a pair of graduation parties where I got to visit with my extended families, the weather was finally WARM (albeit super-windy), there was outlet mall shopping, a kid-free getaway night at a nice downtown hotel for FREE, a late dinner at a fancy restaurant, pretty shoes, an unexpected estate sale, and the LOST finale. Whew! I don't know that we could have packed in any more goodness if we'd tried.

I haven't even unpacked the goodies from Saturday's surprise estate sale, but I wanted to show you what I found last week. Even though I had the kiddos with me, I was able to hit a few estate sales and came away with treasures, such as:

vintage Christmas goodies including two neat corsages (LOVE the pink & purple one!), a strand of glass beads and neat shaped ornies

vintage candles (the altar boys are Gurley, don't know about the angels & snowman--Standard Oil, maybe?)

Vintage Christmas seals, twisty foil, garland, and a Christmas card file box that contained a card that made me laugh out loud (click to enlarge so you can read it)

More vintage Christmas, including a couple of tree toppers for my collection

Vintage earrings for crafting, pipe cleaners (etsy-bound) and gold glitter

A cute aqua blue tablecloth (probably headed to etsy

 A picnic or beach towel with bright happy toadstools (headed to etsy)

And this darling bag made of a vintage tablecloth and a chenille bedspread

So if that's the loot I found with two kids in tow, can you imagine what I could have scored if I'd been solo? I actually would have bought more boxes of vintage Shiny Brites, because the price she quoted me when I got to the checkout was even cheaper than they were marked--but my arms were full of Octo-Baby Porter and trying to carry boxes of fragile glass ornaments likely wouldn't have ended well. Oh well, I found lots of good stuff, we found a fun new park for Maren, and we all got out of the house, so I'm not going to worry about the what ifs! Plus when I've just had such a good weekend, it seems more than a bit ungrateful to complain! 

Did you find any *good junk* this weekend? What did you think about the LOST finale?

What $150 will buy you: Craigslist edition

I've been in the market for a new kitchen table and chairs for more than half a year, and this week my patience finally paid off! I wanted to buy used (since I have little kids who are hard on furniture) and I didn't want to pay more than $300 for a table with a leaf and six chairs, so I knew it would take some searching.

My old dining set was just sad. It was a (FREE!) hand-me-down from some friends, who took it all over the world in their military travels. We've had it for more than eight years, and I have no idea when it was originally purchased. All I know is that it was quite literally falling apart. Maren stained every single one of the fabric chair cushions, and the caning on the backs of the seats is breaking. It's gotten so bad that I've just let Maren paint and color on the table without covering it, and I've used my Xacto knife on it without bothering to find a cutting mat. It's TOAST. So bad, in fact, that I don't think we'll even be able to donate the thing to charity. I think we're going to have to take it apart and put it out with the trash each week, piece by piece.

My search on Craigslist has been fairly casual. I've been looking off and on but have mostly found tables and chairs that were just as ugly and dated as mine, only the owners wanted $300 for them. Crazy! I did find a listing for a gorgeous Ethan Allen French Country style dining set for $275. It was lovely and a screaming deal, and by the time I called the seller it was long gone.

Monday night I decided to check the listings just for fun, and found one that interested me: a table and 6 chairs for $150. The shape of the chairs was cute, the blue was iffy but looked paintable, so I called to ask if I could go have a look. When I walked into the seller's home on Tuesday morning, I knew it was promising because she had her home decorated with cool antiques & vintage decor. I fell in love with the table immediately and handed her my money before she wised up and realized she could have easily asked for (and likely gotten) double.

I borrowed a truck and we were able to bring the table home Tuesday night. I LOVE it! It turned out that there were actually seven chairs--the seller had an extra that she threw in for no charge. The pieces are all in fabulous condition, they're the perfect size for my kitchen, and the blue looks absolutely perfect with all my vintage kitchen decor and the navy blue walls in the adjoining family room.

See how nicely it matches the blue in my vintage tablecloth? It also matches my $5 garage sale curtain valances from last summer.

Even The Mister likes the table. When I told him I found a table for $150, he was worried I'd be bringing home some rickety old mess (who, me? I've never done that before ;) But when he saw the table his fears were allayed and he likes it too. Best $150 I've spent in a long, long time!

Porter at 8 months

(No, this post hasn't been stuck in Sideways world on LOST..I'm backdating this post a bit because I didn't get around to posting it on the actual day)

Today, Porter is 8 months old.

First time in a swing at the park (loved it!) 5/14

Here are some things about Porter at 8 months:

*Porter LOVES to eat. He can feed himself Cheerios, cheesy poofs, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. He loves to eat and in one sitting can easily put away two large containers of baby food (mixed with baby cereal) and a small container of yogurt. BEEFCAKE!

*Porter is super-mobile. He can easily and quickly climb all 14 of our stairs and sits at the top, grinning and looking proud of himself. He likes to go hang out in Maren's room and eat all of the tiny Pony accouterments that are usually lying on the floor in there. He crawls fast, pulls himself up on everything and is just generally very physical.

This was taken 4/19 when he could go up to the second stair. He went up all of the stairs on 4/30. Quick learner!

*Porter is strong. Trying to hold him when he clearly doesn't want to be contained (approximately 95% of the time) is hard. And exhausting. It's going to be 10 long months until he can go into the nursery at our church.

*Porter still adores Maren. He loves to when she plays with him and watches her with a big smile on his face! He thinks she is awesome.

Nice big goose egg on his forehead from falling into a closed door

*Porter has developed a bit of a temper! I never knew a baby this young could do that but if we do something that he doesn't like (take a toy away, not feed him fast enough, hold him down so we can change a diaper, etc) he growls and screeches and lets you know unmistakably that he is MAD. If he's like this already, I fear for the Terrible Twos.

*Porter loves to take baths and showers. He learned how to climb into the bathtub so we have to either lock him out of the room or just take him into the shower with us. When he hears the bathtub faucet turn on, he stops what he's doing and immediately goes in there like Pavlov's dog. One day I knew he had gone upstairs and I could hear him yelling--I went upstairs and found him inside my (dry) bathtub, behind the curtain. He'd gotten himself in but didn't realize he could get out the same way, and was yelling because he was stuck!

*Porter likes to play in the dog's water dish and the toilets, so both have to be kept out of reach/closed. Yuck.

*Porter's hair is curly when he gets out of the bath. I put gel into it to keep the curls, but they're usually gone after he naps and rubs his head around on the mattress.

*Porter learned to stand up in his crib on 4/19 so we had to lower it all the way because with the way he climbs into the bathtub, I'm afraid he'll fall out!

Porter seems much older than just 8 months old, because he's so mobile and so aggressive. I forget that he's still such a little baby, because his behaviors seem more like those of a young toddler. We love him and love to watch him explore the world! I can't wait for our pool to open because I think he's going to LOVE it, based on how much he seems to enjoy playing in water.

Five Favorites for Friday

1. This clever idea for an anti-layer tube top from Cheri at I Am Momma. Smart! Is it me, or are shirts so low-cut these days? Seems like I need to wear a tank top under my shirt half the time, but this is a super idea for the summer when I don't want to wear another layer. And it's so easy--it's the bottom part of a t-shirt, so no hemming is required! That's my kind of sewing project.

2. I adore this DIY Yardstick Coat Rack from Mandi at Save it For A Rainy Day.

Isn't it awesome? And it looks easy to make--Mandi's tutorial is great. I posted a tabletop made of yardsticks last year but this project is great because it only takes five yardsticks to make. And again has me seriously regretting my decision to pass by a bunch of great painted sticks at an antique show last year. Ugh.

3. The only good thing about LOST ending is that now I won't have to choose between LOST and Glee on Tuesday nights! I've mentioned before how much I love the vintage style the costumer chooses for the character of Emma Pillsbury, and I'm not alone--check out What Would Emma Pillsbury Wear?

On the blog, the author identifies the fashions Emma wears and where they (or similar items) are available, and runs inspiration contests that people enter by making Polyvore collections. If you're looking to copy Emma's style, it's a great resource and lots of fun eye candy!

4.This very cool button lampshade from a scrapbook store called Making Memories Unforgettable in Tucson, AZ, as seen on the One Lucky Day blog.

Wouldn't this be a neat thing to do with an old lampshade that has torn or soiled fabric? If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see that the buttons are simply strung on wire and then the ends are wrapped around the metal shade form. I LOVE this! It looks like the store actually teaches a class on how to make the shade, for anyone lucky enough to live nearby.

5. My new zipper flower headband from Target.

I saw this a few weeks ago but didn't buy it because I knew I could make it for cheaper (the crafter's mantra, right?). Only problem is finding the old zippers with metal teeth, and then actually finding the time to add yet another project to my sky-high pile. So I took the easy route, forked over $10 and bought the sucker. (I'm not giving up hope of making my own if I can ever find the zippers). If you want a zipper flower headband of your own, there are a ton of cute versions on etsy!

Japanese Eraser love

Have you seen these cutie pie Japanese erasers that are popular right now?

We've found them at places like Hallmark, JoAnns, Justice, Claire's, and Robert's crafts in Utah, though I'm sure they're also available at other places where tween girls might like to shop. They come in a zillion different themes (sports, transportation, toys, groceries, some weird like Japanese foods and sushi), they come apart, and they're usually priced between $1-$2. I first saw them before Christmas at Hallmark, and was instantly taken back to my childhood! My inner 8-year-old *squealed* and I bought several for Maren right away. Since then we've collected a few more, all in a dessert theme. Maren loves to use them to throw parties for her My Little Ponies. They've been a fun thing for us to look for and collect, and I'm not sure which one of us likes them more!

Five Favorites for Friday

1. This adorable ruffled t-shirt tutorial at Dear Lizzy. Love the randomness of the ruffles. Also love that dusty pink color, although it's not great on me.

2. This tutorial for making colorful silhouettes at Tatertots and Jello. Cute! I love this different spin on the popularity of silhouettes. Love the different shapes and the bright colors used.

3. This ridiculously easy but really cute Button Art over at Mod Podge Rocks. Heck, the hardest thing about this craft would be choosing which buttons to use!  What a super way to show off some of your most precious vintage buttons. I'm definitely going to make one of these--I even have some of the vintage lined school paper like she used.

Button Art from Mod Podge Rocks

4. These cute little Palbums (although I keep staring at them and thinking pablums...not the same thing) I found the ad in this month's Family Fun magazine and they showed an album with a quarter next to it to show the size--they're teeny weeny! You download the software from the website, add in your photos, and choose an itty-bitty album to put them in. They're not terribly expensive and we all know that shrinking things down to miniature size inexplicably ups the cuteness quotient by a factor of 10. I haven't tried one myself, but it's on my list. I'd love to make a little album of family members for Maren.

5.These pretty new sugar pearls I bought from JoAnn's. They come in the beautiful soft colors pictured here and also in pale green and yellow. I think I feel a batch of cupcakes coming on...

Today we're having sod for the front yard delivered so our goal is to get it laid before the rain or snow falls (both are forecast for today). Laying sod in a parka (on the 30th of April, mind you) is not my idea of fun. Bad weather and weekend drill for The Mister = no garage sales tomorrow either, but I did some good thrifting yesterday to make up for it. What are your plans for the weekend?

Vintage love: faceted black glass buttons

I dumped out my jar of black buttons the other day and realized how many of these gorgeous black faceted glass buttons I've managed to collect.

I love all the different patterns of the facets.

They're just as pretty and stylish today as they were when they were made decades ago.

Bingo counter thumbtacks

One of the reasons I love reading blogs so much is the instant inspiration they provide! The other day I was reading The Felt Mouse and saw how Jennifer used a button to cover the end of a picture-hanging nail. Clever, right?

It was perfect timing for me, as I was in the middle of a picture-hanging dilemma of my own. Not actually a picture, if you want to get technical--more of a muffin-tin-hanging-dilemma, really. I needed a new way to hang my beloved Ovenex starburst muffin tin. My old method wasn't cutting it, so I attached a ribbon through the holes to act as a new hanger, but I didn't want to just pound a nail through it because it would be visible and U-G-L-Y.

Enter Jennifer's perfectly-timed blog post! I thought about using the same method of a nail & a button (I have plenty of cute vintage buttons) but I couldn't find a picture-hanging nail with a head big enough to attach a button. I did have a big box of thumbtacks, and a jar of old bingo pieces and a tube of E6000 glue, however, and about 30 minutes of drying time later, I had a cute new way to hang my muffin tin.

It's done, it's cute, it used what I had on hand and was virtually instant gratification. Hooray for Jennifer and hooray for Blogland! (and wouldn't these make the cutest thumbtacks for a bulletin board? Hmmmm...)

Weather, more about decorating above your kitchen cabinets, and thrifted vintage pottery

They say in Colorado if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes, an adage that has proved too true this week. Over the past 48 hours we've had sun, rain, warm, cold, fog, hail, a tornado warning, and even snow. No kidding! The tornado warning was exciting: we'd gone to visit The Mister at work for Take Your Kids To Work Day and were summarily ushered into the first floor hallways by uniformed men with guns...okay, the uniformed men with guns part was not all that scary, since The Mister works at the state National Guard HQ and such a sight is pretty commonplace. :) But the strangely colored clouds and downpour that accompanied the tornado warning were enough to scare Maren, who hasn't forgotten last year's tornadic experience.

The kitchen cabinets project from my previous post is still in the early stages. Right now is probably the hardest part for me--deciding what can stay and what has to go. Deciding which of my hard-won thrifted vintage treasures has to go is like deciding which children to give up! Okay, I'm being melodramatic, but really, I love all that *junque* and it's going to be a tough decision. Obviously the Jadeite stays, but the other items will be require more pondering. I do want to highlight Kayla's brilliant suggestion, in case you didn't see it in the comments: in our area, it seems we are getting new phone books delivered every few months, so Kayla uses those to elevate items atop her kitchen cabinets. I think that's such a great idea, and now I can't wait until we get phone books again, so I can go ask my neighbors if I can have their books!

And for pretty pictures today, how about some of my recent thrift finds?

Both of these items are from my small-town thrifting in February. There's a thrift store I frequent in Alamosa that skims any old or interesting donations so it can price them higher and place them in the "boutique" in the back of the store. I understand they're doing this to make money for their charity, but the result is that most of the dishware/knick knacks that actually make it to the "thrift" section of the store are pure junk.The old white flower pot was in the "boutique" portion of the store; it's got a lovely crazed finish and a great fluted pattern. It was originally marked $6.00--a price I would have willingly paid--but the cashier knocked it down to $4.00. That makes the price of the pink striped Pyrex bowl even more ridiculous--it was also $6.00, but it was in the "thrift" section of the store, and that price is downright astronomical for that area. Stupid, but I wanted it BAD--pink Pyrex, hello!--so I paid even though it was overpriced.

The next items I found last week when a kind friend arranged a playdate for Maren with her girls, a move that very possibly averted a domestic incident as it was Week 3 of off-track and following a weekend that The Mister had to work, so I hadn't had any kid-free time in days and days and days. I made a beeline to the thrift for some therapy and found this gem:

I've been looking for one of these beautifully-colored vintage pottery urns for ages, and I regularly covet them on blogs and in the pages of magazines. I was SO excited to find this one in a beautiful shade of blue! It's not the aqua blue that I usually look for, but it's a gorgeous color and will look pretty with the other pottery I have in shades of turquoise and pale green. There are a couple of large chips but I can just turn them towards the back. This has to be one of my favorite finds in a long, long time.

Also that day I found this sweet vintage handpainted Noritake sugar bowl (can't decide whether to keep or sell) and this fab pale green Bauer planter. It also has a large chip, but again I can turn it toward the back and no one will be the wiser. I've been looking for more green/aqua dishes for a future project in my master bath, so this fit the bill nicely.

The lousy weather & a traveling husband means there will be no garage or estate sale shopping for me this weekend. We'll likely stay inside where it's dry and cozy--goodness knows I have a million and one projects I can be working on around the house. What are your weekend plans?

Decorating Above Your Kitchen Cabinets

I've mentioned before that I love watching the online version of Studio 5, a lifestyle show produced by the local NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City. Almost every day I find inspiration there, whether it's crafting, decoration, or fashion. The other day, they showed this segment about decorating the space above your kitchen cabinets (I can't get it to embed, so just click the link).

I also have that dead space between my kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. Here's how the previous owner of my home had it decorated:

Lots and lots of fake ivy. It didn't necessarily look bad, it's just not my thing. I wasn't really sure what to do with the space so I started using it as a display area for some of my vintage kitchen finds. Here's what it looks like now:

Blech.While it's useful to have display space for my vintage finds (because really, I have no place to put them otherwise and I really don't want to just get rid of everything) but I kinda hate how it all looks just lined up like that.

There are a couple of other problems I've run into regarding using that space for display. The first is that the top of the cabinets is actually set quite a few inches below the top of the molding. This means that you can't see the bottom few inches of whatever you put there, unless you place something underneath to raise it up higher. I started out using a bunch of books we never read, but that has become an issue because of problem #2: everything I place up there gets coated with a layer of grease and dust. I truly don't cook a lot of greasy foods, so I'm not sure why things up on top of the cabinets get so very nasty, but they do. Perhaps I need to be using the vent hood on my stove more often?

At any rate, I need to make a change to that space. My kitchen always feels cluttered, mostly likely because it IS cluttered! I have a difficult enough time controlling the junk on the counters and table and front of the refrigerator. I know that I could make my kitchen less visually cluttered by reducing the amount of "stuff" that I display atop the shelves. It may be time for some tough decisions on how much I truly love and need to keep the items I currently have up there, and what I could ~ahem~ re-home. (somewhere, my husband just got happier, and he doesn't even know why. ;D)

Do you have anything displayed above your kitchen cabinets? Do you have any tips for me as I begin my makeover?

Random things I love this Tuesday:

• This darling crepe paper peony from Lisa at It's In The Details. I've made crepe paper flowers and rosettes before, but I think what really makes this one look like a flower is the scalloped edges she cut on the paper before gathering. SO pretty!

• This super cute cake carrier from Plasticland. I love vintage cake carriers (I have a collection of spun aluminum carriers myself) and the bright colors. On the lid it says, "Everything is better with cake and frosting"...I couldn't agree more! Check out the Closeout section at Plasticland--there are some darling clothes on clearance for really great prices! I may have to pick up a few cute jackets for next autumn.
• Loved finding a story about the resurgence of aprons on the front page of the newspaper! This article was in the center, above the fold on Saturday's Denver Post. The popularity of aprons is totally OLD news to us bloggers, but it's always fun when other people get it, right?
• This beautiful wreath at Crazy Daisy made out of brown paper lunch sacks! I love the colorful butterflies against the kraft brown of the lunch sacks. I have one more wreath form leftover from my Christmastime wreath spree, and I think I know how it's going to end up!
• The PS22 Chorus kids on YouTube. I'm the last person on earth to discover them, but these are the cutest kids and their teacher must be one amazing guy. The best argument I've seen yet for maintaining arts education funding in schools!

Porter at 7 months

Today Porter is 7 months old! Here are some things about Porter at 7 months:

• This kid is MOBILE. He has been crawling for a month now and he is FAST. As in, turn your back and he sneaks up on you like a ninja kind of fast.

• In addition to the crawling, he's climbing. He can easily climb atop Maren's trampoline (a small exercise version), where he likes to bounce on his hands and knees. He can get down by himself, but it's more of a tumble than a controlled dismount.
• He can also pull up on the stairs. Just last night, The Mister found Porter completely atop the first stair, wailing because he was stuck. It will be only a matter of time before he attempts the stairs again in earnest.

• Porter has started eating baby foods. He's getting better at actually keeping the food in his mouth instead of pushing it out with his tongue. Mommy & Daddy are happy because now it won't take 30 minutes to feed him 1/3 cup of food.
• Porter is in the 45th percentile for his weight and the 75th percentile for his height. We grow 'em tall and skinny around here! He is very strong, though.

•  Porter still wakes up once at night to eat, somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00 am, which makes it really tough for Mommy to get up in the mornings after she goes back to sleep. The doctor said that Porter is big enough that we can try to break him of this habit but I'm not looking forward to letting him cry it out at 4:35 in the morning. Ugh.

• The majority of the time he wants to be down on the floor, exploring and crawling around. He's not a fan of being held or contained, unless he's tired or hungry.

•  Porter is still a happy, pleasant little boy. He smiles and laughs readily and is a joy!

Giveaway winner and Thrift Thursday finds

And the winner of the Everyday is a Holiday cupcake cards is...

Debby from The Gathering Nest! Yay Debby! Send me an email with your mailing address using the link over there to the left and I'll get your cute cards in the mail to you! Thank you all for your comments.

Today I also have a few recent *good junque* finds to share.

This cool vintage tinsel tree was from the awesome estate sale I blogged about a few weeks ago, but I forgot to include the photo then. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the tinsel is a mix of magenta and orange, and the branches are actually loops. It sits in a glittered white wooden stand and is marked Italy. It came with one lone glittery bird still wired to the branch--wish I could have found the rest of the flock! This will probably end up in my etsy shop around the holidays because it's neat, but doesn't match my decor.

This jewelry set was a find from a small-town thrifting trip back in January. I bought it right before I took my blogging break so I never got around to sharing it, but I LOVE it so much that I just had to show it off! The bracelet is one of those funky hinged cuffs, and is made of brown plastic and set with dozens of gorgeous aurora borealis crystals. All of the crystals in the cuff and the matching earrings are intact and have their iridescent finish, which is rare for a piece with that many stones. It's gorgeous and was a steal at $7!

This last item was actually gifted to me by a sweet friend. She was changing her decor and remembered that I love old stuff, so thought I might like it. She was right! It's now displayed in Porter's bedroom, where I think it works well with the other vintage space-themed items, and the bright primary colors are just perfect!

I was able to get out and do some thrifting yesterday, thanks to a kind friend who invited Maren over for the morning to play with her girls. Found some good stuff, and when it's all washed/ironed I'll be sure to post it!

Everyday CAN be a holiday with Jenny & Aaron & Michael's!

In 2007 I had the pleasure of attending Silver Bella, one of the best paper arts events in the country! While there, I got to take classes from the fabulous Jenny & Aaron, of Everyday is a Holiday. In fact, I hung up the darling cake plaque I made in one of their classes for Maren's birthday celebrations a few weeks ago. Jenny & Aaron are the nicest people, and I've long been a fan of their gorgeous pink & aqua blue, vintage-style cake art, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that their work is available at Michael's craft stores RIGHT NOW!!

I was first tipped off by Natalea (a fellow '07 Bella who was in that cake plaque class with me) a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to go to Michael's to see the items for myself. They were even cuter in person, with pretty pastel colors and glitter and sprinkles all over. This (lousy) photo only shows a small portion of the line. There were more styles of journals, notecards, little enclosure cards, magnets, and rhinestone words--all in Jenny & Aaron's signature style! And guess what--they were only $1 each--can you believe it? I loaded up my cart because I think I could happily use these cards for all my mail correspondence for pretty much forever.

And guess what else--because I love Jenny & Aaron's art so much and because I just know that you'll love it too, I picked up an extra packet of notecards for one of you!

Aren't these cards just darling? Simply leave a comment on this post between now and noon MDT on Wednesday (that's tomorrow) and I'll pick someone to send a little bit of cupcake Happy Mail!

Art Therapy for a 5-year-old

Yesterday afternoon Maren got in trouble (an incident involving scissors and one of the throw pillows on the couch...I'll let you guess what happened) and was unhappy with her punishment, so she took out her frustration through the therapeutic medium of art. What resulted was this picture, which she intended to be titled, "NO Mommies Bossing Their Kids Around," but she didn't know how to spell the rest after NO.

When I saw what she was drawing I actually started laughing so hard that I had to leave the room. Heck, I'm laughing right now as I type this! Her depiction of me SLAYS me. Is that what I look like to her when I get mad? She got my curly hair, but I'm not so sure about the angry eyebrows and the mean monster mouth. It does remind me of someone else though...

Yup. That's it exactly.