Headed to D.C.

We've officially hit the busy part of our summer, as evidenced by the long break between blog posts! We spent last weekend in Southern Colorado enjoying small-town pleasures with my family. I have photos to share, but I honestly haven't had the time to even download them from my camera yet! We came home last Sunday evening and went directly into clean-up/packing mode for our next adventure.

In just a few minutes, The Mister and I leave for Washington D.C. to spend a long weekend celebrating his graduation from his Master's Degree program. It will be the first time since Maren was born 6.5 years ago that we've spent more than one night away from our kids! My incredible parents have flown here to Denver from SLC to take care of the kids.

we're staying right across the street from the White House!

Yesterday morning I was thinking how much I would miss the kids. However, Porter took it upon himself to make the separation a bit easier, bless his little heart. He dumped a brand-new bottle of baby shampoo all over the bathroom floor, attempted to "water" one of my succulents with the remains of Maren's orange juice, squeezed out a tube of Carmex and smeared it who-knows-where, and puked all over himself, the cart, and the floor in the middle of the grocery store. And that was all before 11:00 a.m.! By bedtime, he was on his 4th set of clothes for the day.

I'm excited to visit D.C. The last time I was there was 14 years ago with some college roommates, and we only had about a day and a half to spend so we didn't get to see much. I will admit that I have no small amount of trepidation about the heat/humidity that we're going to be facing--the forecasted temperature for Friday is 99 degrees, and that's before you factor in the humidity! Here in Denver we've had 13 straight days of 90+ temps, but as we like to say here in the West--it's a dry heat. And really, it makes all the difference in the world. Let's just say that I've packed about 7 outfits for a 4-day trip because I'm anticipating having to come back to the hotel to shower & change each afternoon.

Be back next week with lots of photos to share!

Yard sale dresser makeover

Back in May, I purchased this dresser for $25 at a neighborhood yard sale:

I liked it for the legs, the size, and the cute little scalloped bit on the back. I'd been looking for a taller piece to replace this old dresser

which I still like, but it was just much too small for the vaulted ceilings in my front room.

I painted the new (old) dresser with some Behr paint I had leftover from another project; I believe the color name is River's Edge.

Isn't that the most lovely aqua? I did this project right on the heels of the Epic Chair FAIL, and thankfully the paint job went much smoother this time! I still think painting furniture with a brush and a roller is a pain and I still ended up with some roller and brush marks, but on the whole I was happy with the results.

I had hoped to find some fun knobs at Hobby Lobby when they had them 50% off but couldn't find anything I liked. I happened to have the perfect number of antique glass knobs in my stash--I picked them up a few months ago at an antique store because they were a steal and I figured I'd find a use for them sooner or later. If I ever find knobs I like better they'll be easy to switch.

To add some interest to the pretty but plain dresser front, I ordered some custom vinyl numbers in matte black from my friend Amy at Words and Wisdom Vinyl. I love how they look! The font was just what I had in mind. Now I'm wondering if I need something on that top drawer--I didn't order a number for it because it's only half the size of the other drawers, and I wanted big bold numbers. I'm thinking perhaps a faux keyhole might be a fun little touch--I need to see if I can get just a tiny scrap of vinyl from Amy and I bet I can cut a little teeny keyhole shape freehand.

I'm very pleased with how the whole dresser turned out and how it looks in the room! It adds a fun pop of color against the red walls. The only thing left to do is to hang that mirror on the wall--right now it's just leaning on top of the dresser, and it's hiding that cute scalloped detail that I loved so much. The mirror is an antique and it's HEAVY so I've put it off because I can't do it myself and always seem to forget when The Mister is home.

Right now I have a beachy, seashell theme for the decor in my front room. On one side of the dresser I have a jar filled with shells, a piece of coral, a gorgeous vintage rhinestone starfish brooch, and an antique postcard of a beach scene.

The silver trophies aren't exactly beachy, but I love them anyway! I added a starfish on one and my very favorite card of antique buttons that says "Mermaid Pearls" is tucked in the mirror frame.

On the ottoman I have a thrift store silver tray topped with an old book, a thrifted conch shell, a live succulent in a Target-clearance mercury glass votive holder, and an estate sale aqua bowl filled with tiny shells. Hundreds of tiny shells that Porter positively delights in dumping on my floor at least once a week. Oh well, at least they look pretty while I'm cleaning them up!

A Berry Good Summer so far

Today is July 15--the midpoint of summer, right? Last year at this time, Maren had already been back to school for almost two weeks, but this year her school has moved back to a traditional schedule so she gets a 'real' summer vacation. We have a little more than a month left until she starts back in the third week of August, but I'm starting to feel a bit panicked that our summer days are numbered and I need to start scheduling in all of the fun things we had planned to do before the summer passes us by. Next week we're spending a long weekend with family in southern Colorado, where we're going to enjoy some small-town fun and I can hardly wait!

Another thing I wanted to do before the summer passes by is get some fun strawberry-themed items listed in my Etsy shop! I got them listed yesterday and wanted to give you a heads up because I think they're fun!

wide strawberry craft ribbon

vintage strawberry applique patches

I LOVE this embroidered ribbon!

vintage unused Hallmark paper tablecloth

embroidered strawberry trim

vintage-style Strawberry Shortcake fabric

Strawberry Shortcake Berry pillow panels

Strawberry Shortcake pillow panels (sold)

The Strawberry Shortcake figural panel just sold, but the other items are still available. If you want more strawberry goodness, head over to The Farm Chicks blog, where it's Strawberry Week. You can also check out One Charming Party, where this week they've featured the most adorable Strawberry Party!

And now I think I might have to go have a snack of some of the lovely sweet strawberries in my refrigerator.

Vintage flower pots and garden shelf

I didn't get around to planting a garden this year. After the massive disappointments of the previous few years, I just decided it wasn't worth the effort or the money just so that I can produce yet another Epic Gardening Fail. Some may call me defeatist, I call myself a realist. I've finally realized that my tiny yard just doesn't have a good, easy place to have a garden--and I need it to be easy. I just don't have the patience to deal with keeping anything else alive.

I do have one little spot of green growing things but mostly it's just an excuse to display more of my vintage and thrifted treasures.

I bought this darling little yellow wire flower pot rack last summer from a vintage store that was going out of business. I already had a few pots, but since last year have found enough pots to fill it up. The pots are from various sources. Here's a map to show what they are and where I found them:

I love all of the bright colors! They match well with the welcome mat The Mister picked out a few years ago. I will fully admit that it took me until about two weeks ago to actually buy plants to put in the pots! At least the empty pots still looked cute on my doorstep.

We've had terrible rainstorms over the past week and about two days after I took this photo, we had a thunderstorm so powerful that the rain water actually forced half of the dirt out of the pots! It was accompanied by hail that beat the flowers all to heck, so all that was left was a bunch of stems in half-empty pots. I've refilled the dirt and hopefully the blooms will return!

Like deja vu all over again

Last Thursday morning, I found myself feeling a bit of deja vu.

I dressed Porter and myself, then sent him downstairs to play with Maren while I took five minutes to put on my makeup. I didn't even get to the eyeshadow before Maren yelled up the stairs something about "Porter" and "food coloring".

And that is how I found my almost-two-year-old son following in his sister's footsteps, literally--he was sitting in the same exact spot on the kitchen counter as she was when I discovered her 'finger-painting'. (And I'd like to encourage you to click on the link and watch the short but heart-stopping video of almost-three-year-old Maren. I almost cried watching her and remembering how cute and little she was then. She just lost her first two teeth this weekend and is now officially growing up WAY too fast.)

Judging by the amount of blue food coloring on Porter's toes, I think he attempted to give himself a pedicure.

How on earth did he know where I kept the food coloring? It was on the top shelf of the cabinet (same place as when Maren discovered it) so he had to do some serious climbing. After the incident with Maren, the food coloring boxes lived on top of the refrigerator for about the next two years. Only in the last year did I move them back into the cabinet because honestly, the top of the refrigerator is pretty crowded with all of the other things we're trying to keep out of Porter's destructive (albeit sweet) little hands. But back atop the fridge they go!

The good news is that the blue came out of his cute little outfit and out of the pants I was wearing that day--a miracle, as far as I'm concerned! The bad news is that the next day while Porter was still blue from the food coloring incident, he managed to slather himself with about half a tube of A+D ointment and require another emergency bath, this time involving grease-cutting dish soap. Sometimes I think he's trying to kill me. Maybe I need to watch that video of Maren again and remember that in about four years, I'll be getting all misty-eyed thinking about his almost-two-year-old little self. Even if that little boy is covered in blue food coloring.

Weekend junk finds: vintage Christmas and linens

The Mister had to work this weekend, so I actually hired a babysitter on Saturday morning for four hours just for the pleasure of going somewhere BY MYSELF. Of course, my first order of business was a little junking, and I found a family-run estate sale not too far away. It was really good--great prices and good vintage junk. Here's what I brought home:

A monkeypod wood tray from Hawaii for my upcoming Tiki party, a pair of salt and pepper shakers destined for Etsy, and a piece of off-white Haeger pottery.

A pretty tablecloth & napkin set in bright green and orange, still in original wrappings! Those are headed for Etsy as well.

Embroidered vintage linens (I never fail to be delighted at anthropomorphic veggies!)

Printed vintage linens

And vintage Christmas! Here we have a large Santa candle (not sure he's a Gurley, he may be one of the other brands whose name I can't remember now), a fancy plastic tree-topper, tinsel, a very old jointed naked baby doll, two very old teddy bears, and a pair of papier mache containers (the little girl next to Santa and the snowman) that I think are much older than the rest of the stuff.

I bought a huge box of old outdoor lights just to glean those fabulous swirly bulbs. I tossed all the cords--vintage electric stuff makes me nervous! The front reindeer on the silver Santa in back needs a bit of glue and it will be good as new. Lots of teeny-tiny Shiny Brites and a handful of vintage ornaments rounded out the lot.

I did drive across town to hit another estate sale but it was a bust, especially since I'd just found all of this great stuff for cheap! Today, I'm linking up with Selena's Thrift Share Monday. Go see what other good junk bloggers found this weekend!

Ships Ahoy, the royal version, and Pinterest

Just a few weeks ago I posted about the Broadway musical "Anything Goes" AKA the perfect storm combination of nautical fashions, tap dancing and Sutton Foster. So you can imagine what I thought when I found this photo of the-princess-formerly-known-as Kate Middleton:

when she was visiting Prince Edward Island on Monday. Here again we have a perfect storm of things I'm obsessed with: nautical fashions, Kate Middleton, and Anne of Green Gables! To borrow an Andie-ism, I die.

I don't mind telling you that I have a girl crush on Miss Kate/Catherine/Duchess of Cambridge/whatever you want to call her. Although I've never been a big fan of navy (despite my long-standing love of sailor dresses), seeing her wear it so well is giving me a new appreciation. Inspired by Kate's fabulous Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen sailor dress, I've created a new Pinterest board specifically so I can collect nautical inspiration.

In case you haven't yet heard of the awesome and addicting Pinterest, it's a site that allows you to create virtual pinboards via a little button that you drag to your browser's taskbar. Anytime you see an image you'd like to Pin, you just click on that button and the application lets you choose a board in which to categorize it. You can designate as many boards as you like, you can follow other pinners, and you can repin photos from their boards to your own. Jennifer wrote a really good basic tutorial on how to use Pinterest on her blog.

To sign up, you do need an invite or you can get on the waiting list. If any of you would like to join, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you an invitation! I have 4 invites to give out. And if you're already a Pinterest user, leave me a link to your boards or your screen name so I can follow you!

Fourth of July--pretties

Just a few more photos from the Fourth of July:

We made our first homemade ice cream of the summer: vanilla with chunks of strawberries and blueberries. Delicious, and festive!

I finally got to use the beautiful red, white and blue plates I thrifted last fall.

Maren and I made these cute little treat bags to give to her friends. The red is Twizzlers Bites, the white is yogurt-covered raisins and the blue are Sour Patch blueberries.

Silly me, I put them 'somewhere safe' to keep them out of Porter's reach and then forgot to take them to the pancake breakfast! Now we'll have to find another way to disperse them all.

I didn't go crazy with my Fourth of July decor this year. I'm still quite limited as to what I can put out because most of my display space is within Porter's (destructive) reach. I put a few of my favorite bits of patriotic decor on my new aqua dresser (still need to blog about that!)

and made a little display on my vintage chalkboard.

I put out some Fourth of July-themed family photos in my living room. I found a few more photos that would have been cute, but didn't have any more frames to fit them so I couldn't display them. Another item to keep an eye out for while thrifting!

Normally I keep my patriotic decor up all through July, but I think this year I'm a little bored with it so it will be put away this weekend. I'm feeling beach-y instead...

Fourth of July activities

I know I'm days late, but I just couldn't get myself motivated to download my photos and blog anything, so better late than never!

We started out our Independence Day festivities with a pancake breakfast at the church, which included

a flag-raising by the Boy Scouts,

the children singing a patriotic song (Maren's right in the center in a white shirt),

and a first for us, a bike parade! We only found out about the bike parade the day before, but thanks to the internet and my crafting stash, we put together some pretty darn cute entries! Maren's scooter sported Patriotic Pom-Poms made from Target bags on her handlebars, a cool calligraphy medallion, and red tissue festooning from Shara.

Porter's wagon was decorated with Bethany Lowe tissue garland, two more calligraphy medallions, a pair of flags, and the ingenious hand-painted sheet music bunting that I received a few years ago in a swap with Cheryl.

I LOVE how the wagon turned out! This is the back. I printed out the Martha Stewart medallions and glued them to cardboard cake boards that I had spray-painted silver, then tied them to the wagon (and Maren's scooter) with red, white and blue striped ribbon.

That afternoon we hit the pool, then came home to meet some friends who were stopping in for the night on their cross-country move. We packed up the wagon and a picnic and headed to a nearby town to enjoy their festivities.

I had fun packing some of our picnic goodies in one of my vintage metal picnic baskets. It was a good excuse to bring out some vintage printed tea towels, thrift store silverplate, my red-and-white polka dot post-Valentine's clearance plates, and my estate sale vintage patriotic paper napkins.

It all looked so cute in the decorated wagon, and it was handy too--it would have been heavy to schlep all that stuff from the parking lot!

The weather was just perfect and we enjoyed a fun evening eating our picnic, visiting with our friends and enjoying some of the best fireworks I've ever seen. There were actually fireworks that spelled out U S A--how do they do that? Marvelous.

It was a wonderful celebration on one of my top 3 holidays!

Firecracker Cupcakes

Yesterday Maren and I wanted to make some fun, festive cupcakes for The Mister to take to work, so I was excited to see these fun Firecracker Cupcakes from Inside BruCrew Life via Tatertots and Jello. I just happened to have a package of Twizzlers Pull n' Peel licorice in the pantry that we could add to the top.

We had fun making the tri-colored cakes and decorating them with all of my red, white and blue sprinkles. I think The Mister's co-workers will like them!