Pinned it and Made it: The Pinterest Party

Back in August we spent a few days visiting my parents in their beautiful new home and my mother told me to block off one particular night so we could celebrate my birthday (which had been about two weeks previous). I figured we'd have a family barbecue with my brothers but when we did that the night before the party, I was a bit confused, because what did that leave?

I should have known my mom would have something up her sleeve--she threw me a Pinterest Party

complete with a giant vinyl Pinterest logo

and a darling red-and-white polka-dotted pennant banner with matching red-and-white polka-dotted balloons! Oh my goodness, I laughed when she told me the theme! Everything at the party was something you'd see on Pinterest.

There were darling little embellished milk glass jars with stripey straws. These were both our drinks and our party favors.

A friend brought this incredible veggie relish tray that looked like flowers and even gave me the book so I can make my own. Not technically from Pinterest, but it will be just as soon as I pin my own photo!

We had a delicious and girly dinner of salad and pasta and homemade rolls and raspberry lemonade. The menfolk took the kids and decamped to a local arcade for the evening. For activities, we crafted and visited--two of my very most favorite ways to spend time!

We made these cute and simple washer necklaces and also darling embellished composition notebooks.

Dessert was a decadent ice cream sandwich cake. Yum!

And my aunt, a champion Pinner, brought me a straight-from-Pinterest gift of Cowboy Cookies in a Jar.

The party guests were a surprise too--in addition to other dear ladies that I love, my mom got all sneaky on Facebook and invited some of my dearest girlfriends--my very best friends from middle and high school. Girls that I've known since I was 11 years old! They all still live fairly close to where we grew up so they get to see each other but I moved 600 miles away, and our trips to Utah are always so rushed with trying to see family that I don't usually get to fit in seeing my friends too. It was such a delight to open the door and see them standing there!

My mom knows how much I love to throw parties and make sure that every detail is perfect, so to have somebody throw such a party for ME truly made me feel so special and loved! My only regret is that I forgot to take a photo of my dear friends and myself all together. :(

I absolutely adore this idea for a party and I think I may just have to throw one for my local friends later this autumn when things calm down. I brought home the pennant banner and the giant logo so I'm already on my way!

Weekend Junk Finds: Labor Day edition

Happy Labor Day! I'll be honest, I have no idea why we celebrate Labor Day and I can't even be bothered to Google it and find out. All I know is, I like Monday holidays because it means that The Mister gets a four-day weekend (he is normally off Mondays so they get the preceding Friday off to compensate for Monday holidays)! Many of the thrift stores around town are holding 50% off sales this weekend. I shopped a bit on Saturday and found some more inventory for my booths.

I was totally thrilled to find this cute smaller-sized metal Coleman jug. I'm sure it had been sitting in someone's garage prior to being donated so I scrubbed it good--I even took a toothpick to all those little grooves in the lid to get it looking good. The only thing I can't seem to get clean is the previous owners' surname written in black marker on the top of the plastic lid. :( Think that might be a lost cause. At least the black marker on the metal came off--thank heavens for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

The blanket is a gorgeous Pendleton plaid that still has the dry cleaner tag attached. It's beautiful and in perfect condition and even though the red is not keeping within the color scheme of my booth, I think it definitely has the autumnal vibe. The thing about Pendleton--they have used the same label for a long time so I have no idea how you tell if a blanket is truly vintage or not. Anyone know?

I've bought a few other blankets lately in addition to the Pendleton, including this pretty plaid one. I love the colors and I hope it will be appealing to a shopper! The cute little squirrel dish is in the right color scheme and I think he'll be a cute addition to my booth.

It's hard to tell the scale of this vase from the photograph, but it's quite large and I love the handles! I can't decide if I'll leave it plain or dress it up with some spooky Halloween-y vinyl.

More whites and creams for my booth color scheme. The large milk glass cake plate will definitely get a Halloweeny vinyl makeover, and the little milk glass sugar bowl will join two others. Obviously I love anything that is shaped like a trophy! The leaf dish is truly beautiful OLD ironstone. I found it at the consignment store and not only was it the 50% off color, I had credit for items I consigned so it was absolutely FREE! Hooray for 100% profit!

And this last purchase is the product of all of the mid-century modern blogs I read each week when I look through the links in Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. It's not a style that normally appeals to me but I'm fascinated by the simplicity of the designs. This gray vase is quite large and not only does it fit with my color scheme, I think its simple shape and trendy color will make it appealing to a buyer.

We went to a couple of really fun events last week. Can't wait to share! 

Weekend Junk Finds: Beautiful Buttons

Hello, friends! This weekend I visited one of the markets where I will be a vendor in just over a month (gulp). It was my first time to that particular market but it was really fun! The venue is pretty because rather than being in a parking lot like several of the other craft/vintage markets around here, instead it's on a large open grassy space like a park. There was live music and several food trucks showed up (including the famous Denver Cupcake Truck) and there were many families out enjoying the beautiful morning and shopping.

Being at the bustling market made me excited to be a vendor there, but it also made me just that much more nervous! I've been freaking out a little bit in the past few days about the prospect of getting it all done and having enough stuff made/found to have two nice full booths, not to mention constructing the booth itself. Maren started school a week ago and I thought for sure that with the return to a structured schedule that I'd have so much more time to work, but instead it's been the opposite. I am starting to feel panicked and frustrated that I can't get more done in a day, and I've got to get a handle on my stress and ratchet up the productivity levels or I'm going to be in the hurt locker in about three weeks.

After I went to the market and had my freak out about inventory and my lack thereof, I decided to hit the thrifts. I found a few things that are fun and I'll show those next week when I get them all photographed. In the meantime, I have a fun find to share with you from last weekend. I mentioned last week that I was pleasantly surprised by the state of my local Goodwill store. One of the items I picked up was a bag of carded buttons. It was packaged up tightly and therefore difficult to see exactly what was inside, but I thought I saw a few vintage buttons so I decided to risk the $3.99.

When I got home and opened the bag, I couldn't believe how many full cards of buttons were actually inside. As I started looking at them, I realized that many of the buttons that I had thought were plastic were actually molded glass! The cards are marked West Germany.

There are many duplicates of each design and they are just beautiful! I have found some vintage glass buttons but nothing like this. There are around 40 full cards, and several more partial cards along with a large handful of loose buttons. I believe some of the loose buttons can be put on the partial cards to make a few more complete sets.

In addition to the glass buttons, there was a large pile of regular plastic buttons--some vintage, some newer.

Also in the bag was this ruffler foot for a sewing machine. I frankly cannot even tell which direction is up or if it is complete or how I would even attach it to my sewing machine. But if it is complete and compatible with my machine, I think it's worth about $20.

And mixed in with the loose buttons at the bottom were several thimbles. Most of the plain cheap silver metal variety, but there was this one plastic thimble advertising a tractor and farm implement company, and a sweet little sterling silver thimble as well! I'd say that bag was well worth the $4 splurge!

Even though I am an avowed button-hoarder, I know that I can't possibly use all of those beautiful glass buttons so I plan to bring most of them (I've gotta keep a few of those pretties!) to my booths. I'd love your suggestions on what you think a fair price would be for me to charge for them.

I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Tuesday!

Maren and Porter update

Last Monday was Maren's first day of school--Second Grade, this time. Cannot believe it!

This year she chose a Lalaloopsy backpack and lunchbox. I loved her Mystery Machine lunchbox from last year, but this year we needed a new one. That one lasted the entire year and then on the last day of school, the darn dog got hold of it and ripped a hole in it! For crying out loud.

Maren is a child who LOVES school! There has never once been a day since she started Preschool at age 3 1/2 that she didn't want to go to school.

She's a bright girl and she loves to learn and make friends. I have no doubt she has a wonderful school year ahead of her!

When we dropped off Maren in her classroom that first day, Porter asked where she was. When I told him that she was staying in school, his little eyes welled up and he said, "I miss my Maren" in the saddest, most pitiful little voice and has repeated that sentiment all week long. That little boy adores his big sister!

Right now Porter LIVES and BREATHES fire trucks, police cars, ambulances and helicopters. This past week I had a mad dash through town to find the last remaining bits of a recent fire truck line of clothing at Gymboree that will comprise the bulk of his fall wardrobe. Porter loves to play with his little rescue vehicles and I find fleets of them lined up neatly like this all over the house. It's a sweet little quirk of his that I adore.

Happy Weekend!

Olympians in our own backyard

 Last Saturday was a busy day, but I decided to pack up the kids and haul them to a local park, and I'm so glad we went! The occasion was a Welcome Home celebration for Colorado's Olympians. It was hosted by my city, the same city which happens to be home to a particularly decorated female Olympian. Can you guess who she is?

The event was emceed by Chris Marlowe, who also lives in my city. Most recently he did play-by-play for the 2012 Olympics beach volleyball broadcasts, which is fitting because he was captain of the gold-medal-winning men's Olympic volleyball team in 1984. He is currently the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets. He also happens to be a neighbor of that young lady I mentioned earlier!

The event was designed to be a celebration of all Colorado Olympians--at least, all that list Colorado as their current residence or train here. Six of the athletes who competed were able to attend the celebration, including Lance Brooks, who competed in discus

and David Herman, who we actually watched compete in BMX!

A total of 39 Coloradans participated in the Olympics (with more to come in the Paralympics) and brought home 9 of the 104 total medals won in the whole Olympic games. That's a pretty high percentage and includes this young lady, Taylor Ritzel, who won a gold in rowing (which is pretty awesome when you consider Colorado is land-locked and mostly dry!)

It wasn't a surprise to me that a Coloradan won a medal in mountain biking! This is Georgia Gould, who won a bronze medal (the guy she's greeting is our governor, John Hickenlooper).

And since we don't have any oceans, apparently we like the swimming pools--maybe that accounts for our history of awesome female swimmers! This is Kara Lynn Joyce, who didn't medal in London but has 4 silver medals from the Olympics in Athens and Beijing.

And even though the event was for ALL Colorado athletes no matter where in our large state they reside, this young lady was the star of the show and got the biggest cheers from the crowd. When she was introduced, the giant screen played the funny video the US Swim Team made singing to "Call Me Maybe" and cute Missy danced and sang right along!

Missy's high school is about 10 minutes from my house so she is very much the local darling. And by what I saw, she's every bit as bubbly, genuine and humble in person as she was in all those TV interviews you saw during the Olympics. She's the kind of athlete I'd be happy to have my daughter look up to--she works hard at her hobby and at school, she's humble, she has a positive attitude, and is genuinely kind and friendly--all traits that I want my daughter to aspire to!

We didn't stay to try to get autographs because it was HOT and Porter was cranky, but I'm so glad that we attended anyway. What a fun opportunity for our community to come together under happy circumstances and celebrate together!

Weekend Junk Finds: Now my junk is called "inventory"

Hello, friends! I'm back from a last-minute vacation to squeeze in a visit to our families in Utah before Maren started school today. Now that I'm home, I'm in full-on Market Mode! I've been ordering supplies and making lists, and I finally registered for my sales tax license. I'm definitely feeling the time crunch before the first market on September 29, and I'm determined to work on either crafting or business stuff each day.

Because I'll be selling a mixture of handcrafted and vintage items, now when I go thrift shopping I have the justification that I'm "looking for inventory" ~wink-wink~ Actually, I really did find some goodies this past week and I think I'm even going to sell as much as I plan to keep!

This was my first buy of the weekend, and I have to admit I'm having some buyer's remorse over it. I bought it thinking that I could use it in my booth because one type of item I'm planning to sell is greeting cards. However, this sucker is HEAVY and takes up a lot of room and I really hadn't planned to make that many cards. I only paid $15 so I'm seriously considering throwing it on Craigslist to see if I can't get my money back or even a little bit more.

Did you know that Friday August 17th was National Thrift Shop Day? I know--pretty much every day is Thrift Shop Day as far as I'm concerned. But I did unintentionally celebrate on Friday when I took advantage of the last chance for daytime babysitters before the teenagers go back to school today. I ventured into the nearest Goodwill, which I usually avoid because for the past eight years it has been a dirty, messy disaster. On Friday I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they've rearranged the store and cleaned off the shelves and it looks 100% better! There are a lot fewer items on the shelves than before, but instead of making it feel sparse it made it easier to actually see the merchandise.

Merchandise like these two old heavy quadruple-plate silver pieces. I think they'll be perfect for my booth! I'm planning to have a Halloween/white/black/orange/fall color theme, with a few shots of aqua thrown in to liven things up. I'm not going to polish these because I think they have the perfect aged look.

I'm absolutely positive that if I put this old silver plate loving cup in my booth, it would sell. Without a doubt. Except for the fact that I've fallen in love with it and now I can't bear to part with it! Whoops.

This vintage green faux alligator cosmetic case does not fit my color scheme, but it's so neat I couldn't leave it behind.

Just look how cute the inside is, with the peach lining and the aged mirror. I think it will sell for sure, if not in my booth then on Etsy afterwards.

 

I've never seen this particular Pyrex pattern but these funky coffee cups were in the right color scheme, so in the booth they'll go. I also picked up this little aqua planter. I love the combination of orange and aqua and even though it isn't a traditional fall color, it's a trendy color and I think a few pops of aqua here and there in my booth will look nice.

I've also been on the hunt for a few larger pieces to sell. I found these at an estate sale Friday morning. They'll both get a coat of paint--not sure what colors yet, but one of them is going to end up aqua because I have a bunch of aqua paint. They'll be good display space and hopefully be eye-catching for shoppers.

And one last find from the estate sale--a box of vintage ornaments and a vintage "BEANO" game. Now, until Friday the only Beano I was acquainted with was this kind, so I learned something new when I found out that BEANO is an alternative to Bingo. Strange, but the cards are cute! The box had another set of red and blue Bingo cards and markers crammed inside as well, so I suppose we can play BEANO or BINGO, depending on how much fiber we need in our diets that particular day.

Tonight I took some time to start making boxes of "inventory" from the storage shelves in my basement; stuff that I've thrifted with resale in mind that fits my color scheme. I've already got three boxes full but will need much more to stock two 10' x 10' booths. Time to hit the stores for more "inventory" shopping! I'm linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Happy news!

I mentioned on my Facebook page last Sunday that I applied to be a vendor in two local craft/vintage markets on September 29 and October 6. That's something that has been a goal of mine this year, and I've been waiting for the Fall markets to open their applications. Both of the markets are juried so I wasn't sure if I'd be accepted, so I was nervous! I found out the good news about the first market,  Sweet William Market on Tuesday, when the owner emailed me the kindest acceptance letter! I've never been to this market, which is held on the last Saturdays of the months May-September, but I'm definitely going to the August market in a few weeks to check it out!

That was good news enough, but I was still anxious about the second market, Horseshoe Market. You see, I've been hoping to be a vendor at this market since last May, the first time I ever attended (and only their second market ever). I literally called my mom while I was driving home and told her that I wanted to be a vendor there! I did inquire last summer about being a vendor, but because it was their first year, the applications were done differently and all the slots were full. :( I was disappointed but resolved to wait until this year, specifically the October market because I wanted to make Halloween decor to sell.

I knew that yesterday was the day they'd send out acceptance/rejection emails, so every time my phone dinged that I had an email, my stomach dropped! Finally at about 10:30 pm, I got the email with the good news--I was accepted!

I've never been a vendor on my own before and so signing up for two markets a week apart is either the best or the worst idea ever. :) What if I'm really successful and sell everything at the first market, and then only have a week to make/find stuff to sell the next week? Alternately, doing the markets in a two-week-span gets it all over with and doesn't drag everything out over two months. All I know is that when I get back home (I'm currently on vacation, hence the lack of photos or graphics in this post!), the Halloween craft Sweatshop is opening in earnest. Oh, and I still have a triathlon on September 15 to train for!

I think I'm going to go ahead and schedule a massage for October 7. I have a feeling I'm going to need it!

Birthday Giveaway winner and Weekend Junk Finds

I'm a little behind on posting my Birthday Giveaway winner--trying to jam-pack as much into the last bits of summer as we can and getting ready to go out of town for a week has me dragging!

I did this drawing the old-fashioned way to make sure I didn't miss anybody. Of course I had to use my Teardrop bowl. ;)

 Had a little mermaid draw a name and...

1 Buddha's Mom, you are the winner!

I don't see an email in your profile so please contact me at themerrymagpie@gmail.com so I can get your address!

Thank you ALL for your kind birthday wishes and for Liking my new Facebook page! You all know how to make a girl feel good on her birthday. :)

The junking has been sparse around here lately. Too much other stuff to do! I did find a few fun things:

Love this pair of vintage vases. I'm not sure what exactly they're supposed to be with all of the loops, but I liked the shapes and having a pair is nice. These will be for sale later this fall.

Vintage McCoy pink-striped baking dish. I've seen bowls in this pattern on other blogs but this is the first time I've ever seen a piece in the wild. I think it might be some kind of shallow baking dish? I bought this item with my local consignment store in mind. They take vintage/antique items as well clothing and other home decor pieces, so I'm trying to keep an eye out for items I can flip there. Their prices aren't very high and I only get 50%, so I have to be able to find the item for very little money to make any profit. I think yard sales would probably be the best buying venue--paying thrift store markup takes too big of a chunk out of profits. But I think this could be an interesting sales venue for items that are too heavy/fragile/bulky to ship.

I LOVE the colors of this crocheted afghan! Not something I normally buy, but I follow an Etsy shop that regularly lists and sells pretty afghans so when I saw this one I thought I might give it a try for fall. The colors are great and I like the dark brown stitching in between the stripes--reminds me a bit of stained glass leading. I think this has the perfect amount of balance between 'Granny' and 'Chic'!

Did you find any great junk this past week? What are you doing to enjoy the end of your summer?

Pinned it and Made it: London Olympic Opening Ceremonies party

**Don't forget that you have until Friday, August 3 at 8:00 in the morning to enter the drawing for my Birthday Giveaway! Details are on this post.**

I've mentioned before here that London is my all-time favorite city in the whole world! It has a special place in my heart so when we were talking about watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, I thought it might be fun to have a little British-themed viewing party. We invited a few friends but kept the guest list small this time because we wanted everyone to fit into the living room to watch the Ceremonies on the TV! My plan had been to let the children run around the backyard but the day ended up being very cool and rainy--uncharacteristic for Colorado in July, but a perfect backdrop for a London party!

For the food, I wanted so much to figure out a way to have fish and chips but I didn't want to fry my own and there isn't anywhere really close by where I could get take-away and still have it nice and crispy and hot for my guests. In the end, I went with what is just about the most popular food in London, albeit not the most strictly traditional--curry! I made a big pot of chicken curry and a dish of basmati rice. Fitting for me, since London was the first place I ever ate Indian food! For the kids and others who may not have been up to curry, I did a twist on the traditional meal of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings and made simple roast beef sandwiches.

In addition, we had chips (french fries) with malt vinegar, crisps (both plain and salt/vinegar--couldn't rustle up any Prawn Cocktail flavor on such short notice!), berries in the colors of the Union Jack (inspired by this), and Jacob's Cream Crackers with a lovely sharp English cheddar. I tried to find some Wensleydale, but that was a bit too exotic for my grocery store (and hands up if you get the reference! :) And if I'd seen it sooner, I totally would have made this beautiful and appropriate Olympic Rings English Trifle!

For sweets, I wanted my favorite British cookie (ahem, biscuit) called HobNobs, but World Market was absolutely cleaned out. I went with Cadbury Digestives instead and they were delicious too! I rounded out the Cadbury offerings with Caramello bars and Cadbury Fingers in both dark and milk chocolates. I found a box of Kellogg's Team USA cereal (basically red, white and blue Froot Loops) and used it to make festive cereal bars a la Rice Krispies treats.

On Pinterest I found this cute idea for cupcakes with the Olympic Rings represented by M&Ms:

And I couldn't resist making up a plate of gold medals! Porter kept trying to put the tiny ribbon over his head to wear one and was perplexed that it wouldn't work.

To drink, we had Italian Sodas. Not British, but international in the spirit of the Olympics, right? And more importantly, fun to make and consume, especially when you use red and blue stripey straws!

To decorate I pulled out all of my London guidebooks and childrens' books, my big Keep Calm and Carry On poster (purchased at the Cabinet War Rooms museum shop, just down the way from the Horse Guards Parade where the beach volleyball is currently being held), my beloved Cath Kidston London postcard and Union Jack pincushion, a red phone box tin, and the Monet print of Westminster Bridge that I bought way back when I was there on Study Abroad in 1998. I also printed out some cute London 2012 posters and put them in my IKEA Tolsby frames.

The rain put a definite crimp in my plans for outdoor activities for the kids. I bought materials for the children to make ribbon wands using a mashup of various Pinned ribbon wand tutorials. I had planned to do those toward the beginning of the evening so they could run around the backyard doing rhythmic gymnastics, but the rain kept us all inside. We did end up making the wands toward the end of the evening, so all was not lost. I also had paper, crayons and stripey straws for the kids to make their own flags.

In all we had such a fun evening! I thought the Ceremonies themselves were a bit uneven with portions that were charming and portions that left us scratching our heads. I'll never pass up an opportunity for a fun party (or to make a Pinboard!), especially one feting my favorite place on Earth. :)