One Man's Trash

My friend, Heidi, and I have been talking about renting a space at a flea market/antique mall and this past weekend, we finally did it!  The two of us are definitely collectors, which is a polite way of saying hoarders, so it wasn't too difficult for us to fill our cute little space.  We went over Saturday to pick out our spot and start stocking our shelves.  I went back on Sunday and realized we had already sold some things!  I'm having fun gathering up more items and even hit the thrift shop on my lunch hour to see what I could find for reselling.  Obviously I want to keep the cutest things for myself, so maybe I'll just keep rotating things out of my house and onto our shelves!  If you're in the area, our space is upstairs at Remember When in Hagerstown, MD.  Check it out!

I still play with dolls!

Over the weekend, Heidi had a little tea party themed Blythe get together.  There are only a few of us around here with Blythe dolls, unless there are more in hiding, so it was just a small gathering.  There was even a friend who doesn't have a large Blythe yet.  We are doing our best to change that, though, because we are the worst enablers!  Ha!  It was fun to see everyone's dolls and clothing.  Jessee brought adorable little necklaces, skirts, and dress kits for our girls, Heather showed off her super cute collection of wigs for her girl, and brave Heidi pulled out all of one her girl's hair in preparation for a re-root.  Even I started sanding one of my doll's faces, so I can redo her makeup.  See? Enablers!  You can read about the party and see pics here on Heidi's blog.  I didn't bring my camera to the party, so instead of sharing iphone pics, I thought I'd share a short wishlist of Blythe related goodies!  Anyone else have Blythe dolls??

As always, click the picture to enlarge!

tote bag, petite Blythe, necklace, earrings, custom doll, print

Musical Crushes

I don't care what you look like, if you make good music.  These artists/bands have the added benefit of being pretty darn crush-worthy, in my book, though.  I really could have made up a whole playlist of Macklemore, Ben Gibbard, and Coconut Records, Jason Schwartzman's solo project, because they are my favorites!  Enjoy!

A Walk Through the Forest

I found this adorable dress online over the weekend and have gone back to look at it several times.  It's on sale for $11!  After looking at the size chart, I think the large would be slightly too small, but it would be a really good incentive to lose some more weight.  What's better motivation than a pretty dress?  The last time I visited the site, I had every intention of buying it.  Alas, this color is only available in small.  I'm not sold on the other color option, a sort of mauve/pink, and I think buying a size small would be a little too ambitious!  So instead, I just planned a whole little forest themed outfit.  You size small ladies can thank me later! ;-) 

moccasins, earrings, dress, necklace, barrette, handbag

Easy Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe a few months ago here, while looking for a vegan dessert to take to dinner at a friend's house.  Her husband is vegan, so I wanted to bring something he could enjoy too.  It was pretty good and really moist.  I had intended on making an icing for it that time around, but ended up with a tub of store bought icing instead.  In the end, I didn't even have time to ice the cake, so I just took the icing along.  The cake was good without evening adding the icing!  This time around, I had Oscar helping and he wanted to add some extra goodies to the cake mix.  We added peanut butter and milk chocolate chips and marshmallows, which ended up getting all toasty and crispy on the top of the cake.  It was seriously delicious!!  Here's the basic recipe, but feel free to mix it up and add something extra!

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 c cocoa powder (I have added a bit more the two times I've made this.)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp distilled white vinegar
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 1 c water

Sift together the dry ingredients.  Add in the wet ingredients and stir until everything is mixed together and the batter is smooth.  Pour batter into a lightly greased loaf or small cake pan and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Look at those toasty gooey marshmallows!!!

A Little Peek Into My Craft Room

Oh my poor little neglected craft room, I am so happy to say that I have finally given you a pretty good purging and you are ready for some crafty fun!  Before having kids and moving my mom in with us, Donnie and I had lots of our own little spaces.  We just seem to be gaining more occupants and with that comes less of our own space.  I have managed to hold on to a bit of that space, though.  What was originally a balcony and later converted into an enclosed sun porch, has now become my little sanctuary.  I love this little sunny room and am glad to slowly be improving it and working in it again!

This is my little workspace.  It's not usually so tidy, but this was right after the big clean.  There's also my Valentine's Day wreath, in progress at that point, but since finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a better depiction, although it still looks pretty neat compared to how it looks right now!  Oh! The table beneath that festive cloth is our original dining table, a beautiful yellow and chrome metal table from the 1940s or 50s.

For someone who doesn't scrapbook, I have a ridiculous amount of paper and stickers.  I also keep all of my copies of old art magazines, because I'm maybe a tiny bit of a hoarder.

Look at all those clean paint brushes!  They go great with the stacks of blank canvases on the shelves across the room! 

I also collect (hoard) stationary and maybe one day I'll stop being an awful pen pal and put that stationary to use!

I may have look through these books once or twice.  Who knows?  Maybe one day I'll complete a project from one!

A proper blogger probably would have fixed that curtain that's hanging higher than the others, but I'm being real here, people.  Oscar likes hanging out in here too.  He calls it the pretty room.

Who cares about seeing the rest of my craft stuff?!  This is the cutest trash can ever!

So here's some proof that I am both crafty and a giant slacker.  I made this little octopus years ago and spray painted the bowl he's in a pretty blue, with the intentions of making him look like he's coming up from water.  He will probably sit like this for another four years!

Musical Monday

I was going to make a President's Day themed playlist for today's post.  There are a lot of songs that would fit with that theme, but not a lot that I really like.  I ended up with four songs and then I was tired, so I abandoned that idea and went to sleep.  I woke up this morning with a different plan.  Here are some videos instead.  They don't have anything to do with presidents, but they do all feature puppets.  That's right, puppets.  Actually the Lucero video takes place in D.C., so it kind of fits after all!  Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Only Got $20 In My Pocket

Buying a new car has left me pretty close to broke, but I managed to set aside a couple dollars to use this weekend when Heidi took me to some new places.  I had to be pretty selective and probably left a lot of things behind that I would have normally scooped up, but I still found some great things.  We actually ran out of time and missed out on two shops, but there's always next time.  I'm going to start saving now for that! :)

The first store had so many cute owls, but some were too pricey.  Aren't these adorable?!

Another cute owl!

bunny planters for Easter

I can't wait to hang this!

I was so excited to find Easter decorations!  My favorite!!

Fiestaware creamer and super cute mug

I have never seen a planter like this one.  I love the little worker bee!

More bunnies than you can shake a stick at!

Most of this has already been destructed and used for crafting.

I'm a sucker for vintage greeting cards!

These are all super cute inside and out!

Jell-O molds for crafting

This may be the sweetest little bunny brooch ever!

New Music

I spent the first half of last week in a rental car.  It was tiny and weird, but it did have satellite radio.  I found a station I really liked and spent those few days keeping a list of songs they played that I really liked, so I could go home and download them.  I bought myself a new car on Wednesday and although I am absolutely thrilled to have a reliable and like new car, I'm going to miss the radio in that rental!

Fancy iPhone Photos!

I really like taking photos with my iPhone.  It's so convenient, because I almost always have my phone with me, and there are a ton of fun photography related apps.  I know some people take their photos pretty seriously and spend a lot of time editing them and choosing the right filters.  I'm much more about having fun and being silly, which I think you'll see by some of my choices.  I have two folders on my phone that are just photography apps, but I've chosen ten to share.  I have examples from each app, so this post is a long one, but it's worth sticking around until the end!

1. Andigraf -I've had this app for a long time and it gets a lot of use.  Andigraf takes several shots in a row, so it's great for capturing a lot of movement.  You can choose how many shots it takes and the length of time between shots and there are several film and lens choices.

2. Lumiè -You know those pretty little orbs of light in photos?  They're sometimes called bokeh and that's what this app is all about.  There are various shapes, colors, and patterns of bokeh that can be added to your photos.

3. Magic Hour -If you're looking for filters, this is the app for you.  The app comes with several preset filters and tons more that can be downloaded for free within the app.  There is also an option to make your own filter.

4. Pocketbooth -Who doesn't love old photo booths?  This app turns your iPhone into a photo booth and gives you the option of how many photos are in a strip, the amount of time between photos, and the film that will be used.  We have so much fun with this one! On a side note, check out super adorable baby Oscar in that second photo.  Where has the time gone?!

5.Mr. Chiizu -This app is so fun!!  There are some of the cutest themes that are chock full of stickers and frames.  The app comes with a few free themes and has more that can be purchased within the app.  There are themes by artists I love like Junko Mizuno and Crowded Teeth.

6. CAMERAtan -This is another app that is filled with filters.  The filters can be layered, so there are really so many possibilities.  It's also super easy to use!

7. Pixl-o-matic -I like a lot of options and this app is filled with options for frames and photo effects.  I think this was one of the first photo apps I downloaded and I find myself still using it pretty often.

8.  Maskingtape -Washi tape is all the rage these days, so why shouldn't there be an app where I can add virtual washi tape to my photos?  There is tape in every color and so many different patterns.  You just swipe your finger to add the tape, so you can put it anywhere on the photo.  You can also add text.

9. FingerFace & 10. FingerFace Zoo Edition -These last two are really just purely for entertainment purposes.  Take a picture of your finger or some inanimate object and add really cute and silly faces, hairstyles, and accessories.  I could seriously waste a lot of time with these two!

Those are some my favorites.  What are yours?