February Crafternoon

I've been slacking on the crafternoon posts, haven't I?  I think it's just that I'm lazy about taking photos during the actual event and then I forget afterwards.  I had so much fun doing this month's craft that I bought supplies to make more!  Who knows what the heck I will do with a growing army of little wooden bead dolls, but they sure are cute!  Head over to Heidi's blog for a tutorial on how to make your own!

Musical Crush - Ted Leo

I'm sure I've included Ted Leo & The Pharmacists on previous playlists, because this is one of my serious music crushes.  He deserves his own music post, though.  Have you ever stumbled upon a band or musician and just instantly fell in love and wondered how you had gone so long without ever listening to their music?  That was me with Ted Leo!  He's played with a lot of different bands and even most recently teamed up with Aimee Mann.  They have a CD coming out in April!  I'm partial to him playing with The Pharmacists, because they formed in D.C., a place I absolutely love.    We've been fortunate enough to see them live in D.C. a few times and they always but on an amazing show!  I could probably swoon over Ted Leo for a few more paragraphs, because I haven't even mentioned that he lives in an old school house or that he's intelligent and outspoken, but instead I'll leave you with some videos of cover songs.  You know I love some good covers too!

Recent Thrift Finds

The thrift shops haven't been great lately, so I haven't really had much to post.  I'm hoping that things look up soon, because it should just about be time for Easter decorations to be put out!

This is one of the few things I've gotten recently that I won't be listing for sale in my shop.  I sort of have a thing for little cream pitchers and this is probably one of the cutest ones I have!

I think this is a keeper too!  I have some neat old travel slides from Asia that I thrifted awhile back.  I think the boys will enjoy using this slide viewer to look at them.  I'd love to get more slides, but they aren't really something I see very often.

The two cups have actually sold already, but the gravy boat is currently for sale.  I have a pitcher that matches, so I won't be too sad if it doesn't sell!

Here's another item I won't be too upset if no one buys it!  I love old state plates.  This one is smaller than most of the others I have and I think it may be older.

Apparently state plates are popular in the thrift shops these days!  I think someone probably donated their collection, because there was a whole stack of state plates at one shop.  I thought this one was pretty cool!

I think this is by Hull and although there's a giant crack along the front, I thought it was still quite lovely.  I always feel a bit sad for tattered or broken items, so it had to come home with me.  Besides, it was fifty cents!

Shop Crush - Lemonade Handgrenade

I've previously talked about how much I love the connections and friendships that I've experienced on Instagram.  I've had so many positive experiences with a really lovely community of people.  A few weeks ago, Laurie, one of my favorite gals from Instagram asked me to try out some soap she had made.  I ended up loving it, so I was pretty excited when she opened up her shop, Lemonade Handgrenade, last week and placed an order on the first day!

This is the Will You Be My Calamine soap, the kind I initially tried.  It has a light vanilla scent and has been great for my extra dry wintery skin.  I've been using it on my face, since running out of face wash, and it leaves my skin soft and smooth.  I don't usually like bar soap, because I feel like it leaves a residue and dries my skin out, but I love this stuff!  This photo is actually of the bar I've ordered, because the bar Laurie sent is just a tiny little sliver of pink now!

This is the other soap I ordered, Just Take Two Avocado Cucumber Soap.  How cute is this soap?!  It has a really great scent too.  It looks like she is currently sold out, so I'm glad I got some! 

I can't wait to see what else will be available on Lemonade Handgrenade!  Check out Laurie's shop and treat your skin to some of her lovely soaps!

Misadventures in Selling

So I know I mentioned previously that I was opening up shop.  Well, it's been interesting and definitely a learning experience!  Just a little over two weeks into it, I've had three broken items and one lost package.  It's discouraging, to say the least, but I am trying to stay positive!  On the bright side, a lot of items have made it to their new homes completely intact!  I don't know how long I will continue selling my thrifted items, because it is a bit stressful, but I did really enjoy selling some items I made last week.  I will most definitely be trying that again and have the pending orders of craft supplies to prove it!  I think the hardest part for me is the waiting.  I'm such an instant gratification kind of gal, so I want people to buy things right away!  What are your experiences with selling?  I've had great customers so far, met some new friends, and made a few dollars.  Not bad!

Hello!

These days it seems like I can only manage blog updates every other week!  The winter months are just not very exciting and they're still sort of bringing me down.  As pretty as I think snow is and as much as I enjoy extra days at home with my boys, I really am craving longer days and warmer weather.  I need to get outside and experience some sunshine and get some darn exercise!

Did everyone have a good Valentine's Day?  Mine was spent at home with Donnie eating sushi and watching movies.  It was perfect!  Donnie brought home heart shaped donuts for the boys and flowers and chocolate for me.  The flowers, pictured above, are an especially nice reminder of the seasons to come soon!  Here's a kind of relaxing playlist of songs I'm enjoying.  Happy Monday!

Instant Love

I've been having so much fun with my Instax camera and all the really cute film that's available!  Does anyone else have one of these great little cameras?

Shop Crush - The Tiny Hobo

I've been a fan of The Tiny Hobo for awhile and recently made my first purchase when she was offering grab bags.  I'm a sucker for surprises, especially really cute ones!  I'm quite happy with what I ended up with, but thought I'd share some more goodies from this great shop that I wouldn't mind having!  Also, look back through her sold items to see some of the cutest custom portraits!

 Pizza Party Ring with Extra Pepperoni and Glitter

 

Chub Love Brooches

Forest Friends Mini Brooch Trio

Cutie Kewpie Glitter Necklace

Potato Crust Quiche

I pinned this recipe from Sing For Your Supper awhile ago and forgot about it, until I was at a loss for what to make for dinner one night and was looking at what I had on hand.  This is so one of those recipes that you can tailor to your tastes, it's gluten free, and it's fairly healthy.  You can't go wrong!  I mostly followed the original recipe, but I added more mushrooms and spinach.  Those are two of my favorite foods!  It was so good that I ate it again for breakfast the next morning!  Go check out this recipe and the rest of her blog for so many more delicious dishes!

Snow Day Crafts

We've had quite a few snow days lately and it's allowed me to spend more time with the boys and get some things done that usually get put off until weekends.  Oscar gets really into doing crafts, so we gathered up lots of supplies, spread them all out on the dining table, and got to work!  After working up our appetites, we munched on grilled gingerbread sandwiches with cinnamon cream cheese and then went back to cutting up construction paper!

Forgiven/Forgotten

On our way to Lancaster last weekend, we found a radio station that was playing really good indie music.  Angel Olsen was one of the people who's song they played and I loved the sort of 90s vibe I got from her music.  I don't remember if this was the song I heard, but it's a good one!