a happy patron

While daddy was making dinner last night Keely was making dinner too...for Caribou. Doggie food in her microwave. I like the look of concentration on her face while carrying his dishes.

The Sacrificial Turtle

So, it has come to this. The cute little turtle had to be sacrificed to the thrifting gods to pay for the several weeks of good thrifting finds. Poor turtle. Some times you should just leave things alone. He was cute before, but I just have this need to paint kid things white and not leave them dark wood. I tried painting him with his red furry back on, but the paint wasn't sticking to the wood and it got all in his fur. I tried to get the fur off so I could spray paint him, but couldn't. So, the husband got some tools out and then he had to take him apart to get all the fur off. It was not pretty. Keely: "OH no! Poor turtle doesn't have a head!!!!"
Then he got a terrible spray paint job and while hubby was screwing him back together the wood split into two. Oh, the poor thing. When it came time to re-cover him, I did an awful job. Before and after photo below.

before and after

Lesson: sometimes you should just leave things alone.

The Art of Thrifting?

A few people have asked about thrifting so I thought I'd do a post on it. I had no idea I had so many thrifting "rules" in my head until I started thinking to write this. I'll try to give a condensed edition and not the full contents of my messy head.

My grandmother and mother were/are thrifters for as long as I can remember. My mom and I used to go to a few flea markets and her favorite thrift store every weekend. I hated it. I dragged my feet and hung my head. And whined. I was so bored and I wanted NEW things, not thrift store things. I was also scared someone I knew would see me at a thrift store!!!Oh, the horror! I would hide in the clothing racks if I did see someone. It did not matter that they were there too! Ah well, I was a silly kid. When I reached my teenage years and got a job and bought most of my own clothing well, then thrifting started looking good to me. On my weekends off from work and school I would go to a couple stores looking for neat bedroom things and clothes. I grew up, went to college got married, got a job, had my daughter and during all that time I rarely had the time or energy to go at all.

Fast forward. When I was pregnant and quit my job, I started going again looking for baby goodies and nesting things. Keely was born and up until the last six months she has NOT been very cooperative in my thrifting endeavors. I had about a half hour to go to one store and get out of there before she started crying and being miserable. The good thing is that it trained me to look fast! So , here are my speed thrifting tips. Someone else recently posted their thrifting tips, but I can't remember who.

Present day. We usually go once a week to one or two thrift stores. Here's what I've found-

1. Go to all the thrift stores in your area that you think you could frequent. Check out their selection. Different stores do tend to have a different supply of stuff. Some stores are great for furniture and others are great for kid toys. Decide what you are interested in and looking for and then find the store that has the most of it. I used to think high-income neighborhood close to a thrift store would be mean good stuff at that thrift store. This is not always true. Most stores have trucks that go to all neighborhoods and do pick-ups and all stores take donations from anyone/anywhere. My favorite store is not in a nice part of town, but I get the best stuff there.

2. All the stores around here have markdown days. If an item stays past a week they mark it down. Usually items stay for 3 weeks(=3 markdowns) before they throw them out. So if you see something you like but it costs too much, you could get lucky next week...or it could be gone. Risky! 8-) Live dangerously. Some stores have special days also. EX. All yellow tags are 50% off on Tuesday.

3. Some stores are dumpy, scary, sad, and down right depressing. I do not go to those. It should be fun to thrift. Not make you want to jump off a cliff.

4. Some weeks you will not find anything at all. That is why you have to go at least once a week.

5. Try not to buy something you don't really love, need, or have a great use for just because it is cheap. You will have a house filled with junk and that is never good. Be selective.

6. Know the layout of the store.

7. Weekends are very crowded. The beginning of the week is usually not good because they have been wiped out over the weekend. The end of the week is where I have the most luck-Thurs/Fri.

8. Go looking for specific things each week (unless you have endless hours to wander), that way you don't try to look at every section of the store and end up with a cart full of stuff and spend way too much money. EX. This week focus on dishes and fabric, and try to overlook all the other stuff that says, "Take me home. You know you want to."

9. Be open minded. Think of the possibilities. If something is perfect, but looks dirty or is an ugly color don't let that stop you. Meet my friends spraypaint and bleach! Want fabric? Don't just look at the fabric section go to the sheets, curtains, baby blankets, even clothes that have nice patterns.

10. Personal Pet Peeve: Please do not let your child put anything in their mouth at a thrift stores. This makes me gag! I see this all the time. Seriously, ew. When you bring everything home. Bleach and/or boil everything that can stand-up to this and wash everything else in the laundry. Most stores have to "sanitize" their goods by law, but you never know. And then go wash your hands. I have sanitizing wipes in the car to use as soon as were out of the store, but that may be taking it a bit to far. Can we say, "FREAK!" ?

O.k that's it for today. I hope this is useful to those of you who asked. I have more to say, but no more time to write it now. 8-) Is this the longest post ever?! Ah!

4 Things...

Alright, I'll give this meme a go. Hasn't everyone in blogging world done this one by now?

(Ready for a sing-along?..."Getting to knooooow you, Getting to know all about you..."

4 jobs you've had:
1. waitress
2. travel agent (VERY briefly)
3. secretarial assistant
4. first grade teacher

4 places you've lived: 8-)
1. with my parents-ha ha
2. In a scary underground apt. next door to a lunatic. THAT was fun. Thanks for that, husband.
3. In one quarter of a giant 1910 house
4. In my, oh sorry OUR, house (which used to be MY grandparents')

4 albums you can't hear enough: (I have about 50 more to add to the list)
1. Sade (all albums)
2. Dead Can Dance (almost all of the albums)
3. Norah Jones (aka snorah jones...boring but good)
4. Any combo of Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald

4 Favorite Books: recent ones
1. Everything's Illuminated
2. Wicked
3. Life of Pi
4. Happy Birthday Maisy -What? That mouse is cute!

4 movies you could watch over and over:
1. The Wizard of Oz- from the beginning to meeting the Cowardly Lion only.
2. Elizabeth
3. Amelie
4. Chocolat

4 TV shows you like to watch:
1. Lost- it would be nice if they'd play more than 2 new episodes in a row without 5 weeks of waiting for the next one. grrr
2. Gilmore Girls
3. House
4. ummm? That's it. OH! If we had cable-The Daily Show.

4 places you've been on vacation:
1. Italy
2. Czech Republic
3. France
4. Costa Rica

4 websites you visit daily: This changes all the time.
1. Bloglines (so all of my daily blogs)
2. Amazon, lately
3. Whip Up
4. FlickR

4 favorite foods:
1. dark chocolate
2. pizza (my husband's homemade ones)
3. BIG salads
4. ice cream

4 places you'd rather be right now.
1. Right where I am is just fine, but to play along....
2. Playa Conchal, Costa Rica
3. Paris, France- in the evening
4. In several feet of standing snow with more falling down on me, at night.

A note to YOU!

I just loving reading all of your comments! Thank you! Some people say they don't blog for feedback. I'm not gonna lie. Feedback is fun! In case, you don't go back and look at the comments you write: I'm writing to say I am answering/responding to you in the comments section if you want to read them.

Thrifty Finds Friday

It is Friday and I did not order the little sink and stove yet. I was giving the Thrift stores one last shot today. We did not find any. BUT we did get this groovy Plan play house. It is in pretty good shape. It has some wallpaper ugliness happening but we can fix that up. It was $14. which is way more than I usually spend on one thing, but this house was too nifty. It has nice big opening for clumsy, chubby hands. So far all of Keelys' stuffed animals have explored it and approved.

and books & fabric

{Photo 1} A stack of newer and some vintage children's books.
{Photo 2} A few pieces of fabric: clothes, a sheet, and a tablecloth.

and...

{photo 3} I found this cross stitch quilt? blanket. Mother Goose I guess. It is really nicely made and the back has soft blue flowered flannel. It's not really my style, but I know how much work must have went into making this blanket and I just can't pass those things up. I feel bad for the person who made it, knowing their work is dumped at a thrift store. It was $2.
{photo 4} Then, my favorite is these 2 baby pillow cases. They are so flippin' cute (in that goofy, vintage way) I can't stand it and for .99- Gotta love that. Click on the picture and look at it bigger.

Blogger won't let me put photos and text where I want them in one post so that's why it's in the annoying 3.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Quick is good

Today we were playing in Keely's room with her babies and a bunny when she says, "Oh, poor bunny is so cold. He doesn't have a blanket. Boo hoo hoo." Oh? He doesn't? Well, we can fix that! We played a few more minutes and then off to bunny's rescue. Grab some fabric, cut it, sew it, and sha-blam: a wee blanket and a bitty pillow! Bunny is so happy now. Oh sure, we have plenty of baby blankets around the house, but this was a perfect excuse to sew something simple that I would not mess-up terribly and it was quick. I like quick. Quick is good. Ending Keely comment: "Look bunny! Mommy made you a nice cozy blanket with little flowers on it and a soft pillow. Now you won't be cold anymore." aww.

This weeks' corner

Here's this weeks' photo for the Flickr Corners' Pool .When we moved in (to my grandparents' old house) this bathroom was ultra-pink. Tiled walls, sink, toilet-it was all PINK! No thank you. I'm sure it was very stylish in 1960, but today....ah, not so much. We put up the wainscotting, painted the walls blue, put in all new fixtures, and tiled the floor in royal blue ceramic squares. Much better. This is one room that has not been repainted since we moved in. Shocking!

It's all about the YUbZ

There is this nifty little artsy shop not too far from where we live and about 1 1/2 years ago we were in there browsing and they had this enormous basket of printers' blocks. All shapes and sizes and styles and mostly alphabet ones. Stupid me looked briefly and we left. Every once in awhile after that trip, I would come up with a use for them and think, "Man, I really should of bought some." You may be thinking then why didn't go back to the store, right? Well, honestly.... because we are freaks. We hardly go anywhere- especially since we had Keely. Trips to places with her are always way too stressful to be worth it so we just don't go out much. Anywho. Last week we did go back to that store because we were in the area and they had a very small basket of them left. Happy Dance. I went digging through it and the above photo shows the only letters that were left. UbZY. All the other blocks just had commas and dashes. really useful. Well, they were only .50 so I bought the four un-useful and un-popular letters. I had b-U-Z-Y (busy?) spelled out on our bookshelf. Hubby changed it to YUbZ. Now YUbZ needs a definiton. How does one use this word? Possible uses:
"What's Yubz man?"
"You want some ice cream?" "Yubz."

Just something we all need to think about. This is important stuff here. Seriously. The true meaning and nature of yubz.


O.k. so you don't know me and don't know how sarcastic I am and you can't hear the tone of my voice while saying the above or see my expression and I have no idea who YOU are....anyway-just in case: This was not at all a serious post. yubz

In quest of a kiddie sink & stove.

Alright, so I have been shopping around for awhile trying to find a toy sink/stove for the little one. I was hoping to find one at a thrift store, so the kiddo and I have been going to several thrift stores a week. This is a bit much for us both. I have not found one. There are plenty of junky, jumbo, plastic, monstrous ones, but no simple wood ones. This week I have turned my attention to scouring the internet. Let me first say, our child has very few new things. We have maybe bought 6 new toys for her. All her goodies come from thrift stores or as gifts. That being said when I do buy a new thing I look high and low for the lowest price and free shipping! I am a cheap skate and we are on a budget. Anyway, the hubby gets sick of me looking and looking for a cheap price and says, "OH just order one now!" but I don't.

This spastic colored sink/stove is by small world living at Creative Brains and it's pretty cute, but not cheap. I wanted a more subdued looking set but this one seems to be of a decent quality so I think this is one I am settled on. They have an older all red model which I prefer, but I've read it had few issues. This crazy looking one has some updated features like magnetic latches so the doors stay shut. Well, the hubby gave me a deadline of Wednesday to order a sink. It is Wed. It is not ordered yet. Hmmmmm. How will this exciting, and oh so suspenseful story end? Stay tuned.

a small obsession

Keely has been trying forever to get into my small stash of make-up, yesterday she succeeded. She has been obsessed with trying to get her little fingers in the drawer and pull things out. She was too short for a long time, then I was too fast. Ah, but yesterday she did it and I let her. She pulled out all she could reach and then stood at the mirror admiring herself and the make-up she pretended to put on. She was having such fun I decided just to sit with her (and take a few pictures, of course). It was ridiculous how proud she was of herself. I did get some cute pictures out of this. Now, I have to find a new home for the make-up.

Theme-o-Rama Mama

Alright, I don't know if anyone would care about this, but here goes. Usually on Monday I change out the toys/activities in Keely's little play corner (top picture posted previously in the Flickr Corners Pool). We put down fresh paper on the table and goofy me &/or excited Keely picks a theme for the week. This week it is Dogs and Cats (she picked). We go through her stuff in her closet and many bookshelves and find related stuff. Then we put it on her corner bookshelf in the living room. She loves to help do all of this. It makes her stuff seem new again. She plays here throughout the day by herself sometime and often with me. At night, during mommy/daddy talk time, she usually will pull out her stuff and play at her table for awhile. Lots of items stay there continuosly: basket of small animals, blocks, dress-up items, crayons, magnadoodle, balls etc. She still has all of her toys in her bedroom and in every other room of the house, for that matter. If she wants something that is put away I will get it for her. Not like I'm some toy nazi. The corner spot is just a little sampling of her things relating to some theme. I started this when she was around 8 months old. Thematic baby toys on a walker tray? What kind of nut am I? It keeps her interested in her things because lots of her toys just sit around untouched for long periods of time and then I pull them out and pair them up with something and suddenly she thinks they are the greatest toys ever!

So this week for the Dogs and Cats theme there are: books like Have You Seen My Cat? and Go, Dog, Go, Cat and Dog Puzzles, Flashcards for the words Cat and Dog and foam letters to spell them out. There are her stuffed animals too. As soon as the fresh paper was down she busted out the crayon to make her mark. She then sat her cat and dog in their chairs and gave them puzzles to do. She will let them talk to all the other cats and dogs around her on the cards/puzzles etc. Books will be read to them and they will read the books too. I could go on and on, but I may be boring you to tears. My apologies. I was thinking of maybe making a weekly post about Keely's corner theme. Thinking maybe it could give some other parents ideas. If anyone wants to hear more please let me know.

Self-Portrait Tuesday

I didn't think I wanted to post pictures of myself, but what the heck, I'll give it a go. The theme is "All of Me". So I'll start of gently, nothing too revealing. Here is me. No make-up and tired. It seems I am always tired hence- eyes closed.

Not too bad at all.

Yahoo! The chair pads are made and (drumroll please)......they fit! The pads fit in them AND they fit the chairs! Holy smokes it is unbelievable.
I had to figure out what a slipstitch was and do it to close up the last side. That went pretty well also. I used a thrifted sheet and some really cute shoelaces for the ties. Once the chairpads were finished I figured why not a matching table cloth for tea parties! So, I just whipped one of those up too! I know to those of you who can sew and operate a sewing machine this is a so what kind of post, but I have serious blockage when it comes to figuring out- new to me- machines. I've never touched a sewing machine before this past month so I am quite pleased that I've made something other than cards.

I made the chair pads because these little IKEA chairs, while cute, are sooooo uncomfortable for a mommy sized rear. I couldn't sit in them for very long, but now...well now it's right comfy.
Keely quote: "Mommy made chair pads. Now they don't hurt your little booty anymore." 8-)

A Batch of Cards

Now that's better, some cards have been made. I busted out the embroidery materials that I have long forgotten how to use. Those are some mighty sad french knots on these flowers. I still think they look alright. I do not measure and hem material well at all, but little cards I can do. I like them being a bit slanted, uneven, homemade looking. But sewing, well that stuff just should be straight and when I sew, nothing is straight. Granted, there is always a 2 year old dancing on my fabric, stealing my tape measurer and trying to shove play food in my mouth or up my shirt. At least some cards were made. I have plans for this batch. I also am working on the chair pads. Productivity baby.

It has been really cold here the past two days. We've had snow flurries. Just a few days ago we were outside with no coats and sweating! Craziness.

Paint Freakazoids

So, our freaky green hallway was liked by several folks. That's always nice. I mentioned on Flickr that it's called Moss Point Green by Olympic. We paint way more than is normal or sane. When we renovated our home we repainted EVERY single surface and then within 6 months we started painting rooms again. Some rooms have been painted 3 times. We've only been in our house 5 yrs. We like controlled, self-inflicted change and cheap ones that get quick results. We even painted most of our apt. that we rented before we got a house. Of course, when you move out of the rental apt. you have to repaint all the walls white. THAT was no fun at all.

Our little shed is almost half way filled with paint cans. It is a disaster. We made this joke that what we need is a paint cellar, like a wine cellar. We don't drink alcohol really, but boy do we paint! This would be a very useful additon to our abode.
note: Please use a snotty accent of your choice while reading the following. Thank you.

house guest: "Say, that is a lovely wall color."
me: "Oh, you like it? It is a vintage 2001 Benjamin Moore I believe. What a mah-velous year it was for Crimson October. A cool summer and a moist fall made for the perfect conditions. Let me run down to the cellar and see if we have any left."

funny? Oh, come on. Just a little funny? A paint cellar would be a great thing. Then, we could use our shed for yard things. What a novel idea. I can't go to a place that sells paint and not grab stacks of paint chips. The colors are so organized and pretty to look at. I have a drawer filled with them. When there are chips taped up on a wall you know painting will soon take place.

That 70's Turtle

Not a great week for thrifting. Keely spotted this odd little turtle stool. He has not been named yet. It is wood with a fuzzy, super red, seat. He is kinda cute. I think I will paint him white and recover him in some lime green fabric. I have a habit of painting all dark things white! Then again, I sorta like him red. Dunno. I've definately been a craft slacker this week. If my little one would resume taking some decent naps I'm sure that would help me out. What's a lady to do with only 30 min. of naptime????!!! sob. sob. sob. I am gonna start those cushions for her little chairs this weekend.

The corner of George

This week's post for the Corners Pool is our little hallway. We painted it a crazy mossy green several months ago. The rest of our house is painted in mellow blues and pale greens, so this color does not go at all. However, it is a really small space and its color has grown on us. The stick pony is my daughters. We found him at a thrift store. She carried him around in the cart with the stick hanging out through the cart's leg holes with hers. He was loudly neighing the entire store trip while all the other shoppers laughed at Keely. I asked her what his name was going to be and she looked at me blankly, thought about it and then said, "George. It's George the horse." O.K- so George has taken up permanent residency in the mossy green hall. Everyone who walks by always says, "hi, George."
The framed photo is one I took of some beach glass that I've collected.

Warm and Sunny

What a pretty day . Keely played in her sandbox without a coat. It was so sunny she had a permanent squinty eyed expression. Strange winter weather around here. Whoa! what is with the strange positions of these photos? freaky.

The 2 and 1/2 brainiac

I guess I ran off my few readers with yesterday's sweet husband post. Ah well. I thought it wouldn't hurt then to brag about my wee genius daughter today. I'm cleaning up the kitchen after lunch and she is playing with her magnets on the fridge. She can spell cat and dog and has been able to for months. She spelled out cat and then said, "Hmmmm, what's the letter for Penguin? P..p.... Here is the p." She lined up the penguins and then gave them their letter. Then did the same for snowmen. She is too smart. seriously. We are in so much trouble.

Today was spent putting 4 coats of white paint on the pink table I posted about earlier. How many layers can it take! Geeesh. It is done now and looks pretty good. Also, I've been icing my stupid hurt knee. During yesterday's sweet day, I fell off my slightly heeled shoes and really hurt my knee. Don't laugh. Alright, go ahead. If you fall off your shoes you deserve it. I almost always wear very flat, comfortable shoes. I am not a coordinated person. So, now my knee is killing me. fun. And what's better than holding an ice bag on your leg in February?

The little artist

I was looking back through some photos on my computer and came across this one. Keely drew it on Christmas Eve. She was 2yrs and 3 months. It is a picture of mommy and daddy sitting on the couch (Isn't that SO obvious? 8-). We were and still are so impressed with her drawing. We were sitting on the couch and she sat the magnadoodle next to us and drew us this portrait. I don't know what's up with the Gonzo noses, but is this not good?

Project fixed

Finally, got the dear machine fixed after the hubby and I fiddled around with it for way too long. That machine is still not my friend. I did fix and finish the bookcover project. Scratch that one off the list. Next up is some little tiny seat cushions for Keely's chairs.

For her (that's me)

I got up this morning and my hubby was in the kitchen preparing this! Usually he is filling his thermos with coffee & leaving for work. He wasn't dressed for work. He took the day off for Valentine's! Huh? How sweet is that? So, we had nice breakfast with homemade waffles, strawberries and whipped cream. Well, nice except for the whiney, cranky child who was present. She didn't go for all this mommy/daddy breakfast thing.

For him

So what if it is a bean bag? Don't laugh. I did hand embroider? the heart on and it is filled with lavender because that is the smell my hubby associates with me. I don't wear perfume. He really liked the bag. Funny part is I forgot to write in the card! I set it up for him to find in the morning and I realized in the middle of the night that I forgot to write in the card! What kind of gift is that? Well, it was funny. He laughed.

Happy Valentine's Day All

Buttons and Paint

This weekend my mother gave me this wonderful tin full of her buttons and my grandmothers' buttons. My granny just recently past away. What a treasure they are. I love buttons. There are some giant ones in there, some beautiful colored ones, and some strange ones too. I'll put them to good use I'm sure. Well, that is if I can bring myself to use them at all.

Our study got painted by the hubby Sunday. It was a Crest toothpaste kind of green. He hated it, so now it is a lovely light blue "stratosphere" as the people of Olympic paint call it.

We also made a Target trip this weekend and in their dollar section they had a bunch of kiddie craft materials. I know they are NOT of great quality but still, fun can be had with them and they are inexpensive-paints, papers, foam stamps, colored stamp pads etc. So, if you need some indoor entertainment for the continuing cold winter days- there's one idea.

Return of the Monday Muffins

Last weeks' banana bread was successful, however I had these heart muffin papers that had to be used this week. I've never made homemade blueberry muffins before so I got this recipe off the internet. They aren't sweet enough for my taste, but they're not bad. Keely approved of them, except for the goopiness of the mushed blueberries.

Attempted project

So, I was trying to think up something I could sew for some more practice that would be slightly more functional than a bean bag, but only have simple straight lines. A book cover was what popped into my head. I cut up an old sheet to practice with. I didn't measure, pin, or iron anything. I just laid the notebook down and traced it and then sewed all over the place. Amazingly, it fit on the book. It is sloppy, but it worked. I decided I'd try the REAL one today. Measuring and ironing seams was done. I went happily sewing my straight lines and almost as I was done the top spool of thread ran out and my seam went all wonky. GRRRR. I got a new spool and followed all the stinkin' manuals instructions to get it re-threaded, but it won't work. It has no tension and the stitches look freaky and they are so loose. I tried and tried to rethread, but I had to stop when the little child got impatient with me. Maybe tonight this will be solved.