A Little Fall Roundup
I just wanted to post a few links to projects from last fall when I was infinitely more put together and organized in the blogging department. But I have a new plan, and new resolve, and I am working on new posts for this week. And all that even though Creamie is still sick (seriously, it is killing me! Doctor again tomorrow) and not going to preschool so my morning hours are full of motherhood instead of blogging. Meh, it happens. BUT, Scott finished up the huge project he has been working on, and even though the funding meeting for said project has been pushed from this next Thursday to November (grumble, grumble, eat more brownies) we got to spend the whole weekend together. Three days (he has Friday’s off). We got to sleep in. Eat breakfast together and then just hang out all day. It felt like Christmas. Last Friday was his first day off in 54 days. Yep, he has been at one or two jobs every. single. day. since August 8th. Not a single day off. And believe me, we all felt it. I forgot how much I like to just hang out with him. I hope we never have to do that again.
Anyway, here are a few posts from last fall if you weren’t here a year ago. Because they are still good ones.
Cinnamon Chips and Pumpkin Dip
Stuffed Fall Pumpkin with free pattern
This last tutorial, the accent pillows are made from Walmart placemats. Tonight I was at Walmart and saw that they have them again this year, in brown, a much more fallish green and orange. I maybe bought a few more to add to my leafy collection. I also bought a whole bunch of canned pumpkin. And pumpkin dip is going on my list of treats to make this week. See you soon.
Piles and Piles of Pyrex
It has been a long time since I found any Pyrex, but a few weekends ago I came across quite the haul. And last Saturday I stopped by an antique mall for the first time and came away with a jewel.
The large pink gooseberry bowl in the back has been on my dream list for a long time. It is the largest of a set of four (whole set pic here). This round shape is called a Cinderella bowl, it is by far my favorite shape for Pyrex. The small white one on the right is the smallest of that set. I am just missing the two middle pieces. I paid a little more for the big bowl than I normally would for piece of Pyrex. But I figured the rest of my pink pieces have come at amazing deals that I could totally justify spending $18 for the big bowl. Besides, a big glass bowl (it is 4 quarts) that size at Target would be $18 anyway. And it wouldn’t be pink. Or old. Or on my dreamlist. The three small bowls I found for ten cents each, I got one of the pink pie plates in a trade and the other was from my dear friend Amylouwho who I met in real life this summer.
I posted an Instagram pic a few days ago with a few of these. All of these came to me in one week. It was amazing. I found the Butterprint (white and turquoise) piece at Savers and besides the pink bowl, all the others were from one trip to DI (Deseret Industries, a Mormon church owned thrift chain of 45 stores in 7 states in the West.) Last year I took a picture of my Pyrex collection on January 1st, and since then I’ve added something like 13 new pieces. I don’t buy every piece I see. If I see one in poor condition, or a pattern that I don’t love, or I feel like it is overpriced (you know, for a thrift store) I’ll pass on it. If it’s pink I buy it. I think that could actually be spread across a lot of my life and be an accurate description of my shopping habits…
This is last year’s. Next year I might have to find a new place to set them all up. I don’t know how many more my desk will hold… Also, in my next house I am definitely going to need a china cabinet in the kitchen so I can see these all the time.
I have also been picking up vintage sheets and fabric. Still not sure what I am going to do with my ever growing stack, but I sure do like buying them. I have plans for a few of them, but the space under my desk has been taken over by stacks of these old pretties. I really do need to figure out something productive to do with them. But until I figure it out I am happy to get my retail shopping fix at a large thrift store picking up stacks of old dishes and old sheets and vintage sewing patterns. And jewelry… I’ve been really lucky in the jewelry department lately. I’ll save that for another post.
Creamie has had a cold for the past week. I really hope that these next two days are the end of it. Because I am so ready for a break. Be back soon, I hope your Wednesday is lovely.
A Happy Morning
Today is a happy morning. Creamie slept through the whole night even though she is sick and has been waking up because she can’t breathe very well. Scott was home when I woke up, which doesnt’ happen very often anymore (hopefully this is the last week of working 100 + hours!) I was playing the piano at the church this morning for a rehearsal, and on the way home I drove past a yardsale and glancing over I saw this.
Well, I saw the tudor stripes on that little house and immediately turned around and pulled over. And there was a girl waving a sign that said “Everything 50% off!” And I wondered why these two awesome vintage fisherprice toys were still sitting there! They were $1.50 each. And the little bag of random fisherprice people and cars was another 50 cents.
I gave her my $5 bill, told her to keep the change and walked back to the car the happiest momma on earth. And after I buckled Creamie back into the car I saw their row of kids boots and shoes. I drove home for a little more cash and came back and bought a pair of winter boots and next summers sandals for a few more bucks. See, a good morning.
And Creamie thinks it’s a happy morning because she has some fantastic new toys to play with. She’s been playing with the elevator on the service station for an hour. She doesnt’ care if the sticker on top is torn, because the bell on the little elevator works and that’s good enough for her. And me.
I need to look around and find some more fisherprice people and furniture to go in her new house. If anyone you know has some and is thinking about putting them in next weekends yardsale, please tell them to email me first! I’m more than happy to pay you for them!
So far the morning is going well. I have a date with this canister of Clorox wipes for the rest of the afternoon. They give me the confidence to bring home 30 year old toys picked up off the side of the road.
And I had my camera settings all wrong when I took these pictures. I”m trying not to shoot everything on automatic. I’m learning. Slowly. Have a good weekend! (And seriously, if you have Fisher Price little people you are looking to take to Goodwill or the trash or the yardsale please email me first!)
Transitions
So, life is still in transition. I didn’t think it was going to take this long, but it has. And it’s not over, but we are finding our new schedule and I’m sure as soon as we get this figured out then it will change again. Creamie is loving preschool, and thanks to a very kind neighbor of my mom’s I have internet access without having to pay wireless charges. So my new blogging time is in the mornings while she is at school. I’m sitting in my car in the neighbors driveway so I can mooch their internet. Wireless Internet is officially the awesomest thing ever. Like, ever.
Creamie started taking a dance class with some of her little friends. It is just once a week, and her teacher is a teenage girl who is earning money to continue her own dance class, which I am thrilled to be supporting. Watching her dance around is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Last week she insisted on wearing Batman with her tutu. And rainboots. I found these boots at the thrift store for $3.25 last week and she will hardly take them off to take a bath. I love it.
We have been busy here at Casa Pinksuedeshoe. I’ve been working on a lot of projects, unfortunately none of them are for me. Well, except this raspberry peach pie me and my mom made the other day. Recipe is still in the testing phase, but holy crap. This might be the best pie I’ve ever eaten. And I kind of consider myself a connoisseur of pie. I’ve also been doing a lot of thrifting. And I’ve had some amazing luck. I don’t usually shop for clothes for me at the thrift store, but my sister has converted me. And I’ve purchased a new fall wardrobe in the past few weeks that I love. I’ll share pictures soon.
I completely lucked out on Saturday. I don’t usually go thrifting on saturdays, but since Scott is working 12-16 hours EVERY SINGLE FREAKING DAY it didn’t actually feel like a Saturday. And I found this whole stack of vintage Pyrex for $10. Those two on the bottom are really big, 4 quarts each! I was so excited! I’ve also found a lot of new sheets lately. I finally found the perfect sheet to make this dress. And it was brand new, still in the package. Score! Proper thrifting post soon. I promise. I have so many new treasures, I love it!
I made myself a new skirt a bit ago. I’ve worn it a few times, and I love the color and the fit, but one thing always bugs me. I didn’t have green serger thread, so I left it white and just hemmed it under. And when I am standing, it’s totally fine. No problemo. But when I walk and my skirt moves and swishes you can see this awful white stripe of serger thread on the inside of the hem. So I colored it with a sharpie. Problem solved. I’m resourceful like that.
Scott’s birthday was on Monday, and Creamie and I met up with him for lunch. We went to a great Brazillian place and ate as much food as we could hold. This was dessert. I don’t remember what it was called, but it’s like a churro that was filled with a creamy pudding and topped with caramel. Amazing. We took a good long lunch and it was so nice to talk to him in the middle of the day. He used to work right next door to our house, so I got to talk to him at lunch everyday. I miss it. I can’t wait to move closer so we can do lunch together more often.
I was pretty sure that neither of us would be eating dinner after what we ate for lunch. And I was right. And so instead of making a REAL birthday cake, Creamie helped me make him THIS birthday cake. I did the cutting, and she did the choosing and the gluing. And she wrote his name up there at the top (the gray “letters” across the top of the page.) She was so excited to give it to him and sing him Happy Birthday (all by herself) when he finally came home. I need to do more crafty projects with her. She is in heaven with a gluestick and a pair of scissors.
So, to continue this post’s theme of complete and total randomness, here is my newest favorite picture. Target has vampire teeth in the dollar section. Thanks to my friend for sharing some with us. She loves to wear them!
And, one last bit of randomness for your Wednesday, fall is officially here and I can smell winter in the air. Last Saturday there was snow on the mountains when I woke up. I can see the leaves up there starting to change color and just in the past week there are a lot of new patches of red and orange. I have been making a lot of soup and bread, and I can’t wait to wake up to snow!
Library Day
When I was a little girl I loved visiting the library. It seemed like such a magical kind of place. My mom volunteered as a storyteller at a big children’s library in a bigger city so she could get a free library pass. The town I grew up in had zero access to a library system. But that big children’s library was awesome. Tall stained glass windows of fairytales and floors of books and places to sit and read. And with all that wonderfulness I still always ended up in the basement of the attached adult wing poring over books of houseplans. I was a nerd from a very young age. Anyway, moving on.
We’ve lived here for five years, and it was just a few months ago that I ventured out to our city library. And it is awful. Dark, dirty and a place where old books go to die. Thankfully, they have a deal with the neighboring city library and I can go there. Thankfully. Anyway, after the first time visiting I realized that I really needed a library bag. Because there was no way I could carry my stuff, Creamie’s stuff and the books and still chase her and/or drop everything at a moments notice for a potty break. So, I started looking around my collection to see if I had something that would work.
And I found the perfect bag. A great big bag made of heavy duty canvas, thick straps the perfect length and a zipper pocket inside for keys, phone, chapstick, handsanitizer, library card, and the printout of the books I need to remember to bring back. Too bad it was ugly. A handmedown from my sister, who used to work for a scrapbooking magazine and ended up with boxes of swag. But I am so not crazy about the logo on the front and the sponsor list on the back. So I improved it.
See, much much better. I used some cute fabric and sewed on panels to cover up all the ugly labels and logos. I just cut a piece to size, pressed the seam allowances to the center and topstitched it in place. The hardest part was getting my sewing machine down inside the bottom of the pockets to stitch across the bottom. This would be a much easier fix on a messenger style bag. No trying to fit sewing machines inside small pockets!
Our latest trip to the library was a good one. I am so glad I brought my camera. It fit right inside that giant bookbag with plenty of room for the 22 books we brought home. One day I’m going to max out my library card in number of books brought home. But I think my bag could still handle it.
I found some of my favorite books from my childhood to bring home to read to Creamie. I have loved reading her the books my mom read to me, and some of them books my mom read to her littlest sister. The Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books, Snip, Snap, Snur were always my favorites. Creamie is in love with the Little Bear stories. She is particularly interested in his mothers sewing machine. (Cue heart swelling with pride music here.) Most of these books are still a little old for her, but that doesn’t stop her. Or me. I am constantly amazed at how much she remembers and understands from books that seem too involved and stories that seem too complicated for a 2 year old. Yeah, my kid is awesome.
She laid down right here and read books to me for more than a half an hour before she remembered the big park that was outside. And as soon as we got home, she was ready to read stories again. It is one of her favorite things to do. The other night I think we read 15 books in a row before she had her fill. And that makes me happy.
The past few days she has been requesting one ponytail “like mommy’s one big ponytail.” She is so sweet sometimes. I love it. Though that one ponytail makes her look a lot more grown up to me. Maybe it’s just me.
Fresh Peaches
When I was growing up there was a farmer that lived about a mile from my house who had acres and acres of fruit trees. Her name was Grandma Pack, and she was out planting new trees and picking fruit well into her seventies. Her son runs the farm now, and he has the most amazing peaches on earth. Last week my mom bought the very last picking of Red Haven peaches, all eleven boxes of them. Red Haven peaches are our favorite. The skin is smooth, hardly any fuzz at all, and it peels off easily, without having to blanch in boiling water. Plus, there is just something delicious about eating peaches the same day they were picked.
I’ve been eating peaches all week. Sunday was peach pie, yesterday was peaches and ice cream and this morning I had a peach smoothie for breakfast. It was heaven.
I have a lot of work to do. I’ve got four boxes (which is two bushels) of peaches to wash and slice and put into jars before tomorrow night. I’m going to be busy. But I absolutely LOVE having those jars of peaches all winter. I think I’ll freeze some too so I can make another peach pie. It was so good me and my mom sat down and finished the whole thing. I mean, Scott and Creamie had some too. But some things just don’t keep in the fridge overnight. Peach pie is one of them.
For my smoothie I put 3 peeled chopped peaches in the blender with some vanilla ice cream, a little milk and a big spoonful of brown sugar. Tomorrow maybe I’ll try adding oatmeal to the mix…. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Get Dressed: 10 Year Reunion
I actually finished this skirt project more than a month ago. I wore it to my 10 year highschool reunion at the beginning of August, but I’m just getting around to posting the pictures. Actually, I didn’t love the pictures we took, but my resident photographer is never home when the sun is up anymore, so they will have to do.
This outfit started life as a too large thrifted dress with a broken zipper. But for some reason I was totally drawn to the pattern on the skirt. I don’t really like purple, and I don’t ever wear flowers that are this big… so I can’t really say what it was that made me bring home a broken dress. But I did.
I cut off the top, and made a new waistband. I was able to save the already installed invisible zipper, I just trimmed it down (thankfully the broken part was at the top!) and sewed it onto the new waistband. And then I cut a pocket out of the bodice and added it to the other side seam. Because skirts with pockets are awesome. I think I am going to hem it maybe a half an inch, the original hem looks a little ratty up close. But no one else really notices things like that.
After I had finished my skirt I took it to visit my sister Heidi. Because I didn’t have a single thing in my closet to wear with it. And she did the rest. She should dress me everyday of my life actually. She is really good at it. And she always has the right shoes.
I borrowed the ring from her, but the rest of the jewelry was mine, mostly anniversary gifts from Scott. He has good taste too. I am still on the lookout for my own perfect wide black belt, but I’ve picked up several others the last few weeks from the thrift store. For $10 I have 5 new belts. Bingo!
Actually, there has been a lot of good thrifting going on recently… pictures to come! I am also adding this to Project Restyle! Yay!
First Day of School
We’ve got two days of preschool behind us now. I am happy to report that there were no tears from either of us. Of course, that has everything to do with the fact that her preschool teacher is my mom. She has been excited to go to school at grandma’s house for months. She walked into the school room, spread out her arms and announced “I am here! I wore a dress!”
Yesterday after school she had a picnic outside with all her new classmates and their parents. She was beyond excited to show everyone her sandwich, her carrots and her applejuice. Don’t worry, she didn’t actually eat any of it…
She is having a great time, and I am so glad that she gets to play with my mom for a few hours each day. She is doing great, particularly for being the youngest kid in her class by at least 6 months. And some of those kids are more than a year older than her. But, we probably won’t live close enough next year for it to be feasible (I can’t stand Scott missing so much of Creamie’s life because he is commuting. We’ll move sometime next year.) So this is their only shot.
I found her dress and cute red maryjanes at the thrift store for $2 each. And when some other mom complimented her on her cute dress at the picnic she proudly said “My momma find it at D.I. (my favorite thrift store). And I got some surprised looks from a few, and some “oh-my-gosh-you-must-be-poor” look from the mom who drove the fanciest car. And she’s right. We are poor. And happy. And if I can buy a $35 Baby Gap dress for $2 I will. And Creamie will wear it proudly. So there.
And since we live close, but not super close, I have been spending the mornings while she is in school spread out on this quilt at the park with a notebook and a pen and trying to get my brain and my ideas all organized. But I found a picnic table near a power outlet, next week I might take my sewing machine….. Also, I can’t tell you how happy I am that summer is over. I’ve been wearing a jacket at the park in the morning and it’s still chilly. Hello Fall!
August 2011 in Instagrams
Last month I made a goal to take one non blog photo every single day. I very often have my camera with me, but not as often remember to take pictures of the little things around me that I love, or that I don’t want to miss. I absolutely loved this project, and I am so glad that I did it. I took all of these photos with my phone and uploaded them to Instagram. I’ll definitely do this again.
I woke up early this morning, about 5:00 while Scott was getting ready to go to work. And unfortunately I couldn’t go back to sleep. With his new job and new commute he gets up at 4:45 am and leaves by 5:15. He doesn’t get back home until 7:30 or so, and is asleep by 9:00 pm. Our time together as a family has changed so drastically. I am still adjusting, Creamie misses her daddy all the time and I am running out of ideas to keep us both occupied for so long without him. Sigh. The first day of preschool starts in a few hours and I am not quite sure what I’ll do while Creamie is off learning numbers and colors and how to share. Maybe I’ll take my art journal box and go hang out at the park for a little while. We’ll see how put together I get in the next two hours…
Back Again
Hello friends! I have missed blogging this past little while. I’ve been up to all sorts of things, and I’ve got a lot of projects and photos to post. I’ll get to it. Soon.
[ She insisted on blood red toenails today. With sparkles, so at least she doesn’t look so grown up. Yet. ]
I have been busy, with some really good things, and some really awful things. Everytime I take a blogging break I seem to spend my evenings playing solitaire on my phone. I hate it, but it happens. Blogging for me is a great motivator to spend my time in ways that I am proud of. Without it I am sad to say I revert to my solitaire habits all too quickly. Embarassing, but true. More on that later. I am putting together a photo post from the last month which I hope to post later tonight or tomorrow. Creamie starts preschool tomorrow, and it will be time to change schedules all over again. Wish me luck.
pinksuedeshoe 