April Showers...

I'm staying at my sister's house since Jeremy is gone and while eating in her dining room tonight I was reminded of a little party I threw in that very spot back in April. It was her baby shower and I never shared the pictures of my hard work and the fun we had. Here they are...

I sewed vintage doilies onto ribbon for a little garland she now uses in the nursery

a girly tea party

with treats

a quiz

with a prize for the winner

(one of my necklaces was inside that box)

gifts

and party favors: tea bag pouches and felt flower pins

The weather in the NW

...has been so cold and yucky even our Easter eggs need to wear sweaters. For directions on keeping your Easter goods protected from the elements, see this cute knitting tutorial. Happy Easter weekend!

Little Feet

Just stumbled upon this bib tutorial which is darling but what really grabbed my attention was those sweet little bow shoes. I immediately scouted them out online and two pairs are presently making their way to my doorstep. One pair for Gemma and the other for a sweet girl I'm looking forward to meeting in the near future. Can't wait!

Button Bling

I've been looking for some cute understated baby headbands for quite a while with no real luck. I had nearly given up when I realized how incredibly easy they would be to make. A little ribbon, some elastic and maybe a button or two. Here's what I've come up with. Don't you think Gemma looks like a doll in them?

ps- I know I completely failed the whole blog-post-a-day thing... I just wasn't dedicated enough to get creative when presented with the whole no-internet-at-my-house-at-all-for-days-and-days obstacle. Sue me.

Gemma's Pad

Today I took some pictures of Gemma's room. I keep getting asked if I did what I had planned in this post. See for yourself...

I stitched them together in Photoshop to make this slightly crazy perspective panorama. It kind of reminds me of a pinhole photo. (No, the furniture isn't tiny- they are 14 foot ceilings so from this perspective they just look miniature.) 

I painted her dresser and ric-racked her lampshade.

And closer up...

And closer still...

That hankie in need of ironing was my Grandma's. (Jean, from whom Gemma got her middle name. She also collected elephants and now Gemma has a small collection)

That baby doll was my most prized posession as a kid- I got her for my 2nd birthday and gave her the obvious name: Birthday Baby

I love this little picture. It's from a vintage card I got at my shower. The giver said she found it in her grandmother's old things. Precious.

A new take on a bookshelf/toy chest

An out-of-focus close-up on her bedding

Like the photo on her wall above? It can be purchased in my little shop any day of the week!

And quite possibly the coolest thing in Gemma's room (aside from the girl who lives there) is this painting. For my birthday my rad sister had this custom painting done of me and the wee babe. The artist is the super-cool, super-talented, super inspiring Elsie. You can follow her creative life on her blog or support her efforts to "take over the world and make it cute" while getting some cool stuff by shopping at her shop.

So Excited...

...for Christmas! 

The past 2 Christmases we were all packed to move. (Yes we have moved a ridiculous number of times) No decorating, no tree. 

This year we've not a move in sight and it's Gemma's first Christmas. I'm going all out. Here are a few of the crafts I'm itching to begin...

Felt Circle Garland

Cute Stockings and Garland

Stuffie Ornaments

Pom Pom Wreath and Garland

Quilled Snowflake

DIY decor and other pretty things

The attention I give my home and its appearance comes in spurts. I get in these moods where all I want to do is look at decor magz and shop online and then I get obsessed and want do buy and do everything that will make my home the perfect representation of who I am and the things that make me happy. It's overwhelming. I quickly get burned out and move on to something else until the next home make-over mood strikes. I've decided to change my ways. I'm just going to do a little here and a little there as I come across beautiful things or fun DIY projects. We sold a bunch of stuff on Craigslist when we moved in January and hadn't spent all our earnings. Here are some of the ways I've spent, or want to spend our loot:
I bought a map of Portland from 1911 on ebay, blew it up and hung it above the fireplace using some of IKEA's fabulous hardware offerings.
I'm real proud of this next one... I've been searching for a pendant drum light but struggled to find one I liked that was also affordable. Then Red, White and Blue (the best thrift store ever) came through for me. They had this shade still in the wrapping for $3.95. I didn't like the off-white color so I dyed it ($3.00 RIT dye). Lastly I needed the electrical hardware so off to IKEA I drove. Their stand-alone cord system doesn't really stand-alone but they did have an entire light fixture on clearance for $1.99 so after a little shade-swap here is my $8.94 pendant drum light: Mom, go ahead and wipe those proud tears from your eyes... you've taught me well.

Now that I have the light fixture, my dining room will be finished as soon as I get this beauty (the rug, not the dog) from Cb2 to replace our too-small existing one:

I just ordered this funky coat rack from Urban for the strange alcove in our entryway that I never new what to do with.

Here's our reading corner, soon to be more interesting when this rug arrives (also from Urban)
And when I can get a lamp like this one: