Here are some recent treasures I found that were waiting for me at the thrift store… I got myself a really good, vintage, denim wrap skirt, denim dress (with pockets!), vintage denim jacket for True and Brave (love when it has a made in USA tag!). In Texas, I did a happy dance when I found the colorful embroidered jacket and cobalt blue dress. Of course, I couldn’t leave the basket-pitcher thing, and it had to come home with me too.
The girls hate the smell and always plug their noses when we go in, but they do like searching for stuff. I’ve taught them how to pick out fabrics and look at labels, and they always try to see if they can decipher if something is truly vintage. Most of the fun is in the hunt, and you really feel like a winner when you come across something good.
Our Soulie turned seven about a month ago, and she’s the one that intentionally tries to be like me, so her birthday request was to stay in bed all day (like I do) and do nothing, but watch movies. Thus, that’s exactly what we did. She did have specific food requests… pancakes for breakfast, In-N-Out for lunch, two pies (1 pecan, 1 pumpkin) for her birthday cake, and homemade pineapple and prosciutto pizza for dinner. Funny thing is she barely ate any of it! When she’s excited, she tends not to eat, and this pretty much happens every birthday. She’ll make these grand food requests, but just have a bite or two. Nevertheless, I’m happy I can make her little birthday food wishes come true.
Ben and I had 7 gifts for her, her handmade birthday outfit (see more about it here), her own Fuji Instax camera, film, photo album, a bag, and mechanical pencils. Her sisters went all out with handmade gifts for her, and Brave even played the Happy Birthday song on the guitar for her. It was such a chill day, and we all hung out together and watched a bunch of movies in bed. I’d say by her smile you can tell that it was exactly the way she wanted to usher in seven.
My sister-in-law turned 40 about a month ago, and since we couldn’t be there to celebrate (she lives in Texas), we sent a special present over to her. I contacted her friends and other family members, and everyone wrote a few reasons why they loved Suzi so much. I gathered all the handwritten notes that totaled 40, it was her fortieth birthday after all, and then the girls and I wrapped each one into the surprise ball. We all facetimed together as she opened her gift and she was so surprised, especially since I was able to gather some notes from her friends, whom I have never met before, but that’s one of the blessings of technology (thank you facebook!).
Surprise balls are such fun gifts to make and give. I’ve made Easter egg ones in the past for the girls, a Valentine’s Day one for Ben with love notes and trinkets, and an orange one for Ben’s birthday a couple years ago. Actually, he still hasn’t unraveled that one because he doesn’t want to ruin it, so we said we will unravel it later (Lord willing) when the girls are older. I think it will be sweet to see what their kid writing looked like and read the messages they wrote for Ben as little girls. I’ve always wanted to make a bunch as a party favor (though I’m not into throwing parties) or maybe we will do it again for the girls, but Star Wars themed. Oh, they would so flip over that!
If you ever want a thoughtful, little gift that has a big impact, bookmark this idea for later. I guarantee the gift recipient will have a blast unraveling the gift to see all the messages/treats.
When I see something I like, I think to myself, “Do I buy it, make it, or can I thrift it?” I had been eyeing this macrame runner from Anthropologie for awhile now, but didn’t know if I really wanted to spend that many pennies on it. Plus, it’s kind of long (not really the size I needed), so didn’t know if it was worth the investment. Eventually, I decided to make it. I picked up a couple rolls of 3mm cotton macrame cording from Michaels (if you’re patient, buy them one at a time with your 50% off coupon, which helps cut the cost of your runner). It’s also available here with some other color/texture options. I cut 20 strands at about 18 feet long (I think), hung my dowel off of a clothing rack, and I lark’s head knotted each strand onto the dowel. From there, I proceeded to make my runner using simple square and coil knots.
I went with a design that was simple and fast and it took a full afternoon to complete it. I like the bit of texture it gives to our coffee table, and especially like that I got to save some pennies making my own. It would be fun to make another with more intricate knots and then dye the whole thing in indigo, and maybe even add some big tassels on each end.
Everyone’s cranky the first week back from Christmas vacation. It was rough.
I love perusing all the after Christmas sales online. I haven’t bought anything, but it’s just fun to look around. There’s a couple pairs of shoes I’m eyeing on Zara for the girls (a buy a couple sizes larger and save it for when it’ll fit them).
I want to make a mini version of this dress for the girls.
My hands tend to get very dry, so I’m curious about this lanolin cream to see if it’ll help. I started using this lotion about a month ago and love it. Lavender scent is my fave.
All the holiday stuff is put away and 2017 is in full swing. It definitely was a rocky beginning with all the bad attitudes going on in our house (I’ve had a major one), but mercies are new and grace abounds, and Jesus lovingly leads us to repentance and changes our hearts, and that is good news.
Our date got started later than we originally planned, so we ended up having a late lunch at Alcomar. I had been craving oysters, so I went with the oyster platter and ceviche for my meal, while Ben got the scallops veracruzana style. He wasn’t so impressed with his dish, though the cauliflower flan was tasty, but we both gave thumbs up to my ceviche and oysters. We were blessed with fantastic weather, so we opted to sit outside and enjoy it. I don’t think we’d come back here to eat again, but I am glad we tried it.
From where I was sitting for lunch, I saw Frond plant shop across the way, so we made a stop in after our meal. I came looking for the pilea peperomioides (they didn’t have it), but left with a farfugium japonicum. I loved this little plant shop, though most plants were pretty common types, they had a nice stock of pretty pots and baskets. Good thing this isn’t close to my house, otherwise, a lot of my pennies would be spent here on baskets.
Of course, we ventured over to Uncommon Objects and some of the other vintage clothing shops we frequent when we’re in town. Uncommon Objects is so good for ogling over quirky curiosities. There were many things I loved and would love to take home, but our home is pretty full, so there’s not too many things we need. Nevertheless, it’s still fun to peek around the museum-like shop. My favorite is how they color coordinate the sections.
We had time to kill before our dinner reservations, and because Churro Co. was closed (NBD, I was only waiting a year for our visit to finally try one of the churros I constantly drool over on their instagram), so we headed over to Kick Pleat and Olive. My favorite shoe designer is Rachel Comey, so I wanted to go a store and see her shoes in person. I have a few pairs of Rachel Comeys, but I’ve only ordered online. Even though I didn’t make a purchase, it was seriously so fun for me to go see them and try them on in a store. I was looking for a particular style, but it’s an older one, so it’s pretty hard to find a stockist who has any left in my size.
Finally, the highlight of our date, besides being with each other and actually holding hands, was eating at Uchi. Last time, we ate at Uchiko, and we didn’t know you had to make reservations, but we were lucky enough to be able to sit at the bar since we came right when they opened. This time, we made sure to make reservations for Uchi (made about 3 weeks prior), so our tummies were eagerly anticipating being filled with Uchi’s yumminess. And the good news is that Uchi did not disappoint. We ordered what seemed like a million things, and I even had room for not only 1, but 2 of their desserts. We ordered one, but they were so kind to bring us another one too. They also brought us like 3 other dishes we didn’t order to try out… that place not only excels in food, but also customer service. I know it sounds funny considering we are from California and sushi places abound, but this sushi place in Austin beat out any sushi place I’ve tried here at home. So if you’re in Austin, and love sushi, go to Uchi or Uchiko! The only difference I think we will do next time is sit at the bar. I think we really enjoyed the interaction with the sushi chef from our first visit, so I think next time, we’d like to sit at the bar again. Plus, that means we get to sit side by side, which means more cuddling.
After Uchi, and the 2 desserts I had there, we went to Prohibition Creamery so I could try their ice cream. It was a tough choice between the butter pecan rum and the spicy chocolate, but I went with the spicy chocolate. Hey! It’s our special day date, so I went buck wild with dessert.
We have plenty of friends who are very disciplined about their weekly date nights out. Us, not so much. We are both pretty content with our Friday nights having a homemade meal on the floor of our bedroom while we watch a movie. Sure, the kids are in their rooms right around the corner, but it’s intimate enough to allow us time to relax and connect together. It’s intentional time and we treasure it. Plus, we just aren’t weekly date nights out type of people, and then when we actually do go on a date, we go all out.
Like I said here, no matter if we are out and about or simply at home, I love just being with him (unless I’m mad, that’s a different story
I have a large growing pile of fabric scraps. I refuse to throw them away because I am sure they can be used for something. I have been seeing different types of interesting necklaces made of buttons, beads, and fabric. Then, I figured why not make one out of my scraps...
I think it made my white shirt a little less boring. This was so quick and easy to make.
How to make a recycled scraps necklace (which is very similar to the straps on my braided tablecloth bag):
1. Take your scrap fabric, I cut a .5''-1'' snip and tear the rest of the fabric down for a nice frayed edge. Used 3 different fabrics for each strand.
2. Take 3 of the torn pieces and tie the ends together with a rubber band.
3. Braid the 3 pieces together and tie ends together with rubber band when done.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for more strands. Remember you can make the strands any length you want, if run out of fabric, just weave more into the braid.
5. Once all the strands you want are braided, gather one end of each strand together and straight stitch together with sewing machine. Repeat for the other ends of the strands. Snip off any excess.
6. Gather ends of the necklace and sew together (snip excess) or a ribbon can be sewn at the ends to be able to tie the necklace closed, but I just sewed both ends together.
7. Voila! A nice way to make use of all your lovely scraps.
Sorry if the directions get you a little lost, but it really is easy. I promise. Maybe I should put some in the shop. Please share any other good ideas you may have of things that can be made with scraps. I would love to hear (read) them!
Here are some recent treasures I found that were waiting for me at the thrift store… I got myself a really good, vintage, denim wrap skirt, denim dress (with pockets!), vintage denim jacket for True and Brave (love when it has a made in USA tag!). In Texas, I did a happy dance when I found the colorful embroidered jacket and cobalt blue dress. Of course, I couldn’t leave the basket-pitcher thing, and it had to come home with me too.
