Cute!

So I have this friend who likes to stop over unannouced at the worst possible times and rifle through my stuff and make me late to the post office or work or wherever (and yes, I know you're reading this, dear friend!). Well, she did it again yesterday on my lunch break, but kind of redeemed herself by bringing me some little gifts. First, the cutest little owl candleholder ever!:

She also brought me the perfect candles for fall- you know, the kind that smell like good things baking and hot drinks. Then she surprised me with this vintage mug:

I had this mug in my favorites on Etsy and was sad to see that it had sold. I always wait too long. I was so shocked to see it since I thought it was far out of my reach forever. So cute!

Thanks, friend, for totally making me miss my post office trip and be late back to work, and for these great gifts!

P.S. I'm sorry my cat bit you, but you totally deserved it. ;)

love.

Forget anything I've ever said about any other cuff being my favorite.

Because THIS is my favorite. Vintage brown calico in the most perfect dainty autumn floral. In the shop now.

Another reason the mailman was good to me yesterday.

Did you know that all my dishes are vintage? I'm not sure I have any modern dishes at all, except for maybe a few cereal bowls. When I saw these vintage plates from sippiewine, I knew they had to be mine! Try and tell me this pattern is not ME! This seller is top notch when it comes to customer service, too- she was such a sweetheart.

If any of you have blog posts about vintage dishes in your collection, I'd love a link!

A birthday surprise.

Last week I had a birthday. The big 3-2! Yikes. The day after my birthday, I came home from work to find a very old jar of Vaseline on my steps. Yes. Vaseline. Weird, huh? I was pretty creeped out, to tell you the truth (I thought it might have something to do with my having to call the police a few nights before because someone was pounding on my door at 1am. That is a whole different story, and an unsolved one, too). Anyway, after spending a few minutes being creeped out looking at this weird jar of Vaseline on my steps, I walked onto my enclosed back porch to find this:

Now I knew something strange was happening. I turned around to find my mom and little sister hiding in a neighbor's yard and watching me (they'd watched me inspect the Vaseline this whole time!...I'll get to the significance of the Vaseline at the end of this post). Anyway, this, my friends, is the same dollhouse I simply ADORED when I was very young- maybe three or four years old. Not the exact one, but a duplicate. I spent countless hours playing with dollhouse. My mom found it on Ebay and surprised me with it for my birthday. I had not seen this in practically 30 years. Let me tell you, the memories came flooding back.

This kitchen floor was practically the same one my grandma had when I was growing up. I still remember thinking that as I played with it as a child:

I just love the little quilt on the bed!

Look at this perfectly 1970s living room!:

Now here is where we get to the Vaseline. When I was little, don't ask me why, I spent hours rubbing Vaseline on the roof of this dollhouse. I remember doing it...I think I maybe wanted the roof to look wet like it was raining on the shingles.

I can't believe I'm admitting that, but it's true! When I touched the roof it felt exactly the same- it was a flood of Vaseline memories coming back to me. Strange, I know.

And here is my little sister Sage having fun playing with it. I can't believe I was younger than she is when I played with it!:

The sad thing is that my new house is pretty much the same size as this dollhouse, so now I have to find a place to put it, hahah... I love it, though. It was something I never ever expected to see again in this lifetime. Thank you, Mom!

So here's what happened...

I needed a new bag. I had an exact picture of it in my head, but I've been really busy with custom orders and didn't have time to sew one myself. I contacted NeedleBook about a custom order because I saw a wristlet in her shop with the exact colors/fabrics I wanted.

Let me tell you, I sent that convo sometime after midnight. She wrote me back the same night and had my messenger bag entirely finished (and per my very detailed and picky specifications!) and shipped not more than 16 hours later. Seriously! I just got the bag today and am more than thrilled with it.

I have never been so blown away by customer service in all my years on etsy. Thank you so much, Claire! I love it. :)

My mini moo cards have arrived!

Oh, I love my new mini moo cards! They came in this cute little box and are made of really great, thick cardstock. Each card has a different floral back:

...and here is the front:

I just love them! This is the first time I've ever had business cards of any kind, so I feel kind of fancy. Kind of.

See my Renegade post below if you missed it! :)

Renegade was a blast! Lots of pics...

I had SO much fun at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this weekend! There was a lot to see, and I took photos when I could- it was really crowded and I had to be fast so some of these pics may be on the blurry side. The photo above with the adorable plushes was taken in junecraft's booth. Oh my gosh, their set-up was so sweet!

SkunkboyCreatures also had the most amazing booth:

I love how the sweet little plushes were in a suitcase. And that adorable little girl was passing out shop info. You could tell she was having so much fun!

On to MiltonandMargie's booth. She was soooo sweet!:

She had candles in vintage/recycled containers and I bought this hazelnut coffee candle in a tiny espresso cup:

One of my favorite places was the iamhome booth. The seller was so sweet! My awful pics don't do this booth justice:

I ended up buying this adorable tiny tree magnet:

...and this gorgeous original painting which is already hanging in my living room:

Another cute booth was by TartHeart:

If Julia had been there, I know she would've loved it. I bought her this little owl:

NoTengoMiedo had a beautiful booth:

Oh, and I got to meet Etsy admin Daniellexo! She was super sweet and let me take a funny pic:

Overdue Industries had a booth packed with great stuff made from recycled books:

I bought a pack of coasters made from the book Are You My Mother? because it's a childhood favorite. I also bought some really great magnets but didn't have time to photograph them.

There was this guy walking around the fair in slow-motion and wearing some type of deep sea diver suit (I thought he was a space guy but I stand corrected!). He got a lot of attention, especially since his backpack was blowing a constant stream of bubbles on the crowd:

One more pic... Nice had a great booth. I loved that clock with the vintage yellow floral print!

So that about does it. It would take me forever to load all the pics and talk about everything I loved, but these were some highlights. It was a great day full of beautiful items and really nice, creative people. I'm thinking about applying next year- maybe sharing a booth?!! :D

How cute is this?! Free tutorial...

A couple of days ago I came across this tutorial for the most perfect floor cushion. I had some gorgeous fabric that I thought would be perfect for it (I'd been holding off cutting into this fabric for forever because I didn't want to waste it or ruin it).

How cute is this?! I'm in love with it. It has a handle and I just love the piping detail. It is not at all difficult to make a round pillow such as this one, but it is a bit time consuming. Thanks to How About Orange for linking to this wonderful tutorial. :D

A custom cuff for myself!

After countless hours of custom orders and sewing for the shop, I decided last night it had been WAY too long since I made a cuff for myself. I sat down with all my fabrics and trims and put together a custom cuff to wear to Renegade this weekend!


I really love the way the dainty lace looks with the rich autumn plaid. I think I'll wear it to work today, too. :D

Anyone else going to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this weekend?? Let me know so I can look for you! (I won't be selling, but I never miss this great buying opportunity!)

Thrift store score.

Today on my lunch break I went to the thrift store and bought three of these sweet little bowls with a mustard floral design. They were 50 cents each. I'm going to keep one of them by the kitchen sink as a ring-holder. I realize the bowl looks big, but when you take into consideration it's holding tiny rings, you can tell it's a tiny bowl! I love them. :)

library history.

This is one of my favorite old books. It is a 1962 edition of David Copperfield that I bought from my local library's book sale many years ago. It's worn and torn and yellowed and taped up and I love how I can almost feel all the people who have held this book over the past 50 years.

My favorite part about it is the page where you can see all the checkout dates:

I love how they used all different color markers to cross out the dates. The oldest date stamped on this page is June of 1966.

I love this book.

Behold the beast!

Okay, he was just yawning. He's a sweet beast.

The mailman was good to me today.

How adorable is that little fabric and button face?!! I absolutely love my custom needle wallet I just got today from Pikithins.


I don't know about you sewing girls out there, but I am ALWAYS losing my needles- in the carpet, in fact. I have stepped on too many to count. I am so happy to have an adorable little place to store them now. Thank you soooo much, piki!