Saturday vintage finds.

I have two pretty cool vintage finds today! First up is this little squirrel ring dish. Well, that's how I plan to use it. This thing is really tiny in person, though it's hard to tell in photos!

I also found this really great fabric piece (click to zoom). It's a bunch of vintage squares sewn together like a quilt and it's a pretty big piece. It also has a backing. I don't like all of the squares, but the ones I do like totally make up for it!

Julia did NOT want to pose for me, but she finally let me do it. lol


The fabrics used are all pretty thick. I'm not sure how I'll be using this or where I will display it.

Happy Saturday treasure-hunting!

A sweet and simple giveaway!

I just received this sweet little necklace for Julia- pretty cute, huh? It was the perfect little surprise-for-no-particular-reason-from-a-mother-to-a-daughter gift.

Now for the giveaway part! Sophie from hearttohearts will be giving away one custom name necklace to a lucky ponder and stitch reader. :)


It's easy! All you have to do is leave a comment here. That's it! Sweet and simple. I will draw the winning name on Friday, May 6th at 7:30 a.m. central time.

***Remember, if you have an anonymous profile and do not leave a way for me to contact you, you will not be entered into the drawing!

Good luck, and go check out Sophie's shop to see more! :)

Pretty mail and a special sneak peek!

Yes, I'm going to call a garbage can pretty. I got it in the mail today from moxiethrift and it's so perfectly retro! I'm going to use it for my fabric scraps, which quickly overflow the other container I've been using.

And now for a sneak peek of something new coming soon (hopefully!) to ponder and stitch!

I think it's about time I bring some textile necklaces to the shop. This vintage fabric strand pendant necklace is soooo dainty at about 1.5 inches long.

I'm perfecting some different styles, and hope to bring a handful of necklaces to the shop soon. And with that, I must leave you for dinner. Some realllly good sauteed zucchini and mushrooms are calling my name right now. :)

Have a good night!

Antique store score!

I really had no reason to buy this old box...maybe I'll store fabric in it. It has lovely old wallpaper, and the inside is in wonderful condition- no musty smells, either!

On the front of the lid, the box says Valorie's. I wonder what Valorie kept in it!

At the same store, I got this cute planter. It's a minty aqua color and has light brown speckles when you look up close.

I love them both!

Pretty mail. A bracelet for ME!

How adorable is my custom Cooper bracelet from Orangeisthesun? You pick the colors and Jennifer will make the sweetest wrapped leather bracelet and ship it in no time flat. Now that I have this one, I'm going to need more, because wouldn't they look so great stacked? I'm also eyeing her owen necklace. So cute!

Thanks, Jennifer!

P.S. Here are my latest cuffs- I just love them!





In the shop now. :)

Things I'm loving right now.

This gorgeous macrame bracelet by KalisteBracelets. Her photography is lovely, too!

In the flowers print by yelena bryksenkova. I wish I could jump right into that illustration.

Dreamy photo by firstlightphoto. The aqua is absolutely perfect.

Sweet house numbers by mooza. These are adorable! I totally want these for the front of my house.

Amazingly mod two-story cat bed that I'll never be able to afford by moderncat. The cat who gets this house would be one lucky dog. I mean cat.

Mom, you're old today!

Ok, not old, exactly. But a long time ago, this was you, getting a drink of water at the fountain. How cute is your dress? Do you still have it? I could probably make some cuffs out of it. hahah. Just kidding. And there you are in the middle looking all cute in your red dress. Would that be called a romper? I don't really know.

**The girl closest to the camera is my Aunt Lisa. I've always had a feeling she is my real mother. We're really like twins most of the time, thinking the same things and liking/disliking the same things... but today is my fake mom's birthday (well, who I've been told is my real mom), so I won't go into that right now.

Happy birthday, "real" Mom! xoxo

Wait, today is also my "real, but nobody will admit it" mom's anniversary! Happy anniversary, Lisa!

Braided beauty.

This cuff may look simple, but it was one of the hardest cuffs to make. The strands are so tiny and each one was folded, ironed and stitched on the very edge to prevent fraying/unraveling. Of course, the strands wouldn't stay where I needed them to stay, either. I think the end result is so pretty, though.

I won't be making another one for a long time, I can tell you that! lol. In the shop now. :)

What color did I paint the other drawer?

Thanks for all your comments about the post below. I decided to paint the other drawer a barely-there pale green. The official paint color was green tea. Unfortunately, the front of this drawer had a bunch of imperfections and rough areas, and they are pretty noticeable when painted. However, if people are noticing my paint job, then I did something wrong with the display! lol. Either way, the drawers are so much cuter than when I bought them, so I'm happy with the end result. :)

Thrift store score!

Well, it's not the most amazing score, but they were selling these lone drawers for $1.00 each...you know the kind of drawers that go in those cheap jewelry boxes? I figured for $2.00 I would try another display idea:


I think it was a success! It totally works as part of a cute and simple table display. I'm not sure about the color yet..I may paint a different color over this bright aqua and then sand the edges to reveal just a tad of the aqua. I haven't painted the other drawer yet..so many possibilities! I love the olive green velvety material in the drawers, too.

Should I leave this one aqua or paint over it? How about for the other drawer?!

I am.

Last night after giving Julia her first sewing lesson (see below), I finished this new sunny version of the "I am." cuff. Said Sylvia Plath: I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am. I really think this cuff just radiates sunshine. In the shop now. Happy Friday, everyone!

My girl wants to learn how to sew!

I'm so excited! Tonight I gave Julia her very first sewing lesson. She was nervous about operating the machine but had so much fun and caught on quickly.

I took a few sheets of paper and drew marker lines for her to follow with a needle that wasn't actually threaded. I had to change my needle anyway, so it was perfect for her to use on paper.


Next lesson will involve real thread! I'm SO excited to be able to teach Julia this skill. I hope she sticks with it, because it is so frustrating in the beginning.

P.S. I have an inexpensive Brother machine that I bought around three years ago when I decided to teach myself how to sew. It was somewhere around $250.00, I think. I didn't want to spend a lot, just in case I was no good or decided I didn't like it. Even though it turns out I DID like it, this machine has always been good to me and it has given me no need to upgrade.

Anyway, I'm proud of Julia for wanting to learn something new. Maybe she'll be a crafty girl just like her mom. :)

And the drawworm givewaway winner is...!!

I let Julia and Finn pick today's winner of a personalized drawing by the fabulous Kelley of drawworm.

She kept her eyes closed- I promise!

Congratulations to Katy from K is for Calligraphy! :D I'll be in touch shortly. You are going to LOVE your drawing!

Art crush.

I have been a huge fan of Jeremy Miranda since I first laid eyes on his work. I love how he depicts greenhouses at night, surrounded by darkness but lit from within.

I've always been drawn to his iceberg paintings, as well.

One of my favorite things about his work is his use of color. Just gorgeous!

If I had seen the one below before it sold, I would have snagged it in a heartbeat.

See more here.

And if you haven't done so, this is the last day to enter this amazing giveaway. Go do it!

Saturday hike.

Click pics twice to zoom! Today my boyfriend and I took our kids (he has two and I have one) on a really fun hike. A huge area of trees had just been cleared and there were MASSIVE woodchip piles that kept us entertained for a long time. I was standing on top of a really tall one when I took these photos.

I just turned the camera for this pic, but I think it looks cool:










Let me be clear- I am totally against these red sunglasses, but I'm really fond of the someone wearing them..

Today was a great day. :)