An AMAZING Shabby Apple dress giveaway!

I cannot even tell you how envious I'm going to be of the winner of this gorgeous Ahoy! dress from Shabby Apple. For those of you who don't already know, Shabby Apple is an amazing online boutique full of vintage charm, especially vintage-inspired women's dresses! I've been a fan for a long time. Check out the rest of the amazing dresses here.

I'm pleased to announce that Shabby Apple has generously offered to give this dress (an $89.00 value!) to one lucky ponder and stitch reader!

This particular giveaway is open to U.S. entrants only, and the winning dress cannot be exchanged.

Mandatory way to enter: "like" Shabby Apple on facebook here and leave a comment letting me know you did so.

For an extra entry (and who wouldn't want to increase the odds of winning this beauty?!), just blog, facebook or tweet the link to this giveaway and leave another comment letting me know you did so. Easy! :)

As an added bonus, for the next 30 days, Shabby Apple is offering a 10% discount to all ponder and stitch readers! Just enter the code "ponderandstitch10off" at checkout for the discount. I know I have my eye on this beauty!

I will randomly choose the winner at 5:00 p.m. central time on November 14th. Good luck, everyone!

Before and after.

The other day I found this old wooden owl cutout in a pile of yard waste outside of an abandoned house. My boyfriend knew the people who used to live there and they gave us free reign to take what we wanted from the yard. This little guy was mine!

It's about 10 or 11 inches tall and maybe 7 or 8 inches wide at its widest point. Now, I'm no painter, but I decided to give it a try (click to zoom).

I sanded it, painted it and then sanded it again to give it a distressed look. I think I'm going to attach three or four hooks to the front bottom part, and make a key rack out of it! I think it will look cute on the wall. Not bad for what started as a piece of trash in the mud in someone's yard. Score!

And the winner is....!

Congratulations to Ashley! You have won the adorable autumn leaf necklace from jewelryvixen. Lucky girl! I will be touch soon. :) Thanks to all who entered. There are more giveaways to come, so stay tuned!

Thrift store score!

I love this vintage mirror I got while treasure-hunting on my lunch break yesterday. It has such a great shape, and I love how narrow it is!

It is 22 inches long and nine inches wide. I feel like I might even hang it horizontally for a different look. I'm not really sure where I'll put it yet, but I think it's a great thrift store score! Well, not as good as what this guy recently found in a book at a yard sale. Lucky!

A new amazing (and simple!) giveaway!

How perfect is this necklace for autumn?! One lucky ponder and stitch reader will win this beauty from jewelryvixen!

Entering is simple. :) All you have to do is visit jewelryvixen's shop and leave a comment with your favorite item. Easy! I think these are my current favorite (I already own them in aqua!).

Remember- leave an email or way to contact you or you will not be entered! I'll randomly draw the winner next Monday, October 24, at 5pm central time. Good luck!!

The sweetest video EVER, plus the giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Pikithins bracelet giveaway!! I randomly drew the winner yesterday after work, and the lucky girl is...

Christy!

Congratulations! I'll be in touch shortly. ;)

Now for the sweetest video ever. I came across this video on Pinterest. I LOVE Pinterest, yet I don't have an account. Weird, I know. I have no idea why I don't have one. I think it's part of my refusal to ever get a facebook or twitter account.. I know it's not the same thing, but I've been resisting for no good reason at all. I should probably get an account.

Anyway, you have to watch this (if you haven't already seen it). It shows an 8-month old baby boy who was born deaf. He gets a cochlear implant and the video shows him hearing his mother's voice for the first time. It's just so heartwarming. I love when the pacifier just drops! His whole world changed right then..



I hope you're all having a great weekend! Stay tuned for an awesome giveaway starting Monday!!

The mailman was good to me today.

I've really been into orange lately. I have no idea why. I saw this vintage orange vase here and knew I had to have it! I love the retro orange/brown/white color combo. I've never seen another vintage vase exactly like this! Now I just need something to put in it.

I also got this sweet vintage scoop the other day:

It's more of a red with an orange tinge to it. I bought it here and it arrived at my doorstep in no time at all! I'm using it with a glass jar of popcorn kernels. It's perfect for scooping them! My boyfriend recently taught me how to make popcorn on the stove the real way. I can't believe I am 33 years old and didn't know how to do this until now. I'll never ever go back to microwave popcorn!

I hope your mailman has been good to you, too!

P.S. Tomorrow I pick the winner of this bracelet from Pikithins! Make sure you enter if you haven't done so! It's easy. :)

A sweet and simple giveaway for you!

One lucky Ponder and Stitch reader will win this pretty macrame bracelet from Pikithins! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post mentioning your favorite item from Pikithins' shop. Easy!!

Piki is the sweetest- I own one of her bracelets and I also own this sweet needle wallet from her shop. How cute is that?!

The winner will be randomly chosen on Friday, October 14th at 5:00 p.m. central time. I have another great giveaway coming immediately after- you won't want to miss it.

Good luck!

Cute!

I think I forgot to show you guys when I got these sweet vintage owl mugs. I love how the handle is built right in to the design. Love the floral eyes, too! I actually got a set of six, and then sent two to my brother in Seattle because he has always loved owls. Unfortunately, one of them was shattered when he opened the box. :( Anyway, I just thought I'd show you these because they are so cute!

Haircut before and after.

Ok. I'm not sure how I feel about my haircut. I liked it when I left the salon, but I can't make it look that way on my own (of course!). So now I'm in that "maybe I regret it" phase.

I had looong, straight (not a bang in sight) hair before:

Now it's way shorter with long layers and long, messy bangs that can be swept to the side:

I got over 12 inches of hair cut off in some spots.



Sorry, these photos are awful! It's so hard to take a pic of yourself using the timer. Here is one I took in the mirror to show how the front falls if I'm wearing a pony tail, though it's a bad angle:

Oh, and someone asked me the other day what camera I use, so now you can see in this reflection pic that it's just a plain old kodak easyshare! Nothing fancy at all!

Chicago Botanic Garden pics!

I apologize for the absence! I've been so busy lately and have been meaning to blog for days! I bet it was annoying to come to my blog only to see that sandwich photo every day. lol. Last weekend I went to the Chicago Botanic Garden (again). It really never gets old! It was raining when we went, but we made the best of it.


There was this great spot where about half a dozen hummingbirds were flying around. Of course, they move so quickly that getting a photo was impossible. I lucked out with this one:

But most of the pics looked like this one (or much worse):

There was a dahlia show going on while we were there. The flowers were HUGE and amazing!

These huge fish were begging for food:




It turned out to be a really lovely day, rain and all.

On another note, I got five inches cut off my hair today, and also got BANGS. I've never had bangs! They are kind of the long side-swept messy kind of bangs. I really needed a change. I'll try to get a photo!

Happy weekend, everyone!