My Love of Craigslist

I've been a fan of Craigslist for some time now, both for buying and selling, but might have just scored my best Craigslist find to date!

We recently purchased the Greyson dining table from World Market.

 We needed a large table, and I loved the look, size and price of this one.  My goal from the start though was to have chairs that did not perfectly match the table.  And anyone who has bought dining chairs knows that they are NOT cheap!

 ~

So I searched and searched on Craigslist for weeks, and as I was just explaining to Eric that I was giving up, this diamond in the rough appeared :

SIX, MATCHING, BENTWOOD, CHAIRS, $140!

We called the man immediately (enter : racing heart, sweaty palms, just hoping we weren't too late!)  And we got them!  AND, the man delivered them to us (how nice is that?!?)

 My original plan had been to paint them, but when they arrived, they were even prettier than I thought they would be.  I think we'll live with them as they are for some time and then decide whether or not to paint them.  (Always easier to paint than to remove paint, right??)

And the deal only got sweeter when I opened up a Crate and Barrel ad this week and saw their version of this chair for a whopping $129 each.  And I got SIX for $140, yessss!

~

I probably should have waited until the dining room was complete to share this piece of it, but I promise, the after pictures will come soon enough!

Craft Room Art

Okay, so my new craft room was built a full year ago, and would you believe I still haven't decorated the room? I blame it on being so busy using the room, that I haven't even had a chance to make it pretty yet. (No really, that's a good problem to have!)

~
I have about a million ideas floating around in my mind of what I would like to do,
but here's a peek at two pieces that I've started with....

free printable found on the 30 Handmade Days blog
because it's hilarious...and could be true!
I had this printed at Office Max for a whopping .70

New York Retro-Styled Art Print by Laura Amiss on Etsy
in our pre-kids days, we traveled to NYC quite a few times. I love the city and look forward to when we can take quick trips there again. In the meantime, I'll look at the fabulous colors in this print and dream about being there.
~
I'll keep you posted as I add more items and will be sure to post pictures when it's complete!

Cupcake Party Planning

All along, we've said that we were not going to do birthday parties for our kids except on milestone years (1, 5, 10...). This funny thing happens though when your kid starts getting invited to other kid's birthday parties, and they realize that's what people do. So for Claire's 4th birthday, which happens to be exactly one month from today, we're doing a little party.

~
I'm loving all the baking-themed parties I'm seeing on blogs and such lately, and since Claire does love to bake, it seemed perfect! I've created a Pinterest board to start collecting ideas for the party, here's a few items I've pinned...

Source: cookiemondays.com via Jill on Pinterest

Source: blog.amyatlas.com via Jill on Pinterest

Source: ihavetosay.typepad.com via Jill on Pinterest

Adorable, huh?!?
~
Here are my first few purchases for the party, all from Hey Yo Yo on Etsy...
I have a million ideas swirling in my head, but for now I'm just waiting for Claire to start school next week and then I'll have some time to start pulling it all together. I'm pretty certain I'm going to have one giddy little 4 year old!

Teacher Gifts

Yesterday marked Claire's last day of preschool. I've been in total denial that my baby has finished her first year of preschool and had to snap myself back into reality long enough to say goodbye to her teachers this week. (sniff, sniff!) All year long her teachers have been telling us what a special group this class was, and the proof came when the teachers themselves were tearing up saying goodbye to the kids.

~
Being our first time in the whole end-of-year-teacher-gift-purchasing game, I wasn't sure what to buy, but knew I wanted to get them something I thought they would actually enjoy receiving, (and not something covered in apples or ABC's!)
~
Here's what I came up with : Watercolor & Drip Dye scarves from GAP
I've noticed throughout the year that both teachers are scarf ladies!
Flutter By stationary set by Donovan's on Etsy
purchased while at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago back in Decemberthe gifts were finished off with these cards from Gold Teeth Brooklyn
purchased from the Renegade store in Chicago
~
Claire's teachers were amazing, and I'm aware that no gift will ever thank them enough for making our first school experience such a positive one, but here's hoping these gifts at least gave them a hint of our appreciation!

Allegan Antiques Market

(oops, this post is almost two weeks late!)

My mom and I headed to the Allegan Antiques Market for the first market of the year.
A major draw being that Rebel.Reclaimed was going to be there!
~
At this time last year, Eric & I had just finished renovating our summer place and needed furniture to fill it, so the market came in very handy. This year neither my mom nor I had any major agenda which actually made it really enjoyable, we could just wander and look at anything that caught our attention.
~
Here's what I walked away with :lots of vintage buttons purchased from a cute elderly couple.
some of the large buttons have already been used on ruffle pillows!three rusty stars (for $2 each)
I'm already wishing I had bought more!
three small blue pharmacy jars to use as bud vases during
our annual Coast Guard partya small pedestal table to go next to a chair in the corner of my craft room,
it may or may not stay white, I'm not sure yet
~
Lucky for me, Dann from Rebel snapped a picture of one of my pillows in action,
it had sold by the time I arrived!
see his entire Allegan blog post here

My Weekend

It was a good weekend!

~
I kicked off my weekend with a little online retail therapy in the form of this beauty from Allora Handmade. Can't wait for it to arrive!


Friday night brought a date night with my girl. Date night meant Qdoba for dinner, pants and shoe shopping for the kid who never stops growing, and finally the bookstore for dessert and a new Curious George book. We ended the night back home with a good ole round of Candy Land, not bad!
~
Saturday was supposed to bring the start of spring cleaning, but a sick husband plus a vacuum that had to go to the repair shop took care of those plans. Is it normal to go through vacuums the way I do? Seriously, we're averaging a new vacuum every two years.

So instead of cleaning, I got to work on my hoop that I'm creating as part of the Hoop Art Swap through Blessed Little Nest.



I get to create one for the delightful Cherish of Kiwi Freckles and let me say, I can't show you the hoop yet, but I'm loving how it's turning out!
~
We normally attend 8:30 AM church on Sundays, but with daylight savings time making church feel like 7:30, we opted to go to the 11:00 service and actually be able to stay awake! Our church does not normally have a night service, but did this week, so we went to that as well. During the afternoon, I was explaining to Claire how we were going to church two times on Sunday and her reply was "lucky day for Jesus!"
~
That was my weekend, I hope you had a nice one as well!

Wednesday Randomness

Here's some randomness for your Wednesday. It's a rainy day here and all I want to do is curl up under a blanket!

~
1. I just ordered another canvas from the Canvas People. I was so happy with the last one I ordered, and their current promo of $50 off your purchase made my purchase a no-brainer. Here's the picture I ordered this time (awe!) I went big with an 11x14.
2. I'm still having so much fun putting finishing touches in my craft room.
(I may never be done!) My latest : organizing my ribbon. I picked up jars from Target but severely underestimated the amount of ribbon I own,
must go back for more jars.

3. Have you heard about Blog Sugar yet???
Seriously. That Rachel, I tell you. I wish I could be half the go-getter she is. I've already declared today begins Operation Convince Husband I Need To Go To SoCal In September.

Hope you're having a nice day!

Favorite Things : Day 9

Day 9 : Creative ThursdayYou all know I'm such a pushover for amazing prints. Creative Thursday has quickly become one of my favorite new shops for art. I think I love the colors Marisa uses the most.
~
Here are a few of my favorites : I just purchased this one and love it even more in person than online!
(I purchased one more too, but I'm planning to give it as a Christmas gift, so I'm going to keep that a secret for now!)Already wondering why I didn't order this calendar too...

Big Girl Bedroom

We've been working on pulling together Claire's "big girl" bedroom. Her furniture was ordered weeks ago and was delivered this past week. And while the furniture for the room was relatively easy to pick out, I had a terrible time trying to find cute little-girl bedding. I'm not into theme rooms, and some of the girl's stuff out there is just loud and obnoxious-looking. All I really wanted was soft pink, simple bedding.

~
I started with this Pink Zinnia quilt and sham from Land of NodIt looked soft pink online, but when it arrived, it was much more of a yucky bubble-gum pink.
~
Next I ordered this Organic Floral Matelasse Coverlet from Pottery Barn Kids.This would have worked out except that the coverlet and sham arrived and were two different shades of pink. Without knowing which one was the correct pink, I just sent them both back.
~
That's when I gave up on the soft pink and turned to Etsy. I fell in love with this quilt from Golden Gate Quilts and contacted Michelle, the shop owner right away and got to work negotiating a deal on the quilt. The quilt is made using 16 fabrics from the Ginger Blossom line by Heather Bailey and is full of beautiful pinks, blues and greens (a far cry from the soft pink I was originally after!)Michelle was awesome to work with, and when the quilt arrived,
I loved it even more in person.This rocking chair was in Claire's nursery and we didn't intend for it to go in her big girl room, but she still occasionally wants her daddy to rock with her at night, and he wasn't ready to give that up just yet (can you blame him?!?) A few throw pillows that coordinate with the quilt help the rocking chair tie in just fine.Claire has slept a handful of nights in her big girl bed now and so far so good (minus the up-and-ready-to-go-at-5 am-thing, we're working on that!)
~
Now on to some art and accessories and this big girl room is set!

New Fabric for Me!

It's been quite a while since I've ordered new fabric for myself, and my supply has been looking pretty slim. I prefer ordering my fabrics from Hawthorne Threads. Not only do they have a great selection, but they also offer tiered pricing for their customers.here's what I purchased...how great are these fabrics?!?!
(yes, I'm aware that I may be the last person on the face of the planet to purchase some Nicey Jane fabric by Heather Bailey, but I've got it now!!)
~
And...I've already started using some of them for some Christmas gifts!!

Chirp Chirp!

I finally gave in and bought one...now to figure out how to use it!

Toilet Art ?

Since moving into our house three years ago, I've struggled with coming up with good items to put on the walls in Claire's bathroom. Her bathroom is our hallway bath, and the tile back splash in it is full of browns and blues, so decorating it in an overly "girly" way just wasn't going to cut it.

~
I think I've finally come up with the start of a plan. The first item being one of my favorite prints from Sarah Jane (who I listed as one of my Favorite Things last December!) I've looked at this print over and over and still don't know why it's taken me this long to purchase it, but I finally did and it's heading my way as we speak!Just after purchasing this print, I found this adorable fabric from This and That Japan on Etsy. The colors in the fabric coordinate so well with those in the Sarah Jane print, that I'm hoping to frame a bit of the fabric up on the wall as well.So that's my start. I'm thinking of adding a "C" somehow, maybe in a vinyl decal or some other way, we'll see!
~
I'll let you know how it turns out!