on the move!

i have a new blog site!
i'm super excited about this new spot :)
it's a great place where all of the little parts of
my online life get to be together...
come on over & see!

:)

where troubles melt like lemon drops...

i love school supplies
something about how they come in multiples
& the colors & being able to make almost anything with just a few supplies...
(of course, tom hanks & i agree on this & this person does too)
my dad was a teacher for a while
& going to his classroom & playing with stuff was just heaven...

so you can imagine my joy at having married a teacher myself
& my absolute glee
when we went to visit brian's classroom at the end of the year
& he gave miss m a big paper bag
full of markers to play with...


no desks in the way?
bag full of markers?
definitely calls for a giant pen rainbow...


isn't that exactly what you were thinking?
i knew we were on the same page...


color
& school supplies
& hanging with my favorite people at the school...

sometimes the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true...
(is any rainbow post complete without a wizard of oz reference?)

~~~~~~~~~

in other fun news:
my blog got to be featured on a
be @ home, best of the web post on become.com...
how cool is that?
thanks, become!

they've got tons of great stuff over there...
style, pets, babies & tons more...

:)

b4 & later on: little sparkely something...

you may not know this about me
but i love to restyle things
make one thing into something else
help out a piece that's hurting or just not so cute...
just call me dr. emily ruth
working in my restyle hospital
oh! dr ER!
restyle emergency room!
i see an hgtv show in the future...
(check out what came up when i googled 'style emergency'
now that is cute...& helpful!)

anyway
i went to a church rummage (love that word) sale
a couple of weeks ago
side note:
these are often great places to find vintage treasures
if it's a pretty traditional church
often a large percentage of their congregation is older
(not old, older...like older than me :)
& willing to donate some great stuff for a good cause...

& so that is how i came upon this little sweetie:

(all pictures are from my camera phone
which, sadly (or not so sadly) takes better pictures than my big camera)

it's black velvet
(which is really hard to photograph well
please keep that in mind as you look at the photos :)
with two black feathers...
sadly the feathers were in pretty bad shape:


& the way they were attached was not pretty


so i had two choices:
find some more black feathers
or replace them with something else...

happily i have picked up some cute pins & brooches
in the last few weeks

(love the b&w, of course :)

so i chose the one that looked best
(super shimmery)

clipped of the back 'pin part' (technical name)
with jewelry clippers
(super cheap & come in handy more often than you would think)

ordinarily i would use hot glue to attach things
(anything! recently i patched a stuffed animal with hot glue)
but on this particular day
i plugged in my glue gun
& about 20 minutes later
there was a pop &
(i kid you not)
a puff of smoke
& my glue gun went to craft tool heaven (aka the garbage can)
i understand that hot glue is not the very best adhesive for all projects
but i just can't resist the immediacy of it!

think it up
hot glue it
it's done!

what to do?
what would the person who made the hat do?
well, dur (that's to myself, not to you)
pull out the needle & thread!


& you know what?
it's so much cleaner that way, too!
& i didn't accidentally burn my fingers & swear under my breath!
bonus!


if the brooch had actually had the pokey part (also technical term)
then it would have been even easier
though a stitch here or there never hurts
(unless it's into your finger,
then, yes, a stitch hurts)

i'm excited about this little cutie
& have been thinking on a different way to display it
than just as a hat...
the shape is so sweet & simple.
i'll let you know if i come up with anything...
or (even better)
come by & see me at
vintage marketplace this saturday (the 25th)
this little honey will be there...sparkling in the sun
(there WILL be sun!)
along with a bunch of other stuff i'm working on
(they're in the restyle ER waiting room, if you will :)

i'm off to do rounds...
(i could run with this forever...)

:)

fun, friends & fabulous finds!

i'm super excited about this sale that i get to do with jill & barb!

& i'm working on some stuff...

some sweet...

some of the usual...

& some kind-of different stuff...

& loving doing it all :)

if you're working on some stuff
or like to sell cool vintage things
maybe you'd like to be a vendor...
check it out!

if you're in oregon
come on out & shop with us!
there are treasures to be found :)
saturday june 25
9-4
click on over here & see some details...

it's going to be super fun!
:)

wonder shop pdx: double decker dress shop

ideas like this make me so happy...

i'm hoping to visit lodekka next time i'm in portland

photos via hula70

:)

wonderfinds: polka dot fun...

in the last few years i have made it a point to
only buy clothes that i have thrifted...
i love to look through stuff
& see what crazy things are out there
& find a great little flower
(dots, stripes, black, grey, yellow)
amongst the weeds
(beyond kooky prints, wildly sequined
or weirdly gathered, especially with the plus size stuff,
the motto seems to be
'if you can't be skinny at least you can be covered in crazy')

sometimes i splurge & go to a specialty thrift store
one where someone has already weeded through
& while the prices are higher
the it is a much shorter trip as i don't have to
look at 73 pieces to find one that i like...

so there i was at a little shop in
springfield called 'merry jane's'
(no website, that i can find)
with a few things to try on...
& hanging in the dressing room was this
cutie cute polka dot skirt...
black & white!
with a little ruffle at the bottom!
so cute!

skirt, merry jane $7.50;
cardigan, goodwill $4.99;
shoes, goodwill $3.99

i'm still trying to figure out if it's a little bit minnie mouse
but i did enjoy wearing it with a red cardi...

:)

ps
the purse in the top picture is from the gap outlet
i've had it for years...
& again with the b&w!
can't resist...

magazine monday: souvenir, spring 2011

heather bullard is one of my favorite magazine stylists...
she does such fun things for
country living & flea market style (among others)...
her job is actually one of my top dream jobs:
styling for a magazine...*sigh*

so when i saw that she was doing her own digital magazine
i was totally on board...
i love the look of it,
like an old fashioned news letter...

the cute little stitches around the pictures...
(the yellow, of course, the yellow! :)

the clean black & white with pops of color
are right up my alley...

love this article about using
vintage containers for gifts & storage...
so cute!
& even the 'subscribe' & 'advertising' pages are cool...

guess what?
you can download this whole magazine free
on heather's blog!
(direct link here)
so cool!

can't wait for the next issue...

:)

snow what?

it snowed!
like a month ago
but still,
it snowed!

& we are all about the snow

building

decorating

snacking

miniaturizing

carrying
(all the way to the park)

carrying
(all the way home from the park)

yep, we're all about the snow...

until we're not.

:)

ruffling some streamers...

this is one of the neatest things i've seen in a long time...
so neat i am posting twice in one day...
gasp.

anyway...
these are ruffled streamers made out of
plastic table clothes!
oh my goodness!
how much do i looooove these?

i found it via ucreate parties...
here's the directions
& a cool picture of some black streamers...
love.
love.
love!

:)

magazine monday: flea market style, spring 2011

this is one of my very favorite magazines ever
i have the first issue (summer 2010, i think)
& still have it & look at it
& get inspired...
if i had seen this cover on the magazine rack
i probably wouldn't have picked it up...
too fussy & traditional
but since i loved the first issue so much
i got it
& i am so glad i did!
it's made by people who love to thrift
& go to vintage & antique sales
& then make super cool things out of the stuff they get...

example 1:
flowers made from baseball covers...
swoon!


example b:
slide carriages as wall decor...
& i do adore circles...
& slides...
& hanging weird things up...


example tres:
vintage alarm clock turned vase...
cute!


& example quatro:
a whole article about rulers...
i have a few of those hanging around...
loved this place mat...


i am a total sucker for articles & photo spreads about antique sales...
i love to see the displays
& i love to see what people get!


& then there's just cute stuff...

(love the 'yum'
& will totally do it sometimes
(since i have a few letters keeping my rulers company...)

already thinking about throwing a summer party
with my favorite girlies...


i have a few fun hangers
& love to see others...


never get tired of stacks of paper
(stacks of anything really...)

& this...
this!
if i ever found an eye chart...
oh baby...


plus
this is not a young lady
but see how adorable she looks?
rocking the gray hair & polka dots?
love.

they only do this magazine twice a year
so it's on the spendy side
($9.99)
but totally worth it to me...
i will be flipping through over & over
until the next issue in the summer
(i'm thinking...)

check it out...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in other news...

(drawing by miss m)

life is good
& busy
& wild
& fun...

just the way i like it.

i'm working on something new
& something old
& something i'm always working on...
cryptic!
hoping to share soon...

:)