Happy Thanksgiving! We spent a lovely day over at the in-laws, arriving home late but full. Our hearts AND stomachs. SO much to be thankful for.
I've been a leeetle busy the past few weeks. Busy shopping for fabrics, sewing them into pretty infinity scarves and posting them on the Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy shop. Turns out people like to wear cozy scarves in the wintertime. Who knew!?
Argyle Fleece Infinity Scarf:
As a thank-you to my dear readers who have supported and stuck with me, I am offering a four day weekend coupon code for 15% off ANYTHING in the Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy shop!
Paisley Flannel Infinity Scarf:
Click on over the Etsy shop and see what you can find. If you decide to purchase anything, be sure to add this coupon code for your extra 15% off!!! (Valid Nov 26th through 29th)
FOLLOWERLOVE15
Happy shopping my lovely readers!
A
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I'm sitting here thinking, "huh, I really should write a blog post" but have a big ole blank for a subject. So I'll just blab a bit. It works for me.
- I have two kiddo birthday parties coming up in the next month. I will be a Mama to a 2 and a 4 yr old. That's weird.
- I have a coffee creamer addiction. Seven creamer bottles in my fridge at one time may be a few too many. However, I need to offer my guests options, right? That's what a gracious hostess should do.
- Queso and tortilla chips with a side of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies does not a weight loss diet make. This lady will be hitting the gym with renewed vigor.
- We're reading 'Crazy Love' by Francis Chan for our ladies bible study. It rocks your Christian world. In a good way.
- Parenting is hard.
- Um, PARENTING IS HARD.
- I'm blessed to be close to my family. That includes my in-laws. None of the negative connotations that the "in-law" term usually conjures. Family is a blessing. Trying to juggle four family thanksgiving meals and six family Christmas parties is truly a great problem to have. Blessed beyond measure.
- I'd rather sew than do housework. Shocker.
- My list of home upgrade projects is getting mighty long. Hardware and lumber stores are quickly rising to the top of the My Fave Stores list.
- Well, almost. You can never beat Costco.
- And TjMaxx. Because I AM a Maxxinista.
- Are you cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving? Might want to get that bird starting the defrost process!
- My frozen turkey floats. Didn't expect that one.
Be back soon to regularly scheduled programming...
A
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I LOVE little boy button-up collared shirts. I have Bubbalu in one almost every Sunday and a few days of the week too. It never fails to make me smile. They make him look like such a cute lil man!
I'm also digging the whole Women's boyfriend shirt thang:
Urban Outfitters
American Eagle
Nordy's
Being that I have a ton of these button-ups of Bubbalu's and this fun women's wear trend....you can pretty much guess what I did, right?
In order for Lil Chick to wear these hand me down shirts of her older brother, they needed some tweaking and embellishing. Some Sassifying, if you will.
First of all, I wanted them to fit her in a bit more feminine style. Most boy shirts are extremely boxy and unshapely. I could have taken in the sides but really didn't feel like measuring and all that jazz. Because I'm slightly lazy.
Enter elastic thread. LOVE THIS STUFF. Use elastic thread in replacement of your bobbin thread and you will have lovely gathered, flexible, fabric scrunching. It's delicious.
Mark off a centered rectangle section on the back of the shirt at the approximate waist area:
Replace your bobbin thread with elastic thread and start sewing.Making sure you bobbin will sew on the UNDERSIDE of the shirt, start on one corner of your marked rectangle and, backtacking first, sew a straight line the entire long side of the rectangle:
When you reach the end of your marked section you'll need to sew a hairpin turn and then sew across making a second line. CLEAR AS MUD?? OK, I'll draw you a picture to show you what I mean:
Start sewing at the red star, end at the green star. VOILA.
You'll end up with a gathered section that looks like this underneath:
That's ALL I DID. Threw it on Lil Chick and snapped some pics.
See how the gathered section adds a girly touch?
Of course I HAD to give her a flower pin:
(Yes, she DOES have two piggy tails, one is just hiding. I'm not trying a new hair fad on her)
This shirt looks great on her with jeans, or leggings and sparkly flats. Love that I can easily repurpose Bubbalu's old shirts into something fun and sassy for my little lady...without spending a cent.
I'm off to sassify some more button-down shirts...
A
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Linking up to these FAB crafty parties:
This shockingly effective diet is guaranteed to curb those pesky unhealthy cravings and results in a dramatic short term weight loss.
Step 1:
Go to your local grocery store and lick as many grocery store cart handles that you can find. BONUS if you find someone coughing or sneezing, lick them too.
Step 2:
Restrict your intake of water to less than one glass per day, get no more than 4 hours of sleep a night and do not take any vitamins or supplements. This will produce a perfect environment for a virus to grow and multiple. Awesome.
Step 3:
Virus will have made enough little invaders that by two days post shopping cart handle licking you will have come down with a hacking cough, the inability to swallow without cringing and your sinuses (Sinusi?) so congested you want to slap yourself for licking those shopping cart handles in the first step.
Step 4:
In order to deal with aforementioned hacking cough and swallowing difficulty, suck on copious amounts of blue menthol cough drops until your tongue is permanently stained smurf blue.
Step 5:
Congratulations! You have reached peak effectiveness for the Cough Drop Diet Program! Now, while sucking on a blue menthol cough drop, try to imagine eating your favorite, most unhealthy foods.
Blue cough drop + Queso and tortilla chips = Yucky!
Blue cough drop + chocolate lava cake = Gag!
Blue cough drop + mashed potatoes and gravy = Blech!
Blue cough drop + ice cream = Barf!
Isn't that AMAZING? See how it works? As long as you are sucking on blue menthol cough drops you WILL lose those cravings for all your favorite foods resulting in dramatic short term weight loss.
Enjoy those blue menthol cough drops!
A
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Is there anything more awesome than shopping with young children?
We are FINALLY getting our family photos done and wanted to get some clothes for the shoot. While I don't want all of us in matching navy polos and pleated khaki's I would prefer that Bubbalu wear something other than a peanut butter smeared t-shirt and ripped jeans.
Oh yes, shopping with young children.
My hint? Bring CANDY and TOYS.
New toys in shiny plastic wrap that they are only allowed to hold and drool over until they have behaved sufficiently to earn the right to lay their grubby paws on an unpackaged toy.
Cereal bar? Nope, not good enough. Trail mix? Nada. Cut up pieces of fruit and a shot of wheat grass? Nice try.
You need CANDY.
Candy that ALSO has shiny plastic wrap on it that they are only allowed to hold and drool over until they have behaved sufficiently to earn the right to shove it into their mouth and swallow without chewing.
You just need the earplugs to silence the "Can I open it now? CanIcanIcanIcanIcanIcanI? Moooooooooom, can I open it NOW?" that is sure to ensue.
I would also suggest not bringing the noise cancelling earplugs because when your son sets off the store wide fire alarm you'll want to hear it and intervene appropriately before they ban you from shopping at their store permanently.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Not that this has ever happened to me before.
Or yesterday at 2:44 pm at Old Navy. But whatever.
My biggest mistake was not bringing a restraining device. I should have just brought my single stroller along but completely forgot. ( I decided to forgo the strait jacket because I figured it wasn't politically correct. Plus they don't make them in his size. Ain't that a shame? )
Strapping him into the 47 point harness in the single Bob stroller would have been beneficial being that he tipped over a rack of clothes, ran down a sales associate in Macy's, tried to climb the huge employee-only restocking ladder, peeked at other customers under the dressing room dividers and got lost, well, about 47 times.
Also, that little poo sweet boy WILL NOT ANSWER ME when I call for him. At one point all I could see was tufts of hair sticking up in the middle of a clearance rack in the next clothing section.
Good times were had by all (Insert massive eye roll). OY.
Any other hints and tips for shopping with young children? I need all the advice I can get...
A
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Now that the last day of October is (finally) behind us fall decor is in FULL swing. YAY!
Now, I celebrate fall in one very specific way. I have a hunch that MANY of you also choose to celebrate fall along with me in this one very specific way, don't cha?!
What?
Haven't figured it out yet?
A Pumpkin Spice Latte
Hallelujah my taste buds are dancing just typing those delicious words.
Yes, I do love me some pumpkin flavored sweets.
I thought I would declare my devotion to the deliciousness that is a Pumpkin Spice Latte and made a lil sumpin sumpin for my wall. See, I have this glorious new wideplank white beadboard that is all bare and needing some company in the form of decor.
Enter:
- One thrifted brand new wooden frame (with glass!? That never happens!) for $1.49. Spray paint it Heirloom white and then distress and regress and distress some more til it looks completely stressed out and happy.
Add in:
-Get a lovely "Be Calm" poster printed out. You know, the "Be calm and carry on" thingy's you've seen everywhere.
HOWEVER.
I wanted a special one.
So I made one and printed it out at Costco for $2.99 because my new computer is STILL not hooked up to our photo printer. For only $ 2.99 I really don't care because HELLO THIS IS CHEAPO.
"Be Calm" + Pumpkin Spice Latte :
Oh yeah baby. That's what I'm talking about.
Keep Calm Drink A Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Oh you want one for your wall? OK, I'm in a sharing mood, here you are:
Right click, save, print it out, frame it and be happy.
Happy Fall Y'all!
A
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Linking up to these FAB crafty parties: