Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 2: Before Tour...

OK, before I delve much deeper into this blog series we should do a formal BEFORE tour....so you can see the differences AFTER the project posts!

Hi there, how are you? Meet our newest family member:

Her name is Lumi (Loooo - Rhymes with 'Moo'....Me - Rhymes with, uh, 'Bee').

She's a new extra light travel trailer with bunk beds and bathroom in back, front queen bedroom and a large tip out.

This pic was taken while were going on our maiden voyage....err, campage trip this Memorial Day weekend.....and it's about 8 AM....and I am sleeping in my cozy bed. The kiddos were WAY too excited to go to bed at any sort of normal time and had also been up a few times that night (They still think that going potty in the trailer is a fun novelty)... and then woke up super early.  Super fun times!  My hubby, in my best interest and playing a strong offensive move in the game of crabby wife, gifted me with a few extra hours to sleep in and took the kiddos fishing. Smart man :)

And check it out, they were successful! Lil Chick was less than thrilled about the slimy fish. Look at her facial expressions:

Back to the tour. Here is the floor plan of our Passport 2650BH Travel Trailer:

Walk in the front door and you are looking into the main living area. Here are the before pics of the Dinette, Couch and Wallpaper:

Oh yes, the weird tacked down curtains and cornice top thingys as well.

Next up, turn to your right and you see the main bedroom:

4 inch foam mattress, blah divider curtains, more weird curtains, ho hum bedding, no sheets and also a "headboard". Yes, I'll put that in quotations.  It's an OK room, just not my style!

Next you turn to the left and you see the kitchen:

Lots o' wallpaper and another window cornice.

Lastly, head to the back and you see the bunks:

No, these are not the same pic :)  CLOSE. But not the same. Notice they have blinds. Not quiet cellular shades, but loud, scare you awake when you bump them in the middle of the night, blinds.  Also, looooong pull strings. Um, choking hazard? Yes. My Bubbalu would use them for some sort of mischief. That's for sure.  Took those down right away.

So. What have we learned today?

1. Amanda likes PicMonkey.com
2. Amanda likes to make collages with PicMonkey.com
3. Lil Chick doesn't like slimy fish
4. Tour of Lumi is complete
5. My Hubby is smart :)

Next post, new fabric choices!

Whatcha up to today? I'll be busy today sewing a casual summer dress for Lil Chick. We have a large family photo session with my Hubby's family coming up soon and she needs some new sassyness.

Also, my Bubbalu finished preschool yesterday! I can't believe he's ready for kindergarten in the fall. And.....summer vacay from school has now begun. This Mama will most definitely be surfing Pinterest for summer entertainment ideas! My cousin Maria introduced me to the idea of busy bags and I am LOVING THEM. Such a good idea.

See y'all soon-

Amanda- Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
•  Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 1: Shower Curtain...

First of all, I apologize for the travel trailer sassification posting delay. See, we were busy actually USING our new trailer (Lumi) for the first time. You know, the main point of having a trailer. Not for shredding it to pieces and revamping it; for CAMPING. Err....glamping :)

OK, here goes.

It aaaaaalllll started with a shower curtain.

I'm in the middle of Fred Meyer with a list a MILE long of stuff I'm looking for to outfit our new travel trailer. Cooking hardware, organizational stuff, utensils, storage bins, etc....

The kiddos are being less than helpful.  I have them side by side in that weird car cart at Freddy's that had the kiddos high and up front "steering" the cart.

After breaking up eleventry hundred fights, reminding them eleventry hundred times to stop shrieking in the store, picking up my clipboard eleventry hundred times after they knocked it to the floor (Yes, I shop with a clipboard. Yes, I am a nerd. Hey, at least its not a fanny pack. ) I decided to go for it and let them stay in the Fred Meyer kid play area.

I'm one of those nervous types of Mama.  Kinda wary regarding these kinds of child care centers.  However, after having heard positive things about it from other Mama's that I trust, I decided to check it out.  Yup, loved the system and the safety features and went for it.  Bubbalu was pounding on the locked entrance door chanting, "let me in, let me in!"  A pretty good sign.

Was a SMART Mama and took the kiddos to the potty first.

Yup.

So, I was now blissfully child-free and finally able to tackle my list.

Fast forward 10 minutes. I'm pushing my (now empty of children) ginormous child car cart through the store, knocking items off my list.  I find this gorgeous light aqua blue modern print shower curtain...and Ka-ChoW! Light bulb moment.

I say to myself, oh yes, I am GOING to find a way to switch out the current blah trailer shower curtain to this sassy one.

I'm holding the shower curtain in my hand when I hear this crackly overhead page,

"AMANDA ------- --------, WOULD YOU PLEASE RETURN TO THE CHILD CARE CENTER"

Oh. CRAP.

At this point I'm guessing Bubbalu has jumped off a table or something and broke his arm. And please remember: It's been approximately ELEVEN minutes since I checked them in the child care center.

For real.

I get there and Lil Chick is bawling!  Turns out she has had an accident.  A HUGE accident. A poo in the pants accident.

Oh. CRAP.

Literally.

Thankfully, I had thrown the sassy shower curtain into my cart. And by golly, I am NOT leaving the store without my sassy shower curtain. And all the other random stuff in my now full cart.

Picture this:  A now flustered Mama pushing a full-of-products-yet-still-childless child car cart around to the checkout line with one hand while the other hand is holding Lil Chick's hand. (There is NO way I'm going to carry her. Poo squishing down the side of my shirt and pants?! No thanks. Been there done that.)

Another SMART Mama move: I choose the Family Friendly checkout lane.

Because only a compassionate fellow parent can even possibly begin to understand my plight when my child is SCREAMING at the top of her little yet mighty lungs:


"I HAVE POOP! IN! MY! UNDERWEAR!"

Broken record? Yes. Screamed this delightful little phrase from the time I first arrived at the child care center to pick her up, through the entire checking out process, aaaaalll the way to Lola (our Tahoe) in the back of the lot, and about halfway home....at which point Mama remembers that she has a random Dora DVD in the car and by golly, that "we use the car TV only for LONG car trips" rule is going to be broken.

Stopped crying about three notes into the Dora theme song.

ANYWHO. Yes, a poo accident in a store.  Just another lovely entry in my parenting diary.

Back to the main point. I found a sassy shower curtain to replace the blah one that came with the trailer.  I first seam ripped the handing hardware off the original shower curtain. Then I cut and hemmed the new shower curtain to size since a trailer shower is much smaller than a regular shower.  Instead of a traditional shower bar and rings we have glide tracks in our trailer bathroom with glide tape sewn to the very top edge of the shower curtain.

Glide tape is flexible plastic strips with little clips every 6 inches or so:

Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, set your (hefty upholstery size) needle to a side position:

and sew along the top and bottom of the plastic glide tape strip directly onto the top inside of your fabric:

Trim off the excess and you are done! Snap that sassy curtain up onto the slide tape and take some photos:

SO much better.  More projects to come! Next time I'll be able to do full before/after photos as I wizened up and started snapping pics before I took things apart.

Off I go to clean my (ignored-for-a-month-because-I-was-sassifying-our-trailer) house...

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl


Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
•  Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows

Mojo. Heritage. RV Upholstery. Yup, hold on to your socks...

Schneikees, I've been neglecting this blog. Again.

I've thought about taking a permanent break on this blogging thingymajig because you can't really predict if you've got the bloggy mojo or not.

And that mojo has been sparse this year. Sparse, I tell ya.

It tends to show up when I'm adequately rested, fed, exercised, and all is right in my parenting world.

Um, yeah. That's not often.

However, I like this thing.  I like just blurting out whatever I want to blurt out.

I can talk about my kids. Or shopping. Or parenting failures. Or parenting successes. Or crafting and sewing (LOVE). Or DIY. Or decorating. Or Pinterest. Or cooking.

It's just my slice of life. And in the end? I'm blogging for my family. I hope my kiddos can look back on what I wrote and (aside from immense guilt at the potty training torture they put me through) feel like they really get me. Like they really know me.

And in the end that's all that matters. Not fortune or fame or any worldly possession or accolade. It's all about the heritage of our family.

Whoa. Didn't mean to get so deep there.  Quick, let's change the subject before I bawl all over the keyboard.

So, what's new with you?  Are all three of you still here?

Our latest news: We finally bought a travel trailer, YAY!  We are a family seriously in love with camping. Er....I mean GLAMping. Heh.  My hotel on wheels isn't exactly "roughing it".  I don't care if you are sleeping on the ground in your shirt or are in a huge deluxe RV, it is an awesome way to build family memories and have some fun. Once again, our family heritage had a huge influence on our love of camping...{sniff!}...We both grew up in camping families and have multiple camping trips planned this summer.  Often with the grandparents....er, often with BOTH sets of the grandparents! Oh its just SO lovely when your parents and in-laws are friends :)

Anywho, back to the travel trailer:

Guess what? I tore the entire thing apart and sassified it.

Yep, it was a brand new trailer.

Yep, I tore it apart.

What can I say, my hubby loves me (and deeply trusts me too, I guess!). And he gets me. He knows this kind of creative project breathes joy and life into my soul.

So, I'm a thinking I should show you my huge six week project of sassifying our new travel trailer. Yes? Yes.

See you soon. I think. Maybe. We'll see... 

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl


 Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
•  Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!

Spring 2012 Collection...

Hi there! I've been busy boosting my Etsy shop inventory, adding lots and lots of fabric choices for infinity scarves as well as a whole slew of Mash-Em Up infinity scarves.

Here is a quick looksee at some of the VintageDutchGirl Spring 2012 Collection:




C'mon by and check out the rest over at the shop !

Off to sew some more...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Burnt Umber Blossom Winner!

Thank you to all who entered to win the Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf!



So sorry, but there can only be ONE winner. And to keep it fair I use Random.org to, you guessed it, randomly choose the winner for me:



Comment #77 is:



Congratulations Lisa! I will be contacting you shortly.

Thanks again to all who entered to win!

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Setting Diapers on Fire…

My husband and I set a diaper on fire last night.

It all started with a baby shower game. You know, the game where you melt different chocolate candy bars in numbered diapers and have the participants try to guess what candy bars are in each diaper. I call it the 'Sniff A Poo!" game. Baby shower awesomeness!

I was also planning on making cupcakes for this baby shower but found I was out of sprinkles, frosting, and cupcake liners. Pretty much everything except a cake mix. Off to the grocery store I went. I found oodles of sprinkles in bulk and had a mighty fun time choosing a huge variety of colors. You know, for all my future sprinkle needs. One can never have too many sprinkle options. And can I just say? Bulk is the way to go in the purchasing of candy sprinkles. I think I spent a total of $3.00 and have 7 new sprinkles.

WOW, I sure have a lot to say about sprinkles. I'm sure all three of you who are reading this are sitting in shock and amazement at the level of entertainment this post has achieved.

While shopping, some other bulk candies jumped into my cart as well. Don't really know how THAT happened. Not that I'm complaining. I was nice and let them stay. I'm in the car driving home (happily munching on some of those jumpy chocolate covered peanuts) when I realize that I forgot a KEY component in the cupcake making process.

The cupcake liners.

Back to the grocery store I go. However, I went to a different grocery store to avoid the shame and embarrassment of having to return to the sprinkle grocery store. Yes, I will call it the Sprinkle Grocery Store from now on. It has a nice ring to it, dontcha think!?

Fast forward three hours: Cupcakes are made and cooling and I'm in our office designing a 'Sniff A Poo?' guessing game sheet. My hubby is melting chocolate candy bars in diapers in the microwave. You know, for the game. Soon, he yells to me that he set something on fire. Um, what?

Turns out, there was a chocolo-diaper hot spot and it burned a huge hole in the middle of the diaper. Whoops. Turns out diapers can catch on fire. Good to know! I for one have never seen a warning on a diaper box: Do NOT Microwave Diapers, risk of fire.

Our house STUNK despite opening windows to air it out. This morning? Same yucky smell. I'm hesitant to use the microwave. If I reheat my coffee will it taste like a burnt diaper? Probably.

I'll let you know how the game goes. For your future baby shower hosting needs, here is a free printable of the Baby Shower melted candy bar 'Sniff a Poo!" game sheet:

Print off as many as you like.

Speaking of things being burnt, the Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf Giveaway ends this Saturday the 31st of March:

Get your entries in! Up to seven possible entries! See post HERE.

Off to clean my house...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Burnt Umber Blossom Giveaway!

One should not celebrate thine birthday alone. Or be selfish with thy gifts.

SO. Let's GIVE SOMETHING AWAY!

OK, this has been a LOoooooong time coming, time for a chance to win a Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf!

This has been a super popular scarf on my Vintage Dutch Girl ETSY shop, and for good reason, it is a gorgeous blossom print on a trendy mustard colored background:



All the normal giveaway rules apply!

HOW TO ENTER:

1. LEAVE ME A COMMENT just saying hi!

2. Earn another entry by FOLLOWING ME via the Google Friend Connect Follow Me doodad located on the right sidebar and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you signed up or already DO follow Vintage Dutch Girl.

3. Earn another entry by adding the VintageDutchGirl ETSY shop to your favorite shop list (by HEARTING the shop) and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did or already have it on your heart list!

4. Earn another entry by liking the VintageDutchGirl Facebook Page and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

5. STILL need some more entries? Whew...OK. Earn another entry (if you're still counting, that's up to FIVE) by posting or sharing this giveaway (with the link!!!) on your FACEBOOK personal, shop and/or business page and LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

6. TWEET this giveaway (with links of course) and LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

7. BLOG this giveaway and link to it....then guess what? Yup, LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so and include link please!


(Giveaway only open to residents of USA and Canada)

*Why so many entry possibilities? I want to say THANK YOU to those who read and follow along with my blabberings and projects!*

I will leave the contest open thru SATURDAY, MARCH 31st, 10 PM PST at which time I will select a winner through Random.org and post the results.

Remember!!! You do NOT have to run a blog or have a google/gmail account to enter. Just click in as anonymous and make sure you tack your first name and email on the bottom of your comment so I can contact you if you win.

Enter enter enter and I hope you win!

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Keepin' it Real - Office Revamp...

Heyya there!

I am up to my earlobes with reorganizing/purging/cleaning/revamping our home.

We have a LOT of stuff that really does not enhance our lives. So, it's getting tossed out. Or rather, donated to our school thrift store.

Evidence of our madness:

I firmly believe in the ministry of mediocrity.

Aka: KEEPIN' IT REAL, GIRLFRIEND.

First up, home office.

My hubby does part of his office management from home and needed some more storage, filing cabinets, ya know....STUFF.

So that meant:

New furniture! YAY!

Shopped forevah and finally settled on Ballard Designs Tuscan Furniture Collection.
It FINALLY arrived, was set up, and I am slowly getting this office fully functional.

(Functional roughly translated: To have the ability to surf Pinterest at all times.)

Nah, not really (yes, really).

I've been looking (Pinterest, of course) and came up with a bunch of office organization ideas.

Our office is technically coded as a bedroom and has a nice large closet in it. Since our house has a shamefully low amount of storage we are going to maximize that closet.

One half of the closet will be for game storage. Yes....games.

Because we are nerds who have an insane amount of games that need to be stored. Carcassonne? Settlers? Dominion? With every single expansion you've ever heard of?! Yep, nerds like that.

Keepin' it real submission #2:

I tell ya, every time I try to ease a game or puzzle out of the pile three more smack me in the face. OUCH.

The other half of our office closet is for supplies and will hopefully look something like this:

Source: bhg.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Everything in its rightful place. Ah, the dream closet.

The reality:

I'll have you know I took this photo while standing on top of my large upright piano. Yep, risking my life to display my messy office. Keepin' it real.

And in closing, keepin' it real submission #4:

I'll have you know I took this photo well over a week ago...and that little orange snack bowl?

It's still there.

Like I said, keepin it REAL.

Off to sort through piles and pick up a little orange snack bowl...

Amanda- VintageDutchGirl

VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook...I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon over and say hi :)

Sbux and Costco KNOW me...

Ya know, is it odd that when walking into a Florida Starbucks I feel the need to stand on one of the cushy chairs and exclaim,

"I'm from WASHINGTON STATE!!!!"

and expect special treatment?

I think not.

It's like I feel I have just a bit of ownership of Starbucks from being a Washingtonian.





Add Costco to that list as well.

Yes, while we are stuck here in Orlando waiting for our flight (8 hours from now) I think I'll find a Costco to run into and exclaim,

"I'm from WASHINGTON STATE!!!"

And when I order my iced mocha I'm going to be watching the food service peeps and reading into their every move:

I think she gave me extra chocolate because I'm from WASHINGTON STATE.

I think she smiled longer at me because I'm from WASHINGTON STATE.

I think he put that clear plastic lid on extra carefully because I'm from WASHINGTON STATE.

Yup. It's gonna happen...

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Hey, didja know VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook!? I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon say hi :)

Obesity Pandemic: SOLVED. Subway Style...

Today I took my kiddos out for a spontaneous picnic lunch.

After all, I felt guilty that their breakfast consisted of a splash of milk and a fruity granola bar.

Some people in the house may have overslept a wee bit this morning...or a lot of bits. Like 72 bits. Which is really just 6 bunches of bits. Yes, now that doesn't sound so bad.

Anywho, we were a little flustered getting Bubbalu off to preschool in time (hence the gourmet breakfast) and while zipping up his coat I accidentally caught the side of his face with my fingernail. BIG scratch. BIG tears. Needing lots of snuggles, cold pack application and kisses...45 min late to school.

*sigh*

So it goes.

After picking Bubbalu up from school we had the normal debate as to where to head to pick up a lunch. I always choose Subway. Or at least 98% of the time. Yet, that measly 2% of the time (McD's) is pined after by the young-uns. The holy grail of childhood dining.

While sitting on a bench at the local ball field playground munching our turkey subs I had an epiphany.

Get ready, these don't come often.


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Amen? I tell ya, many a parent has bemoaned the lack of a children's play place at Subway. Seriously.

Dear Subway,

If you install a fun, brightly colored children's play place in most of your fine fast food establishments I am guessing your profits would DOUBLE. Or TRIPLE. Depending on how many crawl though tubes and tunnels you have. Maybe you could have a ginormous crawl though sub sandwich. How fun would that be!? Add in a slide fashioned from a carved out cucumber that lands in a pit of large plastic tomatoes and you are golden.

As a special request, might you consider adding a time out chair in the corner? You know, so I can politely point it out to the parent of the child who is karate chopping my son in the stomach? That'd be great.

For your convenience, my royalties can be direct deposited via paypal.

Sincerely,

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

January: Whew...

Once again, life got in the way of blogging! Massive January update:

We started off the year with Lance and I heading out of town to escape for a winter wonderland weekend in Winthrop, WA. Say that five times fast.

As is always the case before we head out on a vacay, I spend many hours packing the kiddos things and whisking them off to Grandmas, packing my things, packing our food, loading the car yadda yadda yadda. Of course it's all topped off with the inability to leave dirty dishes in the sink and you got yourself a tired Mama.

Seriously, I have to bleach spray my sink before I leave or I get all jittery and uneasy. Genetic predisposition maybe? Hmmm, maybe some of Grandma's Dutch deep cleaning stuck!

After our 6 hour drive, we met our Bro and Sis-in-law in Winthrop and stayed in a charming cabin overlooking the Methow River. Private hot tub on the deck, full kitchen, large cozy rooms, fireplace, and SNOW. So very wonderful!

We got a lovely first day of cross country skiing in doing a 14.5 mile loop. The first half was a hard uphill climb then you got to turn around and coast (aka, fly down the mountain praying you don't catch a ski edge and wipe out) the entire way back down to the car.

To warm up you head back to the cabin and jump into the hot tub! And because you are a smart person, keeping in mind to not drastically underestimate your core body temp and stay in so long you overheat. *Ahem*

The next day the boys decided to head out of town a mile or so up in the mountains to find better snow for sledding fun. The girls? Sleep in, watch movies, lazily drink our coffee (while sitting in the hot tub of course) then stroll through town and shop a bit.

FINALLY decide we should go see the boys and drive up there...Only to find Lance lying by the side of the road. Um. WHAT?

A rock? Oh. Where? Submerged in the snow. Oh. Lance took a direct hit to his shoulder blade? Yeesh.

Fast forward a 20 minute agonizingly bumpy drive down snowy mountain roads, 15 minutes worth of frenzied packing up the entire cabin while Lance stays in the car and moans ( we threw everything in the cars as fast as possible - really, it was quite a site to behold. If only I could pack that way), and a tense hour and a half drive to the Chelan ER where the ER nurse says:

"No, you couldn't POSSIBLY have broken your scapula, do you know how many G's of force that takes!?"

Fast forward 45 minutes:

"So, the X-ray shows you broke your right scapula."

Yep.

"So what position exactly was your arm in when you hit the rock?"

"Well, it was raised up because I was holding the video camera". I tell ya, I bust out laughing. Not sure if Lance thought it was funny or not. The ER doc just raised his eyebrows.

Ah yes, I love humor in stressful situations. Does that mean I'm emotionally immature? Maybe. While pregnant with Lil Chick at 34ish weeks and my OB doc said she was admitting me for full time hospital bedrest I SMILED. Nope, didn't cry. Didn't freak out. Just smiled.

For your viewing pleasure, the sled crash:



SO. Needless to say it has been slightly chaotic over here. I dug my nursing cap out of storage, was a single Mama to Bubbalu and Lil Chick, tried to keep a handle on the house (unpacking, blech) and ran my Etsy shop. Not going to lie to you, it wasn't easy. I was quite overwhelmed!

After a couple of rocky weeks Lance is now back at work and healing nicely. We were so very thankful that surgery was not required...and that our Sis in law is the nurse for an EXCELLENT orthopedic Doc! Ya know, being a Dentist and severely injuring your right arm/shoulder/back is not a good thing. SO thankful he is healing well.

A week after his accident, we had a fun week of snow in our hometown, schools cancelled and everything! Snow that lasts is a rare treat and the kiddos had SO much fun playing outside. I discovered a love of shoveling snow as our regular snow shoveler was still lying on the couch healing. Seriously, making ginormous piles of snow that take weeks to melt? YES.

I went cross country skiing through town the first night of the snow with my bro and sis in law and took a hard fall, spraining my ankle pretty bad. Awesome.

I may have cried a few times over the next few days. Just keeping it real.

10 days later and I am now the one healing nicely....but am fighting a nasty lingering sinus infection.

Doggedly determined to NOT be down. To NOT be cynical. To NOT get angry. I think that's how Satan gets to me. Throw a TON of stressful stuff all at once and watch me crumble. Nope. Not gonna work.

I'm leaning on the Lord.

After all, HE is in charge.

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Confession #1...

Came up with a random idea to do a "Confessions" series. Not too serious, but true confessions nonetheless!

First up:

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I KNOW I'm not the only one :)

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Hey, didja know VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook!? I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon say hi :)

I've got the BLUES...

I've got a recent fondness (OK, obsession) with the color blue.

This obsession is evident in the silver sage paint in my house (that is really a lighter blue/gray):


(Restoration Hardware Silver Sage, bottom right)

the clothes I wear (currently a teal long sleeved top. You'll thank me for not taking a self portrait of myself right now. Not my best day)....

or the fabrics I choose to purchase for new scarf patterns for VintageDutchGirl Etsy:


(VintageDutchGirl Etsy) Pin It


Yup, They are all BLUE.

I tend to drift towards bluesy green hues that remind me of our sometimes dreary, yet cozy Pacific NW coast and skies:


(Image via Design-Seeds)

Or the brighter aqua hues of a Caribbean ocean:


(Image via Design-Seeds)

They all speak to me differently: Invigorating, restful, peppy, cool, classy, funky, soothing.

Just Remember: Having the blues isn't always a bad thing.

After all, I'm currently sitting in my silver sage painted dining room on a dark red dining chair while wearing my teal shirt....and a big smile.

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Bullet Point Catch-up...

Lands sakes alive our December was chaos.

Anyone else?

I'm reduced to bullet point snippets to bring all 3 readers back up to speed:

• Christmas. Phew! It was BUSY. The past Month was so packed I have a hard time remembering it all.
• That's why I'm having a hard time letting it go.
  
• My Christmas tree is still up.
  
• 9.5 ft tall Nordman Fir
  
• Yes, it's a live tree...No, it isn't dropping needles or drying out.
• Yup, listening to Christmas music.
  
• I had it set up since the Monday after Thanksgiving.
• Didn't get it decorated until Dec 18th. Yup. That's a long time. It deserves a good long run of beauty.
• Our entire main floor got repainted.
• Ceilings too!
• Two weeks before Christmas
• Etsy shop went kabonkers...in a good kabonkery way!
• Got ALL my shopping done on time.
• Celebrated Bubbalu turning 5
• Celebrated Lil Chick turning 3
• I have a 5 and a 3 yr old....how did THAT happen!?
• Currently suffering the after affects of chaos: weakened immunity
• AKA I have a bad cold
• I got it from Bubbalu
• Who got it from Lil Chick
• Who got it from who knows where.
• Maybe the grocery cart handles that she insists on licking?
• Nah, must of caught something when she was LICKING THE BOTTOM OF HER SHOES. (insert grossed-out shudder)
• I have more than one Christmas tree. My Dad said to me, "So, this is a three Christmas tree house?"
• That wasn't the correct number....
  
• Guess what it was!?

OK, off to make myself some hot cider and pretend to make dinner for my hardworking hubby. A Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeting to you all :)

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Momisphere Advice Needed...

OK, so I have something gross to talk about today. You've been warned.

Yes, it involves kids.

Yes, it involves the bathroom.

Actually, strike that, it DOESN'T involve the bathroom....catch my drift?

I have a child who (shall remain anonymous. 50% chance, guess who?) decided that the bathroom was WAY too far away and the bedroom carpet was an EXCELLENT place to deposit urine. You know, don't want to walk 6 feet and use a toilet, takes way too much time away from playing. Awesome.

I need cleaning advice. I googled it, of course, and looks like I need some sort of enzymatic cleaner. It comes in powder and liquid form. Used this before?

However, where Google fails me is that I want an option to select only results from Moms. I'll call it the Momisphere. Seriously, that would be SUPER useful, agree? Only advice from fellow Mamas, not About.com, ehow, Wikianything or shopping results for products that will clear my urine to help me pass a drug test. Really!? Dear Google, you can send my royalty check via paypal. Thankssomuch.

Mamas lemme have it, advice for cleaning DRIED (yep, didn't discover it in time) urine from carpet? I need all the help I can get!

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

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Cyber Monday Sale!

CYBER MONDAY is here! The biggest online shopping day in the entire year...so of course I want to have a sitewide sale!

Coupon code: Turkey15 gets you 15% off your entire order, no minimum!

Most popular right now:

Festive Red and White Polka Dot Flannel:

Black and White Houndstooth Flannel:


Oh yes, and purple. Purple Zebra. Because it's FUN :)

C'mon over and shop til you drop!

I really hope to be back soon to chat on a more regular basis, I miss y'all :)

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Lola's Winter Playdate...

I found a great item to help entertain the kiddos (um, I mean me) this winter:


I'm certain Lola (my Tahoe) would be oh so excited to use some of her brawn and plow snow all the live long day.

All I need is cozy clothes, a nice ginormous mocha, and a whole slew of Christmas Cd's and I'm good to go. We'll go ahead and write our own book: 'Lola and the Big Snow'

That is, if we even do get snow this year. Oh please oh please oh please! I'm ready for winter boots, chunky knit hats, a magical white wonderland and sipping hot chocolate by the fire while snow falls softly outside. I must say, I am just itching to get to decorating for Christmas. Can barely stand it.

And yes, I still celebrate Thanksgiving...I LOVE Thanksgiving! One of the things I'm MOST thankful for? Christ's birth...hence the early decorating!

Anyone else just itching to put up their Christmas decor!? Or have you already? I know I'm not alone in this!

Off to plug in twinkly lights -

Amanda -Vintage Dutch Girl

Potty Trained...

I have a potty trained 2 yr* old.

Let the rejoicing begin!

Explains why I've been a bit quiet around here!? This was the third attempt...and the lightbulb just clicked for her this time. THANK GOODNESS.

I've also been busy editing and listing, let's see, last count is 23, new infinity scarves in the VintageDutchGirl Etsy shop in the past week. Yeah. That's a lot.

Also busy trying to get orders out as soon as I can. A snuggled in a new cozy scarf as soon as possible customer is a happy customer. Especially those way up in the northern provinces in Canada. Brrrr. No wonder I've been shipping there often.

I have at least seven more in the works...not to mention those other fun accessories that ladies like to wear on their auditory lobules.

Earrings, people. Extract thine minds from the asphalt drainage system.

I just took exactly 199 photos of earrings to list soon. Here's hoping some turned out. Off to edit my ears off.

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

*Oh, and she turns three years old (sob) in five weeks, but hey, she snuck in just under the bar :)

Keep You Cozy NEW Patterns...

Remember, the Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy Buy 2 get 20% off coupon code is on! Buy any two regular priced (Not in sale section) scarves and get 20% off you order. Code is: BUY2GET20

Brand new listed items:


Oh so classy:


Happy Shopping!

Off to make a pink princess costume and finish up the superhero one...what can I say, it's impossible for me to buy the kiddos costumes premade. It's just a thing I have. Harvest party is tonight at our church so I'd better get GOING!

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Shows Over, Let's Have A....FALL Sale!

Whew!

The Ruffles & Rust Show is over! What a blast! Learned SO SO SO much about running a booth, swiping credit cards (the Square is AWESOMESAUCE) learning what sells, what doesn't, which fabric people gravitate towards, etc.

The final booth set-up:

I've never been a saleswoman....and I detest pushy salespeople so I was really trying to be a helpful and informative shop owner not a BUY MY STUFF!!! shop owner. We found that demonstrating how to put on, arrange and wear an infinity scarf allows folks to be informed about my products, but not feel pressured.

HUGEST downside to doing this show? Not being able to shop! I saw SO many awesome booths and just wanted to go and browse through and pick up some trinkets and treasures.

Oh I have so many more thoughts on this subject but it will have to wait for now as my laundry dragon has reared its ugly flaming head again.

Also, I now have 30 hours and 55 minutes in which to complete two handmade costumes for the littles. Superhero and a princess. Predictable? Yes. But they are so excited to dress up :)

However, before I ditch y'all, I'll leave a fall treat:

Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy Fall Sale! I am turning the BUY2GET20 coupon code BACK ON! That's right, purchase two scarves and get 20% off your total! * see details below*

THIS is the time to get your Christmas Stocking stuffers all taken care of. And hint? I've got about TWENTY new fabrics all made up into scarves that just need photos and to be posted. New items posted daily for awhile!

Some shopping suggestions:

The #1 selling Fall Burnt Umber Blossom Scarf:


A classy, longer and brown toned Zebra print scarf:


A classic plaid:


The Woodland Berries Fall Scarf:



A soft and elegant Ivory Fleece:


Happy Shopping!

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

*Deal details: This coupon is to be used with the purchase of two regularly full-priced scarves. Cannot be combined with any other coupon code or use this deal on the sale/clearance section.*

Keep up to date with newest Etsy products on my Facebook page found here.

Ruffles & Rust Set Up Day...

Set Up Day!

Today my alarm went off early (too early) and we got ready to jump in the car and get on the road to the show.

We had packed up Lola, our hillbilly trailer, Lance's car and my MIL's car full of scarves, pillows, aprons, earrings and display and booth stuff the night before. Then we covered the hillbilly trailer with a huge ugly gray and brown tarp and strapped it down with black bungee cords and yellow rope.

Because we are classy like that.

Poor Lola. It's like being dressed up for a cocktail party and pulling a large turd behind you on a cart:


That's my rockstar hubby in the drivers seat. Waiting patiently for his lady, his Mama and his Mama in law as they hit up Starbucks for their coffee fix.

Drove through the rain and arrived at the fairgrounds, located the building, and started piling stuff in.

First of all, check out my booth space pre-move in! Looks pretty sad and cold except for a pile of dropcloths which I use for my booth walls:



After hauling the booth bones and setting those up:


Then fast forward four hours. We have unpacked all the product and are in the "prettying" stage of setting up. Everything is in the booth, we are just figuring out how to best display stuff to make it interesting to look at, enticing for shoppers and easily shoppable. Here is my "try on" station!


Lots and lots of ruffly aprons and tons of scarves, headbands and earrings. Kinda blurry, but you get the general idea:


Then we had to break to repark our hillbilly trailer. Proud to say I backed it in without hitting anything. Score a big gold star for me! Photographic evidence:


And what I didn't take a photo of was me stuffing my face at 11:04 pm...as I forgot to eat dinner for the second night in a row.

My poor body is so very confused. Looking forward to regaining normalcy once the show is done! Which means I should really start exercising again. {sigh} Can we just fastforward past those annoyingly painful, out of breath and jiggly first 5-10 days of restarting your exercise regimen? Thatdbegreatthanks.

EX.HAUST.ED. I need to sleeeeeeeep. Thankful that I can sleep in tomorrow morning and rest up before the Apron Party portion of the show tomorrow evening.

Off to bed I go...

Amanda

Last Day…

So, I'm eating Macaroni and Cheese out of a mug with a serving spoon.

Our dishes are so backed up it's all I had left.

Remember that episode of Friends where Ross dates the messy girl? While they are making out on the couch he sees a potato chip bag rustling and pounds it with a tennis racket….turning out to be rat? Yeah, that episode.

That's my house. Minus the rat. ( Hopefully. )

And switch out the potato chip bag for a pita chip bag. LOVE those things. Great to use instead of croutons.

And I'm not dating a Paleontologist named Ross.

BUT.

The moral of this story is that despite living in a cluttered trash heap I am READY. FOR. THE. SHOW. Phew!

(Ya know, the show being the thing I've been talking and talking and talking about the past month.)

Even with a last-minute trip to JoAnns to grab one more cut of fabric….and seeing five others that I couldn't pass up and just HAD to get them sewn up into scarves for the show. Two days before I have to leave. Yep, including those.

It really should be crafters law: Thou shalt NOT go into any fabric or craft store the week of your show.

Too much temptation. Too many ideas, too little time!

I am so excited about my booth, it turned out just how I wanted it to. A mish mash of vintage furniture and shutters, lots of interesting nooks and crannies, a chandelier, hooks and containers….. and of course, Quinny. (My pin striped Mannequin). Quite an eclectic mix. And yet throwing it all together just seemed to WORK. Think vintage glam meets rustic country. Lace, burlap, silverware hooks, weathered wood, blue Ball jars, crystals, chicken wire, sparkle, canvas, ticking, silver etc etc etc. SO much fun.

Hope to see some of your smiling faces there!

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl