[Jon's super stellar...]

The other afternoon while unpacking I came across our Halloween decorations and couldn't resist getting into the spooky spirit right away. So I called little A and Jon over to start the festive adorning. While setting up trick-or-treaters and pumpkin treat bowls with little A I see Jon across the room with some paper and scissors, cutting out what looks to be a snowflake. No sooner does he see my quizzical look when, voila, he unfolds this super stellar pumpkin. Yeah, I was wowed. And hooked. So he showed me his methods and I went to town.

The best part, it's easy. And brilliant. And fun. (And something kids can join in on!)

Step 1: Grab any old sheet of paper, rectangle, square...mix it up
Step 2: Fold it in half
Step 3: and then fold it in half again
Step 4: Now make sure the fold is on your left hand side
Step 5: Cut scallops on right hand side ending with the stem at the top
Step 6: Open up the fold once and then cut off the bottom stem
Step 7: Cut out a mouth
Step 8: Then a nose
Step 9: Use an x-acto to cut out the eyes
Step 10: Now unfold and enjoy your new creation!

Once you start, the possibilities are endless. And you might go a little crazy...

cutting out new creations for the rest of the night...


Happy cutting!

[sniffles, sleepless nights and...]

Thank you all for you kind wishes for our little move across town. We are slowly unpacking everything and trying to settle in a bit. It's been a crazy week of preschool starting for little A, sniffles that are keeping baby O up (for far too many hours of the night) and a whole lot of sorting and arranging (and then rearranging) going on around here.

I'm happy to have the dining area slowly come together. This room was what sold me on the apartment (along with the cute little kitchen). It's been my respite for when all the boxes, sorting and finding a place for that one random thing that doesn't seem to belong anymore, starts to get to me. And I've enjoyed using the left over lemony tea party candy as bribery for little A's help (or an incentive to stop pestering his brother, to be more to the point.)

Hopefully I'll be getting my act together here soon so that I can start fun holiday projects and keep the posts rolling. Right now I better catch some Z's before baby O wakes for the first round of midnight tossing and turning.

[packing? or a....]

So, yeah...we are moving....tomorrow. And you would think packing would have been my main priority this past weekend. Well, my good sport of a husband no doubt wishes it were. But when you are moving into an apartment, and only have a backyard for one more weekend, sometimes an end-of-the-summer tea party just has to take precedence over packing. And in my opinion...it was entirely worth it.



We enjoyed a wonderful time of sipping delicious herbal teas in dainty cups and consuming delectable edibles such as Swedish meatballs, cucumber sandwiches on rye bread, deviled eggs, rosemary lemon sandwich cookies (these are to die for, truly), devils food trifle, magnolia cupcakes and lots of lemony candies.

It was my first time hosting a tea party of my own and I do believe I'm quite addicted. In fact I think I'm rather hooked on parties in general. They seem to encompass all things I love: design, decor, fashion, art, craft, food, and great company. And speaking of great company, I had a wonderful time with all the fabulously talented ladies that joined me for tea. Thanks so much for humoring me! It was great fancy fun.




If your interested in anything in the above pics, I'll try to break it down for you here:

Table cloths: Ikea fabric
Fabric banners: I made these from vintage fabrics (an easy and quick sew)
Tea pots and cups: from various antique/vintage vendors on ebay and etsy
Yellow and black silhouette china: from a local antique store
Yellow and white striped dress: I made this from umbrella awning fabric (it was the only kind I could find!) using this Butterick See & Sew B5339 pattern

[easy peezy]

If you haven't noticed, I like making things. Simple things. Easy things. I admire those that can spend hours on a just the right stitch, or those that do things over and over again just to get it right. I'm trying to work up to that...but let's be honest, I'm so not there. That is why I love little bit projects like these super easy pennant tea party invites. I made these by simply cutting decorative tape into triangles and a then sewing a stitch across the top.

Add a little hand written note, and voila! you are done.


Now that is my kind of afternoon project.

Done, and done.

[It's a jolly holiday...]

Little girls have dresses. Little boys have vintage (or at least that's how it plays out in my mind). I love having little boys but I can't deny wishing for dresses and dollies every now and then. Well, after dressing up my little dandies in the most adorable vintage attire, found at heart and sew, my throat swelled up and I got all mushy and mommy like. Jon thought the boys were adorable too and proceeded to tell Little A how handsome he was. Little A quickly retorted "NO! I"m not handsome! I'm like Mary Poppins!" The little guy had a point. He did indeed look just like Bert on Mary Poppins.

So of course we needed to have a little photo shoot and Spidey came along for the fun.

It's fitting that Little A brought Mary Poppins up because I've been crazy about the wardrobe and nursery styling of Jane and Michael Banks for as long as I can remember. I have a secret dream of living in a brown stone in London similar to that of the Banks or the Darlings (and one day flying off with an umbrella to Neverland). (I also want to live in a modern industrial renovated barn...so I'm a bit bipolar when it comes to dreaming).

I did forget that vintage runs a lot smaller than sizes today so I think the boys will grow out of these very quickly...but I'm enjoying them while they fit (barely).