ladies and gentlemen! i have an ANNOUNCEMENT

no i'm not pregnant, sheesh, quit asking! jk
but really, people keep asking when we are gonna have another kid. and i'm all like "um, can't you see i ALREADY have my hands full" plus where would be put another kid? our house is full up!


but now to my announcement, my real announcement (other than that rabbit trail).

my esty shop is OPEN!

[insert a double round of applause (one round for each child i have)]

you may have seen some of my bunting in previous posts and my bunting diy, way way back when. but now you can purchase it from me.

oh, and notebooks too.

here's the best part about my shop: everything is made from vintage materials. this is my passion, finding new and interesting ways to use vintage stuff that would normally get thrown out. so go check it out, take a look around, buy out the whole shop, we both know you want to.

what we've been up to

instagram pics are the best. are you on there? you should join the other millions (literally) of people on there.

buying chicks

hanging out together

 repotting plants

date weekend

taking baths, in our swimsuits, of course

puppy time

having treats

saturday morning

kiddos

these are kinda old, but i thought i'd share them.

what's up with kids wanting to play in their parents' bedroom? my kids are always getting in there messing up my made bed and getting into stuff. i remember playing in my parents bed as a kid and it was so much fun! especially when they had a water bed ha!

trending

recently, a reader asked me how i know what to buy when i am thrifting (thank you for your feedback, Theresa). i have a yakima thrifting guide in the works (and by that i mean, in my head), but i think the first step to know what to buy is knowing what's in. so i made two pinterest "then and now" boards to share with you.

board #1

board #2


ok. did you look at those? you should, cuz they kinda took alot of time :)

also i found this that i thought was pretty and relevant.

you have to work a little harder to remain on trend in a small city. when i lived on capitol hill i would see trends on the street and think "oh man that's so cute" i'd wear it and not even realize that everyone was doing the same thing. i was accidentally trendy, "accendy" or "trendentally." (ha!) i personally think that it's important to stay true to yourself and not be swayed by trends. most trends, though, are just recycled ideas from past generations, (as you can see on my boards). i don't usually buy something trendy unless it is trendy and vintage. that way i know when it isn't trendy i will still love it because it is vintage.

how do i know what is trending?  i read alot of blogs. and by alot i mean, like a million. actually it takes up too much of my time, i should probably cut back.

rethinking: vintage shelf liner

i'm a sucker for ephemera. ephemera is any transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved. for example cards, packaging, paper, playing cards, twine. i don't know why but i almost always buy these things when i find them. i'm worried they will be thrown out unappreciated. vintage packaging or playing cards are so much cooler than what is around today. i have found myself with a small collection (ahem, hoard) of shelf liner. some of it i used as shelf liner, but some of it (the stuff i love) i've used in art projects.


here's the deal:

you'll need scissors/x-acto knife, shelf liner, fabric (for backing), and an embroidery hoop. i had all these things on hand because i buy fabric and embroidery rings like no one's business.

cut out the pattern you like. i knew i wanted mine to kinda grow up from one side so i had that in mind when cutting.

place fabric in embroidery hoop, peel shelf liner and adhere to fabric. i actually had to add glue because my liner fell off after a bit.

 

 

 

what we've been up to

are you on instagram? if not, you should be. it's fun and way way addicting. why wouldn't everyone want to see pictures of my life every minute of the day? it's funny that the most popular apps are slightly narcissistic. but it is a fun way to document every day life and prinstagram is pretty awesome (i did a diy using my prints).

are you following me? my username is melissamlee

honesty hour

i let my kids jump on the furniture.