A Baby Shower…

I went to a baby shower at the end of March, and I just couldn’t wait to share it with the world.  It was so perfectly decorated.  But then I got home.  And I looked at my pictures.  Which I took on my I-phone.  And then I remembered that I am not a photographer.  And then I put doing this post off because I felt that my pictures just didn’t do it justice.  But then I decided to post them anyway.

A very dear friend of mine, Heather, will be welcoming her first baby- a boy- very soon.  This shower was in her Aunt’s shop building, and it was decorated by her Aunt and her Mom from their awesome junk stash.  Correction: unimaginably awesome junk stash.   Heather’s mama, Andrea, and her Aunt Gayla both have Etsy shops, which you can find here and here.

Let me tell you a little bit about my sisters…

I really think my parents did me a solid by making me an only child.  I know that might seem crazy to some, but I think it is one of those you-have-to-live-it-to-get-it kind of things.  One of the upsides to this is I have A LOT of family.  Some of them are blood, but just as many of them are chosen.  I’d like to introduce you today to my part of my quilt family- my sisters.

Ashley

This girl and I go waaaaayyyyy back.  Like diapers back.  We have always been there for each other and always will be.  I could tell you some stories about this one…like the time we almost got ran over by an airplane.  Or how we used to play Barbies for HOURS way after what was probably the acceptable age for that.  She is wicked smart, funny, and a better cook than your mom.

Leslie

This is Leslie.  We have a little bit of history, too.  She went to school with Ashley and I.  We all played the flute in band. (NO AMERICAN PIE JOKES, PLEASE!!)  We were both too shy to really be friends in school, but we are most definitely friends now.  Whether she likes it or not.  In an ironic twist, she and I went to school together and our husbands went to school together two towns over.  She is smart, blonde :), and has lots of quirks like me- such as slight germaphobia. 

Amy

Amy and I met a couple of years ago.  Our daddies are both Masons, and my sweet mama actually dated her daddy in high school.  It’s her fault I have the quilting bug.  She designed the most perfect quilt for T.  This girl has a heart the size of Texas.  And I don’t know if you know- but that is pretty ginormous.  She is a truly gifted artist and I am very blessed to have her as a stitchy mentor.

Michelle

This is Michelle.  We just met a few months ago.  January 15th, to be exact.  She is my other stitchy mentor.  She, too, is a really gifted quilter.  She is super sweet, but she is also the type to kick butt and take names when needed- especially for her sisters.  And she loves dinosaurs- I love dinosaurs.  I mean, do you know how rare a thing of beauty it is to find another person who isn’t a six year old little boy who loves dinosaurs?!?

Jennifer

This girl is a doll!  Truly, we haven’t got to hang out a lot, so I don’t know her super well.  But I know she awesome.  And she makes me laugh.  And we have fun together.  And that I am looking forward to getting to know her awesome self even better.  Side note- she and Michelle are cuzzies.

There you have it- my five sisters.  I stole most of these pictures off of their facebook profiles without permission.  And I didn’t tell them that I was going to write about them.  So, they might kick my butt.  But, they will know that I love them, and that is what I was going for.  Keep it fancy.

Holy Cow

When checking out Pinterest today, I stumbled upon this graphic:

Pinned here.

Clearly, clicking on this was not an option.  I mean, if you know me at all, you know how much I LOVE cheese.  Seriously- Muey amore queso.  And do you know what I love even more than cheese?

GRILLED CHEESE!!

As a matter of fact, I had a grilled cheese for lunch today.  It was delicious.  I just made a half-sized one with one piece of bread, some Kraft Deli Deluxe, and a piece of deli shaved ham.  It was super tasty.

MELTY, GOOEY CHEESINESS + BROWNED BUTTER + OTHERSTUFF= AWESOME

When you click on the link, it takes you to an awesome blog called Grilled Cheese Social.  Where this really rad chick named Mackenzie develops and writes her super awesome Grilled Cheese recipes.  I just discovered it, so I haven’t had time to make any of her creations yet, but I will be trying them.  You should check her out!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…

Did you sing that in your head to the tune of the popular Christmas song?  If not, you totally should have.  Would you like to know why?  Thinks to the spring weather we have been having, two very magical things are occurring.   Say it with me peeps: GARAGE SALE SEASON!!!! and SWEET TRASH is EVERYWHERE!!!!

Now, because I really love my sweet husband, and I like to keep him happy- I have been really selective with my g-sale purchases and with what I drag home from the curb.  But I have made two finds this week that I am pretty stoked about.

1. I am always scanning for sweet trash.  It is in my DNA.  No, really- My sweet Mama took me dumpster diving as a child.  I digress.  I practically flipped over the Edge when I whipped around to get to the trash pile that held this child-sized guitar:

It isn’t a collector’s item or anything, but I am still really happy I found it.  T loves it.  I know, he loves anything that makes noise- but at least this isn’t Elmo.

2.  Probably one of the best deals I have ever scored at a G-Sale:

It’s a really terrible picture, I know!  But, it is a Cole Haan mini bag.  It still had the tags on it.  In my excitement, I snipped them off before taking a pic.  Luckily, I am a total dork and I saved them so that I could show them to my sweet Mama and to you, of course:

Your eyes do not deceive you.  That tag says that the retail is $225.  Guess what?!?  I GOT IT FOR FIVE DOLLARS.  I will be rocking it at the Dallas Quilt Show tomorrow.  So, if you see me, please indulge me and listen to my awesome g-sale find story again.  And again.  I promise not to whip out the tags and show them to you.  Okay, I am not going to pinky-swear to it.

If you find yourself at the Dallas Quilt Show this weekend, you should totally check out my friend Amy’s booth- The Texas Association of Quilt Guilds. Until next time, keep it fancy.

High Five for Friday

I have been following From My Grey Desk for a while now, and I have been meaning to get in on the High Five For Friday fun all along.  This week has been pretty good, so it seemed like the perfect time to jump in!

1. My Little Ginger’s Bedhead and Sleepy Face this morning.  He was in such an awesome mood!

2.  This picture makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. I look at it. I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant earlier this week, and this was on the menu:

3. I went on a business trip to Houston, and this was the view from the Skyline Deck.  I don’t think my crappy photog skills do it justice.  Please excuse the safety bar- I really tried to shoot over it, but once again I am too short.

4.  My bestest friend (sister, really) in the whole wide world came over tonight so I could give her a lesson on embroidery.

5.  My Craft Masters episode is officially out of the can!  You can watch it here or here.

Recent Makes

These two were made for my friend from her mother’s watches.  She is a twin, so they will share the two necklaces and trade them out periodically:

I made this one for my very dear friend, Amy.  The pendant belonged to her mother, and she remembers playing with it when she was little.  Is is not the sweetest thing you have ever seen?  I mean, look at that baby’s face!

*The mosaic piece in the background was made by my Mama.

I didn’t make this, but my sweet second Mama (Andy’s mom) bought it for me for Christmas.  S&P Shakers are one of my new things.

Aside from taking up collecting S&P shakers, I have also joined a quilt guild and turned my bedroom re-do on it’s ear.  As in I have completely changed my mind about the entire project and changed every detail.  No worries, the beautiful Joel Dewberry fabric my Mama got me will look fabulous in my living room. 

A Homemade Birthday

When T was about 6 months old, I became completely stuck on the idea of having a “Where the Wild Things Are” themed 1st birthday.  You can’t really buy WTWTA party decorations, but I was excited at the chance to create something original.

For a couple of months, I looked for a really cheap, used copy of Where the Wild Things Are.  I finally found one at Half Price Books that had a little bit of water damage for $2.

I scanned an image from the book and made T a shirt for his party:

You can’t really tell from the pic, but it says King of All Wild Things on the front and has his name and a giant 1 on the back.  It is super cute.  I used the “light” t-shirt transfers on purpose to get kind of an over washed vintage effect.

I made favor bags from plain old brown lunch sacks and another scanned image:

I made Monster cupcakes. 

It was really important to me that T’s smash cake come out perfect.  So, I asked my very dear friend Laura to make it.  It came out exactly how I envisioned:

And finally, my very favorite craft from T’s birthday.  I cut up the pages from the water damaged copy of the book and made a bunting to hang on the wall and a mini bunting to hang from his high chair.

What a great day!  We are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy boy.