28 before 28.....

Hello there!  I have been MIA for a while.....I don't really have an excuse, just life.  Anywho, In an attempt to inspire myself I have decided to make a list of the 28 things I would like to accomplish before my 28th birthday.  Keep in mind, my birthday is in June and I am a full time student, mom and I also have a part-time job so I tried to keep my goals within reason.  Here they are! :)

28 before 28…….

1.       Finish a painting

2.       Visit a winery

3.       Thrifting road trip

4.       Throw a party

5.       Start exercising regularly

6.       create my wedding songlist

7.       Go vegetarian (again)

8.       Alter an item of clothing

9.       Take a piano class

10.   Launch my Etsy store

11.   Plant a (successful) garden

12.   Learn to make sushi

13.   Record a song with Jacob

14.   Paint my kitchen table

15.   Internship at a museum

16.   Finish my curio cabinet

17.   Canoeing trip

18.   Visit family in Richmond

19.   Build a fort with the girls

20.   Sleep in a tent

21.   Go on a photography adventure

22.   Start Blogging more consistently

23.   Read a book that’s not for school

24.   Get my tattoo fixed

25.   Scrapbooks for the girls

26.   Visit friends out of state

27.   Shopping in Nashville, IN

28.   Attend a craft fair

Thrifting Hodge-Podge & Pumpkins!

I haven't done a thrifting post in a while (or any post for that matter) but I can assure you, it's not because I haven't been a Good-willing, flea-marketing, Garage sale-ing fool! Cause I have.  Here's a peek at some of my newest treasures! 

The beginning of my vintage mug collection

Avon milk glass mug, smurfy mug and Japanese ceramic mug

Japanese ceramic mod design mug, Care Bears birthday mug and the Avon milk glass psychedelic mug

Jazilyn's Super-awesome-Super-Mario-Brothers shirt!

Lots of additions to My Little Golden books collection

Poky Little Puppy original from 1942!

Small curio cabinet-Also an unfinished project hence the empty holes......

Huge curio shelf, $3 at a garage sale!  Someday this will house my mug collection but for now, it's a great dollhouse :)

 

 

 

 Here is my family of mini-painted pumpkins.  There are still 2 more, and I'm thinking of making them granny & grampa? 

 Here is mom, dad, baby and the spider-dog! :)

Also I have 3 big pumpkins to carve, any good carving ideas???

Oh yeah, 2 more unfinished projects......that pesky art history paper and my folklore midterm!!!  Better get on it :)

Turning Trash into Treasure

I start my fall semester of school on August 24th and I've been racing against time a bit to get my house to feel more like a home (hence the excessive thrift shopping).  I also have a few projects going on that will hopefully pretty up the place as well.  We have decided to stay here another year (we are renters) which is highly unlike me.  I have moved at least once every year for the past 10 years and I moved a lot as a kid too.  It is just in my blood  I guess, after a year I start craving some "newness".  Here are a few of the things I have been doing to appease my nomadic spirit.  I hope you enjoy!

First is the front porch swing.  It was old and had sun-bleached wood (sorry no before pics) so I painted it this lovely yellow!  The color is called "patchouli" and it makes me seriously happy!!  I want to paint everything this color. 

Then there was this hideous seat cover........

I had a really sweet, psychedelic vinyl tablecloth which I simply stitched together to make a really nice slipcover for the pad and viola!

Carol Brady would be so proud, don't you think!?  :) 

The next project was inspired by the jewelry display at one of Free People's new stores in California.  Check it out!

Click here for source/more pics.

Here's my version, which I used to display my jewelry......even though i don't have that much.

 They were super-easy to make!  I just stapled a piece of vintage fabric to the back of the antique frame and screwed a couple of hooks into the wood of the frame to hang the jewelry on.

I also made the girls a Barbie house out of this old cupboard that was here when we moved in 

 I know it's a gross picture, we took it to show the condition of the floor in the laundry room when we moved in.  The cabinet had some kind of ugly wallpaper decal on it.

so, we cleaned it up and painted it.

I also had to buy a shelf to make it have 2 floors.

Now, keep in mind this is a work in progress.  I still plan to paint the door, some windows and flowers on the outside and then get wallpaper and carpet samples for the inside.  For now, it's functional and still pretty cute.

This brings me to today's project.  I have these antique end tables that were in our living room when I was a kid.  My mom painted them with this dusty, country blue, textured paint.  They're hideous.  In her defense the whole "country-blue/ducks-in-the-kitchen" thing was in back then. 

I had every intention on putting them out in the garage sale until I saw this on Etsy.

cute huh!?
 I can so do that with my tables so......
I put the whole family to work today trying to sand that god-awful blue paint off.

She looks thrilled!  lol!   Seriously, before you call someone about child labor she voluntarily got out of the pool to "help".
After an hour or so of sweating and plenty of sore hands we realized that we really need a power sander.

Sigh. Another unfinished project.......

Flea Market Finds

Hello! I took a little stroll through Trader Baker's Flea Market here in town yesterday and I can't believe all the treasures I found!  :) This stuff was SUPER cheap too!

                                                     

These sweet little owl bookends.

This adorable little feller.  I have been wanting a place to hang keys. yay!

Mushroom wall decor

And this one....

Oh!  And the holy grail!!!!  I finally got my booth out of layaway at the antique store yesterday!  :)  A very special thanks to Jacob & Levi for moving it in for me (it was not easy)!  Isn't it just amazing!?

I can't wait to decorate the walls around it.  It's in the laundry/craft/study room for now, until I'm sure my little ones aren't going to destroy it.  

Speaking of my sweet babies, here are a couple of pics of the little "princesses" coloring with markers.  Aren't they just dolls!?  :) 

Adventures in the Woods

So I was feeling a little froggy today and I decided to hop on down to Morgan-Monroe State Park in beautiful Southern Indiana for a little adventure. My lovely little ladies (ages almost 2 & 4) are more than a little materialistic and needed a good dose of nature to put things in perspective. Jazilyn, my oldest was thrilled to find a mushroom (she's really into Super Mario) and we also stumbled upon an old early 19th century cemetery! I found it kind of creepy and it reminded a lot of Stephen King's Pet Semetary because of its remote location. ((shudders)) Anywho, we all made it back alive and I can't wait to do it again! I'm so happy the girls enjoyed it because now I feel confident taking them more often. I think next we'll do Turkey Run State Park. Here are the very few pics I got today due to my camera having no battery (doh)!