You know, in all my SPARE time . . .

I bought a dollhouse. Like I need another project but hey, it's all about me right? (Maybe that's just with wedding stuff at the moment but I'm stretching the shoe to fit okay?) I bought THIS ONE. I had a 50% off coupon for AC Moore and figured it wasn't getting any cheaper than that. I was at my parents house when I purchased it and my Dad rolled his eyes and said "I remember when your mother went through that phase." Thanks Dad.

Anyway, I have been wanting one for awhile now and I'm really looking forward to getting started. AFTER THE WEDDING. I was incredibly inspired by THIS and THIS. And seriously, why is everything tiny so cute? I already have loads of ideas bursting about how I'm going to make tiny pillows and bed spreads and newspapers! Oh boy.



I mean look at that cuteness?? And I can make this, right? I mean I have paper coming out of my ears and you know I don't throw anything away so I have a whole file of SCRAPS. (That would be #7 on the list of weird things I guess.) I need to build the house first which Luis said he would help with. He actually sounded sort of excited but he does have a knack for putting stuff together.

In anticipation of doll house construction I plan to overhaul the craft room first. At the moment, there is a futon in there. We have three bedrooms and it just made sense to me that one of them should be able to be used as a guest room despite the fact that we shelled out the major pesos on a nice pull out sofa bed in the living room. Luis and I slept on that futon when my parents were here and it was the most God awful thing I think I have ever laid upon. My sincerest apologies to anyone who has to endure it's crappiness. So it's being relocated to the basement for doggie enjoyment and I'm in the market for a new "surface" for that side of the room.

So where do you go to look for a surface? Ikea of course. I could go the temporary route and get one of these:



I already have this desk in there and it's only $59. So it will match the other one and hey, it's disposable if I find something I really love. I dream of antique furniture and all that good stuff but I have to face reality and just get something functional right now. Plus I can add some rolling carts to the bottom for storage. It's also 29 inches deep which is plenty for the 24 inch deep doll house.

I am considering this as well:



This is more of a splurge at $400. Pros: it's real wood, it has wonderful storage drawers and it's counter high (it's supposed to be for a kitchen) which means I could stand or sit on a stool. Cons: it costs a bit more than I'm really prepared to part with, is only an inch and a half wider than the doll house and because it's so high (over 4 feet) the 3 foot high dollhouse will be a bit challenging to get to even though it probably won't LIVE in the craft room forever. So . . . . QUANDRY . . . get something cheap or splurge on something not quite right for the project of the moment but would be great as a craft room piece down the road. Talk amongst yourselves . . .

Rebecca

Meet Val

*picture by folded gingham*

Isn't she the sweetest thing you've ever seen?? Val is my first Etsy purchase and she was made by the uber talented Tiffaney at Folded Gingham. She will have a place of honor on the shelf in my living room as she goes so well with my red and yellow decor. (sidebar - red and yellow as in French Country not McDonalds ha ha) Tiff was also so sweet and included three adorable wool felt strawberries! I love them and hey, they are red and also match! :) I'll have pictures of these goodies soon and thanks again to Tiff not only for the lovely strawberries and mailing Val to me so quickly but for allowing me to use one of her photos as well.

I've discovered so many wonderful blogs since the pink and brown swap. My blogosphere keeps getting bigger and bigger! I only wish I had more time to visit and comment with everyone. Once this wedding is over (I find myself saying that a lot lately) I will be seeing all of you much more often. Please go and check out An Odd Duck. Katie is brand new to blogging and her first post is wonderful! I know she'll continue to post regularly, RIGHT? ;)

How are the pink and brown goings on? I actually mailed my package to Peta today so I'm ahead of the curve, which is rare for me so future swap partners . . . don't get used to it. The deadline to send out isn't until February 7th so continue to let those creative juices flow.

I hope to be back soon with some more inspirational posts and hopefully some new pictures. (Joolz! You need to come to my house and take pictures of my stuff okay?)

Untill next . . .

R

Sidelined

I left my camera at my mother's house 200 miles from me. #@$%&! (that was for you Peta) Sigh . . . I am hoping to get it this weekend when I see my friends for a girl's weekend to celebrate the end of my bachlorettehood. So, I'm guessing this will be a VERY boring week of posts for me.

Let me tell you what I CAN'T show you:

1 - the most lovely gift a girl could ever wish to receive from the uber talented Heidi. ARGH! You have to see it! It's beautiful, sparkly and oh so appreciated. Thanks again Heidi!!

2 - the loads of lovingly wrapped boxes for the wedding. They are gorgeous in all their pink and brwon glory.

3 - my fab thrift finds not only from this past weekend but from previous trips down to Charm City. I will tell you that I found a set of vintage bakelite Wustof knives and forks. Three of each. :) Nice.

ACK! Seriously, I am stymied without my pictures. :( On a better note, I was able to manage to pack up my swap goodies and I must say, it's pretty darn cute. Hope to get them over to the post today but since I slipped on some ice and hurt my back I'm hobbling like an old granny so we shall see.

Wow I'm whiney today. Luis is staying overnight in Jersey for an early morning meeting so it's just me and the boys tonight. I need to get out of my funk. I think I'll watch a good chick flick. What would you watch if your plans were to huddle on the sofa and not have to share the remote??

Since I feel like I have to have some sort of picture I guess I'll dig back in the vaults to entertain you until my camera returns. So how about a week of projects past?

Knit Poodle Bottle Cover



So retro don't you think? If memory serves, this is from Simple Knits with a Twist and is perched on top of a bottle of champagne. I thought he turned out quite cute and now that I'm seeing him again maybe I need to make another. In pink and brown perhaps? He was gifted to the lovely lady who gave us our little Kaiser Peanut.

I'll try to be more interesting tomorrow. :)

ciao!
R

One Woman's Obsession

First off, HELLO! I know, I've been a crappy blogger lately. I went out of town for work for a few days and then got sick. Not a fun week for me to say the least. I would LOVE to show you the wonderful things I made yesterday from my sick bed but I don't want to spoil my pink and brown surprise for Peta. :) So instead, I thought I'd give you a little peek inside my cupboards . . .

Cabinet Number 1



Does one woman NEED all this crap? I buy up every "neat" piece of glassware I can find. (And you know that stuff on the top shelf doesn't out much.) You can see my mini collection of refridgerator dishes (and Vaxgirl better not invite me to her house again or I'll be trying to steal this little brown one she found.)

Cabinet Number 2



You didn't think it could get worse, did you? See those glasses on the bottom right? The ones with the "R" on them? Yeah, I buy them everytime I see them as the R is both for Rebecca AND Restrepo (my soon to be new last name.) And if you look way at the top you'll see those fab champagne glasses I talked about last time. And that blue cake stand would be cake stand NUMBER FIVE. Again I ask WHY?

Kitchen Cart



You'll see my new favorite creamer and sugar set there on the left and my favorite "chef's bowls" of which I think I have every imaginable size. You'd think I would bake more, wouldn't you?

I have the storage space, as you can see, because my kitchen ceiling is 10 feet up. We had the cabinets custom made so they extend all the way to the ceiling. I need a step ladder JUST to reach the second shelf! I do think it's high time I went through what I have and see what needs to stay and what goes back to the thrift store. I know I should get on Ebay one of these days with some of my more interesting pieces and maybe after the wedding I'll jump into that idea.

So I guess now I've thrown down the gauntlet for all of you to open your cupboards and show the blogosphere your obsessions.

cheers!
Rebecca

Some Uninspired Thrifting

You know when you sit in the thrift store hemming and hawing over whether or not to buy things that you're really not into it. I mean when you are in the ZONE you can assure yourself that you can use whatever it is you find or sell it on EBay. None of this - should I get it? Do I need it? crap.

Anyway, I hit the Savers yesterday and here is the relatively uninspiring haul:


(Pardon my borderline nauseating picture)

wire basket - $2 - very shabby chic in my opinion, it's actually ivory in color.

highball glass - 69 cents - I love vintagey bar ware

blue velvet purse - $2 - for a little girl and so so cute! Tags still on to boot. Going in the gift stash for Luis' neice (if I don't keep it myself ha ha)

white candle plate - $2 - I guess it's for a candle, it says Italy on the back

champagne glasses - 69 cents each - these have a story which is why this thrift day is only relatively uninspiring . . .

Luis' mother passed away before he and I met. Marleny La Rota Restrepo was a single mother who had her only child at 37. She lived in Queens (in the house Luis and I live in now) and worked hard to support herself and Luis. She passed away in September of 2000 after a battle with esophagal cancer. Marleny never smoked a day in her life but did work around some pretty harsh chemicals as one of her many jobs was cleaning offices. Luis, being a typical guy, didn't really keep many of his mother's things. I did find some pictures and letters and some household items in the basement including a near complete set of the above champagne glasses. There were 7 of the champagne glasses and 8 small wine glasses in the same pattern. You can sort of see them here in this uninspiring picture:



So anyway it was kind of nice to stumble across not just one but FIVE additional champagne glasses especially since to my memory I have never seen this pattern before. Now we have 12 which is exactly the number of china place settings I inherited from my Grandmother. China Pattern: Mikasa Adrienne incase you ever come across it. ;)

Also, if anyone recognizes the champagne glass pattern please let me know. It's a gold rim with circles in the it and it's blue along the inside. This is the best close up I could get:



Cheerio!

Rebecca

Who's Weird??

Well I've been tagged by Colleen and since that has never happened to me I figured I had no choice, right? So here's the deal:

The Rules:

Each player of this game starts with "6 weird things about you". Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

Here are six weird things about me:

1 - Like Colleen, I too had an imaginary friend as a child. Her name was Shackle (who comes up with that?) and she was very very bad. She was of course the cause of all mischief in our house. My mother gave me a "life sized" doll and named her Shackle and apparently the imaginary Shackle never made another appearance. In this picture, you can see Shackle in the front:



You can also see that my Dad was highly influenced by J.R. Ewing.

2 - I met my friend Lizzy through an online Russell Crowe fan club. She and I and about 20 other "Crowe Sisters" all went to Austin in the summer of 2001 to see Russell's band. YES I'm serious.

3 - My friend Tracey and I wrote a movie called "Hold The Shoe." It's about two sisters, Vixen and Velvet Shoe, and their adventures in outer space. They fly around in the Shoeship Nothing fighting crime brought on by the evil Potato King. They sport such weapons as Shoe-Chucks and have a "booty fax" in case any of their beaus want them to stop by for some inter-steller gettin' it on. Unfortunately we are still shopping this idea to the major studios. I'll keep you posted.

4 - I own a small collection of plastic Smurfs.

5 - I love baseball and can talk about it for hours. What's weird is that I have a tendancy to have a few two many drinks and start spouting off about the infield fly rule and turf vs. real grass. It's rather annoying even to me.

6 - I'm a chronic re-reader. I have read the Harry Potter books 4 times and I'm reading them again now. (and up next I plan to re-read His Dark Materials.)

So there you go. Now I'm supposed to tag six other weirdos, I mean BLOGGERS to do this thing. So how about I just tag Joolz (since she's new and very weird - wait until you hear about the coin rolling thing) as it seems everyone else in the blogosphere has already done this.

Have a fabulous weekend lovely friends!

xoxoxo
R

Favor-ite

I went back and forth on what favors to make. I love favors and figured this was a great way to express my creativity. For a long time I was set on these and hunted down brioche cups and old fashioned candy. Then of course I changed my mind. One hundred times. I finally settled on one of my favorite candies, Ferrero Rocher. And hey, it's Italian which is part of my theme anyway. Oh did I tell you there was a theme? Since the Neopolitan colors of pink, brown and white remind me of sweets (and are named for the fabulous Naples, Italy), the theme is La Vita Dolce. Hence the Italian candy and the candy bar. Oh boy the sugar overload!

So here is the favor:



The box is 2 inches square and has a piece of paper wrapped around it. The ribbon and the thank you charms both came from Michaels and I cut the candy shapes with my Sizzix machine.



All the papers are different and are of course a lovely pink and/or brown. tucked inside are some pink shreds and 2 yummy Ferrero Rocher candies! It's pretty typical as far as favors go but I'm happy. Anyone see any really unusual favors in your travels??

I'm also making a great cake shaped card box and hope to take some pictures when I'm back in Baltimore next weekend. Mom and I also made cute carry out boxes for the candy bar that I'll photograph as well.

By the way, be sure to let Lucy and I know if you haven't heard from your swap partners yet. At this point everyone should have reached out to say hello and exchange addresses. I can't wait to see everyone's goodies!

xoxo
R

Return of the Queen

Hello! Yes I'm back. Finally. Things are oh so hectic for me lately but I won't bore you with details. I see that dearest Lucy posted the swap partners over at Sweet Repeats! Three cheers for her and her wonderful organizational skills. :) I am thrilled that my partner is the ever fabulous Peta! So swappers, please reach out to your amazing partners and let the swapping begin! (and dear Jen, please know that Lucy will be in touch soon with partner info!) If you haven;'t heard from your partner yet, drop me a line!

So, what did I do this weekend? I had a wonderful bridal shower thrown by my sister and mom and all my good girls. I'll talk more about that once I have some pictures to share. I also, of course, managed to sneak in some thrifting while in Baltimore:



Crossword Cubes by Scrabble - $1.50 - the date on this is 1968 and the lady on the front made me think that it would be a totally enthralling game!

gold basket - $1 - love the shape

blue & what table cloth - $1.50 - I adore all things blue and white and particularly the little Dutch people on this cloth.

plaid placements by Martha Stewart - $2 for 3 - it's Martha, what can I say?

yellow bundt cupcake pan - $1 - how could anyone not buy this?

white towel with lace - $1 - looks brand new and oh so shabby chic, doncha think?

floral/yellow dish towel - 45 cents - love these waffle weave towels!

seashell planter/dish thing - $1 - this is probably from the dollar store but I like it anyway. My porch has a beach theme.

wooden boat - $1 - something else for the beachy porch

shot glass with limes - 45 cents - one of my favorite things found but when I washed this all the paint on the limes came off! :(

sugar bowl & creamer - $4 - I LOVE THIS. Want to see a close up?



Oh yes, I am quite fond of this set. :)

It was so nice to get my thrift on. I also MAY have found something for the pink and brown swap hmmm . . .

Tomorrow, I'll share my favors. I know you're the edge of your seats. :)

cheers!

Rebecca

And the Swappers are . . .

Well here it is. The FINAL list. Someone managed to slide in just under the wire and because I'm so nice I let her slide on in. :) However, the mystery woman known as "Mom" needs to email me with her real name.

So here it is:

Selena
Heidi
Jane
Sara
Lucy
Heidi (Spiritual Knitter)
Sarah
Peta *I need your email address!*
Paula *I need your email address!*
Christy
Sue
Laura W
RaNae
Angie
Joolz
Mzfixit *I need your email address!*
MeLisa
Tia
Chris
Tiffaney
Shara
Kristine
Jen
Raesha
Maureen
Karrie
Colleen
Laurie
Kari
Jan (and please go see Jan's fantastic "Martha Mural!")
Jen
Anastasia *I need your email address!*
Plongstocking *I need your email address and name!*
Mom *I need your email address and name!*

So that's 35 including me. :) Since we have an odd number we may have to do a "threesome" swap somewhere. Lucy will be in touch with everyone's swap buddies over the weekend. I also think we'll extend the send by date to February 7th.

That's all the Goodness for today. I'm off to Baltimore for my bridal shower and won't be back until Tuesday. I certainly need the long weekend as I'm really stressing over the wedding all of a sudden. Can you say ANXIETY ATTACKS? Wish me luck.

xoxoxo
Rebecca

Want a Button? Get a Button!

We have a BUTTON! Thanks to Angie and Elia here it is:



So stinkin' cute! Now I think you all can just snatch it from here and run with it no? Just in case, here is the URL. I'm so not tech savvy so if this is not the way to share a button. Please enlighten me.

We had two more people join the swap, Raesha & Maureen. Welcome! I am so happy that we have so many new names on the list AND many of the wonderful participants from the last swap as well. Becoming a craft blogger has been incredibly rewarding for me. Okay now I'm getting misty LOL!

In sewing machine news, Luis was able to get his money back from Target for the broken Euro Pro. Sarah mentioned that I should look into a Bernina. I know NOTHING about sewing machines so any advice you have to share would be more than appreciated!

If you haven't yet signed up for the swap and would like to, today is the deadline! :) Lucy and I will match everyone up and each post the lists on our blogs soon.

Have a wonderful day!

R

Gettin' Down with Pink & Brown

WOW! I am overwhelmed with all the response we've had to the P&B swap! Yeah! I feel like a real blogger now. You know, except for the fact that I'm lucky to find a few minutes to post each day. Ugh. Things are a bit hectic for me to say the least. The wedding is growing ever closer and my job has become overly demanding all of a sudden. Please wish me luck that I don't lose ALL of my marbles.

So first, let's talk swap. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up. We have had such a great response! Here is updated list of participants:

Selena
Heidi
Jane
Sara
Lucy
Heidi (Spiritual Knitter)
Sarah
Peta
Paula
Christy
Sue
Laura W (got your email thanks!)
RaNae
Angie
Joolz
Diane
Heather (please get in touch to confirm if you'd like to participate!)
Mzfixit
MeLisa
Tia (who doesn't have a blog but you can click on her name to see some of her wonderful crafts!) Chris
Tiffaney
Shara

Including me that's 23 people! What a great turn out. If I've missed anyone please let me know. We'll be matching everyone up randomly and sending you your swap partners email to exchange addresses by the end of the week. (Hopefully sooner!) So if you haven't yet sent me or Lucy an email address please do so!

I haven't been crafting much except for the swap so I don't have much to share. I did get a good amount of thrifting in over the holidays but due to space restrictions had to leave most of it in Baltimore until I return this weekend. One thing I did find and LOVE is this vintage (I think?) Ann Klein table cloth:



It's oval and very sassy. I paid a whoppin' $3 for it. I might put it on my square table anyway. :)

I promise to try to visit your blogs more often this week. I've been lurking on some where I normally post so know that I am still in awe of your Thrifty (and crafty!) Goodness.

Cheers - Rebecca

Cursed

I broke my new sewing machine. Seriously. The needle pierced the plastic bobbin case and it won't turn. I cried harder than I have in a long time. Sweet Louie said it must be defective and is exchanging it today. (I told you I cried hard.) I also cut a slice into my finger that is prohibiting me from knitting or crocheting. Sigh . . .

In better news, I'm in full on wedding mode and actually feel like I'm accomplishing a few things. I looked to see if I had any pictures of weddingy goodness to share and only found this:



That would be my dress in the middle and the bridesmaid dress I choose on the right. The picture is crappy but it's chocolate brown. I need to get caught up on my pictures so I have more to share.

In other pink & brown news, we are going to have the best swap EVER. Here is updated list of participants:

Selena
Heidi
Jane
Sara
Lucy
Heidi (Spiritual Knitter)
Sarah
Peta
Paula
Christy
Sue
Laura - please send me your email or blog, I couldn't find you!
RaNae
Angie
Joolz
Diane
Heather
Mzfixit

WOW! Pink and brown sure is popular! :) I'm very excited for this swap. There's still time to sign up!

Well I'm off for the weekend. I have big plans to get organized (um yeah) and perhaps have a new sewing machine. (sob)

cheers!
R

Fresh Start

Happy New Year and here's to a fresh start for all. :) I went just about nuts at Mom's last week not being able to get much computer time and not knowing what all of my favorite bloggers were up to. But now that I'm back I RESOLVE to get caught up on all my blog reading and writing. :)

Our holidays were wonderful. Luis and I are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Since Luis has such a small family having lost his parents at a young age, I am especially touched by how he's taken to my family like he was meant to be there. We spent a week and a half at my parent's house and got to visit with many friends as well. We received some lovely gifts for our home and I got lots of new clothes which I really needed. Also, Luis bought me THIS. Now I don't know much about sewing machines but this one seems quite fancy pants to me. I did manage to sew a curtain panel in 10 minutes where I struggled on my old machine for days trying to get the thread to stop winding around the hook. So needless to say, you'll be seeing quite a few more sewing projects from me in the coming days!

Speaking of projects, here are some I completed in December as gifts:



Three doggie pirate sweaters for these little guys:



As you can see, they like sweaters. Unlike SOME PUPPY I know.

I also made mittens and a neck warmer for my dear friend Dita:



Made from the lovely and soft Paton's SWS. One of my New Years Resolutions is to finish what I've started. So all those half done projects sitting around my very messy craft room will either be completed or ripped out. I have quite a list of resolutions but I'll save those for another post.

PINK & BROWN SWAP

Well ladies, it's on! Time to sign up for the Pink & Brown swap. Here are the details:

Sign up by January 10th and send out by January 31st. That's three weeks and I'm hoping that is enough time for everyone. So far I have heard from:

Apron Thrift Girl (Selena)
Heidi
Sara
Lucy (who is a co-co-ordinator ha ha . . COCO. Sorry, need more coffee.)
Jane

If I missed you or you'd like to sign up please email me (or leave a comment) and I'll add you. I haven't been good about checking email and sending responses (sorry!) so I apologize if I missed you or if I haven't responded to your comments. :(

Details: Pink and brown is the theme. Please include one crafted item, one craft supply and one thrifted item. I know it will be tough to find one thrifted item that is both pink AND brown so one thing of one of those colors or one of each would work as well. I'm very excited about this swap since these are my wedding colors and I know I'll be inspired by all of your incredible craftiness.

xoxoxo
Rebecca