Getting ahead of myself . . .

First, I can't count (or read) as this is only post number 98 and I thought for sure I'd be up to 99 by today. And since there is no point in writing worthless posts in a effort to get to the magical 100, I've decided to draw the winner of my 100th post giveaway when I return from my honeymoon on March first. And okay, yeah, I'm a bit busy with the wedding only being six days away AND we are expecting some big snow storm this week which results in my having to leave NYC a bit sooner (tonight) than I thought. There. All square? To up the stakes I'll add even more goodies to the giveaway items and draw TWO winners when I return. So leave me a comment if you want to be entered into the drawing and your name goes into the proverbial pot. Capice?

Speaking of give aways, do you remember that I won Heather's fab Blog Party giveaway? :) Come see what I got:





Everything is so cute! Thanks again, Heather. Also in the mail goodies department, I'm psyched that Peta received my pink and brown swap box and she liked it! Yeah! You can see it here since I was camera-free when I sent this out. Lucy set up a Flicker Gallery for us all to share our pink and brown pix. I'm loving everything so far. The rusty brain wheels are already turning for a spring themed swap so stay tuned.

Now, to get you all caught up on my life, a montage of pictures and babbling:

THRIFT LOVE



basket organizer - $3 - um it's wicker AND it organizes? SOLD to the basket loving disorganized crafter in the back!

misc. silver pieces - 10 cents a piece - I almost have a big enough collection to set these out for a party. I'm working on a little tea party for a fellow bride-to-be next month, these will be perfect!

spring form pans - $1 each - I told you I'm going to Betty Crocker it up a bit right?

picnic basket - $3 - the lid is broken but the handles are intact. This is my favorite type of basket.

Florida drink tray - $1 - I love the novelty of this and the bright colors.

bakelite Wustof serving pieces - 10 cents each - I love these! 3 knives and 3 forks. The big meat fork isn't Wustof but it matches and is also bakelite.

rooster chalk board - $2 - I'm going to put a ribbon hanger on this (red with white polka dots?) and hang it in the kitchen

red & white spread - $3 - (under everything) this spread is lovely and I'll share a better picture once it's laundered and on the bed.

NOT QUITE THRIFTED BUT . . .



I love a good bargain! I was digging around in the clearance section of TJ Max and found these three stockings each marked $2.00! I grabbed them and ran to the register to find out they were 25% off and thus only $1.50 for each. Not that I need stockings or anything but they would make lovely gift wrappings don't you think? That aqua one on top is much cuter than it looks.

AND . . . something THRIFTED in use . . .



For having no children I've been buying a ridiculous amount of stuffed toys at the thrift lately. But seriously, could you have left him behind? Mr. Bun is my first Easter decoration of the season. He's from the Manhattan Toy Company and I got him for a mere $1.45. Don't you love his little waist coat?

That's enough yammering for today I think. As I said, I'm off to Baltimore and may not be back here to post until we return at the end of the month. Have a wonderful and Happy St. Valentine's Day and I'll see you all in a few weeks with my new married name . . .

fondly . . . Rebecca

PS - for all you who have given me encouraging words, congrats and good wishes I THANK YOU sincerely. It means so much more than you know. :)

And then she thrifted . . .

Finally I have some thrift worthy pictures to share. I found some goodies in my last couple of trips to Baltimore.



Vera napkins, set of 4 - 45 cents each: I love the daisy design!

Ransburg copper canisters - $5 for the set of 4: how rare to find a canister set in tact and I looked up Ransburg online and it seems to be pretty popular but most pieces have a graphic design to them and are not as plain as these. Anyone familiar with this maker?

Limoges (USA) bowl - $2.50: I just thought this was pretty though I think the Limoges USA may be a little collectable but not as much as real French Limoge.

mini muffin tin - $1: I always pick up bakeware especially when it's brand new

lace pillow shame - $1: I can't resist eyelet!

pot - $2: (the pillow case and muffin tin are inside of it) you can't see this that well but I love these big old pots.



Here you see a hodge podge of vintage linens including 2 of those fun terrycloth aprons and a lovely embroidered pillow case (the blue flowers). I also see a wonderful little owl tea strainer that is too cute for words. I love all vintage linens and embroidered items and have quite a collection of them now. Did you know that my 100th post is quickly approaching? I think I'll celebrate with a little give away that will include the linens you see above plus some other thrifty and crafty surprises. So if you'd like to be in on the drawing please leave me a comment and I'll have Luis draw a lucky winner for some Thrifty Goodness! I'll post the winner on my 100th post which should come on or about next Tuesday. I'll make it the last thing I do before I leave to get married.

Cheers!

Rebecca

General Goodness

I've gone on and on about the kindness of all my crafty blogger friends and swappers so you know how I feel about someone making something for little ol' me. :) I have loads to share this morning in that vein . . .



Are you dying?? Are you GREEN with envy?? You should be. I have been coveting this design since Heidi made it was back for a Thanksgiving swap. All those telepathic messages I was sending her have paid off! Allow me to show the wonderful detail:



As my neighbors to the Northeast would say, "WICKED COOL." Thank you so so much, Heidi!

I also received one of the Cupid Jack Valentines!



Even cuter in person than you can imagine. I'm sure my creativity will start flowing now that I have Jack in the craftroom.

And . . . I received my Pink and Brown swap from Peta! It was cuteness from the moment I opened the package.



Will you look at the GOODNESS?



Lots of cute craft supplies including those adorable pink polka dot bows and tiny spools of thread, yummy hibiscus bath salts, a cute little brown candle holder, a corsage made from a pink hankie, An adorable linen bag embroidered with "dusters" which I'm guessing is where you stash your dust rags? Peta? It has a little ring to hang it from, too. A DELICIOUS handmade lavender sachet that I could smell as soon as the mailman handed me the package:



And do you see those super but salt and pepper shakers? They're teeny:



And did you see my ROO?



Thank you Peta! I love everything. I hope your package arrives soon!

So needless to say, I've had some wonderful mail lately and it's made me such a giddy little girl.

Oh and thanks to Sarah for helping me sort out my new background. What do you think?

*R*

Back in Business!

Hello! I'm back from my wonderful girls only bachlorette weekend AND I have my camera. :) So need less to say, no more babbling posts about projects past. I'll be sharing some bachlorette goodness later this week once I receive some photos from the other girls but I'll sum it for you with three little words DIRTY GOOD FUN. ;)

So let me jump right in with some wedding projects:



We made 25 hotel goodie boxes. As the theme is sweets we wanted them to look like bakery boxes full of yummy surprises.



The boxes are filled with champagne splits, plastic champagne glasses, almond rocha, cookies, crackers, biscotti, coffee and a whole host of other goodies.

We also wrapped the bridesmaids gifts:



The paper is a metallic pink and very difficult to photograph. I am loving that ribbon though and my tags came out quite cute as well. I love sweet shop colors!

We also glittered 48 votives for a glittery snow like effect:



They should sparkle quite nicely I think. We are winding down on wedding chores. Only programs and petal cones for the chairs in the ceremony room.

Now that I have my camera back I'll be doing a lot of catching up. I have loads of thrifted items to share and tomorrow, I'll finally be able to show you the wonderful ribbon hanging/banner made for me by Heidi!

Wednesday is the send out date for the Pink and Brown swap, if anyone hasn't heard from their swap partners please let me know!

ciao - Rebecca

Girlfriend Goodness

So what do you think of the new look? I sort of like it but the pink also sort of makes me a little sick, too. Thoughts? I would love to figure out how to do a new header and I believe I'll have to put that on my short list of to do items.

Did you know that I won Heather's bridal shower giveaway?? I'm so excited! And Lucy won, too! What a bunch of lucky girls. Nice to see I've hit my quota of winning one thing every 15 years. 2022 is going to be a good year! ;)

I'm being abducted today. My Good Girls are taking me away for a bachlorette weekend. I have no idea where we are even going! Exciting, no? So I thought I would dedicate today's post to the love of Girlfriends. You know the old saying that boyfriends come and go but your girlfirends are forever? Well it's certainly been true for me. I am so fortunate to have such close and long time friends. For instance, my dear friend Dana and I have known each other since we were 5!



I'd say we're about 7 in this picture? That's me on the right looking like I'm a cadet at Gene Kelly's Singing in the Rain Boot Camp. Dana would be the cute one on the left. Still friends after all these years.

I also have Stacy who I met in the 9th grade and Ida who I met in 10th. Fortunate is the only way to describe it. So hug your girlfriends and think of them often. They've seen you at your worst so you have to keep them close. ;)


*Rebecca and long time friend Kate hamming it up at Dana's wedding rehersal dinner 2004*

Until Monday . . .

Rebecca

Covet

Don't be shocked but I covet many of you. I covet your talent, inspiration, creativity, you name it. I'm constantly babbling to non-blogger friends that "so and so made the cutest whats-it" and "you should see etc's amazing this-and-that!" I am truly impressed day after day by all the wonderful things you do!

Since I am still sans camera I thought I'd show you some things I've seen recently (I've been lurking a bit over the last few days) that just knocks my socks off!

Did you see Bee's amazing felt desserts??? I so want to make some.

And I'm still goggling over this incredible bridal shower! I sent the link to my mother and said that our candy bar (at the wedding) was sadly lacking and her response was "We have to work on it! I'm going to Target." When in doubt I guess . . .

And you know all that YARN I keep accumulating?? Well I'm loving something like this or this for using it all up. How come when I start something of this many colors it never looks nearly this cute?? And it's crochet which is the only thing I can seem to motivate myself to do these cold evenings.

And remember my felt needle books? Lookee! Fabric! (sewing is so amazing to me for some reason, I'm still without sewing machine. Luis PROMISES to get it this week but . . . not . . . holding . . .my . . . breath.)

I've been sad lately because I'm not incredibly motivated to create. Oh I WANT to but it doesn't seem to happen. I tend to work on some on going project (with no feeling of accomplishment) or I start something, hate it and (maybe) start over. I want to sew! I want to make softies! I want to take all that old crap in my basement and turn it into something new and wonderful! I want to decorate! Hell, I want to hang my new shower curtain. Yeesh. I'm such a hibernator in the winter. It's like once it's dark, that's all she wrote. I think also my brain is on overload between craziness at work (I am safe by the way but we are still waiting to hear about Luis' job) and the wedding I can't seem to switch on the creative button. I made one crappy Valentine last night. (That's all yours Sarah ha ha) I'm hoping after my honeymoon I'll be ready to tackle the world! So until then I guess I'll have to bore you with another OLD project:



Cutest ever baby bonnet. EVER. I've made this three times and I love it every time.



I've got babies on the brain these days since so many of my friends are expecting (why am I NOT making bonnets? Ack! Must start one tonight). Also, Luis and I plan to get started on our own family soon as I'll be 34 this year and I have this thing about not being an old mother. I won't get on that soap box, it's sure to reduce my readership ten-fold. :)

So after this babbly post I do hope you'll be back. Next week will be better. Promise. I'm even planning a give away! I'll be digging through my stash of thrifted goodies (from the diatribe above you KNOW I haven't made anything worth while lately) and put together a little goody bag for one my faithful friends. :)

cheers!
Bex