I Like to Amuse Myself

I need a change. I'm currently in the process of replacing this line o' vintage hankies...

...with some new art/photography in vintage frames. Still accumulating both the art and the frames. This pretty picture just came in the mail today. It looks super delish in my existing kitschy cute frame up on the wall! It came in a series by James Spicer who is my new hero.

I also hit an estate sale today. I Facebooked that I was rifling through dead people's things on my lunch hour. Several high school classmates were like WTF? I ended up explaining, however, I did enjoy imagining their take on it-- me pillaging the pockets of a corpse that I happened upon, perhaps. Great insight on what they must think of me!!!

I picked up this adorable HG Toys puzzle-- all 50 pieces intact and included! Methinks it's going into the shop. Also snatched up a box o' plastic deer. How could I resist? My co-workers think I'm a nut.

Happy Hump Day! xo

Vintage Xmas Finds

Sorry so late. Here are the items I found on my latest excursion to my hometown:

First the super cool yule log (works great!) with its original box:

Creepy angel topper. We bought a white tree from KMart for Quinn's room, and it was on top. Q yelled down to Ryan after he put her to bed that her bed was shaking. Ryan freaked out (picturing The Exorcist) and thought it was attributed to the angel. The next day Q told me she was faking Daddy out (of course).

Kitschy cool tree. My grandma used to have a multi-colored one of these. Are you supposed to put a light underneath? I tried it, but it didn't light up too well.

Retro plastic Santa for $5!

And my Goodwill Santas! I also got a super cool tiny paint-by-number winter scene painted on black velvet!!!!! I gave it to my friend, Dave, as a belated bday gift (his bday is the same as Ryan's). Wish I would have taken a pic of it.

That's all for now. Hope you all who are in Michigan are doing ok-- Death Storm 2008!!! :)

I have some WIP pics I hope to share with you in the next day or so. I downloaded Danielle's Kitschy Woodlands ornament/stuffie kit. Kinda cool!

It's Christmastime in the City

The Girl Land household is finally getting into the holiday spirit. We went to my parent's house for a very short visit, but the girls did get to see the Big Guy in the Red Coat. Q said it wasn't really him because he didn't say HO HO HO. Hmmmm.

I also got to do a little tiny bit of antiquing/thrifting, and Ryan was a good sport and went with whilst my parents watched the girls. He's a good one to go with. He finds a lot of good junk. I will have to post pics of all my super kitschy cool finds tomorrow, but for now, here was my favorite scene from the excursion. Don't you want to just crawl inside one of those tiny glitter houses!?

And here's another shelf that I love as of late-- Barbara of Oodles and Oodles! I love the jadite and red action here.

This morning, we got to see my friend and her daughter. I got a crafty urge at about 11:00 pm on Friday night, and I whipped these squirrelly notecards up.

Dig my new woodgrain stamp (Michael's)!!! I love it so much! Kinda reminded me of one of Kat's cool projects.

More pics soon, but in the meantime, dig this uber gaudy house in Royal Oak. I'm sure you locals know exactly where it is. Q thinks it's Santa's house. I'd hate to be their neighbors. Plus, they leave most of the lights up all year round. Ryan says it looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre house during the year-- with unlit creepy Santa faces hanging on trees and such. Yeesh.

Winner for Contest #2!

....Isssssss my newest Facebook comrade, Amy of Early Bird Special!


She said,

"OMG! How cute is that loot?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed. <3"


The crossing of the fingers seemed to work. Well, that and showing me linky love for 2 extra chances. ;)


Thanks, all, for playing! In the next few days here, I will be listing lots of new vintage goodies. I hit a great antique store in Kalamazoo while I was there for my conference, and, of course, have buyer's remorse. I got some uber cute stuff. Here's a taste-- a graphic my friend, Katie, found for me in the store...not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I want to make something.



Also, I am OBSESSED...like totally OBSESSED with the Twilight books. I read Twilight in like 24 hours, and I'm 2/3 of the way through New Moon. I am so hating Jacob. WTF? And, like, how could she not see through Edward when he left??? So between my True Blood hang-up (PAM!), and my Twilight book fixation (thanks to Cristin and Kate and my bro too), I am officially a vampire addict. Ack. Can't wait for the movie to come out.


OSB Update: I weighed in after my conference, and I'm down another 1.2. Go me! It's only 6.4 lbs, but it's coming off slowly but surely. I did lots of walking. Which must of negated all the drinking (oy)-- at night...not during the day. I have a new favorite flavored martini, by the by. I'm thinking they are like 5 pts each. Gads.


Hawaiian Wedding Cake Martini-- I think it's just Stoli vanilla, Malibu Pineapple (I don't think it was juice because it wasn't super sweet, believe it or not), and cherry grenadine shaken with ice. If anyone has heard of this, let me know!

56 Days Til Halloween...Silver Shamrock!

I've had this Alexander Henry fat quarter since last year (well, with white background). I made a few appliques out of it. Made this bag for my shop:

And then I got on a roll. I started these bags with embroidered name banners for the girls. Please excuse the wrinkles and the cat hair! Need to finish up V's:







Sure, Vivian won't be trick-or-treating for a couple years, but if I don't do it now, I never will. I must say that Heat N' Bond and a glue gun are a non-sewing crafter's best friends! What great inventions.

Going to a doozy of a flea market this weekend, and I'm taking my mom. She lives 90 miles away. I tried to prep her-- told her we may need to bust our umbrellas out. She looked at me like I was nuts. I told her to grow a pair (I really did!). Be back Monday to show you some loot!!! A teaser, if you will, for the vintage portion of my upcoming Giveaway Bonanza... xo

Oh! Any of my local peeps know of any good kid's photographers?? I had a lady in Berkley who COMPLETELY closed up shop, no forwarding info, no nothin'. I liked her because she was simple and cheap. No stupid props, no weirdo backgrounds, just PLAIN kid's pics. Anyone, anyone??? I refuse to go to Penney's/Target/Walmart/etc. We had a bad experience when Quinn was 1.

OSB Update: Down 5 total lbs! Ugh...soooooo many more to go. :( This buttercup is going to try to keep her chin up though.

More Estate Sale Stuff, More SYTYCD...

Vivi's my good luck charm! Well, it wasn't the score of the century like last time, but still some cute stuff including this:

The other few things are up in my shop. Wow, this little treasure already sold!

Didn't I say that I was supposed to be getting back to making stuff that I used to make? I'm now spending my time thrifting, estate saling, flea marketing, etc. I think it's because I realize I only have 3.5 more weeks left of maternity leave, and I will have no time to do it then. I guess I'm trying to get it out of my system. I have applied to DUCF though, and I'm so glad it's a holiday show this year. If I make it in, it will definitely get me off my arse. I have sooooo many supplies. Now I just have to make the dang stuff!!!!

So down to SYTYCD business. I think my new favorite couple is Courtney and Gev!!! I have a pretty massive crush on Gev all of a sudden. I think it was after his rhumba last week and his great solo last week. Whoooooo! I found this awesome rhumba remix on youtube with a Portishead song. Loves me some Portishead!!!!!!!!!

Am I talking to myself with this stuff? Is there anyone else out there that watches??? I still can't stand Jessica, and I'm still not a big Will fan even after their good Adam and Eve dance. But I'm thinking Comfort will be going home from the girls. And probably Thayne which is unfortunate.

Mia Michaels told Courtney and Gev they weren't the best dancers on the show, which may be true. But isn't the title "America's Favorite Dancer"? Not "America's BEST Dancer"? That's why Travis didn't win in Season 2. His personality was bleh. Anywho, I still love Joshua, but Gevney is a close second. :)

More boob tube talk-- I actually have to Tivo SYTYCD because Ryan makes me watch Ghost Hunters which conflicts. We are obsessed. It's like comforting or something-- our little routine. I love Jay, Grant, Steve, and DAVE TANGO! Especially when he did magic to make the ghosts come out. Classic. Apparently, he used to peform magic. How can you not like someone who performs magic???

Birthday Loot!

I received some lovely things! And it took me all of an HOUR to spend the $50 (well, actually $47) I got from my parents for my bday. Here we go!

Current notecards:

Darling hankies:

Sweetie pie figurines:

My favorite, the ultimate Girl Land planter (scarrrry cute, no?):

Toy suitcase for Q's record collection:

Of course, a little bit of Red (plays "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"!):

And a beautiful Paint by Numbers:

I'm feeling some buyer's remorse. May have to list a few of the things in the shop!

The Mother of All Estate Sales

Vivi and I hit it today. I stuck her in the sling and off we went. It was sooooo great!!!! Now the hard part is deciding what I shall keep, WHERE I'm going to put the stuff, and what to sell. You can see all of my finds on my flickr page, but here are my fave items:

My absolute fave. You know how I love my dioramas! I shall not part with this, of course.

These linen-paged books are great. The insides are all cut up though, so I'll be keeping these too.

They had FOUR of these babies. I will keep one for Quinn, and the others are going in my shop!

The woman was a teacher, so she had a HUGE box of these decorative cut-outs. These were some of the best.

This was in a bag chock full of half finished embroidery projects and floss. Cree-heepy cool! Going in my shop for sure.

This one was in amongst the tools and such. I couldn't just leave it there! Pretty good condition except for a couple spots on the front cover. Probably gravy stains (ewgh).

And what school lunch would be complete without liver & onions!!! Happy weekend, lovies. xo

Escape From Crazy Town

So my mom was here for 4 days last week helping out. Vivian is quite a high maintenance babe, it turns out. Doesn't like to be put down. I think I may have to resort to a sling. Don't wanna, but I can't hold her all day long. Anywho, Mom referred to our house as Crazy Town (population 4). Reasons being the crazy crying baby, super whiny toddler suddenly afflicted with separation anxiety (hmmmmmmm), and the fact that I couldn't tell her where a working flashlight, batteries, nail polish remover, etc. were inside our house. We are that disorganized.

Anywho, today I planned my escape for a whole 3 hours. Whoo hoo! Fueled up on Starbucks, I headed to the flea market to "get my junk on" as my friend, Dave, so eloquently puts it. Met him there, and we compared junk. My haul:

Dakin Dream Pets from 1961. I'm keeping the rabbit. The beaver is in my shop!

This AWESOME apron that sold immediately after I listed! Dig the handy dandy built in terry towel:

The standard Meyercord decals and wooden Xmas ornaments (I can't resist):

The item that surely gets the "WTF? Award": cool deer planter with what I was thought were unattached plastic flowers and lightbulb (doesn't work). They are attached! Almost looks like someone filled with plaster of Paris and stuck the stuff in. Maybe will cut the stuff out and fill with moss? Something?

And last but certainly not least are these great vintage jars affixed with waterslide decals. Perfect for Vivi's nursery! Three will be kept, the other two will go in my shop.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!! xo

Pink & Frilly, Warm & Fuzzies

Check out this blankie made by my friend, Denise, made for Q! She said she started it before Q was born. Q received it in the mail yesterday, and she was so excited. It's soooooo soft and warm. We love it. So thoughtful, and she knows how I love handmade. Also in the pic is the super crafty Valentine made by Q (with lotsa help, I imagine) at daycare. Isn't it boo-tiful?????

Now something a bit disturbing-- a yo yo clown I found at that estate sale last week. I've kept him in my car because I'm not ashamed to admit he freaks the hell outta me. When I was measuring him to list on Etsy, I was uber careful with him and found myself talking nicely to him. Why did I buy him, you ask? Because he told me I'd be sorry if I didn't (plus, isn't he kinda cool??). He's now in my Etsy shop.

I'm planning a little giveaway sometime in the near future. I've already passed my 1 year blogiversary, and my 200th post is coming up. Eek.

Happy weekending all! We are going to Lansing to see the in laws tomorrow and eat at PF Chang's. Mmmmm....lettuce wraps.

The Barfalonies

Know what's worse than vomiting for 7 hours straight? Being nearly 6 months pregnant and vomiting for 7 hours straight. My darling Q passed the barfalonies on to me. She hurled once on Saturday and was done. I, on the other hand, thought I was dying yesterday. Today, I'm much better although I had to go to the doctor because I have a urinary tract infection too. Lovely!

But I walked into my doc's office (who is also Q's doc), and I see my good friend, Cindy, sitting there! She was also feeling under the weather, but we had a nice time chatting for a bit and trying not to breathe on each other. She and I have the same general prac as well as OB. Weird.

And on the way to pick up my multiple prescriptions, I found an estate sale! I was so bummed about missing the one yesterday, so this was a nice consolation. I didn't find too much, but a few cute things (more pics here). Hope I didn't give everyone there the barfalonies too...

Oh! And look what I won on eBay yesterday for Quinn's room! It's a Hansel and Gretel nursery lamp. I am bidding on something else as well, but I don't want to jinx it, because it is FABOOOOOO, let me tell you!!!! Her room is coming together, but still a WIP. I may take a few pics this weekend though...

Realizations on a Snowflakey Gray Wednesday

+I like it when people use plus signs as bullets; thus, I am trying them on for size.

+Burning my tongue on Cosi’s Tomato Basil Aurora soup once does not deter me from doing it again…immediately.

+The two men below are one and the same. I’m sorely ashamed to say that I find the former to be way attractive.




+I start my 3rd trimester in 12 days!

+Matilda Ledger is only 14 days older than my Q. :(

+I like the name Matilda, but it sounds funny with a last name like muh-LAH-lee (I really did consider it, Jessie and Jana!). I like simply Tilda even better, but Ryan says no way to both. Poop on you, Mister.

+The estate sale I plan on attending tomorrow will be my first in over 3½ months. I’m so jonesin’ for a vintage fix.

+I truly believe that deep down, [Adam Levine] has an unknown affinity for chubby, semi-crafty, married, pregnant chicks. I could be that chick. You never know. As an aside, please feel free to insert [Justin Timberlake] or [Channing Tatum] above. It simply improves my odds.

+Buying Martha Stewart items at Michael’s after final clearance markdowns makes me approximately 3.14 times happier than buying them at regular price. I bought all of this for $11.00.

Creepin' Me Out

So Q says yesterday, "Kid crying, kid crying" and is looking all sad. I say, "Where is there a kid crying?", thinking she is hearing a neighbor kid having a tantrum or something outside. She pulls me into our guest room and points to this statue guy we use as a door stop. Frigging SCARY!!! Our black and white cat knocked him over when we first bought him and his head broke off, so Ryan glued it back on. Ryan said, "Eesh, maybe that's why he's crying!". That's the room we're going to have to move into soon to make room for Baby #2, and now we're freaked out about it. I can't wait to tell my mom because she already think the thing comes alive at night. I think she puts something over it when she sleeps over.

We took Q to get her first haircut yesterday. We went to this only moderately awful kid's haircut chain, and she did alright. She wouldn't wear the cape though. It's a little less Gene Wilder-ish now. Then we went to a cider mill and sweated our arses off.

Also made Ryan go back to the estate sale from yesterday so I could buy Missy Mouse!!!! That's the one I thought I had bought but I didn't. Isn't she cute? I'm very content now.


I am heading off to a flea market in a bit, so I will show you my finds in the next day or so.