Happy Leap Day!!

Wishing everyone a Happy Leap Day! I hope you all enjoy the gift of an extra day! I had some fun estate saling...I'll show you the goodies later. Luv, Kristin

Sneaky Peaky for the Sweet Little Nest Swap

Here's a sneak peak at what I am working on for swap partner, Heidi, up in Coos Bay, Oregon. She won't know who is moving in until the package reaches her, but I think she is going to like her new feathered friends. The birdie couple stumbled upon this sweet, green cottage one day and were happy to see the vacancy sign. The new occupants will be moving in this week sometime! You can visit Heidi at Everyday Cookies at Sweet Woodruff Acres here.

Love Crazy ~Carlsbad Village Theatre

Last night my hubby and I went to see the play LOVE CRAZY at the quaint little downtown theatre in Carlsbad. We had seen their poster outside the theatre one day last week and we just loved the graphic!! The play was absolutely fabulous! Written by Mark Andersen, a retired clinical psychologist from La Jolla, Love Crazy begins on stage in the setting of a psychologist's office with him sitting behind his desk ready to see patients. During the course of the play, the Dr. sees three patients, each of who give a stand up comedy routine regarding the woes of love. Each of the three men were very funny...and remarkably clean in their language and content. The patients will be changing each weekend, keeping the play fresh with new material. There is also a nurse who brings the patients in and adds her own touch of humor to the play,and even a couple of songs! The Dr.'s real-life story is very interesting and you may read about it here. At the end of the play the cast asked us to spread the word if we enjoyed the play....so I couldn't help myself to write about it here and post their awesome poster. We ended our date at Starbucks right before closing....and the girls there offered all the left over sandwiches and yogurt parfaits to us. We left Starbucks with a big bag of yummies to bring home to our 4 kids!

Party Perfect Entry #1~ Vintage BABY SHOWER!!

Photo courtesy of Wardomatic

For your viewing pleasure today, I offer inspiration for throwing a vintage style BABY SHOWER!! When store bought decorations just won't do for the retro-minded folk....do it yourself!! Mix pink or blue plates, napkins, and crepe paper with some darling handmade pieces to create a sweet, vintage style baby shower that will be the talk of the town! Have supplies out for guests to create these brown paper bag scrapbooks

for the baby! All Mom will have to do later is glue in the photos.Months 1-12 of the new babe's life would be cute, or have each book have a theme like "First steps" , Things I Like to Eat", and " Night Night Time". The cover page for each book could already be completed ahead of time, that way the guest that puts the rest of the book together will have something to go by. Make a station for each book and include scrapbook paper (cut some of it ahead of time in the right size to back photos), buttons,ribbon, vintage baby images (print them from flickr or from a cd), stickers, glue and hot glue guns. Invite Holiday Jenny to the shower if you want these to REALLY turn out swell!
Vintage planters from the 40's and 50's are just adorable!!The colors are so wonderful, and these are very affordable at thrift stores and even on ebay. Stock up on these and keep them on hand for baby showers. Make centerpiece floral arrangements for each table. Don't forget to send the Mommy-to-be home with one as a keepsake! Fill one with pens for the games. Set them out in groupings for decoration and color. Everytime I see one, I buy it...I can't help myself.
Vintage cake decorating items are also a darling addition to a vintage-style baby shower. Cake toppers like the stork above are another retro pop for your party. Also search for vintage cupcake picks to adorn cupcakes.

Vintage images from baby showers of the past are readily available and once you have these in hand, the possibilities are endless! Photo copy old cards, or better yet...search flickr
for "vintage baby" and download images for free. Compilation cd's are also available where others have scanned wonderful vintage images onto a cd. Here is one available on etsy for only $10.00. The images may be used to make the invitations, print onto onesies for the baby, make posters to decorate for the party, make a garland or bunting, glue onto paper cups. Choose one or two images to be your "theme" for the party and run with it!!

Games are always fun at baby showers! Vintage baby bingo games are available on ebay, or make your own. Gummy bears are fun to use as markers, and yummy to eat along the way too!

As far as the food, I think of finger sandwiches, strawberries and fruit dip, and cake or cupcakes piled high with frosting. Please leave a comment if you have another idea to add to mine...that way people can get more ideas in the comments!! Enjoy...and party on!! Kristin

Party Themes!!!!

I have this idea for my blog.... to highlight a party theme idea once a month or so. I have this "thing" for themes!! An obsession may be the correct term. I have 4 kids....so we have had many themed parties, but I don't stop at birthdays!!! For some reason my brain goes into full throttle the moment I decide on a theme for something~ all the creative juices begin to flow and I can't stop thinking about every detail. (If there were only a way to transfer all this energy into cleaning my house) So....be on the lookout for the first entry, it's coming soon!!

One Final Farewell to Valentine's Day....

I made these cupcakes for my son's Valentine's Day party.I love conversation hearts!! I saw a cart full of them in the back of the grocery store today....and everything in the cart was 25 cents. I was tempted to give them all a good home. I stood there fantasizing about how I could fill up a hundred or so jars with them and just place them all around the house. Instant cuteness~~ but then I remembered it is over and I guess I have to move on and start thinking green. To my sweet, favorite holiday, until next year....good-bye!!

In the Mail Today....

Just wanted to quickly share the cute things that came in the mail today!! Rise' sent a cute little package with polka-dotted cards, vintage valentines and a handmade scrabble tile necklace with my initial "k".( She knows I play scrabble every Friday night.) When you flip the tile over, there is a tiny piece of the map of California where I live glued on, it is too adorable and genius of her!! I also got a Valentine's ornament by the talented artist Susie Scott. You can visit her here and see her wonderful work. I found pictures of her work on flickr, and bid on this ornament on ebay.

Little Gifties from my Blogland Friend!

The other day I got a box in the mail from my new flickr friend, Rise'!!!!! It was a fun little box full of treasures. Little hawaiian people and other goodies for my vintage hawaiian room, these sweet, sweet tags made from vintage wallpaper, and the coolest funkiest earings I have ever seen! Very kitschy and fun! I told her I am going to wear them next time I go to the Rose Bowl flea market! Thank you Rise'! I encourage everyone to make friends online and swap some goodies, it is so much fun. There are so many people out there with the same interests and it is fun to share collections with eachother. I made a comment on one of Rise's picture on flickr because we almost had the same type of hutch decorated the same way for Valentine's Day, and a friendship was born. You can visit her and say hello at her new blog, Giddy Up Pony . She is a very talented gal!!!

Girls Day in LA!!!!

Vintage glasses at Golyester on La Brea The gnome family from Novecento Antiques
Luxurious Pom Pom on Melrose Ave.
Toby Mac concert

The evidence
Great vintage fabric from Golyester
This one is for you Rise'!!! So cute!!
The cutest hat in the entire world- Golyester

My thirteen year old daughter, Maddie, and I had a very special day yesterday!!! 0ur good friend Rebecca got us tickets to see Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp at the Gibson Amphitheatre, so we decided to make a day of it and play in LA!!! We got off the freeway at Melrose Ave. and the first store we stopped at was called Pom Pom. When I spotted the store, it sounded really familiar. Sure enough, it has been in a gazillion magazines. It was fantastic!!!! Not the type of place I would would buy from, very pricey! (I'm sticking with thrift stores until my childrens' books are published someday!!) We had pulled out a magazine where Kai and Sue from Country Living had spent the weekend in LA, and were loosely following their route. Novecento Antiques had a map I really liked, and these cute gnomes. We visited two really cool vintage clothing stores on S. La Brea Rd., Golyester, and JetRag. My goodness, two wonderful stores full of goodness!! Golyester had 30 years worth of collecting inside, so amazing! Vintage fabric on one wall, drawers of trims and old milliner flowers...heaven! Vintage glasses and hats galore! The girls that worked there were super sweet and one of them runs a swing dance group and is a talented singer of music from the thirties and forties. The great shopping was followed by a wonderful dinner at Bucca di Beppo, always a treat! My cousin, aspiring actress and entrepreneur floral designer Lauryl Lane, joined us for dinner. Then, in a rush, we were off to our concert to see Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp! The concert was awesome, we danced and danced more than our thirty-something bodies were used to! It was a great day in LA!

Weekend Finds...Pictures of the Booty!!!

Turned out to be a productive weekend for this bargain hunter! I love the adrenaline on the way to a sale! What will I find? I love digging in boxes for treasures! Friday morning, my hub and I got to hit some estate sales. 0ne of them was a sale we had been to a couple months ago, and I had been thinking about it ever since. I had passed on several things there due to the prices...but prices were much better the second time around! I picked up all the red and cream trims here, and a japanese lantern I had wanted before that was now only $1.00!!! I also got a cute little plastic toy banjo with western images on it for my friend, Rise', that has the vintage western thing going. Saturday, we went to Kobe's swap meet in San Diego, and there were more fun bargains to be found. I picked up a couple little plastic dolls, some tiny handmade clothes, some canape cutters, a basket made of vintage Christmas cards, and my fave find~ a vintage stuffed toy squirrel that I can't wait to decorate my hutch with for fall!!
We got to have lunch with our good friends, Tom and Mandi, at a funky place in 0cean Beach called Hodad's. They make the tallest, messiest burgers you've ever seen, and have been features on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" program. Hope everyone out there had a fun weekend too...maybe you found some treasures too. If you did, please share with me!! Kristin

Happy New Month!!! February is 0fficially Here!

My Mommy is in town visiting, and I thought this would be a great time to use my new heart-shaped belgium waffle maker. It is made by a company called Uno. I bought it on new on ebay with an ebay gift card my Mom had given me for Christmas!!!! I have been wanting a heart-shaped waffle iron for years because I want to start a tradition of making these waffles every Valentines Day!!! I used a box of Belgium Waffle Mix by Krusteaz, and they came out just perfectly! The waffle iron even beeps when each batch is done cooking. I topped them with mixed berries and whipped cream! Thanks to Mom who was my food stylist fot the photo~ I'm having too much fun on a Saturday morning. Now we are off to the swap meet....I'll show you some goodies later!