Notes from A Cottage Industry

Revisiting this year's patriotic decor in my cottage.

...or should I say re-doing?

So, I shared an idea back a couple of weeks ago on printing photos in engineered print mode from Staples. (Right here. Remember?)

Well, more than a couple of you asked if the child in the photo was a family member (Sadly, no.) and a couple more got really excited, saying they had actual family photos with American flags in them, and they were going to dig them out and copy the idea.

That's pretty awesome.

Then, my Rock n' Roll Buddy noticed the picture (three full days after it had been placed on the mantle.) and he asked if it was a family member. I said no, to which he replied, "Awe, too bad. That would have been so cool."

I thanked him for taking the zippity-doo-da out of my idea and we both chuckled. Later, when I repeated the story to my middle daughter, she cut me off before the zippity-doo-da part and interjected, "Yeah, you do. The year you dressed Lindsey as the statue of Liberty for the neighborhood 4th of July parade and block party, and she rode in the back of the Rich's convertible."

Oh, my.

I had forgotten that fun photo worthy event, way back some thirty years ago. (I think I was so focused on the idea of "old" pictures being from way back before color photos came along....) My heart started to palpate as I remembered doing up the page in the family photo album (Oh yeah, way, way back, before digital. Using the old-school method of photography and scrapbooking.)

(And, before Pinterest, I might add. We had to actually come up with our own ideas back then, with no outside help.)

I couldn't wait to open the photo album to find the page I needed. After about 26 seconds, I found it.

Even better than I had remembered, I snapped pictures of the photos in the album with my phone, and before you could say God Bless America, I was uploading photos to Staples online.

An hour later, my prints were ready for pick up.

My Gawd, I love technology, even if I don't quite understand it.

I ended up ordering the solo shot of my first born in an 18 by 24 to go along side the big print on my mantle, and then later decided it was just too much going on. (It was a hard decision, as it was most certainly the cutest danged photo the statue of Liberty ever took, even if it kinda does look like she is headed to her first toga party, and her eyes are closed.) I'm giving it to my daughter to showcase in her home instead.

I know the first photo of the little guy with oversized dynamite was cute, but this one makes my heart well up, and my eyes overflow with happy little salty tears, remembering those precious days...those days that people tell you you are going to miss, and you don't believe them because you just want those children to stop bickering, and eat their broccoli.

I'll tell you what. Those people were right. And I'm glad I have those photos to bring back those times for me.

Sweet little banners just in time for the fourth of July weekend.

I'm late in sharing this latest printable banner kit because that just seems to be how I roll anymore.

I have more ideas than time it seems.

And I suffer from a condition know as "Yes-I'd-love-to-do-that" which keeps me in a constant state of not enough hours in my day..week..life.

(Insert embarrassed shoulder shrug and bewildered sigh.)

So, anyway.

It's very-nearly-almost the fourth of July, and I am looking forward to an activity packed three day weekend! (See above condition...) I thought a vintage inspired little banner would be a fun addition to the inside of the motor home, and in the process, I made some extra small flags that are made to be folded so you can wrap them around paper straws, or toothpicks to stick in burger buns, or cupcakes. Likewise, the flags can be cut in half and used solo, as I did here on a-sweet-little-garden-seedling-peat-pot-turned-nut-cup.

The e-kit is in my etsy shop, and is an instant download, (so no waiting until the very last minute!) and can be printed on any kind of paper you like. (I personally have a thing for old book pages, as you have probably noticed.) The great thing is that you can make them as plain or foofied-up as you like. It's up to you.

I have hard copies of the banner for purchase in my little booth at Camas Antiques, and I am pretty smitten with them. (Even if they are arriving the week before the holiday weekend. There's still plenty of time to get your love of America showcased around your house, or motorhome, or tent, or whatever.

Weekly words to live by.

Camping comfort food.

...er...dessert.

You know how there are desserts, like cheesecake, or cupcakes, or ice cream, and then there are desserts that bring back feelings of comfort, like when you were a kid? Well, for me, banana pudding with Nilla wafers and cut up bananas. (That, warm dutch apple pie, and butterscotch pudding fall into this category.)

Anyway.

I wanted to make some for our last camping trip, and it worked out great. I ran to my local Cash and Carry, a restaurant supply store, and bout a pack of small plastic cups, and a pack of lids to go with them.

I got the cute little teeny tiny Nilla wafer cookies, and added sliced bananas as well to my banana pudding in the plastic cups, capped them, and put them in the motor home fridge. After supper the first night I whipped them out, took off the lids, and added a swirl of whipped cream.

Yummy!

An easy peasy housewarming gift for a pal at my grown up girl job.

The housing market has gone completely bonkers here in the Pacific Northwest (again....) and it's a seller's market, with homes going faster than the realtors can get the signs in the yard. Because of this, families shopping for homes are paying more than asking price, and losing homes to higher bidders left and right.

One of the guys I work with was thrilled when he and his wife finally secured a home after a pretty hairy house hunt, and they closed on it last week. I put together a quick and easy gift basket for them to be used on moving weekend, with a take n' bake Pizza gift card (with a couple coupons) a pizza cutter (because you never know if you can find a knife, let alone a pizza cutter on moving day!) some Parmesan Cheese and red peppers, and of course napkins and paper plates. I was able to purchase everything except the paper plates and napkins at the pizza place, so it was one easy gift!

I put it all in a small brown box (like a moving box...are you seeing my theme here?) and added a strip of my cute "Packed with Love" packing tape, and lastly, added a little handmade tag.

Easy peasy.And I had so much fun whipping it up.

 

Number nine.

**Disclaimer: Shameless Gramma brag post today.**

(Judi Barbara, you've asked for more pictures of the grands, and so, today, this is for especially for you.)

Number Nine, also known as Miss Natalie Rose, has recently discovered her hands, and more importantly, her fingers and thumbs. I snapped a couple...a ridiculous amount...a few photos when I was visiting the other day, and I am positive that you will agree with me when I say she is one delightfully darling four month old, who is full of personality.

I told ya. She's one little cutie pie for sure.

Weekly words to live by.

So, it turns out that objects in photos may actually be much (MUCH) heavier than they appear.

Um...yeah.

While motor home camping last weekend, our friends were bidding online on some items at an auction going on in Portland, and before I knew it, I was looking through the online catalogue of items. It ranged from large pieces of furniture, to piles of Tupperware, and everything in between. Within fifteen minutes I had bid on four items.

I bid on a box of tarnished silver trays, a small dresser, an antique white iron twin bed, and an old rusted cash register, and a half hour after bidding, I rationalized in my mind that if I won them all, I could sell the items in my booth space.

Several hours later, we checked online to see the auction results. I had won the twin bed, and the cash register. My friends wondered what I might do with the cash register. I explained, with much enthusiasm, that I would use it as a cash drawer at the upcoming Camas Vintage and Art Fair at the end of August, and any and all other fairs I entered from this day forward. 'Oh, how fabulous it will be!" I boasted. Unique, and vintage, and practical at the same time.

My friends saw my vision. (Or at least humored me into believing they did.)

Sunday came, and we all stopped on our way home to pick up our auction winnings. (There were three of us bidding, and we all won something.) The twin bed was even more adorable than pictured. I was very nearly walking on air schlepping it out to the motor home, and carefully laid the headboard and footboard on top of the bed in the motor home.

My Rock n' Roll Buddy and his brother in law wheeled the cash register out on some sort of wheeled  dolly, and by the time I got to get a decent look at it, they were both red faced from lifting it off the dolly and into a trunk compartment down low on the motor home.

It easily weighs well over a hundred pounds.

Uh-oh.

It never once crossed my mind it might be...heavy.

This would never do. How could I schlepp it around to shows, and lift it up on to the top of a tall dresser as a cash wrap station? If I wanted to sell it in my booth, how would I ever lift it out of my car? I decided once we arrived back at my home that we would get it into my wheelbarrow and I would post it on craigslist. It wasn't at all what I wanted to do, because once we got it into the wheelbarrow, I could see just how awesome it was. The drawer pops open and there's a sweet little marble slab area to set change or whatever.

I learned a big lesson here, and that is to really and truly take into account the measurements, and the weight of items when you are considering purchasing them, and shopping online is not without it's own risks and challenges.

Dang it.

That being said, I desperately want an old upright piano for my covered patio (oh! The vision I have in my mind for it!) and I am now reconsidering the weight (...and researching how to remove the innards of such a monstrous piece of furniture. It can be done.) to see if it is actually a realistic plan.

*sigh*

(I still think I'll go for it.)

Easy-peasy thank you cards.

I made some thank you cards for one of my soon-to-be-bride friends to use, and they were so easy that I thought I'd share them with you today.

I printed a single line on the computer cardstock in my cheesy little Broderbund Printshop Ensemble III Program (in the postcard setting) and cut each paper into four pieces. I then cut a bunch of squares, and glued them in place above the typed line. I topped the little square off with a punched heart from pink paper.

All done.

(I made the sweet little banner from scraps of paper leftover from other bridal projects...)

Gramma Cupcake and the three grand babes.

I was off on a motor home camp out all weekend, and when I returned home to my little cottage last night, something seemed...different.

Do you see anything...ehem...unusual in the photo above? (Click to enlarge it)

I thought, "I think someone's been sitting in my chair."

And, then I thought, "Hmm, I think someone's been playing with my typewriter, and possibly with my favorite star shaped cookie cutter."

I was right.

Two little someone's had been playing with some dinosaurs in my cottage, (While their baby sister took a nap, most likely on my bed.) and they left them right where they were playing with them.

And that made me smile.

(Insert happy sigh here.)

I think I will leave those dinosaurs right where they are for a week or so, so I will get a warm fuzzy feeling each time I look at them.

I love being a Gramma.

Weekly words to live by.

I always say it's all about the details.

You can make anything nice fabulous, and take ordinary to extraordinary by simply adding a few personal touches. My latest case in point would be the wedding shower beach bag I ordered from etsy for my sweet friend who will be honeymooning in a tropical paradise this summer.

The bag itself arrived in record time, and was in an absolute perfect shade of blush pink. (So pretty it was, that I ordered one as a little surprise for myself as well!) It also came in several other mouthwatering colors! I am currently jonesing for the aqua one, but then of course I could see the practicality of the fabulous natural or grey. (Her shop is currently closed for holiday until July first, but you can click the button to have etsy email you when she returns.)

It was nicely lined with a little inside pocket. The straps are super sturdy, (Strong enough for me to carry my 15" laptop around in it.) and it was pretty just the way it arrived.

But I wanted something that subtly whispered "I'm on my honeymoon" so I needed to foofify it a bit.

I made a little pom pom out of some of my scrunchie vintage seam binding (In equally three perfect shades of pink)a fun "diamond ring" (Napkin ring) and a home crafted tag that reads "honey-moonin'.

Now, this sweet bag is unique adn special, just like my friend.

Hawaiian chicken sammies with a little aloha tablescape.

A couple of years ago, when I went to Kauai with my best friend since fifth grade, I got some pretty adorable vintage look wooden post cards. I planned to use them as coasters for beverages.

But I never got around to it.

Then, last week, in Maui, I came across the cutest hula girl tea towels, and I knew they needed to be with my wooden coasters...er postcards, so I bought them, and popped them in my suitcase.

Tuesday night I was making grilled teriyaki chicken sammies, with Swiss cheese and grilled pineapple slices on toasted buns, and I figured that was about as Hawaiian as I ever really get in the kitchen, so I should put those little treasures to good use.

I started with some old thrifted rattan trays for placemats, and added the wooden postcards, and tea towels as napkins.

So cute!

Let's hear it for the red, white and blue.

I'm adding touches of red, white, and blue to my cottage with the 4th of July just a few weeks away, and I wanted a statement piece for my mantel. I found a vintage photo of a sweet little guy holding a flag and some huge firecrackers, and I had it printed in a large 3 by 4 foot size at my local Staples store as an engineered print. (Costs just a bit over seven dollars here in the pacific northwest)

The print came out slightly digitized, but I was okay with that. (Tip: if you want to do an engineered print from a vintage photo in a huge three by four foot size, try and make sure the properties of the photo show that the DPI's are at least 75 or larger.) I thumb tacked the print over my existing chalkboard print on insulation board, and got out my colored pencils.

I lightly colored in the red and blue on the flag as well as the firecrackers, and placed the poster on my mantel.(It didn't photograph too well; you have to look closely, but in person it's a little more visible.) I added a row of repurposed Starbucks frappuccino bottles with little American flags in them, and called it good.

I'm happy with how it turned out, and now I'm working on adding a few more patriotic touches throughout the cottage. (I'll share pictures later!)

Do you decorate at all for Independence Day? I'd love to hear!

 

Getting my craft on with more wedding related items for my bride-to-be friends.

I've been working on several fun crafty projects lately for two different girlfriends who are engaged. My fabulous hairstylist saw an idea on Pinterest she was wanting to do to invite her nearest and dearest friends (and sister) to be part of her bridal party.

(Of course you know I jumped on that to see if I might whip them up for her!)

A flurry of texts later, complete with photos of ideas for her winter wedding colors and style, and I was happily crafting until the wee hours because, when it comes to paper projects (Truth be told, any kind of project, for work or fun) I am a woman obsessed.

I created two tags for small bottles of champagne, and foofifiied them up with tulle and ribbon. They came out so cute that I will be adding them to my etsy shop soon as a printable kit.

Since I have multiple friends getting ready to head down the aisle, I have a few more projects to share in the wedding shower theme, so stay tuned!

 

Weekly words to live by.

Time flies when you're on vacation.

The only thing that flies by faster than the weekend, is during a great vacation.

First, I experience the glorious anticipation of the vacation getaway, followed by the actual trip, and then, somehow (always much faster than expected) it is over, and it's get back to the real world of setting the alarm on my iphone to wake me ay 5:30 in the morning, and laundry, and watching bad television. (The Bachelorette is my current bad-TV guilty pleasure.)

(Don't judge me.)

Anyway.

I always find myself caught in an odd state of turmoil as my vacation adventure comes to an end; where I am so incredibly sad for the fun to be over, while being filled with huge wave of homesickness at the very same moment, longing excitedly to return to the comfort of my little cottage. (To be clear, that is not to be confused with a burning desire to get back to daily activities like work, and errands, and chores, but rather just the familiar and cozy haven of home.)

(Do you feel that way after being on holiday?)

(Insert long, contented sigh here.)

It was a lovely, wonderful, fabulous, restful, fun trip, and I will treasure the memories for a long time to come.

Life is so good.