This weekend...

Poor PRH has to work all weekend, but the kids and I have plans to keep ourselves busy. Yesterday, Kicky and I made what was supposed to be a quick stop at the thrift store and I fell in love with a beautiful antique rocking chair. It's totally traditional and not something I would normally bring home, but the patina is incredible and it's quite comfortable (well, by my standards that is, not PRH's). I'm planning to re-upholster it this weekend and will be sure to share before/after photos soon. We'll also be trying our hand at trick-or-treating on Sunday. What are your plans? Have a happy weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!

*I'm wishing that I found a rug like this at our thrift store. Heather Moore of skinny laminx fame found it at hers. Lucky girl!

Big boy bedroom...

I'm not sure what's taken me so long, but I've finally started pulling EZ E's bedroom together. I'm not completely finished, but thought I'd share a quick peek anyways. It's interesting to see how his bedrooms have evolved over the last three years (here and here are his previous rooms). Here are the details for this room: the dog painting and gigantic tin are from a local antiques store, the dresser is from our local thrift store, the rug is from Urban Outfitters, the Eames rocker was a baby shower gift from my best friend, the curtains are from Pier One, the lamp is from Target, and that little desk came from our friend Ken. EZ E and Kicky have a playroom, so we've kept the bedroom pretty toy-free, with the exception of a few beloved favorites...

Looking from the hallway into EZ E's room...

Our friend Kris gave us the lovely framed vintage wallpaper...


And, lest you think I'm some sort of rotten mama who won't let her kid pick out anything, I present you with EZ E's crazy bubble car bed...



He loves that big, smiling beast and it was the only way we could get him to sleep in his own bed. Whatever works, right? The teepee was a gift from my parents (I think they ordered it on Amazon). The inside is a comfy nest of pillows and funky afghans...

Carved...

In case it isn't already obvious, I am madly in love with Fall. It's when I feel the most productive and, as strange as it may sound, it's when I feel the most excited about life in general. Pumpkin-carving is one of my favorite autumnal activities and this year EZ E was really into it. Last weekend we covered our dining room table with newsprint and wrapping paper (I ran out of butcher paper) and set to work decorating pumpkins. Here are PRH and EZ E making their plans...


EZ E's plan turned out to be a bit complicated...

Kicky was our official pumpkin inspector...

This is the pumpkin that EZ E and I made while PRH carved away. Three cheers for google eyes, sharpie marker, and masking tape...

And here is the carved pumpkin lit...

and a weirdo "arty" shot to appease EZ E's weirdo mama...

What are your favorite Fall activities?

Boooooooo...

Whoa! I'm rockin' my inner-Martha this week (sorry, I promise it'll end soon). EZ E needed snacks to bring to preschool for his halloween party/parade and I saw some super cute ghost cookies online that someone made using Nutter Butter cookies. Several of EZ E's classmates are allergic to peanuts, so we used Vienna Fingers instead of the Nutter Butters. The white part is white chocolate and the faces were made using black cake decorating gel. I melted the white chocolate in the microwave, spooned it over each cookie, let them cool on parchment, and then drew on the faces. They were simple to make and EZ E is thrilled with the results.

Seasons...

Fall is my favorite season. I even love the way our coat rack looks this time of year.

Kicky's halloween costume 2010...

I've had the idea for Kicky's costume for several months and was really looking forward to making it...until I actually started it. My plan was to buy a grocery store bouquet of flowers and just sort of go from there. Once I got my hands on the fabric, I felt like I was back in grad school, sitting in my studio staring at the wall, trying to think. Eventually though, I stopped thinking about it and just started constructing. It finally came together very late Sunday night and I'm pretty happy with the results. Here's our little bouquet of flowers...



Trying to take a decent photo of an angry bouquet of flowers is difficult...


so here are some shots of the costume hanging on our wall. I used wool and acrylic felt for the base and the flowers and then tulle ribbon for "plastic" wrapping (thank you for convincing me to take the tulle, Ken!)...


Below is an in-progress shot. I started by making the felt flowers (left) and then made the costume base (right)...

and here's our always-willing model, EZ E. Neither he nor his sister will be joining the tulle fanclub anytime soon...

*Please note: I didn't use a pattern for this costume either, so I unfortunately don't have one to share. I'm not great at sewing, so I also can't provide much technical advice in that department. I just kind of wing it when it comes to costumes and I know that if you want to make one, you should just give it a try! :)

Halloween 2010...

When I asked EZ E what he wanted to be for halloween this year, he promptly responded, "A mystery.". He's obsessed with old school Scooby Doo cartoons, so I knew where he was coming from, but was kind of stumped as far as mystery costumes go. It didn't take too long, however, to make the decision to combine his two great loves (mysteries and superheroes) and make a 'Mister E' costume. So, here's our Mister E in all of his mystery-solving glory. He's showing off his most serious superhero face above. The back of his 'Mister E' cape and helmet below...


His shoe wings are my quick and dirty take on these super rad wings by small fly. Grandma and Grandpa supplied the black Converse one stars (thank you!)...


A detail of his helmet and cape...

His arm cuffs...

Here he is showing off his mystery-solving muscles...

He loved that the E emblem could be used as an eye patch. Did I mention that Mister E is a particularly clever superhero? I think he looks pretty cute. What do you think?

I'll share Kicky's costume tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I get that beast done.

*Please note: I didn't use a pattern for this costume, so I unfortunately don't have one to share. I'm not great at sewing, so I also can't provide much advice in that department. I just kind of wing it when it comes to costumes and have found that 3 year olds don't really care.

This weekend...

The 1010 project by Victoria Hannan is one of those 'I wish I'd thought of that' projects (found via a cup of jo). This particular photo, by Kate Miss, makes me want to spend the weekend revamping my wardrobe with small prints and fall colors...not to mention revamp our walls with lovely photographs. Instead, I'll be catching up on costumes and enjoying a relaxing weekend before the holiday flurry sets in. Have a happy weekend and I'll see you all on Monday!

Birds of a feather...

I came across this image from bugs and fishes and just really like the way it looks. Her finished birds are pretty awesome too. I have to admit that I'm still not over the bird craze of the last few years. Anyone else still hooked on trends of yesteryear?

Oh Josef...

These photos above, taken by über-talented Elisabeth from fine little day, sent me on a hunt for the wallpaper in the background. It is, of course, Josef Frank and I am, of course, in love with it. It's funky and crazy and awesome. Oh, and how rad are those bunny drawer pulls? Here are a couple of other Frank wallpaper's that I like that I found here...


and via door sixteen...

Costumed...

I found these adorable costume photos via vintage printables some time last year and they've been sitting on our desktop ever since. I'm working on Kicky's and EZ E's halloween costumes and am drawing major inspiration from these cuties. Isn't that thistle costume fabulous?

Color combo...

A pretty color combination at my parents' house last weekend. I love fall.

Welcome to fabulous...

My love for the VW bus runs deep, so I was thrilled to see this calendar that our friends Jim and Rachael collaborated on. It's beautiful. Fabulous is right! Pick yours up here!

First birthday...

It's official...Kicky's first birthday party is checked off my to do list. It was quite fun, as far as first birthday parties go, and I am EXHAUSTED. Kicky was apparently exhausted as well because she slept in my aunts' arms for most of the party. Here are some photos from the big day. The party was loosely designed around a hand-stitched/granny chic theme. Kicky's real name is Isla (pronounced I-La) and it's one of those old-fashioned, granny names, so I pretty much designed everything with that in mind. Her invites were designed in Illustrator and I printed them on my favorite paper (Moab Entrada).

Kicky's birthday regalia included a little headband I made for her (really simple...just ribbon, elastic, and felt), argyle tights, a fabulous little dress from Target, and an amber necklace I made for her based on Rachel's suggestion...



The favors: I used security envelopes to sew small books and secured each spine with orange masking tape. The wooden lizards/alligators came from Michael's craft store. Each one came with paint, but I decided to take them all out of the plastic packaging and stash away the paint in order to avoid a potential mess at the party itself. The favors also included a clothespin person, a pencil, and a small pumpkin. The drawstring bags were left over from a zine exchange and held everything together nicely...


Each clothespin person came with a small quantity of multi-colored felt so the kids could personalize its hair and outfit at home (I forgot to pick up glue). I painted the faces on with puff paint and cut strips of felt for the hair/outfits...


I used blue masking tape to make name tags for each bag. I just wrapped the tape around the drawstring, taped it to itself (does that make sense?), cut out the triangle shape, and wrote the names in Sharpie...


My parents had this old tool box that I piled all of the favor bags in. Each kiddo picked his or her own pumpkin...


When we asked EZ E what he wanted to give his sister, without hesitating he answered, "A box of rabbits.". He then proceeded to tell me how the rabbits would hop and follow him all over the house and love him. We went the fake rabbit route...

and he seemed pretty OK with that. In fact, he named one of the rabbits 'Beverly' and another "Rick'. We don't personally know anyone named Beverly or Rick, but now I suppose we do, right? Beverly is the fuzzy rabbit and Rick is the one with blue pom poms (just in case you should meet them in person someday)...


I hate sheet cake. Hate it. It usually tastes bad and no one ends up eating it, so I decided to make five different types of bundt cakes. My mom was in the UK for work all week and, at the last minute, I sort of panicked about making five cakes. My best friend's mom (who also happens to be my mom's best friend...got that?) saved my life and volunteered to make three of the five. She made two chocolate cakes and one pumpkin. They were absolutely delicious and are now completely gone...


I made a lemon cake and a berry buttermilk cake and put my mom's cake stand collection to good use. The little cake flags were made using misprinted invitations...


The alphabet cake candles came from our local party store. Love them...


I made a quilt for Kicky and ended up using it as a tablecloth. The forks and napkins were stashed in a vintage beverage caddie (that I fell for and ended up stealing from my parents)...


I designed the bunting in illustrator and then just printed it on card stock, cut it out, and strung ribbon through it...


The pom pom garlands (if I never see another pom pom...) were hung everywhere and so were balloons...




I lined my parents' yard with pink fabric flags so folks could spot the party easier. I bought fake white pumpkins and, in a moment of sheer obsessive behavior (shocking, right?!), I puff painted a cross-stitch inspired pattern on them. Luckily we'll have them forever...


Here's one of the fake pumpkins nestled amongst real pumpkins on the front porch. My mom bought these beautiful mums that brightened up the front lawn...

And, finally, here we all are (please excuse the grainy photo). This is me after nineteen glasses of wine and after having unsuccessfully attempted to tame my Goldberg haircut. Everyone else looks cute though...

So, that's it. Hooray! Kicky and EZ E are tooling around our house now, playing with a massive amount of new toys. Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate Kicky's big day and a special thanks to Grandma Smith for all of her help. I'm taking tomorrow (Monday) off to spend with our birthday girl and to start Halloween costumes. Let the crafting continue!