Tag sale goodies

A few weekends ago Oscar and I joined a good friend of mine, Bridget, and her son for some local tag sales. I haven't had the best luck finding great vintage things around my small town, most of the time the tag sales here are filled with baby gear and clothing (great if you need it, but I do not).
Bridget was on the hunt for a coffee table and book shelves, so O and I came along mostly for support and help hauling her purchase home.
I was pleasantly surprised however at the few that we stopped at, as I found some great goodies.


I picked up this little tea plate to add to my collection.


Oscar got another chalk board, and I like that this one has a little ledge to hold his chalk too.


I found this old quilt, it was only .25 cents and all it needed was a good washing to be usable.


I also, grabbed this sweet little child’s chair for .50 cents. Oscar loves that he can climb up on it and get off all by himself, as it is the perfect size for him right now.
Bridget and I also split up a stack of vintage trays that were a steal. Anytime I see a vintage tray I like I pick it up, and have used them for many things throughout my house. I plan on sharing some of the ways I use the trays with you soon.
Bridget seriously scored big time at the tag sales, she snagged up a sweet vintage coffee table (that I am already lusting after), and she got a great deal on it too. She also ended up going home with a cool old classroom clock, an antique orchard basket, and a heavy duty mirror. She didn't find the bookshelf she was looking for, but summer is just beginning and there are going to be many more tag sales to check out, so I have faith that she will find a great piece.

Stay tuned also, for a little redo we are working on in Bridget's great Victorian apartment. Sometime within the next couple of weeks I am headed to her place to update her space by shopping around her own house, and with a little paint and some simple DIY projects I will give a new life to old pieces. We are both excited to get going on this makeover, and I will defiantly share with you our before and after photos, as well as some great tips for doing the same things in your home.

Watercolor May

This spring has been quite wet here. And although I love a good rain storm, it was hard to get my yard work done, garden planted, and play time in outside because it just wouldn't let up. The last week of May it would rain for a while, then the sun would come up, and then it would rain again, it continued on like this until memorial weekend. Then it was like a light switch turned on and mother nature realized that it was the unofficial start of summer and we need some warm sun.
We were itching to get out of the house, so every time the sun would peek through the clouds that last week in May, Oscar and I would throw on our shoes and head outside until the rain started again.
Even though it was tough to spend a lot of time outside, the rain made everything so pretty. There was a wonderful aroma fo lilacs and fresh rain in the air.
The grass and trees turned green, the gardens started to bloom bright colors, birds chirped back and forth to one another as they gathered up worms, and from time to time a faint rainbow would frame the sky.


I finally got my yard work started (really, it is never finished), my garden is planted, and we are waiting patiently to enjoy some fresh veggies and fruit from it. And of course we have been outside playing any chance we get.
I have been eagerly waiting for summer to begin, as I have a lot planned for Oscar, John and I. We are looking forward to picnics at the park, watching some baseball games, going for bike rides, taking swimming lessons, digging in the garden, visiting the zoo, and much, much more.
It is going to be a great summer, let's just hope the weather cooperates.


Grocery List

After my Grandma passed away we were going through her belongings and I found a great cream wool cardigan of hers. I asked if I could take it home, and since it was the middle of summer, hung it up in my closet. There it sat until the following winter. When the weather had turned bitterly cold, I grabbed that cardigan to keep warm and instantly smelled my Grandma. I was so surprised that after months of hanging in my closet it still carried her scent. It wasn't the smell of her perfume, and I don't think I could ever actually describe it but it was just a smell of comfort, love, and warmth. I remember that smell as I sat on her lap as a young girl, and just from the smell of that old sweater, I was taken back to many happy memories of her. I got so much comfort wearing that sweater and the scent that it still carried, that I held off on washing it as long as possible. However, the time to wash it had finally come, and I new that after that it would never smell the same. I reached into the pockets to make sure they were empty, and my hand felt a piece of paper that I had never even noticed before. I took it out, and there in my Grandmother's handwriting was a shopping list.
* Candy
* Potatoes
* Plates
What more could you ever need?
Of course there would be candy - and of course it would be the first thing on the list. She had a sweet tooth, and her candy dish would always be full, there would always be cookies (Fig Newton’s or gingersnaps to be exact), and rice crispy bars waiting to be shared.
In the final months of her life, she was quite ill and eating was a chore for her, but she could always have a little candy, and whenever you brought a small bowl of jellybeans (black being her favorite) over to her, she would give you the sweetest smile...like a small child. I loved seeing that smile, so I made sure her little candy bowl was always filled.
I like to imagine what this little shopping list was for. Were they planning on having all of us over to their house and that is why she needed plates? Were the potatoes for my Grandpa's yummy soup? If my assumption is correct, I know we all had a wonderful time visiting, I am sure my Grandpa's soup was delicious, and I am sure my Grandma shared her candy with all of us.
The sweater has now been washed many times, and although it no longer smells like her. I still enjoy the comfort it brings every time I put it on, but I really do cherish that shopping list left in her pocket. I  have plans to frame that list, but right now it sits on my dresser, when I am getting ready in the morning it always brings a smile to my face and is a great start to my day, remembering her.
I received some things of my Grandfather's also, and one special item makes me giggle whenever I see it. That will have to wait until another time to share however, because the weather is beautiful out today and I have a little boy standing by the window waiting to get outside and play.



like mother, like son


We love our Moccasins,
and we especially love when we both wear them on the same day.

I believe that one of the best things about raising children is seeing the world in a whole new way. Everything is new to them and everything is absolutely amazing. Whenever we see anything blowing in the wind (grass, trees, flags, garbage, etc.) Oscar stops dead in his tracks and blows it (like he is blowing out candles on a birthday cake) I really do think that he believes it is his "job" to be the wind and he is very serious about it. Going for walks with him has become a brand new adventure for me. Before he came along, I would walk fast, listen to my iPod and look straight ahead, but now, with Oscar we take our time, we look up to the trees and "blow" on them for a while then we notice a bird flying by and stare in amazement at it until a colorful flower catches our eye. We pick up sticks and examine them over and over, we throw rocks into puddles and watch in awe as ripples form where it hits the water. All of these things I have seen a million times and sadly didn't stop to notice until Oscar. I am so grateful for him, he has reminded me to slow down, take notice and enjoy all the little things.



We were on our way to my Aunt and Uncle’s anniversary party a little while ago and John stopped for gas. I could hear Oscar in the back seat “oohing” and “awing” so I turned around to see these buntings blowing in the wind. I immediately got out and snapped some pictures. He was right they really were cool. Normally I would of never even noticed them, but Oscar spotted them instantly and he “blew”…and “blew”….and “blew” while we drove away. Good job buddy, you really are the wind.



Yesterday we were outside and Oscar was instantly drawn to the puddles in our driveway. I was letting him throw rocks into the puddles, but he wanted so badly to get right in there, and I was getting stressed out trying to keep him from sticking his little foot in that muddy puddle every chance he got. Then it dawned on me, why can’t he get wet? It is warm enough out and who is he hurting by getting his shoes and clothes muddy? Nobody. Everything is washable, including him. So the next time he went to stick his foot in the puddle I didn’t stop him. He was EXTATIC! Stomping around in that puddle brought him so much joy. He didn’t care when he fell down on his but right in the middle, instead he sat there and splashed around. The smile on his face was priceless. I pray that he never grows into a stuffy adult, I hope that he always jumps in the puddles instead of walking around them. And I hope that I remember what is more important, keeping a little boy clean or letting him explore the world around him? I want to always choose to let him explore, it is much more fun for both of us anyway.

We are looking forward to spending some time outside today, I am sure we will have some mud to play in, flowers (dandelions) to pick, bugs to watch, and of course a job to do…”be the wind”. What are your plans today? Whether you have children or not, take some time to play and maybe stomp in some puddles.

a birthday party and a little tutorial


We celebrated my baby"s toddler's birthday last month, and I have been meaning to post a little bit of the party, but the month got away from me, and now April is slipping away too, I wish time could just slow down a bit.
The week of O's birthday was a rather rough one for me, John left the day before Oscar's birthday for work and was gone that entire week. This was the first time he had been gone so long since Oscar had been born and we both O and I cried our eyes out as his truck backed out of our driveway, but we got thru it by keeping very busy and doing lots of snuggling at night until daddy returned home. I was also a little emotional because my little baby, was growing up into a walking, talking toddler and it is just going by too fast for my liking, I also was NOT looking forward to turning 31 that same week, but thank God for great friends and family who kept checking in with O and me, making sure that we were ok.  
We had planned on having a small birthday brunch the weekend after O's birthday so that his daddy would be home to celebrate with us, but at the last minute I decided that I needed to do something special on the actual day, whether daddy was there or not. So I invited a few people over to enjoy some cake and ice cream with us. It was such a nice time spent with family and friends reminiscing and laughing, and Oscar and I really enjoyed having the company over to keep our minds off of how we were missing daddy like crazy.



He eats his cake just like his mommy...with both hand and as much in the mouth as possible.



Oscar got some great books to read. We love books in this house, they are the perfect gift... you can never have too many, they don't take up much space...and one of the greatest things in this world is snuggling up with my little guy and reading book, after book, after book, after book, after.....

Like I mentioned this little cake and ice cream party was pretty last minute so I didn't have much time to prepare, but I knew I wanted to make some kind of cake for O's big day.

 I am sure you have seen the famous rainbow cake posted out on blog land. I created something similar last summer for an uncle's birthday party, and decided to do the same for Oscar's cake. While the rainbow cake is beautiful, and I am sure delicious, I don't have the time or energy to do THAT cake. So I improvised on mine a bit.....ok a lot....I used a box cake mix. 
I did the same thing last year for my uncle's birthday cake, but I made his the entire rainbow. For O's cake I stuck to 4 colors. This tutorial will do any version of the cake, and I have added some side notes for the full rainbow cake.


For this cake I used a box mix and a can of frosting. I am sure you could use any cake mix that you prefer, but you want to make sure it is white so that your colors will be vibrant.
As far as frosting; you can use pretty much any color or flavor, but my personal favorite is good ol' butter cream.
* I used two cans of frosting for this cake, one for the layers and one to cover the outside.
* you can also use two boxes of cake mix to make the layers of your cake thicker, if you plan on doing a full rainbow cake I recommend this, but for my 4 layer cake one box worked out just fine. (if you plan on making the full rainbow cake (6 layers), you may need an extra can of frosting too, as I had just enough to cover my 4 layer cake.)


Prepare your cake according to package instructions, and then divide up the batter into individual bowls, one for each color you will be doing. ex: if you are making the full rainbow cake you will need  6 different bowls. The original rainbow cake blog post suggested that you use a scale to evenly divide your cake batter, but I didn't do this. I simply used a measuring cup and put one scoop of batter into each bowl one at a time (like I was dealing a deck of cards out) then when I came to the end of my batter I eye-balled the rest to even it out. I haven't had a problem doing it this way, but if you would like to make sure that all of your layers are exactly the same thickness, follow her instructions for dividing up the batter.


Once I had my batter divided up into individual bowls I used gel food coloring to get the colors I was looking for. I used the table cloth as a guide to my colors. I wish I wrote down exactly how many drops of each color I used for each color, but I didn't, I just kept adding until it looked right.
To get the blues more "vintage looking" (less bright) I added a small bit of red to the color.
To tone down the red, I added a bit of blue, and to mute the yellow down a little I added drops of blue and green.
If you are trying to get the same look with your colors, my advice is to take it slow. Mix the main color first, after you get the intensity of the color you are after, add very small drops of the other colors to tone it down, mixing after each drop of color. You would be surprised how quickly you can go from a vivid blue to icky brown if you add too many drops of red.


After all my colors were mixed,
I lined the bottom of round cake pans with parchment paper and made sure that the sides were greased so that I could easily get my layers out when they were done baking.

Then poured my colored batter into the cake pan (one pan for each color), then placed all 4 of my pans in the oven to bake. I used the box instructions for baking temp and time, but watched them very closely. The lighter colors were very close to the baking instructions on the box, but I did take the darker blue and red out a few minutes early since they baked up faster. Just use the instructions as a guide, and stay close by the kitchen during baking time, every one's oven is different, and depending on how thick your layers are or how dark your colors are, the baking times will vary.

When your layers are all done baking, you will need to let them cool before assembling your cake. I like to use a cookie sheets flipped upside down with a sheet of parchment paper on top for my cooling rack because I never have enough room and it works really well for me to move the layers around with out breaking them this way.


Line your cake plate with 3 to 4 pieces of parchment paper so that they are covering the plate itself, but are easily removed once you are done decorating the cake. (I like to use 3 strips of parchment paper about 2 to 4 inches wide and I lay them across the outer side of the cake plate, leaving a large triangle where the cake will go)
Lay your first layer down on the cake plate and add a thin layer of frosting across the top.
You can really go easy on the frosting here, just a little to act as a glue for the next layer, too much frosting and your layers will slide off each other.
Continue doing this layer by layer, once I have the inside of my cake assembled, I like to add a thin layer of frosting all over the outside of my cake.  At this point all my frosting is soft and more likely to move around, so I then place it in the fridge for a few hours to "set a little".


When my cake frosting has "set" and is easier to work with, I simply add more frosting to the outside working from the top of the cake to the sides until it is evenly covered.
Add any type of sprinkles, jimmies or candies to the outside that you would like, or just leave it plain, what ever your little heart desires.
I personally like to use sugar sprinkles on my cake. I love the little crunchy bites they give to a very smooth cake, and everyone at the party must of agreed because there was not a crumb left on any one's plate.

I had a entire file saved up of birthday ideas for Oscar's first birthday, but didn't do any of them. I wanted to have a big party, have favor bags, send out great invitations and make a big deal out of the whole thing, but I am so happy that those plans didn't work out and instead we had a laid back simple party. I was under no stress and was able just to sit back and soak in the entire day. When Oscar is older, I will be able to tell him exactly what we did on his first birthday and who was all there.

When John got back we had the Grandparents over for breakfast and lunch but I was too busy enjoying the day with my husband, family and Oscar that I completely forgot to take pictures. Sorry.