I am loving swans in general and this brooch in particular right now.

Is everyone as excited as me to see Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby?  It comes out May 10.  I am all about period movies based on classic literature.  I think it is my favorite movie genre ever.  I’m in love with the clothing from this time period.  Have you seen the Prada sketches of costumes for the movie floating about on Pinterest?  Every time I watch this Gatsby trailer I want to chop my hair off and lose 20 pounds.  LOL  I am of course on the lookout for some Gatsby inspired clothing.

I have been extremely lucky in finding some new clothes this Spring that I just adore.   They are not 1920′s but they feel vintage and maybe even a little Gatsby to me.  They sort of make me want a Mint Julep.

I am just crazy for subtle, feminine detailing in clothing.  I also really enjoy clothes that look period or even a little costumey.  I get that it’s not everyone’s thing.  In some parallel universe, I think I just might be a costume designer for the movies:)  This is a 100% cotton eyelet, peplum top with a scalloped sleeve from Ann Taylor Loft.  I have to admit that I had just about given up hope on Loft.  Their fall/winter stuff was all synthetic materials and no vintage feeling clothes at all.  I am so happy I “happened to check them out” again.  They are just about the only convenient clothing store (other than Target) to me so I will most likely forever continue to walk through Loft even though I have a love/hate relationship with it.

Here is another one from Loft, 100% cotton, dotted Swiss t with an eyelet panel down the front and 3 little buttons on the back.

This mint, 100% cotton, peter pan collar shift has row, vertical pleats (That isn’t the right word.  Granzie, help me out…what is that called?  It escapes me right now.) and khaki highlighted, open work/hemstitching (not sure exactly what that’s called either) down the front.

This one is from Boden.  It’s 100% cotton, dotted Swiss with a peter pan collar and scalloped button placket.  I will most likely wear all of these with jeans.

The shoes are from dsw.com.  It’s a brand new to me called Chelsea Crew that does some very vintagey looking shoes.  Yay!  I saw these shoes and had to have them even though I don’t wear heels.  These are very comfortable and great for someone like me who loves the look of heels but doesn’t have the sort of life for heels (they are very low+wide=practical).  I’m wearing these to the grocery.  With jeans.   I don’t care.  I’m not waiting to dress up to use them (because I really never go anywhere that I need to dress up).  I have always wanted t-strap shoes, they are just so old fashioned.  These are synthetic (not leather) and therefor, pretty reasonably priced.   The hat was $10 from Target.  Oh no!  Hats on beds is bad!  Thanks Drugstore Cowboy for giving me a hats on beds phobia (Carey, this movie always makes me think of you <3 ).

PS  The flower duvet on the bed is a recent consignment find that I’m absolutely crazy for.  I got a whole set of Liberty of London for Target bedding from the Consignment shop next to the Farm Woman’s market in Bethesda a few months ago.  It was a great price AND my mom was so kind to spoil me and buy it for me

I’ve been messing around with some Masterpiece Theater inspired hairdos in an attempt to feel inspired about keeping my hair long when I see Gatsby.  I’m so not kidding.  When I walked out of Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge movie I knew I needed a belly button ring.  I didn’t even like the movie, but it was so visually inspiring.   PS  This hairstyle was super easy.

Um….I’ve never posted a pic of myself in the 3.5 years I’ve had my blog.  Awkward.  I wanted to post this for 2 reasons.  #1 My Grams face-timed me by accident last weekend and I was sick and looked awful.  I promise I don’t always look soooo horrible, Grams  (plus, I was taking a pic of my hair anyway).  #2  This is the other shirt I bought this Spring from Boden.  It is synthetic, but it has a peter pan collar and horizontal, row pleating/what-sits?    And the color is just darling.

OK, so the name of this post should actually be:  Holy Cow!  I bought five shirts!  Such a splurge but I’m happy I did it.  Sometimes it just feels good when it’s my turn to be spoiled.

**Pin tucking!  Thanks, Nora  Those are the pleated what-sits I was thinking of…**

Selina Lake’s new book Pretty Pastel Style is soooooo fun.

I ebayed this Cath Kidston cushion cover.  LOVE it.

I finally found Patio Cushions that work with my vintage patio set.  It took forever!  These are Smith and Hawkin from Target ($40 for each cushion was a bit pricey but not in comparison to having them made- $100/cushion maybe more depending on fabric).  The new umbrella ($67) is from Target as well.   It is so nice to get the back yard cleaned up and functional again.

Last Fall we pulled out the Iceberg Roses that constantly had black spot and planted disease resistant, Pink Baby Blanket Roses in their place.  This Spring we took a big load of back yard junk to the dump.  Planted a new lilac (my favorite), mulched, weeded and are working on putting in four 3×5 raised veggie boxes!   It is very exciting.  We have 3 trees to finish mulching in the back and then we move onto fixing the landscaping in the front of the house.  We are moving two Annabelle hydrangeas, a climbing hydrangea,  two peonies and a lilac to the back and putting in some boring bushes in their place.  The front of the house gets so very hot and dry in the summer that we decided to move the pretty plants around back so they won’t fry every July/August.

Thanks to my friend, Emily, I finally started some food storage to have on hand for emergencies.  The silver bags are grains, there are lots of beans/lentils, olive oil, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and honey.  It’s actually pretty fun.  This week I am adding at least salt and pepper to the box…maybe more.

This is Mila’s first day of ballet.  We signed up through the county and she LOVES it!!!  It is nice because there isn’t a strict dress code and we don’t have to do the receital if we don’t want to.  We are going to continue through the rest of the year and then do a ballet camp (just 2 hours a day) for one week in our neighborhood.  I’ve been  getting all the tutus and bodysuits at Lucy’s for $5 and less.  I did end up buying her new ballet shoes after my sister’s old ones kept falling off in class.

Mila is just so precious and happy and loves going out to do things and see people and have fun.  Three and a half is way more fun than two!  YAY!!!

I just packed away all the 4T clothes and am trying to buy some 5T in a hurry (since we have none).  Thank Goodness for Lucy’s Consignment.

Kitty pile on a swing

Why do they make children’s play tables so expensive?   I decided to make my own after seeing this one on the mali-mo blog.  Nora found this one for me at Unique for $15.  Before:

After:

This is painted with left over paint from the front door.  I use this paint a lot.  I used it on the outside metal furniture too.  It’s a Sherwinn Williams color.  I want to say it is called Meander Blue.  I’ll have to look at one of my very first blog posts when we painted the front door!  Holy cow, I was right.  Meander Blue.  I copied this color from Miles Redd’s front door.  I considered doing some gold highlights on it (like the inspiration pic) but I don’t have any gold so I thought I would just live with it this way for a while and then decide about adding gold paint.  Anyway, I only have one child’s chair that fits it so I am on the look out for more at garage/rummage/flea sales this year…

IF…we can ever get healthy and I can make it out of the house to sales that is!  I came down with a sore throat yesterday and hoped it was only allergies.  Today I am sure it is something more.  Especially since Mila had a two day sneezing fit earlier this week.  Poor dear, I thought it was just allergies then too and kept dragging her out on our usual days adventures.  Miles and Liam both stayed home feeling unwell today.  February, March and April have just been this way.  But honestly, it’s this way every year for us.  Liam especially is frequently sick at this time of the year every year.  I’m not sure why.  **Note to myself**  Next Winter I need to start Liam on vitamin C, D, Probiotics and Fish Oil at the very least to boost his immune system for this time next year.   Anyway, I am resting up today so I won’t be sick for the weekend (I hope!).  I missed out on a rummage sale last night in Poolesville and one this morning in Walkersville (plus a fun play date for me and Mila).  Oh man!

Laundry.  This was early in the day.  I probably did six more  loads by the end of the day.

I love my vintage laundry hanger.  I hang all of my clothes and most of Mila’s (they last much longer this way and are more easily consigned).  I don’t really want to see the laundry right in the middle of the upstairs hallway all the time though.  I have a laundry closet at the top of the stairs just opposite this laundry rack (I have a pic, but can’t post it again and I have no idea why that is happening.  This new add media feature on WordPress is a lot more finicky than the old way!).  I wish this house had a laundry room.  The way things are set up right now, all the laundry mess (and ironing board) is a permanent feature in my bedroom.

Remember this cabinet pic?   I haven’t decided if I want to repaint the inside or line the inside back with fabric.

I ordered this Cath Kidston oilcloth off of Etsy.  I’m in love with this print and the fact that it is oilcloth and can be wiped.  I have considered:  1.  putting it on my dinning chairs 2.  the top of my coffee table (like stretched over the top and stapled underneath) 3.  the top of my dinning table (the white Ikea one that the boys scratched up) 4.  making sofa arm covers with it 5.  covering the inside back of the green glass cabinet.  I love it so much I want to order it in other colors too.  I’m a little crazy sometimes.

Look at this precious inspiration picture I found on Pinterest (from Homespun Living blog).  It’s just so sweet and simple.  She uses that table with wheels as an ironing board!  Brilliant.  Seriously.  AND that glass front cabinet looks just like mine, right?  My washer and dryer are side by side right now and I want to stack them like this.  I think it will give me a lot more storage stacked this way.  I can take the ironing board out of my room and get a cute table like this.  I also want to hang a bar across the top of the closet that I can hang stuff to dry on hangers.  I can use wicker baskets in there  to store clean laundry instead of in my room on the “laundry bench.”   I’m not sure where I can put my laundry hanger though.  I almost need a European laundry rack that I can pull down from the ceiling.

I wish I could tackle this project by myself, like today.  I always have so many projects in my mind that I want to get done and I really only have Christian’s help with these type of things for a few hours every other weekend or so.   Even then, the house stuff that needs to be done usually takes priority over projects I want to do.   It’s so frustrating.  I need to buy myself a paint sprayer (Like my friend Nora did).  And a few other tools of my own.  Then I could do a lot more projects by myself!

Historical doll clothes from Sense and Sensibility patterns (to die for!).  I am so excited to finally be starting on these!

Crocheted collars.  I love them.  I am addicted to making them for big people, little people and dolls (even my kitties modeled some of these).  I found the free pattern on Pinterest here.

I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It was in Euro measurements (grams/ml) so I (roughly) converted it (Oh and I doubled it!).  This was my first go of the recipe.  I will post it here so I don’t lose it.   It’s lovely because you probably already have most of these things in the fridge/pantry.

Doughnut Muffins

1 cup sugar

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup yogurt

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

11 oz butter, melted

preserves

sugar for rolling

Preheat to 350 deg.   Don’t over mix batter.  Fill greased muffin tins less than half full with batter, put a tsp of jam in and put more batter on top (I did’t have any good jam, so I pushed chocolate chips in.  *note* Next time don’t try to push in, just follow directions/layering method).  Bake 15-20 mins until golden brown.  Let cool 5 mins and roll in sugar.

Makes about 18.

Mine turned out slightly dry but all I had on hand was some very thick (almost ricotta like) Greek yogurt.  It might be fine with regular yogurt or the measurements might need slight adjusting.  The possibilities with this are endless.  You could do strawberry jam and roll in powdered sugar or blueberry jam and roll in regular sugar and cinnamon.  You could do some with a lemon curd filling and powdered sugar.  Or what about nutella?  Holy cow!  These were definitely a hit with the family.

While Darling was gone for work last week, I rearranged my cookbooks again.  I threw all of my misc. papers/bills in this picnic basket (I’ll sort that part out later).  I decided to put the flower pots on the small ledge to prevent me from piling papers on there again.

I replaced these knobs again (I bought them at Homegoods.  All 8 glass knobs were purchased for $20).  The previous glass flower knobs broke immediately after installing them (just poor quality).  We haven’t had any pulls on this drawer in ages!   It is so nice to attend to small projects sometimes.

While Christian was in NYC last week I also cleaned off this counter top.  I thought I had better take a picture of it because it may not last long.  I realized that since I am in the kitchen a ton and in particular standing at the sink, looking at a clean surface directly in front of me is wonderfully inspiring.  My mind feels a lot less cluttered.

Did I show you this yet?  My disco ball (made from dismantling a spinning one from the basement).  I am copying Nester of course.  Not everyone is a fan of the disco ball.  But I don’t care.  I am loving it for now.  When the sun sets, I have magical polka dots all over the walls.  It makes me happy.

Remember this lovely creamer and sugar bowl I got in the fall?  I just found the matching teapot ($12.99 at Homegoods).  Put a bird on it!  LOL.  Are you watching Portlandia?

I threw away my rusty bathroom garbage can (yay!) when I brought home this lovely ($20 at Homegoods).   It is glass and so lovely.

This is our new door mat from World Market (I think it was around $14 shipped).  It’s so happy.

I threw away our old, hot pink bath mat (the kitties had peed on it about a million times before Totoro was diagnosed with diabetes) and purchased two of these at Marshalls ($35 total).  I am so happy with them.  They really make the bathroom look a lot more put together.

Here was my one real splurge.  New sheets.  My favorite!  They are light blue with tiny white polka dots (Ralph Lauren from Homegoods).  They are so precious and mix and match with all my other linens so nicely.  I just couldn’t resist.  I’m seeing a pink and blue theme today!

I know it seems like I have been to Homegoods/shopping a lot lately.  I kind of have.  BUT these pictures are really from the last couple of months.  I am missing garage sales and flea markets right now.  When I go to Homegoods etc, I try to keep it to a minimum and only buy one item per trip, just my favorite thing.  Sometimes this is difficult to do but more frequently I walk out of there with nothing at all.  I always use cash that I have made from my afterschool care or dog walking (extra jobs) so I feel good about buying these treats.  I love working on my home and I often feel like it needs constant updating/replacing of small things that are worn out, rusty, broken or just gross.  Right now I am on the hunt for a new kitchen garbage can.  We didn’t buy a diaper geenie or anything for Mila when she cam home, we just used the regular trash can (it is 7+ years old anyhow).  So yeah…it needs replacing.   Yuk.

Today I did some paint touch ups on my pink sewing cabinet and Darling caulked/fixed the gaps in the crown molding in our bedroom.  He also finished the patches/painting from where we moved the sewing shelves!  YAY.  These were small projects that have a big effect when all done together in one room.

Let’s talk about kids/baby clothes for a minute.   I love to save my kids’ baby clothes/blankets etc.  (For excellent inspiration for saving baby clothes, look at this blog post-it’s to die for!  Yep, it’s in Finnish, just look at the pics .  For me textiles are as good as (or better than) pictures.  When I hold a baby outfit, I can feel and smell and think all the same things that I did when my children were wrapped in those darling fabrics.   I have a fairly complex process of going through clothes when Mila outgrows them.  1.  I pull out any clothes I can’t part with for a keep sake box  2.  I wash/pack up the rest  to pass on to our baby neice  3.  When the clothes come back, I sort through them to decide what I want to cut up for quilts/crafting or re-purposing  4.  I try to consign what I don’t want to keep for crafting  5.  I donate what Lucy’s Consignment doesn’t want  6.  I cut up the clothes for crafting purposes.   Today, I finally made it to this round of step #6.  Let me show you some pictures!

(problem posting this pic?)

I am going to cut these pieces  into 5×5 squares.  This is what I will make into a keep-sake quilt.

I changed my mind and couldn’t bear to cut this one up.  It’s Italian travel/landmarks/scooter fabric.  I love the colors, I love everything about this.

This is a brim from an 18-24 baby hat (Gymboree 2005 or 2006).  I think it will be just darling as a detachable collar (almost to be used like a necklace) for Mila.  I will probably shorten it and put some kind of pretty closure on it.  I love the detailing/rickrack and fabric/colors.  It’s perfect because it already has fabric stabilizer in it to make it a little stiff , it reverses to a co-ordinating fabric and it is basically the perfect shape already.  *I think I am going to try and make it into a peter pan collar.*  I am inspired to make some detachable collars for her after seeing The Well-digger’s Daughter on Netflix/watch it now (you must watch this one for the clothes, they are so lovely!).  I also want to do a crocheted collar for her (like this).

This is the rest of that hat.  Hmmmm…Im not sure what to do with it yet.  It looks like a cozy for something?   Or a pin cushion?  Or what?  Can’t decide, but it’s too pretty to throw away.

Here are leg elastics from the matching bloomers to this outfit.  Look at the details!  They made these with co-ordinating fabric trim.  I love that.  I love the love that goes into that.  These type of details are missing from today’s clothes.  Or maybe it’s just Mila’s size?  Are clothes getting less cute/not as well made the older she gets?   I think I am going to make these into hair elastics.

Gap has a new Peter Rabbit line.  I would have bought all of this, if they had made it in her size:

Aren’t they just darling?  Why didn’t Gap make the Peter Rabbit line in bigger sizes?  Why do they assume we want to dress our three year olds like they are teenagers?  I feel like emailing them!  Are you seeing a color theme here?  I think I am loving pink and yellow!

Guess what I ordered for myself from Boden?!?!   The scallop trim shirt (in yellow) and the casual cable cardigan (in soft red/pink).  I adore the fabric (both are 100% cotton) and details and colors of these two items.  They look vintage inspried to me.  I just hope they fit properly!  I wanted the scallop trim shirt last year and was sorry when I didn’t get it.  So I was super happy to see they brought it back this year.

I cut these felt Miffy heads to patch onto Mila’s dirty knees.  It was a Pinterest idea of course.  I am terribly obsessed with bunnies right now.  Like this pillow and this wall decal and this wallpaper (I don’t think they sell this anymore) and all of this bunny stuff from Maileg.  Oh and I ebayed this adorable bunny night light but what I really wanted was this expensive Miffy one.   I also can’t get enough of fawns and foxes.  Thank goodness for Pinterest.  If I had my shop or my own children’s clothes line, it would be nothing but bunnies, fawns and foxes right now.

**Have you ever seen Olive’s Friend Pop childre’s clothes (I think I have posted about them before)?  I think they are literally the cutest, vintage inspired clothes out there.  Way out of my price range, but so inspirational.**

I love the colors, fabrics, details and design.  If I had a shop, I would sell this.  Look at the bonnet!  **After a little research, I realized this company is no longer in business.  Isn’t that a shame?  I wish I could start a children’s clothing company with clothes like this but priced more like Gymboree!**

***PS***If you want to make some lovely vintage inspired baby clothes,  you can find lovely patterns at Oliver and S.