side-tracked.

Okay, I know I was going to show you guys this fabric wrapped frame, but I've gotten kind of side-tracked.
That happens a lot with me. You'll get used to it ;)

I thought I had enough fabric to do my frame, but I was wrong. So, so wrong. So I'm on the hunt for a couple of vintage sheets this week.
So I decided I'd try to make some fabric wrapped hangers. Like fancy padded hangers for your skinny strap tops and dresses, but shabby looking. And cheap.

Here's what I came up with:

Pretty cute :)
And that dress that is hanging on it is my new favorite Goodwill find, a Steppin' Out little black party dress from the 90s that is toooooo adorable. And I even found shoes to go with it! (The photo does not do the hanger justice :( sorry for the horrible picture. I'm doing this while Ellie is napping and I'm kind of trapped upstairs with her for a bit.)

So all week long I've been telling my friends at {Etsy} about these awesome things I find on Fridays.
On Fridays, my aunt and I go thrifting at local thrift shops, and sometimes if the weather is nice and Ellie is at her grandma's then we go fossil hunting.
My family has some land with a large quarry on it, and it is completely full of fossils. We love to go out there and see what we can find.

You can purchase an instant collection of these fossilzed shells and coral {here} and {here}
I think they would be so cool in a terrarium! Or made into jewelry....I may even try wire-wrapping some myself.

My aunt and uncle sent some pictures off to a professional and he believes these are all from the Ordovician period, over 400 million years ago and before dinosaurs, when everything was basically an ocean (at least that's what I think. I'm no expert at this stuff. I just like to go find these little treasure.) These fossils came from the same area where we have also found tentacles from a nautilus type giant squid from that period (those photos were also looked at), and we have found several trilobites as well.
Right now we are trying to figure out a way to get the trilobites out of the rock they are in, because it probably weighs 2 tons.

So my aunt and I have started calling these adventures Treasure Hunting Friday.
And of course I'm going this week.
My friend Brittany (creator of the Little Green Guy, the most adorable little monster dolls and artwork {LittleGreenGuy}) asked me if I was going to blog about it.

So yes, yes I am.
I'll try to get some fun pictures and hopefully the weather will be perfect for fossil hunting. And also hopefully I can talk my mom into babysitting :)

Hopefully by Saturday I will have an awesome treasure-hunting post for you lovelies!
Now I'm off for some me-time before my little monster wakes up. Angel. I mean angel ;)
xo!
Rachel

coming soon : vintage fabric wrapped frames!

I'm so excited.
I have been planning to make this {fabulous frame} that I saw online from Fresh and Fun, and I have finally gathered all the components.

First, I found this big wooden frame at the thrift store. It wasn't even marked, so they gave it to me for a quarter. Yes. It was awesome.

 Then I got these lovely little vintage sheet scraps from {JaneSaysVintage} on Etsy. They got here yesterday and they are adorable. I got enough for 2 projects for about $4.00 plus shipping! Just look for "fat quarters." I didn't know what they were, but apparently they are adorable little folded squares of cloth.

My frame is quite a bit wider than the one in the original post, but I think it will still work the same basic way. I can't wait to try this!
As soon as I get more than about one nanosecond to myself without Ellie asking me to do something, I'm going to try this out.
And of course I'll probably make an ass of myself in the process. And share it with you through pics :)

I also got some awesome treasures yesterday on my weekly "outing" (ohmygod, I sound like an old woman! lol!) and I'll be blabbing some new favorites this week too.

Happy weekend, lurrrrverlies!
xo
R.

inspired by birds

I made a treasury today that I absolutely lurrrrrrve.

All inspired by my little 2 year old Ellie, who got so excited looking out the window onto our roof today. She was going, "A beard! A beard!" (which means bird in E-speak, obviously.)
My sister was upstairs while this was going on and she said, "Oh honey, you'll never be able to catch it. It'd just fly away."

That made me think.
That must be the really nice thing about being a bird; that you can just fly away.

Anyway, here's the treasury I made (you can also see it down below on your right, with another gorgeous collection) and I'm gonna follow that up with some of my favorite quotes about birds.

the {nice} thing about birds is they can {fly} away

a bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. it sings  because it has a song. -- maya angelou

a forest  bird never wants a cage. -- henrik ibsen

be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings. -- victor hugo

i know why the caged bird sings. -- maya angelou

the reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings. -- j. m. barrie

faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. -- rabindranath tagore
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune--without the words, and never stops at all -- emily dickinson If you can find a quote about birds, flight, and freedom, I'd lurrrve to hear it! xoxo Rachel

weaving to the bone.....

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in, like, forever.

I've been weaving my fingers basically down to the bone.


One of my only tutorial posts so far was about how to make chevron patterned friendship bracelets. I love the look of them and chevrons are hot hot hot for summer this year :)
So of course, I've been spending waaaaay too much time making them, and weaving my fingers basically down to nubs in the process.

But, look how pretty:

If you just have to be part of this hot (and nostalgic!) summer trend but just don't have the time (they are time-consuming) you can pick up mine here:
{Coral Reef set of 3}

{BFF set of 2}

{Earthy Blues set of 3}

{Team Spirit Wide Band Black and Gold}









They are my new obsession. And they photograph pretty too :)
So here I sit, beer in hand (I'm almost wine-d out from my {wine cork bath mat} that I'm trying to save up corks for.
Yes, I did start the idea as wine cork coasters.
Then my sister said, no, make a bath mat!
Which is fine, except it's going to take about 400 times more corks.


Anyway, I'm rambling now so I'll just get back to my beer and weaving for now...
I promise to have a new quote soon, I'm looking for some good nature photos I can use for their backgrounds. (I just think they look super cool that way!)
xoxo
Rachel

collection of collections -- treasury blitz!

My most fabulous team for my vintage shop on Etsy is having a treasury blitz today.
Basically, we all go find the most awesome, beautiful, amazing things we can on Etsy and make collections to showcase them.
It's super fun, and super super gorgeous.

My friend Anji is keeping a collection of all these...um, collections.
Go. See. Be inspired to buy stuff.

{IYF Treasury Blitz!}

I just made one that I love, it might be my favorite treasury ever. Featuring this adorable print from {innovative mom}

inspire your little monsters
Mine ^^


Let me know if you find something in one of our collections that you just can't live without!
xoxo
Rachel

one year with you...

So my first anniversary is coming up next month.
It's kind of exciting to be looking for gifts for this anniversary, because now there are "traditional" gifts for each year.
Year one is paper.
Obviously money is probably what my hubs would prefer, but I'm going to do something a little more sappy than that.

So I've been scouring the net for ideas. Here are some of my faves so far.

I love this paper cutting from Julienne Harrison. So intricate and just awesome.
You can see more paper cuttings here:
{Julienne Harrison}

I love this ^^
{DomesticNotions}

And I definitely wouldn't mind getting a pretty paper bouquet.
{MartyMakes}

{sugarpopparty}

Some very pretty stuff....although I think hubs would appreciate some boudoir photos even more ;)
If you have an impossibly great paper gift idea (possibly for a somewhat less romantic and more nerdy husband) be sure to let me know!
xo.
Rachel

another quote to ponder

i want to cultivate the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown. -- kathe kollwitz



I know I haven't posted anything new for a while...I've been busy with general life stuff, and haven't felt well on top of that.

I hope to soon be posting some DIYs (or DIYGHW, aka DIYs Gone Horribly Wrong) when I attempt to make these:

 

I'm drinking wine as fast as I can so I'll have enough corks to make a set of these babies. And of course I'll   take pictures of my "process," mostly so you guys can laugh. No, I actually hope they turn out, because they would be really cool. So yeah, I'm gonna have to hit that wine. And I've recruited my sister and mom            already, so it shouldn't be too much longer.                                                                                                     

xo!                                                                                                                                                                  Rachel                                                                                                                                                          

dandelion seeds.

E. and I have spent the last couple of days picking every dandelion from the yard. And sometimes the neighbor's yards too.
She loves to pick the ones with seeds and blow them everywhere. Of course. (what kid doesn't?)
She also loves to pick huge handfuls of them for mommy.

So I have lots and lots of dandelion seeds.
And I made pretties, of course :)

{Dandelion Wishing Seed necklaces}

And some with other flowers I have.
This one is my new favorite: {Violas and Dandelion Seeds necklace}

I think Ellie and I should go flower picking every day.
She inspires me :)

So....go be inspired. Or go flower picking. Either way, it's a good time!
xo.
R.

home.

home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. -- robert frost


Even if they don't want to!
xo.
R.

going through my favorites.

I just got this random urge to go through my favorites on Etsy and look at all the awesome stuff I have found on there over the months.
I love Etsy. The amount of different things you can find there is amazing! It has handmade, vintage, and some of the most creative and fabulous products I've ever seen! I can spend hours on there (yeah, right, maybe without the 2 year old E.) just surfing and seeing what kind of cool stuff I can find.




I adore this ring from lumafina. I love the natural feel of the cut of the Herkimer diamond and the simple sterling silver band.  {lumafina}

This wreath from Hickowreaths is so stunning! I love the mixture of nuts, eggs, feathers, and other nature-y stuff, and the blue just pops!
{hickowreaths}

This vintage 1960s tea set is to.die.for. Absolutely fabulous, every girl's dream tea! From PomegranateVintage
{pomegranate vintage}

A miniature Venus Fly Trap in a bottle from MineToMe. This would be such a cool gift for a guy! {minetome}

I love this tiny perfume bottle from The13thClock. She is so delicate and pretty!
{the13thclock}

I absolutely adore old birdcages. I'd probably only ever put fake birds in them, but they're still pretty. This one from lovintagefinds is so cool!
{lovintagefinds}

I don't just love this snail trinket box. I need it! Seriously. This is the most awesome thing ever. From TheSageScottie.
{thesagescottie}







I'm off to surf Etsy for more amazing things!
xo.
Rachel

i dance.....a quote.

and those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.-- friedrich nietzsche



If you hear the music, DANCE!
xo.
R.

bunnies!!!

We went to visit my aunt and family this weekend, and my cousin had bought this bunny.
Look how adorable!

It is a dwarf rabbit bunny, and it is basically a snuggly little ball of fur. And love. And cuteness.
If you cradle it in your hand, it will just go to sleep. It was just so, so sweet.
Cousin says her (his? who knows with bunnies?) name is Shae, but we just called him "Bunny" or "Bun Bun." E. LOVED him and ran around all weekend saying, "Where da bunny?"
Needless to say, I really, really want a bun-bun of our own!

I also took E. to an easter egg hunt yesterday. She was so cute in her little dress (complete with fuzzy bunnies on it), running around crazily, picking up everything in sight. She found a bubble wand, and after that she kind of only cared about the bubble wand, but we managed to steer her towards some more candy before it was all gone (yes, that candy was for me. No, I don't feel bad about it.)

So of course, all these Easter-y activities got my mind on Easter.
Which is good, because sometime this week I still have to get everything together to make E. a basket for Easter.
Here are some springtime/Easter ideas I love :)

Easter treat jars: a much cuter take on traditional candy!
via: http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2010/04/freecycle-fridaycute-easter-treatshappy.html

Easter decorations, on the cheap: make a garland out of paint swatches.
DIY here: http://www.parents.com/blogs/goodyblog/2011/04/cute-and-cheap-easter-garland/?socsrc=pmmfb0327122

Peeps Sunflower Cake: delightfully adorable!
Recipe via Taste of Home: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peeps-Sunflower-Cake

I love, love, LOVE these! They have a unique look and are just gorgeous. Tiny nests with flowers, eggs, and butterflies inside a bell jar/ cake stand lid.
via: http://tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com/page/32

 



I love the idea of an egg tree for some springtime/Easter decor. This one is just beautiful!
How-to via Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/272734/easter-egg-tree?center=276968&gallery=274530&slide=272734

Grass! It's growing, it's green, it's lush. I love it. Do amazing things with your springtime decor with it. Who knew?
Grass candles are spring-y, gorgeous, and you can do it yourself! Yay :)
via Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/274530/decorating-for-easter/@center/276968/easter#/192512

Another gorgeous way to use grass in your decor!
DIY here, via Makoodle: http://www.makoodle.com/easter-grass-decor/

A lovely clover basket (complete with chocolate bunny!) for some fabulous and unique spring decor.
DIY via Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/274530/decorating-for-easter/@center/276968/easter#/222826







Okay, I think that has purged all the Easter from my brain.
At least until I go into town to get stuff for E.'s basket :)

Hoppy Spring everyone!
xoxo
Rachel