justem: little bits of this and that

Thrifty Thursday

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've recently been bitten with the thrifting bug. I go in streaks where I am constantly searching Craigslist and stopping by Goodwill and St. Vinny's, and then I will go for months without buying a thing.  In the past couple weeks I've had some awesome finds, and I thought I'd share a few of them today, because, well, this blog is pretty boring and needs something other than layouts. (Or maybe not, but whatever...)

One of the local St. Vinny's was slated to have a vintage kitchen sale last Saturday. I was skeptical because I noticed it wasn't mentioned at all on their FB or twitter. But, the main St. Vinny's website said it was so...so it MUST be so!!!  Of course, we arrived and there was no vintage kitchen sale. I did, however, manage to find another sled...it's an "Ace Pacer" and is maybe not as "vintage" as my other two, but it's cute!

I am always on the lookout for blue Ball mason jars.  I decided I wanted to line them up along the back of my built-in buffet.  I figured I could just pick them up here and there until I had enough.  However, a nice man on Craigslist helped me out by selling nine Ball and one Atlas brand blue jars.  A few of them are pretty old...and, as I said on Instagram, I will never need to buy another blue mason jar...but I probably still will. ;)

I think I have the very best husband.  When I send him emails when he's working out of town asking him to go pick me up a globe that I found on that local Craigslist page...he does it. ;)  This is so similar to one I had as a kid - only the bottom of mine was colorful.  I'm keeping my eyes open for one like that!

I have a list of items that I'm always keeping my eyes open for. One of these is a set of Ransburg handpainted canisters.  I saw a set on Craigslist, but they weren't in great shape. I was still going to buy them, but I decided, on a whim, to check eBay.  Lo and behold, there was a set in better condition for way less than the local ones. I bought them, of course. :)

And finally, I went to my local thrift shops last week and was feeling like it was a pretty sad trip, until I found these totally awesome vintage flash cards. They are in perfect condition and cost sixty cents each. Score! I also picked up a few vintage pillowcases - not entirely sure what I'm going to do them, but they sure are pretty!

It's been a fun couple of weeks. I also stopped by a local antique mall today when I had an extra hour...and it made me appreciate thrifting even more!!  Globes that I have in my home were on sale for 50 dollars. The same mason jars I got this week were 20 dollars a piece!! I think I'll stick with Craigslist and the thrift shops. :)

Shoe Love {October Afternoon}

Last week we celebrated "Love Letters" week on the October Afternoon blog. I have to admit, I was less than thrilled when I discovered that was the theme. I am so not a love letter person. I jokingly said to Mel, who was up on the blog with me that day, that I was going to write a love letter to my shoes. So I did. Well, if I'm being honest, it's really a love RAP.  Yeah.  I've got mad skillz. So picture me rapping this in my best midwestern rap voice...

See...all those years I spent in music school are TOTALLY worth it. ;)  

Us {Fancy Pants Social Media Team}

Happy Valentine's Day!  And...ACK! How has it been a week since I last posted anything!!  Today I have a layout made with the brand new Fancy Pants collection Office Suite. It's super cute - maybe my favorite of theirs for awhile!  I punched all the die cut letters out of the sheet and used it as a background for my layout.  I liked how it incorporated all the colors in the line without being overwhelming.  I wanted a nice solid black title in a contrasting font, so that it didn't get lost in the all the other letters!

The photo is of my daughter and me after her very first theatrical performance. She played the very important role of "skunk" in Robin Hood! ;)  I love that this line has a little bit of black in it!  It fits perfectly with her fancy black costume!!  

Have a great Valentine's Day! Does anyone have any big plans?  My husband and I are headed out for dinner this evening, hurray! 

Dreamers {Fancy Pants Social Media Team}

Today is Social Saturday on the Fancy Pants blog, and I have two layouts up! The first one, I will share here today! It uses their brand new Flutter collection! I posted a sneak on Instagram, noting that KRAFT is back!  A lot of people commented that they never realized that kraft went out of style, but I do feel like in the past couple years white backgrounds replaced most kraft backgrounds!!  I was a huge lover of kraft a few years ago, but I, too, succumbed to the allure of the clean white page!  I'm not sure how I feel about kraft making a comeback...but I am sure about my feelings (aka: LOVE) for this new line!

Have a great weekend!

Listen. Love.

I feel like I went for about an entire year without discovering many "new" songs that I liked...and all of a sudden I'm hearing all sorts of things that grab my attention. They may not be new to everyone, but they are definitely new to me.  I know nobody here probably gives two hoots about the music I like, but I love hearing what other people are listening to, so I figure I can share a few of my favorites, too. I've been listening to this song over and over for the past couple of days. Like...truly over and over...three, four times in a row. Everybody I know seems to enamored with the "Take Me to Church" song by Hozier, which I just don't love.  Not sure why...something about it kind of bugs me.  However, this song by the same artist is perfection.  The background vocals, the clapping, the chorus, the harmony, the chords, the syncopation (geeky music teacher alert!!). It makes me want to close my eyes and sway around my kitchen. Not that I really did that... ;) 

Love This, Love You {Gossamer Blue}

I am not a stamper by trade. Every month I get these beautiful stamps from Gossamer Blue, and I rarely use them. The February kit, however, had a stamp that I knew I MUST use. This LOVE stamp from the Life Pages kit is so adorable.  I wanted to create the effect of stamping darker at the bottom and lighter at the top. It doesn't look exactly as I'd hoped, but it's okay. ;) My biggest problem with creating layouts with a lot of background noise is that I can never figure out where to put the photo!  I have used this photo on a few layouts already - but it's my favorite photo of my husband and myself AND it was already printed out, score. ;) 

I have been a journaling slacker lately...mostly because my typewriter is out of ribbon - does anybody have a great resource to buy new ribbon??  I need to get on that. ;) I also just don't feel that a layout like this needs much journaling. It's not telling a story about a particular place or time...it's just about the love. ;)  Have a great day!

 

The Fox Hat {Fancy Pants}

I was looking back and my blog and realized I STILL have some past layouts that I never shared here!  Today I have a Fancy Pants layout I made last month featuring my son and his fox hat. It's a totally cute story - he hated any and every hat for the longest time until he saw this fox hat in the store. I tried it on him, but it was close to being too small so I put it back on the rack. He started crying and pointing to his head - he wanted it on!  It is rare that I use a themed embellishment on a page that actually matches that theme, but this little fox die cut was perfect for these photos!  

Have a great Tuesday!

Our New Old WI Home: The Parlor

The Parlor.  That sounds so fancy.  We could just call it the "side room." Or, if we wanted to be overly descriptive and not at all fancy, "the TV room." ;) But, I like "the parlor." The parlor is actually one of my favorite rooms in our house, which is interesting, because it's filled with old, mismatched furniture.  This is a perfect example of how a room can be totally imperfect, yet still pretty close to perfect. ;) Here are some photos and some thoughts...

It's hard to get a good photo of this room. (I need a wide angle lens!!)  It is off on the side of the living room with French doors that open to the living room and a glass panel door that leads to the dining room. Here is what it looks like if you are standing in the middle of the living room:

That red couch is a WRECK.  It was the very first piece of "real" furniture we bought a long, long time ago. Since then, it's been peed on, puked on, and had food spilled all over it. Our dog used to chew her rawhide on the arms. The back cushions are destroyed. The flip side of the seat cushions are covered in sharpie. Once I had the brilliant idea to try and wash and dry a seat cushion cover...yeah that worked out well. ;) This couch is a well-loved disaster.  We are thinking about having the back cushions restuffed.  Note to self - never EVER buy a couch with soft detachable back cushions again! You may know that I have a thing for pillows. I like to think that my fun pillows totally detract from the awful couch!  The table was a Craigslist find. My husband refinished the top, and it's as good as new. Solid wood and sturdy!  I also got the two Coke crates to hold magazines and library books from Craigslist - in case you haven't noticed - I get a lot of stuff from Craigslist! The "end table" is a TV tray. We are classy. ;)  The only new item we purchased for this room was the rug from IKEA. My husband was skeptical at the time, but I really think it works well...and in the words of the Big Lebowski, it really ties the room together. ;)

 We got a set of the black IKEA chairs for our wedding - so they are 10 years old.  Only one is in the room right now. Again...the pillows are my plan to draw your eye away from all the "not great" stuff!! ;) It's hard to see, but my mom gave me the crossstich of Madison that is sitting by the plant.  It's probably as old as I am, and I love it. The window coverings are the same as the ones in the living room. I don't love them, but they were a quick and inexpensive fix when we moved in and needed to get rid of the old ones.

On the other side of the couch is a hand painted chair that we received a gift and an old soda crate that has special meaning to me! I envision it someday holding vintage quilts or afghans!

Our entertainment center and TV are against the back set of windows. It's not the greatest place for a television because of all the light, but it was the only place in the house it would fit.  Our entertainment center is from IKEA. It's much more modern in than the rest of the room, but it fits in the space, so we'll keep it for now! This is the most boring photo ever... ;)

If you look in between the two sets of doors, we have an old Mission style library shelf that I got off of Craigslist. When I first purchased it, I was worried I had made a big mistake because it doesn't stand flush against the wall. It would have originally have been a free standing shelf (or attached to others like it) in an actual library. However, I've grown to love it. In the interest of "keeping it real" here is a photo - complete with remote controls, books and toys, and that fan which we put there in the summer and never bothered to put away in the winter! ;)

 I didn't even bother to take a photo of the other corner of the room. It holds a gigantic radiator and a single picture on the wall. It's even more boring than the TV side of the room, so I thought you'd be okay not seeing it! 

As with all the other rooms in the house, when we moved in, I made a a big list of "changes" to make.  Most of them will probably not happen for years...but I will share just keep track of our progress!

• Fix ceiling (cracked) and put up a tin ceiling
• Take down plant holders
• Hang pictures
• Clean walls/touch up paint
• Window coverings 
• Refinish Floor
• Clean/Fix red couch
• New chairs
• New coffee table/side tables
• Fun pillows for couch
• Rug
• Replace outlet covers
• Repaint radiator
• Eventually replace windows

The Best {Gossamer Blue February}

February 1! Crazy!! This month's Gossamer Blue kits are off the charts.  It's so fun for me to talk to my fellow DT members to see what they like and are comfortable with when it comes to kits. A friend told me that this kit with its bright colors was more difficult for her.  For me - this kit is perfection!!!

Today I have my Main Kit Only layout to share! Although there are tons of different colors represented in this kit, I chose to highlight my favorite combo - yellow and aqua!! I also love all the wood elements.  It's always crazy to me how companies come out with such similar products with one another.  Trends run deep in this industry. ;)  Last week, my daughter stole my phone and took a bunch of photos of me and some of my son and me.  This one is blurry, but I love it so. :) 

Be sure to stop by Gossamer Blue to check out these fabulous February kits!!