In a fundraising state of mind

Meet Oliver.

My sweet little Jedi.

A boy who loves books and legos.

And light sabers.

And school.

He really, really loves school.

A boy who surprised us a bit by asking if he could audition for the chorus at his school. A boy who became a member of that chorus.

A boy who is ecstatic because this chorus will be singing in Disney World in just over 2 months.

A boy whose parents signed him up to go sing in Disney World with the chorus and also plan to send his mommy and 2 sisters so as not to send a 7 year-old to Florida without a parent and whatnot, and are now wondering exactly how to pay for it all.

(gulp)

Yup.

That's right.

While in the grand scheme of things, I know a Disney World trip is not high on the super-important-things-of-life scale, but to our kiddos who have never been, we know this will be a HUGE deal to them. Not to mention the fact that I'm quite looking forward to seeing their faces as THEY see and hear and experience the most magical place on Earth.

This is where I tell you about 3 things I'll be doing this week to hopefully put a dent in the cost of this trip.

#1- I've recently purged all of the closets in the house, and I mean ALL, and will be posting pics tomorrow right HERE of several girls items (12-24 month clothing and TONS of shoes), boys items (4, 5, 6), and several things from my closet as well. What's the rule? If you haven't worn it in 6 months it needs to go? Or is it a year? Or 5 years? Anyway, I'll post pics of all of it here on the blog first, and what doesn't sell will go straight to ebay.

#2- This Saturday, I'll have a booth at a local craft fair and will have TONS of pillow covers, headbands, clips, banners, notecards, pins, and chicken wire memo boards. (This was the very first craft fair I attended last year, which pretty much cemented my love of craft fairs. Is there a prize for most mentions of a craft fair in one sentence? Hmm?) Every dime I make will be going straight into the get-Oliver-to-Disney World fund, so if you're local, PLEASE COME BY AND SEE ME! If you're not local, please take a virtual stroll through my shop. I love doing custom orders, so if you don't see the colors/style you need, just shoot me a message.

#3- There is also a chorus-sponsored fundraiser going on right now for the 'Enjoy the City' coupon books. If you've never seen these, they're packed full of hundreds of coupons from local eateries and businesses for freebies and discounted items/services. The cost for each is $20 and 50% goes straight to the student. That's $10 per book, which is pretty darn-tootin' good, but I understand that some won't give a hoot about the coupons, SO (and this is mostly for our family) if you'd like to give a flat donation of $10 or $20 or $1000 to Oliver's trip fund without purchasing a coupon book, well that's just fine and dandy too.

Here's a list of participating businesses as well as a couple coupon pages:

So, that's pretty much all the news that is the news. Come back tomorrow for a slew of clothing for sale as well as a pic of a tiny ballerina. We'll be trying again today for E's first day back at ballet after a feverish day last week. Until then, I'll leave you with a few recent pics, because nothing says 'Help us get to Disney World' like the sweet faces of the kids

Summer Open House

Happy Tuesday, friends! I wanted to let you locals know about an Open House/Craft Bazaar going on this weekend.  There will be several vendors on hand with lots of pretties for sale, including knitted and crocheted items (scarfs, baby blankets), Holiday wreaths and bows, Scentsy, Mary Kay, Jewelry, Handbags, Wallets, and everything from my shop- pillow covers, headbands, stationary, pennant banners, and pins. There will also be yummy things to snack on while you browse, so grab a friend this Saturday (July 7) and head to my house!

Did you hear me? This thing is totally happening at my house, which is why I haven't blogged since Friday. I was thinking about all of the surfaces I needed to hit with a swiffer and all of the toys I need to kick under the sofas. Just kidding, but not really.... 

In all seriousness though, several of us gals with small businesses thought it would be fun to put together an open house this Summer, and this is it. There are so many Open House events around Christmas time, but not many in June/July/August, so we're joining forces and coming together in one place! Grab a friend and bring them with you- Saturday, from 10-2, at MY PLACE. And if you need directions, just shoot me an e-mail! I'll be glad to get you here!

I wanted to share pics of some of the new things I've been working on, but a product photo shoot just hasn't happened. I've been far too busy playing with my kiddos in the pool, and giving the girls mani/pedis, and watching movies, and reading books, and generally just being as lazy as humanly possible. You know, good Summer time stuff. I will, however, share a few pics from my shop of goodies that I'll have available this Saturday.

Please come and join us this Saturday! I'd love to see you!

Alright...back to cleaning.

Here's hoping the dust bunnies don't gang up on me and take me down.

winner winner chicken dinner

Good morning and happy 11.11.11 to ya!

So grateful to have a day off today and SO grateful for the reason we have a day off from school.

I'm full of gratitude for those who have served and are still serving.

What an amazing sacrifice.

Thank you.

And now,

drumroll please....

the winning commenter chosen by random.org is

Commenter #32 who said:

Ashley · 18 hours ago

I am thankful for a sweet friend who is letting me house vintage suitcases at my house for pictures. I promise to return them :)

 

                                              Congrats Ashley!

And I can't wait to see pics of your sweet babe snuggled inside those vintage suitcases. Almost makes me want to have another one just to do that!

Almost...

 

And if you didn't win but would still like some shop goods, I'll be at Northport Church of God tomorrow from 8:00-3:00 selling a whole lotta stuff that's not listed on etsy yet. I've been sewing like a madwoman all week on things like....

 

flower pins, headbands, and clips

houndstooth stockings

and Christmas buntings.

Everything that comes home with me from the fair will be listed in my shop,

so Ashley, you might wanna wait until after Saturday to pick out some goods since you'll have a lot bigger selection to choose from then. ;o)

I'm off to sew, sew, and then sew some more.

Say that five times fast.

Happy Friday and Happy Veteran's Day to you!



Kentuck Festival of the Arts and other weekend happenings

Hello friends!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Our town hosted it's annual 'Kentuck Festival of the Arts' on Saturday and Sunday, AND Groupon just so happened to have offered up an amazing deal a few weeks ago for 2 sets of weekend passes, AND it just so happens that I've missed it the last couple years. I remember my mum and grandmother draggin' my seester and I to Kentuck year after year after year and while it's something I'll be taking my own kiddos to now, I think I used to look back on it with animosity simply because they used to make us wake up at 6:00 so we could get there at the crack of dawn before all of the "good baskets" were taken.

a-hem.

For those of you who are non-locals, Kentuck is an amazing arts festival that brings in artists from all over the country. There are booths selling handmade goods out of pretty much anything you can make something out of:
wood, metal, fabric, clay, etc. There are also plenty of activities to keep the kiddos busy too- marble art, tie-dying, stamping, weaving, woodworking, doll making, painting, and more. Lots of good eats are there for the, ummm, eating as well. And as if that weren't enough, there's a ginormous playground right smack dab in the middle if you need to take a load off and rest for a sec while your kiddos run wild.
Awesomeness.

While there, my kiddos made a bird house, a corn husk doll, and a tie-died t-shirt. I also picked up a few goodies which are pictured at the end of this post.Below are a few pics I took while there, as well as some pics of the kiddos gettin' their craft on.

And for the record, I'd like to point out the fact that I pushed my two girlies in their limo stroller over very rough terrain for over two hours, getting the wheels stuck multiple times in either branches or huge honkin' rocks. Totally counts as a work-out, yes?

 One of my favorite booths was Yee Haw Letterpress-

based out of Nashville, TN and available through etsy

The shop offers tons of paper goods- calendars, signs, note cards, matchboxes, staionary, as well as t-shirts with original designs. I picked up this little goody to add to the gallery-wall-soon-to-be-above-my-desk.

Another of my faves was this booth-

Made by one girl

She creates fabulous dresses out of scraps of old sewing patterns.

LOVE.

A few of her pieces were also placed in vintage frames covered in patterns.

So Cool.

I picked up this little ditty to add to the gallery wall as well, and would love to add more of her art to my collection in the future.

So that was Kentuck.

I also went to one heckuva Girl's Night IN on Friday night, made new flower pins for the shop on Saturday and Sunday night, and enjoyed an evening outside by a roaring fire built by my hubs on Saturday/Sunday night.

There may have also been some s'mores involved.

Need I say more?

Pumpkin flowers!

Perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Fall in general, yes?

And, just in case a certain someone is reading, I apologize for not being able to incorporate a certain word that you challenged me with. I simply found it too, ummm...challenging, and also felt that it would be googled quite a bit, and well, it's not the prettiest of words. Come up with another one and I'll do my darndest to see that it makes it into a post.

Pinky promise.

Happy Monday Friends!