Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

Written by Shannon Leigh

We have been brushing Ruby's teeth for a few months now.

We started when she only had 2 and now she has (almost) 8.

She's been a trooper for getting so many teeth so fast.

She currently has 4 on top and 3 on bottom. She is working on the 4th on the bottom.

Her 2 front teeth are super far apart and a little crooked.

They are hilarious, definitely NOT dental perfection.

But we don't care.

It reminds me a of Jan from Grease singing the Ipana toothpaste jingle with Bucky Beaver.

I found an Ipana commercial. Check it out , you won't regret it.

She LOVES brushing. It tickles her gums and she laughs the entire time.

These were taken the first time we brushed her teeth.

She was CLEARLY enjoying herself.

{taken April 6, 2011}

Home. But out of commission.

Written by Shannon Leigh

24 hours of no-sleep-travel...

{Grandad's scanned slide: Lambert Air Field 1969}

And only 6 hours of sleep last night.  Shoot me.

Updates to come.  

Brace yourself.

Antique Fabric Squares Strike Again (reprise)

Written by Shannon Leigh

Ok ok, I promise no more projects with the antique fabric squares!  I just can't help myself.   They work so well, I am constantly looking for more ways to use them! So maybe this isn't the last project that they will show up but it's the most recent.

I finally put up curtains in my laundry room.  I can't stand clutter (it's true Mom, I know you thought you'd never see the day) and these 2 little curtains made all of my clutter out of site-out of mind! YEY!  We are planning on putting up some more shelves back there as well.  That will give me even more organization (I need all of the help I can get)  I am pretty sure the entire project cost me about $8 and I still have a ton of fabric left over.  I love cheap design!:)

A place to rest your bum

Written by Shannon Leigh

I have been super busy for the last few weeks (lot's of photo shoots).  I haven't had a lot of time to work on my half finished projects.  I can't STAND having half finished projects.  I sit at work thinking about them but I can't actually do anything about them.  Oh well... that's life.

A few weeks ago I finally got a legit office chair.  Thank goodness.  My bum was starting to get really angry at me.  Now I can sit and edit to my heart's (or my bum's) content.  

I am still scanning old family slides and photographs.  Right now I have my Grandparent's albums from 1962-1969.  Look at those album covers, totally psychedelic.  I'm sure I will share some images with you when I get the chance.

Happy Friday!:)

Antique Fabric Squares Strike Again

Written by Shannon Leigh

This time in a painting... 

Somewhere to lay your head (part II)

Written by Shannon Leigh

I have a very large to do list. It's massive... 2, almost 3 pages long.

Whenever I think of something I'd like to accomplish (usually within the next few months) I write it down on my "master to do list" and when it's accomplished I get to scratch it off. Let's be honest, the scratching off part is really the fun part. I LIVE to scratch off the things on that list. Well that AND Jesus.

When Matt and I registered for our wedding we picked out these beautiful blue, silky pillows to go in our bedroom. They ended up not matching a thing in our bedroom (don't worry we got some in gold too) so we moved them to the living room. Everything was fine and dandy until little miss Izzy came into our lives about a year ago. Yes, Izzy is allowed on the couch and yes I am sure some of you out there are utterly appalled, but isn't that the great thing about being an adult? I get to make my own rules.

Those of you who are appalled by the dog being allowed on the couch you would be super offended by the condition of our once beautiful silky pillows. Let's just say a rawhide bone was not kind to the un-washable blue fabric. In fact they were disgusting. At the prompting of my husband and being super cheap myself, I decided to make some new pillows for our couches. This was on my to do list and now I can officially scratch it off.

I am loving the way they turned out.  They are a little bit vintage, a little bit rock n' roll.

The colored fabric squares were a fab find at an Antique store and I am SOO glad I came up with something for which I could use them. There are a lot more of those 2x2 inch squares... can't wait to use them for some other project.

They came in an old Brach's Chocolate Cherry box and the bottom of the box said... "Judy cut these when a little girl." That made me really happy. It made me think about who Judy is and how old she is. Judging by the fabrics, I would say she is in her mid- 50's.

I made them removable so they will be easily washed in case Izzy decided to chew her bone on them.

The little pillow was a total afterthought but I ended up liking it the best. It was made out of all of the scraps from the other pillows. Go figure I like that one the most.

Hopefully now when people come to visit they aren't totally disgusted by our "Izzified" pillows. 

Give me organization

Written by Shannon Leigh

preferably in a cute vintage suitcase (which I happen to have).{photo via: DIY magazine}

If there were no them...

Written by Shannon Leigh

There would be no me.

Grandma &  Granddad Dudley on their wedding day.  November 3rd, 1951.  

Aren't they stunning?

This shot will be hanging somewhere in my house someday...

Shake it

like a cute little salt shaker!!

So I have a new member of my family.  I call it Sigma Lens II and it can take pictures like this...

and this...

I got the shakers while thrifting at the Furniture Lounge in Champaign.  They were having a major sale because they are moving locations.  I might have gotten 10 records for $2.00.  Now I just have to figure out where to put them....

"In Between"

The weather is finally catching up with my spring-cleaned house.  

To celebrate I bought some fresh flowers at the grocery store and scattered them around our house.  I didn't wear a coat to work today and I drove with my windows down.  I even wore shoes without socks.  I also bought some new candles so if my bargain blooms don't represent then I can count on some coconut lime.

Over the weekend Matty worked really hard on hanging some shelves above the buffet in our kitchen.  They look beautiful.  It gave me some great display space as well as freeing up the top of the buffet.

  

Today was the "in between" shopping trip.  You know the one where you are out of shampoo, mouth wash, dish detergent and an air filter for the furnace?  It is the trip that I particularly dread but is totally unavoidable and usually expensive.  I had to venture to wal-mart and go to the far corners of the universe to find what I needed.  Not finding what I needed on my own, I searched for an elusive employee who shrugged her shoulders and said "I think they are in that aisle over there."  Why thank you for that, pretty sure I couldn't have done that on my own. 

 Did you know that wal-mart doesn't carry cake flour?  I didn't, until today.  How am I supposed to make Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake without it?  I guess I'll have to go to a real grocery store tomorrow.  

Since I was on my last drop of shampoo it was one of the "in between" necessaries.  I stumbled upon Tea Tree Mint shampoo and conditioner by Organix.  I am usually a Sunsilk user but I felt like I needed a change.  The TTM had a tag on it that read "try me for free."  I am always up for a bargain so I put them in the cart.  All I have to do is send in the tag with my receipt and I get a full rebate!  So what if I did 2 different transactions in the 20 items or less lane.  I am sure the other "in between" shoppers appreciated my tardiness.  I am betting it will be months before I actually get the money back and I will have wasted 64 cents in stamps but I am hoping it will be worth it. Can't wait to try it out in the morning.  

If you MUST do your "in between" shopping this week, take a peak in the shampoo aisle.  You might just find a bargain! 

A Few Creative Endeavors

What a beautiful day today! It was sooo great to feel the warm sun on my face after church while I played with Izzy in the yard. Matt is working on filling in the bare spots with the dirt that was dug up for our fence posts so I ducked inside hoping he wouldn't tell me to grab the other shovel. I am currently blasting Bon Jovi on my record player and enjoying the sun beaming through the windows. Maybe spring is here to stay this time. I'm not going to put away my winter coats just yet, but a girl can dream, right?

Matt's family came and stayed with us this weekend and as always it was a joy. They took us out to Jim Gould's, one of Matt and I's favorite local eateries. Since we were celebrating Matty's birthday our waitress gave him some yummy chocolate covered strawberries (which I got to enjoy).

As usual, I have been working on some crafts. I saw some adorable felt headbands on Etsy not too long ago so I decide to try my hand at working with felt myself. I made this little onsie for my nephew Keagan for St. Patrick's day using 3 different colors of felt. I wish I could see him in it. (I hope it fits him, I hear he is quite the chunky monkey).

Another little home improvement project I have been working on is my fabric cork board wall. I just painted a bunch of thrift store frames white and hot glued cork board to cardboard. I then covered them with some of my favorite fabric remnants and voila I have some very functional wall art.

I have been needing somewhere to store my records for a very long time so when I came across this buffet on one my thrifting excursions I couldn't resist it. I love to "restore" things and besides all it needed was was a little tlc (something I was more than happy to give it). I can't believe I got Matt to agree to the green color but I think he liked it in the end. At least now most of my records have a home and I can leave my new record player out all the time!!

Here's the before...

And here's the after...

{Spring} Cleaning/Crafting

Scrub the floors (on my hands and knees). Check

Wash the baseboards. Check

Clean behind the toilet (apparently I've missed that spot for the last 6 months). Check

Vacuum UNDER the furniture. Check

Get our comforter dry cleaned. Check

O.k. Spring, my house is clean! Can you {please} make it a longer stay next time?

I have a bunch of fun projects underway (I guess the few days of spring-like weather inspired me).

Some of them required paint and are still drying out in the garage (stupid cold weather). I can show you one...

I saw this somewhere awhile ago and I loved

it! All I did was cover cork board with fabric and tuck them in as the backing of some cubbies. I think I'll get 3 more at some point. They look a little smaller than I expected (I guess that means I'd have to pick out more of my fave fabric out of my stash... DARN).

A Lover's Holiday:

His: "Great Epochs of American History" printed in 1912 with a vintage Valentine.

Hers: Beautiful bouquet of Tulips, delivered to the house while she was wearing an apron.

The Pooch: A heart shaped clip to wear in her hair (I might have a matching one).
Events: Watching movies, eating nachos, making cookies, and having our very own crush party.

Delightful way to spend my Valentines day if you ask me.