Hearts For Days....

I've been cutting out lots of hearts... lots and lots and lots.

And making lots of little garlands.

I can't stop, I think they are so cute.

There are some in the Shop still and I will be adding some more soon.

Sipping my tea, listening to podcasts on Stitcher while cutting + gluing...

It's kind of relaxing.

I'm headed to the Post Office today,  so you still have time to order and have them shipped out today.

Good thing about these little things are that they shouldn't take long to get to YOU at all!

This is how they will come to you--

They can also be sent as a gift with a sweet note inside. 

Happy Monday, hope it's a pleasant, non-stressful, quick + awesome day.

Come back here tomorrow for Coffee, I'd love to have ya.

Shop Update :: Christmas Is Coming

I added some fun, vintage  Christmas stuff to the shop last week, check it out.
And don't forget, you can head over to Alicia's and get the code for 20% off  anything in my shop!
Also, you can use the code ------> Lucky 13 at check-out to get 20% off everything in Alicia's Shop now through December 15.
She has some awesome stuff over there, go see.

Happy Monday!
Now come back here tomorrow morning and join me for Coffee why don't ya?
Maybe you guys have some advice for forcing me to get into the Christmas Spirit.... :)

Handmade + Thrifting Treasures

The past couple of days I have been busy with a big Shop update.
And I have to tell you, there are some things I am really LOVING in this update.
Obviously I like the things I am making and selling in my own shop but this last week I have found some really good
things while out treasure hunting.
You know, those things that make your heart beat fast and you just can't believe what
you're seeing or the price tag you're seeing.
I found a couple of really good things for myself that I will share next week.

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Blankets, jewelry, kitschy little books, Pyrex and lots of awesome jewelry...what else could you want?

I still have a little more to add this weekend but I'm glad that most of it is finished.
That's a lot of work right there.

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So this weekend I am planning on doing a whole lot of NOTHING, which makes me really happy
because we had way too much going on this week. All of the Halloween festivities and school stuff
made for a really busy week.
What are your weekend plans?
Hope you have a great one!

DIY /// Crackers + Fancy Shoes

I thought I would share two simple little DIY projects today, and I am really kinda
stretching it to even call them "projects".
The first is these super quick + easy seasoned oyster crackers.
Eric made homemade chili last week so we had a bunch of oyster crackers left over and I thought they
would be good with soup this week, but plain old oyster crackers are not my favorite.

So here's what we did, and I have no measurements, just use your judgement.

Pour oyster crackers in a bowl and add a little olive oil, maybe a couple of teaspoons
Add a little sea salt(or regular salt) and pepper, mix up well with spatula
Add a little garlic powder and Italian seasoning, mix well
Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 200*

Yum.
Now all you need is some tomato soup!
I think I need a good recipe for homemade tomato soup. Anyone have one?

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These brown Mary Jane-style shoes of mine needed just a little something extra so I thought these orange flowers would dress
them up nicely for Fall.
The flowers are actually an old pair of clip-on earrings that I found at an antique store for a dollar or two.
If you wanted to attach the flowers permanently you could hot glue them on but I wanted to be able to
take them off so I just attached them temporarily by sticking the post through the hole and bended the earring post around the strap.

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Simple, cute + quick.
That's my style.
Happy Thursday, y'all.
Oh and a little shop update-- HERE.

Huge $13 Shop Sale

This is the first time I have had any kind of  sale in my shop so I decided I would do 

a BIG one.

It is time for me to make room, like physically make room in my teeny-tiny office, 

for new stuff and lots of fun holiday stuff,  

 so I am having a big one day only sale.

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Everything in my shop that is priced OVER $13 will be on sale for $13 for

 one day only on Saturday October 13.

So, that means.... 

this super cute necklace set regularly priced at $16.50?

Get it for $13 on Saturday.

This set of three fabric-wrapped frames priced at $22.50?

Get them for $13 on Saturday.

That's almost ten dollars off the regular price!

This awesome granny square afghan regularly priced at $18?

Mmmmm hmmm... snatch it up for $13 on Saturday.

Got it?

Regular shipping prices apply and these SALE prices are good only on 

Saturday October 13, 2012. Sale is for Central Time Zone hours, folks.

******

 ---> so spread the word.
or don't.....
and just go window shopping now and figure out what you are going to
buy on saturday for yourself.

It's Feeling Like Fall + A Shop Update

Hey there.
It's Friday!
And you know what?
It is really feeling like Fall last night and today, cooler temps, a little rain and no humidity!
amen.
That means we have survived 4 whole weeks of school now.
I have a whole post coming on that and what i think about our BIG switch and listening to
that little voice inside your head-- or heart.
more on that next week though.

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This was my little Shop Assistant on Wednesday.
Isn't she cute?
Too bad she kept saying things like; "Why is your office so messy?" and "What is all this junk for?"
Whooops. Yeah, she might have been kinda right.

So I wanted to share with you here a few things here that I have just added and a few of my
personal favorites that are in the shop.
This whole Etsy shop thing is kinda time consuming, or really time consuming, but a lot of fun, too.
I have the perfect excuse to do what I already love doing;  thrifting, antiquing, flea-marketing and
rummage sailing but for my shop(and sometimes for myself) -- it's working for me.

*{Autumn Harvest Table Cloth + 4 cloth napkins}

I don't quite think the photos due this sweet table cloth justice, it is really cute and the muted Fall
colors make it just a little bit different than a lot of the table cloths I come across.
Perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving-- but it does not look like it is just for Thanksgiving at all so you
could use this for the next couple of months.

Here are a few of my personal Fall Favorites in the Shop right now....

Someone asked me just the other day how I shopped for my Shop.
Well, I just listed most of the places above, I also love Estate Sales and pretty much anywhere I
can dig through a bunch of stuff looking for buried treasures.
I am not afraid to get my hands dirty.
I only buy things that I like myself, unless I am specifically buying something for a person I have in
mind. I don't buy things just because I think they will sell if I don't really like it because if it doesn't sell
then it's mine, so I had better love it.

Happy Friday everyone, hope you have a great weekend!!

Shop News + A Fun Give-Away

This is what I did yesterday.
Lots of cutting and gluing and wrapping.
These are all in the shop now and instead of selling them separately I decided to sell them in sets of
two because they are just cuter that way.
The more the merrier.

I am just loving all of these colors together...and the patterns.
Why yes, I do love flowers and polka dots.

And since I made so many I thought it would be fun to do a little give-away because I never
do anything like that.
So for your chance to win a set of two fabric-wrapped bracelets just leave me a comment here.
You can leave comments through Friday.
And you don't have to do anything else-- no "liking" me anywhere else or coming back here
and telling me that you liked me or followed or loved me or tweeted about me.
Nope.

Just leave a comment on this post and make sure it is attached to your email address.
Pretty simple.

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And there are more fun things in the Shop so you should go browse around there, too.
And have a GREAT Wednesday.

This New Gig + Shop Update

Hey there.
Well, it's Day 2 of school and I have a confession;
It's really quiet.
Like really quiet.
I really miss the kids and wasn't sure if I was ready for all of this, BUT,  the upside is that this whole free time thing is
pretty cool, too...
I'm not gonna lie.
I can sit out on the front porch or just be in the front of the house and hear all the kids playing
on the playground.
I really like that, it makes me feel better.

This morning I worked on listing shop stuff and edited pictures while watching old re-runs of
I Love Lucy while drinking my coffee.
In the complete quiet.
It was really nice.
So here is my humble opinion; it's tough letting your youngest start school and have both kids back
in school after being home together all Summer long and kind of stepping into a whole new phase in your life, really --
but there are definitely positives, too.
It kind of all balances out.
If you would have seen me before Wyatt started school you just wouldn't believe that I am handling
it this well this time around.
Seriously.
I think I cried on and off for a few weeks before he started and then was a hot MESS the first day
of school.
The fear of the unknown, wondering how it's going to go, how they will handle it, how things
will change and all that...it's scary.

And you know what else?
It felt so good to sit down at the dinner table last night for a family dinner and hear all about the
kid's day. It really did.
We always ate dinner at the table together when I was growing up.
Always.
Until we got older, then we would be at different functions and activities, then it was a little different.
So one of my many, many goals for myself is to put more time and effort into dinner and meal planning.

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I updated The Shop today but I still have more to add- including more jewelry and a few
table cloths.
It.takes. forever.
Who knew?

Geeeeeez.

Click on the link above to go shopping.

Hope your week is off to a good start.

Happy Tuesday.

Under The Tree

My little book lover.
I am starting to get excited for her to learn to read soon.
She has always loved books, I mean really loved books but has not shown any interest in actually learning to read until lately.
Although I really think had she been interested she could have learned a long time ago,
I have learned to not try to make them learn something until they are ready or initiate it--
much better that way.
So it's perfect timing that she is about to start school and is so ready to learn.
That is one of the positive things I am trying to focus on, how much she will learn and how much
I think she is going to LOVE school.
Fingers crossed.

Do you see my fence?
My fence is FINISHED, y'all.
I am so in love. I like to walk back there and just stare at it.
The last thing he has to do is put the gate on, which should be done this weekend.
Living the dream over here, we are.
It doesn't take anything fancy to make this mama happy.
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I updated the shop yesterday.
I started making bracelets on Sunday and couldn't stop!
More to be added next week.
One more thing--
we are going out of town for a few days and surprising the kids by taking them to a water park
for the first time.
One last Hurrah before school starts.
Yikes.
I'm not really a water park person, I must admit.
Or a Chuck E. Cheese person, which is why my poor deprived kids have never been.
Keep me in your thoughts :)

Happy Tuesday, everybody. Have a great day!

Coffee + Pancakes + Shop Talk

good morning.
yesterday i promised myself i would get all of my housework done before i sat down to work on shop stuff.
it should come as no surprise that by the time i got the kids settled down for a little quiet time and then
made myself an iced coffee and got my stuff all out on the kitchen table...
etsy was down.
but of course it was.
oh, it came back up eventually though and in the mean time i edited pictures and listened to music,
so much for plans, huh?
oh well.

yesterday morning i made these yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast.
they were really good!
my pancakes are never really that good and normally really flat, so i was super happy.
i didn't have buttermilk, because--well, i never do, so i added a little cream of tartar to the milk.
did you know you could do that as a buttermilk replacement?
i had no idea.
anyway, they were really yummy so if you are looking for an easy + delicious pancake recipe you
should try them. thank you, allrecipes.com!
oh- and it's not a blueberry pancake recipe, i just added the blueberries.


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so.... in coffee news, specifically Virtual Coffee news, I am going to try something different starting in august.
i think i will take a little break for the last few weeks of summer, then come back the week school
starts for Virtual Coffee. that will be august 21, the first day of school is august 20. gulp.
you know i will need some serious pep talks and moral support that week.
anyway, i am kinda excited about trying something new, so...we'll see.

and in Shop news....
i updated my shop this morning.
i was really excited about a few of the things i just listed and hope they can find a new home soon.
the funny thing about the shop is that i honestly do want to keep most of the things i put in
there... but i can't, so on the shelf they go.

*

one more thing--
i watched julie & julia last night and i kind of forgot how good it was,  i hadn't seen it
since the theater.
meryl streep is just so good, one of all my all-time favorites...plus the whole blogging thing.
yep, love.
well- that's it for me today... hope you all have a great day.




Lucky13theshop >>>>>> now go shopping ; )

{Virtual Coffee}

Good Morning.
I am up early this morning making home made blueberry muffins before Eric heads off to work.
I use this fantastic + easy recipe and they are so, so good.
The topping is the best and even the kids like them-- or I should add even Wyatt,  who isn't the biggest
fan of berries...of any kind. What's wrong with that kid, anyway?

So I am enjoying a little, tiny bit of quiet time before the kids are up.
I am in the kitchen, with the sun pouring in and the music is on super, super soft because I am so scared someone will wake up.
I am sipping my coffee and if you popped in for a visit you could sit and chat and have a warm blueberry muffin with me-- 
you could sit right in this little spot at my tiny kitchen table next to my pretty yellow grocery store flowers.
Yesterday I treated myself to two bouquets because they were on clearance.
Do you know how much I love grocery store flowers all over my house?

So, if we were really meeting for coffee this morning....
I would tell you that as of Monday I finally feel back to "normal" and pretty much recovered from
our big Relay for Life weekend.
Whewww.
Good Lord, I didn't realize that would mess me up so bad.
All day Saturday I felt hung over, my back hurt form trying to take a nap in the car and my head
hurt....I was foggy and actually had to stop and think once--wait, i wasn't out drinking all night, right?
Seriously, it felt like a hang-over. Yuck.
So technically I did not walk all night, I took a 2-hour nap/break, which consisted of me trying to
sleep in the back seat of my car and maybe actually sleeping for a total of 45 minutes.
That little nap made me feel worse I think and next year I will know not to even attempt it.

team cheerleaders

Wow- so,  Relay For Life was a really good, really emotional, really rewarding experience.
And it was fun.
And it was not 100* which is just amazing because it had been every other day.
So I slept or wollered around in bed and on the couch most of Saturday...gone are the days when I
can stay up all night long I guess.
Really I never was able to do that, I can function on little sleep but not on no sleep.
It felt so good to come home and crawl into my bed Saturday morning.
Bliss.

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning...
I would ask what you have been up to...how is your Summer going?
Ready to send those crazy kids back to school yet?
I am not ready for that, just a vacation, and I am in a serious state of denial that we only have four weeks left of Summer vacation.
I'm just gonna pretend that's not true though.
Denial, baby.

sunrise saturday morning

So that's about it for me... not too much excitement over here, huh?
I am hoping to have a much slower week than last week, I am over all of the busy-ness and just 
want the lazy days of Summer back.
The school year is busy. I want summer to be relaxed.
Thanks for stopping by here today...hope you have a great Tuesday.

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Shop update ::