Thrift Date

I had the pleasure of going on a brunch/thrifting date with a very sweet friend this week, and boy-oh-boy was I happy with the treasures I found!  I haven't been truly thrifting in quite a while (life is busy, man), so it was nice to take a break and spend some quality time hunting for pretty things in great company.

I scored the blue dress above for $3.50!  What?!  When I saw it my friend, Bekah, was like, "If you don't buy that, I'm going to be so mad at you!"  Okay.  Twist my arm.  The hair scarves were too pretty to pass up and only $0.50 a piece!


Our living room is full of shelves that need to be filled, so I was delighted to find these lovelies.  The tiny swan will most likely live in my bedroom to hold a couple special rings, but the other two were intended for living room display.  Sadly, the same day I found that adorable little elephant, I knocked him off the shelf while pulling out a record and broke his whole face off.  I'm still planning to try to super glue him back together.  We'll see how that goes...


This, right here, was my favorite find of the day.  It's really hard to capture the beauty in a photo, but it's a pink and white marble Bakelite jewelry box with pink felt lining on the top shelf.  When you open the lid, the drawers open as well.  I'm a SUCKER for Bakelite anything, so this was definitely up there on the "most loved" list.


It was accidental, but all of the things I acquired that day seem to coordinate.  I don't know if it was a coincidence or if I have a "type"... whatever the case: SWOON.

After a morning of brunching and thrifting, Bekah and I hit the garden center to browse flowers and succulents for our gardens and planters.  I mean, you can't really have a cliché girl date without buying plants, right?  Just kidding. We both LOVE gardening and plants, so it just made sense.


We decided to split these GORGEOUS Celosia flowers (they are annuals-- YAY!) and, of course, I had to bring home the tiniest, softest cactus for our bedroom.

It was a wonderful day and I'm thankful for friends who help encourage me to take my mind off of responsibilities for a morning.  I'm often guilty of getting wrapped up in mom/work life a little too much.

Have you found anything great thrifting lately?  I love thrifting treasure stories!

Renegade Part 2

My last post was part one of Renegade, so I figured there had to be a part two.
Though, this one is less about Renegade, and more about the NEVERENDING
trip home.  We left at 7:00 this morning, and didn't arrive home until around
8:30 tonight.  There were a few detours and pit stops, but traffic was most
of the reason for the ridiculous delays.  Man, it feels so good to be out of
the car!!!

Here are a couple of goodies I got from Renegade:

This camera strap from Soldier is so awesome!  It was a little surprise from Mr. J, and
I have to say, it has inspired me to start doing more recreational shooting again. This
will be evident as you read on...

This killer ring from Cookoorikoo.  Hope was the one who found it, and I could only
get away with buying it for myself by telling her we would share it... and, we will...
sort of... ;)  P.S.  I got to meet Shana is person (finally) and she is just as sweet as
can be.  Same goes for her sweetie Shawn and her bestie Kateri.  :)

Then after I was done taking pictures of these things in the car to occupy myself, I
decided to play a little photobooth...

That was not super ultra mega fun, but it didn't matter because I got distracted by
the ROBOTS just in time!

Every time we drive by these in IL, we HAVE TO blast Yoshimi and pretend
they are robots.  No they are not pink right now, but maybe they have new color
changing effects, and end up tricking you in to trusting them and then they
blast you!!!  Be careful.

Then we found this nifty place, complete with a UFO!

Then we took a break in St. Louis.  We needed some time away from the car so we stopped
by Jilly's Cupcake Bar.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

That place is SERIOUSLY good.

Then we got back in the car, I napped for like, the seventh time today and we made it
home.  Here's the thing, though:  I miss Chicago.  I really do.  Chicago, please know I'm
thinking of you and your glorious snow.

I'm home, so you know what that means-- back to work for Katie!  I'm thinking of doing
a shop update sometime this week, so check back for details.  There will be some ornaments
and a few bigger friends.  Good night everyone!  xo Katie

OMG

Okay, so I never say OMG. Like, never. It wasn't ever something I identified with, and I jumped on the texting bandwagon way late, so I guess it never took. OMG is how I feel this week. Man, there is so much happening... so much great stuff, and so many stressful things that could take you down in one sweeping motion, if you let them. I WILL NOT let them. I'm forced this year to choose between families for Thanksgiving, because my family decided they just want to have theirs at the EXACT SAME time as J's family. Yeah... nice, right? We've had this worked out for almost 10 years now, you would think everything could just be smooth sailing. Nope nope. That's not the only bit of stress, just the only one I'm at liberty to share.

(This made me really sad. I remember how hard being a kid is sometimes. Hope is a lot more well-adjusted than I EVER was. I had a really hard time as a kid... extremely shy, no friends, and very easy to tease. I made it, though, like most kids do. I need to remember that even though being a kid can be super fun, it can be very difficult sometimes, too. )


My Renegade prep is almost coming to an end. I received 3 animals in the mail today- ones I had sent off to be in the next issue of Stuffed Magazine, so that's a bonus! My suitcase shelves are being assembled this week, so I'll have pictures when they are finished, and I made my table banner last night. Just a simple little paper thing, but simple is fantastic at this point!

Yesterday, J took me AWAY from my work so I could be a real person for half of the day and we went thrifting. Miss Erin accompanied me and we found some frigggggin' amazing treasures. Okay, just one made me lose my breath for a moment, but it made my whole day. :)

I'm in love with this wool blankie with pretty embroidered flowers and yellow fringe!

A sparkly deer to sit atop my newly framed Pepperminte pics? Yes, please!


AND THE BEST PRIZE OF ALLLLLLLLL:

An Enid Collins box!!! I love this design. Like, it's either my fav or at least in my top 3! It was super cheap, too. That made it even better!

My studio is starting to overflow...

I can't even use my desk anymore! That's alright. It's what you want before a craft fair!


Sorry for the sad-looking photos. I don't even begin to have the energy to set-up and make things look pretty. I just shot them as-is, in bad lighting... Anyway, I'd better get to work. Several of you are waiting on ornaments. Good news- half will ship out today and half tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday!!! xo Katie