rose dishes

remember me vaguely mentioning my growing collection of rose dishes? well, i found two more this past weekend while antique shopping with my mom.

how fabulous are these?!

while the smaller plate is a little too small for my incomplete dinner set, who doesn't want a fancy lunch plate? and the platter is the perfect size.

the platter was a mere $3 and the plate was $1. both 15% off, so i spent less that $4 on both. serious shopping usually yields seriously awesome. 

thrifting treasures

as i mentioned in my last post, it is the season for finding great treasures. this past weekend i found tons of great stuff!

i bought two pretty rose plates and a fabulous vintage mirror for only $10 the first day of an estate sale in town. the rose plates I've been collecting for the past 8 years in lieu of us having any formal china, so i was happy to add those to my growing collection. and the mirror i have big plans for when we finally get around to doing our downstairs bathroom.

so my mom and i decided to scout out the estate sale on it's last day to see if there were any bargains (amidst ballet recital weekend)

sure enough we got to fill a box for only $1. AWESOME

here's what i came home with...




this sweet little tea/espresso cup. it's in such a vibrant yellow and the handle painting resembles some sort of bird. i love it! it will be perfect to serve some mustard or jam or honey in.

i found two of these little rose bowls. the pattern was pretty and i always love the gold rim. great to serve a side of olives or lemon wedges or something.

and here's a picture of the china loot. 

i love that i can layer some of them too. they all kind of coordinated. 

i also found a vintage mint green zipper for who knows what project, but hey, it was in the $1 box. and...

these beautiful gold-tipped needles. 

and this old calendar page from May 1982. i just really loved the moon images. 

elephants trunk season

i love spring time for so many reasons; tulips budding, everything turning lovely shades of green, berries in season, sun brewed iced tea and to trump all of these things: elephants truck/flea market/garage sale season. i actually get all giddy with excitement when i see my first garage sale sign of the year. bring on the bargains!

so, naturally, i dragged the whole family along for a morning of extreme fun at the elephants trunk the other weekend. we left with a car full of goodies and stomachs full of typical connecticut fair food; apple cider donuts and fries.

bargain #1 - this beautiful, irish wool, plaid blanket. i was kind of obsessed with the color combinations and am totally picturing it pin cai's big boy room transformation

made in ireland exclusively for lord & taylor...and me

plus, i totally reminded me of these amazing blankets from terrain. seriously gorgeous. 

but i got mine for a mere $15 vs. $348. bargain? check!

bargain #2 - this little gem of a throw. seriously, look at these colors. and baby fringe! who doesn't love wool baby fringe?!  it's beautiful. it's pretty small, but perfect size for nia snuggles.

bargain #3 - metal magazine/book holders. they were priced $15 each, but it was late in the day and i got both for $10. score! i'm sure they were used for mail or something, but my plan for these bad boys i'm still deciding between as book holders next to the kids beds or near the guest room nightstand or as a magazine holder in the bathroom. (after 10 years together, stuart and i still aren't sure how we feel about encouraging reading in the bathroom, so we're still on the fence)

bargain #4 - hand painted, gold leaf box from florence, italy. so sweet, great size and in great shape. $7. currently housing pinecone treasures and special rocks :)

bargain #5 - really fabulous, super soft, red quilt. i love it. the colors are pretty simple reds, yellow and black + whites. it is an such great shape and is SO COZY. i was originally thinking nia's room, but her room is feeling a bit more french/pastel/antique to me, leaving me to think cai's future big boy room. clearly, cai is making out like a bandit; throw, quilt, (possible) book storage. 

i feel obligated to note that i do 3 weird/strict testing on anything fabric before i buy it. goes as follows, not always in this order...

1) sniff test. sounds gross, but i would rather do it that realize when I'm home it fails a sniff test. gross, but vital.

2) washable, or cheap enough that if its not washable and i ignore all laundering rules, wash it anyway that it's a not a huge loss, or if its just simply that amazing and can only dry dean, that i can afford to get it properly cleaned. 

3) judge. yup, i most definitely judge sellers.

DIY triangle garland

after making these awesome heart strands on-a-whim valentine craft, i decided i wanted to do something to jazz up cai's first birthday party.

i made nia a really fun + beautiful ribbon garland for her 2nd birthday party, which now hangs over her bed, but wanted something a little less feminine...not that cai can't handle it. he loves butterfly wings and has been known to wear crowns

... and maybe bring into his room decor once the party was over. and i didn't want to do the ribbons again but instead wanted something new and original.

well, admittedly, not so original, as i was pretty seriously inspired by emily hendersons triangle baby shower. how gorgeous is that and what a clever theme! i obviously didn't take the triangles as seriously and cai's party was far less festive and beautiful, but hey, i have to craft solo, a midsts an elmo spaghettios clad dinning table, with toddler safe scissors.

i basically chose a few different shades of blues + green paper, cut them into different sized triangles and sewed them together in the same way i did the hearts.

they all kind of hung out, scotch taped to the wall for a few weeks. but i really loved how they looked on a blank wall. it reminded me of a variation of a fine little day wallpaper or something. 

turns out, the morning of the party was kinda crazy and i forgot about them until about 20 minutes before company was due to arrive. oops! so my fabulous friend caroline helped string them up behind the bar station, where they looked pretty cute and helped hide the awkward behind the stairs space. 

in hind sight, i would have made less, but longer strands, as they were constantly getting tangled and are now draped over a chair, in the basement, in a big, awkward single strand. "E" for effort, no?

things to come...

*DIY triangle garland, partially inspired by Emily Hendersons triangle baby shower

*our upstairs bathroom DIY renovation...that has been ongoing since december. it's finally complete! we have big plans to celebrate, drinking champagne, in the tub... er,uh, which the tub was actually the only original thing we left in there

*sweet finds at the elephants trunk in the spring 2014 season. so fabulous!

*easy + delicious meal ideas for babies + kids

*pictures of cai's room...of which i've rearranged about half a dozen times

green inspiration

i just came across this gorgeous photo of a house front. how incredible! imagine this was part of you daily walk to work?!

one of my favorite blogs for fabulous images family living

love texts: cookies

dear stuart,

i accidentally squirted lemon juice (for my hot lemon water) on your chocolate chip cookies.

sincerest apologies for ruining your afternoon snack/you're welcome for saving you 100 calories PER COOKIE (they're not even tate's*!)
lee

*have you ever had tate's cookies? they are amazing.

love texts: dr. energy

dear stuart,

pretty sure dr. energy* just saw my nipple

love + slight embarrassment
lee


*dr.energy came to give us an estimate on insulating our attic + basement. we're still not sure if the 20% limited time discount is related to the accidental nursing nipple exposure.

love texts: sick

dear stuart,

thanks for getting me a glass of water and rubbing my back while i threw up last night. all 3 times.

love + dehydration,
lee

parenthood: coke (argentina) nails it!

this commercial came out a few months ago and INSTANTLY fell in love with it.  it is the most beautiful, hilarious and accurate depiction of parenthood jam-packed into one minute.

i cry every time. yup, every.single.time.

simple zucchini bread

i've never tried baking with zucchini before. i love making carrot cake, banana or pumpkin breads and have tried strawberry bread, but never zucchinis, so i was pretty excited to test it out for the first time.

these came out super delicious, light and just enough sweet (in fact, next time i might try with a little less sugar and using applesauce instead of some of the oil)

i loosely based my recipe on a combination of our family banana bread recipe, smittenkitchen zucchini bread and thekitchn zucchini bread recipes (both sites are pretty terrific resources for new, delicious and beautiful recipes)


zucchini bread
makes 24 muffins (or in our case, 12 muffins and a small heart cake pan)

ingredients

2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini 
3 c.  flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips, or mix (optional. i didn't use any additions as i wanted to test how the recipe came out as is, but after devouring 2 muffins in 10 minutes, i've decided walnuts would really make this bread perfect)

*preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease pans

*grate the zucchini (i don't recommend draining any of the excess water from the zucchini. i did originally and ended up needing to add a little extra water to my batter, which I'm sure i wouldn't have ended up needing if i just used the natural moisture from the zucchini)

*mix all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl; flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices + salt

* whisk all the wet ingredients; eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla in a separate bowl

*add the zucchini to the wet mixture

*stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until well combined
my batter looked the slightest bit dry, so don't hesitate to add a little extra oil, applesauce or water

*add any nuts or raisins and incorporate into mixture

*pour mixture into pans or muffin tins

*bake 35-40 minutes. a loaf or cake pan may take longer. and even though my testing knife came out clean after 25 minutes, the "tester" muffin looked a little too wet + dense in the middle. the extra 10 minutes made all the difference as they came out fluffy and perfect. our small cake pan stayed in for about 50 minutes. i really just waited till the top started to get a beautiful golden brown color.

 

note: sorry for the lame pictures. but in all honesty, the grated zucchini just looks more mushy than firm and beautiful and the batter just looks weird, so the end results are much more satisfying to post.

valentine paper hearts craft that made my heart melt

i know, i know, i'm about a month late posting a gorgeous, fun, easy and oh so fabulous valentine craft. better late than never though, right?

february is the time of year my cabin fever peaks and my craft ideas are dwindling, but i was determined to find something sweet and easy enough for a eager three year old crafter to be entertained. these paper hearts were the perfect valentine's day craft


you'll need:

- at least 10 sheets of paper
- scissors (or "snizzors" as we call them :)
- needle + thread
- tape

as i'm writing 'what you'll need' i'm realizing you could do a zillion variations of this. we used old maps, paper bags, scrap paper, envelopes and origami paper to make our hearts, but you could all different shades of colors, or do ombre (i might totally try that next!), or book paper sheets, etc. your possibilities are endless!

we used my favorite metallic thread to string them together, although you don't notice the shimmer as much as i was hoping, but you could use clear fishing wire to have them look like the hearts are floating in the air or a colored thread depending on the look you're going for.

and you could also mix it up by using fun washi tape instead of clear scotch tape.

step 1: cut out all of your hearts. we did a bunch of different sizes, but i think it could look really beautiful to have them the same size too.





step 2: i laid all of our hearts in rows as i wanted them to be strung up.






step 3: i single threaded my needle, but put a knot at the end of the string so your hearts don't fall off. i purposefully left a little string on the end of mine too because I'm never sure what i might morph them into in the future. i also had grand ideas of making little tails for each strand, but clearly ran out of time/effort. string your ideal rows of hearts and space them however you want. some of the hearts looked cute almost on top of one another.

step 4: be sure not to get them tangled.



step 5: have your oh-so-fabulous husband help tape them to the very high ceiling in the exact spot where you want them to cascade down and try not to be so picky down to the centimeter where you want them to be

step 6: keep them up for weeks to admire + enjoy your craftiness. we loved our valentine craft so much we kept the hearts up weeks later for cai's christening and they are still up. i'm not completely sure i ever want to take them down.