five things friday

It's been a long time since I have found any furniture while trifting, the last item was my killer sideboard, but earlier this week I got lucky again! A mid-century modern desk, $35 and a mid century modern night stand, $18. I have been searching for a desk for years and had given up hope of ever finding one so I was way stoked!

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I am so excited for the return of TV. My favorite shows are Parenthood, The Middle, Modern Family, and How I Met Your Mother. I have/had high hopes for a few new shows; The New Girl, Up All Night, Suburgatory, Once Upon A Time. I have seen the first episodes of The New Girl and Up All Night and they were... meh. I didn't even finish the New Girl pilot but Up All Night did make me laugh a few times. Are you a TV watcher? What is your favorite show?

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Gemma is eight months old! She is crawling now and has two teeth. Gone are the bows secured with corn syrup her hair is just barely long enough for a little clip. Adorable but... why must they grow so fast?!?

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Now that Gemma is older she is only nursing three times a day and she's eating lots of solid food. I decided it's time to start eating quinoa again (I had to give it up because it made her very gassy and therefore very fussy). I have so missed it and can't wait to try out the many recipes I have had bookmarked for ages.

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I discovered that I have been tying my shoes wrong my entire life. Thanks Mom. Haha, kidding! About blaming my mom that is. I really have been tying my shoes wrong. Maybe you have too? Watch this video on TED to find out!


HAPPY WEEKEND!!

tutorial: onesie dress

Onesie Dress Tutorial

The first time I made a onesie dress for Gemma I was so excited. It was adorable! But then I tried to put it on her. I could barely get it over her head- so disappointing. Once the skirt is sewn on with a regular stitch the onesie loses the ability to stretch. I brainstormed and it finally dawned on me... elastic thread! I have used it on so many times as a waistband, I was surprised it didn't occur to me before.  Check it out:

Lots of room so you won't have to wrestle the dress over your little ones head and certainly more comfortable and forgiving on those big chubby baby bellies! :)

All you need is a onesie and a piece fabric- 42" x 8.5". For the tutorial I used a jersey knit but cotton works great too.

Sew the short ends of your fabric together to make a large tube.  If you are using cotton, at this point you need to hem the bottom and finish the top edge with a serger if you have one. If you don't have a serger you can zigzag the edge or trim the edge with pinking shears.

Gather the top edge of the skirt.

Mark the waistline on the onesie. Mine is 7" down from the collar but you'll probably want to measure your daughter.

Arrange the gathers to fit around the onesie, lining up the edge with the waistline. Pin.
Hand wind elastic thread on to your bobbin. I stretch mine slightly as I go. Sew with a straight stitch all the way around the skirt.

That's it! Easy, right?

I'll talk about embellishing the onesie dresses in another post. Hopefully next week but, you know me, it'll probably take six months. Haha!

five things friday

In an effort to share more of me on this blog I am copying my SIL and countless others in doing a weekly "five things friday" post. Here goes!


Fall has hit Charlotte suddenly. Yesterday was in the mid-80's today's high was 61. The sky is overcast and the air feels crisp and clean. Finally time to break out the cardigans! Welcome Fall!

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I am baking sugared pecans to top a salad that I am taking to a friends for dinner tonight. Thanks to the  cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg it smells like Fall inside my house too!

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I have officially started my Christmas shopping. I bought vintage fashion plates off eBay. I had a set as a girl and LOVED it. Let's hope Sutton does too. I also bought a few stocking stuffers (books, flash cards, journals) at the dollar spot at Target. Everything I got was 70% off. Thirty cents a piece. Score!

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Tomorrow morning we are going apple picking. This is one of my favorite things to do with my family, I look forward to it all year!

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I am in a sewing/creative slump. I have so many projects in the works but just don't feel the motivation to work on any of them. Do you ever have the crafting blues? How do break out of it??

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Do you do 'five things friday'? Leave a link or your five things in the comments, I'd love to know what your up to too!


Happy Weekending!

thrifty finds

I knew it had been a while since I had shared my thrifted treasures but I didn't realize it was over nine months ago! I guess it makes sense though, I have been in a thrifting dry spell. With a new baby in January and a long summer with four kids at home there just hasn't been time to thrift. Now that the two big kids are back in school I have had a little bit more freedom.

I found three pieces of milk glass to add to my collection. $2 for this cute footed hobnail dish.

A week or so later I found this ruffle edge hobnail dish at an antique store in Asheville, NC for $9. That's much more than I would normally spend but I really wanted it, so I splurged! I think I will put on top of my dresser to hold my little earrings that are always getting lost in my jewelery box.

At the same antique store I found another bubble bowl. I had to buy it! $6, not bad for antique store prices.

The silver basket set me back $1.50 (marked down from $3) not as impressive as Melissa's silver baskets at $0.75 each, but still a good deal.

The triple strand green necklace was $5.

I fell in love with this filigree tissue box holder. It reminds me of my grandma, she had lots of filigree items in her bedroom. I think I may spray paint it. It's been ages since I have spray painted anything. I paid $5- another antique store purchase.

This green necklace was a better deal at $3, plus I think it's even cuter.

I never find doilies at the thrift stores. I found a pile of them at an antique store so I bought every single one they had. Not sure what I will do with them yet, there are so many cute doily projects out there. $4.75.

$37.25 total. That is a lot more than I normally spend thrifting (darn those antique stores!) but I don't have buyers remorse about any of the items so I guess they were worth it! What about you? Any amazing thrifting finds lately?

quick quiche recipe

After a long hot and humid summer where I avoided turning on the oven today's gray drizzly day made me want to cook a proper dinner.

I settled on a quiche with roasted Parmesan potatoes and asparagus. Liam literally had to choke down the food while plugging his nose (and that was only accomplished with a promise of five peanut m&m's if he ate it all) but everybody else loved it.

This quiche doesn't have a crust. I love quiche with crust (it's super yummy!) but omitting the crust saves on calories and time while still being delicious! The recipe is very flexible. You can add whatever vegetable/meat combination strikes your fancy.

quick quiche
4 oz light cream cheese, softened
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cooked bacon
1 cup frozen broccoli, chopped (thawed and squeeze out excess moisture)*
10 oz frozen spinach, chopped (thawed and squeeze out excess moisture)*
5 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups cheese of your choice (I like cheddar or swiss)

blend cream cheese, eggs and milk together well (there will still be some chunks of cream cheese) stir in remaining ingredients. pout into two greased quiche or pie pans. bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

*I usually use fresh broccoli and spinach. precook, squeeze out moisture and chop.

I used this recipe from Real Simple for the roasted potatoes. I have been making it since the recipe first appeared in Real Simple in 2006. It's one of my favorites. The asparagus was simply tossed with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted in the oven for 20 minutes.