weekend sash...

Hub and I attended a fun wedding this past weekend, complete with silly photo booth festivities and individual cupcake party favors. I always love weddings...they make me a bit sentimental and what's more, I love seeing all the details and creative things the couple has planned. And this one really was quite a fancy affair from beginning to end!

I really don't shop for clothes as much since I've moved north from the Twin Cities...there really isn't anywhere great to shop here actually...and truly I've been finding myself happier with less, not so caught up in the latest this and that! So I'm glad that I have a few classic dresses to fall back on when needed.

For the wedding I wore an old J.Crew dress ~several seasons old!~ but I'm always happy to see it return again & again each year in their Spring catalogue...same style, just different colors & patterns. I decided to dress up the waistband just a bit for the wedding...so I found a strip of pretty vintage lace (previously mentioned here) and sewed (by hand) a chocolate-y brown satin ribbon on either side. And topped with a sweet little summer cardigan, it was just the perfect, much-needed touch! Voila! :)

Vintage Lace Poppies Scarf {make one yourself!}

When Roxana of Illuminated Perfume invited me to take part in the May Flowers blogging event (a blog a day by various writers & artists to celebrate the month of May) and with my affinity for flowers…well, it seemed the perfect opportunity to put together a little craft tutorial featuring flowers. Also, around the same time I had just received a beautiful stash of pieces of very old, flower-y lace. Some of it is so incredibly lovely, so intricate that it almost takes my breath away…I imagined how it was worn in the past...on a lady’s dress, perhaps around the neckline, or maybe on a baby’s special gown. I wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted to use it, or even that I could bear to cut into some of the prettiest pieces, but I knew I wanted to give it a new life in some way! Just like flowers coming to life each Spring... Soon an idea was born to create a simple & pretty, lightweight scarf for Spring...something that I can always use even in the summertime here in Northern MN. And being a very novice, tentative sewer, it was also a good excuse to get a little more acquainted with my sewing machine. Some of the lace lent itself quite nicely for being cut into Poppy flower shapes. Although my Poppies don’t actually bloom here in May (more like September in my garden), but perhaps somewhere they do though! And I do have Poppy seedlings coming up in my garden now that I planted earlier this season...in the meantime I'll just have to wear my new scarf until my pretty, raspberry pink poppies bloom in late summer. GATHER:
~lightweight cotton fabric (I used a mostly cotton fabric - 97% - with a hint of stretch to it)
~needle & thread
~scissors
~lace (check out thrift or antique stores for vintage lace)
~sewing machine (not necessary but very helpful!)

~embroidery hoop MAKE:
1) Measure & cut fabric for the scarf. I made my scarf 80” x 12". I wanted the stripes to be horizontal so I had to cut & sew 2 pieces together since the fabric was originally only 50" in length.
2) Cut out flower shapes in various sizes. I sketched a few patterns first on paper and then layed them out on the lace to see which lacy parts suited the flower shape best.
3) Attach lace flowers. Using a needle & thread, I made tiny stitches around the lace poppies. Using an embroidery hoop helps a lot too!

4) Sew on the stems. Using a sewing machine, I used green thread to sew wavy lines onto the scarf for the flower stems.
5) Fray the edges. Using a large pin (& a good deal of patience), pull out threads along the edges and ends of the scarf to desired length. Thanks, Roxana, for inviting me to share in the May Flowers event!

sunny sunday

It's been a gorgeous weekend. The kind you don't want to end. We had the perfect mix of fun and getting work done all the while enjoying this lovely Spring weather. And wearing my favorite red dress to church and standing upon a patch of green moss doesn't hurt any either.

Hope your weekend was just as brilliant!

nighties...

After coming home with 2 new nighties one day a week or so ago, I made a proclamation to Hub: I am now going to wear a nightgown every single night to bed!

No more flannel pajama pants with penguins or hot pink ones with squirrels or those oh so cozy pinecone print ones. No! From now on I was going to embrace all the pretty nighties I have and don't wear very much except for on very hot summer nights. It was now their time to shine!

But then, come evening, I'd be tired, cold, and I'd opt for my cozy pajama pants and tee.

And every night for the first few nights of my new resolution, Hub would NOT let me forget what I'd said. He'd say: I thought you were going to wear a nightgown from now on?
Oh yes, yes...I'm still planning to, I'd reply, But I really want to start off this NEW resolution by wearing my NEW nightgown...and I haven't washed it yet. It needs to be washed first.
Hub: Ohhh.

Next few nights: Same exact conversation was had between us. (We are reliable like that.)
So finally, after days of still forgetting to wash it, I just dug in and wore an older nightgown the other night so that I could finally keep my word.

But my new one is hanging up now, drying out the last bits of dampness from washing it, almost ready to go.

And I think I've found another good use for my pink birdcage as well: a pretty nightie-drying spot!

pretty details {accessorizing}

Being that it's late January (something I keep reminding myself - we're almost to Feb!) and I've been covered up in bulky layers, sweaters, scarves, hats, puffy coats, boots, and whatnot for a few months now...I'm starting to yearn for more pretty, feminine things...even though it just isn't all that practical here right now, since its oh so cold and I'm always freezing!

But I found a very pretty hair clip a couple weekends ago, when Hub and I took a little trip down to the Cities and popped into Anthro for a bit. This little clip is just the thing to pop in my hair and pretty things up a bit, and still stay warm in a cozy sweater! It reminds me too of the past when women often wore pretty accessories, hats, brooches, etc...something I've been thinking I need to start including in my own repertoire of accessorizing a little more often. Of course being the creative-type, I'm thinking of making some things for myself, like this brooch I made last fall, and some hair clips using some of the odds and ends I have laying around. I might as well use them, right?

In the meantime though, here're a few pretty hair accessories/shops I've been eyeing up on Etsy:

missrubysue

heartoflight

this lovely vintage bun holder

a pretty DIY tutorial

and a sweet vintage brooch

oh and this one too!

Of course there's so much more, this is just the tip of the iceberg...

Happy accessorizing! :)

right now...

::Right Now::

Our computer has been doing odd things.

{and hub may just be coming home tonight with a new one.}

My craft desk is a disaster.

{and I just can't seem to get back into doing anything crafty...maybe I'm on "crafting overload" from Christmas?}

The streets are so, SO icy-slick.

{and my car slid down a hill today, but I ended up getting control of it pretty well, eventually.}

I started teaching a new class today to older adults.

{and only ONE hearing aid was lost!}

My toes are toasty in one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

{and they're the best slippers ever...I'm on my 2nd pair now but they last so long!}

I loathe...

…packing! But I love shoes. Hence the conundrum. Hub and I were in such a disagreement today over just how many shoes a girl really needs to pack for a trip. So I took some photos instead…to alleviate my packing stress.

I really can't complain though as I'm so looking forward to leaving behind this frozen tundra for a bit...yet not looking forward to the plane ride. Especially after seeing that plane in the Hudson River. Oh what a scary thing. Thankfully no serious injuries though!Have a happy weekend! :)

...

P.S. Here are a few things I'm intrigued by, finding inspiring, and simply loving recently:

These terrariums...especially this red syrup one although sold already...have really been on my mind. I like how she styles her photographs too. They are just fun to look at.

This clutch...oh so sweet!

This sugar bowl candle...which I've long admired.

The sweetest pair of deer art print. LOVE at first sight!

This pretty floral fabric. (I'm still trying to inspire myself with regard to my sewing machine!)
...

Pinks, Reds, & Grey In Between

{Some Snippets of Life Lately...}

An Impromptu Card-Making Session...Yes, can you believe it? The Christmas decorations have just barely been stowed away for another year and already I’m busy on Valentine-y things (for this lovely shop). It's so much fun though…I love the simplicity and sweetness of Valentine's Day (especially after the complex and drawn out Christmas season). I confined myself to a color scheme of rosy pinks and seafoam/aqua-ish blues. This made me feel less distracted as I pulled out all my artsy materials (velvet ribbon, paper posies, paper...) in just those 2 shades of colors and went to town spread out upon the entire kitchen table, not sidetracked by all my other fun things in various other shades.

Trying in vain to capture a video of the Northern Shrike impaling a vole under our birdfeeder. I witnessed the whole scene today firsthand…from him stalking his prey, to him catching it and poking it several times with his beak, to him flying away with his catch in his firm grip, and then coming back for more. It was so fascinating and he is quite a cute "hunter" bird with his pretty grey body and black eye mask. I wanted so much for Hub to be able to see this as well…as he’s been trying (in vain too) to catch the very plentiful, naughty voles (they destroy our grass making dead grass mazes that appear in the green of Spring) using mousetraps set up under our deck and has had no luck. That’s ONE for the Shrike, Hub…ZERO...so far! ;)
Looking forward with eager anticipation to our upcoming warm weather vacation...I bought a new swimsuit from Target yesterday for the occasion. It is red-ish with tiny white polka dots. What do you think? More than anything, I’m so looking forward to feeling warm, moist air. The dry air has to be one of my least favorite things about Winter time…staticky hair I try hard to tame and ultimately end up just throwing on a hat or pulling it back into a pony tail...dry, cracking hands...the electricity of sweaters as I pull them over my head...and oh are we going through the hand lotion like crazy! We should have big vats of it by every door and each sink. Our vacation can’t come soon enough for me now!

Ruffled Details

A little gift (to me, from me) arrived much earlier than expected in the mail today: these brown leather ruffled riding boots…what really hooked me was the small ruffle detail along the top and seams on these boots. I’m a sucker for details. And then they arrived and I found some more sweet details:

Deliciously pink leather insides…

Adorably cute leafy stem patterned soles…I was also drawn to these boots because they seemed so practical. The best part…they fit perfectly, are super comfortable, and my skinny jeans easily tuck into them. Plus, I think they’d be cute paired with a dress or skirt as well. I’m also a sucker for boots too! Perfecto!
P.S. I know I may be absolutely ridiculous for taking photos of my boots, but I was just too, too excited! :)

Keeping Cozy

I always like to try to keep warm, since I’m usually chilly. I whole-heartedly ascribe to the saying “cold hands, warm heart.” I think (hope) that describes me. I have a few methods for keeping cozy. Recently I mentioned my whole hat-leaving-on-obsession after coming in from the cold. Now my latest method I find myself doing is this:

1. Grab warm, fuzzy, oddly-knit scarf and sling over my neck.

(I say "oddly-knit" because this pink one below was my first ever knitting project & I mysteriously kept adding stitches to each row somehow and didn’t have the sense to fix it...I didn't think it would matter all that much…well, it does…one end of my scarf has a big bulge where I was having this issue at first, until I got things under control!)

2. Layer my old J.Crew grandpa-style sweater on top of scarf, snuggly tucking scarf underneath.
3. Button up sweater to contain big, oddly-shaped scarf.
4. Enjoy the warmth around my neck and mid-section!

I know it’s a far cry from a fashion statement, but when warmth matters (and you're not leaving the house)…this works. Although the past couple days here have been slightly unseasonably warm, the date on the calendar keeps telling me that I need to keep cozy warm…so I do. What’s your method for keeping cozy?

I’ve knit a few other scarves since that first funny one and I’m currently working on another one (see top photo) that has a pretty, very textural pattern called “double moss stitch” created merely with a combination of knit & purl stitches. This pattern and so many other neat ones can be found in a book called Knit & Purl: 250 stitches to knit...a book I received for Christmas last year and absolutely love!

P.S. If you're a novice knitter like me, here's a good little site that has basic knitting instructions (and helpful illustrations) that I've found very useful...especially this page that describes some special knitting stitches.

Chilly Hats & Hot Popovers...

...and a kind blogger too!
Or I could just title this post "Lots of Links." So here goes:

Yesterday I realized its really that time of year now, when I find myself returning from chilly & blustery, late afternoon walks with a hat on my head that often does not get removed until long after the dinner dishes have been washed. It’s this odd little habit I got into last winter here in our new home in the "arctic." I’m slightly teasing. We’re really only 2 hours further north by car than our previous home, but it does seem to be quite a climate change at times.

This reminds me of the last Anthro catalogue I received a few weeks back. I was more taken with the moss-covered, Icelandic scenery than the apparel. Although I’m quite smitten with this Margeaux Hat too. Hub says I could learn to knit something like it. I think not. I stick to very simple knitting patterns. And I proved my point this past weekend when I attempted to follow a pattern for knitting socks. I got hung up on the whole “knitting in the round” thing. And since I have this beautiful blue merino wool yarn, I really do not want to waste it on a failed project! I think its time for another knitting lesson from my knitting-guru of an Aunt. (By the way, you can find more beautiful yarn like this here on Etsy too.)

Also last weekend, we had my mum & pop over (or “up” rather) for a lovely visit full of food, crafting (just me & mum of course), a little antiquing, & a gorgeous fall hike. I made popovers to go with our dinner on Friday night, and my dad, the ultimate pun-ster, loved the “popover” play on words. While on the phone with my sister the other day, I mentioned to her that I’ve been making popovers left & right lately and she said she’d never made them before and to put them on my blog…so just for you, Sis, here’s the recipe (below) that I’ve been using lately. They’re just about the easiest thing to make and taste just as good with butter alone or jam for a bit of sweetness. The key to their success is a very liberally buttered pan. And technically you’re supposed to use a popover pan, but as I’m often doing in the kitchen, I improvise and use a large muffin pan which I find does the job too. Just be sure to eat them up as soon as you can once you pop them out of the oven before they begin to deflate...although truly they taste just as good deflated too!

Popovers (from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)
unsalted butter, room temp, for pan
1 ½ cups milk
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with a rack in the lower third. Generously butter a 12 cup popover tin. Whisk together milk & eggs. Add the flour, salt, and sugar, and whisk until mixture is the consistency of heavy cream with some small lumps remaining. Do not overmix!

Fill each cup with about 5 tablespoons of batter. Bake until the popovers are very puffed up and extend over the top of the tin by about 3 inches, about 30 minutes. Immediately invert pan to remove popovers, and serve.

(***One little note...I half this recipe since I have just 1 jumbo sized muffin pan.)

And finally, last but certainly not least...OH MY, if I didn’t have the biggest smile on my face this morning when I went to visit one of my favorite blogs, The Constant Gatherer. I’m so often inspired and clued in to new artists through Katie’s insightful blog. Plus, I simply adore her artwork...like this fabulous wreath, one of my favorites...and this recently listed Purdy Bird Yarn wreath is just the sweetest! And I also love to see what new things she’s making. So I was quite the surprised one when I saw she did THE sweetest little write-up on my LillyBonBon shop & blog. Thanks a bunch, Katie! You’re the best! :)

Anthro Finds & Zumbro Eats

1 part Anthro & 1 part Zumbro…a recipe for a lovely afternoon!

{The Details...}

Last week while down in the Cities, Mum and I took a jaunt across town to visit a favorite spot, Anthropologie. I still had a gift card from my birthday (thank you Mother-in-Law!) just waiting patiently to be used. But since I live so far from one now, it is a little harder to get there. I could shop online…but perusing the store in person is so much more pleasurable.

We had such a fun time there together…spending a good couple of hours looking, touching, smelling, trying on... I really made it worth my while too and picked up some fun things for myself and some gifts for others. Its really hard for me to have restraint in this store, so I guess it’s a good thing I don’t get here often! (And all this just on the heels of my recent posts about getting rid of things and having less stuff! Oh this place makes it hard!)

A couple of my finds…

{The “Dollhouse Coverlet Hoodie.” Oh so soft and cozy!}

{Sweet plates I fell in love with…the “Aurora Dessert Plates”…featuring 3 bluebirds, butterflies, & daisy chains. I love the shape of these plates as well as the bright, cheery colors. I think they’ll look sweet underneath my yellow teacups & saucers that I got from here awhile ago. I can't wait to have a proper tea party with these!}

After our Anthropologie shopping spree, we headed over to the nearby Linden Hills area…a sweet little community with, I think, a bit of a Parisian-like feel to it…full of cute gift stores, flower shops, a bakery, and a great little spot we found to revive ourselves with lunch…the Zumbro Café.

Mum had a "Bacon & Havarti Frittata" while I had a "Roasted Tomato/Caramelized Onion/Basil Pesto Sandwich" on grilled ciabatta. If I were going to make my ideal sandwich, this would be it precisely!

Our only regret…not having enough time to peruse all that is Linden Hills. Next time! There’s always next time, we say!