Garage Sale!

I don't know if you know, but putting on a garage sale is not high on my list of fun summer activities.  Going, maybe, but hosting, no.  There is a whole lotta prep work, followed by a whole lotta praying, then a whole lotta clean-up.  When Annie said she wanted to do a donations-only garage sale, I was not exactly pumped, but you get on board when you know it is a good cause.  And people, how can ya hate when this little munchkin is the reason for all of it.  You can't.  She makes you too happy.  

So the family rallied.  We dug out stuff from all corners of our basements and closets and proceeded to sweat off a few pounds hauling tables and displaying poorly thousands of things.

This is the sisters on the day in question.

And Ollie, flirting as usual.

Since the sisters and I have lived by the "you can do it all, and all in one day" philosophy for our entire lives, we decided to add a little fuel to the crazy fire.  After spending some of Thursday, and all of Friday morning setting up the garage sale, we had mom haul the cattle trailer to town loaded with Ethel Edith stuff.  Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  Get rid of inventory in the basement, and in our barns :)  Plus, we got an opportunity to make another donation from our business.  Win-win folks.  That's what it's all about. 

This is a view of our Saturday sale.  We were pumped because we sold enough on Friday to be able to consolidate a few tables.  We had SO many clothes it was unbelievable.  

Inside of the garage was lined on all sides by clothes and housewares.  

Mom kept telling me to put the ugly stuff in the back and the good stuff out front to draw people in.  I tried to assure her that when it comes to garage sales, no one really believes the gems are buried in the back.  But anyone that knows mom knows, when it comes to display, she is the queen-bee and better than you.  Really.  She is.  So there is no point in arguing.  It's just that occasionally, I forget.  Plus, mom cares more, and that is a dangerous combination that sets you up for losing the battle.      

I concede ma.   You are better than me.

Here are just a few pictures of the sale. 

Because garage sales are generally ugly, here are pictures of Ethel Edith stuff. 

And a few pictures of the best thing at the garage sale, Miss Ollie O!

She's big!

Aren't those fat rolls superb?  Ollie is chubby goodness at it's best.  I, on the other hand, am chubby in all the ways that make me wish that men had to carry the babies.  

Our garage sale was a complete success.  Aside from being sweaty and sunburned and snapping at Maggie out of hunger, I had a good time.  Plus, the family was able to raise over $1600 to donate to the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis.  How awesome is that?!  This weekend is the Buddy Walk in St. Louis and I look forward to that.  It should also be a good time.  My family consists of all my favorite people and they are stupid in all the best ways that make you belly-laugh til you cry.  

Thank you to everyone that came out to our sale.  That bought our junk (garage sale or Ethel Edith goods) and to all the family that donated to a worthy cause.  

The whole family, and our rockstar Ollie, thank you from the bottom of our healthy hearts :) 

Lucy the dog

A little bit ago I got an email from a lovely lady.  She had a portrait request for her pup Lucy.  I had to put her on hold for a bit to wrap up some other pieces, but then was thrilled to let her know, it was Lucy's time for the spotlight.  

She sent me over a few pictures of her and wrote a description of Lucy's personality.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.  

I just love her expressions. 

Hello!

I LOVE that shot.  It immediately reminded me of this video.  In my mind, this is Lucy's personality even though I've not had the opportunity to meet her in person.  Even if she is the exact opposite, I want to believe this is how Lucy would act because it cracks me up! 

Anyway, after spending a little time staring at her, this is what I came up with. 

What can I say...it is unmistakably Lucy.  

I know I've done well, when my email of the proof gets this response...

Oh my gosh - you nailed it.  I like it even better than the photo I sent you.  My husband is going to love it.  I love the way you tilted her head and you captured her personality perfectly..I can't stop emailing it to friends and family - I just love it. 

Happy Customers make me a happy girl!

Push

I have been waiting to post up this picture.  Honestly, my pregnant brain kinda forgot about it for awhile....then I found it on my computer and laughed and figured it was about time.  

This a lovely drawing done by Miss Aubrie Grace.  

In kindergarten, they were discussing the concept of push and pull.  

Aubrie immediately decided that the best example she could think of to illustrate the word "push" was her favorite Aunt Abbie, "pushing" baby Cliff out and into the world.  

Notice the yellow urine bag. 

I am happy to have the pee bag if it means she really thinks my legs are that skinny. 

I do, however, fear that my belly will be that lumpy after Ford gets here.  

Let's all pray for an easy delivery, flat stomach and thin legs.  A girl can dream.  (Shutty haters....I can hope.)

P.S.  You're welcome Mrs. Kuhl for the inadvertant lesson in obstetrics.  

Random facts, Volume 9

Here's a super random one for all of ya, I hate toilet paper roll holders.  You read correctly.  

My aversion stems directly from my distinct hatred for changing empty toilet paper rolls.  Perhaps it is because people seem perplexed as to what to do when the roll is empty; unable to understand how to change it.  Really it's a complete waste of time and effort.  it is for this reason, when you visit my house, you will not see my toilet paper strapped to my wall.  

I keep mine as such.  

See, easy.  Except for when Zac uses every bit of toilet paper and then things are still equally as annoying as if the empty roll were hanging there, taunting me.  I keep trying to tell him to keep an extra couple rolls under the sink in his bathroom.  When he sees the last roll getting small, replace it.  I've lectured him.  He can't care.
It is for this reason he scared me awake, yelling my name across the house in the middle of the night a week ago, when his complete denial of lactose-intolerance lead to a gut-battle with Casey's pizza and poor Zac was stranded until I flung a roll down the hall at him.  I was less than thrilled about the situation.  So was Zac. 

There ya go folks.  Another very random fact about yours truly.  Lucky you. 

Experience a tasting

I know I've been mentioning Wildtree lately, as I became a rep for the company while in the unemployed phase of my life.  I have mentioned tastings, but I know people fear the unknown and are much more likely to say "no" to something they are not familiar with.  For this reason, I thought I'd just give ya'll a little preview of what a tasting looks like.  Here are a few pictures from my last tasting.

These are the display products.  So people get a feel for just how many spices and mixes and awesome food the company makes.  This is just a fraction of what's in the catalog.  And, this is all free product I've received from being the "hostess."  As the rep, I bring all this stuff and set it all up. 

These are Wildtree's sauces and flavor infused oils.  Again, got these for free and this is stuff I bring as the rep.  Let me tell ya guys, they are delicious.  

These are two of Wildtree's entrees.  The left is taco meat, the right is a skillet meal.  Both rock my socks off.  The skillet meal is the healthy alternative to hamburger helper and is just as easy.  Meat, milk, water, their seasoning and rice become dinner in all of 15 minutes.  

The "hot" entree is the only thing that's prepared the day of the party.  Everything else can be done the day before and refrigerated so all ya gotta do is set it out! 

These are the other things I made for the party.  It was Cinco de Mayo, and I had some extra stuff, so I made a little more than I would ask any other hostess to do.  

What you see on the table is a beer bread, guacamole, and 2 dips.  Each of the things I listed is made with Wildtree mix/seasoning and 1 or 2 ingredients (sour cream, cream cheese, whipped topping, etc).  The entire prep of all of the things you see on the table was 20 minutes or so.  Then they all went in the fridge and were set out the day of the party.  

Like I said, Wildtree products are simple and easy.  If any of you out there are interested in hosting a tasting, let me know.  I'd be thrilled to help ya get a bunch of free products that are great tasting and healthy for your family.  Hopefully, if any of you have been wondering, this helps you to know what to expect and eliminates any intimidation that you may feel when it comes to hosting a "food" party.  

Keep it simple!  And let Wildtree help ya do that!

Ecceptional

I love when people do stupid, inconsequential things that make me laugh.  

I love it even more when when they do stupid things in print.  

People are exceptional.  

Except when they are firm on their prices.  

I might just prefer a good deal to a good laugh.  

Maybe. 

Clifford's Crib Quilt

I have been itching to get Clifford's bedding done.  Probably the most important part was his crib quilt.  It's kinda like the rug from "The Dude's" apartment..."it really ties the room together."  

(if you don't know the Dude, or the rug, you gotta get on watching The Big Lebowski.  it's one of my all time faves. so ridiculous)

The first step was cutting my squares.  I love all my fabrics.   

Most people do organized quilts, with fancy patterns.  That's not my style.  I lay it out on the floor or a table and then arrange and re-arrange the quilt top until I feel like it is balanced.  This was the pattern that made me the happiest.   It took me a few hours because I would stand and stare and move 3 squares....then walk away and do something else, then repeat.  It is the most important part because when you are as OCD as me, once you find a flaw in your top blocks, you obsess about it.  When the quilt is already sewn and you are irritated about 2 light oranges where clearly it should have been 1 light and 1 dark,  well, in the words of Dad, you're shit outta luck.

After I have my pattern, I stack up my rows to make it easy to grab and sew...and, of course, because this was in the middle of my living room. 

I sit, and I sew each strip.  Usually I sew all my strips then sew them together.  This time I sewed the strips and sewed them together as I went so I got to gradually see it looking more and more like a quilt. I liked that instant gratification.  

Here is a sewn, ironed flat strip. 

Here is a random fact for ya.  I pin nothing.  I hate them.  I ALWAYS get poked regardless of how careful I am.  My solution, curl clips.  I saw them on a trip to the supply house with Maggie and I was scoping them out big time.  A box of 80 was like $4.  That's a lot of awesome if you ask me.  So now, I have little smooth clips that hold things in place wonderfully, slide right off, and never snag fingers or fabric.  I'm one clever girl.  

This is application of said curl clips.  Much faster than pinning if you ask me.  You can see my sewn strip, on my block,  I kinda line up seams starting from the center square then running out to the ends, then sew and iron.

This is my top block all done and looking handsome.  I ironed him up and then laid it out and decided he would look extra polished with a boarder.

I had plenty of extra dark grey fabric from the crib quilt and dust ruffle I made, so ol' quilty got some fancy grey trim.  Plus, this is an excellent way to straighten up any wonky edges...not that I ever make mistakes when cutting, sewing, or lining up my squares.

After his boarder, he got laid out on my batting and backing and then safety pinned together like crazy. 

The I went about the task of quilting him.  I always start in the center and quilt outward.  I learned the hard way that fabric can move around on ya a bit and I didn't want to end up with a great top block, without enough backing to fully cover it.  Again, seam ripping is a good way to piss me off.

I decided just to do vertical quilting on this guy because of how graphic his backing was.  I like to quilt in a contrasting fabric too because I want to see the work.  I love it!

I decided to do store bought satin binding for this quilt for 3 reasons.

#1.  Sheer laziness.

#2.  Just look at that beautiful blue color.

#3.  Satin is super soft and babies like soft things.

After my bindings are machine stitched on, I was simply left to hand stitch the back.   Again, curl clips hold things in place without poking fingers and snagging the satin.  Win win ladies.  I wouldn't steer you wrong.  Especially about something so inconsequential for most of you.

This is the finished product!

Front

Back...watch out, it'll make your eyes dance!

And on his bed.  Initially I was really irritated with myself becaue the quilt was just a hair too big and I was cussing the boarder I just swore I needed to have.  Then I washed and dried it, it wrinkled up a bit (which is a better look) and now it fits perfectly.  

That's it folks,  Cliff Stu's crib quilt is done.  Finite.  It looks so darn cute that I'm starting to second guess bumpers.  That....or I'm starting to second guess more work.  Hard to say exactly what's what here.  Don't blame me, I still have to sew a quilt to cover his carrier/ act as a play mat.