take me back to toyland..

i have officially begun the difficult [yet so enjoyable] process of getting christmas presents together! Sofar, i have made a cute set of stationary for one of my friends who loves writing letters, two little headbands, and a decorated jar for...well...i don't know yet. i just had the idea so i made it.

for the stationary i just took some plain colored cards and envelopes, and made them pretty and unique.

and for the jar, i grabbed a square bottle i had sitting around, then crinkled up many many red and green magazine strips. then, i stuffed all the little magazine balls into the glass bottle. to top it off, i tied a piece of hemp around the fabric, and attatched a to/from tag...
p.s. that bottle is a lot smaller than it looks...

...easy free and creative gifts for the holidays!! {my favorite}

Happy Thanksgiving!

i love todays! because they make me remember how fun it is to be a part of a family. There is something magical about circling around a table with eight other people who are so intimately connected to you. thanksgiving also makes me want to have a family of my own... i cant wait until i can find an adorable man, and get married, and have a few bright eyed freckly children and we can live in an adorable little house... excited!

there are an amazing amount of leftovers all packed away in the fridge. like, i'm not kidding. i don't know exactly why my mother thought it was necessary to make two huge cans of yams...because we have one and three fourths of those yams left..
my uncle pulled out the video camera to video us all saying happy thanksgiving, and he went around trying to get every one of us. it ended with my sister in her karate uniform?? i don't really know how or why that happened. i guess all that turkey got to her head...

let the wild rumpus start!

so my mother surprized me yesterday with two of the most adorable kittens! and so my sister and i have been thinking of what to name them... and my brother wanted to call the little boy max... and i decided that the little girl should be ira. then they can both be named after characters from the wild things! so in honor of my two new kitties, i present quotes from wild things:


Ira: Hi, I'm Ira. I put the holes in the trees.
-------------------------------------------
Max: Did you make this?
Carol: Yeah, yeah.
Max: It's very good.
Carol: We were gonna make a whole world like this. Now, everyone used to come here, but you know... you know what it feels like when all your teeth are falling out really slowly and you don't realize and then you notice that, well, they're really far apart. And then one day... you don't have any teeth anymore.
Max: Yeah.
Carol: Well it was like that.
--------------------------------------------
Carol: Hey King! What's your first order of business?
Max: Let the wild rumpus start!


p.s. i'll post pictures of my kitties tomorrow!

Cuz baby, it's cold outside....

time for another party! My friends, annemarie and heather, and i got together last night and made invitations to our christmas party! and i am already pretty stoked about it! i love making invites! and i love the way we made them because each one was totally unique, and we personalized them even more by putting the names on them! and we made the names part of the design, which is a cool way to keep track of who gets an invite while making your guest feel extra important and wanted! haha... well, here are some pictures of them! hope you feel inspired!
p.s. sorry that the pics arent very pretty... my camera didn't want to cooperate with the lighting and i was too tired to deal with it... :)

Let's go!

i went to dc thursday! and i discovered some great art museums and shopping areas...and i also took some pictures! I went to the Renwick and the National Portrait Gallery and the American. These are some of my favorite pics of the day

just a thought...

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time."
-
Edith Wharton








photo:raychel sonveeco. flickr. cutest girl ever. great photographer

Deck the Halls

Want a more eco friendly ornament? try these cute conifer ornaments
just click on the pic to link you to the etsy page!

Ascend the Hill 11.24

Those in the rva get hype! ascend the hill is coming again!

where: West End A.G.
When: tuesday november 24
Time: 7 pm til ?

Ascend the hill is an indie worship band from florida. They've come to richmond a couple of times so far, and i cannot wait to see them again!












if you want to hear their music, check out their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/ascendthehill

just a thought...

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
-Maya Angelou

O, Christmas Tree

i cant wait til christmas! I love giving gifts and decorating the house and baking sugar cookies and drinking hot chocolate and trimming the tree.... christmas is such a wonderful time of year! but for a girl like me who is tight on money these days, i have to be creative this year with my gift giving. luckily, my artsy side will be to my advantage! im going to make everyone christmas ornaments!


I looked online today for some inspiration, and thought id share some of my findings! maybe they'll come in handy! :)

all of the pics i posted are found on Martha Stewart's website. she has numerous other christmas ideas and instructions to accompany the pictures. so, check it out!

Oh, i have CRAYONS!

for those who know me personally, you may find it odd and slightly unstylish of me to carry around my purple backpack EVERYWHERE. but. it's necessary because i have to bring my journal and crayons, which don't easily fit in small purses. many underestimate the abilities of a crayon...viewing it as a kindergarten school supply instead of an inexpensive art medium. but, i believe that crayons are the best way for me, personally, to add a bit of color to my journal. especially becuse most of my journal work is done out and about.so i need a lot of different colors, quick and easy, with no mess.

my favorite color: sea green

.photo1-ThisIsHer,flickr. .photo2-Beckaroonie,flickr.

{place title here}

so whenever i finish a journal, right before i tuck it under my bed, i give it a title, a somewhat summary of the story written on all those ripped and torn and indented pages.... my most recent:


A PocKeT gUide tO tHe LiFe Of aN
aRtsY giRl

17

Also a find from my trip to Staunton, 17 is an awesome antique/thrift store on east beverley. just a hint- the downstairs has some cool stuff, don't get me wrong. but the upstairs is where the AWESOME stuff is. The stairs are not easy to find at all, but if you walk all the way to the back of the shop, you will find them. once you get upstairs, keep walking straight. and you'll find old glass bottles, retro clothes, and lots more! a friend of mine found an amazing dress for only $8. and it looked brand new! They have tons of really pretty jewelry. My favorite thing in the whole store was this white chandelier upstairs. i want to get one for my room! Staunton has a couple of antique/thrift stores, but of the ones i went in, 17 is my favorite!

Coffee on the Corner

So, i've started a new category-coffee- so now, when i find really great coffee shops, i'll write a little report! so, my first! Coffee on the corner. east beverly street. staunton. virginia. you can tell it's gonna be good before even stepping in the door. A Big cafe window with a couple sitting at a table, looking out to the street...perfectly adorable. inside, local artists have paintings hanging on the walls, and a big chalkboard displays the menu. You can get anything from grilled cheese sandwiches to coffee smoothies- coffee on the corner's version of a frappuccino. what charmed me most about this coffee shop was the people sitting around. College student.studying.coffee with shot of espresso. Buisness man.on laptop.coffee,black. young woman.reading romance novel.hot chocolate. Coffee on the corner.good food.good coffee.good peoplewatching. reasonable prices.check it out!

Rainy Days

photo by moiht on flickr. to see more, click on the photo

It's so rainy here in the rva... has been pouring since wednesday and it's really getting me down. I'm running out of shoes to wear because all of my sneakers are soaked. and to make it even worse, it's utterly freezing! i keep putting more and more layers on, but never get any warmer. i actually stood in my bathroom blowing the hairdryer on myself to get defrosted... but then i got yelled at for making too much noise...

good luck keeping dry!and Happy Thursday!

Staunton?!

so, i went on a trip with my school last wednesday to staunton. va. and, i discovered the cutest town in virginia! and it's less than two hours from my house, which makes for a perfect day trip, i must say. so, i'm going to give an outline for a perfect day in staunton...

1. get a small group of friends together (small=4-6), grab your i-pods and a gas-efficient car and hit the road! head for downtown staunton. if you get to mary baldwin, your on the right track!

2. Arrive, park, and get walking! everything is quite convenient and walkable.

3. when you're feeling hungry, stop into the Frederick street cafe, baja bean company, irish alley Restarunt and pub, or beverley restraunt. all of which are on the main street, and have really good food for a reasonable price.

4. after you have a full tummy, hit the stores! and make sure you go into the antique stores! there are some cool things to find. and there's also a pretty cool thrift store.

5. after a couple hours of walking around the town, maybe you feel like just sitting down for a cup of coffee and a cookie? well, walk down East beverley, and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or a "coffee smoothie" at Coffee on the Corner.

6.time to go home? well make sure you drive by the giant watering can and flower pots before you leave!

good luck! and make sure you check the weather! the mountains can get pretty cold!