in the backyard...

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Southern California. I never really think of Spring being a favorite season of mine but I am always delighted when it comes. I really want to take advantage of this lovely season with being outdoors and soaking up the air and the sun. I also want to get myself out of the habit of just being out in the front yard and always neglecting the back one. My parent's have a huge backyard that includes a gated pool but it's mostly all concrete. They do have a small patch of green but everyone usually avoids it (unless the grass has be tamed) because it's the dog's area (I think you all know what I mean).

During the week of Earth day, Nat and I did some fun little crafts. One of the things we did was nest making. My friend Lisa always has amazing things she does with her two daughters. I saw her post on nest making and decided we had to do it. I had found some light weight wire in my old painting supplies so thought it would be perfect for nest making. I didn't make it look as awesome as the sphere that Paint Cut Paste had made but it was functional enough.



Since we don't have a tree in the front yard, the only place I could think of hanging it was out in the back. The neighbor's have a tree that hangs over on our side and it provides nice shade and a better 'outdoor' look. It's where Nat and I have our homemade recycled plastic bird feeder. It's a mess to look at but hopefully some birds will find some good stuff they can use to build their nests (and it's conveniently located right next to bird seeds). I am pretty happy that this little thing forced me to get out in the backyard. I should be out there more and utilize whatever I can there. I want it to be greener and happier and I know that Nat and I could make it more that way.



I also thought the backyard would be the perfect place to show my nice thrifted finds I got last week. I already showed you Nat's adorable Asian dress but I hadn't shared what I got. At the moment I am not that good at taking self portraits and I really don't want to ask anyone to take photos of me. I am not where I want to be yet and sometimes I just get a little too hard on myself. With that said, I just decided to use the old wooden bench that's besides the koi pond and the tree for a photo shoot of sorts.



I had a particularly fun day the day I got all these goodies. I hung out with an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in quite some time. We had so much fun being loud and silly at the thrift store and it felt so good since it had been so long since i've had that with her. She joked about how I would say, 'I'm just going to put it in the cart. I'll edit later'. Our cart was so packed! Finally, we both narrowed it down to the things we coudn't bear to be with out (and with a 20% off coupon too, it was so worth it)!



I love dresses, I pretty much wear them every day. I have lost some weight due to all the food changes and walking I've been doing so it's nice to find some 'new' things to have. I did find one dress that I really liked and knew it would fit without trying it out. It's a blue and red dress with white (but it's not the American flag). It has such a pretty print we've all seen but it's cute and comfy. I wore it the day after with a little natural beige colored belt (also thrifted) with a dainty little sweater my friend picked out for me at the thrift store.



I wish I took a better photo of the sweater but it's the perfect spring/summer cover up. The print is so cool (it reminds me a bit of asian tattoos for some reason) and I already been complimented twice for it. One woman thought it looked like it was from Anthropolgie (and my heart smiled).



One thing I have to admit is that I am a sweater fiend. Some people have vices like shoes or handbags. Mine are sweaters. Even with living in Southern California, if there is barely enough coolness for me to wear a sweater, I will. The time I went to the store a couple of weeks before I had snatched a thick sweater that reminds me of cold and folksy places and a multi-brown poncho with buttons. The first sweater has none brashy looking colors of natural, brown, warm light gray with a rust red color. I call it my campfire sweater because it's one of those things I can see myself huddling in while out camping at night next to the fire. The poncho I was really thrilled about because I've been wanting a cool poncho for awhile but never would find the 'right' one. I especially like this one because it has buttons down the front that I haven't seen on a poncho.



While taking these pictures, my family's dog, Bijou came out to be a part of it. This dog has been around for a very very long time. She is a very good dog and I've been putting more effort into showing her affection and warmth so whenever her last days come, it would be good ones.



I think one of my ultimate finds that day was a type of sweater I have been wanting for a very long time. I would see these awesome thrifting mamas like Heather, Amber, Sasha, Milla (which by the way Milla, I don't know why your blog is not showing up in my bloglines feed but I'll get it there!) rocking their wares and wishing I had some sweaters like theirs too.



I finally found it and was so ecstatic! It was perfect  with it's gray tones mixed with borwn, mustard yellow and rusty red and fit perfectly too. It has the easy going belt and pockets which I love to have. Even more awesome was the price tag so once the coupon was applied, I got the sweater for only $2.40! So happy....



The other scores were a couple of tops great for the warming up weather. One, a cute little top that will probably end up being a summer staple and a button up shirt with a cute ruffled neck you can wear up or down. I also got a slouchy brown bag with front pockets (yeah!) that is perfect for all the things I need to tote around. I've used the bag right away and it pretty much seems to go with everything I wear right now.



So...even though I had already picked up two sweaters (the airy cover up and the $2.40 steal) there was one that I could not turn away. I've mentioned my love for pretty much all things Harry Potter. I especially love the clothes from the movies which I had to do a post about on Magpies and Apples (if you visit, I'm sorry that the font is all big and wonky. I'm working on that). I love all the colors, patterns, textures so when I saw this sweater, I instantly thought "Weasley!" and absolutely had to have it.



It has my favorite colors (again), browns, greens, and mustard with a zipper and a toggle front. Besides the way it feels perfectly while wearing it, it also has pockets and a hood. I told my friend it's my old scottish man sweater. When I showed Rick all my goods, his reply was 'more sweaters?' but when I showed him this one, I knew I had won him over. I told him he wishes he had a sweater like this and he said yeah. Even though I won this one I vowed that I would not go looking for more sweaters for me. I told him I would be tempted but from now on, only look in the men's sections for cool sweaters for him. Deal.



I'm very happy with my finds and had an awesome day that day, including the part when I got blown out of the store's door because the wind was so strong that day. My friend and I were busting up with so much laughter, it was awesome.



In other non-related subjects, I go see a new GI Specialist today and am praying that he will be sympathetic to my case and sincerely want to help. Here's to hoping and also to looking to Him no matter what, trusting that everything is in His hands and He will always be faithful even when we don't understand. ♥

nature babies, old books and dresses and thankfulness along the way

Thankful for weekly things such as...





Pine cone babies. From an earlier nature idea from a tiny found pine cone, we set off to make these babies during our movie night. We wrapped the yarn over the 'body' and tied fabric 'scarves' around their little heads. Then, we drew their sleepy eyes...





Thrift scores. An old friend and I went to my favorite local haunt where I gathered some nice lovelies for myself but scored on something Nat has been wanting for awhile. A beautiful emerald Asian dress, like it was absolutely meant to be....





Love for old books. We went to Uptown Whittier for a tiny bit and of course, stopped by the new and used bookstore there. Natalie went straight to the children's area where she quickly picked up several books to show me, a couple of them old hardbacks. She told me since she 'likes old things' she 'would love to have these old books because they are old'. We obliged her one, The Tale of Paddy Muskrat by Arthur Scott Bailey (A Sleepy Time Tale) from 1916. I picked up an old favorite of mine, The Wizard of Oz in a portable paperback to tote around with me as well.

end of the week things...

It's friday, the day is bright, sunny with the slighest spring chill. I've been meaning to share a few things so, let me start with these...

I mentioned before that Nat and I went to the local thrift shop and brought back a few things. I wanted her to model her goodies but the camera was still a little fuzzy. I did get a few photos before she quickly got ready to hang out with her buddies that day.

One of the items she got was this cute rust colored top. Actually, it's not a top, it's a size 4T dress but it fits so good as a little apron type top with pockets included.

Her favorite find was a pair of brown clogs. Every time she comes with me to the shop she looks for shoes that she can get but never finds anything her size. She jumped up and down when I said she could get the shoes (they were five bucks and I believe the one item that was the most 'expensive'). She also scored on another sleeveless summery top, a pretty brown and beige floral but like I said, she had things to do, people to be with... ;)

Another thing we did was finally planting a sequioa seed from a kit Rick had bought us a couple of years ago. It came with the cutest illustrated instructions and was very simple to do.

Our little seed is in the fridge to simulate 'winter' so that it can sprout. It's 'cold stratification' and will be there for a few weeks before it's time to take it out. Nat made sure that one, we put a warning sign on the little greenhouse (WARNING: a tree is growing, please do not remove until May 2nd) and two, that we mark it on the calender complete with a little tree drawing on the day.

>I've been wanting to make things, do some crafty stuff and draw more. I have one drawing done already but I am waiting until I complete a second one with the same theme to present it here. I did make Nat and I bracelets using hemp twine and various (and some vintage) buttons that has been given to me.

The above is my bracelet (which I've been wearing since) with five buttons. I made Natalie's with three round buttons of which you can see two here.

With Earth day coming up, I am thinking of several ideas we can do. She does have a softball game that day so I'll have to squeeze them before and after the game. We are going to do an Earth hour which is something I've been wanting us to do more of.

thrifty finds and crafty monsters

Yesterday I made a stop at the local thrift store nearby. One of the things I picked up was a peeling gilded bird that didn't look like much but I had good potential. I brought it home and promptly applied black semi-gloss spray paint. I love the way it looks now.

I also scored on two worn out little woodland owl figurines. I was thinking of spray painting them as well but thought maybe I should keep them in their current state. I think they tell more of a 'story' this way.

Besides a cute little folksy skirt, the last thing I picked up was a small terracotta rabbit. I spray painted it black as well (partly inspired by the black hare) and I just love this cute little guy all the more!

Yesterday was also another day of halloween crafts for the girl and I. We decided to make a few creepy characters by recycling TP rolls. I drew partly on them as a guideline for her and she used paints to colored them in and also drew their faces. I think we are both pleased with the results and she wants to use them as big finger puppets :)

For Frankenstein and his bride, we inserted popsicle sticks for arms. I cut the top of the roll to mimic wild hair for him and used a folded coffee filter for the bride's dress. I left one side a little longer, glued and wrapped the dress around a made little slits at the bottom so the dress would come up a bit.

We also made a bat boy and girl (or little vampires if you will). I cut a little semi-circle at the tops to create their bat like ears and then glued the front and back part together for the head. After, she drew and painted on them and again I used a little exacto knife to cut slits for their bat wings. I cut the wings with little inserts to slid through the slits and then glued the back of the wings to where it was inserted.

Look at our monstrous family!

monterey take two...

Our second day at Monterey we returned to the aquarium but decided to park in a residential area not too far away from it. I wish I had more time in the town because there are so many houses and buildings that I just fell so hard for! Beautiful!

Once again in the aquarium, snapping up photos of wonders that lie beneath the salty waters..

On Cannery Row, a nice stone bench for a little rest.

Oh the breeze!
Returning to the street we were parked, we decided to take a peek into two consignment stores there. Once we left we also passed a Goodwill where we absolutely had to go to! While I was looking at the dresses my dad picked out this coat for me and he was so thrilled!! He said, look at it, it's all you and only 16 dollars and he was right! What a perfect fit and in such great condition! You will see my sporting this come fall and winter :)

Natalie also picked out a top for herself, channeling her inner boho spirit it seems!

And two more of my finds: this fabulous scarf for three dollars and change and these flats for five dollars and twenty five cents!

Yay for thrifting and yay for Monterey!