thankful...and a sale (or 3)!!

happy thanksgiving! i am spending today baking pies and stuffing myself with turkey surrounded by my family. i am so thankful for our ability to drive down and be with family. i'm thankful that my sweet nana is here for another year to share this day with us. i'm thankful for the relationship my husband and my dad have- they spent this morning out on a long bike ride together. i'm grateful that i can sit and write this in a warm house while we wait for more food than we need to be ready to eat. i'm thankful for a little sister who is going to brave toys r us with me tonight to look for a gift for my husband (yes...toys r us...for my 28 year old hubby!). i'm thankful for my parents who have hosted thanksgiving as long as i can remember. i'm so thankful for my sweet hubby who stopped to get me coffee after his ride today (none. in. the. house.) and thankful for the people at caribou who worked today so i could have that coffee. i've been there and working holidays was no fun (though tips were always better!).

i'm also so thankful for the opportunity to be craftee mcgee and to run my little shop. i'm thankful for each person who buys from me to allow me to keep doing what i do. and this weekend i'm hoping to make it a little easier to buy from the shop. sale time! 


black friday
starting at midnight (pacific) tonight the black friday sale will go live. all day tomorrow you'll get 25% off your whole order with the code BLACKFRIDAY11. use it to buy that statement necklace you've been eyeing or one of my new cozy crochet products!

small business saturday
all day saturday (and probably sunday too!) receive a free pair of charm earrings with any purchase over $20. just put the charm that you'd like in the message to seller and i'll add the earrings to your order. any charm earring in the shop is eligible and i can make earrings from any of the reCharm options!

cyber monday
all day monday receive free {domestic} shipping on any order. just use the code CYBERMONDAY to receive the discount. original i know...
the free earrings offer is still available today! just enter your choice of charms in the message to seller!

MOVEMBER
this month brandon has been growing out his 'stache to help raise money and awareness for men's health issues. i tried to grow a mustache of my own and failed (thank goodness) so i'm offering these fabulous mustache charm earrings.

they're $8.50 shipped and 50% of the proceeds from these earrings will go directly to movember. i'm not putting them in the shop so that more of the money can go towards the cause so send me a quick note with your email address & i'll invoice you directly through paypal!

just to help you plan your shopping the turnaround time right now is 4-6 business days and our Christmas Order Deadline is Monday December 12th. thanks to all who help keep this little shop running. i really am so grateful for each order.

what i wore wednesday: halloween edition

i'd know that silhouette anywhere!  

Mary Poppins!

yes, it's true. i'm linking up for my very first what i wore wednesday over at lindsay's lovely blog.  i keep meaning to link up but clearly i have a blogging problem (in that i don't blog) so here i am! when i saw a picture from this post floating around the internet somewhere (probably pinterest) i knew that this is who we needed to be for halloween! mary poppins is my favorite movie of all time. i have the whole thing memorized and could watch it over and over. my mom used to rent the movie AND a VCR so that i could watch it because i loved it so much. between mary poppins and the sound of music, julie andrews was my hero by the time i was 8! i can't believe i have never thought to dress as mary before! 

Photo credit: Disney via imdb.com 

when i first saw the inspiration photo i thought this would be an easy costume because so much of mary's outfit (and bert's) are staple wardrobe pieces. i had black tights & shoes, the white shirt and a black coat. i happened to have a vintage grey wool skirt that i had picked up at goodwill a while ago that fit the outfit perfectly! brandon already owned a black shirt & pants and a vest. easy. 

the thing i had forgotten about were all of mary's many accessories. you can't be mary without a black hat or a carpet bag. and the parrot! i searched high & low for just the right black hat and couldn't find one! this hat was a big, wide hat that i cut down to be the perfect size. i glued on the ribbon and some berries (spray painted) and daisies from the dollar store. 

my original plan for the gloves was to bleach the gloves i wore to prom, but they didn't bleach. so instead of wearing green gloves, i found these wool gloves at the last minute at goodwill. 

"to carry carpets in?"    "no, made of"

carpet bags are very hard to find! i ended up finding a bag just the right size and shape at...where else...goodwill! and the fabric was from an earlier thrifting trip. i killed me to cut the piece i got in half. the roman numerals on the selvedge tell me this gorgeous fabric is from 1965. i was able to cut it directly in half and attach it temporarily to the bag so i could use it again. not sure what it will be, pillows maybe? 

the bow tie was a simple little red piece of ribbon. i glue a safety pin on when i glued the center strip. that helped me pin my ruffly shirt closed to look like it had a high collar. 

and of course i couldn't stop there! i needed a scarf. a real, lacy, open mary poppins scarf so i ordered some perfectly shaded yarn & started to crochet. unfortunately i didn't start until a couple days before halloween and tiny hooks & lace weight yarn take forever. my scarf was much narrower & shorter than i would have liked but it definitely looked like mary's! i think i'll add to it since i still have two cones of yarn!

and last but not least the umbrella! i was kicking myself for not buying the umbrella when i went to the broadway show in chicago last year, but since i didn't i had to make my own! i found a plain black umbrella for $5 at walmart. (yes we really only have walmart and goodwill up here. also a kohl's, but it was out of the halloween budget!). i grabbed some felt from my stash and cut out this little parrot based on a sketch i found online of the original movie prop. i sewed it together and stuffed it with a handfull of fiberfill. he got stuck to the umbrella handle with electrical tape and then i added the beak, eyes and feathers with more felt. this guy might be my very favorite part of the whole costume!

here we are! my handsome chimney sweep and i! i think he should wear that hat all the time! we went to the lion's club party in town but arrived just too late for the adult costume contest. sad. the sweet old guys from the lions liked our costumes so much they gave us bags of candy! we enjoyed the rest of our night trick or treating with some friends & their kids and then finished the night at a party. halloween should not be on a monday!

practically perfect!

 on hubby bert: 
newsboy hat: goodwill, $1.99
black shirt: structure
grey vest: the suit he wore to prom
black pants: suit from his best friend's wedding
red scarf: simply vera (kohl's) by way of goodwill, $1.99
{i had to rip off a bunch of ruffles & roses) 

chimney brush: ace hardware 

on me mary:

black hat: goodwill, $0.98

white ruffly shirt: already owned

red bow tie: made by me

white gloves: goodwill, $1.99

scarf: made by me

carpet bag: bag +fabric all goodwill, total $4.99

umbrella: walmart, $5
parrot made by me
grey skirt: goodwill (long ago), $3.99
(dyed a darker shade)

black coat: kid size winter coat from walmart! $20

(yes, really, walmart! love this coat! not as heavy as my crazy wool peacoat but perfect for our cold cold autumn!)

i think julie would be proud! and i might have to start wearing this on a regular basis. or at least carrying the umbrella!

photo credit: Disney

linking up here! 

{almost} wordless wednesday

i give you: chipmunk bum in gutter.
he was hanging out in the gutter, eating some seeds or nuts or something when our ferocious pup ran up to sniff him.
he turned to run up the gutter & got stuck. like this. 

linked up here! 

InstaFriday: week 3

 agh! it's been over a month! no excuses...let's just jump right in to the pictures!

(these actually span more than a week)

i was doing laundry & the lid of the detergent jar slid off into my nose.
wasn't broken but it hurt like the dickens.
and i had this nice bruise!

just a little visitor in our backyard. usually they're in a group of four or more. 

the tower of embroidery floss. we bought it just like this from a little old lady at a garage sale.
organized by DMC number!

 last week a few unfortunate things happened
1. faerie fest was rained out by a giant storm that blew up right in the middle of the parade. there were screaming little girls in fairy costumes & much mayhem. highly unfortunate & probably turned a lot of little girls of to faeries...for life! (fairy? faerie? what's the difference?)
2. as i was packing all my soaking wet stuff up and standing in the rain, another vendor backed into my parked car. luckily she had insurance, because she managed to do $2800 in damage!
3. my phone decided to freak out & needed to be factory reset. mostly fine because it was backed up but i lost all the pictures i had taken since my last back up- the pictures of the faeries and of my smashed up car.
4. i had to drive said car, with it's mirror duct taped on (all classy like) down to illinois to help my grandma move out of her house. i love that house. i've always loved that house and i wanted it to be mine one day. but since papa died last year it's been too much for her. her new apartment in the spiffy little retirement complex will be great for her. (and i've decided i want to move into a place like that asap, but that's a post for another day). my trip home was wonderful, but very bittersweet.

209 beverly road.
i've spent every Christmas Eve of my life in this house.
many summer days.
countless sleepovers where it was too hot to sleep because my grandparents kept the house at 82 degrees.
it has a laundry shoot and an intercom system.
neil armstrong once sat on the couch discussing flight plans with papa.
(we now own that couch. kinda awesome)
there were hatboxes with fantastic old hats in the upstairs bedroom & toys that belonged to my mom in the basement.

it was so strange to see everything empty!
this is the "den" where we sat on the blue leather "davenport" and watched tv.
there were two tv's- a big one so nana could watch her old movies or painting shows (bob ross anyone?) and a little one for papa to have sports or news on all the time.
in that back corner was the stereo and all of papa's music collection. everything from 45's to CDs.

here's the living room.
the Christmas tree was always in the corner near that window. every year after Christmas Eve dinner we sat on the floor, cheeks red from the crazy high temperatures in the house, and opened gifts one by one. but only after all the dishes were done! papa made us wait until every dinner dish was finished before we could open even one gift! by the time i was a teenager we convinced him to start presents right after dinner if we all helped with the dishes.
nana took all her naps on that gold couch and after she woke up we played countless games of "tiles"
(rummikub to the rest of the world) 

at nana's new apartment i found pictures on the fridge i had never seen before, including this one and a few too embarrassing to post in public! she must have unearthed a box of old photos while packing! 

nana has this on her dresser in her new apartment. aren't they the cutest?
he was a pilot & she was a stewardess. 

one of the beautiful lakes on my drive back up from illinois. i really do love where we live.
even if i miss target. a lot.

this past weekend some of my best friends came up for the weekend.
we started things out by going to the white stag for dinner.
they basically only serve steak & baked potatoes. it's amazing.
this baby here is described in the menu as one pound of pleasure.and it was.

we rented a boat from the resort brandon works at and spent all day saturday out on the water! the lakes are all connected, we live on the largest inland chain of lakes in the world (who knew?!) and we were blessed with a beautiful day to explore them!
we ate, we drank, we swam, we tanned (okay i burned a little).
 all in all a wonderful day with wonderful friends!

just some of the vintage sheet goodness i found on my hunt the other day. one wonderful thing about the woods is that vintage is plentiful & nobody really cares that it's old! 

speaking of vintage...our goodwill just bags up the jewelry & sells it for $3 a bag.
this was my most recent score. total $9!
there was some other stuff in the bag but it was too hideous to photograph & will likely go straight back to goodwill with my next donation!

some of the animal themed gift for our new niece or nephew. (and also a fuzzy dog elbow. or knee?)  looks like that little one is making an early arrival so i'm crocheting like crazy!

linked:

treasury tuesday: #10

treasury tuesday is back! i've been featured in some beautiful treasuries this week & wanted to take a moment to thank the people who put them together. thanks to the great craftcult widget you can mouse over the picture to see the item name & price and click the picture to go directly to the item's listing! {the widget still isn't compatible with google reader so click on through to see these beautiful collections!}{{craftcult is the same site that stores screenshots of front page treasuries in case you made it & missed it!}}


a greeny green mood
featuring the sweet pea begonia clip. thanks bettas!

from my faves.

thanks so much my dear leonora!

craving a dirty martini.

this one made the front page!! thank you NoMarkAtAll!!

scoop of vanilla.
featuring my vanilla dahlia earrings. thanks wendy!

have you been featured in a great treasury? have you made a beautiful collection recently? share in the comments, i'd love to see them!

happy 4th of july!

{source: my3boybarians via pinterest}

happy independence day america! 

instead of celebrating with a parade or fireworks we're stuck at home since brandon is sick with a killer version of whatever i had earlier this week. we did manage to fire up the grill for some celebratory hot dogs! i hope your holiday is healthier than ours! 

my week {via instagram}

yep i've been a bad, bad blogger again. anytime the current post is the same weekly feature as the last post...ugh! in my defense we had some crazy windstorms and lost power this week, which made it hard to blog! but here we are again at another InstaFriday! 

we saw this mama bear and her cub coming home from a friend's house not long ago. here she's protecting her cub who has scurried off behind that tree. don't mess with a mama bear!

we enjoyed a lovely, lazy brunch on the porch on saturday. brandon worked in the morning, then came home and made brunch. love him!

on tuesday the power went out just as the sun was setting so i had plenty of time to set up this pretty candle tray. it gave us enough light to see but also gave us headaches...don't mix that many candle scents!

just organizing my spray paint collection!

a couple of new dessert stands for an upcoming craft show. love them in all white. hooray vintage glassware

the lovely view off of our back deck. it seems like just a couple days ago we were talking about how the trees were full of buds. now...leaves! unfortunately that process is the cause of the worst allergy season of my adult life. today i can breathe and see out of both of my eyes and i didn't have to overdose on antihistamines to do it {for the first time this week}. hurrah!

this was only a small portion of the vintage craft books on sale at a local thrift store. i didn't have enough cash for these but rest assured i'll be back!

i made these lovelies last night while watching craft in america from pbs {which you need to go watch! i've watched 3 episodes and have been so inspired by it!} i had plans to make 5 or 6 more of these flowers but had to stop because staring at the flame made me a little blind. 

naptime on the couch. seriously...i love them!

linked:

we're off on a spur of the moment trip to door county to spend the weekend with my parents at their cabin. brandon & my dad are planning to golf & do some cycling and my mom and i are headed to the antique mall!! see you sunday night!

InstaFriday: summer WILL come!

two posts in one day {crazytown}

i take so many pictures on my phone with the lovely instagram that when i saw instafriday at life rearranged i knew i needed to link up! enjoy my week in pictures!

last saturday night i sent out a tweet asking for help with a children's church craft. we were hoping to play outside but in case of rain i needed a craft for
3-5 year olds. my sweet friend nicole came to my rescue with this adorable rainbow. it didn't rain so almost all the kids went outside but one little lady & i stayed in to make rainbows & talk about God keeping His promises. thank you nicole :)  

signs that summer might soon, possibly, maybe be coming to the woods! 

{starting top left & moving clockwise}

1. pesto made with fresh basil from the pots on the deck! i am so, so happy to have fresh basil again. granted i've had to bring the pots inside three times this week, but we're headed in the right direction. 

2. we grilled this week & had our first s'mores. aren't those marshmallows beautiful?

3. less beautiful, but much yummier is my first cherry pie of the season! i love pie & it is synonymous with summer to me. cherry pie is at the top of the pie ranking system. this one was made with cherries we picked and froze last summer!
4. also synonymous with summer in my mind: root beer floats! this one was made with ibc rootbeer & vanilla bean ice cream in a mason jar. perfection.

this week in the #setupshop chat we talked about packaging. this is what earrings look like when you order them from the shop! white box, green & white twine and inside the earrings are on a business card. love the simplicity! the reCharm necklace comes wrapped just like this too {shameless plug!}

i've been trying to keep track of all my summer plans and craft shows so i made these pretty green calendars one day and glued them right into my inspiration notebook. perfect size for the pages!

my name is jacqui and i'm addicted to spray paint. it's true. i can't help it. i'll spray paint anything that isn't nailed down {and it's starting to drive poor brandon crazy!} i like to paint things and i just can't stand brushstrokes so spray paint it is. currently i'm in love with rustoleum, but that's a post for another day! 

brandon saved this desk from the burn pile at HoneyRock and it is exactly like the one we had in our first apartment the year we did the graduate program. i love it. but i will love it even more when it's grey! 

here are some finished products! everything in this pile will be incorporated into my craft show booth for this summer. i am so excited about doing outdoor shows!  

this little beauty is next up on my list. my first instinct is to paint it, then use a glaze to highlight those pretty carved areas, but the grain of the wood is so pretty i might just break down and strip it & restain it. thoughts?  

i am loved. brandon brought me these last saturday when only a few had bloomed. they are opening slowly and lasting forever. aren't they beautiful? they put a serious smile on my face!

i love these two. they make my days happier. and yes she's giving him a high five! her reward was a carrot. 

oh you wanted another picture of my super cute dog? no problem!