Thrifting with some crazies.

February 24, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend some time with some b eautiful bloggers for some dinner. BUT, before that Miss Mandy Pants, Fiona, and I had a little thrifting date! I found 4 shirts…. spent $20. Love them all. BUT, I found a favorite that day! It’s so simple and sweet. AND: it’s handmade. Each and every part of this blouse is handmade. The stitching… the whole shirt. And, I love it! {P.S…. I can’t stop making GIF’s… sooo, yeah. Ha!}

Don’t you love all the special details? A handmade/thrifted shirt that I enjoy to wear for $6. Quite the favorite find of mine. <3

…..And, how about some favorite links for the week? I love link posts….

I love each and every little piece/bit/knick/knack in this adorable home tour. It is 100% my style.

Oooooooooh. SO, this is how I make a heart with nail polish. Mine usually end up like blobs…..

Some sponsor love: Here, here, and here.

I keep seeing these built in bunk beds…. and, that makes me think that maybe we can fit two children into our tiny home… since it’s only 2 bedrooms and 950 sq. ft. P.S. I would have died of happiness if my room looked like this growing up.

Ok! I’m gonna do it this year. I’m going to grow a garden…. and, keep it alive! As in…. water it. Plus, I’m digging (hee hee) these freebie vegetable garden plans.

Nope. Stop. Danger.

Oh, this is dangerous too.

AND, how about an adorable DIY? Old rulers and mirror to make a starburst mirror! By the way…. I see these rulers at each thrift shop I wander to.

A handmade shop i found and I’m loving on Etsy.

Hey! If you still want to get a deal on my super ad space discounts… you still have a few more days! Small is sold out! Still have medium!

Linking up with Mandy for High On Thrifting.

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Tags: a thrifting i will go, friends, gif, links to love, shopping, thrift

Categories: gif

Discounted Ad Space!

February 23, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

Hello! Just wanted to share a little update for my discounted ad space! I’m SOLD OUT of small ad space for the next 2 months! Wow! They went fast (since they were 50% off!). So, I still have Medium, Large, and one more Extra Large left for the next two months. Get these sale prices before I sell out.

In case you forgot…. here’s a little more info for my sale:

I know you will L O V E advertising on this here bloggy. This last month I had a high day of 25,000 visitors. That will send your lovely shop/blog/website some beautiful traffic.

SMALL SOLD OUT ~~20 Dollars~~ ~~– will get you 2 months of small ad space on my blog! (20 dollar savings)~~

50 Dollars – will get you 2 months worth of medium ad space on my blog! (20 dollar savings)

70 Dollars – will get you 2 months worth of Large ad space on my blog! (20 dollar savings) OR will get you 3 months worth of medium ad space on my blog! (35 dollar savings)

90 Dollars – will get you 3 months worth of Large ad space on my blog! (45 dollar savings)

100 Dollars – will get you 2 months of the extra large ad space on my blog (40 dollar savings)

P.S. I have limited space available for each month. So, get in while you can! ANY ad space purchase is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for helping me out.

Ad spots will start on March 1st. <3

Braided Volume Hair DIY

February 23, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

Hello sweet friends! It’s been a couple months since I’ve added a hair experiment to the blog. I got my new camera in the mail the other day (heck yeah)… so, I thought it was the perfect excuse to experiment with it. PLUS, I had to put some makeup on and dress myself too. No jammies for this photo…. ok, maybe…. MAYBE I was wearing pajama pants. But, that doesn’t matter…. hee.

So, I saw this ‘do’ on the beautiful Keiko Lynn’s blog. I really love braids and volume… so, I thought this would be perfect. Braids and volume all in one. With my stick straight hair it’s pretty hard to get volume. But, with a little backcombing and hair spray… it worked. Next time I try this style I’ll blow dry my hair upside down for a little more fluff.

What you need: Many bobby pins, brush, hair spray, and clear hair ties (optional).

1. Add some volume to that hair! I put my head up side down and lightly sprayed some hair spray to the crown of my head. Dividing my hair in half I backcombed the crown for volume.

2. Grabbing the section of hair you backcombed and added volume to… push it up and pin it! Make sure before it’s pinned that you comb the top part of the hair to smooth any tangles out.

3. Split the bottom half of your hair into two parts. Braid each of the parts into a side braid. I used a clear hair tie for each of my braids (Keiko didn’t). My hair’s pretty slick and a braid doesn’t hold without a tie. Next, time to get those braids on top of your head! Pull your braids up and over towards the opposite side of your head. Pin. Repeat on the other side. You can tuck and hide the braid ends. Pin pin. Pin up any loose ends in the back.

4. That’s it! Now you have SUPER simple and beautiful hair! You can finish with some hair spray if you need it (I do).

For next time: I may use something to add a little more volume to the bump! More of a Snookie look. Hee! P.S. I actually loved this hairstyle with the braids just down. I think I’ll be wearing it that way too! Cute. See: I love this…

For the original hair style… check out the sweet Keiko’s blog. She’s absolutely adorable. AND, be sure to let me know if you try out this style! I’d love to know! It’s so simple and perfect if you have zero time and want to look cute.

Happy Thursday!

Pin It

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Tags: chelsey, cute outfit, favorite, favorite posts, gif, hair, hair style, my style, self, tutorial

Categories: favorite posts, gif, hair, style

Peace out paci!

February 22, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

Oh, the paci. It was our best friend and our enemy for the past 2 years. The paci…. the thing I was SO afraid to give to my newborn since she wouldn’t breastfeed and I heard that a pacifier would make it worse…. this thing that soothed a teething baby girl… the comfort that kept my daughter sleeping through the night since 10 months old…. the big ‘ol binky that took over the majority of my photos of Ruari’s first 2 years.

We were SO afraid to ditch that thing. Afraid we would never get any sleep since Miss R was completely addicted. In fact… I think she loved that thing! She gave it rides on her toys and carried it around all day… every day.

Then…. the only paci she had left got a little hole in the nipple. I promised I wouldn’t buy any more…. BUT, I was scared. She was complaining her paci was broken. I mentioned to my husband that we should just cut off the nipple and see what happens, but I was way too scared to do that. BUT, apparently he was not. He got up. Asked to borrow her paci… and, came back with the tip cut off.

Ruari tried to put it in her mouth… with no luck. “Mama, it’s broken. Fix?” But, I couldn’t fix it. And, she cried. She cried a sad sad cry like she just lost a best friend. Only for 20 minutes. This cry was so much shorter than I thought it would be. I thought she’d be awake all night calling for her friend. But, nope. She asked over and over for us to fix her paci. But, we told her no. She cuddled with it that night. And, the next. And, only a couple more times after that. Slowly she gave up that thing. And, has only asked for it about 3 times since.

It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I know it’s only a pacifier… but, it was a huge part of our lives. Something that helped us. She never liked sucking her thumb. The paci was her thing.

I guess I never really put two and two together until now but, I think her naps stopped the same week she gave up her paci. OMG. Hmm…. maybe I’ll give it back… HA! No way. I love that she no longer needs it in her life.

So, here’s to no more pacifier! Yay! Happy Wednesday!

{Related Posts: //13 Month Old Ruari//Laureli is 11 Months Old//Baby Bits//}

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{If you have a Wordless{ish} Wednesday, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia,And Then She Snapped, Jenni from the Blog, and Live and Love Outloud.}

64 Comments

Tags: 2 year old, laureli, note to ruari, paci, pacifier, Ruari

Categories: Uncategorized

In a week.

February 21, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

So much happens in a week. And, it’s been a while since I shared my week through instagram photos. The thing I love about my instagram photos: these are photos of my life. No setting up my camera to get the right photo… no bribing the kiddo to sit still for a minute. Love them.

//We started last week as we always do…. Miss R jumping on the bed to say hello to Mama!

//I was VERY excited to find a hard book copy of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. This book was a FAVORITE of mine when I was a wee girl. I love the illustrations of the original book. Oh yes. I do. And, I’m happy to share that my girl has fallen for this book too! She’s loving it and asks to keep it in her bed for nighttime reading. <3

//I finally took the time to draw myself. Finally. I was a little nervous to do it… But, I’m so happy I did. I’m now in the process of rendering it in Photoshop. I’ll share with you all when I’m done! I have orders I’m finishing first. P.S. check out my shop if you’d like to order your own custom drawing from meeee.

//I wore my pretty gold ballet flats to the store to buy some groceries… and, come back home to cook some dinner. I wore an apron… So, of course: Ruari wore her’s too.

//Whew… Valentine’s day was a busy busy day! Ruari wanted to say “hi” to all her bloggy kiddo buddies. Then, we played with her horses (one of those horsies is not potty trained), and I made some yum yum yum bacon hearts to top some cinnamon rolls as a Valentine treat! This was R’s first time trying a cinnamon roll. She L O V E D it. Duh. I will admit: I’m still daydreaming of those cinnamon rolls.

//And, then… this last weekend my mom, grandma, the kiddo, and I wandered up to visit family up in Washington. It was lovely. As usual. P.S. they have chickens. Hee. And, since I was already up there I headed out to hang with some cutie bloggers for dinner. I stayed with Mandy head for the night. She’s adorable.

//AAaaaaaannnnnnd….. I finally got my new camera! I’ve been waiting/wanting this beauty for the past year and a half. AND, now I have it. Eeet is ALLLL mine. Bwa ha ha ha ha. <——-I’m a little bit a lot excited times one million. So, yeah. I will be playing with that sweet thing non-stop. It’s going to take a bit of practice to get used to a new DSLR. <3

Happy Tuesday friends!

30 Comments

Tags: camera, cell phone, instagram, iPhone, my week

Categories: Uncategorized

The Self Challenge

February 20, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

Alright lovely lovely people! So many of you shared your beautiful self portraits with me for my most recent Self Challenge. Thank you! I loved each and every one of your photos! Thank you for sharing a piece of your world and your beauty with me! I told you all I would give away $100 towards a custom illustration from Meeeeeee to one winner.

Well, mr. random.org chose a winner for me! Yay! The winner is…. the beautiful lady behind Just Lovely Things. Congrats Heather!

Thank you to each and every one of you bloggers that participated! I can’t wait to do this challenge again! Happy Monday to you!

{Related Posts: //The Bad Side//Q&A Fill in The Blanks//Illustrations by, me//}

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Tags: contest, self challenge, winner

Categories: Uncategorized

Girl’s night.

February 19, 2012 | Posted by Chelsey

{my outfit: //jacket: f21//shirt: thrifted//jeans: f21//shoes: target on clearance//}

This weekend there was a bloggy dinner meetup in Washington. AND, since I have family up there in the area and we were already going to be up there… I wandered out to socialize with some sweet sweet blogger ladies. It was a yummy dinner at Z Tejas…. followed by some yogurt and wandering the mall like a bunch of nerdy school girls…. It was fabulous. A lovely night spent with lovely people.

Who was there? Mandy C – A Sorta Fairytale, Melissa – Hi, Baby, Jill – The Chronicles of Corbin , Amy – A Good Life , Mandy M – Harpers Happenings, Emily – Peck Life, Amanda P – Pretty Little Life, Stephanie – Doyle Days , Kiara – The Buechler Heartbeat, Chelsea N – The Curly Cues, Tessa – Life According to Lennox, Fiona – Letters to Littles, Ashlet – Life As Ashlet, Amy B – A Wife, Her Guy, and Their life.