why isn't there a tv show about us?

Is it because we would never wear such short shorts in downtown Northampton, much less on national television?

Seriously, we are so much cooler than the sisters.  We don't have a hunky contractor named Alan to do the hard work - we do it ourselves!  So if you happen to be a Lifetime producer, or are the bff of a Lifetime producer, hook us up!

But on to the main event...

I had my best tagging day EVER today.  I credit my friend Kerry.  She usually has the best tagging karma ever, and she didn't find anything today.  The only conclusion I can pull is that I sucked the karma right out of her. 

Check out the goods!

gorgeous old knobs and small wooden handles that may find their way

onto a croquet mallet to make a hat or dishtowel holder

cookbooks!  maps!  cookbooks!  maps!

from the 50's

I'm going to make a recipe a day, blog about it,

and then they will make a blockbuster movie about me

wooden bobbins, tons of 'em

do you know how long I've been searching for these?

Cool vintage dresses (one was still in the drycleaner bag).

When they make a show about us, this is what we will wear.

the tiny daisies are KILLING me

oh.  my.  god.

You can't imagine how I felt when I saw these.

I carefully hid my glee in order to bargain hard.

Candlesticks!  Candlesticks!  Candlesticks!

cute, dorky briefcase from who knows when -

perfect to display items on at Twist

 I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong.

I don't have enough croquet sets.  I don't.



right brain meets left brain: business card holders

Big, exciting changes in my day job include an office move, which means redecoration!  I splurged (but conservatively (wait, is that an oxymoron?), by shopping at the outlet), and bought a gorgeous striped rug.  Then I thought about all of those great yardsticks I've been collecting, and in the time it took for my husband to pick Gus up from school

Gus, looking like he just stepped off of a 

yacht on Nantucket

I made this adorable business card holder:

check out that rotary phone!

And while I was outside, I couldn't help but snap a few pics of the best looking window boxes my porch has ever seen.  The best part about them is they were not the result of my usual obsessing and planning.  Instead, I got to the garden store so late in the season, I had to take the few remaining healthy-looking annuals.  Stuck those in, then added some gorgeous zinnias from the Florence Farmer's Market, and voila - zen window boxes!

this is actually an old sap bucket I found 

by the side of the road in the hilltowns, sitting atop

a cool old chair scored from a tag sale

thank you cards: big bang for the buck

My mom taught me well:  always send a thank you card.  I've been fortunate to have lots of amazing guest speakers for the class I'm teaching at Smith College this summer, so I had a great excuse to make a bunch of adorable thank you cards using maps, scraps, a vintage dictionary from my friend Laurie and old magazines.

disk harrow.  of course.

locally made strawberry ice cream

(good thing I'm a better crafter than photographer...)

love that car stamp!

from an old new england cookbook

this is my favorite, and the best part is that it went to

my friend's mom whose name just happens to be Buzzy!

crafting + beer = serious creativity

Betty Draper's cocktail coasters at Sticks and Bricks

Seriously, these could have been Betty Draper's cocktail coasters.  You can imagine Don, her Mad Man, coming home from another hard drinking and smoking day at the office, sitting down to a martini, and placing it on these fabulous coasters made from vintage fabric from the 50's and 60's and reclaimed bathroom tiles.  Get your Betty on right now at sticks and bricks.  Put on your best vintage dress and run.  Your mojito needs a resting place.

cake stands and cupcakes

Gus turned two on May 5th!

a quickly sewn vintage fabric "2" onto an old tee shirt
(we're in a tent in the living room, naturally)

So it seemed like the perfect time to finally create the cake platters I have been fantasizing about since last year when I bought these awesome huge wooden bobbins, salvaged from factories in Atlanta and North Carolina, at Brimfield:

Cake stands are all the rage on blogs these days, but I  have yet to see any done with vintage wooden bobbins, which are the perfect height and hefty weight.  I bought some nice, basic glass plates (I know, I should have trolled around antique shops and flea markets until I found the perfect ones, but there's that day job and all...), mixed up a little epoxy, made some cupcakes, and voila!

this one still has the thread on it...

gorgeous yellow paint (and look at those sweet cupcakes!)

gorgeous red paint



Happy second, Gus, and now we get to enjoy these platters all the time!