Two Big Shopping Events {PHX locals}

Monday, October 25, 2010
I have been totally MIA from my blog for a while and I apologize for that. This is my busy season and I am sewing my little fingers off keeping up with orders and building up my Finley and Oliver stock for these two amazing events.  If you are in the metro Phoenix area, mark your calendars! You can get a head start on your holiday shopping and say hi to me while you do.

Believe Boutique
at Cornerstone in Chandler
November 5th and 6th
Click here for details


Hissyfits Hullabaloo
at Hissyfits in Phoenix
November 7th
Click here for details


I will be back to my regularly scheduled blogging soon! I have a lot to tell you all between Finley's 2nd ER visit in a month, some fun chicken news, and all of the Halloween hoopla.

My New Online Obsession: Terrain

Friday, October 15, 2010
I came across a short little blurb on Terrain while reading the Phoenix New Times last night. How on earth I missed this amazing site for so long is beyond me. Leave it to the folks behind Anthropologie to come up with another store that is equally amazing and just as dangerous to my pocketbook. 


Terrain carries handmade, vintage, and all kinds of cool things for the house and garden. These are just a few of the many things I'm swooning over.


How rad are these chalkboard garden markers? Definitely going on my wish list.


Or this adorable egg beater tea towel? (Screen printed by hand)


I am in love with this deer wall sconce but it's out of my budget right now. 


If you have some time to burn, hop on over to Terrain and let me know what you think. But I'm warning you, the store is amazing and will likely become your new obsession too.

A Black and White Halloween

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I love Halloween. Seriously love it. I think my favorite part about it is all the fun decor. This year I thought it would be cool to decorate our living and dining room in black and white. Kind of spooky yet classy at the same time. 


I used my Cricut Expression and the Mini Monsters cartridge to cut out these fun shapes for our white frames. 


For our dining table, we used a ton of black candle holders, taper candles, faux crows and white pumpkins. 


And of course, we had to have some little ghosties flying around. 


Halloween has been on my mind so much lately, and we've done so much to prepare that I can't believe it's still 2 1/2 weeks away!


New to Finley and Oliver

Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Check out these adorable photos from Lexi at Wild Fern Photography of a few pieces that I've added to my Finley and Oliver line. I love what she did with them.




I also added Mr. & Mrs. Cupcake tees. Check out these two cuties rocking their new shirts! Photo and kiddos courtesy of the amazingly talented Laura of Laura Winslow Photography.


Finley's Mini Cooper Costume

Sunday, October 10, 2010
So I posted some time back that Finley wanted to be a Mini Cooper for Halloween. The kid is totally and completely obsessed with Minis. I was super stumped on this one but I'm lucky to have a handy dandy husband who was up for the challenge. We both admit that it doesn't really look like a Mini Cooper (more like a Jeep/Mini hybrid) but Finley thinks it does so we're happy with it.


We let him take it for a test drive tonight and he didn't want to stop.


Now to get started on Oliver's costume. He originally wanted to be a VW Beetle but has changed his mind to a ghost (thank goodness!). Does anyone have any fun ideas on dressing up a ghost costume other than a plain sheet? I'd love to hear if you do.

We have a winner! {Tiny Hiney Giveaway}

Thursday, October 7, 2010
Lindsey from This is my life... is our Tiny Hiney Giveaway winner! Lindsey, the gals from The Tiny Hiney will be in touch with you soon to arrange for your prize.


Thanks so much to The Tiny Hiney and to all of you who participated in my first giveaway.


Paper Ghost Mobile

Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I've posted before that my little Oliver is totally and completely obsessed with ghosts right now. I thought it would be fun to make him a little ghost mobile to hang up in his room. This was a super easy and super fun project. 

Oliver loves seeing the little ghosties dance around his room.


All I needed to make this was a few sheets of white card stock, a black Sharpie, a small hole punch, and some monofilament.

I used my Cricut Expression to cut the ghosts from the card stock but they could easily be drawn and cut out by hand. I am a horrible drawer but even I could pull off a pretty cute ghost. You could also print out some clip art ghosts and use those.


I then used a Sharpie to draw on eyes and mouths on both sides.


Next I used a plate as a template to draw a round circle out of the card stock for the top. I think it was 7 inches (not that it really matters). I used my small hole punch to punch holes around the circle and in the ghosts. Lastly, I used the monofilament to tie the ghosts to each other and to the circle using a simple knot.


This was really easy, a lot of fun, and best of all, Oliver adores it.

The Tiny Hiney Giveaway! {Last Day}

The Tiny Hiney giveaway ends tonight at 11:59 pst. If you haven't entered yet, you can do so here. The winner will be announced tomorrow.

And don't forget that The Tiny Hiney gals have generously offered 20% off of their website through the month of October with the code Grace at checkout.


In Honor of Stashtober

Monday, October 4, 2010
Or is it Stachetober?  Either way, this is the month that my very handsome husband turns into this:

Last year's stache.
This year's stache. This picture makes me cringe.
In honor of this, my husband's very favorite month, I have picked out a few of my favorite Etsy mustaches to share with you.

How cute is this little ring by isette? Love it.


If we're talking about mustaches, I have to include the *original* Secret 'Stache tee by the  Oh Fiddlesticks! gals. Finley has this little tee in blue and we are impatiently waiting for the weather to cool down so he can wear it. Adorable and clever.


And lastly, I think these personalized note cards by Emily Guy Studio are pretty rad. Thinking my husband would get a kick of these for his birthday.


How about you all? Any favorite 'staches to share? Anyone else's husband as stashtastic as mine this month?

Cupcake Love-In {Phoenix locals}


Mark your calendars Phoenix locals, the Cupcake Love-In is coming up on 10-10-10!


Located at the Hotel Valley Ho, this is a family friendly event not to be missed! 
  • Fun Activities
  • Cupcake sampling from local bakeries, cupcakeries, restaurants and pastry chefs
  • Cupcake Judging Competition
  • Kidʼs Decorating Station
  • Cupcake Eating Contest
  • Photo Booth
  • Great Raffle and Door Prizes
  • Locals Only Phoenix Webcast 

How fun does this all sound? Eating cupcakes from some of my favorite local bakeries? We're all over it! Tickets are just $10 in advance ($15 at the door) for adults and children 6 and under are FREE! Proceeds go to two amazing organizations: Singleton Moms and Safe Haven for Animals

For more additional details and tickets, visit the Cupcake Love-In website here.

Can I share these cuties with you?

Friday, October 1, 2010
I received some photos of my boys from Lexi at Wild Fern Photography this week and have to share my favorites with you. I love these and think she did a great job of capturing Finley and Oliver's personalities.


The little cardigan that Finley is wearing is from The Tiny Hiney. So cute, right?? Lucky for you I have a Tiny Hiney giveaway going on right now - click here to enter.



Oliver wasn't quite as cooperative but we still got some adorable shots that capture his personality so well.




And the last shot of the day: