our new (old) mixer...

i'm not exaggerating when i say that, one by one, the household items we registered for and received as wedding gifts seven years ago are slowly being phased out, and replaced by old stuff that we're picking up along the way. we've had this mixer for a few months now, and while i'll never get rid of my kitchenaid stand mixer, this new friend in the kitchen is getting a lot of play. meet our 1950's sunbeam mixmaster.



not so great when it comes to making bread doughs, but can cream together butter and sugar like nobody's business. plus, no more fighting over who gets to lick the beater? this mama is sold.

we've been making these (with double the oatmeal and no chocolate chips) and these in their original form. and blueberry muffins, too. yes, it's a good thing this mixer was built to last--we're putting it to the test!

this is not spring...

but it felt just a teeny bit springlike. okay, we might have had a picnic of soup and bread instead of cheese & crackers, and we may have been wearing sweatshirts instead of short sleeves. but the sun felt warm on our faces and our breath wasn't puffing out of our mouths. there were squirrels trying to raid our basket while we slid and swung and dug in the dirt, and if that's not a little bit hopeful and cheery and spring-ish, i don't know what is.









dear spring: thanks for the tease. xoxo, valleygirl & kiddos.

this moment...

thanks to soulemama for the inspiration. happy friday!

are you cold???

a little family outing today led us to this stack of goodness. nineteen quilts, to be specific. vintage, hand-stitched, beautiful, fluffy quilts. and not a stinky one in the bunch. we decided to buy up the lot. most are destined for the shop, though a couple will stay around these parts for awhile. jeremy has already claimed one; it's been washed and dried and is laid out on his side of the bed. (yes, he needs his own quilt. apparently the other 3 of us are blanket-theives!).







i guess there are more than enough to go around now. aren't they pretty? i'm personally having trouble picking a favorite!

a very vintage christmas...

what better way to spend a lazy new years morning than sharing a bit of our christmas? we shifted our hodge-podge decor to have a bit more focus--on vintage, of course! picking up items throughout the month of december was especially fun for lucy. of course, it meant our decor was kind of in an undone state most of the month. that's okay. it matched our tree, with lights half-pulled off and ornaments only on the top half of the tree. don't let him fool you with his sweet face--our hudson is a troublemaker!


vintage candles make us smile...

sweet little tags found in a box of free gift wrap...

lucy's buddy, an old santa made from felt and stuffed with rice...
garland made from christmas cards that belonged to my great grandmother--most 60-70 years old!!!

a vintage rocking horse in front of the tree...

and a cute little baby to ride it...santa mugs that i have seriously fallen in love with. they just may stay out all year to hold sewing notions in my studio... have started packing up some of the decor and just can't bear to put these little dearies away!
the handmade puff wreath. have since scored another for next year! maybe start a collection???
garland made by me and two little girlies. old sheet music and scrap wool. originally planned to go around our tree, but that would have been a week-long project! so it found a cheery spot on the wall--and may stay up through the winter.

lucy's puffy chrismas tree. 69 cents and she adores it!


lots of tinsel, vintage birds, old shiny-brite ornaments displayed in gallon glass jars. it really is sad to start packing all of it up!
we're moving on to the new year 50 again. oh yes, it's that time of year. i made 2 massive donations to the local thrift shop (a couple hundred items) last week, so finding 50 things this week may be a bit of a challenge. but i'm up for it. i think.

happy 2011!

this moment...

may you be blessed with lots of good, true love in the coming year! best wishes for a safe & happy 2011!!!

this christmas...

we have pretty much officially dug ourselves out from under christmas. all original parts still in tact, i think. it was a lovely day stuffed full of family and food and thoughtful gifting--all which made us feel loved and lucky. such a full day, in fact, that i never managed to wrangle lucy and hudson into their christmas outfits. lucy's dress was thrifted--at $5.99 not such a big deal. but hudson's, oh hudson's. a vintage splurge i simply had to squeeze him into, for the simple fact that it probably won't fit next week, let alone next year.

so squeeze we did. the sun was setting on a regular monday afternoon, and i was in a mad dash to get the two of them dressed and happy and sitting still for a few moments. no small feat, i assure you. the end result was pretty far from perfect--just the way i've come to love it.

enjoy the photos. i have a couple more christmas posts planned--one to share our mostly vintage decor and one to share the loot that came from all that thoughtful giving ! the rest of the blogging world may be on to the new year and other winter delights, but we are keeping our feet firmly planted in the world of ol' st. nick for a little while longer. i mean really--have you had to explain to a 2 year-old why people are taking down their christmas lights and inflatable santas??? it's an emotional conversation to say the least!

knee-deep in christmas crafting...

we're doing another christmas without wrapping paper or bags. well, store-bought wrapping paper and bags, that is. instead i've sewed a bunch of bags from scrap fabric. some, like the one above, were made from an old bedsheet. i let lucy have fun decorating this morning--we broke out a box of paints and she pretty much did her own thing with only a bit of guidance from me. i was on cleanup patrol and trust me, it wasn't pretty. after the handprint wreath, i let her get into the cookie cutters and she did some snowflake stamping. these were long strips of sheeting that i'll probably use wrapping paper-style instead of sewing into bags.






let me tell you, lucy took a very serious approach to her task or making wrapping paper. it was quite the experience to sit on the couch and let her have at it, deciding just exactly perfectly where to place each cookie cutter. too cute.

are you wrapping creatively this year???