Thursday, December 29, 2011

Just for fun...Caboodle

I was getting out some of my sewing stuff and thought it might be fun to show off my old Caboodle.


I think I got this for Christmas in the early nineties. They were a must have item that year with all my friends. I was barely a teenager and just getting to try make up. In fact, I got some of my first "real" make up that year. I seem to remember blue mascara being involved... Anyway I was also still young enough to get American Girl doll stuff too. I actually used the Caboodle as a suitcase to take the doll stuff to a friends house to show off new doll clothes. Did everybody have that stage in life when they wanted to be grown up and wear make up but also still wanted to play dolls too?

A year or two ago, I rediscovered it and moved in my sewing stuff. Besides a little fading and the tip of the latch breaking off, it is still the same multi-use item I got 20+ years ago.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ideas for my Walls

When you enter my house from the garage, you are in a tiny hallway. It leads to the 1/2 guest bath, the only one on the 1st floor. It is angled to allow for a walk in pantry and small-ish coat closet. You can see part of it from the open area kitchen/living/dining room.

In theory it isn't the first thing I'd think of improving in my home. But it gets a lot of use since it is how we usually enter the house and since guests must use it to access the 1/2 bath. It needs to be repainted in a bad, bad way. It is dirty and dented from all the use (and we've only been here 3 years!). I was going to repaint it with an eggshell finish paint to make clean up easier. After looking at pinterest I got the idea it needed something else. I think moulding would add interest and if I used wood backing, as opposed to faking it with only trim, it would add some dent protection. Painting it in high gloss to match the rest of the trim would also allow for easy clean up. Now I just need to pick out what look to go for...



















Thursday, December 22, 2011

Fun finds (while I should have been finishing my Christmas shopping)





















This is my newest baby. I don't know why such a silly little random thing should make me so happy but it does. I just love the color. I may use it as an inspiration to paint a room. This wasn't a thrify find. It was at a boutique antique shop. I'd just been looking on Etsy so I know it was a fair price.


I also couldn't resist this shiny thing.























Here are some other finds that didn't make it home with me (but really wanted to).

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.20.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych twenty:


LLL: Momma's little elf helping with Christmas cards // smlthings (me): Biggest wreath evah!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I'm a Fact Junkie

Growing up I had a teacher that would throw out the odd fact here and there, followed by the sing song "Fun Facts to Know and Tell!" (Does it make it any better to know that she was a history teacher and coach for our Knowledge Bowl team?)

I didn't need her enthusiasm to convince me that facts were fun. I'm not all that great at memorization but it never stopped me from wanting to know. You can tell me but I'll forget (especially if there are numbers involved) in less time than I care to admit. But that is why it is a great time for Fact Junkies to be alive. Google loves me. I love Google. Yes my friends it is a good time to be alive.

I love to know about places and think about travel. So here's some random facts:

The 3 largest countries by land mass are Russia, Canada, China. (The US is fourth.)

The 3 largest countries by population are China (1.3 billion), India (just under 1.1 billion) and the US (295 million - is this right? wow).
The language with the most native speakers is Mandarin Chinese (over a billion peeps!). English and Hindi follow with around five million each (half as much!).

I checked around but here's where I found these facts.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams

Christmas Collaboration 12.19.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #19:


LLL: A hair raising good time bouncing her little heart out // smlthings (me): Christmas train town at Crown Center

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.18.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #18:


LLL: A 4th birthday party for our G // smlthings (me): The Kansas City Mayor's Christmas tree (I think they forgot to water it!)

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.17.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #17:


LLL: Squadron Christmas party at the Venetian // smlthings (me): Family Christmas time

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.16.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #16:


LLL: I believe in Christmas magic. // smlthings(me): Hot tea on a cold winter night.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Living in Kansas City

It sounds silly but sometimes I forget I live in a city. A big place with a lot of people and a lot of things. I know those from NY or LA or Tokyo or Calcutta see Kansas City as a dot on a map. But I grew up in a town of fewer than 1000 people. I suppose because I live in a suburb and mostly follow my one little path to work and the store and home I just forget.

When I got the chance to travel outside the US, it made me realize how much we neglect the experiences we can have in our country but really in our own area. It is true that Stonehenge, Mount Everest or the Louvre are not in my backyard but there are experiences to have here or nearby. There are beautiful things and good eats right here. One of my motivations to start this blog was to get out and experience my area. It probably won't always feel as astonishing as my first sight of Michelangelo's David or being on the water in Venice or seeing the blobs of paint on an actual Pissarro painting. That is no reason not to check out what is right here.

What's made me think of this? A couple of converging things. Today we'll I just start with me finding the website Explore My KC. There are so many great photos of the area. Here are some of my favorites.


For my love of all things tilt shift, here is Kansas City from the Hyatt (soon to be something else) near Crown Center.


The Liberty Memorial - I walk here sometimes during my lunch.


I am fascinated with this photo. Supposedly it is from a kite cam. I figured it was a plane or something. For those that don't know KC, let me tell you, there are no buildings tall enough around the Liberty Memorial to get this shot.


Every weekday I cross this bridge. They started building it about the time I started commuting this route. I feel sort of proud of it because I suffered through all the traffic delays and re-routes and watched it being built from the water/ground up. I see it twice a day, five days a week.

Christmas Collaboration 12.15.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #15:


LLL: A little elf has been VERY busy. // smlthings(me): Instagram of my Christmas tree and my favorite white chocolate oreos

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.14.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's diptych #14:


LLL: Hmmm. Do you think the bell ornament could use a little more green? // smlthings(me): These new fangled Christmas lights give off a very strange glow...

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.13.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our thirteenth diptych:


LLL: 2011 and 2010 65th Aggressor ornaments // smlthings(me): Baskin Robbins Christmas flavors - YUM!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.12.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our diptych number twelve:


LLL: Homemade play dough in December = a family of snowmen // smlthings(me): My Christmas tree reflecting in the window = peaceful

Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.11.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our eleventh diptych:


LLL: Homemade wreaths for only $4.50 each!!! It's gettin' festive up in here! // smlthings(me): Shopping is so much better when there are trees wrapped in white lights

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.10.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our tenth diptych:


LLL: December fireworks warming up a cool night // smlthings(me): Nativity collection

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.9.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our ninth diptych:


LLL: Don't we all wish we lived in tiny gingerbread houses? // smlthings(me): Christmas bokeh at mom's house

Friday, December 9, 2011

Everywhere there's signs...

So as I was going from hither to thither in blogland tonight, I kept noticing signs. They are boards and paint but they are so lovely. Two of them are even reversable. I really love that since it is less stuff in my basement. Here's a few I pinned.


Love the saying and the colors from The Creative Imperative


This is just so simple and natural. You could do something like this for any season. Yay Crafting in the Rain!


Again, simple but fun (and reversable, don't forget). I just discovered Space 46 and I liked several of her projects.

Christmas Collaboration 12.8.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's are eighth diptych:


LLL: Reading the Grinch // smlthings(me): Ornaments for the tree


Thursday, December 8, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.7.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our seventh diptych:


LLL: New Christmas jammies // smlthings(me) Braving another pre-holiday sale for the nieces and nephews




I'm linking up!

Holiday Happenings at That's What {Che} Said...

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Christmas Collaboration 12.6.11

Since we won't be together for Christmas, Lovely.Little.Laughter and I are having a Christmas Collaboration a la December Daily meets 3191. Read more about it here.

Here's our sixth diptych!


LLL: Ice skater in training // smlthings(me): One of my favorite ornaments - Santa in his workshop (1987)


I'm linking up!

Passionately Artistic

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