ladybug violet

Warning: This post is going to be picture heavy! Violet had her first Halloween Party at Daycare. I made her a last minute ladybug costume. Check out my little girl working her costume!

 I like being a mom. It is so great making costumes for your kiddos and seeing the holidays through their eyes.

fear and holloween

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Growing up, my family never celebrated Halloween. In fact, the entire month of October felt like a countdown to the scariest night of the year. I was not allowed to trick or treat, but rather attended "Hallelujah Night" at whatever church we happened to be attending that year. No watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (deemed to evil). No "Casper the Friendly Ghost" (and I totally wanted to watch the Christina Ricci version that came out in the 90's... sigh).

My life was always quite insulated. If my family happened to be home on Halloween, we absolutely DID NOT hand out candy. Lights out. Windows closed. My sweet mother (whom never intentionally meant to scare my sister and I) would tell us news reports about poisoned candy given to children on Holloween. Even our little black poodle, Missy, was not allowed to go outside after dark, because my parents feared that someone would try to steal her.

As a high school student, I took great pride in my disdain for Halloween. I have no specific memory of the conversations I had concerning the topic, but I assume they went something like this, "Oh, you are dressing up for THAT day?" said with a judgmental brow. "Just be sure to pray over your candy before you eat it". Yes, apparently, I was the morality police... no, the sheriff (more authority) and that meant that I had a license to judge.

 Then imagine my shock to find out that my older sister, Angie, who was in college at the time, actually dressed up and went trick or treating with her friends! I could not believe it! Wasn't she scared of the poisoned apples and razorblades chocolates? Of course I prayed for her..... Now I look back at my fear driven beliefs with a huge amount of embarrassment. Perhaps I was taking this a bit to seriously.

You see, at a certain point as an adult, you have to decide how you are going to live your life in all aspects. From the food you will eat to the music you will listen to. From the religion (if any) you will practice to the relationships you cultivate and maintain. And even still, you have to decide if fear will rule your life.

Fear is an emotion that has had a grasp on my life for as long as I can remember. As happy and peppy as I may be, I am constantly fighting that "worst case scenario" in the back of my mind. I used to always made my decisions out of fear rather, and that was an unhealthy place to be. Fear has held me back from applying to my dream school, from leaving an unhappy job, even from putting my art up on Etsy. Nothing should have that much influence on your life.

Today, I am making a conscious decision to put all of my neurotic fears aside and to simply enjoy this season. I am going to be bold. I am going to be lighthearted. And I am going to enjoy dressing my daughter up in an adorable handmade ladybug costume and listen to her little lispy 2 year old voice try and say "trick-or-treat". Her little heart has no fear, and it is my job to protect her heart for as long as possible.

This is just my story. My journey. Who new something as small as Halloween could teach me so much about myself?

Oh, and if your view on Halloween, or anything, for that matter, differ from mine, that is A okay in my book!

this week's etsy favorites

 

1. From the Ocean to the Forest by MyFolkLover 2. Vintage Style Turquoise Necklace by PrettyThingsByMeg 3. Sara Big Print by Holli 4. Little Vixen Necklace by JoannaRutter

new crewcuts catalog

Have you all seen the new crewcuts catalog? Absolutely charming! I may finally purchase some clothing for Violet from there (as long as it is on clearance)!

the gingiber factory

New in the Gingiber Shop: mini plush owl ornaments. View them here.

hey measure about 7 inches tall and are each made with such love! I embroidered each face by hand. I truly love the deep crimson against the bright red.

I hope that you like them.

I think that I will pick a different animal muse for the 2011 year. Any suggestions?

holiday tangle

I am making product for my upcoming holiday show. I am pumping up the volume. Currently it is a tangled mess!

Have a great weekend!

austin: tour de food

Alright, it is time to come clean... I did not really go on a vacation to Austin, Texas..

I went to Austin for the (now annual) Bloomfield Tour de Food. That's right. We were in Austin for all of 5 days and ate at no less than 20 different food establishments. We were in hog heaven (*note, that is the only Fayetteville, AR joke I will ever make associating myself with the city*).

My favorite restaurants (in no particular order)

1. Congress Street Cafe: We had the crab cake eggs Benedict and the carrot cake french toast

Thanks Brooke Ann Dove for the suggestion!* It was a smash! The little corn bread muffins served with the meal were just the icing on the cake!

2. Amy's Ice Cream: Wow. Best Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream on earth. We went twice. That's right. Sweet Indulgence!

Thanks Danielle Jeanne for this suggestion! It quite possibly made the whole trip!

3. Boulden Creek Coffeehouse: Such a charming cafe. All of the food is organic, and they have a great selection of unique and healthy breakfast options. We had the blueberry cornbread cakes (with coffee for me, of course).

4. Hula Hut's: A great atmosphere with some of the best tortillas I have ever eaten! 

Thanks Kim! This was the first restaurant we tried and it definitely set the mood for TexMex!

5. Hey Cupcake: So good. Especially if you make them whippersnappers (whipped cream down the center of the cake)! Pumpkin was my favorite, but WOW was the line long!

6. Cafe Crepe: Downtown little eatery with fun French Decor. Delicious savory and sweet crepes (we had a nutella filled crepe)!

7. Joe's Coffee: We grabbed some of the tastiest breakfast tacos on our way to a wedding. Absolutely spectacular food. The setting is outdoors, and the weather allowed for us to have a great time sitting on SoCo enjoying our food. Oh, and their Pumpkin Spice Latte could teach Starbucks a thing or too!

8. Holy Cacoa: Best "Cake Shake" I have ever had! Seriously, this needs to be made at my house. Cake and ice cream blended together equals a happy Stacie!

There were many other restaurants, but these are the ones that stick out the most. Now I am off to eat healthy and try to combat all of the delicious food that I have eaten over the past week.

Thanks for reading! I will post more about Austin tomorrow! -Stacie

traveling and missing this face

We are traveling home today and I cannot wait to see this little face! I miss my Violet like crazy! Every time I see a mom with her little girl, my heart is a little sad. Yay for tonight when I get to hug my Violet again!

the tale of the mis-priced dress

Hello lovlies!

I've been M.I.A. for a few days with my husband for a much needed vacation. I will provide you with a proper update of our trip next week, but for the time being, I wanted to share with you the sad tale of the mis-priced dress that I was certain was fated to be mine.

I was so happy to visit an Anthropologie store the other day. I bypassed the racks of beautiful fall clothing, bed linens, even the adorable knitwear for children and went straight for the sale racks. I am a bit of a dress-o-holic (I prefer dresses to jeans anyway of the week) so when I spotted this adorable satin leafy patterned dress, I knew that I had to try it on.

Did I mention that the price was right? $29!!!

The dress fit like a glove, magically thinning my thighs and hiding that dreaded baby pooch. I felt lovely! I loved it so much that I even took a picture just to prove to myself that the dress was in fact flattering from every angle!

I could hardly wait to go to the register! Oh, as I waited in line I imagined the perfect shoes (silver sandels) and the perfect hair (a sweet little bun). When the girl at the register asked me where I was from, I didn't mind making small talk about Arkansas and the "beloved" razorbacks, because I was about to leave the store with my perfect, affordable, Anthropologie dress.

Then it happened. "That will be $85 dollars...." say what?

Apparently, the sale price was accidentally marked $29, when in reality it was $79.

I am pretty sure that the soundtrack of my life at that moment was set to the song, "Don't turn around, you might hear my heart breaking..." There would be no new dress for Stacie that day. Has something like this ever happened to you?

Alright, that's my story for tonight!

-Stacie

curtain call

I consider myself a thrify woman. I consider myself do have a fairly stylish home. Yet when it comes to window treatments, I am always at a loss! My bedroom has 2 windows (that let in no light, mind you, but that is the nature of many ranch houses), one with a square of yellow fabric literally stapled to the wall, and the other with some old white curtains that I attempted to dye a deep purple, but turned out to be a pastel mess.

So, I am considering many options for color scheme and pattern. Here are some of my current (affordable) favorites:

1. Birdcage Curtain by Urban Outfitters- $19.99 2. Batik Paisley Voile Curtain by World Market $17.99 3. Crinkle Voile Curtain Panel by World Market $13.49 4. Garden Ombre Curtain by Urban Outfitters $32.00

this week's etsy favorites

 1. roddy cushion in yellow by roddyandginger 2. it's a start wedding poster by ellothere 3. build your own set of favorite directors by retrowhale 4. snow white and the usual suspects by badbird

the chairs: progress

Remember this inspirational post about my dream dining room table and chairs? Well, I got my fabulous table. Then I began "collecting" inexpensive wooden chairs that I could paint the same color in order to unify the decor.

Can I tell you that I have had the hardest time finding inexpensive chairs? Everyone wants like $40 for a chair? Come on people! If I am going to buy a beaten, old, squeaky chair, the price must be right. Nevertheless, I have found and painted 2 such chairs, with a 3rd waiting in the wings for a nice sanding and paint job.

I decided to paint the chairs the same color as our fireplace to attempt to tie the color schemes of the two rooms together. Plus, I have a good half a gallon of the sagey green paint left, so I saved a bit of money too!

I will keep you updated on my progress!

-Stacie

trip time: austin, texas

 

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I am going on a little vacation to Austin, Texas soon and could really use some advice from YOU! Tell me the best places to eat, the best places for live music, best shopping, etc... EVERYTHING!

I am certain that we will catch some live music, go to a few parks and museums, and eat lots of food, but I would really appreciate your suggestions!

Thanks,

Stacie

the stockings are finished!

The Christmas Stockings are finished! Take a look!

Pink Christmas Stocking by Gingiber

Green Christmas Stocking by Gingiber

I am so stoked about these stockings! I have already sold one and have had several inquiries! I will only be making a dozen of each color, so if you like them, you had better act fast! It has been so much fun screen printing again. Believe me, it has been ages since I have done it, so this was a refreshing reminder of my love for printmaking.

Thanks for reading. I know this week's posts have been a bit "me" centered, but next week will bring a bit more content about pretty pretty decor and yummy recipies.

-Stacie

the 2011 gingiber calendar

 

The 1st Gingiber Calendar is here and I could not WAIT to share it with you!

Here are 4 of my favorite Owls! I really had a blast making this adorable calendar!

I know, I know. You are probably thinking "More Owls?"! Well, I just had to get these adorable owls out of my system, and what better way to do it than in a calendar?

I really have never been more happy with anything that I have made for the Gingiber Etsy Shop than this calendar and yesterday's Reindeer Stocking!

What do you think?