Meaghan-Marie Pretties

Combined Efforts?

2011-11-02T13:39:00.000-04:00

As I was browsing through kijiji this afternoon and was seeing all the fabulous deals on antique furniture near Mr. Pretties new job (somewhere we really wouldn't have driven to to do a pick, which is saying a lot, because we'd drive almost anywhere in the name of shabbiness!) I started thinking about how badly I wanted my own shop a couple years ago. Like bad, bad, imperative to continue living BAD. Then Mr. Pretties company closed down and things were tight, no extra monies for fab finds (sad, sad times), then I went back to work full time, then Mr. Pretties went back to work and I stayed home part time but we'd had to move because our landlords wanted our house back to live in themselves (that's a story for another time. I think I need therapy for the emotional breakdown my separation from that house caused) and we moved into a nice little town, but with a house that is much smaller (and a lot more spendy) I hadn't even given it a thought. But then a lightbulb went off and I realized that we have a garage attached to our house, a garage that is very '1920s' like this house and that it looks exactly like an old barn inside complete with barn beam rafters, old 12 pane windows and dutch doors and the only use I had for it was... dun dun dun dun... housing the chickens. Yes. We have chickens. In our garage. Two years ago I would have already had it set up to house all our shabby chic sale items and been able to decorate it in perfect shabby shop style for pick ups... now I'm wondering can I house my chickens and shabby goodness at the same time? Our chickens do not smell, they have no odour what-so-ever, are fairly quiet, are fluffy and adorable, and their coop is actually quite shabby chic... it even has an over the bed netting, old bank bag pillows, and they eat/drink out of old black and white enamel containers, they really kind of fit in... We have no garage-type stuff in there, it's actually just storing all our furniture that wont fit in the house (which is a lot, there are no less than four vanities, 5 dressers, 2 dining tables, an uncountable amount of random wooden chairs, and boxes of enamelware)...

It's something to think about... my only worry is that our current landlords are talking about wanting to move into the house themselves (they live with their parents.... I don't know...) so I don't want to get to 'into it' and get crushed when we have to move the day after I set it all up the way I want. Maybe I'll stick with sewing my chickens some white ruffly curtains. Or maybe I'll take some 'me time' out in the garage this afternoon while the little pretties nap. Or quietly pretend to nap. Or just scream and yell while throwing stuff around their respective rooms and I pretend their napping. Whatever. Did I mention the last time I took 'me time' in the garage during naptime the chickens ended up with a paris inspired pink distressed coop? And for some reason don't want to use it? Yet, my new white silkie chickens, who are absolutely shabby chic in all their white foofiness absolutely adore it. Maybe they just have better taste than my four brown/black/buff silkies... I like pretending that the chickens actually A) notice and B) appreciate when I foof up their coop. In reality I know they only care when I bring them treats and water.

What have you all been up to???

Renting A Farm Is HARD...

2011-07-14T14:06:00.000-04:00

If not impossible...

Wow! Mr. Pretties and I have been mercilessly searching for 'the one' for the last couple months - partly because we're desperate for a farm, and big partly because the current homeowners of the house we live in want to move back into it. Which is a little bit on the inconvenient side for us. So we've been searching. And driving through rural communities I had no idea existed. And looking at livestock ads on Kijiji. Let me tell you - looking for a rental farm is like trying to find a unicorn. I don't think it's because we're picky, because really, we're not. Okay, maybe I am a little bit in that I want an OLD farmhouse. Not a farmhouse someone built a few years ago when they bought some acreage. And I'm picky in that I have to like the home owners. I know, why?! Because I'm a freak like that. I don't know what my problem is but I've found that anytime we've rented from people I felt 'off' about it hasn't worked out. The last three people we've rented from we really liked and became friends with. We will always have a relationship with those people and I'm so grateful that they came into our lives and that we were fortunate enough to get into a business deal - such as rental property is - with people like them. I guess maybe I've been spoiled? Or unrealistic? Or both probably. But the fact of the matter is, I want to like the people we rent from. We found a couple we thought were fantastic, totally got what we wanted to do with the house/land and even came up with ideas we could collaborate on together which were fabulous. When we went to look at the farm however, it was beyond awful. And I'm very open minded. It wasn't a place we could have children living in, even temporarily and it crushed us. Then we've found all the 'farmhouses' without land, and the farm land without a house, etc... and we found a beyond wonderful farmhouse not farm from here that was everything we wanted and more, but the homeowners were so completely unprofessional in the way they verbally attacked their current tenants infront of potential ones that it was uncomfortable. They had no respect for the house or land they owned and couldn't understand their 'hick' neighbours and the animals they kept. It breaks my heart everytime I realize that so many of the people who are owners of 100's of acres at a time are basically just sitting on it until a company offers them the big $$$ to sell it to them for development site. Then we wonder why the future or farming, and thus food in general, is doomed. Their needs to be some responsibility about who's allowed to buy up big lots and what they're allowed to do with it. Then again, I think all current agriculturally zoned land should be green belted. It's the necessary thing to do.

So it's been a little bit impossible and a lot disappointing. Hopefully it all works out the way it's supposed to, but perhaps because we're going through a lot of changes in the Pretties household I'm just not sure what way that is right now. Renting is a hard world when no one wants to rent to families with children, or pets of any kind. Not to mention the average price of monthly rent has gone up approximately $500 since we moved into this house less than a year ago. Ouch. Obviously this isn't great blog material, but sometimes things just need to be aired out in the open. I so much want to be on a farm doing things that give me daily blog fodder, I love blogging and I miss blogging, but the only thing I want to blog about is our chickens, what great farm activity we did, what's growing, what's not, etc... instead of 'Went to look a farm today - no dice' every day of the week. No one wants to read that, and I don't want to type it. I feel like there's a place we're supposed to be in in this point of our lives and we aren't there and I'm not sure why, or how to get there. I feel like I'm constantly using the life GPS and receiving the 'Cannot find exact location...' error and can't find anywhere that sells a paper map to my destination. Waahhhh...

On the other hand, meet the ladies:

I think they were 5 weeks old in the picture. They're now almost 12 weeks old and big huge fluff balls of fabulousness. They live a happy life in our backyard and our neighbours love them. Part of the reason we're uber sad to leave, this will likely end our chicken keeping for a little while. But they have been SO much fun. And completely do NOT smell. At all. Seriously, my guinea pig smelled worse by far. The little pretties are completely in love with them, and unfortunately they are completely in love with the fluffy orange tabby, Wilma. They think she's the big chicken. Clearly we would have some survival issues on a real farm ;) So that's been a nice spot light for us this summer. We have a friend with a farm who will happily taken them temporarily until we can have them back again, so they'll always been taken care of. Any one considering chickens should totally go for it though, they are as enjoyable a pet as a cat or a dog (we have both) and are less noisy!

Hopefully they'll be a blog post soon about the new farm we're moving too. Crossing our fingers and our toes, and buying our lottery tickets ;) Hope everyone's enjoying some gorgeous weather today like we are!

I Have Given Birth - Again!

2011-03-29T23:22:00.000-04:00

Not really. Well, really, but not really in the sense that I went off and had another unannounced baby ;) Really in the sense that the heirloom cherry tomatoes and black tomatoes have sprouted! I've had them in their Jiffy pots for maybe a week now (I'm trying not to obsess over them, that usually leads to destruction) with their little baggies-come-greenhouses on sitting in our south facing windows on the landing. I decided I'd mostly ignored them long enough and that I could sneak a peak at what was going on in there, and low and behold, little spouts! I am SO proud, it's like giving birth all over again! However, I had written labels nicely on the pots so I would know which ones were cherries and which ones were regular so that I could plant them together accordingly come warmer weather. I noticed today that all the condensation from their greenhouses has washed the majority of those 'markers' off. I have no idea who is who. Crap. Hopefully I can sort them out when they have, say, more than one miniscule leaf poking out of the ground.

Woohoo!!!

HotDog! Get Your HotDog Here!

2011-03-24T19:08:00.000-04:00

Or so Animal Control told me this morning ;) Some kindly fellow knew we wanted HotDog more than he did and turned him in late lastnight and we picked him up early this morning. SO relieved, words cannot even say!! Thanks for listening to me whine lastnight though. Yay!!

Anyone Seen A Hotdog?

2011-03-24T00:57:00.000-04:00

Oh please, oh please, oh please say you have!!!

Today we ended up with a completely FREAK snow storm that resulted in a snow day. A snow day in Canada is a big deal. Seriously. So we had a lot of snow. We had blizzard like conditions upon arrival home from work tonight. It was disgusting. It was freezing. It was starting to freezing rain. And our sweet little Hotdog went out for a bathroom break. And noticed someone left the gate open for him. Unfortunately Mr. Pretties didn't put two and two together for almost an hour. We've spent the last three hours combing the frozen tundra like neighbourhood to no avail.

I hadn't realized, but realize quite well now, that Hotdog was actually our fifth child. We've lost cats before, and cats are smart, cats will come home on their own if they're able. They'll catch a mouse if they're hungry and they'll outwit any human/dog/car, so although I do worry, it's not necessarily the end of the world. Except for the time our cat Pickle got out and got attacked by a new neighbourhood beast of a dog and died. That was actually the end of the world. I'm still dying inside over that. But dogs don't know how to take care of themselves. Specifically Hotdog is a miniature dachshund who is afraid to go on his leash and as a by-product has no interest in going for neighbourhood walks. Thusly, he is lost after moseying two houses away.

The thought of him out there alone, cold and scared is literally teetering on the edge of self implosion. It actually completely explains the phrase 'I just can't handle the thought' because really, I can't handle the thought, any thought, that doesn't involve Hotdog sleeping in his warm bed with his dachshund lovie. This is the dog that shivers when it's cooler than 20 degrees in the house. It's -3 tonight. The snow is twice as deep as he is tall. I honestly don't think we'll ever see him again. The kids are going to be absolutely crushed in the morning when they wake up and he's not there.

I said to Mr. Pretties I just don't think I can go on without him in our lives, he's like trying to live without an arm or a leg (if arms or legs constantly stood right infront of where you were trying to walk at any given time and barked maniacally at any sound that could possibly be someone knocking on a door within a 50 block radius) and even though people DO go on to live without arms, or legs, or both, I don't want to.

We adopted a puppy before Hotdog, a basset named Turnip who we adored, but who came to us unknowingly with Parvo and within six weeks had to put him to sleep. It killed us. Hotdog lit up our lives again, he made the hurt not so bad and helped us heal. And now he's gone. The big city snow plows are up and down our street every half hour which is ripping me apart, he's either going to freeze, get run over, get buried in a snowbank or get found by a family who wants to keep him for themselves. Of all the scenarios, if it came down to it I would choose a new family for him so long as he was healthy and happy. Tomorrow I'll put out all the calls to the shelters, vets, and pop up signs.

I knew we loved Hotdog and that he was family, but I didn't realize how impaired we'd feel without his presence. Just knowing he's not in the house somewhere makes it so silent and lonely. Above all, Hotdog was a fabulous companion. Who really liked to ruin my stuff. A lot. But I still loved him. Even that time he wrecked my brand new, more-than-I'd-Tell-Mr-Pretties-I-Paid-For sheets.

Here's hoping for a miracle, because that's what it's going to take to get our weiner back. I absolutely dread the thought of having to deal with the reality that he wont be back, ever, and having to pack up his stuff because it's too painful to bare. The thought alone makes my insides feel all slithery. I'm not even being dramatic. At all. Okay I am, but it's how I work through the pain.

What goes around comes around...

2011-03-14T17:15:00.002-04:00

Or so it's seems...

Mr. Pretties and I looked at an old farmhouse last spring (scare alert: a year ago to the EXACT date) and had a month long debate about it (No joke - a MONTH. LONG. DEBATE. I wouldn't suggest it personally) because it was at a time when Mr. Pretties didn't need to be close to work anymore and my job was fairly disposable at the time. We also needed more bedrooms. Come to think of it, we still need more bedrooms... Oh, and it was 120 years old. And a farm. Those should have really been the only two factors going on. Seriously, based on that alone I think we would have made the right choice. Instead, since I was in near-end pregnancy nothing-doing phase and couldn't grasp a two hour away moving situation we decided to move exactly 11 houses away from our current one, to a house with twice as many bedrooms and a full attic. It's old. It has charm. The basement floods. The dirt in the yard is equal parts non-fertile soil and what I'm fairly sure is imitation soil. While I can't say that I don't like the house, I do, it's had a hard life and no one loved it. I take a fair amount of pity on it and help it esthetically where ever I can. But last week just did me in. An unsuspecting mouse found it's way into our new mattress. And died. I believe this crossed about 200 lines for me. Let me just say, I don't have a problem with mice in general. I will wrestle the cat for one if it's caught and put it back outside (where it promptly comes back inside no doubt). I even think on a cute scale they score about an 8. However, when I go out of my way to be respectful of them and the mouse community does something like shacks up in MY bed and then DIES?! Oh no. We're through there buck-o. So these small things are what I use as moving ammo/moving motivation. I also hate the neighbourhood - but that could just be me...

Okay so where were we here? Oh right. The House. With a capital H. For 'Hell yeah!' because it's awesome. And, because, house starts with an H.... moving right along here... so I was doing my nightly house search online (I do this EVERY night. I figure anything good will pop up and be gone right away so I stay on it) and I was reading an ad about an old Heritage Home in Olde Rural London and thought 'Hmm... that sounds about right...' and went to view the pictures. They all looked so nice, very 1880's typical, but something about them seemed familiar. Until I got to the picture of the outside of the house (who posts the outside house picture last anyway?) and nearly fell out of my chair. While screaming 'My House!!! My House is Back!!!! Mr. Pretties did you hear me??? My House is BAAACCCKKKKK!!!' in my outside voice. I love this house. I. Love. This. House. I Love. This House. It doesn't matter how you say it!

(it's had work done - it no long looks so scary and abandoned)
It's like my kindred spirit, but instead of my skin and bones it has brick and mortar. Which I'm cool with. It's in the country. It's surrounded by corn (which I have a small anxiety inducing concern about with the Littles - however I think electric fencing will solve it) It has an old barn. It has an old chicken coop. It has old farm fencing. It has an already tilled vegetable garden that probably has REAL soil in it. Did I mention it's old? And charming? And has TWO staircases?! You know, for those times when you wake up and are all 'Hmm... which stairs should I take today? Newspaper or kitchen first?' Or for when the kids are burning off energy, they could run down one set and back up the other and do like hamster wheel exercises. Please note I sad said 'could' not 'can' because if that actually happened they'd be outside in the pasture faster than they could even say hamster. It has mainfloor laundry. Even the kitchen is nice and I find that most old houses have crappy renovated-in-the-70s kitchens. This has a renovated in the 70s kitchen, but they used classic wood for the cupboards, painted the rest white, kept the hardwood throughout the entire house, and put in new counter tops. That makes it entirely acceptable. Did I mention the main staircase is curved?

(I love that they labelled the picture, just incase there was any confusion about exactly this picture was about...)

And it has a veranda. It might also have Coyotes. Two words for that though. Electric. Fence. Amen. Wait, that was three. Oh well... But there's this stickler of a dilemma. I work here. Two hours away from there. I cannot drive to work everyday. I would have to quit my job on the whim that I would find one just like it in London. Which may not be so... But part of me doesn't care.... We have to decide soon though. Unfortunately it's the same realtor we dealt with last year and he already thinks/knows that we're mental and is learly that we're wanting back in LoL I don't blame him. I'll bring him a box of chocolates. Or 100. Before I quit my job ;) Did I mention the school bus stop is at the bottom of our driveway? Or that I ordered chicks last week? Or that I'm afraid of squirrels? Uh... never mind the last bit. No one needs to know about that.

So hopefully we wont have another month long 'discussion' about this house. Mr. Pretties is actually a lot more open to the option this year than he was last. Something about me telling him 1,000 times that we should have moved since, and that he's agreed every time. I think he's seen the light. Or got tired of hearing about it. And chickens. And pink Wellies. Or maybe he's tired of hauling all four pretties everyday to school twice ;) A bus stop at the end of the driveway does sound pretty sweet... unless you take my neurosis into account, and then it's just one more thing to worry about, you know, because bus accidents are so much more common than car accidents...

Antique All The Way...

2011-03-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

The Pretties want to go rural.

I'll give you a minute to digest that morsel of information.

You good? Excellent!

After a year long hiatus from the blog, and approximately 300,000 life changes (including, but not limited to, a new 2010 baby girl

Mr. Pretties retiring, moving houses, and going back to work) we've (meaning, I've, because Mr. Pretties is a lot life tofu in that he will adapt to most things that I want to do. Which is awesome. Clearly) decided that with being aware of where our food comes from and the quality of it's life has lead us to want to not only know where it lives, but want to live nearby. I don't think we want to take on raising our own meat (beyond the odd chicken), simply because we don't have the knowledge, the money (lol), or the man power, but would love the opportunity to live in the same community and join a local CSA that allows for farm visitation, volunteer time on the farm, etc... I think that would be awesome and all around 'right', if there is such a thing. Although I don't altogether love the part about eating animals in general, it appears to be a fact of life for us, and any part I can play in supporting those who give their animals a happy, quality, fairly natural life would be fabulous.

We'd (I'd) also really like to try my hand at raising various things too. I'm not saying we're going to get rich, or break even, but I've been doing tons of research this past year (as in our Google browers now only has the capability of showing my farm related entries, it doesn't know any other exist anymore...) and a few things that've really caught my eye (and heart, most of my brain waves, and most of my very being, to name a few) have been alpacas as fibre animals, angora rabbits for fibre and show, bees, and Jersey Giant chickens.

How giant is a Jersey Giant? Glad you asked. Here's come vintage perspective for you:

I love the idea of caring for heritage breeds and planting heirloom/heritage fruits and vegetables in our garden (why wouldn't I? Who doesn't love an antique veggie seed?!). I know part of me is very much in love with the romanticism of swinging a basket in the sun while collecting fresh eggs, but I strongly believe a much larger part is in love with spending the day mucking out stalls, making trails through the snow to bring my animals food and water, and for providing them with a good life while they provide for us as well. It would be a great trade off.

With that all said, these few, poorly worded paragraphs have taken me three days to complete. I'm not joking. Did I mention I'd also love to write a few children's books? I figure if I start right now I might have them finished sometime in the 30th century. If I type fast.

Let is snow, let is snow, let is snow…

2009-12-11T12:14:00.001-05:00

Or not…

And a snowy good morning to you all!!!

Today we’re seeing the very first fat flakes of snow this winter, and c’mon, we live in CANADA! Despite being Canadian however, I don’t do winter. I don’t do cold weather, and I don’t do mounds of brown slushy much that has spewed itself over every walking service from my door to the car and back.

Don’t get me wrong, a big snowfall can be a wonderful thing, say, when you have no where to go, no pressing errands to do, and can curl up on the couch with a fluffy warm blanket, a cup of steamy tea in your favorite chipped cup, and the fireplace roaring (or in our case, being completely silent. For some reason gas fireplaces don’t do the roaring business. Unfortunate really.) while you watch tufts of white magic (that sounds like it might be a code word for a drug. If it is. Disregard reference) flutter silently from the sky. I think the silence in which these mass piles of snow fall are what makes it amazing. Let’s examine that thought shall we? (come, please? It’ll do my brain good), rain for instance gives us the whole relaxation package with it’s sleep inducing sound effects on the roof, but essentially as soon as it falls it disappears down the sewer gone from our lives (Usually. Unless you’re in our city this past summer, then it’s actually filling up your basement and calling your insurance broker letting them know it’s time put some new ‘clauses’ in your policy, however, that’s a whole ‘nother post), like it was never there and an hour later it might be completely dried up and in it’s place a rainbow.

Our fluffy friend snow on the other hand,is busy stacking itself up 3’ high and lasting for what must be no less than 10 years, make’s no sounds at all. Nothing. Maybe that’s part of the magic. When you were a child would a snow day have been as fabulous if you’d tossed and turned listening to the 200,000 tons of snow coming down all night? Wasn’t it the best to expect nothing other than another day of trudging through the snow to school and walking around with soaked jeans all day (because you were too cool to wear snow pants or appropriate foot wear in grade 8. Oh wait, was that just me? ) and waking up to white. And more white. Rubbing your eyes, giving yourself a little peppy tap in the face to wake up, and realize this isn’t an early morning delusion but that the entire street (block, town, etc…) was covered in thick blankets of white with more coming down and knowing you can snuggle back down in your duvet and doze back off?

That is the very best kind of snow. Unfortunately it usually has a life expectancy of 48 hours before it’s plowed, salted, sanded and shoveled into submission, turning that white magic into goopy brown gravel encrusted masses that pile up on the side walks, park lots, and most importantly, my kitchen floor.

And then it freezes. And the everytime you walk out the back door you manage to slip and land on your rear because you managed to walk across the only dime sized patch of ice not salted to death by Mr. Pretties. Oh. I guess that’s just me again. See what I’m telling you? Winter and I don’t get along. The world would be a better place if we woke up to those magical mornings covered snow, enjoyed the day off and then have Mother Natural give the snow a call, something like ‘Okay Snow Flakes, listen up, the town has to start living again, let’s move up and out, mission completed!’ And off it trots to the next unsuspecting town. No brown much an all the wonderfulness of a beautiful white day. See what I’m saying?

Sorry you had to listen to a weather forcast today, but I had to get it out there. And really, it’s related to this blog because if we weren’t recipients of ‘the cold north’ syndrome we’d have garage sales and antique markets ALL year. Yeah. Not just, say, 6 months of it. I try not to think about it because I’m really (REALLY) going through Aberfoyle withdrawal right now. If I want new treasures I have to hunt the thrift stores which all of a sudden have huge mark ups, and, I’ve gone back to work so with Mr. Pretties and I working opposite shifts, there isn’t much thrifting time. I know, right? *tear* or scavenge Kijiji, but it’s been slow going on here lately. I did however score a box of vintage dented Christmas balls for which I was STOKED (not so much stoked about the price. At $3 EACH. But I REALLY wanted some. And The LLP has already smashed one. I cried. Just saying. And yes I know I shouldn’t have put them on the tree at all knowing the LPs are loving redecorating it about 2 million times an hour). I found some 1920’s Christmas lights with fabric cords which I thought were absolutely adorable (not to be plugged in ofcourse… some how I don’t think burning the house down is the way to go this year…) but the seller wanted $40 per 8 light string. I’m not sure, but I’m fairly certain Mr. Pretties would lost his stuff if I told him I was buying 8 Christmas lights that couldn’t actually be lit for $40. It’s just a hunch…

How’re all, your holiday plans going out there? I can’t wait to see everyone’s Christmas House Tour photos in all the tours coming up, I know Rhoda at Southern Hospitality started one yesterday and the Nester at The Nesting Place is having on next week, they’re so much fun to look at, everyone has such great ideas on how to decorate outside the box!

Funky Junk’s Saturday Nite Special…

2009-10-19T16:49:00.001-04:00

Hi all your clever creaters out there this afternoon! While surfing this black hole we call the internet (do you ever just get sucked right in? The Vintage spot in Etsy could kill HOURS for me) and came across Funky Junk Interiors and she’s hosting a Saturday Nite Special (tonight) so grab a Mr. Linky and link up, or check out everyone else’s clever junk creations!

Let’s see what you’ve been up to this week!!!

ALSO

Flea Market Style is having a favorite find Mr. Linky party today and are giving away this sweet honey

How much fun are Mr. Linky parties I ask you?! I love finding other blogs I didn’t know existed (hello, black hole??? In a good way obviously… well good way to me, bad way to Mr. Pretties but I digress…) and seeing what awesome ideas everyone comes up with, there never seems to be a low supply of creativity in blogland so get clicking :)

Happy White Wednesday!

2009-10-14T11:11:00.001-04:00

Good morning girlies, how’s it? We’re doing another rendition of Faded Charm’s fabulous White Wednesday

Pop on by and see what white everyone else has going on this morning (afternoon?).

I’ll be honest right now, this is a recycled WW because my camera is on loan until tomorrow, so I was forced to scour the memory card for some white ;) There’s so many things I want to share with you all that it’s killing me to have to share ‘reruns’ today. Not to worry, it just means Thrify Thursday will be better.

On the left is an old piece of architectural salvage that we (I) picked out of the trash last winter. This thing weighs a ton, no joke, and has made a fabulous plant stand, lamp stand, and currently, an aquarium stand. It’s one flaw is that it’s missing a piece of it’s fourth leg so it’s best stood in a corner. I still like it.

Our freebie dresser from some sweet friends who were going to Sally Ann her a few summers ago. She’s got a before and after on the blog somewhere. She’s our front hall dresser now and sweet as a button.

Not a fabulous photo (and wrongly time stamped I might add) but this washstand is the first old piece Mr. Pretties and I ever bought. It used to have doors. The drawer used to work. We aren’t going to revisit why neither of those things happen now. I’m sure I’ve blogged it before. But even still, after all these flaws and six years, I still love her and will always find a place for her to go. Please don’t mind the mess, we were storing quite a bit of furniture in our bedroom while we got some painting done ;)

One of the most gorgeous dressers I’ve ever seen. My great friend Jess took this dresser from the rough and turned it into a piece of sheer french decadence. No surprise it was snapped up in a mighty hurry along with it’s matching tallboy and vanity. Her work is really so fabulous, she should open a shop!

And this guy is a soon-to-be White Wednesday participant, he’s coming home tomorrow night and going in for a makeover.

We’ll see how that goes, but I have great visions of this guy turning out fabulously handsome (or into a girl, once a piece is shabbied, does that automatically make it female? Probably, eh?) And happily last weeks White Wednesday dresser was sold this weekend so she’ll be delivered to her new home Friday night. There really is nothing better than working really hard to make something beautiful and unique and have someone really, really love it. Also walking around your house telling you how cute everything is doesn’t hurt either. I love it when people ‘get it’.

I can’t wait to see what everyone else has dug up for today, I’m always amazed at how you all can keep WW looking fresh and new week after week!

See you tomorrow with some thrifty finds!

Jenn

White Wednesday

2009-10-07T13:30:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderfully white Wednesday friends! With another round of Faded Charm’s White Wednesday I’m going to share some of my favorite white kitchen inspiration that I’ve collected here and there.

One of the sweetest vignettes from HGTV I am so in love with that bird, those books, and the rust old box behind it all. What is it about these worn and rusted pieces that just feel so cozy?

I am so sorry, but I can’t find the sites I got these from, I tried retracing my steps (aka Googling Shabby/Distressed/Antique Kitchen images) so if anyone knows please let me know so I can link them up :)

But truly, how adorable is that pink enamelware paired up with chippy white and cream? Yum! This photo is courtesy of Country Living, which is just one of my guilty pleasures.

Those cupboards I love more than is natural for any living thing to love an inanimate object. Seriously. Mr. Pretties would drop dead if he came home to cupboards like that, but they make me swoon…

This is such a fabulously eclectic mix, that old scuffy farm table paired with antique balloon back chairs, married to pink chandies, french throw pillows, and even some mod fruit baskets. This all works so well, it’s eye candy to the max.

Look at that sink. Are you absorbing it’s fabulousness? Talk about a time saver, when you’re done washing the dishes, you can hope in and take a bath! Kidding. Sort of. And check those old glass cupboards? There is nothing I like better than those old glass cupboards with the latches, they’re just so sweet and wonderful, nothing can beat that. Of course then we’d have to stop allowing clutter to accumulate in our cupboards. Does anyone else have that problem or is it just us?

And for the most wonderful touch of childhood white whimsy click that little square of sweetness above to visit the rest of Sophie’s playhouse at Restyled Home if you haven’t already. Not only do I want to get the LPs one, I want two for myself. *Love*

And lastly, if you’d like to see an amazing house make over from shabby (bad) to white, elegant and wonderful, pop over to The Old Painted Cottage, it’s delish, you wont regret it!

So I’m going to get on my way now and see what other white treasures are out there this morning! I’m sure you girls have put on another wonderful show again today, chock full of inspiration ;)

Jenn

Tattered Tuesday

2009-10-06T10:33:00.001-04:00

How’s it girlies? Everyone get themselves a get themselves a cup of a cozy beverage this morning? I hope so, I’m certainly enjoying this spot of tea on this rather chilly morning!

So… a few weekends ago Mr. Pretties and I attended the Christie Antique show – which is big guns in Ontario. For whatever reason we’d never attended before (could it be because the idea of taking the three LPs to an antique show garners images of small raging bulls in a very small china shop?) but this year the stars aligned and we were on our way! To be honest, the enormity of it is a little over whelming. But it was pretty amazing, so many birds of a feather, some unique and wonderful curiosities! I took my camera with the full intentional of photographing everything in sight to share with you, but the weirdest thing happened, when I got there and got out my camera I felt completely awkward and like everyone in the entire conservation area was starring at me and thinking ‘she can’t possibly think it’s okay to take pictures here, can she?’

So I casually snapped this one photo, but to my chagrin I couldn’t get cloes enough to the owner to find out a name of this booth or the shop it came from, it had SUCH lovely stuff, even half way through the show! She the most darling little tiny leather baby shoes from 1909 that I was tempted to buy, but didn’t, because then I’d have to explain to Mr. Pretties why I spent $20 on two 2” craps of worn leather. I wasn’t in the mood that day, remember, overwhelmed (and frequently overwhelm causes migraines). So this is the one photo I took:

It was just so romantically shabby and delicious!

One of the first booths we stopped in at Christie was the booth owned by Tattered and Torn (not the song by Slipknot, either) She’s at both Christie shows each year as well at the Southworks Antique Mall in Cambridge, Ontario.

Here are some of her photos of items she had at Christie this year that’re just yummy!

And just as an FYI, this is what my retirement looks like:

That right there gals, it my dream. A truck loaded front to back with fabulous treasures. That may actually be more furniture than I currently have in my house right now… and believe me, we can’t move in my house so there’s a lot of it!

What antique show or fleas have you really enjoyed in the past? I would love to make a trip to Brimfield, Bonanza and some of the other American ones one day. The french fleas and Portobello Road are on my list as well. I swear I came across a popular blog along my travels (I think maybe it was linked to Friday Flea Market?) that was actually organizing a trip to Italy to go to the open air markets. Can you imagine?! The price was quite reasonable as well, but there is no way on God’s green earth I could talk Mr. Pretties into funding a $2000+ trip across the world to bring more stuff home!

Jenn

Junkin’ Monday…

2009-10-05T13:28:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Nice and Easy Antiques at the Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration blog, we’re going to start doing Junkin Monday!

How are all you gals doing this morning? Hope you all had a very fall weekend and maybe did some treasure hunting as we’re all want to do? Hopefully your Sunday’s weather was more cooperative than ours ;) Sunday couldn’t decide between warm and sunny, or freezing with torrential down pours… naturally as we pulled into the parking lot (field?) at Aberfoyle to visit our friends who were selling that day, it decided on freezing with torrential down pours… Oy vey!

Southern Hospitality is done Thrifty Treasures Monday for this season, so I think we’re going to do a ‘before and after’ thread, except that I don’t have the real before pictures, so we’re going to do a ‘almost done and after’ posting instead ;) Hopefully that works for you all.

We picked this depression era dresser up about eight (!) weeks ago and while it has lots of beautiful detailing, it also had lots (and LOTS) of thick glossy orange paint with an over coat of thick, drippy brown oil paint. Yum. The top needed to be chipped off, one inch at a time, no amount of sanding or stripper would do it (hey there, get that head out of the gutter! and believe you me, if I could find a stripper who could have stripped that puppy faster I would have!). So after many man hours spent chipping, stripping, sanding, and several good coats of a very adhesive primer, we ended up with this little girl who showed her face on White Wednesday:

After this week did a few more light sandings, then added a couple coats of a custom blended antique morning cream high resistance paint, varnished the top with a satin varnish (non shiney), gave the entire body and mirror a hand rubbed coat of paste wax to absorb damage, and lined the top two drawers with sweet 1940’s sheet music love songs, and sealed them (c’mon folks, we don’t need to be sporting love songs on our knickers now do we?) up.

Now this sweetheart is read to begin her new life somewhere else (or in my dining room… since we’re pretty partial to her… she can stay if she doesn’t meet anyone’s fancy on Kijiji)

I kid you not, Mr Pretties and I, and the three LPs all cram into this room to eat supper each night, the ambiance is so much nicer than the kitchen table. Drop leafs are a god send when your dining room (closet?) has a space deficiency ;)

So what were you all up to this weekend, do tell! Are you fortunate enough to live in an area that has year round garage sales? Oh how I would love that (along with year round warmth and sunshine… and lack of snow…).

In addition, while walking home from school with the LPs this afternoon I spotted an old wooden vintage dollhouse. In the trash. And I scooped it up. In broad day light. With my children present. Oh, and I’m not ashamed… We’ll talk about that on White Wednesday, or maybe Junkin’ Monday next week ;)

Thanks for stopping by MMPretties, can’t wait to poke around blogland today to see what’s what with all of you :)

Jenn

Welcome to White Wednesday #1

2009-09-30T16:31:00.001-04:00

Good afternoon gals! Hopefully it’s a good one wherever you’re popping in from, it’s pretty grey and drizzly over here in Southern Ontario, so not so good on our home front!

Today we’re going to partake in Faded Charm’s White Wednesday (#15 for them, #1 for us here at The Pretties) posting, which I lurve because in the last few months not much in our house is anything but white ;) Mr. Pretties says it’s like living in a hospital… Erm… I guess that could be so, if hospitals are now sporting chippy lead paint laden items, which I doubt they are. Honestly, after all these years, he still doesn’t get it ;)

So on with the show we will!

An old shabby birdcage, no bird lives here, but it’s so fun to have around the house, I think it’s lived in every room atleast once.

The detail on the columns holding up our cozy verandah, flaked with dirt and perfectly crazed white paint…

An old vintage rocker waiting for someone to come over and take a seat… in the mean time it will keep company with what’s left of this seasons flowers…

What used to be white, is now yellowed with age, old vintage love songs faded with time…

Weathered paint like this can’t be reproduced, one seasons of hard Ontario winters and summers filled will children’s comings and goings can give this kind of sweetness…

Rows of luscious vintage linen pillowcases with some of the most wonderful crocheted lace and lovingly embroidered hems, how delish to have them out drying on the line, collecting it’s warm rays…

And lastly, an old depression era dresser patiently waiting for the return of it’s hardware and mirror after it was given a new leash on life, soon she will be up for sale to live out her days in the adoration of others…

Happy White Wednesday!!!

Jenn

Thrifty Treasure Monday!

2009-09-29T17:45:00.001-04:00

Good Morning Folks! How are you all doing out their in bloggy land? Hand a thrifty weekend some of you? I hope so as we're grabbing onto the tail of Rhoda's Thrifty Treasure Monday Mr. Linky party - the last of this thrifting season so it's a finale!! If you're like me and the next best thing to grabbing yourself some fab treasures is looking at others found treasures head over to Rhoda's blog at Southern Hospitality to check it out!!!

We're find garage sale-ing in Southern Ontario is really not so hot this year (Much like the summer…)! We started the season full blast, we were up before the birds, grabbed out local papers, mapped out routes, and grabbed ourselves some pieces of marvelousness. Oh wait, that last part didn't seem to happen for us... Even our dear friends who sell at Canada's oldest and largest antique market (Aka. Aberfoyle Antique Market) are finding that finding stock is definitely not as plentiful as last year, or previous years, if not completely impossible! Could there be a shortage of junk?! Thoughts like that bring back plans to head over the border and take a visit to Brimfield, but I feel certain Mr. Pretties would not covet that plan quite as much as I would... What do you think guys?

Thank all things junk worthy that some dear soul invented Kijiji as that's where we get all our thrifty finds, along with splits and splots from the local thrift and benevolent shop that always have some little bits for a quarter or so - that's the kind of deal that gives you a good old fashioned adrenaline rush, isn't it girls?!

On Saturday (and Friday, but that's another story involving Mapquests inability to give accurate directions, or my inability to read them...) we headed out to Welland to pick up 35 old window sashes, Mr. Pretties thought I was kidding when I told him we needed to make a 75 minute trip one way to pick up old windows.

Haha, he should know better than that! I plan to use them as green houses/garden conservatories and tables - SO fun! The nice gentleman was selling these sweethearts for that big fat price tag of 71 cents each. Yes, less than a dollar. At the market they generally fetch $10 each, more if they're in as fine condition as these that also include all the latches, and hinges complete with the screws ;) We managed to bring the first 20 home, we're going back Friday to grab the remaining 15 and then heading to Brantford to grab a dozen 120 year old wavy glass windows that will be a really fun find, and a thrifty treasure at $1.66 each. I really don't know what I'll do with those guys, but I'm sure I can find something... I even though if they're the right size we could replace a couple of the outer cupboards in our kitchen with two of the wavy glass sashes and put some fab vintage hardware on them.

So here's the first part of our window stash:

I don't even want to think about the amount of spiders Mr. Pretties had to vacuum out of the car following this trip *shudder* but there they are!

The best part is, we're currently negotiating a move into a bigger house, which means we'd get to move them all AGAIN! Isn't that the best?

This entire mantlescape (like tablescape but on a mantle, that’s okay right?) is all thrifted recently!

I snagged this set of four Arcoroc pink Depression Glass dishes for $2.00, the Crown 1950’s canning jars were $.50 a piece, the shabby lamp was $1.00, the enormous cutlery tray (I think it may actually be for tools…) was on it’s way to Aberfoyle with our friends but I scooped it up first and got a great day – FREE! It’s in the middle of becoming white as you can see ;) This piece of salvage that looks like a mini barbell

came from the Christie Antique Show that Mr. Pretties and I attended for the first time ever (and maybe the last, it was crazy!!!) and I think it’s from a porch, but at $4.00 it was my one and only souvenir from Christie and I love it’s chippy, dirty goodness! And lastly is an old glassless window frame that’s chippy and crankly and always seems to find a place of prominence around here.

So gals, what did you thrift this week/month/year? We all want to know about it!!! Myself especially since we'll be getting about 500 months of winter anytime now and wont even recognize a garage sale by next spring, help a winter burdened girl out!

Cheers!

XO Jenn ;)

So Many New Loves...

2009-07-26T21:14:00.002-04:00

It's funny how your blog interests can change over time, isn't it? This time last year (Oh! Hey! Meaghan-Marie Pretties is now official 1 year old!) I read blogs from my mommy site, and would find the occasional gem through their favorites. I still read most of those blogs like I do the morning paper, but now I'm finding so much inspiration through these fabulous shabby/cottage/junk blogs that I'm starting to panic about what where I'm going to find 'junk' for my decor come the cold weather... I guess we'll go with this old saying that my great grandmother used to so:

"Never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you, for if you trouble trouble, it'll surely trouble you..." You get the jist of it ;)

So for those of you who don't analyze and memorize my blog list down the side (Ofcourse I know you all do since no one around here has a life, kids, or junking to do or anything... kidding) I thought I'd note some of my new and regular favs!

A Beach Cottage

A fabulous blog by Sarah Down Under in Australia, totally fresh and definitely adorable! I've also now convinced Mr. Pretties we need to make a move to Australia because of this blog... and she's my hero for proving your house can be cottage white chic, and you can keep the kids!

Diary of A Mad Antiquer

A fun, funny, down to earth blog by a salvage chic store owner whom I live vicarously through ;) Definitely a keeping it real antique blog

Southern Hospitality

Such an sweet blog! Great ideas, AND Rhonda hosts Today's Thrifty Treasures Mr. Linky parties!!! SO fun, what's better than a weekend of treasures? Seeing what everyone else got as treasures!!

Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration

I love this blog, Marcella is so sweet and her and her sisters shop Nice and Easy Antiques is fab!!! It really bugs me that we have them on our blog roll, but Mr. Blog Feed wont show that it's updated regularly - not once every three months!!

Red Shed Antiques -

Is a new one for me and I'm loving it, and am crazy jealous over A) her store and B) her blogroll, there appears to be TONS of fabulous blogs that would appeal to me, I'm almost afraid to start clicking on them. Isn't that the black hole Twitterers are always talking about getting sucked into? Doesn't once have to limit their favs in order to, I don't know, live? Dilemas, dilemas... kidding. Obviously so many have so many huge issues that I feel bad joking about stuff like that.

Mr. Pretties and his awesome BIL picked up a sweet 1940's bulbous legged dresser that was made for shabbying lastnight, I now have three lined up to finish and decide if they stay with us or go... I have one that's ready to leave, it's out of my system I just need to photograph it and list it. Maybe tomorrow, right? I'll have pictures for sure, I just hope I can get 'befores' of this new dresser before I start on it because it is SO awful. It's streaky brown oil paint covered in drips, splotches and painted on hair... Mmm... it will be SO fabbity fab when it's done though!

That's all! Remember folks, practice safe blogging (and blog reading), and keep an eye out for those black holes!!! Mr. Pretties has gone in to the clinic to have his leg looked at so I think I'll have a quite evening of catching up with some reading (of the paper variety).

Cheers!

Lamest Non-Posting Reason... Ever...

2009-07-24T10:02:00.011-04:00

My keyboard irritates me.

Yeah. That's what I said. LBP knocked the keyboard off my desk a few weeks ago and buggered it, the right half of the keyboard had developed some severe attitude after the fall, but after a few weeks of extensive physical therapy (aka my pounding the keys) it seems to be recuperating nicely. Or something. But in the mean time I had stopped blogging, emailing, or anything that required more than two lines of typing at a time, since that generally took me 40 minutes to accomplish. In the last few days however, the keyboard (or Q-bert as BLP would call it) has made much desirable progress and I can almost type like a normal person again ;) So perhaps I may resume blogging now :)

PS. Please don't ask why we didn't just purchase a new keyboard for a whopping $5. It's not worth it. (To ask, not to buy a new one).

Since I'm still waiting on my new camera (Again. Don't. Ask.) I'll share some pictures that were taken a few weeks ago of our messy bedroom with some of our garage sale-ing treasures painted up, and some before/afters. Mr. Pretties is hopefully picking up a really pretty 1930's bulbous legged dresser for a makeover, and perhaps a sell, so we'll see!

Here we go

Before:

After:

Before:

After (Not distressed yet and missing glass hardware):

My $5 nightstand - it used to be one side of a 20's or 30's vanity, dovetailed and everthing!

The old black washstand (our first purchase ever that is totally non-functional now) painted 'Penelope Pink', and an old Eastlake chair we bought at Aberfoyle that's in the middle of receiving a black and white toile seat cushion in place of the digustingness that used to be there. Let's not even talk about it. Seriously. So ignore the hanging fabric under the chair, it was a test run ;)

And lastly that $20 dresser from the cancer fundraiser that we made over, sitting happily in our bedroom. My only qualm with the dresser is the drawers weigh a TON. I have a hard time sliding the drawers shut they weigh so much! Oy!

Also, we acquired a new member of our family last week. As a general rule, I don't like birds. I think it has something to do with not being a morning person and the birds outside my window at 5am... I don't know... But they weren't a pet that generally inspired the typing monkeys in my brain to feel 'Aww....' more like a 'Meh...' so it came as a big surprise to Mr. Pretties when I requested this as a birthday gift:

Eggwin, the peach faced lovebird. Who just happens to be defect and missing two toes on one foot and there for was a great deal ;) He's so fun! He knows up to 'step up' on your finger, sit on your shoulder, and is totally not noisey at all unless we've hung him outside to catch some air and he sees the birds at the birdfeeder :) I was afraid since he was parent fed and raised that we were in for a nasty bird and long months of training before we could handle him, but that's not the case at all! He never nips and is so, so sweet! The LPs love him to death, I had no idea a child could enjoy a bird so much. The cats aren't thrilled, but atleast they've completely ignored him, aside from looking at him once in a while if he's tweeting (?). Best of all he probably wont learn to talk, so I wont have to lock him in the closet when company comes for fear of him repeating four letter explivies that he may, or may not have heard around the house.

What have you all been up to out there in blogland?? Just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been reading, I'm loving everyone's projects, trash come treasures, and everything inbetween. What did people do before blogging?

All Aboard...

2009-06-18T18:24:00.004-04:00

...The emotional train wreck that is ;)

I don't know if it's just the time of year, just me, or just the crazies that so obviously live inside my head (oh wait, are we not supposed to acknowledge our personal brain cavity crazies?) but this week has just been one on going, round trip excursion on the emotion train! This pretty much has nothing to do with anything I ever talk about, but since it's my blog I guess I'm allowed to post about what I want (right?) so here we go.

First it started with BLP finishing preschool. I know, right? All I did was spend the last eight or so months crabbing about show and share, coordinated shoe laces, and fundraising, I should be euphoric! But as I said before, everything was cool right up until pick up time when reality gave be a good strong back hand in the form of 'hey! this is the last time Meaghan will be small enough to be in this class... no more picking up lunches, plucking paintings of the drying rack, no more little purple car with her name on it from the coat room...' and next thing I know I'm madly trying to keep my composure long enough for Meaghan to say good bye to her teachers, empty her art folder, grab the painted titled 'Meaghan's last painting at preschool' (Thanks! Thanks so much, I was doing so well with my composure until this point...) and then go through the little class album to make sure there weren't any more pictures of her that I missed. I made it to the car and around the corner before I turned into a blathering idiot. Mr. Pretties was dumb founded. Ofcourse he shouldn't be, this is me, hello! That took a couple days to settle itself in my system and it was off to summer time mode - woohoo!

Until I logged onto the Children's Place site. I'm taking the BLPs summer clothes shopping this weekend and knew they had the monster sale on, so wanted to see what they had because I try to shop for the girls all at one store, being either Old Navy, Children's Place, or Please Mum. I was adding up my purchases when I see the 'Fall Fashion' and 'Back to school' or some such thing and then it starts again. It's only 10 or so weeks until BLP starts kindergarten. Big girl school. And Emma starts preschool. It's so cliche, but I remember Meaghan being born like it was yesterday (fortunately the rest of my body does not hold that memory like it was yesterday), I remember Emma being born like it was yesterday, and I certainly remember Ethan being born like it was yesterday and in 7 weeks time he'll be turning 1 year old! It's like time's been traveling at a normal pace up until five years ago and it's just flown by ever since. Ofcourse this snow balls into the whole 'My kids are growing up, next they'll be in highschool, college, married, and having children of their own... OMG!' along with the smaller 'Omg, we get report cards this year, parent teacher interviews, evening school plays, what if the kids are mean to her, etc... etc...' which is enough unto it's own for sure. But then comes a bigger issue, one that's sort of always there but not thought of too often. It's not always a well known fact that Mr. Pretties is 25+ years older than I am. This works fine for us, obviously, but there is always the looming thought that it's entirely possible that he will die before I do. Ofcourse in any marriage any one person is likely to pass on before the other, it's human nature, right? But generally (not always) the likely hood is a healthy 50/50, in our case the scales are slightly tipped. This makes me sad for any number of reasons, he's an excellent father, he definitely has his flaws (lets not go there) but he always seems to have an abundance of time to play pretend with the LPs, hide and seek, explain all the little wonders of our world, call to talk to them on the phone from work, and do a plethora of selfless things inorder to see that the LPs have the things in life to make them happy. He's also an exceptionally easy person to talk to, vent to, and sort problems out with (unless he happens to be that particular problem, then not so much) and to some extent I feel the LPs will be missing out on a lot in their future years if he's not there. I could go on and on, and yes, we obviously knew this was an 'issue' when we got married, but nothing ever prepares you for anything until you have children.

In addition we're taking Meaghan in to ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat) to have her tonsils and adenoids checked out, she's had a bought of tonsillitis on and off for a while, and her speech therapist is now thinking that a large part of the reason that she is miss pronouncing words is due to her exceptionally enlarged T and As, so the possibility of having them removed is high. I know that's totally not a big deal, it's basically out-patient day surgery I think, but just the mere thought of the whole ordeal makes me want to run and hide. If it were Emma I would be sad that she had to have it, but because it's Meaghan it's a huge deal because she is just SO, SO sensitive, I'm afraid she'll be entirely traumatized by the entire event.

So as you can see, something as simple as preschool ending has set off a whole series of emotional events. Well I can't blame the hormones exclusively, I think a big part of it has to do with just finishing The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (which me being the rock dweller I am, have just realized there is now a movie, which I must watch).

Which when you read it will make no sense to you what-so-ever, because things like that only make sense in my own brain. Clearly. And no, I don't get any kick backs from Amazon.

Sorry to dump this all out there in the blog-o-sphere, but as a result I feel marginally better!

I think to an extent all moms go through this emotional bit with kids starting/finishing school, some more than others. I hope. There's a knock at the door, let's hope it's not the men with the white coats...

Curiousities?

2009-06-17T20:19:00.004-04:00

Thanks to my 'Antiquing for Dummies' book I now know that back in the day (centuries ago) etc... there was no such thing as 'antiques' but there were 'curiosities', and thus the 'curio' cabinet was born, to house your curiosities ofcourse! Very interesting (to me. obviously) I love little tidbits of info like that!

Things haven't been overly eventful in the Pretties household lately. We've got some family in town visiting from Bermuda, so we're going to stop in and see them Friday morning and have lunch with Aunt Pretties, so that'll be nice. We went to a BBQ this past Sunday which was super fun, this might be a scary thought to some of you out there, but, there is another Jenn. Not just like your class list 'Jenn A, Jenn C, JenniferZ, etc...) no, there's another me, and her name is Jess. She loves Aberfoyle almost as much as I do, and on Kijiji we often pick out the same things to buy (fortunately, this hasn't turned into an issue because we're both so sweet and nice. Hahahaha) and our kids are similar in age. It's a nice set up, I like it, I like it a lot! Her husband is also a bit older than her, and Mr. Pretties is definitely older than I am, so we don't feel like freaks on display when we go there for a visit which is super nice. Plus this means I have someone to go antiquing/junking/garage saling with who doesn't whine, complain, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. It's a blessing. Unfortunately we live 40 minutes apart so we don't get to do it regularly. Thank god for email and free long distance plans ;)

We haven't even bought much around here! We picked up that dresser I posted about a few days ago, it's adorable ofcourse but Mr. Pretties and I are at moot point right now. He wants to leave it the way it is (stained and au naturel) and I want to paint it. Ofcourse. So now it's sitting on our back deck because I have no ambition to deal with finding it a place to go (all furniture purchases require an entire household shuffle in order to find an appropriate space for anything), eventually Mr. Pretties will see this and digress about the paint, I'll just wait him out. We're also supposed to go pick this circa 1930's table up this weekend:

We don't need another table (I'm selling our round pedestal to make room) but something about it just speaks to me. I think I'm a huge fan of anything 1920-1940, it's all just so adorable! So hopefully that pick up works out (you never know with Kijiji sales)

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet. Mr. Pretties is on vacation this coming week so hopefully we'll get in some day trips and stuff with the girls (and LBP), and if luck holds out there'll be a new camera as well. Because if there isn't, I'm not going anywhere. Since the introduction of the digital camera it's become imperative to have a camera on all outings in order to document them, if this is not possible then we can't go out. Sad, eh? I better check out a self help book for that situation...

I think everyone else out there in home decor/junking/antiquing/shabbying blogland must've known about Southern Hospitality and Rhoda's Tuesday Thrifty Treasure Finds Mr. Linky parties! If there is anything I enjoy more than junking/thrifting/garage saling/antiquing, it's reading about other people doing it and seeing what they found! I cannot believe this existed and I had no idea. Believe you me, when we're back in digital photography land, Meaghan-Marie's will be right in there on that thrifty party, I LOVE doing show and tell (ask Mr. Pretties. He on the other hand regards show and tell as an old estranged smelly uncle. Take that as you will) and many family members and friends (I say many because I'd like to believe there are many...) have been forced to endure show and tell at my house, it's a genetic illness. Seriously. My grandma does it, my aunt does it, I believe my father even does it (in his own way), and I never really 'got it' until we had our own house (by our own house I mean someone else's house that we happen to live in. Yeah.) and stuff that I wanted people to see. So, yeah, if you've been under a rock like me and didn't know this existed - enjoy! And if you did - What the heck?! Someone should have thrown a little info this way... *Sigh*

This weekend is going to be a garage saling/Aberfoyling extravaganza so I should have something to share then :)

Blanket Anyone?

2009-06-11T14:36:00.010-04:00

I found my way back to Etsy this morning and I can't believe I forgot how much I love it!! I think I might even re-open Meaghan-Marie's again for the summer (I don't know, for some reason I'm only clippie inspired during the pleasant weather...), I see Michael's has some fabulously fun spring/summer themed ribbon on sale this week, and the LP's are running low on clippies, so I think I'll hop to it.

And like most people now that the warmer (I say warmer, not warm, because so far warm weather has forgotten to show up thus far...) weather has arrived and I have an extreme need for knitting a blanket. What's that? That's only me? Figures. That could be a normal statement (minus the summer part) for most, except for the part where I don't know how to knit. Huh. Okay, I can knit basics (you know, adding a few rows here, taking a few away there, ending up with something even Grandma can't sort out) but I can't cast on/off or do anything that looks pretty. So, I'm going to teach myself to knit, and knit well. In the summer. With handspun wool because I can't ever just do anything normal. I know when I tell Mr. Pretties this he's going to be all 'Why don't you just go to Wal Mart?! Why does it have to be wool? Why hand spun? Why is the sky blue? and Where are my keys?' you know, the usual. But sometimes he just doesn't get it, I have to be different (or so I tell myself). As I was browsing through Etsy I saw this hand spun beauty:

Isn't that gorgeous? Like butterflies, fresh cut grass, daffodils and pansies all mixed together? I can already imagine how wonderful it feels!! And doesn't this look fun?!

Now I'm searching out a pattern (do you use 'patterns' for knitting?) that'll make a neat blanket, not just an 80's style afghan. We'll see how this pans out, if not, everyone's getting scarves (or what I'll be calling scarves) for Christmas this year ;) Let's all cross out fingers because no one wants that.

This hole wool/roving/handspun deal might actually fit into TNLP (the new life plan) that we're currently planning. I've had an epiphany and it involves things like this:

I'm not sure which 'theme' we're going with for TNLP, but one of this should do it. It also involves things like this:

(Note: Don't Google chickens... it's not pleasant... and this photo is linked to it's original site.)

And things of this nature. We're thinking we need to move out on to some land, plant some fruits/veggies and have ourselves some chickens ;) Ofcourse this will only work in a completely adorable little town where everyone knows your name (sing it with me now!) Harrowsmith Country Living is the magazine you see at the check out counter at the mercantile (yeah, a mercantile would be way great) and where we live in an adorable old farmhouse with a huge veranda, great stairs and a scullery :) Obviously the plan needs some work, but it's a big deal for us and we're going to bust rear to make it happen. Hopefully. Soon. No doubt you'll be forced to listen to me blahing more about TNLP in the near future. Sorry.

Our latest find in the shabby/antique side of things is this little guy:

For $30 I'm crossing my fingers that the seller keeps his word and doesn't sell it before Saturday morning when we can pick it up. I'm doubtful to say the least, but we can hope! It'll be another cutie for the LP's room. Or my room. Or whatever, who cares where it goes, it's sweet I'll find it a home :)

I came across this picture while cleaning up our memory card, I think it sums up our year end preschool trip a few weeks ago:

Have a happy Thursday!!!

I Was NOT MIA This Time!

2009-06-09T16:54:00.008-04:00

We have been sans internet and phone for four weeks. FOUR. WEEKS. Painful. Do you know what life is like without Kijiji, MapQuest, 411.ca, and Google? I wont even tell you, it's far too dreadful. I had to go garage saling, stop going places I don't know how to get to (FYI, that's a lot of places), use a big yellow phone book, and go weeks wondering about various things, recipes, home remedies, etc... The phone I don't mind not having, I am not a phone personality. At all. There are very few people I enjoy talking on the phone to, mostly because on phone convo involves more discussion between me at the LP's than me and the unfortunate soul on the other end. That, and I'm a phone-o-phobe ;) Mr. Pretties makes the phone calls in this house...

What a month. I spent days with thoughts popping into my head like 'Omg! I wonder if Wendy got her referral from Korea, I might have missed it!!' or 'I wonder how little Gabby's doing, and how Cam's dealing with preschool coming to an end' and 'I wonder what new words Mamalicious has added to her vernacular, that I must then in turn add to mine??' I'm all caught up now though, whew!

I've been enjoying the Aberfoyle season to the max, and if I were a smart individual my seasons pass would have paid for itself by now... except for the part where I didn't get one... I know. But I'm also finding that the weather a few short 20 minutes away is almost always extremely different than here, which is frustrating when you don't have Weathernetwork.ca or the Weather channel! We went at the beginning of the month and I think we're just all now recovering from the hypothermia we got from the frigid temperatures and excessive wind! No joke it was 25 here, a lovely balmy Sunday morning, we pile into the car in our capris and T's (I did bring our spring jackets because it does tend to be slightly windy there due to the open fields) only to get there, get out of the car and have my nose immediately start running and my lips turn blue! I was the only one who braved it that day, Mr. Pretties and the littles stayed in the car while I did a run through. The second time we went was alright, not too extreme either way, but still a bit chilly (we've been having pathetic weather here lately... someone needs to page summer weather ASAP) and then this past Sunday I dressed us all in two layers and packed out winter jackets because it was 16 here and windy like mad. We get to Aberfoyle, and, surprise! it was 23, Sunday, and not a whip of wind in site. Seriously. I don't know why I've never noticed in the past, but it's a little crazy!!! Then again I find Aberfoyle usually has 1 of 3 weather options: Raining and miserable, cold and windy, or stinking hot. Usually one of the first two though, what's up with that?!

We drove by a church sale last weekend and did a walk through, and found this ugly guy:

He was painted the worst brown you can imagine. It's no wonder that after Mr. Pretties and I left the sale (without him) that when we decided we could use it after all and went back four hours later at the end of the sale, he was still there for $20. Obviously he couldn't stay like that, that was out of the question! But he's a well made fellow, dovetailed throughtout, keyholes galore (that I happened to find a key for at Aberfoyle!), hand planed sides, and the original back. After introducing him to a fresh can of French Cream paint and a little hand distressing I think he looks far more attractive, and maybe even worth the $20 price tag LoL It's funny what a different a little colour makes! Plus, he holds as many clothes as our enormous long dresser did! I especially love the wee knicker drawers at the top, something about that just strikes me as fab!. Here he is all spiffied up in our bedroom(PS. I just went to take a better photo, dropped my pink camera and now it needs to go in to be repaired. Crap):

We also just bought that chair beside the fireplace. I'm in desperate need of chairs (Or so I tell myself. And my 18 other chairs in my house...) just because it was the right colour, kind of interesting, and because I have a problem (mostly because I have a problem. Obviously).

I did a redo of the previously black washstand, it is no Penelope Pink (as in white, but let's pretend it's pink) and I picked up an old Eastlake chair at Aberfoyle last weekend that I'm recovering the seat in a B&W toile (I was just testing the fabric out in this picture... it's going to be a balloon top, so ignore all the extra fabric in there, and up close that chair is MEGA cool, all carved and detailed. I hate it when I take sucky pictures AND break my camera so I can't fix them). Oh I painted our old depression era dresser too, but alas, since I just managed to kill my fairly new camera, I can't photograph it today. Ignore all the crap in my bedroom too. It's currently the 'catch all' for the extra furniture in our house ;) We need to switch some rooms around, but it hasn't happened yet.

Preschool was done on May 27th, no one thought to inform me that the last day of school (I suppose it may only apply to grades like Preschool, Kindegarten, graduations, etc...) is as emotionally stressful as the first. Thanks guys. I was all about the last day of school, sweet, no more rushing around, baking cupcakes, etc... and then it came. And then I realized 'Hey! This is the last time we'll be in here, the last time we collect our snack and back pack, the last time I grab a painting of the easel (Incase you haven't noticed, I'm HUGE on 'lasts' they kill me)' and after I managed to get out the door and to the car I had myself a wee cry. Mr. Pretties has himself a large laugh. Go figure. But it makes sense if you think about, the first day of school is monumental, omg, my child is going to school/grade/etc... but then the last day is like 'Omg... my child is too old for -----' it's like another step away from babyhood... I know kindy and preschool aren't that far apart, but I'm just an emotional fool ;) At first I was totally disappointed that the preschool wasn't doing a graduation like some of the other ones (as in the one that LLP is going to this year) but now I'm greatful, I don't need to attend an event coordinated simply to make me cry like a baby LoL God help us next year...

This was BLP on the first day of school and the last day, and yes, those are even the same pants! Trust me, she's changed SO much in just a short time :(

Dresser Love - Status Complete

2009-04-30T23:21:00.003-04:00

... Or cotton candy meets grunge.

The LP's dresser was completed (mostly, I still want to rub antique medium over the pink to age it a bit more) yesterday and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I promise it's not nearly as 'Barbie' in person, I think the flash makes the pink more vibrant or something. I'm thinking of putting some pink on one of the 'knobs' on the mirror cradle to pull the pink up, but we'll see. I also have to paste wax it, but you get the idea.

Before:

After (The original 'Dresser Love' is the inbetween):

The drawers are pink inside as well and will have pink toile paper podged to the bottoms, because, you know, everyone invests time looking in the bottom of their drawers, especially 2.5 year olds and 4 year olds...

Pretty Scary...

2009-04-29T16:48:00.004-04:00

... or don't do projects in front of a mirror...

I have to do the vast majority of my 'projects' outside because we share our basement with the landpeople and are relegated to one room for laundry and storage. This wouldn't be a problem aside from the fact that A) Our laundry abode doesn't afford us any windows for ventilation and B) Mr. Pretties doesn't so much love having pink spray paint on his work uniform... so mostly I go outside. This morning Mr. Pretties helped me haul out the LP's big dresser, a little dresser, and my washstand that weighs more than both combined, I swear! I was ready for some work during naptime!

As you may remember, the LP's dresser has a swing mirror on top. I decided not to remove the mirror because it's a pain to put back together. I got the pink drawers all distressed and put back in and started working on the little dresser beside it. here I am all sanding away right, into it when I think I hear something, maybe someone coming up behind me. I'm a paranoid person by nature (Mr. Pretties can attest, he never comes up behind me because I scream like a banshee every. freaking. time.), which is made worse when I can't hear what's going on (believe it or not, a sander does not allow for good audio control...) around me. So I turn around to see if maybe the landpeople have made their way into the backyard when my gaze is met by the most ungodly looking girl with wild greying hair, pasty looking face and horrified eyes. Needless to say an accident of bathroomical proportions nearly took place.

Until, that is, I realized that the frightful girl I was having heart palpitations about was actually my reflection. My reflection in which both my hair and my face are covered in white crap from sanding. I'm such a huge dork it's unreal. If that weren't bad enough, five minutes later I did the exact same thing again...

What's the old saying?

"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"?

What does that say for me? Shame on me squared because I'm scared of my own reflection!?

I think I've finally reached the toxic level of breathing in lead paint particles...

Can You Hold?

2009-04-28T20:15:00.005-04:00

... Or my furniture fetish (ie. sickness) has reached a new level...

Mr. Pretties usually phones home on his lunch to see how everyone's doing, and, obviously, because the tremendous pain of being apart from me for more eight hours at a time is far too much for one human to bare. Clearly. You might not want to cross reference that with Mr. Pretties though, you know, because he gets embarrassed about stuff like that. Or something. Anyways... so as I'm hosting an intriguing discussion of what kinds of diapers I've changed this afternoon, who threw what in the aquarium, and whether or not I think Wilma might not be feeling well since she's been boycotting the bed all day (yeah, there might be something deathly wrong with your cat if it decides not to nap for the entire day...) I spied these sweet little things:

MmmHmm... those are in fact pink antique spindles/balusters. For $5. Seriously? What a steal! So in the middle of my self diagnoses of Wilma's imaginary ailments our conversation (or non-versation as it were) took the following turn:

Jenn: What would you say if I told you I was going to buy pink spindles?'

Mr. Pretties: Pink what?

Jenn: Pink spindles, you know, like when you have a railing and then you have the up and down things (Mr. Pretties requires these kinds of in depth descriptions)?

Mr. Pretties: Uh huh...

Jenn: Yeah those are spindles, someone on Kijiji is selling four of them for $5! AND they're.... pink!!

Mr. Pretties: Pink spindles? No railing? Maybe a table top?

Jenn: No... just spindles...

Mr. Pretties: Why would you want to buy just the spindles?!

Jenn: Umm... because they're pink?

Mr. Pretties: So?

Jenn: They're super cute... and pink!

Mr. Pretties: But what would you do with them?!

Jenn: I don't know... who cares, they're pink...

Mr. Pretties: You would buy them even though you don't know what to do with them?

Jenn: MmmHmm... I'm sure I'd find a use for them sooner or later, maybe for now I could just stand them up in the corner and appreciate their pinkness?

Mr. Pretties: Uhh... can you hold for a second?

Jenn: Sure... why?

Mr. Pretties: I need to make a phone call... do you have the number there for the FUNNY FARM?! Seriously?! Pink spindles?! You're making me sick I have to hang up now... I'll see you when I get home *over exaggerated sigh* pink spindles...

Jenn: Well let's just check Ebay here... Ahh yes... spindles $73.26 shabby baluster pink set of four $34.98 o---

Mr. Pretties: Ohhhh... you didn't say you were going to buy them to sell them! Okay I get it now!

Jenn: Sell them?! I'm not going to sell them!!! Are you crazy?!

Mr. Pretties: Bye...

Obviously by 'I don't know what I'd do with them' I meant 'I don't know what I'd do with them because there are so many options to choose from!' Seriously. They could be table legs, they could be cut down for those cute baluster candle holders, but I adore the point ends, so that wouldn't work. A window table? Yes! An old window table, those can be the legs, that would be fab! There we go, got it all figured out ;)

I guess lusting after pink spindles is a little far fetched, but that's me, take me as I am. Or something...

Glorious Aberfoyle Season...

2009-04-27T20:30:00.004-04:00

... Or has anyone seen Mr. Pretties?

Sunday kicked off my very favorite time of year, it's what I like to call 'Aberfoyle Season'. The weather man predicted a lovely balmy day of 26 degrees of sunshine and a beautiful blue cloudless sky for Sunday. What arrived however was a chilly 13 degrees of grey grisly clouds, and cold misting rain. Jerk. But rain or shine I was going, even if it meant I was fondling Duncan Phyfe's while holding a blue and pink polk-a-dot umbrella ;) As it happened it wasn't 'misting' quite enough for that to be necessary.

Although it was a quieter day (most opening days are, people forget that Aberfoyle opens that weekend, because, you know, they have lives or something. For shame...) and due to the weather the majority of the visiting vendors cancelled their spots, so the visiting section was a little worse for the wear. However there seemed to have been new permanent vendors with some fabulous stuff and the prices were amazing! I brought my camera with me with the thought of taking pictures to both discuss with my Aberfoyle buddy as well as to post here, but I brought out my camera and people started to stare, followed by me feeling like a huge dork... so I slowly put my camera back in my bag, people started turning back around and I went on my way. Next time, I promise.

As much as I enjoy Kijiji I hate having to route through the mounds of tacky floral couches, lease-to-own livingroom sets, and Grandma's old kitchen table from 1970 with the co-ordinating teal sparkly chairs to get to the real goodies. Aberfoyle is like a Brita filter in that it keeps out all the crap and gets right to the treasures. I could spend all day mauling everyone's items (get your head out of that gutter, you know what I mean!!), sniffy drawers, and asking Mr. Pretties why he doesn't make more money... kidding... sort of... anyways... it's great because it's not like the low end flea markets where you see the same things 50 times at different booths, everyone has something wonderful and unique to offer, and it's not like the high end antique shops that have wonderful tradition items that you'd have to sell your soul and that of all of your offspring in order to afford one of their pieces (this by no means means that all antique shops are like this) because the prices are reasonable, and if they're not they're always open for bartering! The prices entice me because you get the rush of a good deal on an awesome piece, but you also pay enough that it's still important to you and means something. Does that even make sense? That might just be me actually... Hmm...

I generally am not a big purchaser (I purchase regularly, just not bug purchaes, or a lot of little ones at the same time) at Aberfoyle (This is where Mr. Pretties income comes in... kidding.) but when I do purchase something it's because it's something that catches me the right way, *insert animal shelter analogy here - it's just like that puppy with the sad eyes that you can't leave behind* and it must come home with me because we have a 'connection'. I don't know if I've ever shared this theory with anyone other than Mr. Pretties, and this'll sound out there, but I always wonder when this happens if it's because maybe in another life I owned this item, or one like it and my subconscious remembers and makes this connection. Weird, I know.

This week it was an old spice cupboard that is crap condition, smells like a smelly green walnut from a barn, and a door that has swelled indefinitely open (unless I plane the side) and opens with a skeleton key I don't have. A real winner, eh?

What I see though is a terribly characteristic piece covered in wonderful naturally chipped and crackled paint, with fab moulding on the top, a key hole in the door, and a great hand written note inside the door about how many pounds each pot/pail/bowl in this farmer wife's home holds, and how much sugar to add to the pail of cherries :) It reminds me of the cupboard from the book 'Indian in The Cupboard' which has stuck with me so maybe that's why I had to pluck this up out of the rain and bring it home to shed it's leady paint everywhere ;) No idea what I'm going to do with it, but I'll do something. I have another small old cupboard that's quirky and I just love it!

Next Saturday (the 2nd) from 7-4 Aberfoyle is having their first Spring Special with loads of visiting vendors, vendors from out of town, and general fabulousness, as well as the open market 8-5 Sunday. It's an Aberfoyle weekend! Or you could just look it up at www.aberfoyle-antiques.com ;)

ETA: The cupboard door does infact close now... it was swollen from a combination of the side crack and the rain yesterday, apparently a day airing out in the warm sun (I can only handle so much 'ou de fruit farm' for so long while trying to sleep) did it some good because the door fits nicely now. However, it may never open again... why can't I just leave things alone?!

Dresser Love

2009-04-24T15:52:00.008-04:00

It's been so long since I've used my sander that I forgot how to put the sandpaper on... resulting in me spending half an hour swearing at it for being such a cheap piece of crap... obviously I am the cheap piece of crap in this story, that's what happens when you get rusty!

I found the girls' a new dresser for their room last week. Did they need a new dresser? No. Is it a bigger dresser? No. But is it a better dresser? Hells yes! So I sold their old one, and bought this one. Please note that it had just been sanded down and will turn into a sweet concoction of dreamy pink and white with oval glass knobs shortly.

See the sweet little details that makes it special?

As I was emailing my girlfriend to tell her about this sweetheart (she's probably the only other person I know who loves furniture, antique markets, and sanders as much as I do) I realized what a freak I am, and that I should share it since I've been lacking blog fodder lately ;)

Firstly, I absolutely adore the mustly smell of well aged furniture. As soon as we had this in the house I opened the first drawer, stuck my head in and took a giganitic whiff of musty well aged goodness. Mmm... heavenly... Mr. Pretties pretended not to see this taking place, things like this make him worry about my sanity ;)

Secondly, as you can see this dresser has two litte drawers. I love little drawers, they are so adorable there aren't even words to describe how adorable it is. So I took one of them out and gave it a hug. Seriously. A hug. Mr. Pretties simply responded with 'You're sick...' which may or may not be true... sometimes I'm just so over come by the absolute adorableness of a piece of shabby furniture that I can't contain myself. This piece came with bubbled veneer on the top, rusted paint (wth?) spots, and a really crappy super shiney sponge painted paint job that was in dire need of redoing. It also came with gorgeous spindled legs, wonderful original appliques, dovetailed drawers back and front, and that fantabulous smell. I think the good out weighs the bad 20 fold. My old disappointment is I bought it for the Pretties' room instead of mine ;)

I'll show the after pictures when it's done, which may be a while as I'm waiting for glass hardware to come in for it, it's already ordered but international mail is slow, snail mail to the max.

Done Like Dinner...

2009-04-22T20:27:00.003-04:00

... Or how not to cook a chicken...

I remembered some blog fodder ;)

Saturday morning Mr. Pretties and I were sitting outside enjoying ourselves some sunshine when we smell smoke. Not from our house. Our driveway and our neighbours are attached so we can see the back of their house clearly, since there isn't anything there. We look over, and low and behold, there's heavy smoke streaming out the back of their screen doors (which were opened and unlocked). So top floor tenants (duplex) call 911 and we wait. Mr. Pretties calls in to see if anyone's in there, which they aren't. but, their little dog is. Being the animal suckers that we are Mr. Pretties goes in to look for the dog, barely being able to see the smoke was so thick. He finds the dog on the main floor bedroom and I grab her leash from the doorway and we bring her home and wait for the fire department. It was seriously like 10 more minutes before they arrived to check it out. Keep in mind this particular neighbours uses oxygen tanks to breath and has half a dozen sitting inside her kitchen door... (Kaboom! anyone?)

Anyways...

So the fire department comes to find that our neighbour lady has put a small chicken in the oven for dinner, and instead of roasting it (or she roasted it alright) she put it in the oven and then set it on the self cleaning setting... Omg... So other than a major smelly house there wasn't any damage (although note: they said the dog wouldn't have made it with the amount of smoke that was in there when they arrived) so they air the house out, note that there were no smoke alarms going (bad!) and went on their way.

We took the dog home with us to wait for it's owner to get home. We were sitting outside with her when she arrived home completely oblivious to the previous going-ons. She sees us with the dog and comes over in a right aggressive mood with:

'What the hell?! You decide to walk my dog and just help yourself into my house and get her?!'

Yes, that's exactly what we did... with three little ones and a BBQ to get ready for we have nothing at all better to do than break into your unlocked house to find your dog and talk it for a random walk... never mind that we've never ever done that or expressed an interest in doing it the entire three years we've lived here... However...

I then explained that she tried to self clean her chicken instead of roasting it and it resulted in a smoke engulfed home that the fire department just left from... that in turn brought her to tears and next thing I know she's hugging and kissing us while crying her little old lady eyes out. Which them makes me cry my non-so-little-old-lady eyes out! She ended up being super thankful that Mitsy had been saved and her house only needs a new coat of paint to be back to itself again.

Oy! What day that was...

Oh My Cow!

2009-04-22T18:11:00.002-04:00

In the words of Emma...

Wow, can you believe it's been over a month?! It's amazing how blogging goes, sometimes there are so many things to blog about that you're on here 3 or 4 times a day (or maybe that's just me... yeah...), others you're racking your brain the night before trying to think of something productive to blog about but make sure that you offer a few decent posts in a week, while others still you're just at a loss of what to blog, how to blog it, and then it's like the blog light just burns out and you can't do it. Blogging is very therapeutic for my, but it's like the light wasn't there anymore to come up with anything worth reading (I'm by no means passing this post off as something worth reading LoL).

It's actually kind of depressing, after four weeks of a blogging vacay I should be able to come up with 101 things to tell you and pictures to prove it. I've. Got. Nothing. Ugh...

We registered Emma for preschool last week, and Meaghan will be registering for JK next week, and then two mornings a week we'll only have Ethan, weird, eh? Everyone's growing up so fast... I know, I know, that's such a cliche among parents, but it's just so true and with each subsequent child it goes faster. With Meaghan she seemed to age at a reasonable pace, still to quick, but not scary quick, turning 1 was fine, turning 2 was fine, turning 3 was fine, turning 4 was entirely unacceptable!! With Emma she did things a little quicker, her first birthday came a little faster, and she was a big sister a little sooner (not really, there's only 19 months between Meaghan and Emma but 23 between Emma and Ethan) and with Ethan he was just born I'm telling you and already he's 9 months old and trying to walk, at the end of the summer we'll be celebrating 12 months of Ethan, WTH?! Don't you guys remember, we seriously just had him not that long ago, I remember it like it was yesterday (yeah, full of cliches today) and yet it wasn't... if he and Emma were spaced the same and Meaghan and Emma we'd already be worrying about him starting preschool in '10 (which we wont thank god!) In two short years Ethan will be in preschool and he'll be the last baby I have at home part-time.

I guess I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, but seriously, what's two years? It'll practically be here tomorrow!

Mr. Pretties injured himself at work last month and was home with us for a couple weeks, which was, let's say... interesting. Yes. Actually it was nice, made me wish he'd retire and stay home with us all the time. But with work injuries comes the good old workers compensation board, and when you have a very structured financial situation (as in when pay cheques get screwed up or, say, randomly don't appear, it topples the careful balance very quickly and very effectively) everything tends to fall apart, so that's bit just a little bit stressful and stress sort of saps my creativity which really sucks.

I should really be blogging about things that stress me out because it's therapeutic to me but I'm always worried someone's going to read it and a) be offended by my language (despite popular belief, I really pack a strong profane punch when I'm stressed) b) stop reading because who wants to listen to me whine about my problems (Nobody knows... the troubles I've seen... nobody knows but Jesus... *please use your best Spaceballs voice for that part*) and then I'll be blogging to myself. I guess I need to work harder at just being me, and I'm not always butterflies, cupcakes and pink glitter, infact a lot of the time I'm sarcastic, profane, and a little irritable and I try to hide that side from the blogging world in fear of getting labeled with dual personalities (which, essentially, would be true...). *Sigh*

In other news (now that we're all aware that I'm a nut obviously) the kittens went to their new homes, which we're very happy about :) I'm personally satisfied by every home each one went to, so that does a lot for my emotional health :)

We're on week two of the kids taking turns having fevers of 106 and the flu. It's sort of getting old at this point... mostly it makes me want to cry actually... Hopefully this'll be the last run since Meaghan's done preschool in a few weeks. I'm done now, but preschool isn't so I guess we'll wait it out. Although this seems to be a fun preschool months since we have the Mother's Day tea to go to, Marineland, and the end of the year picnic, I love those interactive preschool days!

In a four short days I'll be stretching my legs at the Aberfoyle Antique Market in Guelph. It's the opening weekend, and Aberfoyle is one of the few places that I go to and truly feel at peace (and where Mr. Pretties doesn't as he fears I'll bring the entire market home. On the roof of the Buick. Tied by dental floss found in my purse.) and the weather is supposed to be fab so I'm pretty stoked! Next weekend Aberfoyle is having what's called a 'Spring Special' which is on Saturday and is loaded with new visiting vendors. We'll be going there too. Clearly.

We've done some buying and selling in the last few weeks, but generally in equal amounts as one piece funded the others. And ofcourse that's rooted out some bad eggs on good old Kijiji. We bought a British bow front short chest of drawers a few months ago, used it, and then got tired of it so listed it for sale. It was sold for $65, which was a fair price as it's kind of an odd piece. Definitely shabby chic, but in an unusual kind of way. Anyways. The buyer was super rude when she came, tried to barter me down to a song and a dance (which didn't happen) and then made out like she was doing me the favor of the century by purchasing it for the asking price. After that I didn't give it another thought. Until my friend sent me an email telling me to check out this 'adorable bow front dresser' I click the link expecting to see something I need to buy when low and behold... it's my dresser... but it couldn't be, could it? At a whopping $175? Nothing had been done to it, and this miserably broad has relisted it for nearly 3x what she paid. She also stole my description almost word for word, except for the part where she lied about it's age... by 20 years... I emailed her nicely and said it looked great, her pictures were lovely, and that it was infact purchased new in 1951 not the 30's and received no response, this being the same address she used to buy it from me. She also listed it in every Kijiji area except mine, where it was purchased, even though that's her local area. So obviously she knows she's lying about it's age, is rudely reselling (a mere three days later) without doing anything to change the value, and that she behaved like a jerk at my house. All in all, I'm not happy. Not because of the money (she'll be fortunate to sell it for $100, obviously I'm aware of values more than she is) but because she stole my description, was a total creep at the sale, and is using my piece that people saw me list to lie about ages and hiking the price. That comes back on my ass and makes me thoroughly unhappy. It makes me want to buy it back and go to her house and kick her ass. Ofcourse I'm all talk, a wuss on top of it and that would never in a million years happen... so I'll have a glass of wine and stew instead ;)

Thanks for sticking with me throughout the absence, and for listening to my ultra persona rant :) I think I'll be able to get back in the groove now :)

What's new with all of your guys? (don't be thinking just be cause I haven't blogged or commented I haven't been reading, because I have, regularly).

A week already?! And Kittens!

2009-03-13T20:23:00.006-04:00

Well obviously life at The Pretties has been insanely boring as of late, since no blog fodder has fallen into my ever waiting lap in the last week... jeez...

Seriously though, nothing has been going on. I've sat down to blog, and got as far as sitting down. Maybe evening signing in. I think once I even say and stared at the white 'create post' screen squeezing my brain, hoping for some kind of creative juices to drip out. No such luck. Even the LPs have been pretty boring lately, not in a 'my kids are boring' kind of way, but in 'they haven't done anything hilarious that I had to share' kind of way. Unless you want to hear all about the LPs beating each other up, screaming, making more messes than me and ten armies could keep up with, but since most of you deal with this at your own house, I'll assume not and spare you ;)

My cousin and his wife had a baby girl on the 4th, which is lovely, who doesn't love a new baby? So we got to go and meet her on Thursday, and I got to hold her. It's amazing how big Ethan's gotten... I don't even remember him being that small and he was. A mere 7 months ago. But it was great, I got to hold her, snuggle her, smell her new yummy baby goodness, and then give her back and go home. No nagging feelings of 'Aww... wasn't that wonderful? Doesn't that make you want to just jump in the sack and procreate again?!' Nothing. I enjoyed it, and I went home. Go me! You're probably wondering why this is a big deal, when clearly to normal people it wouldn't be. When Meaghan was born I always knew someone was always 'missing', I was not done yet. With Emma for the first month I thought maybe we were complete, then a few months later realized - Hello! wrong again! and after several months of discussion we decided to go for Ethan. For the entire month after Ethan was born I kept thinking 'Wow, I could definitely go for a fourth...' and the hypothetical fourth was always in the back of my mind. One day that thought just went away. *Poof* *Gone* The hypothetical fourth is no longer even permitted to being a though in my head, or anyone elses within my vicinity (as in Mr. Pretties) because I am at my sanity limit with three.Seriously though, that whole month after we had Ethan all I could think of was ' Holy crap, I want another one?! When does it end?! What if I want a million of them?! Stop the insanity! Will I always want more?!' So I'm so realized to realize we're done, all of our children are here and no one is missing and I wont ever wonder if we should have had more. What a great feeling. I don't see pregnant people and feel anything other than 'Aww... what a sweet baby bump. Better you than me, I'm really enjoying sneezing without peeing myself lately' . I see new borns and think 'Aww... how tiny and sweet. Still better you than me, I enjoy sleeping for longer than two second increments.(not that Ethan is a wonderful sleeping... since he's not...)' It just makes me happy to know that I'm not a baby producing factory after all, whew!

We haven't done much (read: any) antiquing, things have been pretty tight around here, which is pretty sucky, obviously. I think even Mr. Pretties misses it LoL But if the tax refund fairy shows up sometime in the next couple weeks we'll be going to an auction that has a few great things that should go for even greater prices, which'll be awesome to sell at Aberfoyle this season. Think white painted Duncan Phyfe drop leaf table and chairs - perfect for that space challenged shabby kitchen, child sized Duncan Phyfe styled chairs, a primitive early 1900's chippy white painted cradle, and numerous primitive dovetailed wooden boxes. PS. 43 days until Aberfoyle season starts - woohoo! Spring and summer is just so much better than winter, there's simply no comparison!

Since I'm being painfully boring and obviously have nothing interesting to tell you, I'll just shut up and leave you with some photos I took of our kittens this weekend. It's amazing that everyone is spoken for except 'Nana' and I don't know why! She's got a really sweet face I think!

Jasmine:

Baby Stewie:

'Nana':

And 'Aladdin':

You Can Take That Up With My Nap Manager...

2009-03-06T18:13:00.003-05:00

... Or what I would do with a million dollars.

First things first. I'm a napper. I come from a long line of nappers. I don't require a lot in a day, but I absolutely require a nap of some form (preferably long form) inorder for the day to run smoothly. As it turns out, when you have three kids 4 and under nap-time becomes akin to performing a miracle. Right now it's mostly Ethan who feels entitled to not sleep when everyone else is, or sleep, but ensure that he awakes several times hourly inorder to keep anyone else (ie. myself) from getting any kind of consecutive quality sleep, which may infact be worse than no sleep at all. It's one of the great debates.

This brings us to, you know how people always talk about what they'd do if they came into large (very large, forget all your worries) sums of money? Mr. Pretties always says he'd get a nanny and a cleaning lady. I concur on the cleaning lady, because, again, cleaning your house while your kids are growing up is like shoveling the snow while it's still snowing. Seriously. But I've always disagreed on a nanny, I wouldn't want someone else raising my kids, spending more time with my kids than I do, etc... unless ofcourse we could located a real-life Mary Poppins, in which case who am I to deny my children that? I just can't fill those black pointy shoes... I digress...

So while I'd be out antiquing (with kids in tow) and other such related money spending activities (with kids in tow) I'd be hiring a nap manager ASAP. MmmHmm. My nap manager would be in charge of making sure the household nap went exactly according to schedule. Every.Single.Day. The Pretties don't always want/need naps anymore, so with the nap manager that should no longer pose a problem, she'll just hang out/entertain them while I take a nap sans interruptions (unless they're important, obviously). I will require atleast two hours of designated naptime, but three is far more effective.

Mr. Pretties also enjoys a good nap, and he can take advantage of the nap managerial situation as well, but he'll have to have his own designated nap area because I nap alone. I do not like to hear snoring while I nap, tossing and turning, or have someone attempting the cuddle. No thanks. Napping is a solo event and should be treated and respected accordingly. Wilma (the boss. aka the cat) will be the only other living soul allowed in my napping area, and only because if I don't, it's a vast possibility that she'll beat me when I wake up. And, she's a good napping buddy (buddies and partners are totally different things) and sleeps at the opposite corner of the bed (unless she's sleeping on my head. Or something.)

I would pay the nap manager handsomely because I believe the raise in quality nap time I'd be receiving would greatly improve all areas of my life and those of my family, and really, can you put a price tag on that? The nap manager may also be required to sleep over once a week so I can be reminded what a complete uninterrupted night-time sleep is like. I'm sure it's just dreamy and think I'd like to be reacquainted with it, even just one out of seven nights in a week.

I thought of this fabulous idea while dozing this afternoon. It came to me when you know when you're just falling asleep and then all over a sudden "WAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" and you nearly have a heart attack and die because you went from being 100% relaxed to waking up in mid air and landing in some kind of Ninja ass-kicking move that you didn't even knew you knew let alone could get into, because clearly nothing of this world could possibly make a sound like that! Unless ofcourse you happen to have a seven month old baby... who just happens to want a bottle, or maybe just two sips of one because it's totally way funnier to drink your bottle two sips at a time and wake up 10 times an hour to do so. On second thought, I think we should spring for the nap manager now... right now...

Disclaimer:

Obviously I love the pretties to pieces, even Ethan (aka LBP) who wakes up 100x per nap, so this is not a 'damn my kids suck' post incase there were a few confused readers. This was a 'damn, I need a nap manager to improve my parenting' post. Just so you don't think I'm all mean and complainy, sometimes 'posts' get read in a different tone than I type them in :)

Bird Catching 101

2009-03-03T21:46:00.003-05:00

... or why cats and bird feeders don't mix...

Today as Emma's cat brought us a frozen sparrow-cube as a present I was reminded of Mr. Pretties and I pre-children and the first cat Mr. Pretties had ever owned.

When Mr. Pretties and I first lived together we lived on the third floor of a century home in a neighbourhood that sported a whole lot of pigeons (Hey, don't judge me, I can't help it if the pigeons have good taste in housing... or something like that...).
I was 8 months pregnant with Meaghan when Mr. Pretties opened the door to let Screamer in (he was siamese, what can I say?), but noticed nano-seconds too late that he was also with bird. Very. Large. Bird. Screamer was a very small cat. And he's hauling this bird that's atleast twice his size. Picture a guinea pig trying to haul in a turkey... you get the idea. He comes in making that trilling noise that only a cat with a present can make. Me, having years of experience with cats bringing things home thought nothing of this event aside from 'Crap. Now I have to take it out and bury. Thanks you little weiner...' while Mr. Pretties is a complete raving nut. "Why on earth would a cat do that?!" "How the hell did he catch that thing?!" "Is he going to eat it?!" "We have to get rid of him, he's wild!" And so on and so forth...
As I'm preparing to remove Screamers snack of choice he lets go. And it takes flight. It is not dead, nope not. at. all... And, it's flying around my livingroom. There is a very enormous, angry pigeon flying around my livingroom, and me in my very pregnant state trying to catch it (hello?! I'm not a cat!) while trying not to collapse in hysterical laughter.
Where was Mr. Pretties you ask? Why he was standing in the bathroom with the door shut, waiting for me to give him the all clear... what a man...

I did end up catching it and releasing it outside, but if someone had taped us looking in it would have been very comical. I still thank the stars to this day that that pigeon had been kind enough to turn off his poop generates as they're infamous for the good old 'poop and fly' method of making large messes. I can't even fathom the mess my livingroom would have taken on. We would have had to move. Clearly.

Ahh... memories.
And what ever became of Screamer? Someone thought he was so fabulous that they stoll him off our front porch a couple years later, and who was the most upset about it? Mr. Pretties... it's a good thing he's such a brute and hates pets so much. Right.

I've Got A Golden Ticket...

2009-03-01T20:02:00.003-05:00

Or atleast Meaghan thinks she does...

Meaghan is quite fascinated (as in obsessed) by the movie Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and by extension, golden tickets (Back story: Charlie finds a 'golden ticket' in the chocolate and takes over the factory) Mr. Pretties and I did some major cleaning up this week in loo of the landlord inspection (aka. the babysitting extravaganza, which went off without a hitch thank God) which may or may not have unrooted things we didn't know we had. I digress.

As I was helping Emma wash her hands in the bathroom I hear Meaghan in our bedroom yelling in the most excited voice possible 'I'VE GOT A GOLDEN TICKET!!!!!' (which, by the way, is the punch line in the movie) and comes barreling in to show me. Now this is not unusual, Meaghan is forever finding 'golden tickets' which are generally a store receipt, a piece of paper, a plastic tomato slice from our vast selection of play food, or it may even be invisible. Whatever. But not today, today I'll be damned, she had a bright and shiny golden ticket! Wondering what on earth she'd found I decided to inspect it closer, only to find that it didn't exactly say 'Golden Ticket' as Meaghan had thought, but instead it neatly spelled out 'Trojan'.... I'm not sure where she found this, how she found it, or that it even existed in my house (Ahem, it expired in 2006...) but I could.not. stop. laughing. Seriously. I suggested she go show Mr. Pretties her golden ticket. Let me tell you, a facial expression says 1,000 words.

Is Brass Recyclable?

2009-02-28T14:54:00.003-05:00

Apparently it is when Mr. Pretties is in charge ;)

I've been stripping an old washstand and in the process I also needed to strip the original brass hardware that had, oh, about 75 layer of good quality lead paint on them. At the direction of our landman I set them in margerine container with some stripper (the paint kind, not the corner kind... c'mon on now) and syran wrap over the top (did you know it's the fumes that strip the paint not the actual gel? I had no idea...) so I did that several times and finally got them all nice and brassy like. I put them back in the container out on the deck to air out because they were pretty reaky... A week goes by and I go back out to get them so I can wash them off and... low and behold, the container is no more?! So as is the case when anything randomly goes missing in the Pretties household, I ask Mr. Pretties if he happened to where they might be... and, if it were a possibility that he put it in the blue bin and forgot and thus it went out Wednesday morning... He didn't need to answer, his 'Ohhhh shiznit...' face said it all. Crap. But that's okay actually, I was debating replacing the original hardware with glass repro. hardware but felt uber guilty for drilling new holes and dissy the old hardware by not using it, problem solved!
When in doubt, chuck it in the recycle ;)

Strike!

2009-02-25T18:37:00.002-05:00

Or, how to bowl with preschoolers...

We did the bowling thing with Meaghan's preschool on Tuesday (yeah, so I'm going to use names now, we're all friends here and I know most of your kiddies names. So, we have Meaghan (4), Emma(2.5) and Ethan(6mos)). I was stoked about staying and hanging out with her during this life altering event. I was under the impression that she was too. We get there, get settled, and... she doesn't want to bowl. *sigh* Finally I convince her to give it a try, she slinks up the balls, rolls it out of the holder nearly rolling it on her foot, drags it with her arms hanging way down low, dragging on the group Neanderthal style, does the limpest loft into the gutter I've ever seen and slouches away. I'm sorry, isn't there some kind of prerequisite that demands that you must be atleast 9 before behaving like that?! So we let the other three in our group take their turns (you know, the kids who actually wanted to bowl...) and then it's Meaghan's again, except now that bowling appears to be good enough for everyone else, she may as well have at it too. So she gets right into it and next thing I know I'm refereeing her from bullying the other kids out of their turns! What the?!

We had an hour for bowling (and with 3 and 4 year olds, that equals about two turns each) and ofcourse Meaghan is now starving to absolute death. Yes, I did feed her breakfast only 90 minutes before, but, now I get to play the ever exciting part of the bad mommy who doesn't want to pay $5 for a sample sized bag of Dorito's like everyone else's awesome mom. In all honesty I left my purse with Mr. Pretties since I didn't think an hour at the bowling alley warranted me having to keep track of it and mind small hands and their magnetic attraction to purse pockets (not in a pilfering kind of way).

Then we have the mom in our group who came with her DD and brought her little baby (do you have any idea how happy it makes me to know I can look at other moms with teeny weeny babies and not feel the need to run off and find Mr. Pretties and convince him of the imperativeness of procreating again?!) which was nice, but she ignored her daughter the entire time and sat at a table at the other side of the alley (note: all the moms in our group had babies on their lap). No big deal really, the other moms and I pitched in and helped her with her turns, until the last three frames. Now as you know, when bowling the computer keeps track of turns and basically you get three rolls each turn, it counts as a roll when a ball reaches the end of the alley. Now with preschoolers, those balls don't always make it there... so the mom who decided to help her daughter out at the end realized that waiting for her daughter's ball to reach the end of the alley was taking a long time, so for each roll her daughter did she did one too, to get it on to the next turn. Great. Except for the part where that meant 3 rolls = 6 rolls and you've now taken your daughters turn as well as mine. Meaghan can be very strong willed and high strung, she likes watching the numbers on the screen to tell her when it's her turn and to see how well she's doing (she bowled by herself with me standing 3ft away and was beating butt to my complete shock) and now the other mom has taken her turn, messed up her score (she was throwing gutters intentionally) and doesn't even get it. I know, I know, who cares, it's not a big deal, etc... etc... but it really bothers me when people are completely oblivious when they do things like that and I am a 100% non-confrontational person so there was no way I was saying anything about it. God I really need to grow a pair...

Oh shoot, that reminds me, tomorrow is 'Show and Share' day at preschool... now I have to think of something to bring... better get on that right about now...

In other news, Mr. Pretties and I are going on a date Saturday night. Our landlords gave us a movie theatre package (tickets, snacks, drinks, etc...) complete with childcare for Christmas in, oh, 2007 and we had yet to use them (no reason really... the kids love them, we trust them, Mr. Pretties works odd hours and they both work very long hours so I hated to ask them) so they're coming Saturday and bringing dinner for the kids. Mr. Pretties and I haven't been on a date since I was pregnant with Emma in 2006 so we're about due. We aren't really movie people, but we'll enjoy it anyway and I'm looking forward to it. We really need more date nights, especially now that the LP's are a little older.

Apparently Jasmine has taken a plunge in the aquarium and it's up to me to rescue her (Meaghan says the reasoning behind my need to rescue is because I'm a brave knight... go figure...) so I better get on that too or who knows what'll happen, you know how aggressive angel fish can be...

Poly Kittens

2009-02-25T14:51:00.002-05:00

Simply Stunning - I just tried to pop you an email but it got sent back to me undelivered and I can't view your blog info to comment back LoL We're located in Ontario, Canada. I found this Craigslist Ad for Jesup, GA though http://brunswick.craigslist.org/pet/1024009346.html that might (or might not) be helpful!

If you wanted to contact me my email is MMPretties@hotmail.com

Thanks so much, and what lucky cats you've an outdoor enclosure is always the way to go!

Hello? Brain?

2009-02-23T18:57:00.003-05:00

It's Jenn, I was just wondering if you could just like stop by for a moment, I need to do some blogging and your co-operation would be greatly appreciated... Thanks so much...

Seriously. I don't know where my brain's at, but I can tell you where it's not. I've been wanting to blog so badly but I haven't experienced any great blog fodder lately. Friday was BLPs birthday and I couldn't even pound out a half decent sounding tribute to that. How sad is it when you can't put together a post about your oldest daughters fourth birthday?! I did LLPs back in September but for the life of me could. not. come out with anything worth typing!

My cousin did a party of BLP's birthday yesterday with five other LP's running around, good times were had by all, the BLP in particular. Obviously. We were pretty low-key Friday, we had big plans and then a change of big plans, so we played it up Sunday. BLP goes to preschool Tues/Thurs so we didn't send anything special to share on Thursday, we suck. Tomorrow the preschool is taking them bowling, I'm going to hang around for that event, hopefully I'll have some adorable bowling pictures.

Oh! I forgot to share, I finally got a new camera. Finally. It's pink. 'Nuff said ;) So I can take half decent photos now, you lucky lucky readers ;)

Remember those orange cats I took in several months ago? The ones that were fixed, vaccinated, etc... ? Uh huh. Apparently they're not as I now have four polydactyl kittens under my dresser. This is the price you pay for being a sucker. Lady was due for her spay, but instead, we got kittens. Good. Grief. They're about three weeks old now and just starting to venture out from under the dresser, kittens+small children = mommy's stressed.

Little Boy Person is growing like a freakin' weed! He's practically the size of a football player just now... not really sure how that transpired since he was a normal sized baby at birth... honest. He's cute and cuddly though and has learned to creep (Baby+Creeping=Mommy's Stressed!) and can sit up/roll over and he's really excelling at the ability to not sleep and screaming really loudly. I guess we all have to be good at something... personally I would have went with pincer grasping, or say, chomping on toes, but to ea ch their own. I suppose.

All in all, that's where we're at. Not much blog fodder or items of interest on the agenda, but I felt I needed to add something to the blog since it's been pretty sucky lately (I know, not much of an improvement. Sorry).

Hopefully I can regale you all with the wonders of 3 and 4 year olds bowling... this should be amusing ;)

We've Got Salvage Chic...

2009-02-15T15:43:00.011-05:00

... Or how to make a shabby fab candlestick out of a salvaged baluster (spindle). It doesn't have to be a salvaged one, but honestly? It makes the project about 7,000 times better. Just saying.

So, what matrials need we gather for this exceptionally simple project that turns out impossibly adorable results? Here's the list:

1 (or more) salvaged baluster(s)/spindle(s)

bonus points issued for chippy paint and crazing.

1 saw or wood cutting tool

(optional, I like to keep my candlesticks tall and use them beside the fire place...)

*Insert Saw Of Choice Photo Here... C'mon, You Know What a Saw Looks Like...*

1 Tin/Metal/Glass 'cup'

For lack of a better word to use as the holder on the top. You can just drill a hole right into the top and plop a candle in, but if you plan to use it I discourage this. Using 90 year old dried out tinder as a candle holder isn't always the best idea...

1 Tool to pierce tin/metal (optional)

You'll need it to pierce the edges of the tin/metal cup if you choose to attach one to the top as a holder. Usually a nail and a hammer works just fab. Something like these from old chandeliers works wonders (especially if you're using the old crystals, those pieces usually also have the crystal cup!)

A few small crystal prisms/etc...
for that added shabby chic look. (also, optional)

Now given the photos of the required material it's fairly easy to 'put it all together' as to what steps will take place. But, just for the sake of typing, we can go throught it step by step.

Step 1:

If you scored those extra points with the chippy paint, it's probably best to take some fine grain sand paper, steel wool, or a well worn wire brush and flake off those loose chips of paint. As much as I love me some chippy paint, in the eye of safety, if that balluster/spindle is old than say 1970, you're likely dealing with lead paint, which is fine until it's disturbed (or eaten, which I also don't advise) so just brush off those little extras so that the spindle has a fairly smooth feel while still looking chippy/crackly. Also if you're going to brush on a coat of paint (allow me to suggest a pale pink/green or cream) just to give it a little colour but still allowing for that aged look, do so now as well.

Moving on...

Step 2:

If you desire a shorter candlestick now is the time to break out your saw and lop of the desired amount off either end (only one end though) and smooth that cut with some fine grain sand paper, try to smooth down the edges too or it'll constast fairly sharply compared to the rest of the piece (you know, 90 years of weathering storms comes at a price and all...)

Step 3:

Take your tin/glass/metal cup (either from your used chandelier parts or picked up from the good old dime store) and fix it to the top, be it by glue or by nailing a nail down the center of the cup into the wood. You can always just drill a hole in the top for tapers, but I prefer not to, I'm a fire-phobe in that way.

Remember: Never leave a burning candle unattended, particularly when your hold is 90 year old dry wood... so if you're going to use it in the light of, say, romantical event, blow it out first, Mmmkay? Thanks.

Step 4:

If you're going to attach prisms/crystals to the top edge of your holder, do so by drilling diagonal holes about 1.5" along the top edge. The prisms should come with little metal rings already attached so just break them open and feed them through the newly drilled holes, forcing the back together and feeding the 'broken' space back into the hole, feel free to fix it there with a dab of hot glue or the like.

What you should end up with is something similar to this:

The above photos are courtesy of, and linked to:

left(or top): trash2treasure.typepad.com

right(or bottom): abitofparis.com

Both are fab sites and even sell great wares like this!

I also believe in a few weeks or so Green Spot Antiques in Cambridge, Ontario will be offering kits of this nature containing both instructions and materials so that you don't have to go around hauling your used chandelier pieces, chipping paint spindles, and prisms while dragging out your power tools to achieve this adorable look. Let's call it 'Fab In A Bag' for now...

Enjoy!

Crackle-Lackin...

2009-02-14T00:08:00.007-05:00

... Or how to create that fab old-time crackle finish on your shabby chic pieces.

No I'm not the super star who wrote these instructions (c'mon, you knew that!), they're straight from this Ebay Guides board. I've always loved the look (not on everything though, it can definitely be over done) and have always bought the spendy 'crackle medium', because I'm a dork, obviously. So if you want to crackle that fab find from the flea market, try this method out:

Did you know that the expensive "crackle medium" you buy in cans is really just plain old white glue? Any white glue will work just like the really expensive stuff in cans.

We all love the "shabby chic" look of old crackled paint. When we're lucky, it happens naturally. But most times we have to help it along.
Crackling is great for covering up flaws. If you're considering sanding off old layers of paint, crackle instead - it's much faster & gives the item a lot of character.

How it's done:

There are two different methods of crackling that I use - one where the color in the cracks comes from underneath - the other where the color in the cracks in rubbed on. I like the second method best. It looks like dirt has naturally accumulated in old paint cracks.

Method One: Color underneath

1) Primer your item if it wasn't previously painted
2) Paint it with the color you want to show in the cracks (use a color with a lot of contrast to your top color if you want your effect to be dramatic.)
3) Paint the glue on. You can dilute it a little to make it easier to work with. Use a brush, not a roller. Cheap brushes work better - they leave more lines & therefore more detail in the cracks. PUT IT ON THICK! Thin coats don't crack well

Experiment - the more glue you put on, the bigger the cracks.
I like to use a funky, random pattern so the cracks aren't all in nice neat brush lines.
And I like to vary the thickness of the glue from one part to the next so the cracks look natural.

TIP: Thin coats work best on vertical surfaces. This is true for both the glue and the topcoat. If you paint them on too thick, it will all run down & be a gloppy mess. You can turn your item on it's back, crackle the front, turn it on the side, crackle the side, etc. I did this on an armoire. It's time consuming, but works great.

4) After the glue is set up, but still tacky,(more than 1 hour, but not more than 2 or 3 - depends on your thickness & weather) paint on the main color. Don't let the glue dry too much - it won't crack if it's too dry.
As the top color dries, the underneath color will be revealed in the cracks.

Method 2: Color rubbed in

1) Primer your item if it wasn't previously painted
2) Paint the glue on - see details above
3) After the glue is tacky (see details above) paint on the main color. Cracks will appear as it dries, but they will be very subtle.
4) After the main color has dried overnight, take a rag and rub gel stain onto the item, working it into the cracks. Work in small, manageable patches. This is a really beautiful effect - gives gorgeous age, texture & patina.

Here are some photos of a dresser I did for a guest bedroom with this method of rubbing in gel stain:

On the dresser, I used a basecoat of french vanilla and did the crackle finish just on some parts.
Then rubbed the entire piece in two different colors of gel stain, to give it an aged, patinized look. I rubbed it in with a rag, alternating the colors in about 12 inch irregular patches.
Gel stain works great for this, because it dries slowly so you can work with it until you have the look you like.

You'll get the hang of this technique pretty quickly - you just glop the gel stain on with one rag or a sponge brush, and then rag it off with a clean rag.
Try to clean more off in some places and leave some spots darker, and leave plenty in the nooks & crannies to accentuate the carving. This really brings out the details of a furniture piece.

Jenn here - So that ladies and gents is how you create that fab crazing/crackled look! I find crackling isn't so much like distressing though in the land of shabby chic. Distressing you can do to every single piece of furniture you own and it's just marvy. Crackling you kind of have to select a few pieces to do and try to leave it at that. Easier said than done though, I know! It's kind of like me a spray paint cans. There is nothing better than a full can of creamy white paint, I don't think I've ever had to put away a partially used can. Ever. Once I get that puppy going there's no stopping me, everything in my path will be white until I run out. It's a sickness really...

As you can tell I'm feeling much more like my shabby self ;) Good old junking... is there anything it can't do?

I'm In Need...

2009-02-10T21:15:00.005-05:00

Of some treadle sewing drawers. How many people can say that?

I found this adorable project on RoboMargo in the trash to treasure section and I love it. How great is project?!

You take these:

And turn them into this:

(Instructions are on the bottom of the page) but it just goes to show that things you would think are fairly useless can be used to make something really shabby and fab! I can't tell you how many times I've seen sewing drawers at the antique market and thought 'What the flip am I going to do with these?! Who buys this stuff?!' obviously people who're smarter than me ;)

Now I'm on a mad search for some locally (Ebay is loaded with them, but for $30+ to ship, I'll pass) and may have lead. Mr. Pretties thinks I've lost it, but I just have to have two pairs! Not to mention I've seen them painted shabby white with glass knobs and appliques and used as little storage containers, how marvy would that look in the LP's room now that it's all done up right?! *Squeal*

So yeah, next time you're at the market and see something ridiculous, grab it. You'll thank yourself later. Or I will, since I'll probably need it ;)

Love...

2009-02-09T13:24:00.003-05:00

Nope, this isn't a Valentine's Day post. Now that the weekend is over and I've had time to sit back and review it, I have to say, Mr. Pretties really can be a pet ;)

The LPs required new beds. BLP's was older (ahem, as in from when I was her age...) and LLP's was still a wee toddler bed (she's only 2, give me a break!) so we needed to something about that situation. We talked about bunk beds, we talked about Ikea, we talked and talked and talked. And when I got tired of talking I went on Kijiji (when in doubt...) I usually keep my browsing limited to Hamilton/St. Catharine's/Brantford, you know, reasonable driving distances.

This time I happened to click on London and seriously, what was the first thing to pop up? Matching antique shabby chic four poster beds. Fate, I'm telling you! So Mr. Pretties and I headed up there (read: 2 hours away) to pick them up. Oh. And I got another washstand (sorry, but the black one wanted a sibling, who am I to deny that?!). These beds are super gorgeous, I love them more than it probably healthy. The LPs love them too, ofcourse. Although I told them it was a surprise (they had no idea new beds were coming) so we did the whole 'reveal' thing and they walked in and said:

BLP: Wow! New beds!!

LP: That's a big bed!

BLP: Mommy, where's my 'prise?

Me: This is your surprise...

BLP: Oh. Where's another 'prise?

Me: *Sigh*

Oh well, I should have known that was more of an adult excitement than a child's. So I spent yesterday with a can of white spray paint in one hand and a piece of sand paper in the other, taking care of important things like shelves, lamp shades, trim, doors, window sills, etc... I even got to hang my .50 curtains in their window, and I might add, they're pretty adorable and quite suitable!

I'll post pictures soon. I'll have to borrow Aunt Pretties camera because ours took the final crap out that no amount of counter bashing would solve. It's so shabby and cute in there I wish it were my room!

Next Up:

I'll be sourcing out an outdated chandelier and spray painting it, then adding the sweet little crystals! I love things like this. It makes me wish I had my own room, sharing a room sucks! Oh wait... I'm not 12 anymore, it's not cool to go around saying things like that... geez... well, then I wish Mr. Pretties wanted a pink frou frou room as much as I do ;)

Truly Fab...

2009-02-04T16:46:00.006-05:00

I've seen this idea a few times floating around the antique/shabby chic forums this week and can't believe how completely great it is! If I had a penny for everytime I sat here and thought 'Damn... how did I not think of that?!' well, I probably would be sitting here right now talking about this... so, let's move on.

Let's say you're like me (just go with me on this, you can be the me that loves great stuff and not the me who's a total nut, deal?) and ofcourse lurve yourself some antiques/shabby pretties/uniques/primitives/etc... and your house is a fair compilation of things that make your smile. Now say you have to visit the ladies room (we're keeping this G rated people, uncover your eyes), and your smile suddenly disappears. Why would that happen?

Could it be, that like myself, you have one of those inexpensive shiny laminate-type vanities glaring at you in your bathroom? You know what I'm talking about. The type with two tiny doors, a 'faux drawer', a sink that has just enough room for your bottle of hand soap, and is so very hopelessly boring that you fear falling asleep mid bathroom break. Alas, everytime you look into purchasing a new vanity you're fairly (Re: alot) disgusted by how spendy anything even remotely stylish is (especially, if, like us you're rent-savy and don't want to drop the dough on something you'd likely leave behind).

So what's a girl to do? How about this:

It's such a wonderfully simple concept that makes such a difference in a room! I can't tell you how badly I want to go rip my vanity out right this second and try this out! It can even be an inexpensive project (dressers/washstands/buffets are available on Kijiji/Craigslist/Thrift store for a good price, especially if needs refinishing!)

A lot of people are able to fix the drawers to accommodate the plumbing, making the drawers completely usable and wonderful! Just make sure that any piece you redo for this type of use gets several good coats of a waterproof coating to help protect from all the water and humidity exposure it'll get in the bathroom.

I love this idea so much, and it can have so many great looks depending on what furniture you use, how you refinish it, etc... the possibilities are just endless and they are look marvy! Here's a quick How-To :)

And A Little DIY

2009-02-03T18:15:00.008-05:00

I should really hang on to this so I don't have to wrack my brain for Shabby Share next week... But, I really enjoyed this site!

I'm all about DIY, Trash to Treasure, decorating flea market style, etc... but sometimes (read: A lot of the time) it's hard to come up with original and interesting ideas for each piece of trash that comes in the door.

has a whole 'file' system of tricks and projects put together by herself and her fabulous team. The trash to treasure section is organized by piece (ie, windows, doors, grates, etc...) and she has so many fantastic ideas, all of which are useful, doable, and totally cool! It seems like everytime I have to Google something about home decor, shabby style, arc. salvage ideas RoboMargo pops up, so, I decided I better check out the site, since it's clearly calling to me. I'm hooked. I may never have to use my own brain again when it comes to what to do with all my trash!

I lurve old windows, old windows are fab! But, I don't always (as in never) have inspiring ideas for them. I hang them on the wall like everyone else, pop a mirror behind them, hang them from the veranda, you know, the usual. But check this out:

It's a freaking greenhouse. If my only purpose in life was to sit and stair at a pile of old windows and figure out cool things to do with them, I would never, and I meant never, have thought of this myself. I'm so lurving this, and now require a pile of windows. Good thing I know GreenSpot Antiques in Cambridge just got a truckload in. Here's a variation of this idea, but for those paneless windows:

Not to mention the tables/frames/pot hangers she's created from these great finds, her site is limitless! I wont even get into the fabulous things she's found to do with old doors!

As a closing thought, how cute is this?

I am so making me one of those! I have no clue what exactly I'm going to do with it, but, I am having one of those! And then... I'm taking it to the antique market ;)

Two Peas In A Pod...

2009-02-03T14:00:00.003-05:00

... Or not.

We all know that Mr. Pretties and I are fairly different personalities with different tastes, etc... That's what makes it interesting (or drives me insane... Hmm...) but here are a few observations I've made today. We had to forego 'the house' for several reasons (none of which were mine) and are now looking at a different house in an entirely different area. This is 'the house' according to Mr. Pretties. Personally, I could take it or leave it. Here is a quick comparison to our two houses.

Jenn's House:

*Has a fire pit in, apple trees, a green house, and a wooden swing in the backyard.

*The town is full of antique shops and boutiques.

*The yard is fenced. Entirely. With a white picket fence.

*The town has an annual Cobblestone Festival due to it's cobblestone roads.

*The town is known as 'The Prettiest Town In Ontario'.

Mr. Pretties' House:

*Has a cemetary backing on to the yard.

*Is 'partially' fenced by chain link. When I say partial I mean one side...

*The town has a Giant Tiger. Oh, and a Foodland.

*The town has two annual fairs - the agricultural fair (totally fine) and the poultry fest... Charming...

*The town is known as 'The Poultry Capital of Ontario'.

Do you see the problem here?
In all honestly, Mr. Pretties' house is actually quite nice, it's an older house complete w/bay windows, a back staircase and a large yard. It has the small town feel.

We're going to try and view it tomorrow, we'll see how that goes. A lot of things would have to fall in place a whole lot fast for this to work.

I just think the differences are funny, isn't it amazing how people can live together? (or not?)

Shabby Share...

2009-02-02T20:12:00.008-05:00

... I think we'll do a Shabby Share today. I came across a couple cute things that I think you might enjoy. They kind of feed into eachother as well ;)

First Up:

Decoupaged Bangles, OnePearlButton has a fab tutuorial on her site (the first link, second is her blog) for these totally adorable and customizable (not to mention easy peazy lemon squeezy) bangles! Lurving them!

Secondly:

I discovered a fab little site! Have you ever done online swaps? You know, where you're assigned a partner and you mail them something and they mail you something too? Are they so much fun?! (Yeah, they're a total blast!) Swap-Bot is a site solely for listing, arranging, and participating in various swaps (there are quite literally thousands...)! There are so many different types to choose from, you can do the good old BOC (box of crap, ie. assorted box of random house stuff) or, you can swap more specific items such as ribbon, inchies, dolls, homemade items, fabric, postcards, childrens items, etc... the list seriously goes on and on (and on, and on, and on...), it's great! Even Canadians can participate in most of them (swaps will show whether they're international or not, and a majority of them are, yay!) I've already signed up for a couple (handmade pin cushion? Heck yes!) and everyone gets rated on their swap (namely did you flake and not send it = RUDE) so if you flake you get a bad score and then no one wants to swap with you anymore, life basics, you know.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Shabby Share, perhaps we'll make this a weekly event, or not, we'll see...

No, I Didn't Sell A Shabby Piece...

2009-02-01T00:51:00.002-05:00

I'm just super lucky!

After Marcela from Cottage Charm and Family Inspiration (Linky is posted on the side for future enjoyment) saw my whine-a-thon about the lack of a cute banner (and my personal techno-challengedness) on The Chair she took pity on my pathetic self and made me that sweetheart of a beauty you're feasting your eyes on up there! I'm totally loving it, and, she did it all on her own, without any input from me (It's definitely best that way, I suck at things like that, I only know what I love when I see it, and this, I lurve!) and I can't believe how bang on it is!

Enjoy the makeover guys! And thanks again Marcela, it's absolutely fab!

I Just Might Do It...

2009-01-30T19:55:00.005-05:00

That's right guys, I *think* I'm going to tackle the couch reupholstering situation...
I'm thinking white/cream duck for the back cushions/arms/body and a muted sage or burgundy toile for the buttom seat cushions. Then I will clearly proceed to perform a ritualistic Scotch Guarding of the furniture as to prevent the LPs from sabotaging within the first 30 seconds it's in the livingroom.

I know, I know, who uses a white on a well used couch with kids, pets, and a husband, but I really want one... I was thinking I'd also either replace the foam in the cushions all together with synthetic down (Does anyone know how that works as furniture stuffing?) or just use synthetic down with the original foam to give the cushions that over stuffed plump look (not to mention oh so comfy feel) that's always fab. To me.

I also have a pair of large antique Bergere chairs that have the most atrocious fabric you can imagine, with dark wood kneed legs that I think will be hauled out of the basement and included in the makeover. This means I'll have to retire our love seat and replace it with these two chairs which will be upholstered in the muted toile with plump white duck pillows and the legs painted a shabby white/cream (I guess it all depends on the background of the toile whether the duck gets to be white or cream...) can't you just picture it? I can, Mmmm... Okay maybe you can't, you know, since you've never seen my livingroom/couch/chairs or loves seat and you don't have access to my brain (you should be thankful of that!).

Ofcourse I have never reupholstered anything in my life, does that matter? In my mind it's the easiest thing to do ever, as everything always is, until it comes to doing it. Now I've watched my fair share of Trading Spaces, Take This House and Sell It, I'm a Nester follower, and I've Googled it, and it really looks doable. I even tested my theory out with Beauty and The Beast sheets on the couch, and it seems to hold, so now to search for a sweet deal on duck! Oh, and talk Mr. Pretties into this whole scheme of recovering four large pieces... I'm sure he'll be all over it... *couch* Yeah... allllll over it...

What's In A Name?

2009-01-30T11:03:00.003-05:00

As you can see we've had a wee bit of a name change ;) I, ofcourse can't change the blog address or name, but that's okay, I'm not about to start copying and pasting past blogs into a new one... Just the thought makes me want to cry.

I decided to switch up names because hair clippies are now too popular, just about everywhere! It's insane actually. So I enjoy doing them for the LP's because they look cute, but that's about it. I'll be blogging about the same stuff I've been blogging about for the last six months, I still may blog about clippies periodically (my interests have a way of coming back too...) but I figured I chat about old stuff, Kijiji, and shabbiness more often than not, so it made no sense to have a blog title that had little do with content... kind of confusing, no?

So relax, everything will be exactly the same (sorry) but with a different name. Hey, who knows, maybe one day I'll even reward you all by having the blog done up with a real layout, you know, when I finish a really fab shabby piece and sell it for the big bucks so that I can make that happen (incase you're getting excited, this pretty much means we're not getting one LoL). But we can dream about it, nothing wrong with that ;)

And if you're like me and you're into the antiques/vintage/salvage/shabby there are three different Ning groups now that're pretty great to visit:

http://www.iantiqueonline.ning.com - Wonderful for those seeking info, just starting out, have some expertise to share as well as just wanting to browse the online wares!

http://www.etsycottagestyle.ning.com/ - Great for shabby chic-ers (even if you only sell on Kijiji, it's more for the love of shabby) (see the member board along the side)

http://www.greenspotting.ning.com/ - A new site promoting architectural salvage and using it in a green way (reusing it as decor) very shabby (salvage) chic!

Enjoy!

Cuteness...

2009-01-29T14:23:00.005-05:00

I think we all have come to realize that I have a soft (as in mush) spot for chairs. Chippy, shabby, beat up chairs in particular. Obviously. So in my Kijiji travels (I really need to stop...) I came across this:

It's an old canned nursing rocker. Fortunately the caning is in fabulous shape (Thank goodness for that, I am no caner let me tell you!) and all it needs it some loving, some painting, and some wax rubbing, shabby chic style ofcourse. It will then require an adorably delicious shabby frou frou pillow to keep it company. Which I have the technology for. Just look at those legs? Aren't those the most adorable chair legs ever? And that little crown on the top of the back splat? Total sweetness. I may invest is some wood appliques for this piece, I think the back splat needs a little something, but not too much because it's just so sweet all on it's own! Mr. Pretties even likes it, even though we need to drive over an hour away to pick it up... I'll definitely be sharing the end result (seriously, don't be surprised if it's the same as the starting result, I have a tendency to like it a little too much the way it is...)

I was thinking I'd love to do something like 'Makeover Monday' each Monday, and show the end results of furniture we've done, but that would mean we would need to do a piece a week, and by extension buying a piece a week... not sure I could hook Mr. Pretties on that one. Not saying I wont try though ;)

Seeing Red...

2009-01-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

Surprisingly this is not a post about Mr. Pretties. Although... it could be... No, no, it's definitely not, we'll save that post for another day.

So LBP was up the majority of the night lastnight as he has the cold from hell. Seriously. I have to watch over him less his nose crust over entirely. MmmMmm. Aren't you glad you have that pleasant vision in your head? So, sleep was at a minimum. Mr. Pretties thought he'd be a gem and take LBP around 7am and let me sleep in. That is the most direct route to my heart, I lurve sleeping in a very unhealthy way.

I was in bed thoroughly enjoying my sleepingness when I heard BLP screaming and crying like a nut. You have to know BLP to understand that she frequently is screaming crying like a nut, so this is not abnormal. But this was one of 'those' cries that you just know something is not right. I don't remember getting out of bed, or getting to the livingroom across the house, I just remember being there asking BLP what happened. And then she turned around.

Oh. My. God.

There was blood spurting down her back and her hair was soaked with it. So ofcourse my first instinct is to cover her head with my hand, and then run to locate Mr. Pretties (who was taking the trash out as is happens, a mere 5 feet away), because, you know, he's so valuable in high stress situations. Not.

I sat down with BLP on my lap yelling 'I don't know what to do!!' (Note, that's basically 'my line' when it comes to these types of events even though injuries and blood do not bother me in the least and I do infact know what I'm doing) all of a sudden I could feel the warm blood seeping through my fingers and had to grab a clean cloth, put it over the cut (which by the way is the size of a nail head, as in, it's nothing) and say in my most dignified voice ' Uhhh...here Mr. Pretties, hold this firmly on her head, I just have to go throw up for a minute...' We'll sum up this moment of weakness to my lack of sleep, and the manner in which I was awoken...

All retching aside, I got her 'boo boo' all stopped up, cleaned up the crime scene that was my kitchen, changed out of my blood sprayed shirt (which was white, btw, naturally), and checked for signs of concussion. We were good to go. Just a little morning excitement, you know? As it turns out she was jumping on her bed (which I tell her not to do, oh, about 78,559,874 times on a good day) and fell off, banging her head on the cast iron radiators in the process. Nice.

It always amazes me that BLP is about a million times more careful that her counterpart LLP, yet she's always the one who has these issues (Tractor ride anyone?), I just don't understand!

Fab Antique/Vintage Online Group/Forum

2009-01-27T18:26:00.003-05:00

If anyone wants to join a fab group on antiques/vintage/shabby chic/cottage chic/arc. salvage and retro just let me know, I'll send you an invite! It's a ton of fun, there's some super knowledgeable folks on it, and everyone is really friendly. It already has 1300+ members, so you gotta know it's hopping!

Just a thought.

I shall return later with tales of child trauma and blood. Oh, and how this further proves I'm not the SHIRA (K, Pippa?) that I thought I was. Ugh.

And I've updated the blogroll again, there are now some really fab Shabby Chic blogs on there, enjoy :) I know, I know, no one needs more blogs to read, but don't you love it?!

Aww Yay!

2009-01-24T13:20:00.003-05:00

Couture De Papier gave me a blog award (several days ago, and thanks to blogspot I didn't get to see it because it wouldn't load. Good job) This is my first award and such a sweet one!

Here's the story behind this award:

The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in the PROXIMITY in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So, now it's time to pass on this award and 'propagate' some friendships!

And to pass this along, I'd like to send it to:

Julie at View From The Windshield (A nice combo of family/crafts/and antiques and has real cute Etsy shop)

Wendy at Heart On The Line (Fab blog about a great family awaiting their referral for their Korean adoption. Wendy is also a marvelous photog. Feel free to take a look)

Sheree at The Phamily Blog (great mommy blog as well as an excellent resource for those who have children with downs, she explains what a gift it actually is!)

Sandi at For Hear And Home (she makes the most adorable things from vintage pieces check her shop)

Mitzi at Vintage Goodness (Fun blog about all things vintage, selling/creating/etc... Great Etsy shop)

And I'd like to pass it back to Couture de Papier as her blog is too adorable for words. It's what my blog would look like if I were technologically advanced. Or something. She also does really fantastic mixed media artwork, check out her shop!)

So this was really sweet, I'm going to pass on the lurve now, and hopefully you can enjoy these fab blogs as much as I do :)

I've also updated the blogroll so that you always have access to these new sites and their shops ( I know, not all of them are new, but the new ones are ;) )

So I'm A Wuss...

2009-01-21T22:31:00.002-05:00

... I know, I've been absent. Again. Sorry about that.

So Mr. Pretties and I have been in the midst of the age old moving discussion for the past week. It's very hard (quite possibly the understatement of the year) to find a nice house (whole house, not a duplex, etc...) with enough bedrooms, a yard, in a good area, that accepts pets, and, the kicker, is affordable. The house we live in now is decent, it's 90 years old but has been totally renovated, so with the exception of our pocket door it has none of it's original character left, we have half as many bedrooms as required, and zero space since someone keeps filling it up with more old furniture (I wish Mr. Pretties would tone the whole pack rat thing down... geez...) and we live in a craptastic area. We've only stayed this long because we lurve our landlords whom we live with, they love our kids, and because they're antique dealers they satisfy my need for exposure to antiques on a weekly basis. The need to move has arised as BLP will be attending kindy next year (panic attack to ensue) and we want her to start in a decent school/area/house/etc... and we need to get on it now. I've mostly been avoiding the whole impending situation because of our love for our landlords and the great times we have in the backyard sipping ice cold beverlies while pricing antiques for the market on the weekends. It's like having insta-entertainment all summer, someone's always around to shoot the shi--- err... shiznit (?) with which is nice. And, when the house makes creepy noises, I mentally blame it on 'the people upstairs' which is just fab for my very frayed nerves. Believe me.

The only reason I'm willing to come out of my shell and discuss the situation with Mr. Pretties now is because... I think I've found the house.

It's on top of a hill, with a white picket fence (come. on.), a wooden/rope swing hanging from a very large old shady tree (That both the LPs and myself would enjoy. Immensly), an enormous front/back/side yard, a mini green house, apple trees, and, well, it's an 160 year old stone shaker meets colonial house that's right in our budget with four bedrooms, a 1950's stove, original wood work, 12 ft ceilings, and is in a fantastic little town by a river that sports numerous antique shops. Does that say me or what? Also, the town is called Paris (the first called was received by Alexander Graham Bell here), anyone who knows anything knows that anything called Paris must be fab. Okay, strike that, anything called Paris, with the exception of Paris Hilton, and that other man Paris. Otherwise, Paris is goooooodie. This wee town has won provincial awards for being the most adorable town, how sweet is that?!

Now. The problems.

Mr. Pretties works 45 minutes away from there (in good weather). Aunt Pretties lives 1hr 10minutes away from there (we've always lived within 30 minutes and visit weekly, which we still would). Our Dr who I absolutely will not switch is an hour and a half away, and we have three kids who frequent there (you know, vaccines, etc...). Mr. Pretties is the only driver. And... here's the real issue (okay my real issue)...

I'm. A. Friggen. Wuss.

We've always lived in a shared house (duplex, we don't actually have people live with us), someone else has always been on the next floor(s) so I was never really alone. Mr. Pretties works almost steady afternoons, meaning, he doesn't get home until 11pm (and wouldn't get home until nearly 12am) most weeks (god forbid he go back to working nights *shudders*). Which is fine. For normal people. But, as it turns out (are you ready for this?), I'm afraid of being left home alone with... ghosts. Yes, you read that right. I am afraid of ghosts. While looking at the interior photos of the house I spotted numerous 'orbs' and am figuring in a 160 year old house it's highly possible to have such things. We had a spirit in a house we lived in 5 years ago, a very negative one (as well as a small harmless child one). And guess what? We don't live there anymore. In addition to this, it has an old rubble basement where laundry would need to be taken care of. Which obviously means we'd be making weekly trips to the mall to obtain new clothing as I would not be going down there. Ever. So here I'd be, all alone in an old, unfamiliar (with no one to blame spooky sounds on) potentially haunted house, with Mr. Pretties 45 minutes away in a town that we are completely unfamiliar with and know no one in. Do you see how this could pose a slight problem? I thought maybe we could get a dog (Australian Shepherd/St. Bernard, anyone?) and that would help... I think we need to give the house a weeks trial and see how that goes, think they'd mind if we just bunked in?

So. That's where we're at. Mr. Pretties and I are going to go check it out on Sunday, potentially without the LPs and see what the interior is really like, atleast if it's crap the issue'll be settled right there. But if it's loverly like I think (hope) it will be, we'll be back into deep discussion again. All discussions have been halted until that time (By Mr. Pretties. I on the other hand like to beat things to death by discussing the same points over and over, changing my mind, and rechanging my mind, then throwing my hands in the air and proclaiming it too stressful to discuss without a beverly. And then repeat. Like shampoo.) To most people my issues wouldn't be a concern at all. To me, they're huge. If we're (I'm) stuck alone in a haunted house there would be a lot of pant crapage going on, and since I wouldn't be entering the basement of doom to do anything about that situation, it could get ugly. I am such a freak. But other than the potential shiznit-fest that could take place when I'm left to my lonesome, it's perfect.

In the words of Clever Girl 'Le Sigh'

I'm Sorry...

2009-01-16T19:13:00.004-05:00

But how did I not know these rabbit existed?

Do you see how enormous it is?! It's a Flemish Giant Rabbit meaning it weighs upwards of 18-22lbs. For a little perspective check this out:

K? Yeah, it's the same size as that Collie. Oh. My. God. It could babysit the LPs!

Now how, you ask did I come across these monstrosities? Very simply, and accidentally, much like Garfield (The Fonz) and Cheddar. It's Kijiji's fault. Once in a while I happen to check out the 'live stock' section, you know, incase there's any pygmy goats or chickens for sale. You know, because I'm convinced that we're moving out to the country and we'll be able to have these things. But do you know what's better than wee goats and chickens? A giant rabbit. A breeder will have them ready in time for the spring. Can you imagine if the LPs got one for Easter?! Can you imagine how furious Mr. Pretties would be?! Maybe it could keep the cats in line. Or something. Apparently they can be litter box trained completely and don't really need to live in a cage at all. Except that I'd be worried about chewing wires and such.

I just cannot get over how huge they are. They're supposed to make fab pets (although the breeder is selling them for food since they reach up to 20+lbs) and are known as 'gentle giants'. The kids would be beside themselves with an enormous rabbit! Think how much money I'd save of chocolate this year? Hollow ducks? Who needs them!

Okay, okay. We all know who really wants the big bunny.

My Brain...

2009-01-14T21:09:00.003-05:00

...Feels like it is bleeding. I think perhaps I'm allergic to this -21 weather we're having. Or something. But bleeding brains aren't necessarily conducive to original posts. Not that a non bleeding brain is either. Or atleast mine in that case.

I'm not so much enjoying my Ebay trial right now. I hate answering 52,000 shipping questions, I hate having to package and ship things, and mostly I hate getting rid of things. Is there a way I could not answer questions, not have to package and ship, not get rid of anything but still have people deposit monies into my paypal account? Legally? Probably not, eh? It just doesn't feel like it's even worth the profits right now. Maybe because I'm tired and need to go to bed.

I think my headache is making me cranky instead of candy coated pink fluffy bunnies with sprinkles and sparkles today. I hate it when I'm cranky Mr. Pretties would tell you I am more often than not, but clearly he lies, he's just jealous of my rainbow unicorns and candy floss personality. Obviously. Have you noticed I've used the word hate more times in this post than the entire blog put together? Maybe we'll do a link share instead of ranting, mmmkay?

Need a neat group to view antiques, sound out selling ideas, get info, or whatever? Visit:

http://www.iantiqueonline.ning.com/

for the US and

http://www.antiquesandvintage.ning.com/

for Canada, although the US board is far more active.

This is a blog not on my sidebar list, but she totally cracks me up, she's got a unique and totally me sense of humour (you'd never know it from the blog, but our personalities are very similar, it's scary.)

http://blame-it-on-being-a-girl.blogspot.com/

And the ever popular Clever Girl for some light reading

http://www.clevergirlgoesblog.blogspot.com/

Enjoy and Goodnight (The Pretties can bed themselves can't they?)!

*Yes I see that this post is all jammed together. Thank Blogspot for sucking. I don't have the brain power to be editing the HTML right now like I usually do. Everyone thank Blogspot.

Unison: Thanks Blogspot... (Married With Children Style)

Simple Woman's Day Book...

2009-01-12T19:20:00.003-05:00

I think we'll do the Simple Woman's Day Book post today.

FOR TODAY January 12th, 2009

Outside My Window... It's dark out already, but it seems to have stopped snowing.
I am thinking... Hmm... I should really bust out my new pink machine and make some pin keeps...

I am thankful for... My three Little Pretties, they're truly a joy in my life. Sometimes a painful joy (kidding), but, a joy all the same.

From the kitchen... I can hear the bag of flour calling me, I need to bake a batch of ginger snaps.

I am wearing... My Pajamas. And my fuzzy robe. Don't judge me.

I am creating... Not a whole lot right now which is odd, but I've got loads of ideas! I've just been uber busy trying to sort this Ebay thing out.

I am going... To paint my toe nails, I'm sure you wanted to know all about that.

I am reading... Nothing right now, can you that too? Unless you count Kijiji... and the Ebay for Dummies book...

I am hoping... To go junking next week. I swear if I don't go weekly I go through withdrawal.

I am hearing... The LPs playing in their room. I'd love to say quietly, alas, that would be a lie.

Around the house... Are signs that the LP's live here. Play here. And make a major mess here. Ugh. Around the house I'll be hauling As... butt to get it straightened out again very shortly...

One of my favorite things... One word. Vintage. I am lurving me some vintage right now. Particularly kitchen items... Did I mention I bought a 50's pink Dolly Madison ice cream maker? Yeah, I did. Why? Because it was vintage. And pink.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Umm... is surviving a plan? If not I'm sort of fresh out of plans, well, aside from junking. And surviving. They kind of feed into each other you know...

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is a newly listed item on Kijiji. That a require. Immediately. I already have th perfect corner for it in my livingroom. Just waiting. Now all I need is the $300 to back it up. No problem. None at all...

Small Haul...

2009-01-09T16:38:00.009-05:00

I think Mr. Pretties would be a better husband if he retired. As you know (due to my lack of presence) Mr. Pretties was vacay for the last couple weeks and it seems that when he's not stressed/annoyed/tired from work he's actually much more into things I like to do. And as we all know I like to find me some old things and bring them on home and fill my house until there is absolutely no room for any person to actually live in it. Oh wait, that's what Mr. Pretties says. I like to think of it as more of a rescue mission if you will, finding 'forever homes' for primitive pretties. We'll go with my thoughts on this one.

This week we picked up this bow front (the front is bowed, it just never shows up in pictures) dresser from England, I love it because it's uber shabby chic, it's got some nice chippy paint and great molding, it's all dovetailed and cute:

We also picked up a small dairy set this week. We have an S.C.C. 4qt Jar Churner (for butter), two hand carved paddles and a laddle (well loved, clearly), and a butter press w/what I believe is an acorn mold on the bottom. I may be going back to purchase the small round 'wheat' mould.

(Yes I stole this photo, I'm not climbing the kitchen counters to get it back down again. Yes it's already on display. Yes I'm selling it. Mine doesn't have the red though, you can see all the gears)

Lastly, we grabbed a set of Victorian cast iron. One is to hang on the wall and slip your receipts over the pin, and the other is a bill/paper clip. Both are fabulously ornate and I'm really fighting myself to keep them.

Please note I have absolutely NO use for these items, I just want them. I think I have some kind of want disease that borders on hoarding, but we'll save that self diagnosis for another time...

I even bit the bullet and listed them on Ebay lastnight (click the pictures for proof!), I'll let you know how that goes. Right now they're on display on the top of our cupboards. Mr. Pretties says that's a sure sign that I'm not selling them. He is incorrect. As usual. I'm simply keeping them safe until they find a new home. Oh, except for the churner... that baby is so mine. Don't look at me like that, I have to keep it, it matches the milk crate and milk bucket we have...

I'm Dreaming of A Pink Christmas...

2009-01-07T20:14:00.005-05:00

I didn't share what I received for Christmas this year. You'll all be so happy because it means you'll never have to hear me curse it again. My sewing machine that is. Check out this cutie patootie:

How freaking adorable is that?! Do you know how much more adorable my creations will be now that my machine is pink?! Aunt Pretties bought it for me and I couldn't be more stoked about it. Ofcourse now I can't sleep at night because of the 50,000 ideas floating around in my head. And because my machine is pink, how could I possibly go on using the piece of green fabric I'd been using as a pin keep? The hell you say! So I had to obtain this tiny piece of wool deliciousness:

And although I find it's stick pin 'tail' most appealing, with the LPs under foot I can't have that. I also can't have a bird sans tail, so I purchased a bunch of fluffy black (there was no white, and the beak is black, so lets just say it matches for now) feathers to stick in instead. I also came across these:

Seriously now? Are those not so entirely adorable? I thought so. I haven't bought any yet, but I will. How can I stick those offensive little yellow pins in that adorable pink bird when there is this type of shabby chic alternative? That's what I thought...

So it was indeed a pink Christmas, which is fab because I'm all about pink Christmas. And birthdays. And anniversaries. Oh, and Valentine's Day even though we (Mr. Pretties) think it's lame ;)

What do you get that was fab this year?

Waking Up Is Hard To Do...

2009-01-06T19:48:00.006-05:00

So we were back to preschool this morning. Have I mentioned that I hate getting up to go to preschool? Seriously. I've already done my 16 years of getting up for school, I'm totally over that, why am I having to do it again?! Keep in mind this is only two mornings a week, next year when we're dealt a full five day week there will be some serious posts dedicated to this very delicate topic. That's fair warning.

I guess preschool was pretty intense today as BLP who is all anti nap now asked me if she could take one this afternoon. Who am I to say no? Particularly when that means I catch catch 40 winks... Four hours later she wakes up. Four. Hours. (I'm not complaining, personally I'm all about marathon naps) She comes into my bedroom with LLP trailing behind and climbs into my bed, covering herself up (Oh no BLP, it's totally okay that you just sabotaged my bed after I went ahead and made it all hospital style, for the third time today, no, don't worry about it at all. Oh wait, you're not.) LLP starts yaking away at her and BLP turns to her, and in her most weak and pathetic voice she says 'Oh LLP, just let me lay here for a few minutes, I just need some quiet' and flops her head back on the pillow with her arm over her eyes. Clearly she inherited this dramatic personality from Mr. Pretties, since it wouldn't be from me. Obviously.

Since my camera is out of batteries once again, I forgot to copy and paste my new items pictures from Kijiji before they were deleted, and my plans to purchase a new pink Sony were foiled (I will have one early this year, I'm telling you), I shall share some recent pictures of the LPs.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to coordinate three children in a photo? I think giving birth to them was a far easier task then try to get them to sit together without making goofy faces, closing their eyes, walking away mid picture, or crying (I don't like it when they cry either, it doesn't help).

Little girl's crack me up. From the time two sisters can verbalize they function on two phases. 1. I hate you, I don't want to play with you, go away, I'm telling Mommy. and 2. I love you, you're my best friend, let's go catch butterflies and chase rainbows while holding hands. These two functions can fluctuate by the second, so beware!

Just one of the guys... err... cats... Please note that LBP weighs a whopping 18lbs + now and is only now reaching the same girth as Wilma. She's very sensitive about her weight though, so we simply refer to it as 'festively plump'... whatever works Wilma... and she does not touch people food so we're not so sure what that's about. That is kind of a goobery picture of the LBP but the one I wanted I can't find and I have a sneaking suspicion that that creep the camera ate it. *Sigh* your day is coming camera, you just wait...

I will post stuff pictures soon, as in, maybe tomorrow.

And I'm Back

2009-01-05T18:14:00.002-05:00

Things are no returning to normal, well as normal as anything can be in the Pretties household...

Anywho... This was the first year that the BLP actually 'got it' about Christmas, which made it loads more exciting than previous years. Christmas eve we went to take the LPs to look at the Christmas lights, you know, like one of those family things I'm always attempting. Ten minutes into the drive we arrive at a heavily lit area, and it went like this:

Me: Guys look at the lights! Wow, aren't they pretty?! Santa will love those for sure!

LPs in Unison: ZzZzZzZz *snort* ZzZzZzZz...

Me: Guys? Hey, guys... GUYS!!! Ahh come. on. !

LPs still in unison: ZzZzZzZzZz....

*Sigh* thanks guys.
So, Mr. Pretties and I grabbed a coffee and a tea and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a little while. They'd perk up once we get home, no big deal, right? Wrong. They were lifeless little sacks of potatos once in the driveway too. I made a concentrated effort to wake them up so we could do stockings, Santa cookies, etc... No dice. Right off to bed they went. Not even a fight. Not even a glass of freaking water to be asked for! Honestly, when I absolutely need them to go to bed, as in like I need air to breath, it's the equivalent to trying to wrestle down two well greased exersize balls (size large at that) at the very same time while doing the limbo on hot coals. When I expect them to stay up this is what I get? Where did I go wrong?!

So I wrapped the presents, did the stockings, wrote letters from Santa, with my left hand ofcourse, left out a half eaten ginger snap w/ carefully orchastrated crumbs and a sudsy empty bottle of Mr. Pretties work brand crap beer (combined effort with Mr. Pretties. Obviously). We got to bed at 2am.

Now, if you were to ask the LPs what they got for Christmas this is what they'd tell you:

Person: So, did Santa bring you presents this year?

LPs: Yup!

Person: What did he bring?

LPs: Presents!

Person: What kind of persents?

*ready for this?*

LPs: Red ones!!!

I digress. This is from the same children that found some of those styrofoam squares wrapped in foil with a bow from some ancient wreath and said:

'Santa was came already!'

*Opening foil*

'Wowwwww..... (Total amazement here people) Santa brought me a square!!!'

Good. Lord. It totally cracked me up though.

Now that I've shared more about my kids in one post than I have in my entire blog, I shall save my 'haul' post for tomorrow. I did some shopping. Again. Mr. Pretties is arranging removal of Kijiji viewing from our computer as we speak.

Beverlys Anyone?

2009-01-01T23:27:00.003-05:00

As I was checking my email lastnight I had someone email us about 'that piece of crap' - Mr. Pretties They offered me, are you ready for this, $1200. Wth?! They said they could grab it the end of the weekend.

Mmmkay then, I'm thinking someone just happen to be having themselves a few (or many) beverlys, just a few hours too soon lastnight... I'll keep you posted, but I'm 100% positive that in their clearly highly drunken state they meant to type $12. Goofballs. It gave us a good laugh though!

In the mean time, doesn't it look cute in our kitchen?

How Does This Stuff Find Me?

2008-12-30T22:13:00.005-05:00

Mr. Pretties, The LPs and I were taking a drive this evening. It also happens to be garbage night (these two events are not related btw) when we drove past this at the curb:

It's a piece of architectural salvage. From what? I have no clue. Ofcourse I asked Mr. Pretties to turn around, and pull over on a main road so that I could take a closer look. Arc. Salvage is huge around here, I think I may save myself the hassle and just sell it right to a dealer. It is heavy as sin, my. god. I lifted it and then started laughing because it was so ridiculously heavy, which made it all the more worse because ofcourse now I'm going to drop it while trying to get it into the Buick and dent Mr. Pretties car, then thinking that made me laugh harder. It did infact get into the trunk though with no major incidences. Who picks this stuff up? Honestly?

My Sweetheart Has A First Name...

2008-12-29T22:19:00.005-05:00

It's A-N-T-I-Q-U-E... My Sweetheart Has A Second Name

It's T-R-U-N-K...

Mr. Pretties and I (ahahaha I say Mr. Pretties like he's part of the active search mwahahaha) have been searching for the trunk for years. Literally. I've seen many I liked, believe you me, but none that took my breath away (Seriously, you'd be surprised how many old pieces do that too me... you should hear me searching Kijiji and Ebay it sounds like someone's continuously taking their last breath at the computer). I lied. There was one, it was a puny little thing that was very ornate and adorable. Great shape and we could have got a fantastic deal. Not to mention I'd been checking Aberfoyle all summer to see if it was 'still there'. Alas at purchase time Mr. Pretties and I got in a raucous which lead to me stalking off over dramatically and waiting in the car in true spoiled brat style. Hey, don't you judge me, you don't live with Mr. Pretties. Ofcourse the following weekend when we went up to purchase it it was no longer. Murphey's Law. I'll be honest, a few tears were shed over that one.

But as I was stalking (Yes, that's what you call it when you have RSS feed on Kijiji) Kijiji lastnight I came across that beauty dated between 1880 and 1915, at a fabulous deal, in wicked great condition (only missing the trays). We hopped in the car first thing this morning and picked it up from it's home over an hour away. Love. It. As we were hauling it home Mr. Pretties said the silliest thing: 'You're taking that to Aberfoyle, right? You should be able to make a nice profit off that one!' Rriigghhhtttt... for sure I'm going to sell it... to myself. I'm definitely going to sell it after a life long search for my sole mate in wood. Please. Maybe I'll sell Mr. Pretties. He is an antique after all...

A New Vice In Life...

2008-12-28T18:29:00.003-05:00

... I require buttons. Lots and lots of buttons. Vintage and antique buttons ofcourse. Do you have any idea how insane this makes Mr. Pretties? And no, I didn't start obtaining them simply for that purpose, I can do that well enough all by myself without the props ;)

I just happened to be junking. Again. And as I was making my way to the pillow case section, to get myself some vintage linens no doubt, I saw a huge bag full of buttons. Now, a normal person is saying 'Yuh huh... so?' and they would have kept on walking. Not me, I snatched up that bag like it was a bag of gold and there was a line of gold diggers standing behind me. The older lady standing there checking out the vintage patterns looked at me like I was nuts. Which, ofcourse, I am. Clearly. I then walked over to Mr. Pretties with a big stupid grin on my face and proudly showed him my loot. I believe he said something along the lines of 'Riiigghhhtttt.... and you're buying that? I'm not even going to ask why. Nope I'm just not going to...' and walked away. Quickly.

I sorted them lastnight and there were 1236 buttons. Some were glass, some ceramic, possibly some bakelite and celluloid. Some were so old they were no longer round, which is so sweet, it's like someone kept sewing those little sweethearts onto blouse after blouse until they were too small for the button holes after years of fingers buttoning them. That makes me feel all warm inside... I spent two hours just sorting them, examining them and totally loving on them. I totally get how people collect them.

I've now won three ebay auctions for some Victorians and some fabulous cameos, I cannot wait to get them. I'll post pictures soon, I don't need Mr. Pretties wary glance as he sees me busting out 'those stupid buttons' to take pictures of them. Especially since I don't take his picture or anything...

Have I shared my need to open an antique shop eventually? I've now decided that I would love to get some antique candy jars from the old sweet shoppes and have the buttons sorted some how (haven't decided yet...) and have them in the big old jars with little metal scoops, customers can then scoop (or pick, lets be realistic, there'll definitely be some picking going on) the buttons into old fashioned paper bags and weigh them on the antique scale (as we'll be selling them by weight ofcourse) like you see in the bulk stores. Wouldn't that be fun? Now I just need some old jars. And a scale. And, well, a shop would be helpful too...

*Sigh*

So that's were we've been at lately. Christmas was lovely, magical, loud, and I'm glad it's over. It's so nice to not have to be rushing around, cursing at Mr. Pretties about things we still have yet to pick up, cleaning the house, cleaning the house, reprimanding the LPs for sabotaging my continuous cleaning efforts, and, my lack of interneting as been unfortunate. Have I mentioned Mr. Pretties is on vacay and is absorbing a lot of my time again? He is, and he has. It's really rather selfish of him, I know, I've told him. He doesn't care. Luckily this coming week is his last one.

From My Family To Yours...

2008-12-24T11:03:00.005-05:00

And if you have some free time today (hahaha, right) take a few and watch this, it always makes me laugh.

Cute Idea...

2008-12-22T19:48:00.005-05:00

That I stole. Clearly.

And since I stole it, I will also link to it. This is the Nesters take on cute little take along:

I love this idea! It's so simple, so yummy, and totally adorable. So adorable in fact that I went out and scored myself a cheese dome just like that ;) I also have red peppers and pectin on my shopping list (Read: Mr. Pretties shopping list, I don't do groceries) meaning that I shall be making some Red Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese, some fancy crackers, an Apple Pie and a Bottle of wine for the land people. I will most definitely be using some ragamuffin strips too. Obviously. Although I renamed the ragamuffin strips 'Ribbonie Tumblie Fluff Fluffs' because there is something wrong upstairs. When I used those words to describe that little pile of scrappy adorableness on Nesters dome Mr. Pretties nearly turned the car around and drove straight to the closest mental health facility. No imagination is his problem.

I just wanted to share that simply sweet (and most importantly, yummy) idea with you all. It wasn't even an original idea, how sad am I? Mr. Pretties is on vacay for the next two weeks though, and we all know how that eats up blogging time. Two words for you Santa. Net. Book. Then I could pretend to be participating in a conversation, family time, whatever, but really be blogging away.

Dearest Santa...

2008-12-18T14:06:00.004-05:00

I've been a very good girl this year, well, except for that time... oh, yeah, and then there was that time... okay, okay let's not get into that just now. We all know I was mostly good this year. No Santa, it is not bad to buy an old piece of furniture and tell Mr. Pretties I paid way lots less for it than I actually did. That's called the healthy approach to a happy relationship. Honestly, you should try it! Does Mrs. Clause know how much you paid for that red suede and white mink suit? Huh?! Uh huh, that's what I thought...

Moving right along here... For Christmas I would like:

1. Sony eBook Reader
2. Sony eBook Store Gift Card - Unlimited Please
3. One Pink NetBook. I'm not picky on brands or anything, so long as it's pink and will surf the net in true WiFi style I'm good to go.
4. An email from someone who'd love nothing more than to adopt a cat that likes to randomly pee everywhere. You know, because I sort of can't deal with this anymore... Help a girl out here!
5. An antidote for the 'Ass Kicking Eeyore' disease Mr. Pretties seems to have caught and can't rid himself of.
6. A straight jacket for LLP. It's for her own safety, obviously.

That is all. Merry Christmas Santa, and keep an eye out for your cookies and beer, I'll leave them beside the fireplace. Oh and sorry about the cheap beer, but you know, Mr. Pretties works at the brewery and that's what we get. I know, I know, slim pickings Santa, but I'll bake the cookies myself ;)

Thanks Santa.

Love, Jenn

Ps. I snatched that picture because at first glance it was cute... now it's kind of afraid, it looks like he's going to choke the sleeping little ones... Nice one Santa... Geez...

Wow...

2008-12-18T13:44:00.005-05:00

Did you know there's such a thing as a NetBook? Not a NoteBook computer, no no, a NetBook Wifi Computer. And if you were aware of this piece of totally cute technologies existance why didn't someone inform me?

I was all browsing the flyers this afternoon as Aunt Pretties has the two LPs for the afternoon and I found myself having five minutes to myself. So as I was browsing I came across the Staples ad. That's about as exciting to me as the Sobey's ad. Yippee. Total sarcasm by-the-way. But, I saw what I thought was a cheap notebook (I'm trying to talk Mr. Pretties into purchasing one so I can utilize our WiFi net capabilities, furthering my steps to moonlight blogging) and as I look closer I discover it's a NetBook. A computer specifically for the net! Have I ever told you that that is all I use my computer for? I never use it for word processing or the like because this computer is garbage, I do all that at Aunt Pretties. My favorite part? This:

It comes in pink. It's small, pink, and it can allow me to blog, research, and email. Fantastic. That's all I need. Now from my pitance of knowledge on the PDA horizon, this is really not any different than, say, a Black Berry, but for some reason I just want it 5,000 times more. Maybe it's because it's pink. I just think this is so cool. In two days I've come across two pieces of technology that would improve my life ten fold. I suppose I could read ebooks on my Netbook, but come on, who wants to miss out on the whole eInk experience? Surely not I.

Greatest. Invention. Ever.

2008-12-17T19:18:00.006-05:00

Seriously.

I don't do technology for the most part. I don't own an mp3 player, and I don't want to. My cellphone is uncharged and dead somewhere, I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for it. And I don't care. We don't have a GPS. We've debated it, but, we like getting lost. It's sort of our thing. We don't have portable DVD players either. Infact, we don't even have cable *Insert shocked face here* but we usually don't for the summer because we're either never home, or never ever in the house to watch it. In the winter we're just like everyone else and obviously I'm a big fan of HGTV, Antiques Roadshow, and the like. Also, we all know I have an unquenchable need for a pink Dell laptop. Aside from that I thought I'd beaten technology for the most part (A computer is considered technology anymore, is it?)

Until today that is.

Meet my new best friend:

Group, say hello to the Sony eBook Reader.

I'd heard of Amazon's Kindle, but for $360 US+ I didn't look into it too closely. You also cannot use it in Canada. The Sony eBook Reader is a mere $200-$250 and does practically the same thing.

I'll give the Kindle thumbs up for it's totally cool wifi capabilities... but, for us 'poor' folks, I think I can handle plugging my Reader into my computer to download books, newspapers, oh, and most importantly, blogs. It can also store around 160 ebooks. Amazing. The Sony eBook preview store (You use the actual software to download your books) is fantastic. It has any book you could ever imagine, and even some that you couldn't! I could easily see why you would need space for 160 ebooks!

I'm a huge reader and am forever having to listen to Mr. Pretties complain because there's a 3' stack of books on my bedside table, dresser, on top of the fridge, on the mantel, in his drawers, etc... do you know how much time this would save him?! He'd have to find a whole entire other entity to complain about to fill the void this would create! You also save approx. 10% on your book purchases from the eBook store.

I knew you could download books, but sitting at the computer trying to read totally didn't appeal to me at. all. But, the Kindle and the Reader have 'paper technology' so that looking at the screen is almost identical to looking at a page and not a screen at all. I'm sorry, but how amazing is that? If you see the pictures online of the screen you'll see what I mean. It's seriously like looking at a piece of paper. I get migraines from reading too much on a screen and I think I could totally handle this. You can also adjust the size of the text so that it's just right for you (or me. Obviously). Fabbity fab I tell you!

This is truly what I want for this Christmas, Easter, my Anniversary, my Birthday, etc... Now if they could throw in a Black Berry so that I could blog during the night, that would be even better. I'm sure they can arrange that....

Big Sigh

2008-12-16T21:17:00.005-05:00

Honestly, you'd be amazed how healing 30 minutes of absolute quiet can be. Seriously. It can take screeching banshees, demolition salvage, and frayed nerves and turn them into fluttering butterflies, a spa retreat, and total relaxation. Ahh....

Kidding. Sort of.

The LP's are sound asleep in their beds. My house is trashed from ten hours of LP-palooza, but I'm okay with that. For atleast the next ten minutes anyway, then I have to snap to it and restore this house to it's original lustre. Or atleast make it look half decent. Whatever. But, in my improved mood it's made me feel busting out the camera and sharing my apron finds, which may or may not have fueled a new and unhealthy addiction...

This one is really cute, it's sheer organza with a vintage apple print. So cute.

There's just something about this one that I really like. It's so crisp and neat, and the colours are really relaxing. Can't you picture someone's mom or grandma in the kitchen baking a pie in this?

I was going to share my vintage linen pillowcases too, but they sort of need to be ironed. A lot. Especially after sitting in the dryer all night, and, I'm not really in the ironing kind of mood... that really only happens once a year and it's already happened for this current fiscal year thanks.

I'm Just Not Funny Today...

2008-12-16T18:20:00.007-05:00

... Or as Mr. Pretties would say, anyday, except we all know that's not true. I really wanted to do a humour filled post today, but, that's just not going to happen.

As it happens, LLP has become a source of stress for me. She makes me want to run away from home. Not that I would. Obviously. LLP likes to climb. Alot. She likes to colour. But only on things that aren't paper or otherwise intended for colouring. She likes to do funny things like cover my bedroom mirror in bum paste, colour on our nice white fridge with black and brown permanent marker, and cover herself and my tables in Caesar salad dressing.

Now, I know you're saying:

'That's terrible, but Jenn, where are you when this is taking place?'

That's a very good question, I'm glad you asked. As it happens I also have LBP and BLP that require my time, attention, and my advanced skills as a nappy changer. I also have to do laundry on occasion, say, 10 times a day. Totally no big deal though. In addition, LLP is fast. Very fast. In the time it took me to change LBPs nappy (one of those super fab ones that goes all the way up the back, my personal favorite) LLP had managed to push a stool up to the counter, dump my apple cider mix all over the counter, run into the hall and dump fist fulls of cat litter on the floor (ick), and fetch the dressing out of the fridge and douse herself, the floor, and my coffee table in it. Completely. Seriously. And since she is also extremely quiet (sneaky?) I'm usually totally unsuspecting until BAM! there it is, my house, sabotaged.

To say she drives me insane is an under statement lately. She requires her own parental team that has nothing to do but follow her around all day and then sit outside her bedroom door at night (She likes to do some night wandering, what can I say?).

We have more locks on things in this house than I ever knew they made. Did you know they make microwave locks and toilet lid locks? I had no idea, and quite frankly, I was enjoying my ignorance regarding the lock situation. Now I have to turn combos, fit keys, push and pull, push and turn, and my current fav, push, pull and swear. Repeatedly. All this just to get some freaking Lysol wipes out of the cupboard, go to the potty, or nuke a bottle. This makes me very unhappy and saps the majority of my energy (ahahaha, that would be if I had any to begin with).

This series of events is usually followed up by Mr. Pretties coming home wanting to know why he isn't walking into a reenactment of the 50's completed with me waiting by the door ready to light his cigarette, hand him a martini, serve him a hot roast, and read him the bloody newspaper. I may own vintage pieces, I may have a love affair with all things vintage, hey, I may even be vintage (I am by the way), but I do not live in a vintage era. Sorry about your lucky. I find myself frequently sending him back to work at night just to look for the reality he's clearly misplaced somewhere along the way.

Ahh... Sweet Sweet Remedy...

2008-12-15T13:50:00.003-05:00

... The situation has been remedied. Apparently it was all a big confusion/misunderstanding and there is no need to part with antiques. Except for my Jelly Cupboard, but that's okay it went to a much nicer home than mine ;)

Infact, so remedied is my situation that we went junking this morning and picked up some embroidered vintage linens, tables runners, and some really cute vintage aprons. Love them. Once I have them all cleaned up I'll be posting pictures.

Just so you can see how nuts I really am.

Locked In...

2008-12-13T17:29:00.004-05:00

... The bathroom.

*Snort*

As I was waking up from my nap I heard the tell tale sounds of someone locked in the bathroom.

*Turn, turn, turn-turn-turn-turn *

*#*%$#!*

yank, yank, yank-yank-yank-yank*

*Damn it!*

Followed by Mr. Pretties telling LLP to 'go get Mommy'.

Sure enough, Mr. Pretties has some how managed to lock himself in the bathroom. Uh huh. In his defense the bathroom lock is finicky, to say the least. So it was single handedly my job to get him out. We throw out all metal coat hangers so that wasn't an option (We will save one token one from now on), no nail was long enough, Mr. Pretties doesn't allow me to keep ice picks in the house, for various reasons ofcourse...
So, we had the following discussion through the door.

Mr. Pretties: Go downstairs and look for a coat hanger or something...

Me: Sure, I'll be right back. *Walks to computer, sits down and surfs Kijiji. Walks back bathroom door* Nope, no coat hangers down there!

Mr. Pretties: *&^%$)! Okay, can you slip a knife under the door?

Me: You're going to kill yourself just because you're locked in the bathroom? Don't you dare, I can't wrangle these three solo -

Mr. Pretties: I JUST NEED TO GET THESE SCREWS OUT! SCREW DRIVER! STAT!

Me: Okay, okay. Jeez... *Get self a drink... check on LBP who's nap was undisturbed... take some Tylenol... grab butter knife fling it under door* Here you are my sweet!

About 30 minutes later a knob, accompanied by a broken door knob, emerged from the bathroom prison. I have to say I was more than a little disappointed... Kidding... Mostly...

My Name Is Jenn...

2008-12-11T17:36:00.006-05:00

... And I'm an old furniture-a-holic...

*Hi Jenn...*

*Jenn, is there anything you'd like to share with the group today?*

'You know Pam, I think there is. My husband sent me to this group to seek out the support of people with the same type problems as me an-'

*Jenn, old furniture hording is not a problem, it's simply a personality quirk that you have to work to control*

'Oh Right, I know that, totally not a problem at all. To me anyway. This week alone I've tried to talk my husband into allowing me to purchase the following:'

Antique Black Dress w/o Mirror (I have a twin to this) that I've convinced I could find an appropriate mirror for ($45):

Antique Hutch/Server w/peeling veneer. Bowed front glass. I think it would be fabulous stripped, painted antique white w/glass knobs ($55):

And atleast 10 other items that there are no longer pictures of. Notice the prices are quite reasonable. Also notice that I am not a driver. If I were I would not be discussing these purchases with Mr. Pretties prior to bringing them home. As it stands though, Mr. Pretties must consent to go with me to pick these items up, and, well, if he thinks we have too much furniture, no room, or something entirely ridiculous like that, then I lose.

Part of our problem is, say, take the server. Our conversation mostly goes like this:

Me: Mr. Pretties, check out this server, isn't it fabulous?!

MP: Uh... it's all chipped and it's that veneer that you don't like...

Me: *Dramatic sigh* I know that, it would need to be stripp-

MP: When do you have time to strip it?! Where are you going to put it while it's being done?! Do you know how to strip furniture because I don't!

Me: Ofcourse I know how (I could look it up, ask the landman, sand it all off... whatever) and I'd find time, it could go in the basement for now.

MP: Uh... Jenn? WE CAN'T MOVE IN THE BASEMENT AS IT IS!

Me: So?

MP: I'm going outside to have a smoke. Please don't talk to me about servers anymore.

Me: Whatever (We will be discussing this later my friend... you just wait...)

Is it my fault we have ten pieces of antique furniture in our 10x10 dining room and can't walk in it? Okay, it probably is, but I plan to have a big house one day, so it's totally acceptable. If only Mr. Pretties could 'see' things the way I do before we purchase them then he could see how that server would make a marvelous shabby chic piece and would be all over it for a mere $55. He lacks imagination though. Now if I told him I could buy it, strip it, paint it, flip it and profit $100 - $150 he'd be all over it. Men.

By the way, the black desk/vanity (I think we decided it was a vanity) has now found it's forever home :) I know someone would love it, that's exactly why I rescued it from the thrift shop and slapped on a new coat of paint and performed sticker removal, so it could be all purdy for it's new owners.

I'm sweet like that.

Could I Order A Dish of Peace...

2008-12-10T20:36:00.004-05:00

... With a side of quiet?

Ugh.

Today was just one of those days. Seriously.

I don't even have any funny left to discuss in some kind of humorous way. I'm fresh out of funny just now.

*Electrician that I did. not. know. was coming showed up at 7:45am this morning. This does not make me happy.

*Electrician makes 10 holes in my freshly painted kitchen in order to fashion an additional outlet we do not require.

*Electrician trashes and monopolized my kitchen from 8am-6pm, resulting in me becoming highly annoyed. And they get to come back again tomorrow.

*Electrician asks if they're inconveniencing us today by being there... Uh... of course not, doesn't everyone love trying to feed three kids and a husband in a kitchen full of ladders/tools/fallen plaster/dust/men/etc... ?

*LPs utilize their nap time to pull all clothing from dressers

*LLP throws litter out of the cat box. This would have severed my last nerve. If I still had one at this point.

*Mr. Pretties decides we need to erect the Christmas tree, the real Christmas tree. Swearing and cursing ensued.

*I have The Laryngitis. Thus, I have no voice. Do you know how hard it is to use your mommy voice when you no longer have one? On top of that, the kids think it's a riot? I could not cut it as a mute, it provokes rage in me like no other.

*The Fonz has eaten something that is causing him to foam at the mouth. At this point in the day I don't even care...

Needless to say, the LPs have been hauled to bed two hours early (They go to bed late, so I'm not being mean), the house is reassembled, my voice is shot, and I hear the bath tub calling my name, in addition, in the words of Mamalicious 'I think I need a beverly...'.

Clearly.

Am I A Desk, Or A Vanity...

2008-12-09T14:14:00.006-05:00

... You decide...

Okay for those who're emailing asking me what I'm talking about here's the back story:

Mr. Pretties and I went junking this morning :)

BLP went to preschool this morning, LLP went to Aunt Pretties for the morning, and LBP is no problem at all, he's like not having anyone in the car at all. So, in our peaceful and quieted state we (I) decided to go junking at the thrift store.

This desk/vanity is what we (I) came up with, for a mere $5.

I'm not sure as of yet whether I'll flip it (at a reasonable price, clearly) or keep it... Mr. Pretties says flip it for extra Christmas money, I say 'wouldn't this look fabulous in the kitchen under that black shelf thing?!'

And so it goes...

I'll list it and we'll go from there.

If no one wants it, well, I guess I'll just have to keep it.

And put it in the kitchen.

Darn.

Front

(Top drawer is rounded and 'in' more than the rest and the stickers are currently being removed)

Side

You can see how it's 'in' at the top and how it's constructed

Front of drawers

(That's a water drop, not a key hole) and castors with scallops along that bottom wooden strip.

Julie - Do you have any idea? I'm thinking vanity because of the 'mirror ledge' but what era?

Oldie But Goodie...

2008-12-08T21:01:00.004-05:00

... Thanks Julie!

That's what I was thinking...

Love...

2008-12-07T18:07:00.008-05:00

... Cordelia's Cottage located in San Diego, CA

This blog is about a couple who own an antique shop. Need I say more?

I thought not.

Besides living my own personal dream, they have fabulous things like this:

And their shop is adorable like this:

And like this:

And she suggests fantastic books like Cottages by the Sea by Linda Leigh Paul where you can see amazing little cottages like this:

Cordelia's Cottage will now be living on our sidebar, because anyone who reads this blog will love that blog as much as I do. Even though I can't actually buy anything... Hmm... maybe they ship?

Apparently they do ship. Worldwide infact... I stumbled across their Ebay store this evening, you know, because I'm a stalker like that... Hey, we already knew that, so don't be all making those 'Omg...' eyes at me. Anyways... If you're a stalker too... I mean interested here's the link:

Cottage Antiques on Ebay

PSA Re: 'The Camel'...

2008-12-06T21:56:00.004-05:00

... Toe that is...

I interrupt our usually pink and fluffy posting for this very important PSA.

Dear Giant Tiger Shopper;

When you're trying on pants, and the viewing mirrors are on the outside of the change rooms please don't loudly broadcast to your mother, sister, and friend that you believe said pants give you a camel toe. Seriously. If you find yourself making this public faux pas please do not further embarrass yourself by asking your mother if she knows what a camel toe is. And, sadly, if all else fails, please do not try to remedy the situation by following it up with 'Well, it's not that big of a camel toe...' while carefully examining your crotchal area in the tri-fold mirrors in the middle of ladies wear.

Honestly.

By the way, this is not the type of camel toe in question, clearly, since this camel toe is cute:

So Sweet...

2008-12-04T18:05:00.003-05:00

...and simply genius. Seriously. I caught this on The Whole Caboodle from InchMark and it is so genius I feel like a complete moron for not owning a brain capable of coming up with this kind of cuteness. The picture alone is complete adorable:

So now you're saying 'yeah, totally cute jar... but why is it full of litter...' It's totally not full of litter at all. In fact, it's full of all the hilarious/adorable/unforgettable (until you forget 10 seconds later) things you children say each day. I don't know about you, but the LP's say some pretty jar worthy things each day. Then again they definitely say some UN-jar worthy things too...

However...

Like how about the time... yeah... I'd have to get up and look in my memory jar in order to fill you in on that one... Don't look at me like that, I do remember the LP's saying cute, hilarious, and no doubt embarrassing things, but, they're all being loud right now and my brain can't think under loud circumstances.

That explains a lot doesn't it?

MmmHmm... Oh go get you a memory jar and leave me alone (Don't really, then I'd be talking to myself. I do enough of that already...)

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days...

2008-12-02T00:26:00.006-05:00

Garfield will now be known as:

The Fonz... Aka Fonzie

Check the thumbs, are they not brothers from another mother?

Aaaayh!

That's what I thought.

Can Your Brain Be Used As A BlackBerry...

2008-12-01T17:22:00.005-05:00

...You know, because you can use a BlackBerry as a brain and all.

Do you know how fab this blog would be if I had one? For some reason, whether it be alcohol consumpsion, medication, or 30 seconds of complete relaxation and quiet, but before I fall alseep I come up with the most inspired posts you'll never read. Seriously.

I think up these great posts and then I'm like 'Wow... that was an amazing post, if I hadn't just thought I wouldn't think my brain capable of such guiness in it's purest form... I would win the hypathetical Nobel Peace Blog Prize for that... I should get out of bed and go type it... Right now... Am I there yet?

ZzZzZzZzZzZz....'

Yeah I'm awesome like that.

So if you want to blame the blogs recent suckiness on something, blame in on my lack of a BlackBerry. Between that and a Pink Dell I just don't have the completely necessary tools to come up with fabness.
Instead, you'll have to listen to my Kijiji rants, my need for old crap I have absolutely no room for, and the top 50 list of things Mr. Pretties does to annoy me.

Like scratch his chest hair.

I can. not. stand that sound.

*Shudder*

See what I mean?

Twins... Or Not...

2008-11-28T14:10:00.008-05:00

EDIT: Twin WashStands = DENIED

What is with people selling things before I see them?! That's not how it's supposed to be at all! But the seller did email me and said 'I'm sorry, it's already sold, for the full asking price even, I'm surprised!' (I told him I'd pay full price, so I didn't lose out because I was bartering) So that kind of made me laugh, for three reasons:

1. He called it an 'Old Cabinet' (It's clearly an antique washstand)
2. He sold it for $40 and thought he hosed someone (In actuality it's worth $100+ and he got hosed)
3. He said 'It may even be antique, but it's old' (It absolutely is an antique, say, 80 or 90 years old...)

So what does someone like me do in the face of a situation like that? I kindly email them back and tell them in a sticky-sweet way that I hope the buyer enjoys their ANTIQUE WASHSTAND because they got a ridiculously good deal on it!

I'm passive aggressive like that.

Was it necessary? Not at all. I kind of feel bad actually, in a not-really-kind-of-way...
Am I always like that? Amost Never. Seriously. I'm the least confrontational person you'll ever meet.

But I really, really needed it. It was one of those few occasions Mr. Pretties actually agreed with me (about needing another piece of furniture, not about emailing the seller, he thought that was rude, that from Mr. Rude himself...) I almost felt a tear when he sold it, how sad is that?! I never do that.

Alas, another X for Kijiji.

Remember when I was talking about the wash stand Mr. Pretties broke the doors on? Perfect.

Black-Painted-Washstand, say hello to Original-Finish-Washstand, your long lost twin.

Even the hardware is the same, except we're obviously idiots and have ours on upside down... And yes, Black-Painted-Washstands doors only had one knob like that too. They only want $40 for it. I hope someone hasn't bought it because I'm all about having things the same... Mr. Pretties will not be thrilled about this concept. Then again he wasn't thrilled about 'Franken-Buick' either which was a genius idea. Clearly. (Have I told you about that one? I'll have too look and see, if not I will because it was a fabulous concept)

If this has been sold I will cry. Seriously. And please note I have NO place for this to go, I do NOT need it, and it does NOT match anything we have. Motive? To have identical twin washstands... Don't look at me like that, I've been very upfront about my , let's say, quirkiness...

Without Further Delay...

2008-11-27T18:35:00.004-05:00

... Tea anyone?

MmmKay... well it looks about 500,000x better in person... Seriously it looks all cute and cozy and tea like. Here it looks like a white table with ugly chair pads. Not so. It's not quite done yet either, the frames aren't all filled yet, a mirror is going above that stool on the right and to the left behind that wall is a fireplace covered in cuties. There's also a big tall window beside that. If I get my vintage cabinet it'll go under those frames.

I wish I had the before pictures, I just took dining room pictures last week and they got deleted off the camera because I figured 'When am I ever going to need these?!' Good one. It's not that it looks so much better as it just looks so different.

Here's the photo wall up close. Those are both mine and Mr. Pretties' family. It's totally not done and I will paint that frame at the top ;)

How great is this chair?! Could it be any crappier, chippier, or old? I think not! It's actually the only one like that, the other two are plain. Can't you just picture some farmer sitting on it having his grits and a biscuit?!

I'm going to leave this post at that. I'm still having Kijiji issues and it's making me almost not want to deal through the site anymore, I think there are a lot of safety flaws. It's way too easy for someone to have multiple accounts with multiple names and if you say no to an offer they can email you from the other and get your address, etc... and show up anyway. No thanks.

I just scrolled back up, I cannot believe how crappy that picture looks. I think it's our crappy camera and it's wussy 6mp resolution or what it is. Trust me, IRL it looks cute. Real cute...

Remember This...

2008-11-26T15:12:00.005-05:00

Yes? Good.

Do you remember I was purchasing it for $75, had arranged to pick it up and then all of a sudden the seller disappeared and the ad was deleted?

Yes? Perfect.

Well as I was surfing Kijiji this afternoon I see this:

Hmm... Look familiar? I thought so too...

Except now it's a 'Shabby Chic Antique Dresser' for $160.

Rrriigghhhttt.... Now, in all fairness that dresser is really worth much closer to $160 than $75, but that doesn't give you permission to be a dick about it and stand people up just because you weren't smart enough to know what your piece was worth before listing. Just saying.

Now, what lesson did we learn today?

If you want to sell something white/cream and/or old, make sure to list it as 'Shabby Chic' (aka old and crappy - which I lurve) and it will undoubtedly up your pieces worth by atleast 50%.

Are you thinking I:

A) have too much time on my hands and
B) need to take a break from Kijiji? Me too. Seriously.
I feel like I'm working in retail all over again with all the aggravation everywhere.

This week so far I've had:

* A lady who was po'd because I wouldn't give her a freaking house tour and made her stay in our entrance way for our very small sale (a pair of friggen gloves, don't really think that warrants a tea party) she actually asked if she could come in and look around like I owed it to her and was obviously raised in a barn for not asking... and was acting totally weird about it... Normally I'd be thrilled to show people through, I'm a big fan of 'show and tell' but some how rude people don't elicit the same enthusiasm in me. Sorry.

*A no show who then tries to claim she's been phoning me for days and I've been ignoring her. I would totally buy the not answering the phone thing as we all know how I feel about the phone, but, no dice. There were no calls yesterday. Period. And why exactly is it that now all of a sudden you call and get a machine? Maybe because it's the first time you've called? Or maybe you're incapable of pressing the 'recall' button on your phone and have been harassing the wrong people, who in return ignored you? And maybe since you were too rude to call and say you couldn't make it at the arranged time you should spend sometime giving yourself attitude instead of wasting it on me. You know that chair I have that you just lurve and have the table to match?
Guess what?

NO CHAIR FOR YOU.

How do you like them apples?!

There are more, but we wont go there right now.

Kijiji seems to bring out my angry side, I don't like spending time with my angry side, it really down plays my whole unicorns on cupcakes on puppies with cartoon squirrels personality.

I think a nap is in order. For me. The LPs can nap too if they like...

Meaghan-Marie Pretties

Combined Efforts?

Renting A Farm Is HARD...

I Have Given Birth - Again!

HotDog! Get Your HotDog Here!

Anyone Seen A Hotdog?

What goes around comes around...

Antique All The Way...

Let is snow, let is snow, let is snow…

Funky Junk’s Saturday Nite Special…

Happy White Wednesday!

White Wednesday

Tattered Tuesday

Junkin’ Monday…

Welcome to White Wednesday #1

Thrifty Treasure Monday!

So Many New Loves...

Lamest Non-Posting Reason... Ever...

All Aboard...

Curiousities?

Blanket Anyone?

I Was NOT MIA This Time!

Dresser Love - Status Complete

Pretty Scary...

Can You Hold?

Glorious Aberfoyle Season...

Dresser Love

Done Like Dinner...

Oh My Cow!

A week already?! And Kittens!

You Can Take That Up With My Nap Manager...

Bird Catching 101

I've Got A Golden Ticket...

Is Brass Recyclable?

Strike!

Poly Kittens

Hello? Brain?

We've Got Salvage Chic...

Crackle-Lackin...

I'm In Need...

Love...

Truly Fab...

And A Little DIY

Two Peas In A Pod...

Shabby Share...

No, I Didn't Sell A Shabby Piece...

I Just Might Do It...

What's In A Name?

Cuteness...

Seeing Red...

Fab Antique/Vintage Online Group/Forum

Aww Yay!

So I'm A Wuss...

I'm Sorry...

My Brain...

Simple Woman's Day Book...

Small Haul...

I'm Dreaming of A Pink Christmas...

Waking Up Is Hard To Do...

And I'm Back

Beverlys Anyone?

How Does This Stuff Find Me?

My Sweetheart Has A First Name...

A New Vice In Life...

From My Family To Yours...

Cute Idea...

Dearest Santa...

Wow...

Greatest. Invention. Ever.

*Big Sigh*

I'm Just Not Funny Today...

Ahh... Sweet Sweet Remedy...

Locked In...

My Name Is Jenn...

Could I Order A Dish of Peace...

Am I A Desk, Or A Vanity...

Oldie But Goodie...

Love...

PSA Re: 'The Camel'...

So Sweet...

Big Sigh