Monday, February 28, 2011

Caleb's Plate

 I made this plate for my little Caleb.  It's never too early to try to read. Try being the key word there. I can see Caleb now, munchin on some "chickies" (his word for chicken nuggets) and pointing at thetiger, elephant and snake.  Tiger and snake should be easy to say.  Elephant could be funny.


Sunday, February 27, 2011

Fancy Featured Items Sunday

I love etsy, did you know that??? ;-)
Here are some of my weekend favorites:














*I love meeting other people who have cute items they make and/or sell.  If you would like your item to be featured on my blog, contact me at retrogalusa@aol.com for details!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Saturday Catch Up and a Coupon!

Good morning bloggettes!  As usual, I am the first one up.  The sun is pretty with a high of 75 degrees here today and the coffee tastes ggggrrrrrrrreat! (Did you hear Tony the Tiger there?)

Thanks to all my beautiful bloggettes who have added their link to the "My Day Friday".  The link is open until tomorrow if anyone else would like to add their face to the mix :)

Today I wanted to offer my lovely readers a coupon just for you all.  It is in effect until tomorrow and it's a 20% off coupon!  The only exclusion would be any requests for custom orders. So go take a look and enjoy the 20% off if you find something you like.  The coupon code is PEACOCK.


I hope you all have a fantabulous Saturday! We are headed to a highschool track meet.  One of the sweet youth group kids sent a text last night to our youth group pastor to be forwarded to me.  It read, "Can you tell Mrs. Kathelyn pole vaulting is at 11?"  All the highschool kids call us Mr. Seth and Mrs. Kathlyn!  AND they say "yes and no mam".  I beg them to stop because it makes me feel so old, but I am living in the deep south afterall :)  

  I am going to leave you with a verse to get your day started on the right foot.  Many of you have heard these verses.  They are referred to as The Fruits of the Spirit. Just a little reminder for all of us, myself included, on what God's presence in our lives will bring:

Galatians 5:22-23 "God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23gentle, and self-controlled..."

Friday, February 25, 2011

My Day Friday

It's Friday again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone grab your camera's, or find an oldie but goodie pic of yourself and post away :)
To read the full story behind My Day Friday, click here.

Here's mine:

It's super cheesy.  It is me showing you guys my new favorite dry shampoo.  If you haven't tried dry shampoo, you need to and this one is suave so you can find it at walmart!  It saved me a lot of time this morning :)  
I can't wait to see all of your beautiful faces!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!! I have date night today :-D





Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tick Tock Plate Clocks



Okay yall.  This project is something that I have been studying and researching for a little while now...as in several months, but I was too skeered to try it out.  I love fancy plates and I decided to be brave and pull out the power tools!  Here is what I ended up with.
Plate clocks!  
I spent the last two afternoons working the kinks out and I have my final product.

This one is going to a friend who is getting married.  It is the first letter of their last name.


I couldn't forget about my mustache's


Black and White Contemporary Style


A taste of Europe


 Traditional Laura Ashley style

All of the above can be found in my shop!

AND guess what???? Tomorrow if FRIDAY!!! I am going to do "My Day Friday" again so get your pictures ready!!!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The BIG 2

Caleb's big 2 year old birthday was on Friday.  We took him to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday and had a small, impromptu birthday brunch on Saturday morning.  It was so much fun and I can't believe my little baby is 2!




Caleb and his buddy "Tway" (Trey)

The yummy donut cake guarded by Woody (which Caleb calls "Buddy") and Slinky dog.  My kid is a Toy Story-a-holic





Caleb's other buddy Bo...this was Calebs big birthday present...a roller coaster!

Closing his eyes!


LOVED the fish at the Georgia Aquarium...he was pointing and "wow" ing all day!





2 year old + Georgia Aquarium=

 My parents (KK and Cack Cack) completely surprised us.  We were headed to Atlanta and about 45 minutes before we got there, they called to say that they had driven from Virginia to spend Caleb's birthday with him.  Caleb was so excited when he saw them!

I LOVE my big little man...this has been an amazing 2 years with him :)


Thursday, February 17, 2011

My Day Friday


I love perusing cute blogs and reading about other peoples lives but as much as I love doing that I equally find it super frustrating when I am reading someone's blog and I can't find a face to put with a name.  Putting a face with your blog is so important.  I believe it helps people to connect with you and to better understand your blogging stories.  I have noticed that lots of mom bloggers will have a zillion pictures of their kids but none of themselves posted!  This series that I will be trying to do most every Friday will be a link up party for all the bloggers out there who are hiding behind their words, their kids pictures, their pets pictures or pictures of their house!  We want to see YOU!!!  The guidelines are simple...post a picture/s of yourself on your blog and link up to my party so we can all see your pretty face!  This is your time to shine :)  It doesn't have to be a glamour shot (even though I would love to see a glamour shot of you!).  It can be funny or serious.  It can even be an old picture.  One from when you were little or from the 1990's when you had permed bangs.  It really doesn't matter so long as it's you, front and center and if you feel like it, tell us the story behind the picture, even if it's as simple as "I was headed to the grocery store and my sister snapped this picture of me".  I will start it off today so that gives you guys time to get your post ready for tomorrow.  Here goes:
This is from the first week in October of this year.  I had just had my hair dyed red on Friday and this was Sunday morning in the car before I left for church.  I was trying to see just how red my hair was...and it was red!

Now it's your turn!  Just click on the "add your link" button.  The party will be open from today until Sunday night :) HAVE FUN!!!







Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Thrifting 101- Finding the good stuff


This is for all of you out there who like the idea of thrifting but just aren't sure how to begin.  I thought I would share with you what I have learned while thrifting.  I need to warn you though, don't read this unless you want to become a thrifting addict! :)

Tip 1:
Scout out thrift stores in your area.  I have some favorites here where I live and every town and shop is different.  Some, you will find, are overpriced, small or just full of junk.  Others you will love because of their great inventory, prices, deals, etc.   My favorites here are Goowill and the thrift shop on base at Fort Benning (all of you military wives, most bases have a thrift store...it may be hard to find but it will be there!)

Tip 2:
Call around or visit to see if any of them run special deals.  Our Goodwill here has a color of the week and if an item is tagged with the color of the week, it is half off!  I have heard of other Goodwills having bargain cards and a lot of Salvation Army thrift stores have certain days when items are marked down.  It is always beneficial to call and ask so that you know which days are good for visiting, depending on if they have good deals going on.

Tip 3:
Ask the stores when they put new inventory out.  If you can catch them right after they put the new stuff out, you are more likely to get the good stuff.  For instance, every Sunday our Goodwill changes the color of the week.  So let's say that they changed it to red.  For the rest of the week they will not tag anything else red...this means that if you want to get the good stuff for half off, your best chance at doing that is on Sunday when they mark the items down because they won't be tagging any new inventory that they bring out with a red tag.  Hopefully this makes sense.  Another example, today I was at the thrift shop on base and they were putting out new inventory.  I was able to find some like-new Dr. Seuss books for $1-2 and a Moby wrap for $5.50 (Originally $40)!  All because I was there at the right time.


Tip 4:
Yard sales and consignment sales are amazing ways to get a good deal.  Do a google search for your area and also scan craigslist under "garage sales".  I have found name brand, super expensive and like-new clothes for Caleb as well as toys, books and baby gear for cheap-o!  Our big consignment sale here usually does a half off deal on the last day of the sale.  My game plan is to scout out the sale on the first day and purchase anything that I just have to have.  I also keep a mental list of the items that I would like to get but don't HAVE to get and I wait until the 50% off day to purchase those...if they are still there, great, if someone else already bought them then I'm not too disappointed since it wasn't on my "must have" list. 

Tip 5:
Take your time looking.  I can't tell you how many things I have found underneath a pile of other "junk" or stuck in the wrong spot.  Thrift stores and consignment sales are especially notorious for having items thrown all over the place so if you take your time and look carefully, you just might find a pleasant surprise hiding.  For example, last week I found Caleb a Prince Lionheart Bebe Pod, similar to the Bumbo seats,  They retail for $35-$40 and I found it, under a rack of girls clothes for $6.  It is in perfect shape and looks brand new.

Tip 6:  Be on the lookout for "re-do" items.  This is true of furniture, housewares or even clothes if you have a little seamstress experience.  An ugly piece of wood furniture can be transformed with a little sand paper and a can of spray paint.  This is where you can use your creative side to think of new uses for old things and ways to spruce up perfectly good pieces that just need a little love.  Ugly candle holders and picture frames are just begging for you to buy them and show them a little TLC :)

I could go on and on and on with tips but I think I have given enough to get you all started.  It is so much fun, it's "green", it saves money, it's fun and did I mention it SAVES money????  I am hoping to do an entire series on this type of stuff.  There is so much to learn still and I would love to hear if any of you have any thrifting tips to share with me!

Monday, February 14, 2011

My Cupid and My Valentine

Here's my little cookie eating cupid :)


One more picture mommy and then I just gotta have these cookies!!!


  Nom nom nom nom




 Just a little more icing please...


And I can't forget my Valentine


Maybe a sweeter one would be more appropriate ;-)


I'm feeling very blessed on this Valentines Day with my Cutie Cupid and my Handsome Valentine :)
Happy Valentines to you all...I hope it's filled with lots of chocolates and sweet kisses!