5 wishes under $10

I was tagged by my friend Karen@ Baking in a Tornado to come up with 5 wishes for the holiday season. (Yes, I really do have other blog friends in this world, people. Karen is just the only one who readily admits to knowing me).

Anyway, there are authors all over the blogosphere this week telling their five wishes. There are sentimental wish lists (see Karen's,) as well as many hilarious ones. See any "5 wishes" posts on my sidebar...

When I was little, I could rock a wish list. Alphabetical and in perfect handwriting via the Toys R Us catalog. As a teen, I would wish for anything in a mall window. We never had a lot of money, so wishes were about all that was happening, but still, it was always fun to dream. As I got older, my wishes became more of a "needs" list, like pots and pans or other things for the home. Nowadays, my wishes are for the health and happiness of my family and friends, or you know, fabric.

With the past week's happenings, I felt like I couldn't do justice to any sentimental type of personal wish post. I have a warm home, my husband and my children. What more, after last Friday could anyone ask for? Absolutely nothing, other than mended hearts, trust and hope. Those are things that will take some of us the rest of our lives to get back.

Until I get my sarcasm or humor back, (Did I ever really have them in the first place? Oh, of course I did.) I'm leaving you with my semi-serious wish list. Semi as in it is a partial list. Serious as in, seriously, feel free to wrap it up for me. Each one under ten bucks. That's my gift to you.

1. A tennis ball and string. The kind my husband can hang in the garage so I can park my car. I know; I am my grandmother. I could blame it on my vision, but the truth is, my garage is so full off crap, I can't judge where it (the crap) begins and my garage door ends. Approximate cost: $5

2. A pack of pencils and/or pens.  Yes, I was a teacher. Yes, I have three kids and tutor students. Still, I can never find a writing utensil. I'm always writing lists or notes. I'd like for once to record an idea without having to scribble it down with the nub of a blue crayon. Approximate cost: $3 per pack

3. Paper. To write those lists on. I don't like using my phone for that. It takes me 3.5 days to write out a post for this blog. My fat thumbs can't type that quickly. So paper, it is. Not the back of napkins or my counter tops. Not even the palm of my hand. Just available, easy-to-reach, paper. Approximate cost: $3. Less, if you make it yourself.

4. Box-Tops. You cut them out of any of YOUR participating groceries at home and give them to me. At the end of the grading quarters, my younger children race to collect them for school. I'm sick of reaching for cereal or cake mix and having the boxes torn apart and looking like we have rats. The "box-tops" have nice cutting lines around them. Use a shiny pair of scissors, cut those babies out, and give them to me. Approximate cost: Free, unless you now feel the need to go buy cake mix or toaster strudel.

Wrong way to remove Box-tops

Correct way to remove Box-tops

5. Fuzzy socks or a tank top. If I am not freezing cold, I'm having hot flashes. You can't go wrong with either one. Or both. Approximate cost $9.99 and under. Target. Go. Now.

Cheers to your wishes coming true, friends.

-Michele

Fall Bags 2012

Hello friends.

I know. It has only been Autumn for three days, but I'm already enjoying dressing for the cooler mornings and less steamy afternoons. It is currently the "layering" stage here in Utah. I can still get away with my flip flops, but now I can also comfortably wear my cardigans. Yesterday I was sweating on the back steps, this morning it is snowing in the mountains.

Have you switched out your short sleeved T's for sweaters yet? Have your boots or wool skirts found their way to the front of your closet? They will.

What could go better with your fall wardrobe?

Aw, that's right! A new shellybean bag!

I'm putting a few in the shop tomorrow (9/26). If you're interested, click on that little Artfire button (tomorrow!) on the right of this blog and go have a peek. (no peeking until Wednesday!)

The bags are made from buttery faux (of course!) leather and crisp cotton. $30 + shipping/handling. If you have a coupon, this is the time to use it!

Of course, if you like the style but want a different color, inbox me in the shellybean shop. As always, thanks for looking and for your never-ending support.

Black Typography/Black faux leather

Blue and Green Plaid/Caramel faux leather

Aqua and Dark Brown diamonds/Dark Brown faux leather

Grape and white dots/Black faux leather

Navy and White circles/Caramel faux leather

Green and White Moda/Caramel faux leather

Happy "wear-whatever-you-want" Day, friends :)

What is your favorite thing to wear this season?

Day Six of Forty: "Zippy-di-do-da!"

Hey-o, friends!

I've been overwhelmed this winter with a ton of fabric scraps. There's not enough of one kind of material to make a whole bag, but there is too much to warrant throwing any of it out.

Either way, it was causing one of those piles that you store in a corner...
then realize you're looking for a certain piece of fabric...
but that piece is on the bottom of the pile.
You  decide to pull it out magician-style,
and it all falls over.
So finally you remember fifty other things you'd rather be doing
than folding uneven pieces of fabric into a pile; color-coded, no less.
That happens to everyone, right?

I promised myself (and the man) that I would try to use up some of the fabric I already own before bringing any more into the house. Trust me, that WAS the plan. But this afternoon, Fabriclovers.com dropped off a few yards of some incredibly gorgeous new spring cottons. I'm not going to lie to you, they are bee-you-tee-full!! Thank you, Springtime and thank you adorable UPS man! I call fair on the delivery though, because the fabric is for custom orders.

The husband was home sick today.. so when the delivery truck stopped in front of our home, I ran to intercept "whatever" was being delivered. Ahem. Me trying to sneak that package into the house, looked like nothing short of a drug deal...Yes. Yards of Kona cotton is my drug of choice and my dealer drives a brown box truck and wears shorts in the winter.

Back to the leftover fabrics. What to do, what to do? About a week ago, I decided that I wasn't going to let the scraps go to waste,  so I made a bunch of little Zippys. Do you remember the Zippys?

Zippy pouch prizes


They are little wallet-sized zipper pouches that are made with cute fabrics and lined with sometimes, even CUTER fabrics. They are small enough to throw in your bag, but just big enough to hold the important things, like a phone, tissues or credit cards. If you're me, they hold lipstick, business cards and emergency chocolate. What more does a girl need?

The pouches are adorable and will be up in the store throughout this week. Go give them a peek and help out a girl who is trying to get her hands on that new fabric...Mmmm. Ya know, I don't REALLY have a problem. I CAN stop any time. Just one more yard of new fabric; that's all I need...

Seriously, look out for those cute little Zippys. A few of you already have one, but you might need another and you can always give one away as a gift. They're a great deal at between five and seven bucks each plus shipping. Be patient. They take a while to load in the shop. I just want to give you a heads-up that they are coming...Any questions? Any testimonials? What do/would you keep in yours? You know where to leave your comments.

These are the Zippys going into the shop this week :)

Every girl needs at least one, right?

I went to take a pic to show you how big a Zippy was and realized I needed my phone for that (duh!), so that Blackberry belongs to the man. If I threw in the chocolate, I MIGHT be able to sell him a Zippy. Silly Rabbit. There isn't any more chocolate.

Have a beautiful Monday, friends.

Quote from the eldest...

"You know, I'm turning eighteen at the end of the month. Do you realize what's more exciting than being able to vote? Wait for it.  I will then be able to legally order BLO-Pens off of the T.V. at three a.m."

She has dreams, man.

Cheers to the future :)

Why didn't I think of that?

Remember my post about our baseboards in the living room?

Not into lifting weights...

 I was pretty proud of my white-trash idea of the weights holding up the boards. I just didn't expect them to still be there, half a year later.  People who visit get to think to themselves, "Wow. These people know how to decorate. And look! They must be too busy to go to the gym. They probably work out right here, on the wood perimeter of the living room floor. Poor souls. Maybe there, in the 1 square foot of extra space between the sofa and the wall. Shellybean must work out over there, under the window. Her husband more-than-likely lifts his weights way over there, on the other side of the room, right next to that lamp. Aw, aren't they dedicated? I wonder why they don't look like they're in shape, though..."

I'm sure if you're reading this post you're asking yourself why in the world we still haven't nailed those boards in? How long could it take? Actually, if you've been following the blog you're not in the least bit surprised. Thank you for understanding that there is no reason good enough. They just haven't fallen over yet.

It is to you, dear regular readers, that I must ask,  Is there anyone else in this world who would be too lazy to use a little Gorilla Glue and at least pretend that the base boards were nailed in? Could there be anything more classless than 5 pound weights holding up loose boards?

Well yes, folks. There is. And iphone as my witness, there is a trashier way! The man and I were picking up a few things at Wallyworld (aka Walmart) yesterday and this is what we saw....

Absolute genius.

I don't know. Something about this screams "Man-in-Charge" to me. I'm not saying this just because it's all over the news lately that women are not being promoted to this level of decision making at Walmart. (If indeed that is true, Walmart should be ashamed of themselves).

I say this because my man looked at the base board under those water fountains with astonishment and then slowly smiled back at me as if to say, "Perhaps we should go back for some duct tape...."

This is why I usually shop alone.

At Target.

Happy Monday, friends :)

My Schizophrenic Cupboards..

Remember these?

And this try at organizing?

It didn't last long at all. I'm not kidding. They both filled right back up with junk. During a quick look for food coloring a month ago, I  accidentally knocked over a shelf and dropped/ broke a boxful of various jars of red hots, hard candies and a few thousand sprinkles. I completely lost it. It doesn't take much these days...

Let's say that any attempt to catch 50 things falling simultaneously from high shelves failed miserably.  I  remembered other things that had been bothering me during that day and decided to channel my inner-child, and throw a mini fit screaming, unnecessary tantrum. Yes, nothing is quite as soul-cleansing as picking up millions of cookie decorations while yelling words that could make a sailor call for his mommy. It was not one of my shining moments as a mom. Or a grown-up.

While it seems silly to throw such a fit over a baking cupboard, please know that there are many serious things our family has had to deal with over the last few weeks. I just happen to be the type of person who has to find control and order SOMEWHERE. If it has to be keeping up an unorganized piece of kitchen furniture, then so be it.

The man and I walked off some of my steam that afternoon at Lowe's -or as my older children like to call it, "The most boring store put upon the face of the earth."

I found these cute curtain rod finials-

and got an idea. I didn't share my plan with the man because he was quite finished at the moment with me and home improvement....you know, with our kitchen still looking like the Keebler Elves met Mrs. Fields and Betty Crocker, had a drunken party and left all the evidence on my floor.... Oh, did I not mention the man rescued me mid-tantrum/cleaning? He's very brave when he needs to be...

I picked the finials up with my idea filed away. They had two black and two white ones in stock. I needed all white, but knew I could spray paint the black ones. For heaven's sake. We were at LOWE's- One has a right to think of home improvement. Correct? .

Anywhoo, I've always wanted glass on those cupboard doors. What better way to HAVE to keep the cupboards organized? We had talked about the idea many times before. Truth be told, I talked about them many times. The man would just nod, praying I would think of something else. We I had even considered cutting out the centers of the doors  and replacing them with glass. For five minutes. Neither of us have that much patience nor DIY talent. That's okay, because IKEA had beautiful glass doors that were pretty inexpensive and just the right size. We thought it over and when the man's mom called us last week from IKEA (angels singing,) we decided to go for it and have her pick up the doors.

Those cute finials? They made perfect little feet for the bottom cupboards. We spray painted two of them and had to add about an inch of wood to each one before screwing them into the cabinet base. I absolutely love that they match the feet on my island. I'd show you my island, but it is full of junk right now, so just go with it ....

Those cupboards have a new identity; a little hutch that finally looks like it was meant to be there.  All I have to do now, is figure out what color it wants to be...(quietly though, lest the man consider moving out.)  One thing for sure. It will NOT house anything that has sprinkles. Ever. I think...

Oh, I know. This is a super long story that really could have been told in a picture or two. But just like the doors on that now-organized hutch, transparency is best. Thanks for reading about the crazy things that go on both in this house and in my head :)

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Five things...

Five things that made me happy today. Why five? Well....

1. I finished FIVE bags this afternoon. It has taken me forever to put the final touches on these, and I'm very excited to show them to you. I'll post them soon. (tonight or tomorrow)

2. My FIVE year old wrote his numbers 0-65 all by himself!

3. I sold FIVE bags this week. Woo Hoot!

4. I bought a FIVE pound bag of  huge lemons from Costco. We have been living on super-sour lemonades, strawberry lemonades, ginger-lemonades, and for dessert for the grown folks? Electric lemonades. I love finally having summer fruit.... Stores with fresh strawberries, blueberries and pineapple at affordable prices? I'm in heaven.

5. Number FIVE on my list of things that made me happy today? Well it has nothing to do with the number five. It really should have been number one. You see, I bought some new clothes for the teenager. Without her. I know. What was I thinking? But guess what? She liked them! What? You read that right, friends. She REALLY liked them! I mean "tried-them-on-and-twirled-around" liked them! Be prepared for the next part of this story, lest you fall off your chairs.  Because then.....(I'm shaking here)....she said, "Thank you, mom!" and hugged me. Holy Hannah!  I don't quite know what I did to deserve the final shocking occurrence. I've heard it is a rare sight that happens once in a blue moon...but God as my witness, it happened......The teenager. She took those new clothes and..... Hung. Them. Up.  I can die now.

Happy Thursday friends :)

"You know, we can buy NEW things sometimes....."

This is in no way an endorsement from my husband to run down to Anthropologie and shop like there's no tomorrow. It's not even an invitation to stop at Target for a few things from the dollar section. Instead, it is a small plea for me to stop shopping at garage sales and resale shops. To stop perusing Ebay and the Salvation Army for that one item I didn't know I needed until I saw it.

I'm a little obsessed, I tell you. I love looking at something odd and seeing how it could function in our house. I love that it belonged to someone else a long time ago, and that they too probably smiled when they found just the right place for it in their home. I adore vintage and antique-looking things; items that just may have a story. Now- you will not find me spending hundreds of dollars on something just because it was built 150 years ago. I don't really care who the architect/builder was, or the exact period things might be from. I don't have a "dealer". (I'm not buying crack)  Instead, I want to feel something when I look at it. I buy old cookbooks because they have handwritten recipes inside the pages, old sewing patterns because I imagine the excitement some young mom had in making the newest dress of the season. I love finding pieces of milkglass because it's what my grandmother had as I was growing up.

Orphan stuff. We own a hutch that someone's Dad made, an end table from my mother-in-law's garage because I found the shape and color beautiful. (and it was free!) I have a soup tureen from one of my dearest friends. It doesn't match anything in my kitchen, but it is displayed proudly and makes me smile each time I pass it- because it belonged to a gorgeous woman who loved her family. As you can imagine, our house does not look like Pottery Barn or a showroom from Thomasville. But it is warm, comfortable and loved. There are a lot of odd little pieces in this house and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My husband interprets some of my purchases/gifts/rescues as used and worn; dare I say it, junk. Why would I want that old thing? I'd like to say that he's not snobby, but he does have a distinctive look on his face when he walks into stores that have certain odors of the past. He's been known to ask me if I really paid money for some of what I bring home. I can't tell if it's embarrassing to him or not. Does it reflect his ability to provide for us? Absolutely not. Maybe boys just don't get it. Remember, this man loves shiny new gadgets that have megabytes and codes and stuff....

Though I joke, I love him dearly for taking a deep breath and entering those resale shops with me. For smiling when I drag something in the house that might be missing a few screws or pieces. I understand that he can't always see what I do in these things, but man o man, he sure tries. Most of the time he'll nod his head, shrug his shoulders and endure; not only because he knows how much these silly things mean to me, but because more than likely, our next stop will be Best Buy.