WARNING! This post contains a lot of pictures of ME. -And I never like pictures of myself! Oh well.

Hi! YEAHH! The kids are back in school, and i'm getting settled into my new routine of not having them around during the day! I'm hoping to update my blog more frequently! I have lots to say!

First things first.... I got my hair cut! A pixie cut! I actually got it cut a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't posted any pictures, so here you go:

in other news:
I just had the best day EVERRR on Sunday. Mike and I went to Renegade Craft Fair! It's my favorite day of the whole year! It leaves me loving fall, and filled with lots of inspiration to be crafty through the cold months!! Here are some pics of some things that I bought there:

A headband made from neckties sewn into a big bow/flower! I bought it from Lilian Asterfield. She has a lot of other fun interesting accessories too! I'm definitely looking forward to buying more from her!

Here's a hat that I bought there from Squasht.  I can't believe this hat was hand made! Isn't that amazing? It feels awesome knowing that a person put love into making this hat as opposed to a factory that mass produces them. ---And guess what??? It's reversible!!!!

Here's the reversed side!

Mike bought this really funny Tee from I Heart Guts. It's funny that our last name (Gall) is on the shirt! (It says "Gall of the Wild") They had other funny things with guts on them, like a shirt with a spleen that said, "Smells like Spleen Spirit!" Funny. We had to get this"

 Here's a plaque that you hang on the wall with a bottle opener on it that we bought from Red Boots Design.

 These are prints that we bought that we can't wait to frame! They are going to look amazing in our house! I am on the lookout for fun frames for them!!! Can't wait! I'm thinking they will be amazing in our sun room/music room!

 Last but not least, here's a bottle of wine that I picked up from my FAVE grocery store, Whole Foods. It's such a fun grocery store, because everything is so special there. (and expensive! YIKES!) You won't find Kraft Mac & Cheese at Whole Foods. No way. but I did buy this wine thinking it would be fun if I ever have a "Mad Men" party (My favorite show right now). It looks very 60's, which is my favorite style.

I hope I didn't bore you with pictures! I hope that you are inspired to check out Renegade Craft fair for yourself next year! Thanks for letting me share!

Stacy

5 party mingling don'ts!

-On the radio this morning with my buddies Bill and Allison! I gave them my "5 Party Mingling Don'ts" for this coming holiday weekend!

 Parties are an awesome place to meet people! You could walk away with a new BFF, a date, or just warm fuzzy feelings from a great night with friends! Here are some things to make sure you DON'T do!

1. DON'T- be a space invader (getting too close when talking to someone) 2-3 feet is a good conversation space.
2. DON'T- hog the conversation!! when people don't look interested time to stop talking!
3. DON'T- over do it on the adult beverage! This rarely looks cool. Especially when the person in question keeps claiming that they are not at their limit.
4. DON'T- double dip in mixed company! Going for the hummus, guacamole, and 7 layer dip with the same chip!
5. DON'T- Gossip! Parties are great for "overhearing" things. When you don't know everyone at the party, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!

A piece of history in my home!

This weekend I got a new piano! Did I say new? i should have said it is new to ME! It's actually the opposite of new! It was formerly in the reception room at the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Kankakee. -but who knows where it was before that! It was made around 1870-1880! It is older than the Titanic! I love imagining the people who might have played it before me!

Here are a few pictures! The pictures really don't show all of the detail in it's full glory though. If anyone wants to check it out in real life you are so welcome to come over! It is totally worth seeing in real life!

The next step is getting it tuned! I've read that tuning these piano's is no easy job! Hopefully I can find someone willing to take it on... I'm not too worried about that quite yet though,  just so happy to have it in my dinning room for now!

Thanks for reading!!
-Stacy

My awesome friend, who totally just "gets it" about what I'm into...gave me a couple of things she had laying around to turn from drab to fab! Here's a before picture of a kitchen chair she gave me that she got from an auction!

 Here is an "after" picture! Well, I'm totally impatient, and I don't have a staple gun to really put the fabric on yet, so it is duct taped to the chair pad for now! haha!! The paint still needs a 2nd coat too, I was just too exited to share it with you!

If I can get this baby totally finished, I will be selling it at Schuyler Live at the farmer's market this weekend! I just need to get my paws on a staple gun!! I mean, who doesn't love one-of-a-kind chairs here and there in their home? I know I LOVE THEM! I have this weird "thing" for chairs... I can't have too many! This chair would be adorable in a young girl's bedroom, or as a make-up/powder room chair, or in the corner of a funky/stylish living room! or any other place that needs something colorful!

Living room style!!

OK! You demanded it...here it is again! My 5 tips for an amazing living room! (this is what I talked about on WKAN this morning if you missed it!)

1. PAINT- sets depth and mood! blue, green, and violet can enlarge a room...think infinity pool, or a stretched landscape. It's also a cheap makeover!

2. TEXTURE- I loooove wall paper! In modern prints of course! Not on every wall, maybe just one focal wall, or in a large frame, maybe even on the back wall of a bookcase! You can also add texture with modern printed curtains!

3. MIRRORS- Mirrors are my favorite thing about life! light can bounce around a room with mirrors, they can enlarge your space, and reflect other things you love about your room! LOVE THEM!

4. TRASH TO TREASURE FURNITURE- People throw away amazing stuff! A little bit of spray paint and new hardware can give you the gift of a vintage/modern one-of-a -kind piece! These pieces add a huge amount of character mixed in with your normal store bought pieces, don't be too matchy-matchy!

5. PHOTOS- Everyone can be an artist these days! -And we know wall art can be pretty pricey! Eclectic frames in a cluster on the wall with old photos are so fun! I also LOVE to turn a photo to black and white and blow it up to a poster size and find a fun frame for it! Here's one that I blew up to poster size of my girls making funny faces at each other while in one big can-can skirt! (This pic was taken by Ashley Poskin who is amazing with a camera! You need to plan a photo shoot with her when she is in town, she has amazing style!!)

Thanks for letting me share with you!
-Stacy

House Tour!

Tonight Mike took the girls to the state park, so what do I do? I should have relaxed, but I chose to clean instead! It's kind of therapeutic actually! Anyway, I took a couple of pictures of some of the rooms in my house to share! (Especially since I knew it wouldn't stay clean for long after Mike and the girls got home! I thought I'd better take a picture to remember my hard work! Haha!!

First, here is a picture of the outside of my house... (the pineapple house...note the pineapple-esque statue thing on top!)

Here's the entryway!

 The living room:

 Dining room... ignore the stuff on the floor in the right hand corner.. that's some stuff I need to find a home for...

 

 Sun room- yes, Mike puts his bike in here sometimes... I kind of like the way a bike looks inside the house. Maybe it makes me feel like I live in a beach house or something! haha!

 Kitchen- There is no good angle to get a normal picture of my whole kitchen, so this is the best I could do. Doesn't it feel great when there are no dishes in the sink! LOVE IT!

These are the downstairs rooms! I will maybe someday give you an upstairs tour!

Thanks for not thinking it is weird of me for posting a mini tour of my house! I just know how fun it is when I get to see other people's houses, so I like to share mine too!

OH! I am taking a mini break from my booth at the farmer's market, so I can have time to create some new things! Be on the lookout! I will be back! I will post pictures on here too!

-Stacy

Yes! I'm back to posting! My camera charger finally turned up! I mean, what's a blog post with no pictures?

Just wanted to show you some pictures of some of the things I have been doing for the farmer's market! I've been trying to add something new each week! -Although last week I sold ALL of my aprons, so the rest of the week might be devoted to making aprons. we'll see!

Here is a picture of 2 of the 4 aprons I made for the market! They are one of my 1st sewing projects, so they aren't anything too complicated, but they are vintage shaped, with modern prints! FUN!

OH! I found these fashionable drinks, and brought them to sell at the market too!

 What's a housewife without some big earrings? -And my newest addition to the market last week was "shoe clips" Here is a picture of them clipped to a pair of my shoes! LOOOOVE THEM! I'm a little obsessed with shoe clips right now! I made LOTS of different colors and patterns of them!

 Oh, and coaster sets! I love mixing patterns, so these are really fun to me!

-and of course, Mod-Podge light switch plates! My house is covered in them, I love them, they are little works of art!:

Thanks for taking a minute to check out my blog! Come see me at the market on Saturday! I'll be on Schuyler Ave.! Hoping to have some new ideas too!

OH! Tomorrow morning at some point during the 6:00 hour on WKAN, I will be on talking about the top 5 fashion mistakes I think moms are making, and easy ways to be stylish! If you are awake that early, listen in!!

-Stacy