Thrifty Thursday

This day of the week in particular seems conducive to displaying my recent thrift-store (or plain old thrifty) purchases, since it's Thursday and my alliteration-loving self can call this post "Thrifty Thursday!" 

I really scored this week at the Goodwill Outlet.  My ABSOLUTE favorite purchase for all of 99 cents were these..... Vintage, leather, perfectly worn, ACME western boots!!

I haven't been able to find this type of boot on ebay for less than 30 bucks. Score!

I also found this adorable vintage recipe box...

And this Little Golden book entitled "Daddies." So cute!

I also found a great deal this week at Target... all of their summer stuff is on super-duper clearance. You know, because its already July and the weather here in Seattle has been so hot for so long... :0!

I got these neat-o water bottles for the kids-- nice to have a lid and straw for mom (mess-wise) and kids (fun-wise). They were 50 cents each.

I also found this summer-themed Glad Press and Seal for $1.00, because really, do our leftovers care if they have summer-themed saran wrap on them as fall approaches?  I think not.

Be sure to check out your local Target for other awesome deals to liven up these remaining weeks of summer-- beach towels, slip n slides, flip flops-- basically, tons of stuff, was half price.

Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer....

I sure hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July holiday! We had a H-O-T holiday visiting family just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. The weather on the day of our arrival? Sunny with a high of 101 degrees, and 90 percent humidity. Wow! Quite a change from our Seattle summer weather of partly cloudy and 70.

This trip was the first time that all 3 of our kids hung out with all 3 of their cousins. They hit it off and had a great time playing together. Our days were filled with summer fun.



Water balloon fights.

(Well, maybe this activity wasn't Georgia's favorite.)

Picking wildflowers.

Arm-wrestling.

Chats with Pa.

Swimming in the pool.

Getting stuck in a frog floatie.

Cooling off and watching a movie.

Making funny faces.

A visit to the American Girl store in Kansas City.

Sharing favorite toys.

A visit to a lovely farm.

Sparklers on the 4th of July.

Most of all, becoming good friends.

 After a few days, it was time to say goodbye and head home. We will miss our family members (and new friends), but I have to say, while looking out the window of my airplane seat while approaching Seattle and having this as my view....

It's good to be home!

Naughty Little Monkey

Georgia is cute. She is also mischevious, has tons of energy, chatters the ear off anyone who will listen, and loves to climb. In many ways, she has always reminded us of a little monkey.
So what better fabric to choose for a cute summer outfit than a monkey print? I found this fabric at Joann's on clearance for $1.50 a yard:

And decided to make this romper from this pattern:

Rompers, of course, are better for climbing and jumping and running and all of those things that little monkey girls love to do.

The finished product really doesn't resemble the pattern much, but that's ok. I like the 70's jumpsuit vibe that mine has going on.

I liked the improvisations I made, and Georgia loved wearing it... there was only one problem. I forgot how long she is in the torso, and the romper was undoubtedly tight length-wise in that area. She actually ripped a little hole in the waist section after playing on the playground for an hour.

So, I did what most novice sewers have to get used to doing, I suppose... I pulled out my handy-dandy seam ripper and separated the top portion from the pant portion. I then made what resembled a hot pink cumberbund and sewed it in between the 2 portions. And you know what?  I-- and my little monkey--actually like how the modified romper/jumpsuit looks even better!