{Latest Project ~ Puffy Felt Hearts}

Last night, I was finally able to escape to my craft room and get creative. After a trip to the craft store with my sister and a well needed therapy session, I made these three puffy felt hearts. I used some of my long neglected vintage fabric stash, buttons, and embroidery thread. After making these, I discovered that I really like hand sewing! It's relaxing and theraputic and when you're done, you even have something like these cute hearts to show for it. I turned them into little pins you can wear on your coat or sweater by sewing a little pin onto the backs. Check them out in my Etsy shop, One Cozy Nest.



My sister has also been a busy little thing over at The Vintage Sister Studio. Just look at her adorable Valentine's Day nest head.

Featured Artist...Mara May!

I'll have to admit that I'm not an avid blogger, like my sister. Months will pass without a post on my poor neglected blog. However, I do love the opportunity to post when there's really something great to write about. I was recently scanning my sold items in my Etsy shop, One Cozy Nest, and came across a vintage set of Crazy 8s cards with colorful circus-themed pictures and numbers.
When I visited the buyer's Etsy shop, Mara May, I discovered that she had used one of the cards in a wonderfully whimsical party hat! I just love knowing that one of my vintage items passed through the creative hands of an Etsy artist. Just look at how adorable this thing is! See the cute little elephant card down towards the bottom? I just love all of the colors, textures, and little details Mara May put into this fun hat. You can see the hat, handmade scrapbooking kits & embellishments, and lots of other georgous goodies by Mara May right here in her shop. Enjoy, and happy crafting!

{Hey There Shorty}

Yeah, I'm talking to you. I called you short. Okay, let me be PC...vertically challenged. Are you walking around wearing jeans or pants that you hemmed yourself? And are you embarassed that you can tell they're hemmed? I know I am. I'm 5'3" and the "short" length jeans are about 2 inches too short and the "average" jeans are way too long. Not that anyone really looks down towards my shoes on a regular basis (guys usually stop at my boobs, haha), but it bothers me when I spend $60 bucks or so on a pair of jeans (gasp!) and I have to chop them up and they end up looking like a home-ec project. One time I even used gold thread that was made for jeans. It looked okay, but that nice worn look to the bottom edge of the jeans was missing. Enter Fig and Plum. They posted a tutorial about hemming jeans like a pro. It's so stinkin' easy that I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself. Here is a link to the tutorial that you can download and save to your computer. Here is a modified version from Dacia Ray that tells you how to deal with flared jeans. Why not let these adorable vintage hem clips help you do the job? You can find them in my Etsy shop, called One Cozy Nest.

{A Little Halloween Tale}

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Meet Weena...Weena Spookington. She's a good little witch who loves baking gingersnap cookies on a crisp sunny October day. She's wearing her trusty apron because she doesn't want to get her pretty dress covered in flour. You see, tonight is the Harvest Moon Ball, and her longtime crush, Franky, is going to be there. They met at last year's Ball, but each was with another. Alas...timing is everything. Over the year, Franky and Weena bumped into each other on numerous occasions; the caldron shop on Elm, the dog park where she takes her dog Weenie to play. Franky was always such a gentleman to her. After each encounter with Franky she would go home and daydream about him. She would sometimes practice writing her future name in big swirly cursive..."Weena Stein.......Halloweena Stein.......Mrs. Frankfurter Stein".

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After realizing her crush on Franky went much deeper, Weena finally came to her senses about her current boyfriend. Afterall, who wants a boyfriend that has to carry his head around all the time? He could never hold her hand. So, she severed ties with him. Last Weena heard, he was dating a girl who had no arms (hence, no hands to hold), so it looks like it'll work out between them. Weena hoped Franky would notice that she was available and dump his girlfriend but weeks went by with no luck.

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With the coming of the full moon, Ms. Weena Spookington's luck is beginning to change! Recently, while at the local potions emporium, she overheard two witches gossiping about Franky's girlfriend having an unfortunate broom accident. And on the eve before the Harvest Moon Ball! Apparently the hem of her robes got caught on a weathervain. You can guess what happened. Weena tried hard not to feel delighted at the news but she just couldn't help herself. Now with Franky being date-less, and Weena being totally in-love-with-him-but-he-doesn't-know-it-yet, the planets were finally moving into alignment. Weena flew home on her striped broomstick as fast as she could, avoiding all weathervains of course, and got herself all dolled up for the dance. She's a joiner, you know, so she's a member of the decorating committee. She made this banner out of scraps of fabric and found objects she had lying around her house. As soon as her gingersnaps are done cooling, she'll throw off her apron, freshen up her lipgloss and head to the dance where she'll tell Franky exactly how she feels.

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You can own Weena Spookington! Come see her in my Etsy shop!

{Haunted House}

Could this happy little ghost really be haunting this adorable little cottage? Nah, he's too cute for all that scary stuff. He just likes to keep an eye on things, that's all. Check him and my sister's other Halloween and Christmas pieces at Spookytime Jingles. New art is posted on the 13th of every month. Lots of great artists and lots of great Christmas and Halloween stuff. Free shipping too!

{Books, books, and more books}

Hello friends! I love vintage books. I love the smell of the pages and I love their dusty covers. I'll buy a book just for it's pretty cover or subject matter. This is sort of a strange love because I'm not a big reader. I read, but it takes me forever to finish a book because I tend to easily fall asleep. A few pages a night is all I can do! My sister is an avid reader. I love listening to her tell me what the books she's reading are about. It's just like watching a movie preview! One of her all time favorites is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It's set in the 1960's in South Carolina. I haven't read it yet, but my sister lent me her copy. Wikipedia says that the story is about a girl named "Lily Owens, whose life is shaped by her blurred memory of the afternoon of her mother's accidental death. When Lily's black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three racists in town, they escape to Tiburon, South Carolina, a town that holds the secret to Lily's mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey." They made a movie based on the book so my sister and I have a date to go see it together. I better get to reading! I'm almost finished book 5 of the Harry Potter series so after that, I plan to read the bee book. Anyway, here are some of the vintage books I have up for sale in my Etsy shop, One Cozy Nest.

French BookArt Book Collection

The Alternative

{New Jersey's Not So Bad}

Hi everyone! I was born in NJ. I was also raised in NJ. I went to college in NJ. I reside in NJ and work for the NJ Government as an ecologist. Aside from a cross country trip after college and vacations, of course, I have spent 99% of my life right here in good ol' New Jersey...not "New Joisey", thank you very much. I don't know one person who says it like that, so I have no idea where that stereotype came from. You can probably tell I'm a little overprotective about my home state. I've heard a lot of out-of-staters put it down and say how bad and polluted it is. I've also heard a lot of negative references to New Jersey on TV shows that take place in New York. Well, I travel all over the state for my job and I am very fortunate to be able to see just how beautiful it is. I was at a project up near the Meadowlands Sports Complex and afterwards, for lunch, I drove up the Palisades Parkway and went for a hike along the cliffs. See the picture below? Yes, that's New Jersey...not Maine, not Vermont...good ol' Jersey.

{It's My Birthday, It's My Birthday!}

Hi everyone! Friday was my 32nd birthday and what a wonderful day it was! First, the weather was so beautiful. Partly sunny and in the mid-60's. Perfect! My birthday festivities began at happy hour(s) on Thursday night, the eve of my birthday. Everyone was so generous with the birthday drinks that I ended up staying until about 12:30am! Thanks everyone, I had a really great time. And the life-size Jenga game was the best. Here I am with a Jenga block. Why am I so happy?When I got home later that night, my Cooper was up crying with a cold, so I was lucky enough to spend some time comforting him until 2am. I say lucky because the next day and a half I wasn't going to see him at all. Since it was my birthday, when Cooper got up again at 4am, Jeff tended to the poor little thing. The baby ended up sleeping until about 10 so both Jeff and I got some extra zzzzzzz's too. Jeff brought my card to me in bed and inside it was tickets to see Cirque De Soliel up at Madison Square Garden in NYC. We'll walk around in the city after the show and probably have some dinner too. I'm excited!

I took off from work for a day all to myself. My husband took the baby down to his parents house for a sleepover. Jeff was in a golf tournament with his father and Jeff's mom had Cooper all to herself. After Jeff and Cooper left, I enjoyed some coffee and quite time with the dogs out on the front porch, cuddled under a blanket, breathing in the fresh Autumn air. I love the month of October. Then I got dressed and started trimming some trees. I've been working on a landscaping project for several weeks now and thought that my day off was the perfect time to get it finished. I installed a rain barrel a couple weeks ago and I need to put in a gravel garden path next to it and through the garden. In order to do this I had to bury a drain pipe that I attached to my rain downspout. Well, I was busy chopping away at some stubborn roots when I realized I had chopped right through our cable wire. Oops! Now, if you read my previous post about the rain barrel, you'd know that I also cut a critical wire for our sprinkler system. So my heart sank and I panicked for about a minute. Then I took a deep breath, laughed at myself, then went inside to call the cable guy. A few hours later, it was fixed. The guy said the line was bad anyway and he was surprised we hadn't had a lot of problems with it before. So now we have a new line and hopefully better service. Here you can see the new white cable wire. After the cable problem put a stop to my gardening project, I moved inside where I pulled out my Autumn decorations and put them up here and there while, at the same time, straightening up the house. See my mums and pumpkins? My sister came over later that night and she gave me the best present ever! It's a painting that she did just for me. It is a portrait of me holding Cooper and it is so darling, I can't stand it. I've been walking around the house looking for the perfect spot for it. Look how wonderful it is! You can read more about it on her blog. She also brought cards that my nephews made for me. Each of them feature pictures of me, with my glasses of course, and funny drawings of Cooper. The two of them are so creative. Jake drew a diaper on Cooper and Alex drew this adorable little tree with an acorn. Those little details are so funny to me. I love how stylin' I look with my red heart shirt and my kick ass boots. Tracy and I went to the movies that night to see Nights In Rodanthe....UGH!!! What a terrible movie. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that I hated as much as this one. It was utterly predictable, and amazing that two actors could act so poorly. It was so bad that we were laughing at the parts that were supposed to be all dramatic and mushy. At the end a few people actually clapped, so I made sure I boo'ed. We spent the ride home laughing about certain parts of the movie. I won't ruin it for anyone but I'll just say that I liked the preview so much better than the actual movie. We came back to my house, had a margarita, and watched Ugly Betty and Supernanny together. Then I read my Harry Potter book until I fell asleep. Ahhhhhhh, what a perfect day. Happy Birthday to me....it's a shame that they only come once a year. But then again, it's a good thing they only come once a year because I'd be 64 years old!

{Latest Project ~ Rain Barrel}

A couple weeks ago I installed a rain barrel on the side of my house to collect rain from my roof to water my plants. The rain barrel was made by a company called Terracycle, owned by two Princeton graduates. They turn unwanted wine barrels into useful things like rain barrels and compost bins. The inside is still stained from the wine and you can still smell it when it's wet. Pretty cool. I'm quite proud of my accomplishment because I did it 99.9% by myself. The only thing I had help with was getting it into and out of my car. Thanks Jeffy! However, this sense of accomplishment was a teensy bit marred by the fact that, in the process of installing this barrel, I cut a wire that screwed up our sprinkler system. The problem has been fixed but it cost some dough. Anyway, it gave us an excuse to upgrade our ancient control box. Below, you'll find some pics of the project. Next project will be to complete a gravel and steppingstone pathway, next to the barrel, leading from the driveway and through the garden.

{Welcome Fall}

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since Memorial Day! That goes to show you that I've been kind of busy the past few months. I went back to work at the end of June so ever since then, I've had about 45 hours less a week to do the things I really love to do. My spare time seems to be filled with laundry and other unpleasant chores.

This is a photo of Cooper with his big cousins, Alex (left) and Jake (right). Summer's officially over but we sure had a great one. Check out my other blog at http://www.babybolis.com/. People ask me how it is going back after having a year off with Cooper. Well, it kinda sucks but it kinda doesn't at the same time. It still feels wrong to me to pay someone to raise my child and I wish I could stay home with him every day. Trish gets to spend more time with him than I do and I'm jealous! :) But lucky for us, she's great with him and she genuinely cares about the kids. Coop loves her and gets all excited when Jeff pulls up to the house. A lot of times he doesn't even look back at Jeff to say goodbye, he just make a bee line for the toys. Trish's job as a childcare provider is highly admirable and I don't know how she does it. I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off. This is where it's nice to go to work in the morning....to relax and to enjoy the quiet. I like what I do and enjoy being around other adults and having a purpose other than wiping butts and sticky faces. But when it comes down to it, I think I could do a better job and feel much more rewarded as a stay-at-home mom. So that is it in a nutshell!

Now, onto more exciting things...my new venture, One Cozy Nest, has been pretty successful in the last couple months. I've been able to sneak away on a couple Sunday mornings to go flea marketing, one of my favorite things to do. I look for interesting things like old books, flash cards, vintage games, and paper ephemera, etc. Then I sell them to other creative people like artists, crafters, and collectors on Etsy.com. I made the decision to put handbag making on the back burner for now. Maybe I'll go back to it or maybe one day I'll haul off and sell all my supplies, I'm not sure right now. But what I do know is that I'm bored and competition is tremendous. So I'm shifting gears to focus on One Cozy Nest and on making things for myself, friends, and loved ones.

Speaking of...my sister and I were recently talking about my handbag boredom. She asked me if I had any interest in making dolls. I hadn't even thought about it for a second until that day but I figured I'd give it a try. So, I came up with a couple sketches and made a doll in the shape of a bird. Her body is made from linen, her wing and breast are vintage fabric, her hair is yarn, and her face is hand embroidered. The wing moves on the vintage button that I attached it with. I added a nice detail of a vintage pearl pendant for her necklace and styled her hair in a pony tail in the back with a twisted section on each side. Right now she sits on my red couch with my handmade pillows and growing art collection in the background. Here are some pics:

Then, for my second doll, I made a black folk doll named Celie and gave her to my sister, who loves The Color Purple. Last year I bought her tickets to see The Color Purple on Broadway and Celie is the main character. If you've ever seen the movie, she's the character played by Whoopie Goldberg. Her body is eco-friendly felt made from recycled plastic bottles and her hair is black 100% wool yarn. Her face is hand embroidered and her dress is made out of vintage fabric in the color purple, of course! Here she is, sitting in my sister's back yard getting some fresh air:

I'm working on a third doll right now but I'm not sure what or who she'll be.

{Memorial Day}

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day and please take some time out to really think about what this holiday means for all of us and our freedom. Thank you to all of the men and women who risk their lives and make incredible personal sacrifices to make sure that we are all safe. Do you know anyone who has been deployed or soon will be? Make it a point to send them a letter of thanks. Xerox has a program called Lets Say Thanks that allows you to type in a message that is sent to a soldier to let them know we support them. Check it out here. My sister, The Vintage Sister, made this beautiful patriotic doll and constructed her wings out of a reproduction of the Declaration of Independence. I loved it so much that I had to buy it from her. Isn't she lovely?!

{Blog Feature on Glitter Star Designs}

Check out Glitter Star Designs' Blog for my recent blog feature! She features Etsy artists on her blog and she, herself, creates unique art, jewelry, and other fun stuff out of recycled goods like grocery store ads! Check out this funky bracelet.

{They're Baaaaaack...}

Joey, Danny, Jonathan, Jordan, and Donnie...yep, I'm talkin' NKOTB ladies! New Kids On The Block are back and are going on tour, can you believe it?! My husband makes fun of me because I'm in my 30s and I still listen to their Christmas album every year, despite how hokey it sounds. Did anyone notice that "I'll Be Lovin' You Forever" was on the last episode of Ugly Betty? Anyway, my friend Vikki and I just bought tickets to their show in September up in East Rutherford, NJ. I cannot wait to see just how many pathetic 30-somethings like myself show up to rekindle their childhood crushes...who was your favorite? Mine was Jonathan by far, and then Joey as a close second. I saved a couple of NKOTB patches that I wanted to sew onto my stylin' jean jacket, so maybe I can fashion something to wear to the show. Okay, now I'm cracking myself up.

{Remembering, Celebrating & Home Improvement!}

Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I last posted a little something so this one will be long and full of pictures. Life has been a tad bit hectic. This past week and weekend, in particular, was a doozy. Some of you know that my dad passed away 8 years ago from cancer. Two years prior to that, his sister Kathleen died of breast cancer. Well, last week, Kathleen's husband (my Uncle Jim) lost his battle with lung cancer. The Horan Clan (5 siblings and their spouses and 4 of their children) put their father/grandfather to rest on Friday with a nice ceremony, followed by a reception at the house in Westchester, PA. Here is a picture of the Horan Clan at my sister's wedding many years ago (from left, Jenny, Tim, Uncle Jim, Aunt Kathleen, Jim, David, Pat & his wife Suzanne and first daughter Courtney):

While saying goodbye to my Uncle, I couldn't help but to remember my Aunt Kathleen (who was my favorite Aunt), and my Dad, whom I miss dearly. I hope they are all together somewhere watching over us. Here are pictures of my Aunt Kathleen and my dad, Bill:

The day after the funeral, my cousin Tim (one of the Horan Clan) got married at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ. It was nice to see all of my cousins and their kids celebrating, even after the unfortunate loss of their father the previous week. What an emotional roller coaster they have all been through. The weather didn't allow Tim & Kelly to have the waves and sand as a backdrop for their vows, but it was sweet nonetheless. Here is a picture of my sister, Tracy, and I having fun with the camera...she's got food in her mouth:

The next day was Mother's Day, my very first! Cooper wore an adorable little sweatshirt embroidered with the words "I LOVE MOMMY", which was made by his Grammy (Jeff's mom). Here's a couple pics:

We all went out to a nice Mother's Day Brunch where we stuffed our faces with everything from french toast to seafood. Jeff has a "secret" Etsy account and he bought me a wonderful picture frame made out of reclaimed wood and other found objects by Reart.


I can't go onto her shop to browse because I don't want to be tempted to look at her feedback to see what Jeff's username is. He says if I peek, I'll never get another Etsy gift again! Big meany! I'll fill the frame with a nice picture of Cooper for my desk when I go back to work. He also got me a beautiful photo necklace from Simply U Boutique, another Etsy seller. Both gifts had a "key to my heart" theme, and that is definitely fitting since Cooper is, well, just that!

Both Jeff and Cooper gave me cards, and if you can believe it, Cooper signed his own name...interesting. That kid sure is talented. My sister gave me a funny card and a pretty nightie...we don't like to call them night gowns due to the images of ugly flannel ruffles and lace that the word evokes. It's feminine, but not too old fashioned or too sexy. Not posting a pic of me in it, sorry. :) My sister is the best and she's made me a better mom to Cooper. I've learned a lot from her these last 9 months. I am so glad she had two boys before Cooper came along.

In the middle of all of this remembering and celebrating we are having every single window in our house replaced with brand spankin' new ones. The workmen were here last Thursday and then the rain came. So they resumed work yesterday, and hopefully they'll finish up today.

Cooper is napping upstairs among the sawing, hammering, and drilling. Don't know how that kid does it but I'm sure thankful he's such a good sleeper. Also, we had brand new master bedroom furniture delivered on Friday. I personally, have never in my life had new furniture, even as a kid. My mom bought a used crib that she sanded and refinished because, apparently, the previous owner was a beaver and gnawed on the wooden posts! Then I had a white four poster bed handed down to me from my sister, and then after that, I had an antique looking set that we got from an elderly person that knew my grandmother, if I remember correctly. Then, I got my grandmother's old set and that is now in the garage waiting for one lucky Craigslist browser to claim! If I can't sell it, it's going on freecycle.org for sure! Here's the new dresser and end table. I got an armoire, which I absolutely love!

Well, today is another beautiful spring day so hopefully Cooper and I can get out and go for a nice walk to enjoy it. After the windows are done, I can finally get my house back in order by moving the furniture back into place and pressing my drapes and hanging them up. The windows look awesome so far. I chose to have the bottom window clear with the top having the panes. I think I am only one of two houses in the neighborhood that did them that way but a lot of the older homes that I love in Moorestown have windows in that style so I wanted to mimic that look. It really opens up the rooms and it's nice to have an unobstructed view of my yard, especially the bird feeders and flowers.

Whew, that was a long post...thanks for checking out my blog. Take care everyone, and have a great day!

Sisters Weekend!

Hello all you sisters out there! My sister Tracy and I just got back from a nice weekend getaway without the "boys" and I highly recommend doing so yourself. It was a lot of fun and although it was over in a blink of an eye, it was a nice little break from our daily lives. I posted about where we stayed previously, but let me jus reiterate a little bit. We stayed at a 200 year old stone farm house (Living Spring Farm) a mile outside Adamstown, PA, nicknamed Antiques Capital USA. The house itself was very cozy and inviting and the Innkeeper, Deb was very friendly and open. She lives there full time and made us feel just like dear friends staying for a visit. The farm had a horse, a pony, and two cats. We visited with the animals every day and made friends with most of them. Although Sammy, the pony, gave Tracy a big shove with his head when I tried to take a picture of the two of them. I think he didn't want her stealing his thunder...they both had very similar hairdos. Anyway, Deb made us an incredible breakfast both days and gave us tips on where to go shopping. We are not antique collectors but we do admire anything that has a history. Most of our time was spent pointing out kitchy things and just laughing. The big purchase of the weekend for both my sister and myself were birdhouses made out of salvaged wood, metal, and findings like antique drawer pulls, glass knobs, and hinges. We also bought some vintage books and other things that we can use in our crafts and art. I found a few vintage science books about experiments, zoology, seashells, ants and bees, and butterflies. The illustrations in them are what really appealed to me. I'll be listing some of the things I found on my Etsy shop at One Cozy Nest. Stop by to check them out.

GIVE AWAY!!! What Did You Do For Earth Day 2008?

Well, I like to think that every day around my house is Earth Day. But I celebrated the day by doing something a little extra. I tried to conserve some energy by turning off my heat, opening the windows, and I did not use any lights all day (as long as the sun was shining). I also didn't turn on the TV. What did you do? Leave a comment and I'll pick a name out of a hat for a surprise giveaway!

New Vintage Goods

My sister, the baby, and I ventured out to the flea market this morning. Oh my goodness, was today the most absolutely perfect weather day? We had a great time. The baby was well behaved until the very end, but then we just took turns carrying his heavy behind around, which he just loved. Better people-watching view, I guess! I found a lot of lovely vintage enamel flower pins. There they are drying out in the sun after I cleaned them up. I took some great photos and then listed them all on Etsy today. Stop on by my new Etsy shop called One Cozy Nest, where I'll be selling all of my items from now on. I'll slowly transfer my handbags and baby goods over to this shop as my listings expire. After my trip to Adamstown, PA next weekend, I'm sure there will be lots more new stuff for sale! On another Etsy note, I'm happy to report that my two vintage fabric buntings sold today! I had so much fun making them. I sure hope they find their way into some adorable little baby's room. I'll have to make some more to restock.

Custom Handbag

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share my latest creation with you. You may remember a few weeks ago I posted about eco-friendly dog beds made by Etsy seller Anniessweatshop. Well, she asked me if I wanted to do a trade with her! Of course I accepted and created this beautiful set. It's made from my "cammo femme" fabric and has a nice secure zipper closure. The matching case is like my artist's pouches, except it's deeper for her sunglasses. I hope she likes it...and if you're reading, Annie, I hope you forgive me for making you wait so long. Your doe beds are adorable and I can't wait to get mine and let Guinness crawl in and take a nice snooze. I'll send pics!

On another note, my vintage enamel flower pins have been really popular on Etsy! I've sold all but two so far. I've had these things for a few years now and occasionally I'd sell one but they're selling like hotcakes these days! I promise to pick up many more next weekend when my sister take our much deserved girls weekend away. We're staying at a lovely bed & breakfast called Living Spring Farm. The house is a 200 year old stone farmhouse located in Adamstown, PA (supposedly the antiques capital of the US). They have a little pony named Sammy that I'm really looking forward to meeting! He's so cute. Reminds me of Donkey from Shrek for some reason. Haha!