Original gift idea *alert* !

Nooooo, this isn't something made of fabric this time.  :)

Last week I found myself in need of an original gift, like pronto.  I didn't have enough time to get something off of Etsy (which I HIGHLY recommend for just about anything).  So I decided on my usual backup plan:  Artique.  But just as I was about to trek across town to peruse its array of original works, my artist friend/SIL, Shelly, called me to have lunch.  I mentioned in passing that I can meet after I go to Artique for a unique gift.  Well, the rest is history.  

This Forever Flower utilizes an old wine bottle for its vase.

I knew she made these metal flowers, but I didn't think there was any way she could have one ready for me that fast.  Now I can't guarantee that she's always able to work so speedily, but I can guarantee that the recipient will love it!  If you are interested, you can reach her at scorbett75@yahoo.com. 

Today's happiness:  Forever Flowers are made by repurposing reclaimed materials (copper wiring, sheet metal, etc.).  Waste not, want not!

"C" is for...

Chickened out.  Or maybe--Changed my mind.  On the framed buttons.  As beautiful as they are on my mantle (and that is where they are going to stay), it reminded me of another time that I had a gift idea go awry.  It was the time that I saw some really cool bars of soap that had wool roving felted around them.  (You know, for exfoliating purposes.).  But I chose a really bad color of roving to wrap around my lavender infused soap--black and white.  It turned out looking like a dead skunk had been coerced around a hockey puck.  So instead of producing original gifts, I have several unused bars of floral soaps adding to the pile in my crafting graveyard.

So Jeff suggested I go the traditional route of dish towels.  I made a couple:

Tea towel #1

Tea towel #2

 But somehow, tea towels just seemed a little too, well, traditional for my tastes.  So I had to do one more:

Welcome to the 'hood, M family!

Today's happiness:  Perhaps it's too early in the relationship to let on to the new neighbors that my sense of humor's a little quirky.  But I gave myself a good laugh, anyway :)

"M" is for...

Mistake.  Well, it was supposed to be for my new neighbors' monogram, but it kept turning out to look like Mickey Mouse.  Imagine two round, shiny black buttons on either corner of the top of the "M".

Yeah, so we've been really excited about our new neighbors that are about to move in.  They're really nice, considerate people.  The kind of friends you'd be proud to bring home to Mom.  So I decided to make them a house warming gift.  You know, like make their monogram out of buttons, affix it to a cute-fabric covered backing, and frame it.  You already know the rest of the story.  So this is what I did instead:

Hmm...this looks quite nice on my own mantle...

The problem is, these are our new neighbors.  Meaning that I only know approximately 3 things about them.  One of those three isn't whether or not she has an undying affectionate love for all things vintage, namely a vintage button collection.  So upon opening, the bearer will immediately be informed that the gift can be shamelessly regifted to someone else who would love it should it not work out with her decor. 

Oh, did I mention she's an interior designer??

Today's happiness:  She/they might like it.  If not, I might end up with some nice vintage buttons displayed in a pretty faux gesso frame :)

Quick! Win this!

Displayed with a black turtleneck underneath

Please excuse the shoddy photography.  I know you can see over the top of the backdrop.  (If I'm self-deprecating enough, does it make the picture good??)

So I thought it was high time for another give away.  Up for your winning pleasure today is a candy corn pillowcase dress.  Just in time for fall!  For some reason, people seem to enjoy the way these candy corn dresses look WAY better than the way candy corn actually tastes, but I digress.

This is how you could win:  Suggest that every person you know that knows a kid, become a fan (or "like") a La Modish on Facebook.  If we get to 250 likes or more by October 1st, one of you is going home as the lucky winner.  See the cute little FB badge above and to the right?  Click on it.  It starts with you.

Today's happiness:  It's looking a little gray in the Bluegrass State today, but I'm okay with that.  It means that fall is almost here.  Aunt Harriet's apple cider, the beautiful foliage change, chili at football tailgates.  They all rank right up there with heaven.

No going home outfit for baby?!

That's what would be the equivalent, I told my husband. 

I know I am not alone when I say that there are LOTS of things I would like to do/accomplish, but time constraints simply won't allow for all of them to come to fruition.  Making a first-day-of-school outfit for my daughter is not one of them.  

So I go back to my previous statement to Jeff.  Out of his good-intentioned desire to keep me from adding one more thing to my plate, he suggested that Sabrina just wear some other outfit that I'd already made for her for the first day of school.  For shame!  So I compromised with myself.  I found a cute tee-shirt, and made a little dress out of it for her. 

The skirt lining is the same pink that's in the tee shirt. Aren't peek-a-boo details fun?

Sabrina took one look at it and said, "Dat's coot" (That's cute). Enough said. I was one happy mama.

Today's happiness:  Mailing a surprise package to one of you!  Hmm...who could it be?! :)

To my fellow (circle one) crying or happy mothers,

Back to school. 

Okay, so I guess it was "back to school" for my son.  But it's just "to school" for my daughter.  Her first week of preschool to be exact.  I know back in my day as a toddler, none of us went to preschool.  But, alas, times have changed.  For one reason or another we usually send our kids to preschool, right?  Maybe it's the socialization.  Maybe it's for Mom's Day Out.  Or maybe it's a form of childcare for the working family.

But this week of September brings the start of a lengthy road of school for our youngest.  And along with her first glimpse of school came a super ugly, neon green tote bag that we were supposed to decorate and affix/apply/adhere her name.  So after I got over my high-falutin designer's evaluation of the tote bag color choice, I realized that this was actually the perfect opportunity to repurpose some vintage sheets that I had on hand. 

Anyone else's daughter obsessed with HK?  I must admit that I secretly share this sentiment with my child.

Today's happiness:  Her name is actually covering up a boo boo in the original monogramming.  Yay for happy accidents that end up making things better :0)

To sum it all up with one interjectory sentence:

What a phenomenal experience!  The place went on and on forever.

Children's World was all the way on top.  Good thing I'm not scared of heights.

Of course, I'm referring to the Atlanta market.  I met some super gifted designers that helped me understand the business from "our" side of things, and the line got fantastic exposure in front of thousands of buyers--all with orders, of course! 

The Sweet Sabrina in the showroom window.  Look at how cute those pantaloons are underneath.

Today's happiness:  Did I mention one of the highlights of the trip? You may have seen my FB posting of a model asking to a) borrow my lip gloss and b) know what agency I was "with".  Bwah, ha, ha!  But thank you :)

MAC Viva Glam VI--It was "too pink" for her.