.my 27th birthday.

Yes, that's right! Today is the day of my 27th birthday! What a wonderful day it's been so far!

I got to have an amazing lunch with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law at the FABULOUS Tea Room in downtown Rogers, Ar!

I ordered the tuna melt on sourdough with creamy potato soup. To. Die. For.

This is the room in which we ate our lunch. They call it the pink room, and the blue room is across the hall. This area is upstairs. Downstairs there are more tables as well as a gift shop and candle outlet. The whole thing is in an old brick building in downtown. Perfect!

And all the was just the beginning of my awesome birthday! After lunch, my mom, s.i.l., and myself walked down the street and around the corner to our favorite fabric shop. Since the fabric shop is moving into a different building, they were having a HUGE sale! I was able to buy stacks of fabric, most for anywhere from 50% - 85% off original prices!

My mom and I also stopped by one of our favorite flea markets and the local thrift store called Helping Hands. I made out like a bandit with major loot from this place too! Maybe I have birthday luck going on, but I think today was a pretty successful shopping day!

My loot: Triangle ruler for cutting quilt blocks (this was 85% off). Stacks of fabric (a lot of which you can't even see because it's folded together). Two sweet little Country Living magazines that I got for 10 cents a piece at Helping Hands. Floral print vintage glasses from Helping Hands (I got all 7 for $3.50!) The amazing book Wild at Heart. Oh, and see the table cloth everything is sitting on? Well, I got that at Helping Hands as well!

.fabric love.

.tulip vintage glasses.

.magazines for inspiration.

Honestly, this has been such a great birthday! Not to mention, my husband is on his way home right now from a 3-day business trip! I'm so glad he'll be home again. I'm a little nervous about debuting my new haircut to him. It's still weird to me, so I imagine it will take the hubs a while to get used to it!

.ode to target's chairs.

Dear Target,

I love your chairs. Mostly, your armless chairs, but there is one arm chair in particular that I also drool over.

Coincidentally, I am in the market for some new living room furniture. Right now all we have is a micro-suede dark green couch, a glass-top coffee table, and a tv on a stand.

Yes, I know. It is quite sad. And soooo not my style.


But these chairs, these are what I would consider "my style." I love all these colors; how could I ever pick just one!

I would love to own just one of these chairs... Make that two chairs. One for each side of the fire place. I could decorate a whole room around one of these. They inspire me!

But, alas, Target. My love for your chairs will most likely have to continue from afar.

A love that will never be conquered, never relinquished, yet, never reciprocated.

You see, Target, I am married. And the husband, well he wants leather furniture. Talk about a dilemma.

Yours always,

Martha

.felt pillows.

Who needs food? Sleep? Apparantly, not me. I've been spending all my time sewing with only minimal amounts of the afore mentioned -- just enough to keep me strong enough to continue with my sewing.

Ok, so that was a slight exaggeration. But I have been sewing an awful lot. Mainly, because I have so many ideas, I just can't allow myself to stop, but also because I really want to get my etsy shop open, and I'm determined to have plenty of inventory before I do so.

Besides pillowcase dresses and rag quilts, I plan on adding these to my shop:

Felt throw pillow slipcovers! These are 2 that I made today, but they won't all have birds on them.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Would you or anyone you know ever consider buying anything like this?

.something to celebrate.

I made this party pennant on Paint to help celebrate the fact that this is my 100th post!!

So glad you're here, that you're reading this and, hopefully, celebrating with me!

So, coincidentally, the title of this post is "Something to Celebrate." What am I celebrating, you ask? Well, I'll tell you!! See the picture above? Well, that is a portion of my inventory. The inventory from my own little business I call Shabby Threads.

Tomorrow is a big day for Shabby Threads because I am taking some of my inventory with me to a cute little place in town called True Treasures.

True Treasures will be a venue from which Shabby Threads is available to the public.

Wait, I think that statement needs some more excitement added to it:

TRUE TREASURES WILL BE A VENUE FROM WHICH SHABBY THREADS IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To quote little orphan Annie: "Tomorrow, tomorrow..."

.silhouettes of us.

I have been feeling extra crafty lately! I think it's because I'm on summer vacation and I want to use every free minute I have doing something I always wished I had time to do the days I was at work.

I found some instructions online how to make your own silhouettes, and here are the results:

That's my husband and me! We each stood in front of a white door and took our profile pictures. I then printed them out in a 5x7 size and cut out our outlines. Then I traced our outlines onto black construction paper and glued them onto the green background paper that I found at Hobby Lobby. The frames are also from Hobby Lobby and are 8x10. And voila! Instant vintage-inspired silhouettes.

I'm in love!

.sweet summer.

Ordinarily, I am an Autumn girl. I love the cool, crisp air and the array of colorful leaves that come with the Fall. However, I must give a shout out to Summer. I am quite enjoying this season more than ever this year!
I LOVE all the free time I've had! I've been sewing up a storm, trying to build up inventory before my etsy shop opens. Having so much time to focus on my passion is such a blessing! I've rediscovered my love for creativity, and it feels good.

Today is Friday, which is such an exciting day in the Summertime. I'm meeting with a friend and her 4 kids today to go watch Toy Story 3. I'm a big Toy Story fan! Gotta love a cartoon that is just as much fun for adults to watch as it is for kids! Tomorrow holds garage sales (and fingers crossed, estate sales) then an evening cook-out with friends! Sunday holds church and who knows what else. But, you see, this is what I love about Summertime. Being outdoors, sundresses, lemonade, yard sales, freedom, 4th of July, watermelon, fresh-cut grass, bbq's, and swimming.

Here's to everyone having a fun-filled Summer weekend! :-)

Oh, and one more thing. If you like ANTHROPOLOGIE, you'll love this GIVEAWAY.

.wedding and a birthday.

This weekend was a special one. I attended the prettiest outdoor garden wedding I've ever been to and got to witness a very special couple exchange their vows. We also celebrated my sister's 29th {belated} birthday. From here on, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

.exciting new venture.

I am beyond excited to announce my new business venture: Shabby Threads. I will be making and selling pillowcase dresses, throw pillow slipcovers, quilts, and anything else that I discover I enjoy sewing along the way!

This is Bella. She was such a good little model for me. My photographer friend Loren King took most of the photos and even allowed me to take a couple. The shabby chic dress Bella is wearing represents me and my style perfectly.

These pictures were made as promotional shots for my new business. I'll be able to use these in ads, my shabby threads blog (once I get it created) and in my etsy shop. I've reserved my etsy shop name but have not officially set up shot yet. That is coming soon, and I'm excited!!

A local antique mall, True Treasures, has shown interest in having me sell my dresses there. I am honored to have people approaching me and supporting my creativity!

That being said, my plan is to use the Summer to sew, sew, sew. It looks like I'll have 3 venues from which to sell my product (True Treasures, Etsy, and facebook), and I'm excited to see which one gets the most response.

For this photoshoot, Loren and I had a vision, and it was so fun watching it come to life. Bella is Loren's niece, the hay field is on Loren's family's farm, and the chippy white chair is a flea market find of mine!

I must say, this is a dream opportunity.

This is my passion, and I'm so blessed to have the time to pursue it!

Stay tuned for more updates on Shabby Threads!

.glimpses of spring.

I am enjoying Spring more than ever this year. I think it's because I finally have my own yard to plant pretty flowers in and keep groomed. Really, my husband does all the yard work, and I'm thankful for that. He puts a lot of time and energy in keeping our grass mowed and the weeds pulled. The best part is he enjoys it!

Here are just a couple of pictures I took from our front yard today. They make me happy.

.my petunias.

.this little guy lives with his mama in our crepe myrtle.