pretty!

fall is one of my absolute favorite seasons. the excitement of the holidays is upon us, the weather is cooler and refreshing after the hot hot hot summer, and the fashion is so multi-layered and full of options! probably one of my most favorite things about fall is the leaves...

we don't have too much change here in north cakkilaky, but i think that this year the early cold snaps helped the leaves put on a much more impressive show than usual. here are some shots from a lunch break stroll to get you in the spirit!

sadly, they are mostly blown away now...but that means that christmas is around the corner!

another treasure....

i was going to wait until i had better photography (the phone camera is not always the best)...but i love this one!

one last find from the weekend...lanvin watch! $5! (i told you she has magical powers!!)

let's just keep our fingers crossed that it still works!

treasures!

last weekend i went to wilmington to visit my lovely friend jade for her birthday! celebration, and to spend a lil time with my momma....and had the pleasure of doing some thrifting!

jade has magical thrifting powers, as you will note from some of the posts on her super cool blog. needless to say, in her company, i found some treasures!

1- a cute ring stand! i have been looking for one of these that isn't cheesy or stupid or in the shape of a heart or flower FOREVER. this one is just simple and pretty and perfect for holding the sparklies while you sleep :)

2- teacups! these are so cute, and actually had some fabulous saucers to accompany them...i just brought the cups home, because they are soon to become CANDLES.

3- a little christmas mouse cross stitch kit...you will see his completed photo soon i hope!

yay thrifting!

pretty!

ok....so i am a little biased because i might maybe have a weensy part time job at a j.crew. but seriously people, how pretty and chic are these shoes???!?!?!!

p.s. i know that these are neither secondhand or handmade...but they do have sewn parts! in my blog description i said that i would be posting on pretty things...which i would like to do...so expect to see more not necessarily handmade things that i still think are pretty in the near future!

buy handmade!

so here's an idea.

we all like handmade things, right? so if you'd like to be all crafty and give handmade gifts this season, but you don't have time to make EVERYTHING (which is probably most of us)...you can buy from folks who DO have time!

if you really want to support handmade holidays, go to this site and pledge to buy handmade gifts this season, while requesting that others do the same for you.

my gifts will probably not all be handmade...as i have loved ones who request otherwise and i ultimately always want to make eeeverybody as happy as possible...but i will be creating as many crafty gifts as humanly (me-ly?) possible, that's for sure!

nobody likes parking at the mall in november or december anyway, right?

Friends give good advice

While visiting with my bestest friend last weekend, I commented on her
fabulous fireplace. The gas isn't hooked up, so she stacked some logs
inside and twisted white christmas lights aaaall around
them. Now, you may not know to too well yet, but
Christmas lights and I have a very longstanding love affair. While
wondering at her magical fireplace I said 'man I wish I had a
fireplace, that's such a good excuse to use Christmas lights all
year!' to which my fab friend responded...'well, you could just put
some in a vase....?'. Now why didn't I think of
that? I didn't have a vase big enough, but
I DO have an extremely large crystal bowl that I got as a wedding gift
and couldn't figure out how to use! Voilà! Instant lamp! To boot,
there are Christmas lights in all of the stores now...so get crackin!

Tadaaaaa!

Here is the finished product! On my nightstand! So
easy. The materials only cost about $12, and the
process took maybe 5 minutes. Just glue the wick, melt the wax, and
pour! Follow this link for my inspiration and full instructions.

Lately I love...

Candles!!! I know it's a little corny, but I love candles a lot.
Especially lately. They are just so homey and fall-y and make your
house smell faaabulous! So I took the advice of a fellow blogger and
made one myself :) here it is in progress...

election day party!

we can always count on martha. having an election-results partay?
head on over to the queen's website for recipes that represent different areas of the usa. or perhaps are just plain patriotic...like these cute cupcakes :)

amazing.

ok so maybe not secondhand or sewn...but definitely handmade and amazing! this is a sculpture by artist jeff koons. he is pretty much the picasso of our time. this piece was atop the roof of the metropolitan museum of art in nyc...along with a few others...for a couple of months this fall. it's made out of stainless steel and coated in a translucent material. SO COOL! i especially like how you're always a part of the piece of art that you're looking at, because it's so reflective.

amazing!