My 3 Reed Dotters

2012-02-16T15:11:00.003-07:00

"Not all those who wander are lost."

J.R. Tolkien

Dotters=Little Gals=Valentine Party

2012-02-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

The dotter's loved all the pretty festive decorations for my annual Valentine party and thought they could capitalize on it. They begged for a chance to have their own party. Why not? and I secretly wished for a reason to keep my cute decorations up a little longer.

We decided each dotter could invite 5 friends. We would decorate Valentine cookies and make Valentines for family and friends.

It was such a fun time with all the girls (imagine 15 girls ages 6-12 all in the house.)

All had a fun time and got to take home lots of sweet treats to their families.

Doesn't this look goooood??

Hope you had a wonderful and sweet Valentine's Day.

The "gals" at the Galentine Party

2012-02-12T23:56:00.001-07:00

Wendy, Natali, Ana and Amanda

Cathie and Marci

Ready to fill their cookie plates.

My sweet sister drove all the way from Idaho to come to the party.

What a sweet and tasty party!

Lisa loves her cookie loot.

Danniey is happy to take some cookies home to her boys.

Wanted to do a quick post about my friends who came to the party. This is one of the few parties where I have a mix of all my different friends, neighbors, junkers/antiquers, theatre friends. I love them all. Such a fun time.....

Thanks to my wonderful friend Paula who took all these pictures, since I never would have.

3rd Annual Galentine Party=Fun&Cookies

2012-02-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

I had a great time planning this year's party. People always ask me, "How do you have the time?" I've come to realize we make time for the things we love. I love to entertain, I love to decorate and I love to craft, so throwing a party is somewhat of a really fun hobby for me.

This year like all the year's previous, it was a cookie exchange. I love cookie exchanges, but Christmas is to hard for me to throw a party, so a Valentine party seems perfect.

This year for decorations I had lots of PINTEREST inspiration. I am like totally addicted to that site.

I love the traditional colors of Valentine's Day, red, white and pink, but I wanted a little twist thrown in so I added this beautiful aqua color. I draped this rope across the living room and added vintage pom poms, white lanterns and red and aqua tissue paper poufs. I also used clothes pins to pin up red heart dollies.

I made the fabric banner, by ripping strips of fabric and knotting them onto rope. It was a big color punch. The burlap banner that reads BE MINE was bought on VERYJANE.com, she is also an etsy seller.

Everyone brings their cookies and I thought it would be fun to display them around the room. I set out all my platters and had them write on a little card what kind of cookie they made and who it was that made it.

I love to give little favors to my friends as a reminder of the party and this year I was inspired by these sweet vintage jelly jars that my friend Cathie had in her antique booth at TREASURES. She gave me a great deal on them and I filled them with valentine m&m's and decorated the top with vintage flowers, ribbon and lace. I stuck little toothpick tags that read Be Mine. (I purchased those at Hobby Lobby.)

I also got these cute bags with Be Mine Toppers at Hobby Lobby and put in some jelly bellies.

Brunch was simple, I love the FARM CHICKS recipes for an egg casserole and potato casserole. Throw in some fresh fruit and chicken salad rolls and you have a great brunch.

I bought these adorable milk bottles and straws, because what could be cuter than milk with your cookies?

Love tulips, my favorite flower.

My dear friend CATHIE COX (who is a real photographer!) took all these wonderful photos. My other bestie, PAULA PERKINS took photos of the guests that I will share in another post. Thanks you two!
Cathie also made a sweet banner out of a vintage cutter quilt and vintage pom poms. (See the picture of the brunch, it is hanging behind the tulips.)

After cookies and conversation we headed up to make the craft. I loved this idea of 52 reasons I love you and my guests all made this sweet book out of a deck of cards for someone special in their lives.
Thanks Lisa for all your graphic help!

Of course, I have the most awesome friends and it was a joy to spend some time with them. Come back to see pictures of my GALENTINES in the next post!

Family=LOVE

2012-02-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

I just had my annual Valentine Day party yesterday and I am so excited to show some photos. My sweet friend Cathie took them and she does amazing things with a camera. I know at around Valentine's Day we often think about our sweetheart or romantic love, but for me Valentine's is all about my awesome friends and wonderful family too! At the party yesterday my MOM commented on how I have such a great and unique set of friends. I thought...I really do. They are all so creative and interesting and when I am with them I always wish I had more time to spend with them. I am grateful for such wonderful women in my life, including my family.....mom, sisters, dotters. Love them all.

Speaking of someone who does amazing things with a camera is our photographer Andee McDonald. She took our family photos a few years back and I had an idea for some photos with a really vintage vibe so I called Andee and she really captured the feeling I wanted. Go visit her HERE.

Thought I would share some photos of the dotter's and the fam.....

Fleaology is almost here!

2012-01-17T23:30:00.002-07:00

The Dotter's have empty bags ready to be filled at FLEAOLOGY this Saturday.

Go check out the posts at FLEAOLOGY this week. We are having our next sale this Saturday, January 21st at Olson's Greenhouse in Payson.

Come say hi, I would love to see you there. We are having 20 vendors all with awesome stuff. I can't wait to go shopping myself.

The Dotter's are so happy FLEAOLOGY is this Saturday, aren't YOU?

Happy Junking!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get in one more post before the new year. Thought I would share some of mine and the dotter's Christmas with you.

We love Christmas Eve and like many families have our traditions that we love. We started the evening with a wonderful dinner (roast, potatoes, veggies, appetizers and goblets with sparkling cider.) Grandma and Grandpa, Michelle, LJ and the kids were all invited. After dinner we did the traditional opening of Christmas jammies. This was one of the first years that they were not all matching and I bought some for little Sophia and Garret. The dotter's and I just love those 2 peanuts!

After they changed into jammies the dotter's had planned a special program for us. Bronwyn and Brooklyn have gotten really good on the piano and they played carols and sang for us. We also read from the bible the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.
The dotter's were really excited and finally settled down to bed at around 11pm.

Brooklyn playing Jingle Bells.

Then it was up at 6am for us. Yes, you heard me 6am! They have never gotten up that early before. We just couldn't keep them contained, so it was off to open presents. Luckily, I had a chance to go back to bed while they played with presents.

Thought I would share some fun gifts I received. I saw this lamp in the Anthropologie catalog and really wanted it. Unfortunately like most things in the Anthropologie catalog it was way out of my price range. The price tag of $500 did not fit in the hubby's budget. Luckily I had collected a few of these shoe forms over the years. He took them and made me this wonderful lamp! I think it is even better than the one from Anthropologie. My dad gave me the wonderful deer antlers. I have been wanting a pair. They are super chic. It's the look I'm loving a lot right now.

You can see the base of my shoe lamp. It is 3 little wooden shoe forms, which makes it better than Anthropologie's :)

This lamp is one I bought for myself as a Christmas gift. Do you ever buy yourself a gift? There is a guy here in Utah who takes wonderful old parts and fashions them into these awesome steampunk lamps. I saw this one and had to have it. So on layaway it went and I finally got it out, just in time for Christmas.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. May this new year bring you many blessings and all that you hope for.

Giveaway winner

2011-12-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

Please forgive my lateness in announcing the winner of my giveaway. I used random generator and the winner was number 4! That is Marci! Marci is a great lady that I have gotten to know over the last few months. She also has a really cool blog called Dandelion Farm Girl. I would go check it out.

So part of the reason I'm so late was we took an unexpected trip to visit my sister in Idaho. This is always fun especially for my 3 dotters. My sister lives on 5 acres and they are what I call hobby farmers. A few horses, cows, chickens and my dotter's favorite.....the four wheeler!

I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Spreading some Christmas Cheer

2011-12-14T18:28:00.002-07:00

Today I am grateful for my beautiful bulbs that have bloomed and are providing me with Christmas cheer.

I want to provide you with some Christmas cheer, because I'm so grateful for all my wonderful friends and customers. So let's...

I was hoping to do this giveaway earlier, but could not get it to happen. So instead of Christmas I thought we would celebrate the new year with a fun party hat for an upcoming birthday or special occasion in your life. Here is a picture of what they look like. Perfect for a child. I can somewhat personalize it with a certain age. Along with party hat I will send you some other fun party items including a vintage milk jar of bubble gum, some vintage trim and whatever else strikes my fancy the day I send off the package.

In order to enter just leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from those of you who stop by and never comment (hint, hint).

For every 10 comments I will add one more party hat.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! I will announce a winner on December 26.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my friends and customers who visited me at Beehive Bazaar. It was a fun show and I got pretty cleaned out in the end. So grateful for you support in my crafty vintage adventures.

I've posted a lot of Christmas decor pictures, but had to post my tree. I wanted to do something really different and have been "eyeing" this tree at Treasures Antique Mall in Springville. My friend made an offer that I could not refuse. So instead of a trip to the tree lot this year....I went with this tree.

Okay, not what you thought? I couldn't help it. I love all the wonderful retro-ness of it. It is an original from thw 50's or 60's. The cool thing....the hubby loves it, the kids love it and when I told my mom about it she said my great-grandmother used to have one!

Perfect for all that vintage ornament goodness. And he threw in the rotating light that makes it sparkle.

Okay, I'll say it again...I love it so.

Merry Christmas!

Come back and visit me on Wednesday, I will be doing a Christmas giveaway!

Beehive Bazaar 2011

2011-12-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, the wonderful handmade event of the year (as far as I'm concerned!)....The Beehive Bazaar. I am not only a vendor, but I love to shop it as well! I can't wait to see what my crafty friends have been working on. It is such a great place for unique and quality Christmas gifts.

If you live in Utah it is a show not to miss! It is also at a new location. The Bell Room on University and Center in Provo. Come check it out! I have some fun things I'll be selling.
I am going to set up in a few hours and if I can swing it I might grab a few pictures to post.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas......

2011-11-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We were a little low key, due to some surgery I had on Monday. It was nice to have the week to recover and the dotter's and I headed to my Mom's for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. I was starting to feel better by Friday and decided to start pulling out my Christmas decor.

I have been so inspired by Pinterest. It is awesome and really I must confess somewhat of an addiction. So I have my Christmas file and have been storing away some great ideas.

You all know I love vintage...it is my life, my style, my way. Well, Christmas is no exception and I was inspired to do a shelf with all my Christmas vintage kitsch collectibles. I added a few more this year that I picked up from junking friends....the records...thanks Cathie...and Bruce helped with the collection this year. I also love that cool old felt banner that wishes all a Merry Christmas.


A close-up of my sweet choir boys, bottle brush trees and the 50's Santa.

So of course I re-did my green shelf, giving it a faded white Christmas look. I also actually remembered to plant some paper whites and amaryllis bulbs because I love them so. They are coming along nicely.

Love this burlap "Blessed" banner, works so perfectly for the season. I got it on my friend's very cool website VERY JANE.

A Wonderful vintage ribbon tree!

In my living room window, can't wait to see their beautiful blooms.

I had to put these awesome vintage New Year's items I picked up at Abode. They have a wonderful dealer, Ann who I bought these from. She is a lovely lady and does Fleaology too!!

I love the old vintage ornaments, can never have to many.

Still have the trees to get to, but it put me in the Christmas mood to get my "Christmas vintage on". :)

My sweet hubby put up some lights and then I made him go with me to "Footloose"! What a guy! I must say it didn't have the same effect on me that Kevin Bacon did all those years ago. :)

Hope your getting in the holiday mood. I'm working like crazy on Beehive Bazaar and can't wait to bring some fun new stuff to the show. I will give you a preview later on this week.

One last thing, the sweet holiday Mindy Gledhill video our family worked on. Check it out HERE. It is absolutely charming.

Things I.....

2011-11-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

In another life I would love to be a stylist for a magazine. So to satisfy my stylist cravings I use our living room to try design ideas. I played around with the "white wall" yesterday and was pretty happy with the results. It's a good mix of vintage and modern (at least for my taste.)

What do you think?

My friend Cathie had this darling shoe shine box for sale and I had to snatch it up. I was looking for something to put at the front door so each dotter could keep a pair of shoes close at hand.

I am getting so excited for Beehive Bazaar and have been busy. I am trying to replenish my party hats since they all sold at SPARK. I am making more for kids too. Plan to check out the Bazaar the second weekend of December. Wonderful Christmas shopping.

Getting excited for the upcoming holiday season. Trying to figure out a new color palette.

What things are you loving lately?

The Reed Family Puppeteers

2011-10-29T00:21:00.001-06:00

So last weekend was really fun. We had the opportunity to work on a project together as a family. If you don't know already, I am married to someone who loves puppets. He has always loved them and has actually made a living at various times making puppets!

Yes it is true!

When we lived in LA he had the privilege of working at the Jim Henson Creature Shop, which is like the best of the best.

While he doesn't make a living full time at it now, he does a decent amount of freelance work. He also teaches puppetry at BYU. You can go to his blog here.

So you are probably wondering why I am telling you all this. So this really lovely singer named Mindy Gledhill hired Nat to make some puppets for a new music video she was shooting entitled Winter Moon. He needed some puppeteers, so along with a few students.... he hired the 3 dotters. They did a smashing job and it was really awesome to do something together, the 5 of us...creating, laughing, making art, whatever you want to call it. (In his heart of hearts he would love to have a family puppet theatre with the 3 dotters at puppeteers.)

And he paid them 10 bucks each.....so they were really happy!

I'll post the video when it is released, hopefully in a few weeks. In the meantime check out one of her videos here.

Happy Weekend and some pics to get into the Christmas spirit.

It's not that far away.......

Crown

2011-10-27T11:21:00.000-06:00

If you would like your very own crown, drop me a quick email. (3dotters@gmail.com)
I would love to make you one.

(This is a picture of a birthday crown for my friend Rhonna Farrer.)

Had a great time being a vendor at SPARK! Thanks to everyone who bought a bit of vintage whimsey!

Moonlight Ride

2011-10-18T15:39:00.000-06:00

I'm sure some of you that read my blog (and my friends who do read it) think I craft, decorate, party and go junking all the time. :) I do spend a lot of time doing these activities, but sometimes it's nice to set that all aside and go out into the beautiful outdoors.

We are lucky that we live in one of the most beautiful states ever! UTAH!!!If you have never been, consider yourself personally invited! We happen to live very close to Provo Canyon, where the world famous Sundance is located. It is about 15 minutes from our driveway to the resort. I found out quite recently that Sundance hosts Full moon rides on their ski lift. Nat and I thought it would be a fun outing for the dotters. It was chilly, but we snuggled together and kept warm. The moon was so bright! It was like a spotlight had been pointed at the mountains for us to see. It was such a cool way to see this stunning scenery. I took a few pictures (not so great; photographing by moonlight is pretty hard.) The dotter's had fun saying hello to the other cars as we passed each other in the darkness.

And we had a great time as a family.

RANDOM photos on my iphone

2011-10-13T23:22:00.000-06:00

The title really got you didn't it......

So I don't know about you but my 3 dotters take my iphone all the time. Do your kids do that too? So they use it as their own personal camera. Now most of the time they do this without my permission and quite frankly without me knowing it. So tonight I looked at my camera roll and I see 36 pictures. Now you have to understand that I rarely, rarely use my iphone camera so I was very curious to see what the photos were.

I had a good laugh.

My dotter's do love photographing themselves.

I did find 2 fun pictures that I actually took and will include in this wonderful photo essay.

So without further ado.....photo essay....Random iphone pictures

What??? I don't even know what to say

Does she look a little devilish here? or is it just me?

This was one picture I took. Bronwyn meeting Brian Stokes Mitchell after he performed at BYU's Homecoming Spectacular. She was thrilled to chat with a bona fide Broadway star. After she chatted with him for a minute Bronwyn told me that night "Mom, I'm so glad you are not a house mom". I finally impressed my dotter. BTW it was an awesome show to work on, and he is a lovely, lovely person.

A random rehearsal shot I took of him....obviously I need iphone camera lessons.

Fall Decorating

2011-10-02T22:25:00.001-06:00

I love the Fall. The air gets crisper, routines are back into full swing and yes....I get to decorate with fab Fall colors. I love earth tones; orange, green, brown and yellow. I pull out a bunch of my Fall stuff but I always try and do something different or new. I love using as much vintage items as possible. So my "styling" looks something like this:

I love old toolboxes and this one was perfect. Compartments for old books, pumpkins and a real topiary.

Remember that cool old cupboard I got, it's now all decked out for Fall and Halloween.

I love old clocks. In this setting, I think it is "vintage spooky"

Added a few ravens to my mirrors.

I love these real pumpkins from a pumpkin tree.

Just a little glimpse into our Fall home. You should see the outside!

My new obsession: Pinterest.....if you haven't checked it out.....DON'T or you might get hooked like me!

Happy Fall!

A Fall Wedding

2011-09-23T11:18:00.002-06:00

I haven't had a lot of time lately to post on the blog.
One of the things I was working on was a Fall wedding for my sister.
She didn't give us a lot of time and the budget was pretty limited.....

but I think it turned out lovely........

I think it was one of those times my family appreciated all my "stuff".

Happy Fall!

FLEAOLOGY was a HUGE success!

2011-09-05T20:45:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all my wonderful friends and customers who came to visit me at FLEAOLOGY this past weekend! It was our first 2 day sale and it was such a great success. I think it was our best and most organized yet. We had a goal at the beginning of this year to really turn this into a legit flea market and it really happened! Polly, Cathie and I feel great about the 3 markets this year. GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!! We are excited to see what we can grow Fleaology into and have already started talking about the new year.

**As always if you are interested in being a vendor, shoot me a comment or email....

If you didn't get enough of us at Fleaology this weekend you can visit us at the AVENUES STREET FAIR in Salt Lake City this Saturday September 10. We will have a Fleaology booth there.

I will also be a vendor at this EVENT. Can't wait!! Come see me!

Pictures from this weekend:

My booth...

Love the vintage trim! So do a lot of other people!

Vintage sewing stuff....I can't resist

Love vintage gingham aprons.

Ready for Fall.

I love old vintage Florals.

My dear sweet friend Cathie, last minute pricing.

An area of my friend Cathie's booth. She is the ultimate stylist. I have learned ton's from her.

Fleaology AND OTHER stuff I LOVE

2011-08-25T11:57:00.002-06:00

Go head over to my FLEAOLOGY blog today for a fun giveaway.

I just got this fab cupboard from my friend and Fleaology vendor Bruce. I love my white pottery in it. Doesn't it look awesome?

My anniversary and birthday are right next to each other. August 19 and 20. Usually my husband just gets me one gift, this year he did 2 really nice things for me.

For my anniversary he finally did the electric work on this little standing lamp I fashioned together.
He is the light of my life, so it is very appropriate. It was waiting for me just like this when I got home Friday. I love it!

For my birthday he finished a project he started that I really wanted. I love silhouettes but I wanted a modern take on them. I wanted one of each of my sweet dotter's. I love how they turned out.

Finally, my sweet friend and fellow fleaologoist Paula got me these old electric letters for my birthday. This is my life motto and she happened upon them at an estate sale and knew it was destiny!
Thanks Paula.

Don't forget Fleaology is almost here. I can't wait......I have a feeling it will be the best sale yet! Don't miss it. I know your heart is telling you to come!

I am also doing a wonderful event called SPARK. I will be a vendor there and participant. I'm working on lots of vintage inspired whimsy!

p.s. I think they have a few spots left for SPARK. Come join me in the fun!

Our Summer Vacation-Part 2-Southwest VA

2011-08-23T15:09:00.000-06:00

One of the main reasons we planned our adventure back East was to see GRANDPA REED and GRANDMA KAREN. My husband grew up in a wonderful city in southwest Virginia called Roanoke. In fact he and I met at the professional theatre in town. (He was a scenic artist and I was a stage manager.) It was a great place to grow up and my hubby's dad still lives there. Well, the last time we visited, Dotter #1 was 8 months old, so needless to say it has been a while. Although we are able to see Grandpa every year, he is usually flying out to UTAH. After our NYC stay we rented a car and drove to VA. (And yes we drove in Manhattan, even tho I warned the hubby not to, that in itself is an adventure, super aggressive drivers.)

Grandpa and Grandma were so wonderful and such gracious hosts. We had a great time with them.

We were able to take the dotter's to all the places we used to love and show them a glimpse our lives pre-dotters. (We lived downtown which was really fun.) We also had a chance to visit some REED family history sites which was so interesting. We spent a day in this sweet little town that Grandpa grew up in; Floyd, VA. It was nice just to have some down time after our exciting stay in NYC.

Top 5 things about Southwest VA

1. Visiting Floyd and going to this amazing old cemetery in the middle of a cow field. Nat' great grandfather is buried there. Really old graves some dating back to 1700's. Just a cool place.

2. Visiting the Floyd Country Store and getting refreshments. Just a fun, laid back place.

3. Visiting one of our oldest and dearest friends. Ernie Zulia.....he gave me one of my first professional theatre jobs and I worked as his production stage manager on many shows he directed. He is now a chair of a theatre department at a private liberal arts university.

4. Many Historic and iconic spots that I have always loved.......

One of my all time favorite restaurants!! Ate there 2 times when we were there.

Nat and I loved this hike. It was fun to take the girls.

The Historic Farmer's Market. One of the oldest in the country.

I have always loved this sign. Always.....

All the charming old spots.

5. Grandpa Reed taking the girls bungee jumping (the safe kind.) They are still talking about it.

We had so much fun visiting Grandpa and Grandma and old friends. We love VA and can't wait to go back!

Stay tuned for Part 3! (I promise the last of the vacation posts.)

****If you haven't heard we are having our last Fleaology sale of the season on September 2 and 3. We are going to have a small gift for all blog followers who come to the sale. We also are having a giveaway starting tomorrow (even if you are out of town you can enter), so become a follower of :

FLEAOLOGY

fleaology.blogspot.com

Come visit us!!

Summer Vacation-NYC Part 1

2011-08-19T00:48:00.000-06:00

I love NYC. There is no other city like it in the world. Having worked in the theatre profession my whole life I have had the chance to visit and stay in this wonderful city many times. I recently took 3 of my students in February. Well, the dotters have heard us (the hubby and I) talk about this magical place for many years. They finally demanded that they experience this urban wonderland. So Mom and Dad saved their pennies all year (because this is no bargain city) and we planned a trip back east. First stop: NYC

My top favorite moments with the dotters in NYC:

1. Arriving at night and seeing the dotter's faces take in Times Square in all it's lighted glory.
2. Dotter #1 telling us that we should give money to HOBOS (that is what she calls homeless people) but only if they SING.
3. Counting how many times they say "What is that smell?"
4. A really profound and reflective time at the World Trade Center area. I think the reality of what happened had meaning for them.
5. Taking them to their first Cirque de Soleil show at the world famous RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL and Dotter #1 whispering to me at one point, "That is really creepy."
6. Riding the subway and the dotter's always wanting to stand and hold onto a bar, even if there were 20 empty seats.
7. The fun shopping....they couldn't get enough.
8. On the last day the dotters after walking so much saying "Can we take a cab?" everywhere we went.
9. Dotter #1 trying to hail a cab and Dad yelling to her "If you hail a cab, you will pay for it."
10. Dylan's Candy Bar---you gotta see it to believe it!

THE DOTTERS TAKE MANHATTAN

A great view of Manhattan.

Visiting the Mad Hatter in Central Park.


Central Park

Dotter #3 enjoying the water in Central Park

A highlight in NYC, the greatest candy store in the world. I think Dotter #3 is unhappy because she wanted to buy the whole store.

We saw the new Cirque show, ZARKANA at Radio City Music Hall.

Rididng the Times Square Toys R Us Ferris Wheel.


Introducing Dotter #1 to the best bakery ever. Magnolia Bakery. She is eating their amazing bannana pudding.

We're BAAAAACK........

2011-08-16T15:18:00.000-06:00

The dotter's trying on some hats at one of the many antique stores I dragged them to.

We are back. The dotters and I had a lovely time. We have so much to tell you. Please forgive the next few posts, they will be dedicated to the fun, and inspiring time we had together as a family.

I am busy working on projects for Fleaology and SPARK. ( A really cool event you should check out.)

Also, do any of you ever feel that you need a vacation after your vacation?

That is so ME right now.

I've missed looking at all your blogs and hope to catch up with you.

Baptism Day

2011-08-02T00:22:00.001-06:00

Our sweet Brooklyn right before her baptism.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our middle dotter Miss Brooklyn turned 8. We had that really fun Mad Hatter tea party for her birthday, because 8 is a special birthday in our family. When you turn 8 you have the opportunity to be baptized in our church. This is an exciting time for her and she was thrilled to find out that she and her best friend could be baptized on the same day. Lot's of family and friends attended and we had a lovely lunch after. Between Brooklyn and her best friend Maybrie we had family from Idaho, Arizona, Utah and Kentucky.

The Dessert table.....you know me I like to make it look pretty. White was the theme.

Brooklyn with her best friend Maybrie. (Maybire's dad is Matt Montague who was a BYU basketball star 10 years ago, still holds the most assist record. He is also our bishop.)

Is it possible for me to have a party without cupcakes? I think not!

It was a wonderful day. We had a family reunion that evening as well with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It was great to see everyone. Family is so important and definitely a priority in our life.

Tomorrow we are off on our NYC adventure. The dotter's are so excited they can hardly stand it.

My "Treasures"

2011-07-21T14:23:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about "treasures". Why is it that I love everything vintage, old, shabby, peeling...you get the idea. Where did this love of vintage come from? I have loved this style for as long as I remember being conscience of having a "style".

My parents don't really love the vintage way, so where does it come from? My parents always bought new furniture, I don't remember going to thrift stores as a child, so why does the idea of spending a day at flea markets, consignment shops and thrift stores make my heart go all fluttery? Where does this come from?

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this............

Had a great Fleaology on Saturday. Thanks to all my friends and customers who came and visited and found their own treasures.

I have restocked my booth at Treasures Antique Mall in Springville. (Utah that is.) What??? Are you a vintage loving Utahan (is that what we are?) and have never been there?

You need to go. They have over 70 dealers in two warehouses and lots of great TREASURES! I am not only a vendor, but an avid shopper there. Come visit.

We leave in about 10 days for our big NYC trip. It will be the dotter's first trip to the Big Apple. We are getting excited (and broke! as we buy all the tickets.....) we also get to visit Grandpa Reed and Grandma Karen in Virginia and can't wait to see them!

Hope your summer is going SWELL.

My little booth at Treasures.

Brought in a few birthday hats. Don't you just love it on a wedding dress?

xoxoJennifer

Mad Hatter Tea Party

2011-07-12T22:53:00.002-06:00

So my lovely little middle dotter turned 8 this month. In our family that is a very special birthday. In our church children get baptized when they turn 8 and that important event will take place at the end of the month.

I wanted to have a special party for this special birthday. I have been wanting to do a Mad Hatter Tea Party for some time and she decided that the tea party was for her. I probably worked on it for about 3 months, making sure I got on the components. The fun part for me is trying to find just what I need on a pretty limited budget. I got most of the decorations at thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales and a few antique dealer friends.

I had so much fun doing this party for my sweet little dotter. Happy Birthday honey!

Okay, here is the disclaimer: Tons of pictures below, I just loved them all. I owe the wonderful photography to the lovely Sarah Pennepacker. She is great photographer and helped me capture this fun party.

Bella's Vintage Market

2011-07-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

I had the opportunity to be part of a new flea/vintage market in Salt Lake this past Saturday. It was at Wheeler Farm which is this charming park with old houses, buildings and lot's of farm life. It was actually a perfect spot for a fun vintage market. I saw lots of old friends (my two Fleaology pals Cathie and Paula were there with awesome stuff.) I also met some great new friends and people whose work I've admired at other shows. It was fun to be around so many creative people. I did some trading and got some great new stuff as always.

Here are some pictures of my booth. (I actually thought I got some decent booth pictures, which happens to me so rarely, I usually never have time.) I am excited for Flea.o.logy this weekend and will be bringing some great stuff. Come visit our Flea.o.logy blog!

The Dotters go to the Utah Arts Festival

2011-06-27T23:31:00.000-06:00

Every year in June our family looks forward to going to Salt Lake City to attend the Utah Arts Festival. It is a fabulous festival that the dotter's and I have attended for 4 years. It features exciting artists who show and sell their work. It also has music, food and a wonderful children's area. It is the children's area that get the dotter's most excited. I love living in a state that knows the value of art in our society. The festival gives the dotter's a chance to see the world through different eyes and to experience the way others view life and the world around us. I was most excited and impressed by the random acts of art featured throughout the festival. There are always interesting people and stimulating conversation is generated by the dotters observing those interesting people.......

We found this car at the festival. Obviously some knitters were really busy.

A random act of art!

Dotter #2 found this lady in the car.

Dotter 1 is loving the dog.

One thing we do every year at the festival is go to the Mad Hatter booth. Here the girls get to make a crazy hat. This year it was wizard hats.

Some other great pictures of the day......... if you live in Utah, mark your calendars for next June. Have a artful experience!

Summer at the Shell

2011-06-21T21:13:00.001-06:00

We are so lucky to live in a community that loves the arts. Being a family that relies strongly on the arts for our livelihood I wanted to tell you about a gem of a community arts center. It is called the SCERA Center for the Arts and it is located in our hometown. My husband also happens to be the Technical Director and Resident Designer for SCERA so it is at times our home away from home. The SCERA has many programs, it has a indoor theatre season that features musicals, children's shows and dance shows. It also has a movie theatre that features most family friendly movies. It has many programs for youth including dance, choirs, art classes and theatre (a lot of theatre). But perhaps one of the most fun parts about the SCERA is it's huge outdoor amphitheatre located about 1 block from the center. The outdoor season consists of 3 big musicals and a concert series. It also has fun outdoor movies. The other night we went to the outdoor movie of one of our favorites, The Princess Bride.

If you talk to anyone who has grown up around here, most people have some memory of spending time at the SCERA. There is nothing else like it. A beautiful night surrounded by ones you love and the gorgeous mountains that surround our valley. To me this is what summer is about.

Hope you are enjoying your summer and able to find fun things to do with your family.

What fun summer things do you do with your family?

Dotter 2 and 3 are ready for the evening's performance.

I needed to show you how the theatre is surrounded by gorgeous mountains.

My hubby is thinking....I spend all day here, now I have to come in the evening too?

Friends Paula and Scott joining us for a performance of "Singin in the Rain"

We celebrated Grandma's birthday before the show, the flag cake is because she was born on June 14 (Flag Day!!!)

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

My Farm Chicks Haul

2011-06-16T22:18:00.000-06:00

I loved this old, old pink door. It is now residing on my front porch.

As promised I wanted to show off the awesome goods I scored from our little Farm Chicks trip. Now some of the stuff I got at antique and thrift stores along the way. We got in early Monday morning and met up at Wendy's house to go through all of our stuff. Some stuff I got for myself and some stuff I got to sell.

Okay let the picture show begin.......

This was a pic of our loot at the end of the show. And we had already made a trip to the trailer.

The dotters came with me to pick up my goods. Lots of cool stuff in my pile. My friend Wendy's cool house is in the background. I'm going to put some pics of her house on my blog. She has amazing collections.

My birdhouse that I love! One of the best deals I got at the show. It now sits proudly on my porch.

Got this fun children's doll cradle. Thought it would be a perfect planter.

Got this sweet old garbage can at a great antique store in Butte. Again, a great flower planter.

The one thing we all bought at the show. Cool old letters. We all love the graphic statement they make.

Fleaologists Head to Farm Chicks

2011-06-13T20:38:00.000-06:00

I am a self confessed lover of all things vintage, junky, old and unique. And believe it or not there are actually other people in this world who are just like me. Thrift stores and up cycling are making a comeback!!! I have been so lucky to find friends who love it just as much as I do. So when we were together a while back we decided to go to the Farm Chicks show in Spokane this summer. I was so excited! I couldn't think of 3 people I would want to go with more.

Now you have to understand that I have been wanting to go to this show for years.....years (well maybe like 4 years). You know how you build something up in your mind over time....you just fantasize about how good it will be.....and a lot of times you are disappointed when you actually go......

WELL..............

This was not the case with me and Farm Chicks! It was everything I had hoped it to be and better. And you could actually get some killer deals there. I wasn't sure about that since it is such a nationally recognized show. The booths were amazing, inspiring and pure eye candy! The show was summed up in the one word that greeted you at the entrance....

We left on Thursday morning and the idea was to stop at antique and thrift stores along the way. Cathie had done her research and we had lists of stores.

First stop was Pocatello ID where we found a few great thrift stores and a really fun antique mall. I found some great stuff there. My friend Cathie (who also is a really good photographer) took some awesome pictures. Look at her blog here to check them out.

We stopped in Shelley and went to the really overpriced junk market I know about, got a couple of things. By this time it was 6pm and we were still in ID. The plan was to make it to Butte, MT so we powered through and didn't stop anywhere else. (Mostly because things were closed. :)

Friday we got up bright and early and checked out the great city of Butte, MT. They had a wonderful thrift store and I got some great stuff. Also found a fabulous antique store with amazing vintage clothing. After a few hours we headed to Missoula, MT where again we found some great stores. Now we were in Cathie's suburban and pulling a trailer and it was starting to fill up....we left Missoula and decided not to stop until we hit Spokane.

Up bright and early the next morning for Farm Chicks. Got in line around 8:30am, the show opened at 10:00am and closed at 6:00pm. We left at 6:30pm. We closed that first day down. It was great. I felt I got to see almost everything, but I could have gone back again.

I'm going to share some of my favorite things I saw at the show. I wished I had taken more pictures, but it was hard to do both (shop and photograph).

Some really darling Farm Chick vendors I met.

Love this, Love this, but my dotters would think it is creepy. (I'm going to make one)

Love her too! So clever.

One of the first booths I went into. I loved everything in it. I bought a amazing birdhouse from her.

Lot's of clever and cute displays.

We had a long ride home (long story) but it was such a great trip. I can hardly wait until next year. On my next post I'll reveal my goodies that I bought......stay tuned.

Gardening 101

2011-05-31T23:44:00.000-06:00

In the play Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche talks about how she has had to rely on the kindness of strangers. Like Blanche our family has had to usually rely on the kindness of strangers or (friends and family) for fresh garden vegetables. I am proud to say that will not be the case this year.

Now I consider gardening to be a wonderful art form. It takes practice and trial and error just like any other art form (dancing, acting and singing...etc.) So the Reed family has attempted the art of a garden. Now mind you we are starting small.

I have to go back about 6 months. So Nat started saving all the perishable foodstuff for his compost pile out back. He said he was getting the soil ready. I'm not even sure he did it properly, but he continued to add to the pile over the last few months. He spread the stuff over the garden area and I must say it is full of worms. That's supposed to be good....right?? Every time the girls dug a hole to plant something, we saw lots of worms. Big ones to!

The dotters had different reactions to the worms. Bella screamed in delight, Bronwyn not so much.

We planted tomatoes and cucumbers (that is the dotter's favorite vegetable) and threw in a few watermelons. The girls check it everyday and I hear one of the watermelon plants is really growing.

I will give you updates on our gardening adventures (I know you are anxiously awaiting them....) and if any of you have planted a garden here's to a great harvest.

Have a creative day!

Back to the Dotters and the WINNERS!!

2011-05-23T00:40:00.001-06:00

The next few posts will mostly be about the dotters. They are my inspiration behind this blog, and I've been neglecting some really important stuff. Stay tuned in the next few days to hear about.....GARDEN ADVENTURES...with Dad; another creative project.

This is Bronwyn on closing night with the sweet girl who played Molly. (Claire Westcott)

I blogged earlier about doing Annie together as a family. It was such a great experience and such a fun show. I really believed all the stars aligned to make this happen in our family. It truly was a once in a lifetime event. When the SCERA asked me to direct Annie I knew I wanted to use my girls. That was one reason I agreed to do it and give up so many nights. At least they would be there with me. I love collaborating with my awesome set designer husband. I knew he would give me the set I was looking for (and on a pretty limited budget). I also talked him into being in the show....just a little cameo that got great laughs. I was thrilled that I got to cast dotter #1 as one of the Annie's. She truly won that role. I thought some people would say she was cast just because I was the director, but after seeing her perform, I know people realized she truly won that part.

I love this picture so much. Do you think she likes Annie?

Here's the same little fan taking a pic with Bronwyn. A friend sent this picture to another friend who passed it on to us. She loved the show!

It was a joy to do theatre as a family.

Closing Night family picture.

My wonderful, talented and spunky orphans. Dotter #2 in the front (with the big mouth.)

I know we will do shows together in the future, but I'm not sure it will ever be quite like this.

Bronwyn with Delayne my amazing Miss Hannigan. Just finished fighting Stage 3 breast cancer. Truly an inspiration!


With Eric Harper....who played, who else....Daddy Warbucks.

Now on to my winners......Thanks to all my blog friends who entered the giveaway and for those who are now following Fleaology. Okay the winners are:

Marie Crown: Elisabeth

Birthday Crown/gumballs: Cameron

Princess hat/Recipe cards: Sarah B.

Vintage Milk Jar with gumballs: Artworks Studio

Lunchbox with vintage candy goodies: Lisa Elzey

Please contact me at 3dotters@gmail.com to leave me your address. I will get these sent off to you.

One final picture: This is mostly for Mike (my clever craftsman friend and fellow fleaologist.......) I love it and tell the Diva many thanks! The rest of you can enjoy my new cubbie cabinet too!

100th Blog Post Giveaway...showing my friends some LOVE

2011-05-13T12:03:00.001-06:00

*****I know that blogger has had some major issues these last few days. My giveaway post was deleted so I am going to try and re-create it as much as possible. If you left comments in the previous post, please come back and re-post them.

To celebrate my 100th blog post I wanted to share some LOVE with my friends. I have so enjoyed being able to keep up with old friends and meeting new friends, all through the world of blogging. I started this blog mostly as a journal for myself and my girls (known as the 3 dotters) to have a record of our creative life together. I am not the best journal writer, so this blog has really helped.

I even published my first 80 posts into a book, so it is like a "real" journal!!

It has been fun reading sweet words of encouragement from friends and I thank you for that. I now have a little business that I blog about often, and a new business adventure called FLEA.O.LOGY. I have had so much inspiration from other blogs (a lot of them are yours) and I just wanted to celebrate this little milestone with everyone. I know a lot of you love my crowns, jewelry etc and I wish I could give you all something.....but I will pick 5 lucky recipients. Don't you love getting FREE stuff?

The rules for the giveaway are as follows:

1. Leave me a comment, if you are new introduce yourself please :) and I will put your name in the drawing.

2. Become a follower of my blog and I will enter your name. (If you follow already I will also enter your name.)

3. Go to www.fleaology.blogspot.com to learn all about our new Flea and Craft Market we are doing this summer. Become a Fleaology follower and I will also enter your name. (Please tell me in your comment if you do.)

That is 3 chances to be entered!!!! I will run this a week (since we've had all the blogger problems) I will close it next Friday May 20 at noon.

Here are the prizes:

A crown fit for a queen. One of my creations with chicken wire and gorgeous vintage flowers. A tribute to Marie.

A sweet birthday crown with a vintage milk bottle full of gumballs.

A princess hat with 10 vintage recipes. (I know that is an odd combo.)

A large vintage milk bottle full of gumballs.

A vintage lunch box that includes fun nostalgic candy (candy lipsticks, Mary Janes, Mike and Ike's, lemondrops and a lollipop)

******Thanks to all my friends old and new for stopping by!!*******

Have a great day!

xoxoJennifer

Do you need some LOVE?

2011-05-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

As I was walking to my office at BYU the other day I passed this note on one of the many bulletin boards. It gave me a great laugh and so I thought I would share.

As I passed that same board today, all the tags were gone. :)

Hope you all found some love this past weekend, my 3 dotters showed me plenty on Mother's Day. Lots of sweet homemade cards and gifts and breakfast in bed!

Check back on my blog tonight or tomorrow. I am going to show my readers some LOVE. I have a fun giveaway planned for reaching my 100th blog post. I just need to take pictures of the prizes.

Have a great day!

Come to the Beehive Bazaar

2011-05-04T22:47:00.000-06:00

Just got back from setting up my booth at the Beehive Bazaar. Really happy with how it looks...very vintage, very girly, a little frenchy and lots of eye candy. Had a chance to peek at some other vendor's goods and talked with some old Beehive friends. Lot's of great stuff!! They open at 10am Thursday May 5. Come check out the awesome arts and crafts....... and remember buying HANDMADE is always better.

Taken with my iphone so not the best picture, but you get the idea.

I love vintage candy!

Junk Necklaces


The best craft show in UTAH!

On another note FLEAOLOGY is this Saturday! Hope to see you all there.

xoxoJen

Getting ready for the Shows, a birthday and I turned 100

2011-04-27T22:45:00.000-06:00

I love these vintage wooden girl clowns I picked up. I put this little vignette in my kitchen to remind me to always be grateful for my beautiful girls.

So today is special for many, many reasons............

First off it is my number one dotter's birthday today! She is 11 and I can hardly believe it. I really do believe that time goes by faster when you have children. I am so proud of her. She is so smart, talented and just fun to be around most of the time :) Below is one of my favorite pictures of her. Happy Birthday Bronwyn, love you so much!

Secondly, I just realized this my 100th post! It has taken me a few years to get here, but I am so grateful for this blog. It has really allowed me to document things that I normally wouldn't do. I just published my posts at the end of the year in book format and it has been fun for the dotter's and I to read through and look at pictures. Our own little family journal.

I want to do a GIVEAWAY for my 100th post, so look for details on the 101st post. I need to come up with something really cool.

So on to what is occupying my nights lately. In previous posts I have mentioned two upcoming events that I am really looking forward to. The first is FLEAOLOGY which is this Saturday, April 30. I have been gathering my collectibles and handmade items for the show. It is going to be awesome. We have 16 vendors who will be there and I'm sure there is something you can find. Let's hope for good weather, and if it is a little cold as we say in theatre "the show must go on". Trust me it will be worth it. Go to our FLEAOLOGY blog for spotlights on the vendors.

I am also getting ready for the Beehive Bazaar which is mostly handcrafted items. That will start on Thursday, May 4 and run through Saturday May 6. It is at the Women's Center in Provo and is one of the best shows for handmade items. Come and visit my booth!

I can't stop with the crowns! I love making them so much....and who doesn't need a crown?

Just sweet lemon drops and lollipops in a jelly jar. A perfect gift!

So I've laid out my items to price. Can I tell you how much I hate this part of the job? I love to create, but to do the "business" part of it, it just makes me want to watch TV. (and I really don't watch a lot of TV!) I've created some new tags which has been easier. I want them to be cute but not take a lot of time, so I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

I better sign off, I need to go get things priced and tagged.

My tags just staring at me, waiting to be put on all those items you see above.

Hope to see you at Fleaology or Beehive Bazaar.

My sweet orphans made these for me on opening night of Annie. I love them so much! Better than real flowers! (and I do love the real flowers)

Also if you live in Utah, come see Bronwyn in Annie at the SCERA. She is in the title role and performs on Saturday and Monday nights!

Flea.o.logy

2011-04-15T22:14:00.002-06:00

So I have these two great friends, Cathie and Paula and we are junk pals. We love all things vintage and old. These are the friends that I go to estate sales with or thrift stores or just about any place with second-hand items. I am so lucky to have found such great friends who enjoy what I do. They have taught me a lot about the antique business. So my friend Paula has been doing this flea market for about 6 years at her historic home in Payson Utah every summer. Paula, Cathie and I got to talking one day and have decided to really try and turn the market into something special. So, Flea.o.logy was officially created. Here is our logo below.

The house is Paula's gorgeous Victorian home on main street Payson. We are having 3 sales this spring/summer. The first is coming up! Our plan is to have a show similar to Farm Chicks (if you are familiar with that). We are going to have lot's of great stuff! We have some fun vendors with unique items and AWESOME prices. We will also have craft items with a vintage flair. Our dates this year are:

APRIL 30, JULY 16, SEPTEMBER 2-3

Mark your calendars for this fun flea market! Also go to our blog where we are featuring vendors and just some cool information about things we love. If you become a follower of our blog
fleaology.blogspot.com and come to our sale we will give you 10% off 1 item! If you become a follower of my blog and come to the sale I will give you 15% off 1 item of mine! That is a chance to score a good deal at fleaology's already great prices! I hope to see you there! Also if you want leave me an email address, I will keep you updated on any sales we have.

I have this awesome neighbor who is a great picker and I bought a few items from him that you will see at Fleaology! Look at these darling vintage dishtowels.

Some of you know I'm a vendor at Beehive Bazaar. I take my love of vintage things and craft items into whimsical gifts. Here is my latest creations. I love old vintage plant pots and was wondering how they could be re-used. I am also a candy lover and I love nostalgic candy. An idea was born! Wouldn't these vintage containers make darling gifts? Below are some of the ones I've done already. I added a fun tag outlined in glass glitter! I will be bringing some to Fleaology! I will also be bringing some of my popular items, junk necklaces and crowns.

Don't you love the vintage pail? So cute for a birthday gift!

This is a cool vintage pretzel jar I picked up. It has about 7lbs of gumballs. Isn't it so fun and festive? It would look great in a kitchen.

What a sweet way to welcome a baby. Perfect for a vintage-loving mom to be.

I'm going to try and post more things on either my blog or the Fleaology blog so check back often. Visit my friend Cathie and Paula's blog and you will get a preview of their great style.

Hope to see you on April 30!

Things that Make Me Happy

2011-04-03T22:27:00.000-06:00

I've challenged myself to blog every Sunday about things that make me happy. I am currently reading Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" and I am loving it. I love the challenges she gives to herself and so I'm starting somewhere

Every Sunday.....

I am really trying to become a better photographer so this will be photo heavy, and I am a much more visual person than word person.
Sunday seems like the perfect day to do this for me, because it is the end of the week. (Yes, I know to most of you it is the beginning of the week but for me Sunday always feels like the end.) Secondly, I usually have more time to reflect and have a peaceful moment to blog.

So here goes.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY....PART ONE

I LOVE BOOKS, ESPECIALLY ONES THAT INSPIRE MY CREATIVE WORK. THESE ARE SOME "CRAFTY" TYPES OF BOOKS THAT I KEEP ON MY DESK AND LOOK AT WEEKLY.


I JUST GOT THIS COOL MAGAZINE HOLDER AT AN ANTIQUE SHOW. THIS MAGAZINE IS MY FAV AT THE MOMENT. IT IS PRICEY BUT WORTH IT. LOTS OF EYE CANDY!	I LOVE THAT RED TOP, I GOT IT IN EUROPE ABOUT 12 YEARS AGO. IT REMINDS ME TO STAY PLAYFUL AT HEART.

MY NUMBER ONE DOTTER MADE THIS AT HER ACTIVITY DAYS GROUP. HER LEADER IS SO CREATIVE AND VERY INSPIRED. HOW CUTE IS THAT?I WAS LOVING IT ALL WEEK AS IT SAT ON MY DESK.

A CLEAN DESK......NEED I SAY MORE???

I WENT TO THE WALTER LARSEN SHOW IN SLC THIS WEEKEND WITH BRONWYN. WE HAD A BLAST AND MET UP WITH MY FRIEND PAULA WHO WAS A DEALER THERE. I GOT THIS OLD BAKE RACK (1910) FROM A DEALER AND WHILE IT WAS A SPURGE IT WAS SUCH A GREAT DEAL. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED ONE. I QUICKLY FILLED IT UP.

BEEHIVE BAZAAR IS A MONTH AWAY. I HAD A CHANCE TO WORK ON SOME CROWNS. I LOVED HOW THIS FRENCH INSPIRED MARIE CROWN TURNED OUT.

MY FRIEND SHAUNA AT URB GAVE THESE TO ME. IF YOU CAN'T TELL WHAT THEY ARE, THEY ARE HAND SEWN QUILTING BLOCKS THAT ARE ABOUT 60-70 YEARS OLD. SHE THOUGHT I COULD DO SOMETHING WITH THEM. THE IDEAS ARE TURNING.........I REALLY JUST LOVE LOOKING AT THEM.

I HAVE SOME GREAT NEW IDEAS FOR THE BEEHIVE BAZAAR THAT WILL INCLUDE THESE BEAUTIES. MAKE SURE YOU LOOK FOR THEM!

CAN ONE PERSON REALLY HAVE TOO MANY VINTAGE GLASSES? THE LATEST IN MY COLLECTION VIA MY SWEET FRIEND CATHIE, WHO HAS SUCH AWESOME TASTE!

It is really the little things in life I am learning to appreciate. Time with my daughter doing what we love, (all things vintage) or having family dinner with my parents, grandma and siblings on Sunday. In the getting stared section Rubin's book "The Happiness Project" she quotes the famous writer Colette,

"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wished I'd realized it sooner."

I've decided to appreciate the wonderful life I'm living now.

Our "Annie"

2011-03-30T16:33:00.000-06:00

Things have been busy around the Reed house. Mostly outside of the Reed house. We are just coming off a week of take-out food every night for the dotters.

I'm so sorry dotters.

You know it is bad when your kids say, can we just eat at home? Nat and I put in an 80 plus hours last week working on Utah Regional Ballet's production of Peter Pan. It was truly a miracle that we pulled off such a complicated ballet in one week...and yes we did fly Peter. Nat built some beautiful masks for the Lagoon scene. As soon as I get pictures I will share.

With all the craziness of last week, Bronwyn had a photo shoot for the Annie poster. As some of you know she was double cast as one of the Annie's in a production that I am directing. (Last week I had my choreographer work the cast to clean all the dance numbers while I was away at Peter Pan.) I thought I would share the cute poster.

My number #1 dotter is doing a terrific job and I hope those of you in Utah will come see the show. She performs on April 23, 25, 30, May 2, 7, 9, 14. Go to the SCERA web page for ticket information. The other Annie, is so darling as well and doing a great job. The cast is fun and my orphans are so good. I'm not sure I mentioned this, but I had 175 girls audition for the show and we cast 19 orphans. It was hard! This area is known for their abundance of talent especially singing and dancing.

Our little Brooklyn (Dotter #2) is an orphan and doing a fabulous job as well. She is such a great dancer and has a good strong singing voice as well. Nat has a cameo as a sound effects man at the top of Act 2 and Bella (Dotter #3) is going to be in the end of NYC. So this is definitely a family affair.

I love that my family and I can share this creative and fun experience together.

THiNk SpRiNG

2011-03-09T00:46:00.000-07:00

So it's about that time, when winter seems to be dragging on. Today my little one asked my husband when the pool was going to open up for us to swim. He replied "in about 2 months".....I said are you kidding it snowed last night! As my husband gently reminded me Spring will soon come and Summer will quickly follow. So until that time I have tried to surround myself with happy Spring things.

I needed some Spring in the house. I took an old shabby green toolbox and filled it with white milk glass vases. I just added some pretty daffodils and now it feels like a little Spring planter right in my living room.

I've shown Bronwyn's cute room, but never Brooklyn's and Bella's. I love it because it is so fun and colorful and puts me in a Spring mood.

The girls love the blackboard stickers.

A room for Queens.

DETAILS


My Spring vignette. Layers and white and books and whimsy. It makes me happy.

2nd Valentine Party and Cookie Exchange

2011-03-03T00:04:00.001-07:00

Just got my proofs back from the lovely Sarah (thank-you) who took pictures at my Valentine Party this year. As I was looking at them tonight it made me realize how much fun it was to host and how many great friends I have. I also ENJOY the many great blog friends I have and would have loved to invited all of you.

This is going to be mostly a pictorial post SO ENJOY!

Red, White and PInk perfect for a Valentine Party....what's a party without lots of fun treats? Used some of my vintage furniture for the party including this shabby shelf and red velvet vintage sofa.

A Vintage red suitcase full of vintage hats for the Photobooth... Fabulous Photobooth pics below

A closeup of the paper collage I made for the party, coffee filters, cupcake liners and paper lanterns.

Milk glass vases with lovely red tulips...my favorite flower.

Pretty pink lemonade in canning jars.....with a sweet Valentine message.

Party Favors for all my Valentine loving girlfriends....got the idea off of Kara's Party Ideas.

I love my friend Jana!

Getting our yummy cookie plates ready....

Yummy cookies to take home and share with family and friends.

CRAFT TIME!!

Had a really fun Photobooth on a fabulous red bench with vintage hats and mustaches. Had a lot of fun with this one.

Perfect sofa for Valentines Day!

I (heart) NY

2011-02-23T22:29:00.001-07:00

It is always a joy to visit one of my most favorite cities in the world. It is a city that has a pulse like no other. There are many, many, things I love and did but that might take a few posts. For now I will just showcase one of the best stores in NYC, and one that you have probably seen featured a lot before on blogs and magazines, the one and only TINSEL TRADING COMPANY. This is store that has all things beautiful and vintage and I'm talking about things I love, old flower millinery, old trims and lace, old ribbon, wonderful stuff like that. The best thing is this is all new stock. This is stuff that has been literally pulled from boxes, never used before. They had so many wonderful things and needless to say I will not tell you how much I spent. But I will feature some of the different projects I make with my loot.

I actually had a chance to run into someone I really admire. When I went in the store was quite empty and I saw two other women browsing around. One looked very familiar and it was none other than JO PACKHAM of Where Women Create Magazine. It is a Somerset publication and one of my all time favorite magazines. I chatted with her for a few minutes. She was really lovely and so delightful.

My 3 Seniors graduating in April, I will miss them!

So from this blog post so far you probably think this was a glamorous shopping trip. That really is not the case. I actually took my 3 senior stage management students and we had a chance to meet NY professionals and see some Broadway theatre.

Yes, we did see the famed Spiderman heard about in recent news broadcasts. Many people have asked how it was:
My reply: I have no idea what it is about, I could not name one song, but the SET IS AMAZING! I never seen a set so intricate and complex. They have 8 stage managers and 10 stunt Spidermans! Yeah but don't ask me the story, I don't really remember it!

I could go on and on about NYC but I will not bore you. I think I might post about my Anthropolgie out of body experience. I do love that store, but alas that is for another day.

I wanted to post my OHOW winners:

#93 Lori Diane won the crown
#22 Kristin Dudish won the wreath
#169 Sunshine Shelle won the necklace (all the way from Australia)

Happy Creating!

Off to NYC

2011-02-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

I'm taking my students to New York tomorrow morning. I'm excited to be back in the city after a few years. After meeting with some old New York friends as they talk to my students about NY theatre I hope to be able to get some shopping in. I will bring back some pics of my favorite shops. In the meantime, here are some shots of things I'm hoping to buy at one of my favorite stores. Urban Renewal in St. George Utah. It is the ultimate consignment shop with great prices. I highly recommend it.

I also plan to post about my Valentine Party. It was so fun to be with my good friends and celebrate the holiday of love. We did a lot of things I love. If you can't wait for my post go visit my good friends at their blogs here:

My friend Paula's post is here.

My friend Sarah's post is here.

Have a great holiday weekend and I will see you on Monday. I will try and announce my OWOH winner on February 17, but I might not be able to get to you until February 21. Goodbye Utah, Hello NYC.

Things

2011-02-07T17:00:00.002-07:00

If you are visiting from OWOH, HELLO and go here for the post.

I have people ask me how to purchase my crowns, especially because I do not have an ETSY store. Don't get me wrong, I love ETSY and I am a very good customer. I just don't have the time to put into a store right now. I take orders for crowns, for all occasions. I thought I would show you this cute Valentine Queen crown. If someone you know would love a crown, you can contact me at 3dotters@gmail.com. This crown is for sale, so if you know someone who can't live without it, drop me a line.

I fell in love with these valentine cupcake fairies and these are on the top of the crown.

***Note of caution, those of you coming to the Valentine party, Do not peek below!!***

If you can't tell already I am very excited for my Valentine party. I'm going to show you a couple of sneak peeks for what I have in store for my friends. I wish you could all come.I love these sundae's, I made one for each of my friends. I got the idea from the wonderful blog Kara's Party Ideas. There will be lot's of fun red, white and pink candy!

I got a really fun text from a friend today. His sister had been wanting a junk necklace and he decided to buy one for her 40th birthday. This was in October. He gave the necklace to her today and texted me the following: "When I presented it to her today she bawled like a baby when she opened it. Thought you would be interested to hear that you can now add "Caution: May cause weeping" to your wares."

Thanks Mike that made my day!! Below is a junk necklace (long since sold) for those of you wondering what they are.

Have a great week and look for pictures of the Valentine Party. Happy creating!

One World One Heart 2011

2011-02-02T22:33:00.002-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog if this is your first time. To my friends who visit often, I love you guys! So my name is Jennifer and I do many things in my life. First I am the mother of these three gorgeous girls. They are the dotters in my blog name. My catch phrase "musings of our creative life together" truly indicates what this blog is about for me. While not every post features them, they are integral to my creative process and they are all little budding artists and creative beings in their own right. A lot of things I create and eventually end up selling is usually because of one of these darlings below in the picture.

This is my awesome husband, the father of the daughters and my partner in every way. He is also an amazingly creative guy. He is a set designer and technical director. He also is a puppeteer.

I work as a professional stage manager and have been for the past 20 years. I have traveled all over the world and worked on many shows. I have worked with amazing people. Now that I have the dotters, I took a full time job at a wonderful university and I teach students what I have learned working in professional theatre. I still freelance as a professional stage manager too. Currently, I have 3 projects in the works; a new full length Peter Pan ballet, I am directing a production of Annie, and I am an associate producer on a new musical that is being done for the first time Christmas of 2011.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all things vintage and interesting. I am a lifelong collector. I use a lot of my finds in crafts that I make...more on that below. I love old colorful dishes as you can see from my shelves in the kitchen. And yes, I do use a lot of these dishes. I also have a booth at an antiques mall. A good day for me is a few estate sales with a good thrift store thrown in and lunch with my antiquing buds. I am thrilled that my oldest dotter loves those things too. She has been tagging along quite a bit lately.

I live in Utah, which is a gorgeous state. I love the outdoors and I love waking up to our beautiful mountains. Right now we are freezing our butts off, but I still love it here. I found some new friends during the the last OWOH event and hope to find a few more. Okay, enough about me, So on to my giveaways......

Okay, so I love to craft and create, I also love vintage, estate sales, thrift stores, and I try to combine my two passions. I sell my wares at shows, a few boutiques in town and word of mouth. Alas, I do not have an etsy store. :) This is what I have made and sold lately. These vintage inspired yarn wreaths. They are so cute, and I incorporate all things that I love, especially birds. This wreath features lots of vintage flair with a sweet message, "our nest" It has 3 birds in honor of my 3 dotters. The wreath is white, pink and green, colors I love.

I also make crowns, which I sell quite a few of. This is an example of a birthday crown I have made. This will not be the one I send you (it is sold) but I will email you and make a custom one. Again, they are one of a kind and vintage inspired.

I also make what I call "junk necklaces" and some lucky winner will receive their very own. This is a picture from a show I did this summer. You can also see some more examples of my crowns.

Okay, so that is three different prizes my friends, so I will have 3 different winners. As the rules state you will have until February 16 to make a comment and I will then pick 3 winners randomly on February 17.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to take a peek at your blogs as well.

XOXOJennifer

Estate and Thrift Love

2011-01-31T00:18:00.011-07:00

So, this Friday I got to do one of my favorite things....checking out some estate sales and thrift stores. Now those of you who know me are probably thinking what is so special about that? Well, Bronwyn begged me to go and I gave in, school was skipped and Bronwyn went to her first estate sale. She was beyond excited and had a great time.

We were joined by my friend Paula who is an awesome antiques dealer.

***Paula, Bronwyn and Me

So Paula, Bronwyn and I piled into the van for the trip to Salt Lake. We ran into our other friend Cathie (who went to high school with Madonna, I just had to tell you that) who is also an wonderful antique dealer. Cathie took us to a Salvation Army thrift store in SLC we had never been to. Found lots of great stuff. At the end of the day and a Cafe Rio lunch, Bronwyn proclaimed that it was "the best day of her life!" Ohhh.....she is truly my girl!!!

So I'm going to share some fun finds:

***Found lots of great vintage jewelry for my junk necklaces, and some cool vintage glass doorknobs from the 30's.

So I'm getting ready for my Valentine's Party and I always like to have some fun giveaways for my friends, I made this cute Valentine wreath this week. Look at my previous post to see the one I made for my house.

Bronwyn

2011-01-23T21:23:00.007-07:00

I had the chance to take a photography class right before Christmas. I'd like to say I am now a brilliant photographer....... yeah well I would like to say that.
Right before Christmas my teacher took us to Wadley Farms in Lindon for a photo shoot. I dragged Bronwyn along to model for me. It was fun just to be together and I just snapped and snapped with my teacher giving me pointers here and there. Here are some of my favorites, and I love them becasue they are just pure Bronwyn.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful and beautiful dotter in my life!

If you want to take a wonderful photography course with a great teacher I recommend:
A Photo School the owner and teacher is Jed Colledge.

Looking Ahead.....Also loving the red and pink.

2011-01-14T14:56:00.005-07:00

One of my goals this year is blog just a bit more, my last entry was 2 weeks ago so I need to get serious about this goal. I'm really shooting for once a week, so let's see what happens. I was going to write my list of top ten creative adventures of last year, but I have decided it's a new year, I need to look ahead, not back. I'm going to share a few ideas we have brewing for this year that I am excited about. But first, I am so in the Valentine Day mood. I love to decorate and I was so excited to put together a sweet valentine vignette in my house to get us in the mood for love and I also just plain love the colors pink and red. Those colors just make me happy. I am also in the throes of planning my second annual Valentine Party and Cookie Exchange. The ideas are flowing!!

I made this wreath with sweet birds and vintage embellishments. I bought the yarn at DI for $1 and wrapped a straw wreath. Perfect for Valentine's don't you think? I love layering things and love the look of wreaths on top of mirrors.
I love Vintage Valentines and try and collect some every year. They are so sweet.
I bought this white urn at one of my favorite stores, Second Hand Chic in Salt Lake. I love it and can make it fit with any decor. I used it for Christmas and it is perfect here for Valentines. I just put in a vintage valentine, a pink glitter heart and a vintage silk rose. I also left the gold mercury beads from Christmas. They are just so pretty.
I always love decorating with candy and filling them with the colors of the season always add a bold statement. I made the little pedestal stand with red gumballs on it. I purchased an old milk glass plate and found the silver candle holder at DI. With a little E6000 I made this cute platter.
This is my kitchen windowsill. I made the picture holder out of a vintage oil can, and bits of vintage lace, jewelry and buttons. A perfect place vintage romantic french postcards. I love the huge sucker and have one made for all 3 dotters for Valentines.

Do you decorate for the holidays? What do you do for Valentines Day?

New Year's Eve....Goodbye 2010

2011-01-02T22:56:00.006-07:00

This year we had a family party for New Year's Eve. For the past 5 years or so we have gone to our dear friends the Parkins every New Year's Eve to celebrate with them. This year our dotters wanted a party of their own with beloved cousins. (The Parkin's children are ages 11-19 and the dotter's just don't understand why 16 year old Jordan wants to hang out with her friends and not them:)) We missed you Parkins!!

However, we did have a great time as a family, with Grandpa and Grandma Moss attending with all the crazy cousins, which are mostly girls. Sorry Forrest!! (My one lone nephew in the bunch.)

We ate and danced and ate and watched the ball and did I say we ate!!

2010 you were a good year and I'm looking forward to 2011, especially with my wild and wonderful dotters.

May this year be even more fun, adventurous and of course creative. I can't wait to see what is in store.

Even my sweet niece Aspen stayed up to ring in 2011!

Look for my Top Ten Creative Adventures of 2010 blog post this week.

Fairy Giveaway Winners!! and Happy New Year's Eve

2010-12-31T14:18:00.004-07:00

The dotters and I prepared the fairy giveaway names for the drawing this morning. Thanks for all your wonderful comments, it is always fun to hear from friends. I wish I could give something to everyone of you. My 100th blog post will be coming up soon and I plan to giveaway a beautiful crown for a special friend, so check back with me when you can. Since I have 3 dotters and I have 3 fairy treats to giveaway they each picked one. We put everyone's name in a bowl and each dotter picked a name. So the winner's are:
Bella picked Heather Richardson!
Bronwyn picked Jessica Malungahu.
Brooklyn picked Kat and Jon Robinson.

Okay you three send me your addresses and I will get these fairy packages off to you.

We are home getting ready for our big New Year's Eve bash with all our cousins. We have our party hats and horns ready. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T23:36:00.003-07:00

Dear Santa,

Thank-you for bringing me such a wonderful gift. How did you know that I wanted this gorgeous red velvet vintage sofa for my very own?

Oh yeah....I told you.

Love,
Jennifer

**Go here for my fairy giveaway. You have until December 30.

Waiting for Santa.....Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T23:00:00.007-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE..........

Okay who posts on their blog Christmas Eve? Yes, it's true...I do. It is 11:02 pm and I just got my very excited 3 dotters to bed (they are all sleeping with big sis in her bed tonight), in their brand new Christmas jammies..... and I am waiting for Santa to arrive. In order to do that I need to wait for the 3 to settle and finally fall asleep. So I'm thinking...... what can I do to pass the time...? I KNOW, I will blog!!!

I've been wanting to share our Christmas home here in Orem. This is the first Christmas in our house, and while I didn't buy alot of new decorations, I used our decorations differently and I made some as well. So here's the Christmas house 2010:

This year I bought some vintage mercury beads for my gold mirror that I love so much. I also confess to buying the amazingly fabulous garland at Anthropolgie. And please don't ask me what it cost. I love it so much, I might keep it up all year. (Close up of the garland is the first pic in the post.)

I made this wreath with a French twist.....Merry Christmas....Joyeux Noel
It would not be Christmas without my choir boys....don't you love the one with the black eye?
Christmas Eve....3dotters.....Christmas jammie tradition....I love that they all match, but different colors. Thank-you Children's Place.
All snug is big sis's bed....waiting for the guy to come....Dream of those sugarplums...or ipod touches........

TO ALL MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS.....SWEET DREAMS...AND HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS DAY.

GO TO MY PREVIOUS POST TO SEE ABOUT MY FAIRY GIVEAWAY.....YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 30TH.

Christmas Fairies...the big 5th birthday....and a Giveaway!

2010-12-16T13:40:00.009-07:00

So having 3 dotters has really made me into a girly girl. As a child I don't particularly remember being so girly and loving the color pink. When that first dotter was born, pink instantly became my favorite color (it still is.) I especially love the idea of fairies. There has always been something magical about them. When my oldest dotter turned 5 I decided to have a big fairy party for her. We had 15 little fairy guests. I made them skirts and wings, we had a fairy treasure hunt, face painting and really fun games. The party was a huge success. So when dotter 2 turned 5 I knew I had to have a fairy party for her. Again, it was a huge success. This time I actually put a fairy tent in the backyard decorated with flowers. So dotter 3 is my last, and she turns 5 this Christmas day. We usually have her party a few weeks prior to Christmas. This party was more of a challenge since the other dotters have warm birthdays...meaning the party can be outside.

Since this was my last fairy party I wanted everything perfect. I decorated my kitchen to look like a magical fairyland place. We had fun fairy food, the outfits were cute, the games fun and the all seemed to have a good time. Most of all my little fairy Bella, truly felt like a special birthday girl.

Today as I'm writing this post, I am so tired. December is busy month without adding a big birthday party on top of it. I'm a little sad too. No more dotters, no more fairy parties. 5 seems to be a magical age, when you are 5 fairies do exist and Santa Claus will be coming down your chimney soon.

Happy Birthday my sweet Bella!

So, I want to share some fairy magic with you as well. If you leave a comment I will share some fairy love with you. I will pick 3 people and send them wings (beautiful and handmade), a skirt, a cute crown (that I made) and some sweet fairy treats. I will take comments until the end of the month. I will choose 3 people by noon on December 30 and mail the items straight to your house.

I am going to post some pictures, if you want specifics on anything I did, I'm happy to share info/ideas.

Beehive Bazaar this Weekend

2010-12-02T23:41:00.005-07:00

Okay I just got back from setting up my booth at the Beehive Bazaar. Lot's of great stuff as usual. Said hello to some crafty friends and met some new crafty friends. That is what I love about the craft world. Lots of fun and interesting people. I picked up a few things that I will show you later in another post.

So one of the most awesome things about the Beehive Bazaar is that they have a young crafter corner. Kids can apply to sell things that they make. Last year Brooklyn and Bronwyn made these cute bottlecap necklaces and sold out. This year they are letting younger sister Bella join in the business. They made twice as many too. Hope they sell these all out. Bronwyn has also made some really amazing masks. This year when we went to the Utah Shakespeare Festival she came along with us. The festival sells these amazing masks and she was inspired to create her own and has done a great job. Go check them out. Below are some pictures I took when she was working on them.

I was an idiot and did not take picture of the final masks, but if you live in Utah go check them out for yourself.

Bronwyn has really enjoyed making these masks and is excited to sell them. I love her creative spirit. I hope she always has it, as well as the other two dotters.

My challenge to you this week: Do something creative with your children or mother or whomever.......and also realize everyone's definition or perception of creativity is different. I always hate when friends or family tell me "I'm not creative." I don't believe that. Our Heavenly Father gave everyone the spark of creativity, it just manifests itself in different ways.

Okay enough of that, time for bed! Go check out the Beehive Bazaar!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T22:27:00.002-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful day!

**This is a vintage children's print that I put out for Thanksgiving. In some ways it really speaks to me about food and holidays in general. :)

A Good Laugh

2010-11-23T11:37:00.003-07:00

I have posted one before, but just had to share this note as well. Brooklyn (Dotter #2) has lost yet another tooth. The note that awaited the tooth fairy.......
Have a great day! This note made mine.

Tea Parties, Tiaras and........Time

2010-11-18T09:44:00.008-07:00

A picture of the lovely ballerina lamp in my dotter's room.

I've been thinking a lot about tea parties lately. I know, weird.

So.... since I have 3 dotters, I have hosted many tea parties. Tea parties in my mind represent fun, make-believe, sharing, pretend and magic; all things you associate with childhood.

I've been feeling so nostalgic lately and..... in a way that hasn't hit me before; that my girls are growing up, they are getting older. What happened to those cute chubby cheeks those sweet toddlers. I know you are probably thinking yes Jennifer; children do grow up, but I appreciate your indulgence as I lament. My baby...yes baby turns 5 in one month. I still remember this little 2 pound preemie fighting for life... and now 5!

I truly believe when you have children your life seems to kick in and move at warp speed. Do you feel that way?

With Christmas coming up, my dotters have started to tweet and twitter about what they want, the responses are listed below:

1) An ipod touch
2) An iphone
3) Dsi games
4) Giftcards
5) and just plain CASH

No dolls, no real toys so to speak, not even books. Yes, technology is what they crave. Have I told you my dotters are 10, 7 and 5(almost)? It does make me sad, and also makes me realize how different the world is that my children are growing up in.

So I'm back to tea parties. Whenever I think about this to much, the fact that they are getting older, the fact that all they crave is technology I remember that they still love to have tea parties.
I don't know for how long, but for today they want to put on those vintage hats, get out the teacups and have delightful desserts.

And today I am grateful for that.

Some adorable teacups I bought at Anthropologie. One for each of the dotters with their initials.
A sweet vintage tea service and crown I will be selling at the Beehive Bazaar. Start your own tea party tradition.
Another sweet fairy crown with vintage tea cups that will be available at the Beehive Bazaar.
A closeup of this glitter fairy "tiara"

Come to the Beehive Bazaar

2010-11-11T22:48:00.004-07:00

A lot of you know, I do very few shows, but one that I try not to miss is the Beehive Bazaar. It is the best handmade craft show in the state of Utah. There are always great things and new ideas. I am not only a vendor but a shopper of the show as well. I always get some great stuff. So I'm working my little fingers to the bone every night and sorting through all the ideas in my head. If you live in Utah it is worth the trip to Provo. Come say hi!

The BB folks sent me their press release and art, so enjoy and I hope to see you there!

Always Unique, Only Handmade & Continually The Best

It’s got the frenetic energy of a punk show, the culture of an art gallery, the community of your local farmers market, oh and lest we forget, a superlative shopping experience that is truly unparalleled anywhere in the state—it’s Utah’s own, independent arts and crafts festival, the Beehive Bazaar.

For seven years and fourteen shows, Noelle Olpin, Molly Call and Duane Call have hosted the bi-annual show providing a stage for local artists and crafters to share their unique, handmade wares with the community.

“We’re selective” says Molly Call, “If we’re going to include something in the show, it’s got to be unique, quality, handmade and most of all something we’d want to buy—it’s not about quantity, it’s about showcasing the very best, every time.”

In addition, Noelle Olpin says, “We focus on keeping a balance of new vendors and Bazaar veterans so each show maintains an air of familiarity and comfort spiked with plenty of surprise.”

This season the Beehive Bazaar will be held at the Women’s Center in Provo Utah, “It’s always been a place where the community has gathered—it’s at the heart of the town, close to the park, the city pool and the baseball field. We love supporting local culture, and think it’s the perfect place.” Duane Call said.

The Winter 2010 vendors offer a wide variety of arts and crafts including paintings, prints, jewelry, glass, paper, felt, glass, ceramics, bags, skirts, aprons, dolls, cards, home décor, ornaments, jams, cookies, cupcakes and oh-so much more. This season’s vendors include:

Alma and Mike Loveland

Amber Perks

Amy Elise Feisthamel

Amy Redden

Andy Chase

Angela Flicker

Anne Scott

Annie Kershisnik Blake

Annie Wheeler

Arinn Aanderud

Ashley Giessing

Ashley Isenhour

Ashley Mae Hoiland

Beccy Bingham

Bren Jackson

Candace J. Andersen

Caroline Drake

Carrie Poulsen

Colette Yarro

Colt Bowden

Dallas Russell

Dave Hamilton

Debbie Thompson

Emily Cooper

Emily King

Eva & friends

Jennifer Reed

Jennifer Wakeland and Heather Van Dam

Jessica Berrett

Jessie Huish

Jill Swensen

Julie Gillrie

Kanani Hayes

Keri Rainock

Krista Schmitz and Shelly Perkins

Leia Bell

Luze Howse

Lynlee Price

Mari Spiker

Melanie Elyse Brewster

Michael Phipps

Michelle Rasmussen

Monica Dennis

Morag Kawaskai

Nicole Choules

Nikki Jackson

Paula Hogan

Rachel Schutz

Samantha Kelly

Sonya Evans

Stacey Foster

Steve & Michelle Hunt

Susan Petersen

Suzanne Clements

Suzi Bates

Tami Thornton

The Estes Girls

Tonya Vistaunet

Trista Millette

Zoe Jacobson & Jeremy Josephson

Visit www.thebeehivebazaar.com to learn more about the artists, preview what they’ll have to offer and learn how to get involved yourself—the Bazaar is always scouting new talent.

The Beehive Bazaar dates, times and location:

- Thursday, December 2, 9PM – 12AM

Entry fee of $4, Thursday evening only

- Friday, December 3, 10AM – 10PM

- Saturday, December 4, 10AM – 8PM

- The Provo Women’s Center | 310 West 500 North

For additional information please email us atbeehivebazaar@gmail.com.

Halloween Sock Monkey....and Fall

2010-11-01T23:00:00.007-06:00

So this year's most inspired costume goes to Dotter #1. She wanted to be a sock monkey. Go here and you will see how much see likes them. October is a really hard month for me and time, so I looked online to buy a costume. I could not spend the money they wanted, so I told her we had to do something else.

Coming to the rescue was our beloved costume designer friend Kelsey. She whipped that costume out in a day for her, and all because she is a good friend and loves Bronwyn....and Bronwyn loves her. Thanks Kelsey for the cutest costume ever.....also a big thanks to Seaver (her husband) who helped cut it out.

So here it is:

We found the red furry clogs at a yard sale!

I love Fall, we had some snow last week but it has melted on the ground and is just on the mountains. We got back that beautiful crisp, sunny Fall day. I am taking a photography class and was practicing....the results below.

Oh Fall why can't you stay?

Artful Thursday on Saturday (ughhh!!)

2010-10-30T19:53:00.005-06:00

Okay, so the trying to post something on Thursday night for Artful Thursday didn't happen. But I will not give up so here is my Artful Thursday project (which was done on Thursday, thank-you very much, just not posted until Saturday.) I saw something similar to this project on another blog and it just spoke to me. It brings together so many things I love, wreaths, vintage "stuff", birds and Christmas. So here it is:

I thought that it turned out really cute. It's not really hard, just takes some time, (especially wrapping the yarn around the straw wreath) and collecting the vintage items and putting it all together.

Closeup of the wreath
So I loved making the wreath, and decided to make another Christmas Bird decoration. This time I used an old bobbin I picked up at the antique mall. (Thanks Rosie for the great deal on them!) I am going to add a little Joyeux Noel banner to it.
The closeup:

Pretty cute huh? So I'm going to be selling these beauties at the Beehive Bazaar. Mark you calendar for the first weekend in December. It is the best craft show in Utah and I love being a vendor there.

These projects have definitely got me in the holiday spirit and I'm looking forward to Christmas decorating. Hope you are having a creative week!

***Come back next week and see Bronwyn's darling sock monkey Halloween costume our costume designer friend Kelsey made.

Lucky Tooth Fairy

2010-10-28T10:35:00.004-06:00

Ok this note was left for the tooth fairy last night by Dotter #2 (Brooklyn). She is so funny and as you can see loves money! I also love how she left a treat.

I am going to try and post a Artful Thursday a little later this evening, so check back!

Studio 5 and Christmas Shopping

2010-10-26T22:05:00.008-06:00

Thanks for all the kind words about my Studio 5 appearance. They producers were great and I actually had a good time. I was pretty happy with the segment (except for the 40 lbs I need to lose!, working on that.) I got some great feedback and some orders as well. If you don't live in Utah or happened to have missed it the link is HERE.

I also copied the notes from the ideas that I presented, with a few pictures.

Create Birthday Crowns

Make your child's birthday special, by giving them a crown to wear for the day. They can wear it year after year, and it becomes a special thing kids look forward to every year. It's a nice tradition to start with your children.

Hold Spontaneous Tea Parties

Everyday objects can serve as inspiration to create a special time with your children. In my instance, I bought some yummy cupcakes at a cupcake shop and they were so pretty, we decided to have a spontaneous tea party. In about 20 minutes I gathered things I had around my house and was able to have a fun tea party with my girls. They loved that it was planned at the last minute, and that I served them. The funny thing is every time I pick up some cupcakes now - they want to have a tea party!

Send Special Lunch Notes

Send special lunch notes (not just ordinary ones!) that are pretty and well thought out. This is a special way to just let your children know you love them and are thinking of them even when they are not with you.

Write in a Shared Journal

As our children grown older, sometimes they have a hard time talking about certain things and asking questions they might think are embarrassing. If you and your children make a journal together, tell them it is a special journal that they can write or ask anything to you. You will then write back to them. This is one good way as children get older to communicate more difficult subject matter until they feel comfortable talking to you. Also it's really fun.

So after the Studio 5 appearance I stopped by one of my favorite stores Anthropol0ige, here are a few things I'm dying to get my hands on.

These displays make me want to do some restyling in my house. I love this look!
Wishing you all many creative days ahead as we head into the holidays!

Crazy October

2010-10-22T11:10:00.015-06:00

Hello my friends, I know it has been some time. How do people blog everyday? Is there a pill for that? As always I have good intentions, but time does get away from me on a regular basis, so I need you to settle for the October update. October started with Homecoming Spectacular. Those of you who are my BYU and Utah friends know this is a huge show I work on every year. We do it the week of Homecoming in the Marriott Center. We start the planning stages in the summer but it really comes down to two weeks in October. (Like 70-80 hour weeks, mind you.) So that was the start of the month for me.

Next up: Utah Regional Ballet, their Contemporary Evening of Ballet at the Covey Center. They are a wonderful company that I love working for. Nutcracker will be here before you know it. I would consider making a date with your daughters for that one. Go check them out here.

Then: DRACULA! As I mentioned before, this is the theatre company myself and a few really talented friends founded last year. The Mortal Fools Theatre Project. This is our third production and we open tonight. It is really a great show and at The Castle in Provo. I know! Provo does indeed have a Castle. Go here to see more great pictures and get some information.

Finally: I am getting ready this weekend to do a segment for Studio 5 on Monday. While they have featured some of my work before, I have never actually appeared with them. I'm nervous, but excited. I'm going to be talking about special and creative things you can do to make everyday moments with your children special....ok that is a mouthful. It's been fun to think about and work on it. And that Brooke is really sweet! If you are home Monday at 11am check it out on channel 5. One of the things I'm going to talk about is Spontaneous tea parties that I have with my girls quite often. Here are some cute pictures from one of our more recent ones.

Do you have fun and creative things you do with your children? I would love to hear about them.

Much love I'm sending to all of our family and friends that check out these little tidbits of our life.

My Soccer Star!

2010-09-27T10:22:00.003-06:00

This is Bella's (the littlest dotter) last soccer practice today and her last game is Wednesday. We have come a long way! First practice and game she was in tears most of the time refusing to go out and play. Now she is scoring goals and having fun.

There is nothing more entertaining than watching 4 and 5 year olds play soccer!

House Part II-Bronwyn's Room

2010-09-16T22:50:00.006-06:00

So, I'm still trying to play catch-up with some summer stuff, so please just bear with me! With our move I let the girls re-do their rooms, but I definitely had a pretty tight budget. I was able to work with some things I had, and bought a few things.

So Bronwyn is pretty obsessed with Paris right now, and talks about going there all the time.(It doesn't help that one of her good friends spent a week there this summer.) I have been twice and it really is a beautiful and magical city. Until Bronwyn and I can get there to visit we tried to bring some of the Paris magic to her room. So I present Bronwyn's Paris themed room:

Sorry not the best pic, but I wanted you to see the gorgeous antique love seat I picked up for her room. When I saw it, I had to have it.

Found some cute accessories, and a vinyl Eiffel Tower. I also made the chandelier.

Her beloved vintage sock monkey collection on a nice black shelf. Now they can be all together.
Some more fun accessories.
Couldn't resist the hot pink Eiffel Tower.
Found this reproduction vintage map of Paris.

So the room was a success! I spent maybe $100 on accessories and maybe $50 in pink and black paint. She loves her room and that makes me happy!