time to show off.

Last weekend my best friend, Danielle, came for a short, wonderful visit. On Saturday we went to a vintage bazaar that, thankfully, was only minutes away. This bazaar is supposed to be one of the biggest in Chicago all year, and it was wonderful. There were over 70 vendors, which is amazing because I only really know of a few vintage stores in the city... although I'm sure there are more.

The weekend before I had gotten a strong hankerin' for perusing through a vintage shop and scoring some great finds. I went to the store closest to our apartment and it was my first time there. Although reviewed highly online, it was a big disappointment. I found a few little decor items that I would have liked to take home, but they were all over-priced, so I went home empty handed. Mr. Allen and I, when shopping for a dining room table a few months ago, headed to the Pilsen neighborhood (a little bit on the south side of the city and where I student taught/where we used to go to church) which is said to be the area for the best vintage markets. The store that Chicagoans love the most is called Knee Deep Vintage, although those Chicagoans are much mistaken when they claim that Pilsen Vintage (a shop literally across the street) carries the leftovers of the first store. We found our table at Pilsen Vintage at a great price and there was so much more I could have taken with me but didn't. Moral of this paragraph: don't believe the reviews - when vintage-ing in Chicago, go to Pilsen (definitely) and try out all the stores they have to offer.

Anyway, back to last weekend's bazaar... we had so much luck at the flea market. I went with only $20 (a wise choice because so much more could have been spent.) Here were my wonderful finds that I came home with proudly:

[two sheets of 2-pack buttons, $1 each. I plan to use these for a sweater project. And if that doesn't work out, because it seems to be leaning on the edge of failure, I will use the pink for a baby-girl project/gift and the black ones will wait for another home.]

[vintage cookbook, $3. If I didn't just adore the cover of this book, what's on the inside is the kicker. The old woman (judging by the little, cursive handwriting) who once owned this book has re-written and edited so many of the recipes. It adds so much more value, you know? Also, Mr. Allen says it's like the Harry Potter's ownership of his Potions book, edited by the Half-Blood Prince.]

[wooden press stamps, $1 each. As soon as I saw these little guys I was inspired for a project. Can you guess what I would make?]

Here it is! I'm so excited to show it off: some artwork for the nursery. Danielle had suggested to start making them in mass and to maybe open an Etsy shop for a place to sell them. I'm not sure about the Etsy shop at this point, although I may try it out in a few months. But I know that I will be testing out some more designs with the blocks, and I'm sure I'll be giving a few away as presents for some little ones to come.

In other creative news, this weekend we celebrated my nephew's birthday. Mr. Allen and I went to my sister and brother-in-law's overnight Friday to get to spend some extra time with their family. Last week I had posted a facebook status requesting a pin cushion. I was tired of constantly spilling my pins or poking myself because I had to grab them out of the dish. I was ready for them to be at-the-ready for me. My sister, Ashley, responded with a link to this tutorial, which we used and yesterday created this wonderful pincushion together.

Oh, I'm in love. My sister-in-law, Kelsey, had picked up a fabric scrap-pack for me (just because she's sweet) a few months ago, so I had these fabrics lying around waiting for a purpose. This was the perfect opportunity. I love my little pincushion/caddy for all those tools I need right there at a moment's notice. If I convinced you enough to venture out and try it yourself, please let me know and we could try a link-up to show off our creations. I'm sure the original tutorial writer would love to know as well.

Hopefully this creativity-bug will stick around, especially since I need to get some (24+) cloth diapers done quickly. And hopefully this blog theme will be just as well-received as those with baby news. :) Thank you so much for reading and enjoying.

with goodness.

[Edit: For a tutorial about how to get better blog photos, see this post. With her help, I was able to improve my picture quality and up my over-all blog appearance... because, let's be honest, pictures speak hugely, probably more than the words I write.]