trip to disney

sorry i haven't written in a while.

i was knee-deep in vacation planning!

we went to disney for spring break this year.

my goodness, it was an experience.

between gut-wrenching rides, hour-long lines, and people wearing mouse ears, we really did enjoy our vacation.

will post more when i sort through all the pictures!!

until then, i will leave you with this picture of our favorite ride:

in case you don't recognize it or haven't had the thrill of riding it, its called splash mountain and it is crazy!

and no, thats not us on the boat......

more soon.......

heidi

explore the magic

i came across these images recently.

i have always been obsessed with disney. 

all things disney.

and now, all things vintage disney.

before there were cell phones, computers, facebook, twitter and blogs, the every family would send postcards when they were on vacation.

i miss those days.

these postcards were from walt disney world and i can remember like yesterday sending one like this to my mom when i went to visit relatives in california.

just brings back memories of a child's view of disneyworld.

such precious memories.

to see more, visit http://www.explorethemagic.com/

they have great things to reminisce about!

enjoy!

2 cute blogs

y'all, i stumbled across another darling blog.

actually, two darling blogs.

first things first:  free pretty things for you  is super cute and if you follow her, she will send you an email a day with precious vintage things she finds that you might be able to use.

try it out:

http://www.freeprettythingsforyou.com/

next, on this very same blog, she showed the cutest apron ever made.  and its made out of....

pillow cases!

here is a pic:

isn't that unique?  her blog is called my vintage mending.

here is the link:  http://myvintagemending.blogspot.com/

check out both of these too cute blogs today!!

heidi

new design

just changed the design on my blog.

what do you think?

i also added a couple of gadgets on the right hand side as you scroll down underneath my brood.

i love to know what happened today in history.

so i added a "today in history" gadget.

i also have this silly curiosity to know whose birthday it is today.

i'm sure you can put together which gadget i added to quench that desire.

check out my new gadgets.  and my new design.

have fun!

more vintage collections

after i made my post yesterday, i found some more collections i wanted to share.

some are kind of different.

too cute horse race ribbons.  love the colors!

handmade birds?  probably looks pretty cool in the corner of a living room, though.....

where the heck did they find mirrors that looked exactly alike?  kind of cool.....albeit narcissistic......

love the way they made old paintbrushes fit into their design.  and i thought throwing them away was a good idea........

i would put one of these cute, colorful phones in each of my rooms!!

i hope you enjoyed these collections. 

in the back of my mind, i hope by celebrating "someone elses" collections, it will curb my desire to have my own!!

ahh, the life of a hoarder.......

vintage collections

i have a ton of collections. 

suprisingly, not many are vintage.

so i perused the internet (my best friend these days) for some cool collections i would love to have.

please note these are not my collections, just my dream collections!

enjoy!!

love the green utensil color!

vintage type drawer letters, all in a single letter A.  darling!

such cute barrettes!  reminds me of my childhood!

vintage edith collins purses.  my sister has a collection just like this!

vintage tin pinball games.  love it!



hope you liked seeing these collections.  check out the internet and see what you can come up with!!

sorry i haven't posted

i'm sorry i haven't posted in a while.  i have some videos i want to post and i am trying to fit everything into my schedule!

i will post something fun tomorrow!!

heidi

vintage license plates......tiny

i made a pretty cool bracelet not too long ago.

it pays homage once again to my love of all things miniature.

vintage license plates.

in bracelet form.

check it out:

these are all tiny license plates and every one of them are vintage.

i found a ton of them, for every state.  but of course i had to highlight my faves, south carolina and connecticut, to name a few.

hey, its the oklahoma license plate.  imagine that.......

these last ones i threw on there for the colors alone.  very vibrant and colorful!

and if you were wondering what was on the other side, MORE PLATES!  and not the same ones, either.  i used 36 completely different plates.  for variety purposes.

this was such a fun bracelet to make.  i put it on my etsy site.

if you collect vintage items, this is a perfect bracelet for you........

they don't make em like they used to....

i love vintage.

and today is valentine's day.

after perusing the aisles at many of my local stores for valentines cards, i am sure of one thing:

they don't make em like they used to.

i found some vintage valentines cards, so i can prove my point:

back in the days, before everything became disposeable, the ladies used to "darn" socks!

i love the play on words with this valentine!

cute, but kind of wondering what this guy is coming clean about........

remember when the gas station attendants used to fill up your tank?

now this wording is a bit of a stretch......"veal" in place of "be"?

ahh, the ole harvesting days!

so cute, the waitress taking orders, perfect for my etsy site!

this one is my favorite.  i have been chomping at the bit to get "pickled" lately.

don't get me wrong, there are still some great writers at hallmark, but these vintage ones are not only sweet and sincere, they are great for a laugh!

happy valentines day!!  don't forget to laugh!

brrrrrrrr

when i moved to texas from connecticut four years ago, i left to escape the cold weather.

i have since been basking in the sun, sporting shorts all year around and hoarding flip flops.

in the last week or so, i have seen weather very remniscient of the northeast coast.

it has snowed, (leading to a school cancellation) rained, (creating extremely bad drivers) and finally, frozen over into caked ice (making me have to start my car 30 minutes before i go anywhere, just to thaw it off!)

this is not what i thought texas had to offer!  i mean, i have heard that everything is bigger in texas, but bigger pain in the butt weather?  really????

i do, however, know that it will blow over, as always, and next week, i will be back to laying by the pool, sipping mai tais. 

ok, i don't sip mai tais.

but i did want to share my view of the world this morning, when i was rushing out in my pajamas to take tiny t to school:

this is ice.  in texas.  unbelieveable.

you just can't see it in these pictures, but it was caked on about an eighth of an inch on the top of the car!

this is on the hood of the car.  the windshield was even worse!

i saved the best for last, though.  the basketball hoop in our driveway had completely frozen and had icicles hanging from it.

here is another view.  and the only reason i noticed this, was the wind was blowing so hard, it almost blew me over, and i spotted the hoop out of the corner of my eye:  NOT MOVING.  it was frozen.

i reached out and grabbed it as hard as i could, and it was rock solid.  weirdest thing i have ever seen.  guess rope can freeze, duh!

now that is cold!!!

makes me want to take a hot bath!

calgon, take me away...........

game board bracelet

i haven't shown one of my projects in a while. 

thought i would share my bracelet made of tiny game boards.

it has been quite popular.

i just sold one to someone in london.

london, we have a problem.

wait, thats houston.......

this cold weather has frozen my brain.

this bracelet pays homage to my obsession of all things miniature:

it is made with tiny versions of some of my favorite board games

\
the original candyland board game, with the neopolitan floats and giant gumdrops.

monopoly, which is not really one of my favorite board games, it makes me crazy, but was a necessary evil for this project.
the parcheesi game had a nostalgic, vintage look to it, but technically, i like the game sorry so much better.

chinese checkers was the sole round game here and officially, is not a board, more of a "tin", but off the record, i threw it in!
and of course, i couldn't forget clue, which is one of the single-most frustrating board games ever.  i mean, really.  all the creepy old people with colors for last names.  weird.

ah, good ole twister.  wait.  twister wasn't a board game, was it?  unless you count the actual spinner, which was made of cardboard........
and one of my faves, scrabble, finishes off this bracelet.

this bracelet was so fun to make, even more fun to wear.  the comments i get are hysterical.

this bracelet is on my etsy site:  http://www.southernheidibelle.etsy.com/

come by and check it out!

snow valentine

what with all the snow, and valentine's day coming up, i thought this next valentine was totally fitting:

feel free to forward this post on to anyone who might be bogged down by the snow!

heidi

faith

i just want to say that i still have faith in the world.

this weekend, my son's expensive soccer shoes were stolen out of his locker.  (actually two pairs)

suffice it to say, we never anticipated seeing them again.

his soccer team banded together and raised money for him to buy another pair.

i have never been more touched in my life.

he is not only part of our family, but he has another one protecting him at school as well.

just warms my heart....

this morning, i was informed the shoes were found, and although i don't know the whole story, they were being worn by another child, who thought no one would notice.

well, someone did notice and the shoes were returned.

what i am telling you, is that there are still good people in this world.

good people that will go up against one of their own, if it is for the better good of things.

thank God there are still people like that out there.

we are blessed.

country living valentine upcycle

if you are not familiar with country living magazine, i suggest you hop on over to barnes and noble and get yourself a copy.

if you are not familiar with upcycling, it is just this:

"The practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value"

i love upcycling!

this is an easy and fun upcycling project.
we all see the paint strips in home improvement stores. 

                                        

there are a plethora of colors and they are free!

pick yourself up a few at walmart today!!

grab some in the reds and pinks

                                 

and you can create this:

          

add some unique letter stamps in black and you've got yourself some great valentines!

go on country living's website and check out some other great ideas!

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/valentine-day-crafts-cards#fbIndex3

happy country living crafting!

vintage valentine decals

another great internet find:

these look like images from the 1950's and can easily be printed for make several decorations for individual valentines.

i found them here:

http://carlahoag.wordpress.com/category/crafts-paper/page/2/

happy crafting!

name brand bag

i had to share this find!

i had to take my car to the local tire place, which happens to be next to a nail salon (got my nails did!)  and also a goodwill.

i had time to kill, so i perused the aisles with no intent to buy.  just wanted to have something to do instead of sit and stare at tires!

i went through the books first.  they always have a ton of good titles there.

just so happens that the purses are hanging directly to the right of the bookshelves, and i almost passed them by.

glad i didn't.

i saw this doozie peeking from the back of the rack, hiding there.

let me preface this by telling you, that usually, the "brand name" items are displayed in glass cases at the front of local goodwills. this is definitely one of goodwill's greatest money making ideas:

auctioning the high end items off, so they are able to make even more money on them.  every saturday morning there is some great stuff being auctioned off!

brilliant!

i usually don't attend the auctions, mainly because they are on saturday mornings, and as you know, my saturdays are filled with sports. 

but i pulled one over on goodwill yesterday! 

this name brand bag must have slipped through the cracks.

it has the greatest black and beige plaid pattern.



here is a close up of the basket weave.



and i loved the pattern before i even knew the brand. 

but the brand name was the bonus!

it was on both of the black leather straps.  and if i had any doubt....

the name was stamped boldly on the inside pocket!

such a great find and the price was truly right! 

wait for it.......

$5.99!!!!

for a cole haan purse!!

so if you think you can't find a great name for a great price, then you just haven't been looking!

stop by your local thrift store or goodwill and see whats waiting for you!

happy shopping!