sweetfunkyvintage

What's Cookin' Wednesday

2012-01-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

I found this recipe online, here, and prepared it for dinner last night. Holy Toledo Batman! My kids and husband ate like they haven't eaten in weeks. They raved about this recipe and begged me to make it again right away!!

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (1 1/2 cups) enchilada sauce (I use Mild)
kosher salt
ground black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, divided
12 6-inch corn tortillas
cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Add the minced garlic to the enchilada sauce in a deep skillet and heat to boiling. The recipe calls for 1 can, well, my can was only 10 ounces, not a cup and a half, so I would definitely want to have a little more sauce the next time. Generously sprinkle kosher salt and ground black pepper over the chicken breasts and then nestle the chicken breasts into the sauce. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the sauce, set aside and let both the chicken and the sauce cool.

Using two forks, shred the chicken breasts. Transfer the shredded chicken to a large bowl. Add half the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup each of the Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses and the 1/2 cup of cilantro to the shredded chicken. Stir to combine.

Wrap the corn tortillas in a damp cloth or paper towel and microwave on high for 20-30 seconds until pliable and warm. Using cooking spray (if desired), oil a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture along the center of the tortilla. Gently, but firmly, roll the tortilla around the filling and place into the baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Lightly spray the tortillas with cooking spray (or brush lightly with olive oil). This will help the tortillas turn golden in the oven and will also help keep them from cracking. (Mine totally cracked, but I didn't care). Place baking dish in the oven, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas begin to turn golden.

Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro. Lightly cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. (I ran out of tin foil, so I didn't cover it - worked out just fine). Carefully remove foil after 20 minutes and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is golden. (I skipped this step since my enchiladas weren't covered with foil to begin with).

Remove form the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

We served with sour cream and chopped avocado. Yummmmmmmo!

Are you getting ready for Valentine's Day?

2012-01-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Are you getting ready for Valentine's day? I am, as I state with more than just a little bit of pride. I will keep you posted on whether or not my good intentions actually come to fruition. But, for now... I have a plan. You have to start with one of those, dontcha?
Well, I started seeing some really great ideas pop up on Pinterest, and was thinking how nice it would be to make homemade Valentines this year. I did that when Georgia was little, and Olivia. When the third child came along and started to hit preschool, Valentines to classmates, age, I just didn't manage the homemade Valentines anymore. So, I store-bought. There I said it aloud. I admitted it. ;)
So, this year, I may not have made any specific new years resolutions yet. I haven't even decided if I will. But, as different opportunities to rediscover some creativity present themselves, I am going to try to seize them... starting with Valentine's day.
I will share the specific idea I have for the girls' Valentines as the date gets a little closer.
But, in the meantime, here are some of the other ideas that I thought were super groovy. Maybe you will decide to try one.

You could go the Martha route with these felt fortune cookies.

This blog had two really cute homemade valentines, as well as other great holiday projects!

This one is just too totally cute!

I have seen this idea several times, but still love it!

Seriously, how cute is this super-hero Valentine?

It's been a long, dry spell...

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can hardly believe that I have been such a bad blogger lately. Really bad. Really, really bad. Lame-o city.
I was in the middle (almost) of the 2nd annual, 25 days of Christmas crafts blogging. And then, I just dropped off the face of the earth. Not really. I just got sucked into being a wife, mom of three, small business owner, and all around busy chick.
So, I'm back in the blogosphere again. And, I promise to be a better blogger. Well, actually, how about if I just promise to try to be a better blogger? Then, maybe, just maybe, I have a shot at it.

So, what have I been up to you ask? Okay, you didn't ask, but it is my blog, so I'll tell ya anyway! When I disappeared in mid-December, I was busy getting our together for Sweet Funky Vintage, "Central Park". And, I just cant gush enough about how much I love this collection. I mean, as owner and designer, I love them all. But, I REALLY love this new collection the most of ALL that have gone before. The designs, the fabrics, the colors - they are all really great.
Our catalog is due in from the printer any day now, so be sure and drop us an email if you would like to have a copy. Don't forget to include your mailing address so we know where to send it!

Our trunk shows started this past weekend. We have an awesome website, and you can even design your own clothing there, but really, there is no comparison to shopping live and in-person at one of our trunk shows. We make it really easy to host a show. We send you postcard invitations, a customized evite, and some information ahead of time, and all you have to do is invite all your friends and serve some wine and cheese and crackers, or if wine isn't your thing, serve milk and cookies. Really, it isn't necessary to channel your inner-Martha. The trunk, chock full o' samples will arrive on your doorstep and the clothes really sell themselves. They are very high quality, made in the USA, and they are custom made for your child. Is your child tall and skinny? No problem. Order a smaller waist and add an inch or two in length. We can do that! How do we do that and still keep our prices the same as your local children's clothing stores (which, by the way, are filled with clothes that were made in factories in other countries)? Because we want to give you a quality product at a reasonable price and we believe that you will value that! You do, don't you? ;)

Our hostess benefits are beyond better than what any other children's trunk show offer. We believe that our hostesses (and consultants) are the backbone of our business and we believe you deserve the rewards! Haven't seen our hostess benefits before? For a trunk show with sales of $250 - $1000, earn $50 in clothing credit. For shows with sales of $1001 - $1999, earn 10% of the show sales in clothing credit (that is $100 to $199 in clothing)! For shows with sales of $2000-$2999, earn 10% of the show sales plus $50 in clothing credit ($250-$349 in clothing). The benefits just keep going up from there. Most other trunk shows offer some credit and some half-priced items, but nobody comes close to our rockin' benefits! Host a show and see how fast you can fill your child's closet!
Did you know about our social mission? We believe in supporting women and children, and giving back to our communities. You can read more about the wonderful organizations we support here.
Okay, I'm going to jump off my soapbox for now, but I am just so proud of Sweet Funky Vintage and of what we do here. Because, we believe in things bigger than our bottom line, ya know?

So, how was your Christmas? Ours was fantastic. We did a whirlwind tour of the US, including visits with both sides of our family. We were blessed this past year with good health, and many blessings. We are looking forward to a very good 2012.
Have you made any New Year's Resolutions? I still can't decide if I am going to really make any. I am definitely going to try to lose the 10 lbs Santa brought me (that joined the ones already there!) and be healthier in general. But, as far as any more profound resolutions, I'm just not sure yet.

25 Days of Christmas - Day Ten

2011-12-10T05:40:00.000-08:00

Sassy Sites! has a ton of great ideas for Christmas gifts for neighbors. Here are a few of my favorites...

Jolly Ranchers: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Cheese Grater and Cheese: “Cheesen’s Greetings To A Really “GRATE” Neighbor!”

Measuring Cup and Candy: A Cup of Christmas Cheer
No one can measure up to you
But we’re doing our best to try,
We appreciate all the kindness you show
A kind of caring you just can’t buy.
This Christmas gift is sent your way
To wish a full measure of holiday cheer,
May your cup overflow with joy and peace.

2 liter of Sprite: “May your holiday be merry and “sprite!”

Wire Whisk with Hershey's Kisses: “We Whisk You A Merry Kissmas!”

Whoppers: Hope you have a “WHOPPER” of a Christmas!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Nine

2011-12-09T05:29:00.000-08:00

This great idea for a Christmas gift - perfect for teachers, neighbors or friends - comes from a great blog, Twig & Thistle. I loved this idea so much when I ran cross it last year, that I made these for lots of people we know! They turned out great! I highly recommend them!

I purchased the clear boxes from a packaging company, picked up the Hershey bars, graham crackers and marshmallows at the Commissary (military grocery store) and they were fun to put together and didn't break the bank!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 8

2011-12-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

We have been fans of Anders Ruff for awhile now - they are your go-to girls for printable party packages!
I printed out these great free "Letters to Santa" for my girls to use this year. I really enjoyed seeing what they would write about the one time they weren't good this year! Hysterical!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Seven

2011-12-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

Please forgive me for not being able to credit where this idea came from. I saved it, but forgot to save where I got it from! But, what a great alternative to placing a Christmas wreath on your door!
Just purchase an old frame from the thrift store, add some fresh paint, funky ribbon and colorful ornaments!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Six

2011-12-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

Following along with yesterday's theme of great, creative, inexpensive gifts to give teachers, friends and neighbors, today we have Popcorn Snowmen. How cute are these? The I Heart Naptime blog featured all sorts of different Christmas craft ideas throughout November, so be sure to scan back through the archives for other great ideas.

The key!

2011-12-05T18:57:00.001-08:00

We haven't chosen a lucky key winner in a couple of weeks, so I am going to pull 5 numbers right now...
Email us if you have one of these lucky keys, for some special Sweet Funky swag to be sent your way!

#5, #12, #29, #51, and #159

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Five

2011-12-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

If you are like me, you love to give gifts to your neighbors at Christmas. I like the gifts to be original and really cute, without breaking the bank! So, I keep my eyes out all year for good ideas.
I ran across this one on the eighteen25 blog that I posted about yesterday. This is a great idea for Caramel Apple Goodies!

You create a new label for a can of Sweetened Condensed milk (can be heated to create amazing caramel) and apples in a great apple basket!
They have put together a really gorgeous presentation, but I am thinking you could simplify it a bit if you intend to make more than one.
I love that they include the free printable to use for the label on the can!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Four

2011-12-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

If you haven't discovered the eighteen25 blog - you are really missing a terrific blog!
Link over there now to see an adorable Christmas Tree Cone Advent...

They even include a template to use. You just make your cones with great paper, add a number, and then hide little treats beneath!

25 days of Christmas Crafts - Day Three

2011-12-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

I love these handprint ornaments! I can't believe I have never made them with my girls before!
It would be great to do them every few years to see how they grow!

25 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day Two

2011-12-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

Today, enjoy this felt picture stocking from One Crafty Mumma!

She includes a pattern to use for cutting out the felt, and the embellishment ideas are adorable! Yes, you really can use a sewing machine to stitch the photograph on!

Another really great idea she shares is this Christmas tree that can be made and enjoyed by the little ones!

Just take a Ferrero Roche candy, some glittery pipe cleaners and some star foil stickers!

25 days of Christmas Crafts - Day One

2011-12-01T04:58:00.000-08:00

Our 25 days of Christmas Crafts was so much fun last year, we decided to do it again this year. So, get ready to get your craft on!

Day One:

Yummy 3 ingredient Oreo Truffles by How Does She

Ingredients:
8 ounces of cream cheese

1 package of Oreos (about 15 oz)

16 squares/2 boxes of Baker’s semi-sweet baking squares

1. Start out by crushing all (except 5) of the Oreos until finely crushed.
2. Then add the cream cheese and blend until it’s a sticky mess!
3. Turn that sticky mess into 1-inch balls and place them on a waxed cookie sheet.
4. Melt your chocolate squares for dipping. Just stick them in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth.
5. Start dipping your Oreo balls in the chocolate.
6. Grab those extra 5 cookies , crush them a bit, then add the pieces to the tops of the truffles.
7. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes then ENJOY!

FYI: This recipe makes about 48 truffles. And, don’t forget to store the left-overs in the refrigerator!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Cheap Wine Crockpot Chicken

2011-11-30T02:09:00.000-08:00

Got a whole chicken and some cheap white wine? Then you can make some really tasty chicken in the crockpot today!

Cheap Wine Crockpot Chicken

1 small onion, diced
3 lb. whole chicken
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp. dried basil

Wash chicken, remove inside parts, pat dry.

Put onion, broth, and wine in crock pot. I call it cheap wine chicken because someone left a bottle of really cheap white zinfandel here after a party, and I used it in this dish.

Put chicken in crock pot and season it.

Cook on low 8-10 hours, or high 3 1/2 to 5 hours. It will smell divine while it cooks, and tastes delicious!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Ham and Cheese Croissant Melts

2011-11-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

Today's What's Cooking is something I ran across on Pinterest. I jumped over to the website and decided to give it a try for dinner.

Ham and Cheese Croissant Melts

Ingredients:
Crescent Rolls
Lunch meat - your choice! I used Honey Ham
Cheese - again, your choice! I used Provolone

I opened the crescent roll tubes and instead of making triangles, I pulled the dough apart in rectangles (keeping 2 triangles together). I used a baking stone, but if you use a regular baking sheet, you will want to grease it.

Place the rectangles on the stone. You will only get 4 from a package, but we have a family of 5, so I used part of another package. I will bake up the remaining crescent rolls for breakfast in the morning.

Place your toppings - whatever meats and cheeses you choose. I decided to keep it simple this time, but next time, wouldn't it be yummy with fresh basil and sauteed Vidalia onions?

Roll up your rectangles and get ready to bake. The instructions on my tube said 350 for 12-14 minutes.

I served ours with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. Yum!

Thanksgiving Turkey

2011-11-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

I ran across this wonderful Thanksgiving game online and thought it was so awesome, I am definitely making this for the kids to play with on Thanksgiving!

I think it will be super easy to make with some glue, felt, modge podge and the sewing machine. But, it could really all be done with glue if you don't sew.
The kids just start with the turkey face and roll the die and if the color comes up, they put the clothespin on for the feather - the first person to get all their feathers wins!

Meet Timmery!

2011-11-18T03:14:00.000-08:00

Today, I'd like to introduce you to another of the ladies here at Sweet Funky Vintage. Timmery joined us here within the past year and we feel so fortunate to have her with us. She is really fast and efficient and we don't know what we would do without her. But, the best thing about Timmery is that she always has a smile on her face and her laugh is absolutely infectious!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I moved from Missouri to California 8 years ago. I drove my belongings out here and arrived on January 2nd to a sky full of sun and gorgeous 60+ degree temps. Since 2 days prior I had had to shovel a path from my front door to my car, and then chisel the car out of ice to start my adventure, I just knew I'd made the right choice in coming to sunny San Diego!
I'm an architect, but recently completed my Master's in Pastoral Care & Counseling--and yes, at first glance the two fields don't seem related at all, yet it suits me just fine!

2. What do you do when you aren't working at Sweet Funky Vintage?
My previous job was working with Post-College aged people at my church--and I still continue to mentor some of the young women there. I still do counseling and love watching young women transform through the process
I also have a creative streak and love "puttering". This year I taught myself how to make journals and I'm loving it! Recently I've had a friend start teaching me how to knit (I'm not very good yet, but after she took me to a specialty yarn store and I soaked in all the gorgeous yarns, I've decided I need to improve--rapidly!).

3. If you were stranded on a desert island and were allowed one luxury item, what would it be and why?
One?! My first thought would be a good, creamy, heavenly scented lotion. But that almost seems more necessity to my thinking! If I were stranded I would take some sort of e-reader since books tend to be my weakness...

4. Do you have any phobias?
Lizards and snakes, hands down! They give me chills just thinking about them! I found a lizard in the garage last week and screamed like a little girl (and now I'm afraid to enter the garage at night--what if it's still lurking? Eek!).

5. Who inspires you and why?
I have a small handful of very dear women, including my mother, who are so precious to my heart. They are mostly all old enough to be my mother, and they all in one form or another mentor me. I so value that they have gained much wisdom and experience, and that they have been so willing to share those with me. When life is icky, they encourage me after they've joined me in tears. And when life is glorious, they are praising God alongside me. Watching these women go through the challenges, joys, and hurts in their own life teaches me so much.

6. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
I'm pretty content just being me, buuuuut, perhaps it would be nice to snap my fingers and have "chores" completed? Tax time? Done! Tires need rotating? Done! Bathroom starting to get icky? Clean!

7. Can you tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people who know you?
I can think in color (which helped immensely in school!). What this means is that I "see" everything in color from numbers, to letters, to words, ideas, music, and so on. When I was learning my alphabet as a wee one, I would be able to see the color in my mind and know which letter it was. In math, I know that white plus blue equals purple (1+3=4), and blue plus purple equals orange (3+4=7)! It's a pretty cool sensory phenomenon called synesthesia. I know of some people who can "see" colors unfolding in their mind like a painting, but I don't have it to that degree. Its something I always took for granted and was shocked when I learned none of my classmates in school knew what I was talking about!

fun facts include……:
-(I'm an only child, and wanted siblings so bad I made up imaginary ones! Luke, Barrett, Ethan, and Emily were my 4, much older, imaginary siblings.)~

-(I love reading a good book. I grew up without a tv as a child, so reading was my favorite entertainment. I suspect that's why I love it so much today!)

-Although I love reading, all through my architectural studies I would primarily only look at pictures in books! Maybe because it's such a visual field, and maybe because all the architecture books I "read" included hot photos of amazing architecture!

-A good massage, or a fabulous fragrance makes me weak in the knee.

Timmery

A time for Thanksgiving

2011-11-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that next week is Thanksgiving. How on earth did it get here so quickly? Sheesh, I haven't put away all of the Halloween decorations yet! Okay, I know it is a little past time for that. But, still, Thanksgiving has really sneaked up on me this year!
I have been running across some cute Thanksgiving ideas around the web and wanted to share them with you...

I love this!! I fully intend to do this with either the daisy or brownie troops that my girls are in, or with their classes. How cute!

And, this is too cute. I didn't find any instructions to go along with the picture... but I am going to try to figure it out!

Deal of the Day!

2011-11-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

Are we friends on facebook? If not, we should be! We have started something new here at Sweet Funky Vintage - a deal of the day. Every week day on facebook, we will post a new "deal of the day". The deal will be available in limited quantities and for that day only. And the best part, it will include shipping in the price! To purchase the item, you simply comment on the item with your desired size and email address and we will send you an invoice to pay by email. Simple as that!
The catch? You have to be a fan of our facebook page so you will see these great deals! That's it!
Click to like us on facebook!

The key to some "sweet" swag!

2011-11-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

Have received a lucky key with your fall 2011 trunk show or website purchase? Then, take a look below to see if we have chosen your lucky number!
Also, are we friends on facebook? If not, jump on over to our facebook page and like us so you can see our new deal of the day items for something sweet at smashing prices every day!
Also, did you receive the newsletter we emailed out earlier today? If not, go sign up for our newsletter!

Now, for what you have been waiting for...

If you have one of these key numbers, please email us to claim your prize!
#15
#31
#68
#197

Have a great day!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Jayne's Chicken Tortilla Soup

2011-11-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

Our great friend, Jayne, prepared this Chicken Tortilla Soup for our Girls Game Night and it was so wonderful, we all begged for the recipe.

Tortilla Soup with Cilantro
- a zesty tomato, chicken, beef based soup flavored with hot chilies, cheese, cilantro, and tortilla strips. Serves 6.

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
Chicken Breasts (you can use previously cooked chicken or a rotisserie chicken)
1 finely chopped onion
1 fresh hot green chili, minced fine (or 1/2 can of green chilis)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c peeled, chopped tomatoes (or a 28 oz can chopped tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cups tomato juice (V-8)
1 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp steak sauce (Heinz 57)
flour tortillas, cut into thin strips, toasted
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
cheddar cheese, grated
Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Avocado, chopped

Place oil in large Dutch oven. Add onion.

Add green chili, and garlic. Saute over medium heat until onion is translucent.

Add chicken and cook on both sides until slightly brown. Add all remaining ingredients except tortillas, cilantro, cheeses, and avocado.
Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. If you used whole breasts, remove the chicken at this point and shred it with a fork and reutrn it to the soup.

Pour into bowls and top with remaining ingredients.

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival - Holiday Show

2011-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas shopping. Just really love it. Do you? If so, then plan to attend one of the upcoming Patchwork Holiday Craft Shows. Preferably the one this Sunday, November 6th from 11am-5pm at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, CA. Sweet Funky Vintage will have a booth their with our fun, fresh, funky children's clothing and accessories!
Come out and support the local artists, crafters, and small business people who will be participating in the Patchwork shows. You will see beautiful, fun, and unique items - great for giving to that "hard to shop for" person on your list!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Chicken Pan Pie

2011-10-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up in the South, I was lucky enough to have lunch one summer afternoon with my Mom and my Great Aunt Edith at the New Perry Hotel in Perry, Georgia. I don't remember what I had for lunch that day, but I do remember it was delicious and it was served with a tall, icy glass of Sweet Tea (of course).
A few years after I got married, my Mom gave me a copy of the New Perry Hotel cookbook. By that time, I was married to my military husband and was in the midst of many moves around the country. I missed the South, I still do. And, flipping through the pages of that cookbook made me close my eyes and remember that lunch. I was a teenager, and probably not thrilled to be sitting at a table with my Mom and Aunt Edith.

Oh, I wish I could go back in time and tell the teenage me to sit up straight, enjoy the moment, and soak in every word that my Mom and Aunt Edith said. I am lucky to enjoy a very close relationship with my Mom, but Aunt Edith passed away before my first daughter was born. Oh, how she hoped and prayed that our prayers to have a child would be answered (they were - three times!) and I really wish she had lived to meet Georgia Grace Marie, who was named after Aunt Edith. Grace was her middle name. Really, could I saddle the child with the name Edith? ;)
So, I am rambling on, and to be honest, the memories make me a little teary-eyed, but in a good way.
That cookbook is a very special book, and in it is a recipe that is a favorite of our family (and probably many other Southern families) - Chicken Pan Pie.
It is delicious, and very, very simple.

3 heaping cups of cooked chicken
1/2 cup butter (I don't use nearly that much!)
3 hard boiled eggs

Arrange chicken in bottom of 2 quart baking dish, and cover with sliced boiled eggs. Dot with butter. Cover with sauce.

Sauce:
1 c. flour
1 c. water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 cups chicken stock
pastry

In a measuring cup, I mix up the water, and the 1 cup flour, stir it really well with a fork. Throw in the salt and pepper and add it to a boiling pot of the chicken stock. Stir like crazy. It thickens right up!

Pour the sauce over the chicken and eggs. Top with pastry. I use a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust. But, you can make your crust from scratch - it is easier than you think!
Bake at 375 until the pastry is well browned.

My girls really love this dish. Be prepared for it to be a little runny. It is delicious left-over too.

If you are ever driving through Georgia, consider taking a little detour to Perry, Georgia, and visit the New Perry Hotel for a meal. You won't regret it!

Tell me, have you ever eaten there?

Meet Jen!

2011-10-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

Meet Jen - Jen and Allison work together to keep things running behind the scenes, they do alot of our receiving and shipping and are pretty much "girl Friday"s around here!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am 37 years old and grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have 3 daughters aged 8, 6 and 4. I am a stay-at-home mom, but in my previous life I taught kindergarten in Connecticut and a second grade in both Texas and California. We have lived in Escondido, CA for the past ten years.

2. What do you do when you aren?t working at Sweet Funky Vintage?
When I am not working at SFV, I am either substitute teaching at my daughter's school, volunteering to teach art lessons to both of my daughter's classes, planning ideas for two Girl Scout troops, running errands or cleaning my house!

3. If you were stranded on a desert island and were allowed one luxury item, what would it be and why?
Deoderant!!!! I can't stand when I am stinky!!!!

4. Do you have any phobias?
Spiders and creepy insects

5. Who inspires you and why?
People who are good parents…people who are genuinely kind, caring and non-judgemental. People like this help me get through the tough times of parenting and remind me that there is no manual full of solutions or easy button to press!

6. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Blink and everything would be as I wish it to be….. Blink and my house is clean, blink and dinner is ready, blink and I am young, skinny and beautiful!

7. Can you tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people who know you?
I was a competitive figure skater since I was 6 years old. I spent almost every day after school at the skating rink and I trained about 25-30 hours a week during my summer vacations. When I was 10, I lived away from home to train in Lake Placid, NY during my summer vacation. I also spent a summer away from home training in Cape Cod, MA when I was 12. I used to miss A LOT of school to train up in Boston and go to competitions all over New England. While I was a good student and a hard working skater, I also had a devilish side…. In high school I loved to sneak the keys and take my parent's car out, sneak out at night to meet friends and even skip school to spend the day with my boyfriend (at least we ended up married!)…. Don't tell my daughters about this!

fun facts include??

-(what you spend most of your time doing)
I spend most of my time planning, organizing and worrying that I have forgotten something!
-Ferocious reader, when it includes ________.
Inspiring advice, fantastic organizing suggestions or celebrity gossip;)

-________ makes her weak in the knees.
Anticipation of the next Twilight movie

Sunday Words of Wisdom

2011-10-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

The future depends on what we do in the present. - Mahatma Gandhi

Favorite Things Friday - Halloween Sweets and Treats

2011-10-21T05:03:00.000-07:00

The Sweet Funky Vintage girls have been snacking on Halloween candy for a few days (okay, weeks) now. Which has made me start thinking about yummy halloween treats. I usually throw a Halloween party, since my Olivia's birthday is the week before Halloween. But, this year, we decided to take her to Disneyland for her birthday instead. The Disneyland trip wont happen for a couple of months yet, so I am starting to feel sentimental for our Halloween party tradition.
I love making fun party food, so I thought I would share some of my favorite ideas with you. Some I have tried, and some I would like to try!
Owl cupcakes - these cupcakes were on the One Charming Party blog. We did them for Georgia's class party last year and they were A-dorable!

The blog post is part of a series they shared of an entire Halloween class party - excellent ideas!

These Owl Smores were shared on the Living Locurto blog. We made these last year for Olivia's party - totally cute.

I haven't made these Witch Hat Cookies yet, but how easy are they? Keebler fudge stripe cookes turned upside down with Hershey's kisses stuck on with orange icing. Maybe I'll make a batch up, just for research sake, you know?!

And, these Strawberry Ghosts! Don't they make you want to giggle?!
Mummy Dogs are always a hit - and so easy! These are shared by Our Best Bites.

Our Best Bites also shared these Nutty Ghosts!

Meet Allison!

2011-10-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Recently, we were fortunate enough to add Allison to our Sweet Funky Vintage crew! She keeps things running smoothly and does a lot of order receiving and shipping of our customer orders.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself? I have been married for 8 years to an amazing man who still gives me butterflies. I am the lucky mom to Reagan, who is 5, and Sam who is 2. I was a teacher for 8 years, but recently took a leave of absence to be home with my kids. Being home is a lot harder than working, but I love every second of it!

2. What do you do when you aren’t working at Sweet Funky Vintage? I'm walking the Breast Cancer 3 Day (my 6th time!) so training for that takes up a lot of time! I love to spend time with my husband, as we don't get that much time together due to his crazy work schedule. I volunteer in Reagan's class as well as teach a class of 2 and 3 year olds at church. My son, Sam, get weekly therapy, so that takes up a lot of my time as well!

3. If you were stranded on a desert island and were allowed one luxury item, what would it be and why? My iPad...I could keep connected, read, play....as long as I could get 3G out there!!!

4. Do you have any phobias? I'm deathly afraid of spiders and snakes.....please, don't even show me a picture...

5. Who inspires you and why? My dad inspires me....he was a single father of 3 for many years, worked his hardest to make us comfortable, encouraged and pushed me when I needed it, and is still my biggest fan. He's honestly the best!!!

6. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? Hmmmmm.....so many......perhaps I'd time travel....in the past and to the future!

7. Can you tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people who know you? Really, do people want to know the answer to this? ;o) Actually...I didn't plan on going to college, I wanted to get out of high school, go to beauty school, and move on with my life. A friend in high school, and my dad, encouraged me to do otherwise. I am the first and only woman in my entire family with a college degree, and the third person from my entire family who has a college degree. So glad I listened to those smart people!

fun facts include……
-(fact about your family)~
I met my husband when we were 16....we dated for about three seconds, but he told his mom that he'd marry me some day....ten years later, we were married!
Neither one of my kids had names until we were pulling into the hospital parking lot...Sam, my 2 year old son, got his name when he was born. They were both early, so we just weren't ready! My 5 year old daughter, Reagan....yes, she's named after the president. Sam got his name from his dad (who's name is Shannon), but his nickname is Sam. Due to the fact that when he was little, he used to run around yelling "Sam I am!!"

-(what you spend most of your time doing)
Ummm...is that "free time?" When I do have that, I love to read, and peruse The Pioneer Woman's website!

-Ferocious reader, when it includes books about Asian culture (such as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) and books with Kings and Queens...love Philippa Gregory!)

Red wine and chocolate makes her weak in the knees....if I said my man, that would be way too cheesy!!!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Garlic Spaghetti Cups

2011-10-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this on other blogs. I know that I have seen it several places. But, in case you haven't, I am going to share it with you here.
It is so incredibly tasty, pretty easy, and the kids LOVE it!

Flaky Garlic Toasted Spaghetti Cups

Garlic Toast Cups

1 refrigerated pie dough (NOT the frozen pie crusts)
1/4 cup olive oil for brushing
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rollout pie dough and cut into 5 inch rounds - you will have to roll out dough scraps to finish up and get 6 circles. Lightly brush each side of the dough rounds with olive oil and sprinkle on garlic salt. Turn a muffin tin upside down and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Carefully press one circle onto each of the upturned muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack.

Spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
26 oz of favorite pasta sauce (homemade or store bought)

Place oil into a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, saute onion and bell pepper until slightly softened, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in beef, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cook until browned and crumbled. Stir in past sauce and reduce heat to low to simmer sauce.

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions.

To assemble - place a toasted up on your plate and use tongs to place a small amount of noodles into the bottom of the crusts. Top with heaping spoonful of pasta sauce. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and basil leaves if desired.

Meet Sydney!

2011-10-17T05:14:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to introduce you to Sydney, our Sweet Funky Vintage Trunk Show Coordinator. She handles the scheduling of our trunk shows and contacting potential hostesses and reps and answers all of their questions. She has been with us for about a year and a half and is a HUGE assett to Sweet Funky Vintage. She is always ready with a kind word, a smile, and possibly even some sweet tea. I love having another Southern girl around!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Sydney Walker and I am originally from Pensacola, Florida. I went to college at the University of South Carolina and graduated with a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education. I am married to a Marine and have two beautiful girls named Grace (7) and Caroline (5). Other than my husband, the only boy in our life is our Labrador Retriever named Maverick (10). We live a crazy life with the Marine Corps, but we wouldn't have it any other way. My girls social calendars far out weigh my own and most of my time is spent encouraging, loving, and raising these two wonderful little girls to be amazing christian women!

2. What do you do when you aren’t working at Sweet Funky Vintage?
I love to run, it's good for the soul and I enjoy working out. I am a Sunday school teacher in my local church and I volunteer in my girl's classrooms.

3. If you were stranded on a desert island and were allowed one luxury item, what would it be and why?
I love Coca-Cola, not Pepsi, but Coke. To me it is a little piece of heaven and most of my friends know that I would rather miss a meal to have it than to drink a diet one!

4. Do you have any phobias?
I totally do not like lizards especially the racing ones with long tails and stripes down their backs. They are too quick for my comfort and I know snakes are close by when they are around. Eww!

5. Who inspires you and why?
My mama is the person that inspires me most. She is a good christian, southern, woman that is not afraid to show people her roots. She was always amazing at balancing her work load while caring for my brother and I. She takes care of those in need and is a kind friend. She has always been encouraging and my number one fan. And for anyone that has ever eaten my mama's food, knows her cooking is hands down the best!!!

6. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Honestly, having a super power is overrated. I think I would prefer to be and have just what God gave me and let him take care of the rest!

7. Can you tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people who know you?
Some surprising facts about me is I have been trained in American Sign Language, I received a softball scholarship out of high school, just to later turn it in for a bigger diamond, given to me by husband ;-) and one day I am going to write a children's book. I love children's literature and I love to write.

Fun Facts:

-Ferocious reader, when it includes ________. I would not consider myself a huge reader, but what I do read is the Bible and children's literature.

-________ makes her weak in the knees.
The thing that makes me most weak in the knees is my husband's smile. He has two large dimples that would knock any girls socks off! Love him!

Favorite Things Friday - Get your craft on with free Halloween printables!

2011-10-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

I love decorating and I love printables - so bring on the free Halloween printables!

These "Treat" letter printables are awesome! Print on glossy photo paper and create something cool like the picture below, or just punch holes and thread with ribbon and make a banner to hang from your mantle!

If you are really feeling crafty, create this beautiful banner! She includes a whole tutorial!

I love, love, love this Halloween version of the keep calm images! Perfecly simple!

If you are going to be throwing a Halloween bash of any kind - your bash will be better with these printable drink labels!

If your neighborhood hasn't caught onto the Boo-ing craze, then what are you waiting for? It is a ton of fun to ding-dong-ditch your neighbors and have them find a special Halloween treat on their doorstep!

These printable gift tags are awesome!

Los Angeles, California

2011-10-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, our blog has been a little quieter lately. Sorry about that. I will try to do better!
We just got back from a whirlwind adventure in Los Angeles at the LA Textile show at the California Market Center. It is our third trip to LA for the textile show. We also did a quick zip through the garment district for some great new knits and some trims that you are going to die for! We cannot wait to show them to you!

(just one corner of one of our favorite fabric haunts - it is a HUGE building filled with fabric)
We finished up the last few purchases for our Spring 2012 line and will be giving you a sneak peek of that very soon. We also purchased some of our Fall 2012 collection and are super excited about the gorgeous fall colors!
We arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday, and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a big bicycle event, and our hotel was right in the middle of the blocked off and re-routed streets. So, what is a girl to do? Why, go shopping, of course!

(Also around the corner from our hotel, there was a film crew filming something. I wonder what it was!)
So, we went to Beverly Hills and hung out at The Grove shopping center. And, who did we spot walking around? Harry Connick, Jr and his daughter, Kate! Sadly I didn't snatch up my iPhone and snap a picture. I was too busy drooling! Jess and I hit the American Girl store and Pottery Barn Kids, Nordstrom, and had a fabulous lunch at The Farm.

I had to take a picture of this. We saw it as we were leaving an underground parking garage. I am famous for using completely accurate and technical terms like "doohickey" and "domaflickey" and "dodah" and "thingamajig". So, I laughed when I saw the ticket taker thingee calling itself a "gobbler"!

We finally made it to our hotel, and naturally, saw another one of those signs we seem to see everywhere in California - telling you that everything in the entire state is known to cause Cancer. Seriously, people?

Typical girls. Do we really need this much stuff for a 2 day trip?

LA Textile is a show at the California Market Center for things related to the Garment industry. It is a lot of fabric and trim manufacturers, but there are color forecasters and all sorts of other companies that serve the Garment industry. We do most of our fabric and trim buying there.

I always laugh at this sign out in front of the Market center. Because, really, what more do you need?

One of our favorite parts of our trips to LA Textile is eating at the little cafe across the street. The food is terrific. However, this time, the service was really slow. We ordered and then about 30 minutes later, we still hadn't received any food. I was so hungry, I was just about to start chewing on my arm! Then, a server stopped by and asked what we had ordered. Turns out, our server never turned in our order! Ugh! But, they very quickly got our food to us, and as usual, it was worth waiting for!

I love this decoration in the restaurant - a lucite divider filled with wire whisks.
We started with fried macaroni and cheese balls (have you tried these from Trader Joe's? They rock!) and chickpea fritters and the very best sweet potato fries ever! We ended with pizettes - small, freshly baked pizzas. Terrific!

chickpea fritter - no longer plural fritters because we ate them before I could snap a picture!

Macaroni and Cheese Balls

Sweet Potato Fries with a Remoulade dipping sauce.

We ended up leaving the city after a very long day right in the middle of rush-hour traffic and there was a full moon! Kind of neat looking!

What's Cookin' Wenesday~ Chicken and Rice Casserole

2011-10-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my first cooking post~ so please forgive me! This is one of my Mom's old standbys for dinner~ one that I now use as a standby too! I think I could do blindfolded... and I practically did this time!

We start with some basic ingredients: chicken, carrots, celery, onion, bell pepper, wild rice, mozzarella cheese, and chicken broth. You'll also need a little bit of olive oil, butter, salt and pepper, and any other seasonings you would like to add! My Mom always used broccoli and cauliflower too, but I don't always have those or add them. You could really use any veggies you liked I'm sure.

First, start your rice~ my Mom always used Uncle Ben's Long grain and Wild rice~ and that's probably still my favorite way! But for this dish, since I wanted it gluten free so my son could eat too, I used the Trader Joe's Basmati Rice Medley instead. I make my rice with chicken broth if I have it handy~ it makes the rice taste a little richer. This time I used two cups of the dry rice, and I ended up with WAY too much rice! So, if you're feeding a standard family of 4 or so, probably one cup of dry rice is enough. Follow the package directions and get that going!

While your rice is cooking, chop up the vegetables (and chicken if you're using raw chicken!). For my dinner, I used the Trader Joe's precooked chicken breast strips. Super easy and then I don't have to mess with the chicken either. But if you're using raw chicken, saute the chicken in olive oil until it's cooked, then remove from your pan. Add a little more olive oil and saute your veggies until they are tender. Not cooked all the way though! Just get them softened up~ about 5 or 10 min.

Hopefully by this time your rice is about done.... so now you take everything and mix it up~ chicken, rice, veggies. Then add in about 8 oz of mozzarella cheese and mix that in too. Salt and pepper to taste. Put this whole concoction in a casserole dish, and bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. The top will get slightly browned. Really, all you need to do is heat it through and melt the cheese.

Voila! That's it! I served ours with fresh asparagus, cucumbers, and pear slices. Although now I see I should've used cantaloup as that would've been prettier on the plate. :-) I'd love to hear if you make this and what you thought!!! Enjoy!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

2011-10-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

Now, it is no surprise to my friends that I love chocolate. And, for a non-chocolate cookie to be at the top of my favorite cookies list, that is quite a feat!
But, last week, I cooked the best cookies for fall ... ever!
I found the recipe online, here.
The pictures accompanying the recipe on this blog made me really want to try these cookies!
So, I went on a hunt for the ingredients, and it turns out that the Alpine apple cider drink mix was a little harder to find than I anticipated. We ended up finding it at World Market (thank you, Sydney!).
My husband picked up the wrong type of caramels, he got chips instead of the big, honkin' caramel squares the recipe called for, but I decided to try them anyway.

First, whisk the dry ingredients together.

Then, cream the butter and sugar and drink mix, and add eggs, one at a time.

Add the vanilla.

Add the flour mixture, slowly, a little at a time.

The result is a fluffy cookie dough.

Darn it! The beater thieves strike again!

I opened the caramel chips and they are more like little balls than chips.

I scooped out a bit of dough, and wrapped it around 4 or 5 of the caramel chips. I don't think this gave me a result that was a caramel-y as the original recipe, but they were darn good!

Here are the cookies on the parchment paper, ready to go into the oven.

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the cookies fresh from the oven, but trust me, they were pretty!

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 ounce) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not sugar free*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line rimless cookie sheets with parchment paper. It has to be parchment this time.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

3. With a standard (size 50) cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooling rack.

You Can Do This - Chair Recovery Part 2

2011-10-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Because I am a complete nutcase sometimes, I decided to re-cover my kitchen chairs and also tackle an antique chair recover project in the last day or so before my husband came home from a 7 month deployment. All while I have three children under the age of 8 running around, and because that is no big deal, I was also baking homemade bread at the same time. It is a real wonder the men with the white jackets didn't come and take me away to a padded room somewhere!

My Mom gave me this really neat upholstered antique rocking chair. The chair was really neat and had a lot of character, but the upholstery wasn't so neat! I have been wanting to give it a makeover for awhile now, but the only thing I knew about upholstery is that it is fairly expensive to pay someone to do for you!

I decided to try to give it a mini-makeover. It really needs a complete overhaul, but just putting some new fabric over the existing upholstery was all I felt confident to handle on my own. I know that the chair really needs more attention because the undercarriage of the chair is in a little tough shape, and it sheds little straw fiber-y stuff from time to time.

I purchased the new fabric from Joann Fabrics and also purchased some cotton cording trim to use that I didn't end up using.

I looked over the current upholstery situation, and tugged at a loose section of the back and saw some really rusty upholstery tacks. Pretty sure I didn't want to do anything with those, so I just put it back the way it was and tried to figure out the quick and dirty method.

Being a complete novice at this re-covering a chair thing, I totally thought I could do this with a staple gun and a glue gun. And, guess what? It totally worked!

First, I draped the fabric on the chair to see how I would want the pattern to look.

Then I trimmed around the edges, leaving lots of extra to work with.

To cover the seat back cushion, I pulled the fabric around to the back and liberally applied hot glue to keep the fabric in place. It is important to pull snugly, but not so tight as to stretch the fabric.

I clipped and tucked the fabric around the wooden arm of the chair, and it turned out really nicely. I just took a small section and worked it and then kept working around. I tried to take my time and not rush through.

I measured and cut a piece for the back panel, to cover the fabric that was pulled around from the front, making sure to cut a larger piece than I needed to be sure to have enough to fold the rough edges under.

Here is the back cushion all done. Now, to move on to the seat cushion!

Figuring that the seat cushion would be under the most stress, I wanted to secure the fabric a little better than just with glue. So, I used the staple gun here. The process was very similar to when I did my kitchen chairs, only the seat isn't removable from the wooden frame. So, I worked around the frame on the seat just as I had for the back.
I laid out the fabric to determine pattern placement, and cut around it leaving a generous amount to attach to the chair.
I stapled to the wooden frame beneath the chair seat.

Ta Da! What do you think?

I am pretty tickled with the results!

Hair We Are~ Ready for a Giveaway too?

2011-10-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to do a product review~ Pantene Medium-Thick Hair Solutions. I tried this for the first time this morning, and got a compliment from another Mom when dropping off my kids at school, so it must work! :-)

It's super easy to use~ comes in a package with 5 little tubes~ you put it on like conditioner, and leave it in for 5 minutes to really soak in. Then, rinse! Easy-peasy!

So, according to the Pantene website, these "Professional Level Damage Repair ampoules penetrate deep to strengthen dry hair against damage and to prevent breakage. Hair is left silky, smooth, and protected against future damage." It definitely made a difference in my hair just with one treatment~ but I'm going to follow their instructions and use the other ones at a 2-3 day interval and see how much more it can help!

SOOOO, if you'll post a comment, we'll choose a winner to receive a free package of 5 ampoules to try for yourself! I'd love to hear what other people think about this too!!!

Photography Love - Kimberly Van Sistine

2011-10-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

We love our photographers! We have worked with Kimberly Van Sistine of Kimberly V Photography for several seasons now and her photographs are always so terrific!
Here are a few of her shots from this season:

Shown are our Molly Tee in Brown Dumb Dot and Chloe Skirt in Brighton Blossoms and Brown Dumb Dot.

On Kimberly is our new Mom Tunic Blouse - the Claire - in Brighton Blossoms.

On the young man we have our Chris Bowling Shirt in Bark Park, and our Jack Cargo Pant in Brown Corduroy. He has also put on our Patrick Tie in Rockabilly.

You can do it yourself - recover kitchen chairs!

2011-09-29T03:11:00.000-07:00

(My kitchen chair before I started)

One of the absolute easiest ways to give your kitchen or dining room a fresh new look is by recovering your chair seats.
I like to have a little different style every so often, but that isn't the main reason that I recover my chairs. I have small children. Three of them. And when they eat, they don't always use utensils. And, they seldom use napkins. But, it isn't unusual for them to wipe their grubby little hands on their chair seats. Sigh.
My chairs get Funky. And, I'm not talkin' Sweet Funky, I'm talkin' ICK!
So, once every 8 or 9 months, I recover my kitchen chairs. And, for a little while, they are perfect and pretty. And then for the next few months, they gradually get funky, until we start the cycle all over again.
The good news is that it is easy!
This time, I decided to do a little something different... zebra. And, I am lovin' it!

How much fabric you need will, of course, be determined by how big your chair seats are and how many chairs you have. I have 6 chairs. Home decorator fabric measures around 54" wide, and is purchased by the yard (or portion thereof). So, you are working with something that is approximately 54" wide and then you determine how many yards you need to buy.

I was able to get 4 chairs per yard and have a little leftover to make a pillow out of. That I am hoping I get around to completing before I turn 80.

The next step is to gather your tools. I use a screwdriver, one that I can change out the tip of, because during a recent recovery of my chairs, I replaced some of the screws that had been lost. And, in my infinite wisdom, I mixed up flat head and phillips head screws (those are the ones with the cute little plus sign). I use a hammer, a staple gun, spare staples, a cordless drill (I love the whole power tool thing - it makes me feel so "Tim the tool man"), and a good pair of shears for cutting the fabric.

Turn your chair upside down and use your drill or screwdriver to remove the screws holding the seat cushion to the chair.

I always get a good giggle out of the California safety labels. If you live in California, or have visited here, you will know that according to the signs you see EVERYWHERE, everything in California is known to cause cancer.

Lay your fabric on your work surface, right side down, and place your chair cushion on top of it, wrong side up. You will need your fabric to have enough around the edge of the cushion to fold it up and around, several inches. So, if you are that kind of girl, measure it. If you are like me, just eyeball it and trim around the seat cushion.

The next step is to break out the staple gun and get to staplin'! Start on one edge, and fold up the fabric and staple it in place on the underside of your chair cushion. Pull it snugly, but not too tight. Next, take the opposite edge and repeat. Then do the remaining two edges.

Repeat as many times as you have chairs. Reattach your seat cushion to your chair and you are done!

Don't they look better?! I got all excited with re-covering my chairs that I decided to tackle an antique rocking chair I have too. I will share it next week. Wait until you see it!!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Banana Blueberry Pancakes

2011-09-28T03:18:00.000-07:00

My girls woke up and asked for Banana Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast. I thought to the kitchen where I knew I had some bananas turning funky and a HUGE container of blueberries that were on sale at Trader Joe's last week. Perfect, I thought!
So, off to google I went and discovered a recipe, courtesy of Taste of Home.

Amazingly, I had all the ingredients and didn't have to do any last minute substitutions. Almost all of the ingredients are totally staples, but I was a little worried I wouldn't have the whole wheat flour on hand. As it turns out, I did.

First, mix up the dry ingredients.

Then, mix up the wet ingredients.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until just moistened. Remember, pancake batter is supposed to be lumpy.

I heated up my griddle and sprayed it with some non-stick spray. I cook with the same cookware I received as wedding gifts (just shy of 15 years ago). They are the Pots and Pans line from Calphalon. After a quick search online, it doesn't appear that Calphalon produces it anymore. Sad. I want to say that the set was a 10 piece set and was a few hundred dollars. They are fantastic to cook with. I love them. What is different about them is that the inside bottom surface of the pots and pans have little bumps on them. I am not sure what the exact purpose of the bumps is, but I can tell you that when I was a newlywed, I scorched a pot roast. Really scorched it. I stuck a fork in it and the whole thing pulled right out and the pan looked totally clean. No burned on, stuck on mess at all. I have to believe the bumps had something to do with that!

I used a ladle to measure out the pancake batter onto the griddle and placed a few blueberries on each one.

When they start to bubble, flip them over.

I will post more about my girls' plates in an upcoming Favorite Things Friday feature. But, here is a sneak peak.

Here are the pancakes served up - I sliced some banana and threw a few more blueberries on top and then poured syrup over.

Wow. All I can say is Wow. These pancakes were so easy to make and tasted restaurant good. The next time I have overnight guests, I am totally making these.
Unbelievably. Good. Delicious!

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups fat-free milk
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Maple syrup, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, bananas and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with blueberries. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with syrup if desired. Yield: 14 pancakes.

You like us! You really like us!!

2011-09-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Whew! Where did the last week or so go? Oh, that's right, I remember now. We were on Zulily! Did you see us? ;)
It was awesome! We worked our little fingers to the bone to get ready for our Zulily event. We were scheduled to have our 3 day event start on Wednesday morning, 9/21 at 6am (crazy early here on the West Coast, but that is how they always start their events) and end Saturday morning at 6am. We sold like crazy and were basically sold out by mid afternoon. So, our event only lasted that one day. Whew!
You like us, you really like us!!! (can you hear Sally Field's Oscar speech voice here??)
We are so very delighted and blessed by all of our customers and new fans from our even on Zulily. Thank you all!!

We have shipped all of the garments that sold to Zulily. So, they should be in your hot little hands very soon! If for any reason, you aren't completely satisfied with your purchase (this goes for all sales, not just Zulily) please get in touch with us. We will work with you to make sure that you are happy!
We are already working on planning out another Zulily event and will keep you posted!!
In the meantime, if you are a trunk show customer, you know that we always include a little treasure in with your orders. This season it is a vintage key. Attached to the key is a lucky number.
This week, I am going to draw two numbers. If you have the winning number, please email me asap so I can make arrangements to send you a little special Sweet Funky treat!

If you have # 59 or # 103 - you are this week's lucky winner!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Oven Chicken and Orzo

2011-09-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Saw this recipe from Southern Living - Oven Chicken Risotto - and the picture looked amazing. So, I jotted down the ingredients and grabbed them from the grocery store and my pantry.

However, when I was at the grocery store, I remembered how much I like orzo and wondered if I could substitute it, so I grabbed a box of orzo instead of the rice the recipe called for.
I used my favorite new Trader Joe's sliced chicken breast again and mixed up water and chicken bullion cubes for the broth called for.

I preheated my oven to 400 degrees, and put the butter in the baking dish and stuck it in the oven while it was preheating, to save time. The butter was melted by the time the oven was preheated.

Meanwhile, I chopped my onion.

I chopped my chicken.

And snuggled my chicken up next to the fresh mozarella I cubed in a bowl awaiting their turn in the recipe!

I mixed the orzo and chicken broth and onion in with the melted butter and put it in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes. Look how yummy it looks when it comes out!

Mix in everything else, and toss the basil on top!

Here it is just before I gobbled it all up! :)

Favorite Things Friday - Keurig and Kindle

2011-09-16T02:51:00.000-07:00

Are you a coffee drinker? How about tea? Hot Chocolate? You can make all of those drinks in a Keurig.
I have had a Keurig for a couple of years now and I really, really love it! I bought it as a gift for my husband, but it turned out to be a great purchase that I have really enjoyed as well!
I used to be a Starbucks junkie. I was a peppermint mocha addict. But, once we got a Keurig and I discovered Coffeemate peppermint mocha creamer at the grocery store, Starbucks doesn't get as much of my money any more!
Keurig coffee systems vary in price depending on the model. Watch store advertisements and you can get a pretty good price reductions at times!
The Keurig makes one cup at a time, so you always have a fresh, hot cup of coffee (or tea or cocoa) right with the touch of a button! I purchase my K-cups from Amazon.com, with free shipping and they run about $.50 per cup. However, there are re-usable filters you can purchase for your Keurig that cost around $14 that allow you to use your favorite coffee with and it brings your per cup cost even lower.
Right now on Amazon.com, the Keurig brewing systems start at $105. I have to tell that it will be the best hundred bucks you have spent lately!

In our household, we are big Kindle fans! My Dad got one a couple of years ago, and he liked it so much, I thought it would be a great gift for my husband, so I got him one. Then, last year, my 8 year old, Georgia decided she would like to save up her birthday money and purchase one. It has been a great thing for her! She is an avid reader and has really loved being able to read on her kindle. It is super portable and convenient. And, one of the coolest features she discovered is that many books have a feature that the kindle reads words to her if she has trouble pronouncing/understanding them. There are different free games available on the kindle as well. When I got an iPad last year, I downloaded the kindle app and use it to read books on my iPad and I love that! And now that I have joined the iPhone movement, I use the kindle app on it too. I can read a book on my phone, and then when I pick up my iPad to read the book at a later time, it automatically syncs up and finds just where I left off! And, because my husband and I are registered on the same account, we can share books. A few months ago, Amazon announced, "Eligible Kindle books can be loaned once for a period of 14 days. The borrower does not need to own a Kindle -- Kindle books can also be read using rhe free Kindle reading applications for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices. Not all books are lendable -- it is up to the publisher or rights holder to determine which titles are eligible for lending. The lender will not be able to read the book during the loan period." - sooooo cool!
Kindles are an Amazon product and start at $114.

Highlight on Atelier Joie! Love the paper~

2011-09-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, you KNOW how much of a paper-thing I have.... I love paper products.... and office supplies.... and paper....

So today I want to share the loveliest journals and hand-made paper products. These are made by a friend of mine, Timmery Clark. Not only does she make these wonderful journals and cards, but she' a beautiful person too! Take a few minutes and visit her etsy shop, and I'm sure you will fall in love with these like I have!

She pours such thought and care into each and every page~ there are beautiful quotes throughout, and plenty of room for your own thoughts. They're hand stitched/bound~ incredible workmanship! I don't think I've seen two alike~ they're all unique! I've given several of these as gifts, and they've been loved each and every time!

She's also done some custom projects for people~ Bible Study journals (specifically a Eucharisteo journal for a friend who read the 1000 gifts), as well as a guest register for an Art Gallery show. So if you need a specialty item, she's the person to talk to!

Like her on facebook

All of these beautiful product photos were taken by Side By Side Photography. Thank you!

I hope you get a chance to see one of these beauties in person~ Lovely!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Crockpot BBQ Chicken

2011-09-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe is another that I ran across on pinterest, that came from this blog.

First, I gathered my ingredients. I didn't have exactly what the original recipe called for, so I tweaked it. Pay no attention to that bottle of wine you see there - that's for later! ;) I didn't have the red pepper flakes that the recipe originally called for, so I used a little Old Bay seasoning. I love Old Bay, it makes just about anything a little bit better!

I am only cooking for myself and three little girls tonight, so I only used a small package of chicken breasts (2), that I cut into 4 hunks.

I mixed up all the ingredients in a bowl. I poured out the entire bottle of the barbeque sauce, and then measured out the vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) into the bottle and swished it around to get out all of the bbq sauce.

And then poured it over the chicken in the crockpot to make sure it was all covered up. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Crock Pot Barbeque Chicken

4-6 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can even throw them in frozen)
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 c. vinegar
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix BBQ sauce with all ingredients. Pour sauce over the chicken and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.

Photography Love - Maggie Phillips - Bliss Photography

2011-09-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

We consider ourselves so incredibly blessed to know and work with the uber-talented photographer, Maggie Phillips of Bliss Photography in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Here are some recent pictures she took for us!

Military Homecoming - Sprucewood Style

2011-09-12T03:52:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, we had the best military move we have ever had. We moved to California, to Sprucewood Lane and met our new "family". With our California family, we have now weathered the last two of Chris's deployments. The most recent deployment was 7 months aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and he arrived home last week. The girls and I miss him terribly when he is away and are so happy to have him home. Our "Sprucewood Family" all came to the air station to welcome him home when his squadron's jets flew back to base from the ship. There were seven families, and 16 children!
I created a little slideshow to share the wonderful pictures that our friend, Allison, took of the homecoming reunion.
Grab a tissue and share our joy!

This slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Meet the Lane Family! We Remember....

2011-09-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

I thought it'd be nice to introduce my family, since I'm relatively new here! I thought most of you "know" Missy and her family already since she's the main blogger and "face" here, so here's my family~ We are Greg, Jessica, Thomas and Anna Lane!

Since today is the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, 2001, I figured that's a good place to start. On that day, I was pregnant with my oldest~ Thomas. It's really hard to belive that it's been 10 years~ I remember that morning so clearly, and the pain and horror watching everything on TV. My husband (Greg) is from New Jersey, and has lots of family in New York... I had friends living and working in the business district... I had friends working in the Pentagon. As the initial disbelief in what I was seeing wore off, I started emailing and calling. My friends ended up being ok, but my husband lost a cousin ~ he was a firefighter and was in one of the towers. Robert "Bobby" Lane~ Engine 55. He was a true hero, as were so many people that day! We will not forget!

So, Thomas was born about 4 months after Sep 11th...Greg was deployed, but made it home for the birth and got to stay for a few days after~ yeah! Thomas is 9 now, and in 4th grade this year. He's a voracious reader and very bright. He's active in Boy Scouts and occasionally sports (Soccer, baseball, hiking). We found out he has Celiac's about 2 years ago, so it's been an adjustment for us. I will try to post some gluten-free recipes some time if there's an interest! But Thomas keeps us on our toes with his insight and wit.

Anna is in 2nd grade this year~ loving every minute! She's very social and artistic, and loves to watch HG TV with us. :-) It makes me smile. She keeps us busy with her playdates and social calendar, as well as Girl Scouts, and occasional sports too.

My husband, Greg, is a Marine Helicopter pilot~ He flies the great big CH-53s~ they can move mountains. ;-) We've known each other for over 20 years now, and there are still days I catch myself thinking of the first time we met, and how young we were! He is probably the only person who could put up with me and my idiosyncracies! He's an incredible person and truly my friend and love.

And this is me! I was very excited to join SFV this year, and hope to follow in Liz's footsteps and maybe make a few of my own! It's been an incredible experience so far! I'm going to try and be a more active poster~ But at least now you'll know who I am! :-)

Favorite Things Friday - Lands End and Saltwater Sandals

2011-09-09T03:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this Friday's "Favorite Things Friday" post!

I heart Lands End. Their quality is excellent, prices are great, and looks can be made trendy and hip or conservative and classy.

I have purchased my girls' swim suits from Lands End for the last couple of summers now. They hold up so well. The Target suits we got lost all of their elasticity. The mini Boden suits we got faded and pilled. Lands End suits can be worn summer after summer, and when one girl outgrows their suit, we just pass them down!

Lands End used to be only a catalog company, and you could shop from their website. Although, I did run across a Lands End boutique in an airport in Minneapolis that was totally fun to shop in! A couple of years ago, Lands End partnered up with Sears. So, you can find some Lands End merchandise in your local Sears. I have found that they don't always have a great selection, though, and I was almost always better off just shopping the catalog and online. But, a few months ago, I ran across a higher-end Sears store in a neighboring community. A really large section of the store was devoted to Lands End - women's, men's and children. Jackpot! I had already purchased my summer swim suit and the suits for the girls. But, I had been eyeing additional suits and I was lucky to find they were all on sale. I scored big time, by purchasing suits, and dresses for all of us for Daddy's return from deployment (more on that later).
Now, I am not gushing about Lands End because I am compensated in some way (I wish!). They don't know who I am, other than just another customer.
But with the quality and value I have experienced, I will keep coming back!
I am making my wish list for some new fall fashions...

Love this look!

And here is a great fall kid's look- layering fun!

I also heart Saltwater Sandals (by Hoy Shoes). I was introduced to them by my good friend, Liz, several years ago. Her daughter, Lily, passed down a pair of saltwater sandals to my Georgia. I was amazed that they had a pair of white sandals to pass down. Our sandals get pretty worn in a single season of wear, especially the white ones!
I wasn't familiar with Saltwater Sandals and the fact that they are great to get wet. A nice looking sandal that can get wet? HUH? As a matter of fact, they encourage it! Whoa Nellie! And they won't get that funky, wet shoe smell? Nope. Not even a little bit. And, they come in fabulous colors!

Buy some of these sandals for your kids, you won't regret it!
The first pairs we purchased for all of the girls, we bought at Nordstrom. I wanted to try them on and make sure to get a good fit for each kid. We bought silver - they go with everything!!!

The next time, we just ordered the sandals from Zappos.

I love that they have both of these styles too - they remind me of the Bernardos sandals I wore through my childhood!

You can do it yourself! Laundry Basket Shelf

2011-09-08T02:36:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I saw this picture on Pinterest and thought, "Hey, I could really use something like that!"
Not too long ago, I bought 4 matching laundry baskets for clean, folded clothes to go in to be carried upstairs to the appropriate bedroom to be put away. HA! What happened was the baskets would be filled to over-flowing and plopped down in some conspicuous location and then when someone needed some article of clean clothing, the clothes would be dumped out all over the floor until said article was found. So much for neatly folded clothes!
So, when I saw this unit, my thoughts turned quickly to, "Where in the heck would I put it?" and when I answered that question, I set about figuring out how to make it!
Luckily, my father-in-law came to visit around that time, and he let me drag him to Home Depot and talk him into building it for me! Score!
We purchased the wood panels for the top, bottom, back and each side, wood for the shelf brackets, and molding for the sides and a little bit larger molding for the top edge.

Of course, my shelf had to be pink. And, I decided to go with one shelf instead of two, separate, stacking units as in the original idea. And, as we were wandering around Home Depot, I suggested that maybe a little decorative molding would make my shelf look a little more "furniture-y" (that is totally a word) and a little less utilitarian.

Since I knew that my girls would be using the shelf alot, and was a little worried about the sharp edges of metal shelf supports, my father-in-law suggested using wood supports instead. Perfect solution!

I spray painted the unit pink - I love spray painting!
On each of those matching laundry baskets I bought, I tied cute little luggage tags that I made for each person (my husband and I share a basket, since our clothes get put away sooner, we didn't need as much space.)

I would have loved to have gotten a picture of the shelf with nice empty laundry baskets, but that wouldn't be real life now would it? ;)

Bottom line, I love this thing. I wish I had it a long time ago. If laundry is something that is a problem for you, hurry to Home Depot and go get your handyman groove on!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Chicken Broccoli Braid

2011-09-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Today, I am sharing my recent cooking of Chicken Broccoli Braid. I was first introduced to this recipe by a Pampered Chef consultant many years ago. She demonstrated the cooking of this recipe and used 1,001 different Pampered Chef utensils and tools that I neither own, nor are necessary for the preparation of this recipe. She was fun to watch though, and I would like to say thank you to you, Pampered Chef consultant, wherever you are for introducing me to the wonders and joys of cooking on stoneware. I love it to this day!
If I recall, her version included chopped red bell pepper, which made a pretty and yummy addition.

I decided to cook this after not making it in a very long time, because I was reminded of it by seeing it on this blog. But, also because I happened to have all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Always a bonus!

I found this on my last trip to Trader Joe's. I have put it in my girl's lunches and it came in handy for this recipe!

Okay, I guess I have to thank my Pampered Chef consultant for one more thing... introducing me to this microwave steamer. I love it. I use it all the time!

I chopped up the chicken and the broccoli and tossed them into a bowl.

Next, I grated some cheese with another of my favorite kitchen tools. This Microplane brand box grater is the best! One side slides out for easy cleaning. Best invention ever.

I tossed in some mayo. The recipe calls for light mayo, but I don't keep that in the house. I would have loved to use Duke's Mayo (a staple of a Southern kitchen), but I haven't found that in San Diego grocery stores.

Meanwhile, place the crescent roll dough on a baking stone or baking sheet. I halved the recipe, so I put my dough down in a long line. Normally, you would have twice as much dough, so it would go side by side instead.

Cut the edges of the dough into strips. I use a pizza cutter - makes it very easy.

Spread the filling down the center of the dough, and criss-cross the strips over the top of the filling.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 28 minutes.

Yummy!

2 cans Pillsbury Original Crescent Rolls
2 cups chicken chunks, cooked
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups broccoli, steamed and chopped
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 egg
fresh rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. On a baking sheet or stone, spread both cans of crescent dough length wis to form a long rectangle.
3. Press each of the seams to form a single layer of dough.
4. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cheese, broccoli, and mayo.
5. Spread mixture over the center of the croissant dough evenly, down the middle.
6. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut horizontal strips 1 inch apart down each side of the crescent dough.
7. Fold the dough strips over the top of the chicken mixture, alternating each side to create the braid look.
8. Brush the top of the braid with the beaten egg and sprinkle fresh rosemary on top.
9. Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

Great Free Printables for the Family

2011-09-06T02:08:00.000-07:00

We love printables. They can help you throw a great party, take a great picture, decorate your home - they have all sorts of fun purposes!
Every time I run across a great printable online, I bookmark it and save it for later. I thought I would share a few with you!

Babysitting Certificate - want to give a gift that a new Mom will really appreciate? Heck, any old Mom would really appreciate it too!!

You can find this one at Crafty Jenny.

Love these snack labels from Living Locurto! Check out the entire free printable section of her website and be sure to sign up for her email newsletter and you will receive a few other great free printables.

We used some lips and mustaches for a photo booth at a recent party, and it was awesome - so fun to see kids and adults alike goofing off with them. Just print them out and tape them to wood skewers!

Lips & Mustaches from Living Locurto

I used these printables for a neighborhood holiday cookie exchange last Christmas. They were too cute!

Cookie Swap party printables from Living Locurto

I found lots of great printables at SissyPrint, including these awesome bookmarks!

Another great printable from Sissyprint - Toy Room Organization Labels.

I love, love, love Blonde Designs blog, and have been a reader for awhile. I have used some of their designs as inspiration for some of my girls' birthday parties.
With Halloween right around the corner, their Boo Poem and Tag printable will really come in handy!

I used these "Witches Brew" water bottle labels for Olivia's birthday Halloween party last year.

How handy is this menu planner from The project Girl?

Be sure to check out some of the Project Girl's other printables too - like the Birthday Planning Calendar.

I am so planning to use these Thanksgiving placecards!

One of my favorite party people - Paper + Cake - has these beautiful holiday labels. Use the front alone for a gift tag, and use it with the backside to give a great Holiday gift of Cocoa.

I love these recipe cards from Oh the Loveliest Things. How perfect are these tied to a gift of homemade bread or brownies or cookies?

Enjoy these printables and I will share more soon! Smooches!

We have extended the deadline for our Hallmark Cards giveaway! Enter now!

Photographer Love - Jennie Helmuth

2011-09-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the little bloggy break over the weekend, I was busy working on a few projects around the house that I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

I want to share with you how much we love one of our photographers, Jennie Helmuth, of Helmuth Photography in Grayson/Lilburn, Georgia. Her pictures are always fabulous! Her work has been featured on the cover of our last two catalogs too! (Want a catalog? Email us!)

Favorite Things Friday - Olliegraphic and Funky Vintage Lovely

2011-09-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's Friday! Time for some super cute favorite things!
This week I want to share the ca-utest personalized items from Olliegraphic. I can't remember where I ran across them originally, but immediately fell in love. I ordered some printable stationery for the girls and personalized plates for them for Christmas. They are melamine and have held up beautifully! We use them all the time and run them through the dishwasher.

Not too long ago, they started making the most adorable pillows - EVER. I really want to get these for the girls for Christmas this year.

How cute are these???

Whatever product you choose, you get to plan out just the right look to match your little one by selecting from the hair, skin, and eye choices.

She doesn't keep up with her blog anymore, but you can follow her facebook page for updates on new things. But, on her blog, you can find these great free printable Christmas cards.

Going to new craft markets has opened my eyes to many new and beautiful vendors! I'm sure my husband would rather we didn't roam around when we go to set up, but it has to be done.

One of my favorites that we found at the Queen Bee Market is Funky Vintage Lovely. April is the owner and always creates such a beautiful booth! LOVE her doors and her setup, and her frames are gorgeous. Missy had gotten a recipe frame in fuschia at the Queen Bee show in May, and I've been drooling over it since then. So when we went back in August, we went by April's booth to see what she had, and I fell in LOVE with this beauty!

The market hadn't even opened yet and April was kind enough to tag it "sold" for me. YEAH! Super sweet of her, especially as I didn't come by to pick it up until the very very last possible second! OOPS! But I was so happy with that purchase, I immediately brought it home and showed my husband... then hung it up. The kids think it is fabulous, with Anna loving to write on it whenever I'll let her. I really wanted it to be a motivational or inspirational spot for our family. I need to get a book of uplifting quotes to draw from. So far, our friend Timmery has been keeping it stocked with quotes! Thanks Timmery!

But back to Funky Vintage Lovely~ April has not only a beautiful sense of style, but also a touching story to share. Her blog is inspirational and very personal. I love it!

(I had to pop into Jessica's part of the Favorite Things Friday post to share pictures of my 2 items!)
This frame I purchased from April and Jessica's husband added the chicken wire for me to use it as a clipboard.

And here is the famous fuschia recipe card holder. I didn't realize it was a chalkboard too until I saw April at the last Queen Bee Market!

September's Customer Special - Molly Tee

2011-09-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

(click the picture to make it larger!)

Welcome to September! Our Customer Special this month is going to be a great way to add coordinates to your Sweet Funky Vintage wardrobe!
With your $30 purchase at a Sweet Funky Vintage trunk show*, add a Molly tee in your choice of fabric for 30% off. That makes the short sleeve tee $19.60 and the long sleeve tee $22.40 (reg $28 and $32).

*If you aren't able to attend a trunk show, order online and enter your local hostess's name at checkout!

First Day of School - 2011

2011-08-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

I know that school started last week, but I am finally posting the first day of school pictures!
I made this dress for Georgia for the first day of Kindergarten. I suggested that she might want to go ahead and pass this down to Olivia now, but she insisted on wearing it one more time!

Olivia is excited to have a wonderful teacher this year for Kindergarten, who happens to be the same teacher Georgia had and one of our neighbors!

Olivia and Georgia

Sophia insisted on jumping in on the pictures too!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Pretzel Bites

2011-08-31T05:28:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest and it originated from the blog, Fake Ginger.
So, I decided to give it a try...

Don't you love my flour canister? I bought the can at Ikea, and then added vinyl lettering and a scoop from The Container Store. Last year, my new year's resolution was to learn to bake good bread. Check. This year, my new year's resolution was to lose the extra weight I gained from all that good bread. No check :( But, I have a couple of months left of this year! ;)

I gathered the ingredients and got to work. Okay, so I had to go across the street and borrow some flour from my neighbor, Allison, because I was almost out! But, after that, I got to work.

I got out my kitchen aide (love it!) stand mixer and attached the dough hook.

My trusty assistants put on some music and began to dance. However, note that dancing is not required for the success of the recipe!

Here is what the dough looked like after it is mixed up and ready to rise.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise.

Whoa, Nelly. It rose!

Prepare your baking sheets. I only have one baking sheet because I always use my pampered chef baking stone for baking. So, I prepared them both. (note - I couldn't tell any difference in the results from either one)

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees and put your pot of water on to boil. Now, the original recipe wasn't very specific about when you add the baking soda - before or after the water boils. It might not have been specific because she assumed everyone would know what would happen if you let your water boil first.

I did not know exactly what kind of chemical reaction would happen when you add baking soda to boiling water. I do now. Oh boy, do I ever.

Holy Baking Soda Mess! I had something of a geyser going on in my kitchen, and had a huge mess to clean up. I am not totally sure that my gas stove igniter is going to work again. ever. My advice to you is to be sure and put your baking soda in with the water and let them boil together. I kept thinking that I bet this has never happened to The Pioneer Woman and I guess I have blown my chance at having my own show on the Food Network!!

Next, divide the dough into 8 pieces. This is a very elastic dough, so it isn't necessary to flour your surface for this part.

Roll out your dough into a strip that is approximately 22 inches long. I did not get out a ruler, just eyeball it!

Now, you need to cut your strip into approximately one inch long pieces. I used a pair of kitchen shears to make this super quick.

You will end up with a TON of pieces. I don't know the exact yield of this recipe, because as soon as they came out of the oven, we started to eat them!

After I cleaned up the HUGE mess and started a new pot of boiling water, I got back to cooking. I placed the dough pieces into the boiling water about a dozen at a time, for about 30 seconds.

Using a big slotted spoon, I removed the dough pieces and placed them on my baking stone/sheet, making sure they didn't touch. I brushed each piece with an egg wash, and liberally sprinkled them with salt.

Here they are, ready to go into the oven. They bake for about 15 minutes.

And, here they are, out of the oven. They turn a really wonderful golden brown.

I put aside a dozen for my neighbor who donated the flour!

And the rest, I am having to hide so the children don't eat them all!

Verdict: YUMMO! with a double Yum!

Pretzel Bites

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled just slightly
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
coarse sea salt

On low speed, mix the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and 4 1/2 cups of the flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray (or oil with vegetable oil), add the dough and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Spray two baking sheets liberally with cooking spray.

Bring the water and the baking soda to a boil over high heat.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring about 22 inches. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches of about 10-15 for 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon and place the pretzel bites on the prepared baking sheets, making sure they aren’t touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove to a cooling rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. (I can promise you that other than burning your mouth, there is no penalty for not waiting the full 5 minutes)

The Nitty Gritty about Twitter

2011-08-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

Do you have a smart phone that is smarter than you are? Have you been wondering what the deal is with twitter? Well, I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I put together some basics to share with you.

I think twitter boils down to this - say something interesting or funny or informational in 140 characters or less.

@sweetfunkyvint - is my twitter account - so obviously the @ symbol preceds someones account name. Often, people will tweet and use several different people's accounts, because you can sort your twitter feed to show only those tweets that mention you. So, if you want to be sure that someone very specific (whether they follow you or not) sees your tweet, you want to address them in the tweet to increase the chances they see it.
For example, if I have had bad or good customer service from a company, I may tweet about it and refer to them with their twitter account name in the tweet to be sure they (their marketing dept) sees it.
I got several hundred dollars in compensation from Delta one time by starting a conversation with them by tweeting - after a particularly crappy flight experience. Companies are paying attention. I tweeted during blogher about the keynote speaker - the CEO of Pepsico - and their marketing dept tweeted back with me a couple of times.

So, besides the @ symbol, you also need to be familiar with the # symbol - which with regards to twitter is called a hashtag. On twitter, there are topics that many people are talking about and those are called trending topics. Right now, a couple of trending topics are The Help and #replacemovienameswithbacon.
So, as you can tell, some trending topics are kind of rediculous, but literally thousands of people are tweeting about it to make it a trending topic. Weird huh?

On your twitter page, you will see some tabs. The first (default) tab is the timeline. You will see the tweets of people you follow. Likewise, your tweets only show up on the twitter feeds of those who follow you. The more people you follow, the more crowded your twitter feed gets. Some of these tweets will be interesting, and some will be crap, or advertising. I try not to tweet business/advertising stuff very often, because if other people feel about it like I feel about it, it is largely ignored.
The next tab over is called @mentions - this is where you can see those tweets that use your twitter handle (@yourname) in them. A retweet is just what it sounds like. You can choose to retweet a tweet you read that you agree with, or want your followers to see as well, and it will be posted again, by you, to those who follow you. So, the next column/tab allows you to see those tweets you retweet, or those you originally tweeted, that others retweeted.
I can't tell you much about lists. But, as I understand it, you can organize those that you follow into categories. Which, can obviously come in handy when you have a bunch of people you follow.
So, how do you get followers? You tweet. And, you follow people. Often, people will follow you if you follow them. They get an email notification when someone new follows them (as do you), and they may choose to follow in return - many do.
When you see tweets of someone you think is interesting, follow them. You can always unfollow later. And, they don't get notification if you unfollow them later.
A quick way to find new people to follow is to look through the list of followers of people you follow and see who you might also like to follow. It isn't like facebook where you don't want to friend your friend's friends cause that's weird. Here, it is totally acceptable! My recommendation to you is to find your friends' twitter names and follow them, and then start following people you find that you like. Twitter will even make some suggestions for you to find new people to follow.

Do you have any specific questions about twitter that I can answer?

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

Life is a Special Occasion!

2011-08-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

As you know, Jessica and I attended the BlogHer convention here in San Diego a few weeks ago. What an amazing day it was. We went to network and learn more about blogging and how it can benefit our business, Sweet Funky Vintage. We attended some awesome seminars and the expo hall was nothing short of amazingly fun!
One of the booths we stopped by was the Hallmark booth. They were promoting a recent initiative, "Life is a Special Occasion". We were invited to take a t-shirt and complete the sentence ... is a special occasion and have our photo taken. Everyone filled the booth with a collage of their sentences - so very cool.

About this new campaign, Hallmark says, "In early 2011, Hallmark introduced a new campaign called “Life Is a Special Occasion.” This is more than a tagline — it’s a call for all of us to push the pause button on the blur of daily life, and think about the beauty of unplanned, perfectly imperfect moments shared with loved ones. Hallmark recognizes these little ‘us’ moments are what make life truly meaningful."

I don't know about you, but I really love this. I love to give cards for no reason other than it made me laugh really hard. And, I love to receive a sweet note from an old friend on a day when I really, really need it. I know that I feel sometimes that I am rushing through life. We always have something scheduled, somewhere we are rushing off to (late it seems) and we are always in a hurry. I really like the idea of taking a break from the rush and the hurry to stop and enjoy each other.

Let's face it, when it comes to greeting cards, nobody says it better than Hallmark.
I encourage you to "like" Hallmark on facebook. They share upbeat messages like today's "When life gets overwhelming, just remember: Somewhere in this great big world of ours is a dog in a funny costume."

Some new things Hallmark has in stores an online are some really neat products for kids to provide encouragement and inspire confidence.
I really like this guy - Bug Em:

You can stuff little notes or surprises inside his pouch whenever your kids need a pick me up. We have a similar Valentine's tradition in our house. A few years ago, I made little felt pillows for everyone with a heart pocket. For the entire month of February, we leave a love note for our family members in their pockets for them to find each day. Bug Em will allow this to continue throughout the year!

Hallmark has some great games in stores right now - affordable and fun games that are perfect for rainy days, road trips and birthday parties. They have also partnered up with Dr. Toy to offer some of the best toys and games on the market today.

So, to help you remember that Life is a Special Occasion, we are joining with Hallmark to award one winner with a Life is a Special Occasion T-Shirt and greeting card pack!
To enter:
1) post here and answer the statement, " .... is a special occasion"
For additional entries:

2) "like" Hallmark on facebook and post a comment on their page telling them Sweet Funky Vintage sent you! Come back here and tell us that you did it for an additional entry.

3) "like" us on facebook and post a comment on your facebook page telling your friends to come enter the giveaway. Come back here and tell us you did it for an additional entry.

4) Tweet about our giveaway and come back here and tell us you did it for an additional entry.

Important!!! Deadline has been extended! Enter now!
Giveaway will end midnight, Sunday 9/11/11. Please post separate comments for each entry. We will draw and post the winner here on our blog, Monday, 9/12/11.

Wondering who won last week's giveaway of the re-usable snack bags for earth friendly kid's lunches??
Congratulations to Sheila from Michigan! Please email us to claim your prize!

Great Reads for Kids

2011-08-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are readers. We love to read. And, it is really important to us that our girls love to read as well.
Georgia definitely has a love of books. When she was seven, she saved up her birthday money and all her spare change to buy a kindle. We helped her to buy her kindle and she has taken really good care of it and reads even more than she did before. Our philosophy is to buy her the books that she wants to read and to encourage her to read some of our choices too. When she was four, we started with the American Girl books. I read them aloud to her and we made our way through each of the books of the historical girls.
In case you have a child in your life to shop for - books are always a really good gift.
Here are a few of our favorites...

Frindle by Andrew Clements - Trying to aggravate a tough language-arts teacher, a fifth-grade boy invents a new word for pen: "frindle." Soon, the whole country is using it.
-This is a great book to donate to a classroom library as well!

Just Grace by Charice Mericle Harper - Grade 2–4—Just Grace starts with a list of missed opportunities and finishes with the rich possibility of a new friend. In between, third-grader Grace Stewart sends postcards to her next-door neighbor (purporting to be from Crinkles, the neighbor's own cat), draws comics of Not-So-Super ("but still good") superheroes, plays detective with her best friend when Crinkles goes missing, tries to avoid the odious Sammy Stringer, and establishes herself as a true original in a class with not one, but four, Graces.
- This is a whole series of books, and Georgia loves them!

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker. Grade 2-4–Clementine, a not-so-common third grader, knows her way around the principal's office as well as she does the art-supply closet.
- Another series of books - we love getting to know more and more about favorite characters!

The Froggy books by Jonathan London. This is a pretty big series of kids picture books. All of my girls love to read them over and over again! You name it, there is probably a froggy book about it! Georgia was already a fan when she was able to "meet" the Froggy character at our local public library several years ago.

What are some of your kids' favorite books?

Favorite Things Friday - Blog Love and Kitchen Candles

2011-08-26T03:41:00.000-07:00

Today's Favorite Things Friday topic is Blog Love and Kitchen Candles. I don't have time to read a lot of blogs every day. I am lucky if I get a chance to glance at one or two a day. Some weeks I may only look at a couple. But, I really love blogs. There are some readers you can subscribe to that will allow you to put your favorite blogs on a list and you can see a condensed version of their latest blog post. I have tried this in an effort to be able to catch up on a long list of favorite blogs. But, I found that I really like to "visit" the blogs personally and see all the pictures and read more than just the most recent posts. If I am engaged in what I am reading, I may scroll back through the last few months worth of posts.

The Pioneer Woman's Home and Garden Blog - I could blog an entire blog post about how much I love The Pioneer Woman. I think everyone knows how much I love her recipes (and CANNOT wait for her new show on the Food Network to start Sat 8/27 at 11:30am eastern. Have you set your DVR yet?)
I recently introduced her to my neighbor, Allison, and she is also hooked! But, when I don't have a lot of time to just hang out on her website, just a few minutes time spent on her Home and Garden posts always make me happy. And she often does some really rockin' giveaways!

Another blog I try to pop over to when I can is Make and Takes. It is about craft, food and fun - three of my favorite things!
I get some great, really usable ideas and they often link to other blogs that I enjoy discovering.

I have posted about One Charming Party before, but when I need party inspiration, I always go here first. Sometimes, I just go here and decide I need to throw a party!

Making It Lovely is another blog I enjoy visiting from time to time. She puts together great outfits and great design ideas.

Shanty 2 Chic always inspires me to try creating things on my own, even if there are power tools involved! They also introduced me to some really great kinds of glue!

eighteen25 is a new blog I have started reading recently. I am really enjoying it. I love the ideas they share and the free printables!

What are your favorite blogs?

This week I have really enjoyed the kitchen candle I picked up at Target. It is from the Caldrea kitchen products line, which I also love and have been using for awhile now. The scent is Hibiscus Yuzu and it smells amazing! Target doesn't appear to sell it online, so you are going to need to visit your local store to pick one up. You'll be glad you did!

Green Lunches Revisited! Snack Baggie Tutorial/Giveaway

2011-08-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

So, last week Missy had posted about Green lunches~ helping to keep our world a better place! I thought I'd do a tutorial on these fun reuseable snack bags to follow up on that. They're super easy and will be loved by your little ones!

Start with a piece of fabric 6" wide by 16" long~ this will make a sandwich size bag. For the smaller snack baggies, cut that measurement in half~ to a 6" x 8" piece.

Cut a piece of lining material the same measurement as your main fabric. I use a ripstop nylon, but I have a friend who uses recycled cereal bags! Serge across the two short ends with wrong sides together.

Apply velcro across the two short ends~ Put the hook side of the velcro (the scratchy side) on the right side of the fabric. Put the soft side of the velcro on the lining side of the baggie. That way, when your little one puts their hand in the bag, they're rubbing up against the soft velcro instead of the scratchy one! Also, make sure you go around a couple of times to really secure the velcro!

Now fold the baggie up so the velcro strips will line up when the flap is folded over~ You don't want a gap at the top for snacks to sneak out! Once you have the closure lined up, serge down the sides. Tack down the serger ends and you're done!

Now, if you're not especially looking forward to making your own baggies, here are some for purchase on etsy!

Here's a great zoo one.

This is a super fun forest one~

And a Cat in the Hat!

I hope you are inspired to add these little bags to your re-useable lunch setup! To help you get started, we are giving away the three argyle bags shown in the first photo. Remember, we don't offer these for sale anywhere! So, enter and see if you win! To enter, post here what you are going to do (or are already doing) to have more earth-friendly school lunches. Giveaway will end midnight, Sunday 8/28/11. Share this giveaway on twitter and facebook for two additional entries. Please post separate comments for each entry. We will draw and post the winner here on our blog, Monday, 8/29/11.

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Quick & Easy Cinnamon Rolls

2011-08-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

Found this recipe online the other day and had to give it a try!
Quick Cinnamon Rolls
4 cups unbleached AP flour
4 T. white sugar
2 1/2 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. Kosher salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients then cut in butter and mix until the dough is crumbly. Add buttermilk and mix until a nice dough forms. Place dough on a floured surface, knead a little, and roll into a big, big rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Toppers:
1/2 cup butter very soft
2 cups brown sugar- yes!
2 T. cinnamon- I just sprinkle
1 cup cinnamon chips, optional
1 cup caramel chips, optional
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Spread the dough with the butter and then sprinkle with the remaining topper ingredients. Roll the dough length-wise away from you and slice into 14 evenly sized buns. Place 7 buns each in two greased 8 inch cake pans. Bake for 16-18 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Top with icing of your choice such as a simple powdered sugar icing or Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon to make them look even prettier. The middle bun may still be a little under done but someone has to take one for the team. Me me me!

Book Club - Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

2011-08-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

I love my book club! Love, love, love it! I have belonged to it for a couple of years now and have read some great books. I have read some I haven't loved, but were still ok reads. My favorite part of book club is that we all take turns choosing books and I have been introduced to books I would have never picked up. We even read a book and were able to have the author call us and do a conference call with us at our meeting! That was really, really cool!

This month was my turn to choose the book, and I chose "Friendship Bread" by Darien Gee.

This is what the author says about the book on Amazon...

Can a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread heal a broken heart and change an entire community?

Friendship Bread opens in the fictitious rivertown of Avalon, Illinois. Like many small communities, Avalon is a place where families gather to share a meal and where neighbors are quick to come to one another’s aid. Visitors are charmed by the quiet simplicity of Avalon, of the scent of fresh-baked goods wafting from Madeline’s Tea Salon, of the sweet bungalow homes that line the shady streets.

But behind every closed door is a story, and on a sunny afternoon in March, my protagonist’s story begins. For five years Julia Evarts has carried a grief that threatens to tear her family apart. She’s going through the motions of life when her young daughter discovers the equivalent of a culinary chain letter sitting on their front porch: a plate of Amish Friendship Bread along with a bag of starter and an anonymous note that says “I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.” They’re instructed to feed the starter over a ten-day period and then bake two loaves of bread and share the remaining starter with three other people. As the bread and its starter make their way through Julia’s small town, including into the home of her estranged sister, the residents of Avalon, Illinois, find their lives--and hearts--opening in ways both poignant and unexpected.

The novel was inspired by my own experience with Amish Friendship Bread, when my daughter brought it home along with a bag of starter she’d received from a friend. I was eating the last few crumbs when I started to think about a woman who receives the starter and just doesn’t want to do it. I saw a sadness hanging over this character and I knew I wanted to find out more. I started writing and the story quickly took shape--more importantly, it soon became clear that the book wasn’t about any one person, but an entire community ready for change and connection.

My verdict: 4 1/2 of 5 stars. It was a really good read. I enjoyed getting to know the citizens of Avalon. I am thinking about baking some Amish Friendship Bread (although the idea of what to do with all the starter makes me a little nervous). I was a little sad when the book ended because I knew that I would miss reading about all of the characters.

In case you are interested, here is a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread:
Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)

Day 2 - stir

Day 3 - stir

Day 4 - stir

Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.

Day 6 - stir

Day 7 - stir

Day 8 - stir

Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Using a fork beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).

Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.
Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you'll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread.

I am interested to know - Have you ever received any Amish Friendship Bread starter? If so, what did you do with it? Have you ever eaten Amish Friendship Bread? Did you like it?

Monday Morning Love

2011-08-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Okay. So you probably wonder why I have titled this morning's blog post, "Monday Morning Love". I thought that I should remind myself that there are things to love about every day. And, Mondays in general get a bad rap, dontcha think? So, what do I love about today? About this Monday?
I love that today is the first day of school for my oldest two girls (the youngest is a preschool camp this week before taking next week off and her first official day of this school year begins the week after). Georgia is in third grade this year. Olivia will be in kindergarten again. In California, they allow four year olds to go to kindergarten as long as they will be 5 by December. Olivia has a late October birthday and we wrestled with the decision to have her begin kindergarten last year as a four year old. As far as I know, most of the rest of the country requires kids to be five already before they can start kindergarten. Even California has recently changed the law so that in the next few years they will be aligned with most of the other states. We really felt that Olivia was ready to start kindergarten, but weren't sure she would be ready to go on to 1st grade after. We also thought long-range about her being barely 17 and heading off to college someday. So, we decided before she started kindergarten last year that we would give her the gift of time, and that she would do kindergarten twice to really reinforce the basics. So, she is starting kindergarten part deux!

I love that I love what I do and am always eager to start another week of Sweet Funky Vintage! It is always crazy, always busy, sometimes hard, mostly fun, and always challenging. If you can't say that about where you work, bummer dude!

I love that my husband has been deployed since February, but will be home soon. The anticipation of his return gives us all reason to celebrate.

How lame that this blog post hasn't included any pictures. Sorry about that! I'll do better tomorrow!

Before I go, I want to announce the winner of our earth-friendly lunch giveaway of reusable cloth lunch napkins. The winner is Kate! Kate, please send us an email with your mailing address!

Toby Keith

2011-08-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Jessica and I and our close friends and neighbors all attended the Toby Keith concert at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater here in the San Diego area about a week ago.

It was a beautiful evening, a full moon - so a really gorgeous evening to see a concert under the stars.

We had all purchased tickets for the lawn area, that cost us around $25 each, so a great value I thought.

We arrived early to have some snacks and hang out in the parking lot ahead of time - reminiscent of tailgating before college football games. We did the whole "redneck" theme - with chicken "wangs", beef jerkey, KFC, and chips and dip.

We stayed outside tailgating for awhile, and entered the venue as Eric Church was finishing up his opening act. We set up our chairs and blankets and kicked back to wait for Toby to perform.

I realize that Ford is a big sponsor of his tour, but I though the commercial that played on the big screens right before Toby Keith came out on stage was a bit much.
The first half of the concert was just okay, but the end of the concert was pretty good.
Of our group, we have a couple of more die-hard country fans, who often can be seen crying together over a good country song. We all get a big laugh out of this, especially considering one of them is a Jersey girl through and through.

After the concert, we headed back out to the parking lot and had some more snacks, and waited for the crazy traffic to lighten up before heading home.

On a scale of 1-5 as far as concerts go, I think I would give it 3.75 stars, but mostly because it was a great venue, great weather, and great company!

(I had to include this photo of me with these guys I ran into. They actually made their cowboy hats out of beer boxes. They were pretty cool hats!)

Photographer Love - Jennifer Heidl-Knobloch

2011-08-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

We have worked with photographer, Jennifer Heidl-Knobloch of JK Family Photo in Wisconsin, for a couple of seasons now and have really loved the pictures we receive from her! She is awesome to work with and we love her vision!
We want to share the recent pictures she took for us of our Fall 2011 Halloween Collection.

We love that she showed an older girl in a smaller size dress - it shows what we tell our customers all the time - our clothing grows with our girls! Many of our styles are roomy and will fit for YEARS! We believe in good value and want you to love your Sweet Funky Vintage for years to come, not just for a season or two - but literally for years! Many of our dresses can be paired with jeans for pants and become tops. How great is this - especially for holiday clothing?!
This is our Sydney dress and Catherine pant in sugar dot.

Lovin' these green puddle jumpers! They are also available for purchase on our website!

Our Reagan dress in Sugar Shack and Sugar Dot.

Don't you love those curls?!

One of the things Sweet Funky Vintage is known for is for enabling our customers to dress siblings in similar clothing without them having to match exactly - especially important for big girls who don't want to dress identical to their little sisters!

Our Catherine pants are paired with a Morgan embroidered tee!

Order your Halloween items by 9/3 to guarantee delivery by 10/15! Questions? Email us!

Favorite Things Friday - Instagram & Clean Potties

2011-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's another Friday, so you know what that means! Favorite Things Friday on the Sweet Funky Vintage Blog!
This week, I am sharing a few favorite apps!
For the past couple of weeks, I have been completely addicted to Instagram on my iPhone. Have you discovered instagram? It uses your phone's camera, you take pictures and then instagram has some of the coolest filters that you can apply to your pictures and then share the pictures on facebook, twitter or by email. (Sorry if you aren't an iphone user, this is only an iPhone app)

So, to show you the fabulousness of instagram, I took a couple of pictures around my house and then applied a few filters to the same picture.

Here is the normal picture

my absolute favorite filter - earlybird.

toaster

regular

earlybird filter

toaster

walden

There are 16 different filters to choose from!

Another cool app that I discovered at Blogher is one that Charmin has available. www.sitorsquat.com - you can download an app to your smartphone to find clean public restrooms wherever you are! I have to admit that I am enough of a germophobe to avoid public restrooms whenever possible! Now, maybe I wont have to! (Yay! Lots of smartphones are on the list of compatible mobile devices for this app)

Special "Boo to You" Halloween Sale

2011-08-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

We love Halloween here at Sweet Funky Vintage! As a matter of fact, we have put out a special Halloween collection each fall to celebrate. Today, I was organizing some of our stock and I ran across a few Halloween items we have on hand, ready to ship!
So, let's get this party started and put them on sale!
Before I list them all out, let's get the fine print out of the way. These items are ready to ship today! Shipping for 1-2 clothing items will be $5. Shipping for 3 or more clothing items will be $10. If you buy shoes, the price includes shipping for the shoes only (will not cover the clothing items you also buy). We hope this makes sense, but we are trying to keep the shipping costs reasonable!!
How do you order? Visit our facebook page, find the item you want and post beneath it with sold, the size, and your name/email address. If you are uncomfortable putting your email address on facebook, that is no problem. Just email us with your contact information. Each morning, we will send out invoices for items that sold the day before. When you pay your invoice, either by paypal or by calling us with your credit card number, we will ship your goodies out to you right away!

Item #1 - Boo Banded Camille Twirl Skirt - $23.80 - 30% off regular price of $34-38
Sizes Available: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10
(shoes listed separately)

Item #2 - Jack O' Lantern Sydney Dress - $30.10 - 30% off regular price of $43
Sizes Available: 6-12m, 12-18m, 18-24m, 3, 4
(shoes listed separately)

Item #3 - Puddle Jumper Shoes - $35.20 (regularly $44) - shipping is included in the price of the shoes!
This is the original puddle jumper polka dotted shoe - a retired color combination - sizing runs 1-2 sizes smaller than average, so order up!
Sizes Available: 9,9,10,10,11,11,12,12,13,13,1,1,2,2,3,3

Item #4 - Scaredy Cat Camille Twirl Skirt - 60% off!!!
Sizes Available: 10,10
$14.40

Item #5 - Boo Dot Catherine Cropped Ruffle Pant - 60% off!!!
Size available: 6
$13.60

Item #6 - Orange Damask Catherine Cropped Ruffle Pant - 60% off!!!
Size available: 5
$13.60http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Remember to purchase any of these items - visit our facebook page!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Taco Soup

2011-08-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Hey yall! Another new regular feature to our blog is going to be "What's Cookin' Wednesday"!
I shared this recipe a few months ago, but it is so good, I am going to share it again! This time, the uber-simple variation that the recipe has evolved to over the past few months.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can corn, drained
2 cans Mexican tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
taco seasoning mix
ranch salad dressing mix
corn chips
sour cream
grated cheese

If you are going to toss everything in a crockpot and let it cook all day, you can use a skillet for browning your meat and onion. If you are going to cook it in a stockpot, go ahead and use your stockpot to brown your meat and onion (saves having to wash an extra pot).

Drain off the excess fat. If you use really lean meat, you can skip this step. Open all the cans and add them to the mixture in the pot. Be sure you drain the corn and olives. Toss in the seasonings, stir and wait for the delicious smells to fill your home!

If you are cooking in a crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you are cooking on the stove, simmer on low for about an hour.

Serve with crumbled corn chips, sour cream and grated cheese.

Sweet Funky Vintage Top 5 Looks - Polly Pant

2011-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Check out some of our great Fall looks! Here is our popular Polly pant in five great fall fabrics!

Buy the pinwheel blooms Polly Pants here!

Buy the Berry Dot Polly Pants here!

Buy the Black Corduroy Polly Pants here!

Buy the Ebony Dot Polly Pants here!

Buy the Swedish Rose Polly Pants here!

The best part of all is that our Polly pants are the customer special the entire month of August! They are 30% off with every $35 purchase at a trunk show this month! If you aren't able to attend a trunk show in your area this month, order online, mention customer special at check out and we will adjust your total manually.

What are you waiting for???!!!

Earth Friendly School Lunches

2011-08-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

I was reading today that each child who brings a “brown-bag” lunch to school every day will generate 67 pounds of waste by the end of the school year. That’s 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for every average sized school. Many of us rely on plastic bags and water bottles for lunch storage, which contribute to the estimated 50,000 pieces of plastic per square mile in the world’s oceans. Holy Toledo, Batman! That's a lot of garbage!
So, what can you do to reduce waste? I can tell you what our family did. I made a commitment to try to use a more earth-friendly school lunch three years ago. It has worked out beautifully. My girls carry lunchboxes (really cute ones from Garnet Hill) and inside are aluminum water bottles (more about those later) and re-usable, plastic bento box lunch containers, and cute little cloth napkins I sewed up for them from some SFV fabric scraps.
Sadly, the re-usable bento boxes only lasted 3 years (tongue in cheek here, because really three years is a long time for them to have lasted! Yay earth!) and we are in the market for some new lunch solutions this year. The company that I bought the boxes from is no longer carrying them - I think the manufacturer actually discontinued them. Bummer. So, I researched a few options:
Amazon carries these animals - so stinkin' cute. I am seriously tempted.

Panda at Amazon
And, really, how can you not love that they also have a frog and a pig!

Frog at Amazon

Pig at Amazon
They are priced at $12.99 or all three for $38.89.

This is similar to what the girls are using now - a simple 2-tier box. Only ours are pink, with polka dots (of course). And, at $7.90, quite a bargain!

Simple 2-tier box at Amazon

Another option we have read about and are considering, is the Laptop Lunchbox.
They are pricier at $27.99, but three of the interior compartments come with lids, a pretty nifty feature. The drawback that I see here, and the one that has made me hesitate to buy them is that they are so much pricier. With the simple, inexpensive ones we have now, we own 6 of them - 2 per child. So, I don't have to wash them by hand, I can pop them in the dishwasher and use a different one the second day. By the third day, we have run the dishwasher and have clean ones again! I know that I can probably manage hand-washing them, but what a pain!

Laptop Lunchbox

Moving on to water bottles. We have two sets. I think this is pretty important so when one of my children who shall remain nameless forgets her water bottle at school, AGAIN, we still have a spare to use for gymnastics or soccer practice, and to send to school the next day.
One set that we have came from Sweet Funky Vintage. We carry waterbottles from EmTanner Designs and Lima Bean Kids. Totally cute and perfectly personalized!

EmTanner Waterbottles

Lima Bean Kids Waterbottles are available at your local SFV trunk show, and soon will be available on our website.

The second set of waterbottles we have are Klean Kanteen waterbottles. We bought ours on sale from Pottery Barn Kids a few seasons ago. They still offer them, at $19, plus $7 for personalization. They are super durable and have great sports caps.

I mentioned earlier that I sewed up some re-usable cloth napkins for my girls from Sweet Funky Vintage fabric scraps. But, for those of you who don't sew or have access to re-purposed fabrics, you can purchase a fab set of 5 for $11.95 from Kathie at Lilypad Baby - she is super nice - tell her we sent you!

Now, hopefully, you have been inspired to dedicate yourself to packing "greener" lunches for your kids! For those of you who have decided to give it a try, we will give away a set of 5 re-usable Sweet Funky Vintage cloth napkins. Remember, we don't offer these for sale anywhere! So, enter and see if you win! To enter, post here what you are going to do (or are already doing) to have more earth-friendly school lunches. Giveaway will end midnight, Sunday 8/21/11. Share this giveaway on twitter and facebook for two additional entries. Please post separate comments for each entry. We will draw and post the winner here on our blog, Monday, 8/22/11.

Sweet Funky Vintage Children's Clothing Trunk Shows

2011-08-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

I want to take a minute to tell you a little bit about the Sweet Funky Vintage trunk show program.

As a hostesses you will earn free duds and great benefits when you invite your family and friends over to shop at your in-home Sweet Funky Vintage Trunk Show. You'll be the envy of the carpool line (even though we know you already are).
You may not be familiar with the concept of a trunk show. In the South, we have been shopping for children's clothing at home shows forever. But, it is a relatively new experience for many people.

Twice a year, our hostesses receive a sample trunk of garments containing a HUGE selection of styles, fabrics, sizes, and accessories! During their trunk show, hostesses help customers design their own completely unique and hip fashions from our many styles, fabrics and embroidery and monogram options. Shows for our Spring/Summer collection begin in mid January and run through April. The Fall/Winter shows begin in July and run through October. Typically, shows last for 3 days, with the trunk arriving the day before the show period starts, and shipping out the day after the show period ends. Hostesses provide open house hours or schedule appointments - whatever works best for them! The last evening of the show period is usually spent organizing the samples and orders.

As a Sweet Funky Vintage trunk show hostess, you will receive a trunk full of adorable, fresh and funky fashions to show at a party at your home. These are sample pieces of the current season's collection. You will display the samples in your home and take custom orders for the clothing. As a hostess, you will simply sign up for a trunk show period, mail invitations that we provide, set up the samples in your home and invite your friends to drop by and Ooooh and Ahhhh! Based on your sales, you receive hostess credit. All orders are shipped directly to the customers.

Some of our hostesses love SFV so much, they have decided to make a career of it! We provide tons of resources and support to help our consultants be as successful as possible. Our consultants can choose how profitable they want to be by how much time they want to devote to their SFV business. Our Sweet Funky Vintage consultants earn cash, clothes, prizes and more by sharing Sweet Funky Vintage in their communities. Our consultants host the trunk for about 2 weeks each season and book at least 3 shows (one can be their own show).

Our Fall 2011 season is almost completely booked. But we do have these two dates still available:
Friday 10/14 - Wed 10/19
Tuesday 10/18 - Sunday 10/23

We are also booking for Spring 2012. If you weren't able to host a trunk show this fall, but want to book early to guarantee Easter delivery, let us know and we will go ahead and reserve a Spring date for you!

If you are ready to join our team and become a Sweet Funky Vintage consultant, visit our website and complete the application form.

Queen Bee Market

2011-08-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has been an entire week since Queen Bee Market! It was a fabulous day and such a beautiful gathering of some of the most crafty and creative people you can imagine!
We were delighted to be a part of Queen Bee Market once again. We had lots of new items and had a ton of fun creating them - it really helped us to reconnect with our creative sides!
If you were lucky enough to be in San Diego to attend, you know what I mean when I say it is hard to capture all of the wonderful things in pictures. But, I will give it a try!
We left SFV at 6:45am and arrived at the Hilton Bayfront with plenty of time to set up, so we thought. But, by the time we unloaded (my first time in a freight elevator!) and then went potty from the multiple cups of coffee we consumed on the ride down, we had exactly 8 minutes to set up our booth. Seven and a half minutes, if you count the 30 seconds I spent to take this picture for you!

Voila! Eight minutes later (okay, maybe more like 18), here was our booth.

And, here are some of our favorite booths at this queen bee market:

Blue Corduroy

Fairly Fabulous

Fresh Batch

Inspire Lovely

Little Penelope Lane

Lollypops

Olive Blue

Paper Goods

Pillow Factory

Polkadots and Poppies

I am not sure how I didn't get a picture of Allora Handmade's unbelievably awesome booth, so I borrowed this one from her blog. How awesome is this? Her husband created it for her - lucky girl!

and our absolute favorite booth - Funky Vintage Lovely.

Favorite Things Friday - Pinterest

2011-08-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

Pinterest. Sigh. If you haven't discovered Pinterest, you probably have more spare time than I do!! LOL Pinterest is eye candy, pure and simple. A place to discover how to live with style! It is a website that you will discover all kinds of creative inspiration. Liz and I were joking the other day that it sucks you in and makes you want to take fabulous pictures, cook incredibly delicious meals, throw fantastic parties, dress with absolute style and panache, and have a gloriously decorated home. Really, it is that good!
So, the cliff's notes on how to really get the most out of pinterest. First, you have to join. Sometimes there is a waiting list, so don't get discouraged. Apply to join, and wait. If you don't get an invite, apply again after a short time.
Exploring pinterest is really addicting. Basically, you can see the images that were meaningful to others and they wanted to "bookmark" the original location for further exploration later. And, you can categorize the "pins" you make, so you can have a category for dashing duds, fabulous food, home dec, crafty goodness, and so on. And instead of it being text based, like bookmarking a site on your own computer, it is a visual reminder - a picture of exactly what on that web page that you wanted to remember and come back to later. I am such a visual person, this couldn't be more perfect for me!
And, when you find someone you have oodles in common with, then you can "follow" their boards (categories) and see everything they "pin" and if it strikes your fancy, you can re-pin it - which enables you to place it in one of your categories for later use. I laugh at the fact that Liz and I seem to re-pin each others pins with regularity!
There is also an ipad and iphone app for pinterest (of course!)
Here are a few of my categories and some of my favorite "pins" in them. Keep in mind that when you join, pinterest automatically gives you a list of categories to use. You can edit the names and add more as necessary. I am still exploring, so some of their titles don't fit me perfectly, but I haven't decided exactly what I want to change the titles to either!

Products I Love:

mason jar sippy cups.

polka dot straws.

Party Fun:

ice cream cone ballons. (wish I had had this idea when I had the ice cream themed birthday party for Georgia a couple of years ago)

pre-mixed cocktails served in mason jars.

milk and cookies

My Style Pinboard:

I am sure you can imagine how great these are for getting ideas on how to put great outfits together that are perfectly accessorized. Nordstrom Rack - here I come with my cheat sheet!!!

For the Home:
Someday I may build my dream home. Or, renovate one that is kinda close, or maybe just get a few simple decorating ideas from here...

if I had a bathroom that looked like this, I might never get out of the bathtub.

what is not to like about this kitchen? my favorite part? The dog bowls, of course!

what a great laundry room.

what a fantastic storage solution for the space beneath the stairs!

this just makes me laugh.

Crafty Goodness:

i am totally making this! Frame from Ikea, fabric backing and a wooden letter.

how to make a mason jar into a lantern.

great 4th of July decoration with hand and footprints.

i am saving up my corks!

5 pillows in matching pillowcases all sewn together!

Foodie Love:

tiny caprese kabobs.

egg toast bacon cups.

banana pie.

baked zucchini sticks and sweet onion dip.

Okay... enough already! Visit pinterest and follow my boards and you can find these and many, many, many more, as well as follow them to the original postings with more information about the recipes, crafts, etc.

http://pinterest.com/mbseverson/