5 Orange Potatoes » family

3 funerals and a wedding

5 Orange Potatoes — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:36:15 +0000

Hi there, it’s been a while and I miss this place terribly! You know that wonderful Hugh Grant movie, “Four Weddings and a Funeral?” Well lately my life has been more “Three Funerals and a Wedding” (seriously 3 deaths in the family and a wedding coming up in September). Life has been a bit out of control and I’m trying to find my balance among my family, home, and plush business; which has left me with no time for blogging,

only wishing that I was a kid again where I could make a crazy face when things were “weird,”

or plug my ears to keep the sounds of life out!

I’ll be back here soon with some fun action toy tutorials.

“That’s all,”
Lisa

to the kitties with love, from araina

5 Orange Potatoes — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:08:01 +0000

Araina has spent the weekend making “gifts” for the kitties in our family.
They loved the jingle toy made of a tp tube, jingle bells, paper, tape and yarn-

They loved the kitty dish made of bright red legos-

Charm was the only one that would put up with the cape-

He even chased the husky out of living room while wearing his “Super Charm” cape- he really looked the part!

Now, I’m afraid dressing him as a gnome was a little too much for Charm; talk about a twitching tail!

Oh, the humiliation!

Pixie (below), the other “inkspot” in our family, would take no part in the costumes; she ran and hid when she saw Araina coming her way with the green gnome hat! She is now encouraging Charm to contact a lawyer to sue for the posting of these pictures.

“That’s all,”
Lisa

vintage clothing

5 Orange Potatoes — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:36:18 +0000

My sister has an incredible eye for vintage clothing. She finds the best stuff sorting and searching through the clothing racks at the local thrift stores. I am always amazed with what she comes home with after a trip to Good Will and the like. Then she puts her finds together with modern things and the looks she creates blows me (and others) away! Here are just a few of my favorite looks on her, including a description of where the pieces came from.

Shirt: I haven’t a clue
Skirt: upcycled thrift find
heels: thrift
Hat: thrift
Belt: thrift

Dress: upcycled and remixed
Boats: Target and remixed
scarf: hum…not sure…Target?
Glasses: a store in Philly with a cute dog named Murphy
Purse: Thrift
Belt: Thrift
Jacket: One of my favorites!!! An antique store in VA.

Dress: Thrift
Shirt: Basho
Boots and socks: target and remixed
Umbrella: gift from my sis

Hat, shoes, belt: thrift
Apparently the belt is a major staple this week…but it is so perfect
Dress: vintage Girl Scout uniform…also the thrift

100% remixed
Dress, boots and belt: Thrift
Sweater: Kohls
tights and hat: target
except for the Care Bear mug

Dress and Tank: Target
Hat and socks: Target and remixed
Shoes and watch necklace: Remixed

Dress: remixed, thrift
sweater: remixed, anthropologie
belt: thrift
shoes: thrift, remixed
socks: target

Dress: Look, vintage store in town
socks: target
Shoes target and remixed
clock: antique store and remixed
cup: was my Granny’s

Over the holidays she opened an Etsy shop called Half Past a Freckle. Please have a visit to see the great items she has found to share. She also has a facebook page where she shares special sales from time to time.

“That’s all.”

simple pleasures on a cold day

5 Orange Potatoes — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:05:14 +0000

Warm breath on a cold window.

Yearly picture standing in front of the snowy 30 year old spruce- the pic on the left is Jan. 2010, the one on the right is Jan. 2009.

Preparing to sled down the 8 ft. tall taxis shrubs covered in snow. Fauna looks forward to this every winter!

Araina prefers sitting and “just being” in the snow.

Taking lots of pics of the snow, love how the echinacea seed heads seem to be wearing little Cossack hats, how very Doctor Zhivago of them.

Then coming in and warming up with hot chocolate and making snow cream.

We’ve also be thinking of ways to use up the needles from the Yule tree; couple ideas come to mind, but that’s for a future post.

Now to make a big batch of veggie chili and cornbread!

grandma’s homemade goodness

5 Orange Potatoes — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:12:33 +0000

I want to share some more homemade goodies, this time all made by my mother-in-law. She has always made homemade gifts for Christmas; every year we get a new handmade Christmas decoration. This year, however, she made more than decorations; just about every gift that was given to us was homemade. Here are a few of my favorites:

- The little ladies and I each received a corduroy apron. I LOVE these aprons, we have used them so much already! Oh, how I love the pattern with the orange and brown colors on mine shown here-

-She also made the little ladies each a flannel blanket. Araina was all cuddled up in hers today listening to free Storynory downloads. (Now that her room is clean and organized she doesn’t want to leave it).

-I love this corduroy bag with a big front pocket she made me. Temporarily it is full of colorful yarns, but I plan on it being my sewing bag that travels with me everywhere.

She also made us cute little snowman ornaments, a Santa, and snowman pillowcases for the little ladies. Thank you Grandma for the gifts. We love them and use them everyday!