the5ladies.

my cousins are beautiful.

{they needed pictures for christmas cards, so we had an adventure}

clean out.

i was prepping for black friday
and i decided i needed to clean out my closet a little to make room for new goodies
{because that's a day for buying stuff for yourself, right?!}
i keep trying to make myself get rid of more clothes and such that i don't wear
but i somehow can always find a reason why i keep each article of clothing
"oh, if i go camping i will need this"
"if i get another job that needs a uniform i would need these pants"
"if i ever get pregnant this dress will look great on me"
"what if i want to use this in a photo shoot"
"my daughter will want this one day"
"what if i get invited to an 80's party"
"maybe i will be going to a ball soon and will need this insanely elaborate gown"
"i can {someday} alter this dress and make it into a skirt that i actually would wear"
keep. keep. keep. ugh!

needless to say... i have a lot of clothes that i don't actually wear often {or ever}.

so this time i got rid of:
3-skirts
3-pairs of shorts
5-sweaters
12-tank tops
12-t's & assorted tops
4-vests
4-pajama pants
1-pair of boots
1-pair of slippers
5-pairs of hole-y socks
8-assorted unmentionables
17-dresses {minus 1 that i actually did make into a skirt, and i'm wearing it right now!}
3-pairs of heels
3-pairs of flats
4-pairs of pants

GO ME!

obsessions.

{thrifted} << this blog just in general.
and their e-bay store is a+.

{vintage maxi skirts} i have had a few that i wore all
of the past two summers, but in the past couple of weeks
i've pulled out some others that i've had hanging around and
they have been working simply perfectly at keeping my
dauntingly white and dry legs from being shown to
people/from being SO cold!

after i shop i shop ALL day on friday... you can bet
there will be a few more

eye catching, floor sweeping, waist clenching
skirts in my closet.

{epoca eclectic} on etsy... they have unbelievably amazing housewares
& knick knacks... you need to check them out!
so neat.

{notecards for memory} in many of my bible studies/devotionals/
churches i've visited recently they've been mentioning how
important it is to prepare yourself for future
times of trouble {for yourself or others}
and that this help comes from knowing God's word
and always having it on hand... like, up in your head!
so memorization?!
well... i hate reading and memorizing is
completely out of the question
{obviously you can tell by my lack of english/writing skills}
but i've decided to start writing verses out on notecards
and i will be a memorizing queen before you know it!

{these clogs} i'm not obsessed with the studding along the front
but overall... i love them! i wear a size 7-7.5.
hint hint.

i hope you all had a fabulous {and thankful} thanksgiving.

first couple session {l&s}

i "shot" my first couple on monday...
{my beautiful friend lindsay & her boyfriend steve!}
and it was so much fun, we laughed a ton
and still managed to get some lovely photos.

computer hating.

i am trying to change up my blog a little...
but i hate computers and i honestly can never get them to do exactly what i want.
and i can't find any templates that work.
so i think i've given up for the night.
my hand is sore from too much typing and stretching across my tiny mac.
i really just want a regular mouse to hook up to this thing.

anyways... i'll work more on this tomorrow.
or later tonight if i get inspired. {and get a boost of patience.}

fabienne joy. vintage baby shower.

last night we finally had a baby shower for miss marla & her sweet pea

manda and i have been planning & preparing for weeks!
you can read a little about the hectic-ness of yesterday's happenings here.

it was all worth it though.
we went with a vintage theme because little fabs is going to be one retro dressing lady
{i've been making sure of it by buying her lots... and i mean LOTS of vintage clothes}

so... manda cooked basically all of the food for the party {a few appetizers were brought by guests}
she is pretty much the greatest baker ever - check out the desserts below!
and most of the vintage decorations were from my room/my old store
all of the adorable little floral arrangements were made by mimi {fab's grandma}

check out the pictures... i may add more soon.
especially some of the ones with fabie in them!

welcome baby fabienne!
{we've had this chalkboard since i was little}
and a peek into our sweet drastically {and sweatily} transformed room.

the sweet little guest of honor... fabienne joy michau.
so precious.

vintage tea cups, saucers, plates & tablecloths
handkerchiefs tied with assorted vintage fabrics
our appetizer table with vintage decorations and a few of the MANY pom-poms we made

decorations:
vintage suitcase with vintage hankies & child's accessories
& a porcelain doll that was my mom's as a child

vintage buttons in a jar - guessing game
vintage books, hat box, booties, spools of thread, table cloth

the dessert table {more pictures of the deliciousness later on}
and more of the sweet mismatch vintage table settings

delicious appetizers:

rye bread bowl dip
cheese & crackers
fruit dip & cinnamon chips
veggie pizza
assorted veggie trays w/ dill dip
spinach and artichoke dip
hummus & chips
mini animal crackers {so tiny!}

the absolutely sweet bottles with barber-stripe straws
filled with sweet lemonade.

one of the vintage picture book banners we made.
{we had two picture book banners, two clothes line decorative hangers,
one vintage baby picture banner- pics of the new momma as a little baby}

more decorations - manda's vintage buggy, and some of my vintage baby clothes collection
also the clothes line cake - manda bakes&ices and i cut&decorate

some sweet antique porcelain dolls that my grandma & grandpa found somewhere
and they gave them to me to sell. but they were just too sweet to not keep them.
behind that is my vintage wicker-top baby scale. {conveniently it was yellow!}

more of the vintage girly clothes i've collected over the years.
and a little swinging horse i just found recently at an auction.

two sweeties. & two sweets.

the mini clothes line cake topper that i am in love with/so proud of
{dress, undies, overalls, dress, bonnet}

ahh! so sweet.
yes, i'm obsessed. if i had more occasions to make them for, i would make them all day!

we made a sign for each different table from vintage
pictures/prints and added in what would be on each
table and slipped them into some adorable frames.

delicious dessert table:

vanilla/vanilla cupcakes
cream wafers
manda's peanut butter cookies
rice krispy treats
assorted yellow candies
clothes-line cake

delicious & adorable cream wafers {we have a bunch left still... yes!}

coffee in cute tea-cups and the cute new momma opening up presents

favors! sweet pouches sewn {by yours truly} from vintage fabrics
pinned closed with diaper pins
and inside some delicious "fjm" sugar cookies made by manda {of course}

we had a photo booth with lots of vintage props from my old shop put in an old bassinet.
... hopefully i will be able to snag a couple pictures from my dad's camera that we used.
especially one of me & sweet girlie.

sweet little fabs was exhausted from some serious partying.
{okay, if i have to be honest... this was taken at the beginning of the party,
but i figured it was a good closing picture}

what a good day. and beautiful little girl.
God is good.
even though my body is very sore from hauling chairs and
heavy tables around all afternoon yesterday.

have a good night all!

handmade headbands.

i found a no-sew tutorial on how to make these and wanted to try it out
i'm not really a big fan of using primarily hot glue to hold things together in any of my projects
... but this seemed simple and fun anyways

they're cute, just not as nice as i would have wished
{and had they been sewn, they would be much nicer}

how cute are all the vintage fabrics & buttons i used though?!

etsy. baby style.

for all you stylish babies out there...
here are sneak peeks of some sweet vintage pieces that you MUST have.

you can find some here. the rest will be posted soon.
and other neat homemade items should be making their way on there soon as well.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/calistamiakoda