Nifty 50 promo: Free Wrist Band + Free shipping!

Check out Urban Knitfits for more details.

Promo Ends August 1st!

Links I love, a weekly recap of my favs

Poppy Talk shares a decoupage inspiration project with fabric and furniture.
Dwellers without Decorators- wrote a darling post about a small house with big decorating ideas!
HowAboutOrange- offers a fun tutorial on canning and preserving your favorite fruity spread.
Design Sponge- Before and After Projects.
sfgirlbybay- an inspiring visual treat of summery images!

Have a great weekend!

Puppies, Piglets and Babies

Cute video- of a jack russell puppy sleeping and dreaming away. Kinda looks like a baby polar bear swimming...

And something I've ALWAYS wanted- a tenny tiny little piglet. Watch the video here.

And in case you missed it- the blog that has been sweeping the internet- Mila's Daydreams.

New at Urban Knitfits: Headbands for Summer & Fall

This week I added a new line of Headbands to my knit shop- Urban Knitfits!

Above- the Cabana headband for $20.

Seen here in white and pink stripes, but custom orders are available. It wraps around twice and is such a fun vintage inspired summer accessory, perfect for helping you combat humidity hair and allowing you to achieve a Bohemian look!

Gray Ribbed headband for $16.

A single wrap headband. Great for Summer and Fall!

Also available in custom colors of your choice.

Pink ribbed Headband for $16.

Available in Custom colors.

I will be adding to my headband section during the rest of the summer and into the fall, so check back often!

Little Gems: forgotten photographs

The other night I found a little stack of old photographs that I collected while going through my grandparents large photograph collection... I had almost forgotten about these little gems

My Grandparents with my mom.

Kitchen- cute curtains!

My uncle and mom horsing around.

My great grandfather on my mother's side- holding one of his children....

My mom- how cute is she!?

My Maternal grandparents- LOVE this!

My mom and her great grandmother.

Nesting: Painted shelf project step by step

As I mentioned the other week in a nesting post.- I have a new Home project I would like to get done before the baby arrives in the fall. I decided to use the shelf seen above- that once housed art and knitting supplies, for storage for the baby. We aren't doing the traditional nursery thing and so I wanted to have at least a dresser and this shelf to carve out a little area for our new family member.

We went to Home Depot and had fun selecting a Martha Stewart Paint from her huge collection! We chose "Heavy Goose" a lovely neutral gray. **A little word on Martha Stewart Paint. Each paint card has a symbol in the top corner- a citrus, a snowflake, etc that allows you to match up your paints for an entire interior! So all the snowflake paints "go" and all the citrus symbol paints "go" together. What a fun way to help the weekend warrior coordinate their painting projects!**

The shelf in its context. As you can see the wooden shelf is really visually heavy and dark compared to the brightly painted dresser (which I got 4 free on craigslist & added the yellow knobs!). The shelf also blends in with the dark woodwork. Thus the need to paint it, to make it cheery and to clean it up a bit to store and display baby stuff. Eventually I think this shelf would be lovely in a bathroom, or some fun nook of a hallway etc. Hence our idea to paint it neutral to keep our future options open for the placement of this piece. (click on images to view them larger)

The Shelf- pre sanding.

 It really is lovely, has great lines and details (love the paneling). And the best yet I bought it from my boss for $20! (ps it's not dusty- just stained that way- hence another reason to sand and paint!)

Love the details.

The Shelf after sanding.

We used a harsher 100 grade sandpaper to knock off some of the stubborn areas, the odd paint splatter and to smooth out rough nicked edges. Then we used a finer grade of 120. We bought 150 grade sandpaper for between coats of paint.

The sanded back of the shelf.

The Husband, who has worked as a cabinet maker and furniture restorer, had the idea to use our little dyson shop vac to clean up the sanding dust. In the wood shop he worked in- they had an air gun that would blow the debris off the wooden surface and then they would follow up with a resin-type coated cloth to ensure all particles were clear from the wooden surface. Ah we can dream to have a work shop like that of our own someday! But in the mean time the dyson, a brush and a cloth helped clean the shelf in prep for the primer.

Next step- PRIMER.

We propped the shelf on top of four pint size cans of paint and laid out three trashbags as our tarp. This allowed for a tiny bit of added height and to make painting the very bottom of the legs easier and free of grass etc. The painting process took my pregnant self a good chunk of the afternoon as I wanted to cover every little dark recess and funky area with a smooth layer of paint. One coat of white primer- and the shelf already looked cleaner and brighter. I let the primer dry for 3 hours (that's two hours longer than the label suggests) before sanding the shelf with the 150 grade sandpaper. This smoothed out any rough brush strokes or unseen rough areas. Then a combo of weather, and my fatigue helped me decide to wait 24 hours before painting the first coat of our gray paint.

After 2 coats of "Heavy Goose" the shelf is complete and ready to house lord knows what for the baby...

The gray we chose really is a neutral, but it's nice to have a balance amongst all the other color we have. Plus we figure our future house wont have white walls, so this piece will pop and it provides a great background for displaying colorful objects.

And the shelf- back in its context, so much brighter and cheerier.

We are very happy with the final result and really love the color!

hmmm what to work on next!?

Staycation: Wolfe's Neck State Park in Maine

In early June we bought a State Park's pass for $70- we figure this is money well spent; it supports our local Parks and "encourages" us to explore Maine. (plus if we go to a park at least 6 times we will have saved some dough)

 We have lived here for a year now and living in a place is different from vacationing in that place... the daily grind of work and life can often keep one from really exploring their surroundings. So in an effort to learn more about Maine- to enrich the activities of our future out-of-town-visitors and to vacation on the cheap with a "staycation" we have set about exploring our local State Parks.  First up Wolf's Neck State Park, just up the road in Freeport. This is a park that we frequent the most as it's so close and has easy trails and beautiful scenery. (click on images to view them larger)

The trails in the park are very wooded and shady with a few that lead out to Casco Bay.

We were there at low tide.

Classic Maine landscape.

"lil" miss prego and Millie-dog

Back on the trails in the woods....

Part of the trail.

Mushrooms everywhere!

There are a series of trails throughout the park that loop around and join together. The path ways are mostly free of roots and debris and in some sections are nice and wide and made of mostly dirt.

We saw a group of young children hiking with their parents and couples running the paths- so the activity options are endless! We plan to bring our parents here the next time either group is in town.

Barns and houses line the road on the drive back into town from the park. They remind me of summers spent in Michigan. 

I will continue to share  other "staycation" voyages we take around Maine so stay tuned!

Drive to the swimmin Hole- Etsy treasury

My little hand painted and collaged- crab dish has been featured in this cute treasury with my fellow Indie Free Spirit team members! The theme- "Drive to the swimmin hole", what a cute summertime idea!

Check it out here.

Nesting: Cool Diaper bag I kinda want, by Dwell Studio

Super cute diaper bag by Dwell Studio.

 not too big, easily attaches to a stroller and great for the husband and I to both carry!

 PLUS LOVE THE COLOR!!!

Check out Dwell Studio's Website for more lovely items for the home!

Roasted Golden Beets- the Perfect Summertime Meal!

My Mother came to visit for a long weekend and although almost every meal was eaten out at one of Portland's tasty restaurants- we had a few very lovely meals at home as well. On Saturday I took her to the Local Farmer's Market where we purchased blueberries, raspberries, some sour cherries, lettuce, and BEETS!

They were so tasty I thought I would share how she cooked them.

1) Preheat the oven for 400. Lightly wash each beet, remove the beet green stalks just above the top of the beet, leaving a small flat top of stems. Keep the root on and do not peel the beets- this happens after you cook them.

2) Put the beets in a 8x12 pan. Drizzle them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lightly sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Let them marinate a little while. (5mins or so)

3) Cook beets for about 45mins or until they are soft when poked with a fork. (cooking time varies due to size of beets) 

4) Let them cool- then peel the beets and cut off the roots and the remaining top of the beet. Slice them and drizzle with more olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste!

She paired them with a salad that was a lightly dressed with... YUP with olive oil and balsamic and topped with walnuts and grated parm.

How do you like to cook up beets!?

Home Decor Accessory: lil dog

Nothing quite compliments your home like a dog...

(especially one that loves to snooze)

An Anthropologie Model

CB2- white chair- scout

Yoga mat guru

Welcoming Guests to the Airbed

Chef's assistant

Knit night groupie

Sunlight seeker 

Area rug aficionado 

Lighthouse, er Leg house attendant 

Neighborhood Watch

Kitchen Rug Accessory

Vintage Blanket Navigator

(hat by BeanTownHandmade)

Shouldn't be sleeping on the nice pillows- but does it anyways- Lady