A Few Things That Make Me Smile

My son's first self portrait.

Just thought I would share a couple things from this past week. A little parenting, thrifting, and some things that make me smile.

This week has gone by pretty quickly for me. I'm pretty sure I've spent the entire time trying to clean my house. And I mean trying. I still haven't remotely caught up with it. I saw a status this earlier this week on facebook that said "Cleaning your house with a toddler is like brushing you teeth with an Oreo". This is especially true since most of the time my son is trying to help. While I think it's great my son wants to constantly move around and DO something, my house is really paying the price. If it's not him pulling out new activities, it's me getting out projects and not finishing them and then along comes the 10 month old who lets you know just how sloppy you are when you find the most random items hanging from his mouth. 

I really am enjoying this time in my life though. They say these days when you children are young go fast. So I'm soaking it up. I'll take my most of the time semi clean house and enjoy these moments.

I found these three tea cups and saucers at the thrift stores the other day. They say Deruta Italy on the bottoms of them with some other symbols. From what I've researched they are for real, but in the meantime I find them beautiful and will enjoy them no matter where they are from. My husband wants to open up a Etsy account with me to sell some vintage items e've collected. Maybe these will go up on the site when it opens. We came up with a pretty great name that's fun and personal too! That'll be a whole other blog post though. 

I've been in the Christmas spirit these days. Well, I kind of am all the time, but much more so lately while making items for our Mumre shop. I love getting to use these papers while wrapping orders. I mainly use either brown packaging paper or this lovely embossed creme wallpaper. They are so elegant and simple. 

A pointillism snowflake doodle in my sketch book. 

Someone's gotta eat it.

Along with a bunch of other items we have new items in our shop, I listed this particular tree.
These are so fun for me to make and for some reason every time I see this particular one I smile and feel so much joy.
Perhaps it's because it reminds me of a child's drawing of a Christmas tree with all the zigzags, simple shapes and doodle look to the whole thing, but I'll take the joy, soak it up and use it to make more. Gotta spread the good feeling! Take a look on Etsy for this one and more like it.

Keep a look out for our up coming exclusive sales for our blog readers and facebook followers!

- Hannah

New Skabootn's

Since my last post about Skabootn's my collection has nearly doubled in size! It is almost like I'm on a constant scavenger hunt. Everywhere I go I'm looking around to see how many mini items I can find. My husband and I love to walk around antique stores and the hunt to add onto my collection makes us pause a little more in each booth and we end up noticing so many more unique items on display. This miniature lighter was found by my sister on the way out of the antique shop. We nearly missed it hidden in the corner of a glass display case. I'd never seen a lighter so small I had to make it part of my collection. I love that it's a functional Skabootn's!

A gift from Rachel and Dylan for my birthday. The little details like the net are awesome!

I inherited some vintage dice and Dylan noticed that one is made of bone.  I only noticed the off center dots but knowing it's made of bone makes it so much more interesting.

I have only seen this white dog once before, but I'm not sure what it is from. Monopoly piece maybe? 

The purple dragon was a suprise! I found in sitting in my collection while I was adding new items. I later found out it was from my mother. Purple dragons remind me of stories my husband used to make up while we were dating. He used to always create the most random characters and a lot of times they were colorful dragons. It's goofy and it makes me smile. Thanks Mom!

Mini whistles. I've seen them around, but I'm not sure if they were sold separately or with something originally. Anyone know?

A fun vintage metal pocket game.

My five cent nativity I found at a thrift store. 

This isn't really part of my collection but I wanted to show it off anyway. I've been asking for one for  a while. My husband finally hand picked a cameo for me for my birthday. The color is great. I'll probably interchange it as a necklace and a pin.

My Skabootn' car collection. Once it gets larger I'll probably move it to the small display I painted when I first started this collection.

And of course, the new display. This was my mother's birthday gift to me this year! I've been eyeballing one of these for a long time now. The small compartments are the perfect size for organizing and displaying my collection! I had it up on my wall within five minutes of me receiving it! I'm not positive what this drawer is from, but we are under the impression it's from some sort of print block storage. Wherever it's from I'm glad it has a new life in our home. As I said before, THANKS MOM! Now to fill in those empty spaces.

- Hannah

Fall Is Here!

What a perfect mug for my tea in the morning! My sister found it for me. She's so awesome!

There are some wonderful fall happenings at in our home these days. My family loves this cooler weather. We have even been able to fire up our wood stove on some of the colder nights. I love the smells and snuggles that come along with fall.

Since the beginning of the season we’ve gotten to try some new fall flavors at our local ice cream shop, Joe’s Ice Cream Supreme.  I’m in love with their apple crisp flavor and I’m looking forward to having pumpkin spice next.

My sister and I got some hot chocolate and white chocolate mocha drinks at Joe's. We fell in love with the mustache stickers that came on the lids. I wanna go back and collect more!

Another tradition we have begun with the kiddos has been going to a pumpkin patch and picking our own pumpkins.  We went to Knollbrooke Farm this year and last. We really enjoy the atmosphere of the place. Plus it is super close.  Our favorite activities are the slingshots for tiny pumpkins, the large tricycle racetrack, and the corn maze.  Their pumpkin patch has great varieties to choose from. For some reason I always end up falling in love with the tall ones. I didn’t realize how large the pumpkin I picked was until I was carrying it to the wagon. The scale couldn’t even weigh it for us!

Our pretty picks from the pumpkin patch. One for each of us!

Fall also means a library books sale! I love to hit up this place and get some older books for a couple cents a piece. Last year old picked up some vintage children’s books. I love to have some easy read books right before bed like the Hardy Boys! I enjoy the different story telling style or some of the books back then. The plots are not too much to think about and easy enough to follow without getting stressed out before bed. Call me silly, but I’m always on the look out for more of them!

I found this small book at the book sale from 1958. It's called "A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You". The illustrations are so crisp and beautiful. 

Rachel and I are learning as we go with this business stuff, but it’s been a blast! She’s on fire with her crochet pieces! I’ll be having a booth up at a Fall Festival in North Webster full of all our stuff with a couple new seasonal items. It’s a very new festival, but it sounds like there is going to be a lot to do with the family. Come say hi if you’re around!

- Hannah

Skaboot'ns Collection

While pregnant with my first child I would kind of geek out and make these weird noises when I was referring to something really small and cute like a pair of shoes meant for a newborn baby. Over time I developed a word that I used regularly when mentioning something that was incredibly small - Skaboot'ns. I don't know why. I guess it's just one of those weird things about my personality that I'm not going to try and understand. Now I use this word for anything miniature. I get such a high when I see a Skaboot'ns that I end up speaking like a complete goof ball and it doesn't end until the object is out of sight.

Lucky for my family, the fun will never end! I have officially started my Skaboot'ns collection! A couple months ago I visited Rachel's home for the first time since moving back to Michigan and I immediately fell in love with the variety of collections they have! Cameras, A&W mugs, salt & pepper shakers, vintage toys, and plenty more! When I came home I begged my husband if I could start a collection of my own. After visiting a antique mall I ran into miniature Coke bottles and I made my dorky Skaboot'ns noises and I knew. I didn't end up getting the Coke bottles, but shortly after that day my husband got me a little Kangaroo from the zoo. After all the excitement from getting the first item of my collection I looked through my old treasures as a kid to see if I had anything else to add. I don't have much now, but it's a start!

My mom got a ton of paint samples from Lowes for 25 cents each!
 I picked my favorites and painted up a little display I found for my collection.

Starting from the top left going right is a small heart candle I have had as long as I can remember, the kangaroo with a baby my husband got for me (a Skaboot'ns with a Skaboot'ns!!), a little army man from my son's first arcade experience, very small deer I've seen in terrariums before that I've gathered from here and there, a glass owl my sister and I received from our brother when we were young, a 101 Dalmatian's puppy I used to pretend it was my Barbie's puppy as a child, and a case of the "Smallest Falsies in the World" which is really a miniature set of false teeth. I'm not sure where I got the falsies from, but they make me smile and I'm glad I can add them to my collection.

It may not be an expensive collection and my children will probably think I'm crazy as they get older, but it does make me smile and I'll enjoy adding to it little by little as time goes on.

I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of seeing super small things! Check out some of these items from some Etsy shops. I wouldn't mind having a couple of these guys to add to my collection!

Actual pocket knife. 

I love this simple milk jug.

baby sock monkey

Milk Loves Cookie ceramic miniatures.

Miniature Wizard of Oz book!

- Hannah

Brainstorming and Visualizing

I found these fun shapes in the corner of the antique shop a few weeks ago. I love a good deal on a fun hands on activity. My oldest son, my husband and I were all playing with them last night creating different designs from our own imaginations. I have a feeling I'll be playing with these often.

The colors on these pieces are worn out with a satin shine to them. I think I'll be coming back to these whenever I've hit a block creatively or just want to make something pretty. Eventually I'd like to make something permanent from these shapes. Jewelry? Ornaments? Wall Art? Any ideas? Who knows what we will come up with. I'll make sure to share whatever we do come up with. 

I've had a blast reading Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin. Today I did a exercise she has included in her book to visualize what your perfect workday would look like. With her instructions to dig deep into the details of the actual day I couldn't help but get so inspired by my own dreams and goals. I think this visualization is a good practice for anyone to do. Sometimes we need to just sit down and really think about what we are doing with our lives and where we want to be in the future. I'm not saying I'm miserable where I am now, but that it's healthy to have goals to motivate myself and our business to grow. 

My husband and I like to visualize our future (both near and far) often and our ideas are bursting at the seams. It always leads to great brainstorming and I get so inspired for a new project right then. Keep an eye out for new stuff we've been working on in our mumre etsy shop. We will be switching up our inventory over the next couple weeks with more seasonal items!

-Hannah

Finished Skateboard Project

We have had a lot going on in our household recently, but one thing that did not leave my sons mind was his skateboard.  My husband and I started this project a couple weeks ago. You can read more about it in my first skateboard project post. So we bought what was needed to finish it and let him play on it again.  Since he isn't old enough to do crazy tricks on it or anything, we didn't put too much money into it, but just enough to get it rolling safely.

First, we had to replace the ball bearings and the wheels.  I thought the original wheels were pretty sweet.  They are old ceramic ones, but they have been pretty beat up and we decided to get some blue ones to match the board.  I'm hoping to find something to do with all the old materials from this skateboard.

I'd say it's time for some new bearings.

We didn't replace all the hardware on the skateboard so we have some older metal still on it.  I love the look of the old with the new.  It matches the old comics that were put on the board and the texture adds something of it's own too.

My husband and I found grip off of amazon that was made from recycled glass with different thickness levels to choose from.  We chose the one that provided the most grip for our little toddler.  A huge plus for us was that it is also clear so it is perfect for my decoupage art underneath the grip!  It went on easy but after I was done applying the grip I decided to put a clear coat of varnish on top both to get rid of the slight sugar crystal look and to dull some of the little sharp edges until there is natural wear on the skateboard.  I couldn't be any more satisfied with this finished project.

My son is already getting better at pushing off on the skateboard by himself (that is more than I can do).  Of course he is also learning that falling down comes with the territory.  He is a trooper and is better for it.  Next task is to find a helmet small enough for his head.

- Hannah

We've recently put new creations up in the shop. Check it out! www.mumre.etsy.com 

What a Colorful Life!

Just thought I'd share a couple things that make my life a little brighter before we head into the weekend. Tomorrow we will be having a booth set up at Art in the Park in Holland, Michigan. Come and visit us! 

This is one of the best games I've ever experienced. It's called The Magnificent Race. I suggest finding the game and playing immediately! 

These are my proudest findings this week. I found 36 vintage coloring books from the 70s and early 80s for less than 50 cents a piece. Only one or two have a colored page, and very few have torn out of their binding. After loosing my coloring book collection two years ago to water mildew, I'm pretty excited to go to town in these. The illustrations are so beautifully detailed. 

Today's colorful harvest included watermelons!

I'm particularly excited about these tomatillos to add to our salsas. nom nom.

Last but not least, this is what I woke up to this morning. My oldest is with his grandparents for the weekend while we are at the art festival. We will miss him, but we are glad he gets to visit with more of his family. I'm sure he will come back spoiled as ever. With me doing all this preparation for the booths he deserves it.
I love these boys. 

Bring on the weekend!

-Hannah

Skateboard Project

I'm in love with this kid. My son has a lot of very particular interests, one of which is skateboards and longboards. He is only two and a half so he doesn't quiet know his way around them yet, but he does find ways to entertain himself on them. His usual favorite is laying on his belly and he paddles his way down the road up the hill and back down. Not able to turn much yet we decided to get him some gear to go with the tumbles (still working on the helmet though). After showing so much interest in his fathers longboard my husband decided to give him a old skateboard we bought cheap at an estate sale. It's not in the best condition, but my son is completely attached now. 

We decided to spruce it up a bit and make it his. I took it upon myself to decoupage the underside of the skateboard with another one of my sons obsessions The Avengers. I scored a bunch of old comics at antique stores and garage sales and make things out of them for our shop. I used the scraps and a couple of my favorite pages to make a pretty great collage of characters for him. I've only finished the underside and painting the side and top a bright red orange. Next I'll be decoupaging more on the top, sealing the entire board with a clear gloss varnish and putting some grip on it. Soon we plan to take the board and it's parts to a skate shop and see what they can do to repair some of the broken items on it. Pretty exciting so far and my son has just been loving the process. He can't get enough of "chuaa bleh-bleh" and "chyen maaon" (Captain America & Iron Man)

 Hopefully I can post pictures of the finished project soon! 

-Hannah