A Movable Feast and Birthday Party too!!

So you live in Idaho, but all your friends and family live in Utah, what's a girl to do?  Get on the phone, of course, and make arrangements to move the party to Lehi, Utah, at the home of your sister, Becca and invite all your Utah based loved ones to join you in celebrating the birthdays of your sons, Kai who is turning 9 and Alex who is turning 5!!

Here we see Brittany 'reinacting' the making of arrangements for the big two star event.

Here's the loved ones gathered and ready to celebrate.

Aunt Emily is ready for a baby of her own, due today in fact, but she can't seem to get enough of the little people in the family.

My favorite pictures are of the "Well if Becca can hold two babies, I can do better than that!!" and fortunately for us we did happen to have one more baby to complete the trio!! Way to go uncle Davin.

 And then its time to open all those presents.  The guinea pigs, were of course, the hit of the day.  Then again, the video games from Papa were pretty exciting as well, and will provide hours of happy father-son time.

A birthday cake made from a mountain of cupcakes fills the bill.  Yummy gourmet cupcakes were a hit with everyone.

And Grandpa, who hates frosting, found the perfect cupcake eating partner in baby Titan.

Happy birthday boys, we had a ball.  We are so glad that your Mom thought to bring your party to us, because we were all so glad to help you celebrate.

Keepsake Boxes to Save Happy Memories!!

I started thinking about memory boxes as I noticed how many customers came into the antique store and told me about how things they had seen took them right back to childhood.  They seemed to be in their grandmother's kitchen just because they saw a cookbook she owned, or a cookie cutter

she favored.  I realized that collectibles are often the 'portkeys' to use a term from Harry Potter that take us to happy times.   

That is the point of this project, to collect those items that bring happy memories for us to peruse when we are feeling nostalgic or need a boost.
 
The first step is to find some old box, and clean it up and give it a coat of paint.  A bit of sanding will give it a sort of aged patina, that will compliment the treasured items within.

 Next you will want to choose a theme that feels personal to you.  This one has a fairy theme and is entitled 'Magical Memories' 

The interior also maintains the theme.
This charming fairy picture is mounted on an antique velvet ribbon.  Again, it is important to keep the theme sort of vintagish, as many of the items inside will have age.

 The quote inside the lid says:

“Sweet memories are refuges we seek in times of sorrow,

Reminding us that joy again, will come to us some morrow.”

                                                                                                                                               

This Box has a royalty theme, and bears the banner 'Royal Remembrances'.  It is decorated with rhinestones and crowns. Here we see a close up of the banner enclosed in a utilitarian metal library label frame. Inside the box is a sample picture along with a list of things that are good at bringing back wonderful memories, like a baby shoe, a recipe card from your mother's file, a report card that made you feel proud, a photo copy of a yearbook signature that made you smile, love letters tied up in ribbons, a thank you card that made you feel like a million bucks.

This box has a cow girl theme, I loved the picture of the women taken in 1800's wearing cowboy hats and sporting rifles.  The box also sports an old cattle tag and a rusty star.  This one would be perfect with your rodeo crown, and newsclippings safely tucked inside.  Memory boxes are great instruments to take you back to the wonderful moments you want to relive.  They would also make a great gift for a sister or friend who is struggling with present circumstances.  Collecting the goodies to put inside would be an absolute labor of love.

A Special Thanks to graphicsfairy.blogspot.com for their great searchable stock that makes it easy to find just what you want to include in making your memory box.



The Ever Amazing Avenues Street Fair!

Here are I am with my flea.o.logy friends  at the Avenues Street fair in Salt Lake City this past weekend.  This is the Chinese dragon who led the children's parade, with its parred down brass band and lots of children following along, just for fun.

The three of us had a booth at the street fair.  Cathie has been doing this fair for years, and invited Jenn and me to come along this year.  We had a blast checking out garage sales and estate sales along the route, as well as all the awesome food and vendor booths.

This is the cute banner that Cathie made to promote our main business.  We also passed out business cards, which turned out to be a good thing because we had lots and lots of people ask us if we have a store, and said they wanted to come and see out other goodies.

This is Cathie with our vintage red and white gift basket for the Avenues Association raffle!! 

 

Here are a few varied shots of the merchandise in our booth

And then the rains came down, maybe not for forty days and forty nights, but it felt like at least forty minutes and that was plenty.  On the left Fred is forming a connection between the two pop ups where they join forming a valley, and we all know what happens in valleys when it rains.  Both Jenn and Fred ended up soaked in this water management program, but there were lots of laughs in the process.

And after all, all is well that ends well, wouldn't you say?  The sale was an overall success, and if you factor in the fun, it was pretty much over the top!!