8.29.2013

Stella & Dot Girls Relaunch & Giveaway

Did you see that Stella & Dot's Little Girls Line was revamped and relaunched?!?!  
It's too adorable for words -- 



Yes, you can still get the cute pieces that you could before, but now THERE'S MORE!  

Check out all the styles here... but I'm doing a giveaway on my Stella & Dot Facebook Fan Page for a Girls Statement Set!  Wouldn't your daughter love one of these?!?



They are all the perfect prices and even perfect prices for gifts for friends!  
You are seriously going to love them all!  
Keep scrolling to see how you can win one of the sets pictured above! 


So go LIKE  my page -- www.facebook.com/sdabbyk -- if you don't already

Find the post and SHARE it on your page!  

Then comment on which is your favorite!

It's that easy and you are entered!  PLUS if you go to www.stelladot.com/abbyk and add a GIRLS collection piece to your wish list you'll get an extra entry!  

No purchase necessary -- ends August 31st 11:59 EST.  

Not to mention that on certain items you can buy 2 get 1 50% off!  Say what?!?  Yes, you heard read that right -- DEALS!!!  Who doesn't love a great deal!?!  If you said no, you are lying.  



Start your Holiday shopping early because you can!  ;)

xoxo,

*all pictures from www.stelladot.com/abbyk*

8.26.2013

New Pillows from H&M

I love mail...
Well, I love mail when it's not bills.
I should rephrase that to say that I love packages! 

Recently I made my first purchase from H&M online!  First... let's just discuss... LOVE.  I like H&M period, but usually the store that we have is a hot mess or I only can find one item and then the line is forever long so I give up on waiting.  This online thing is really going to work in my favor.  Clean.  Organized.  Affordable. 

So I went online and found a few things... Initially my cart had around $200 of items in it... mostly for E, but then some was for me or the playroom.  I ended up editing it down to about $35.  I got two striped pillowcases and one that looks embroidered but isn't really.  They were for Playland.

So here is the before shot...
(I can't believe it looks this clean)


And here is the change-up...


Even though they are black and white, they look a little gray and I like the texture they add to the room. The embroidered looking one I just thought was cute and a fun little saying for a cute little playland, plus it adds a little color too.   Now to just figure out this sofa situation... anyone selling a cute mini denim sectional ?  And by mini I just mean for small spaces, not for children necessarily... 

And why not start every day like it's your birthday?  That's a good motto until you are about 29... then you don't really want them anymore...

But maybe start this Monday like it's your Birthday and it'll make for a good week! 

Xoxo,
Abby

8.22.2013

Picking


Have you been to any good flea markets lately?  I think I'm addicted. 
I take my $100 and see what all I can get!


This past weekend my friend and I went to one and found all kinds of goodies!  It was recommended 2 weeks before by another friend (and we went then too!) but this weekend I felt like there was a substantial amount of goodies!  I wanted to walk away with it all! 


It's called Robin Eye Flea Market & Garage Sale and they do have a facebook page where you can go on and see what's in the barn and when the next sale is.  It's typically every 2 weeks and it seems to be getting bigger and bigger.  These are just a quick few snaps of the place and this was not including the vendors that set up in the "backyard."
 

Here's what my trunk/back seat looked like when we left... I left with quite a bit!


Along with that we did some Goodwill Pickings too last week. Here are some of our finds! 


Some ended up in the shop and some stayed home with me!  Like this cookie jar... It ended up in the shop, but it might make it's way back to my place if it doesn't sell quickly... I'm in love! 


And this mirror was my favorite pick at the Flea Market.  Only $20.  I thought that was a steal!  I've been wanting one ever since I saw Sherry redo one from Young House Love.


I'm so sorry for the messy garage...
please do not focus on the reflection IN the mirror, but only the mirror itself....
Although you might see part of a soon to be revealed project in there somewhere...

xoxo,
Abby

8.20.2013

Trash to Treasure -- Part 1

Isn't she Gorg?  Meet Buffy.  I just decided that was her name just now.  Buffy the Buffet.

Have I shared this before?!  I'm sure I haven't.  My friend Julia & I picked her up from a neighbors front yard.  They were redoing their floors and no longer wanted it -- I realize that proably had nothing to do with their redoing of the floors, but that's what apparently really pushed it out the door! 



Please don't judge my never clean garage that has now turned into a workshop for TOO MANY DIY PROJECTS.  Yes, I said it.  Don't tell my hubby. 

Our intentions are simple.  Fix, Sand, Paint.  Can't be too complicated right?

So far we've removed the top piece that was warped.  Then we've sanded it all down.  We haven't moved any farther because we are still trying to figure out what color to paint it.  Julia is in the turquoise mood and while I love turquoise I think it's such a classic piece that we should do something more subdued. 

We will figure it out, but stay tuned for the final reveal -- which will obviously not be tomorrow because if you visit often, you know I'm really bad about timely reveals...
So hopefully in the next couple weeks! 

Happy Tuesday!









8.13.2013

2013 Indiana State Fair

The Indiana State Fair is one of those GREAT State Fairs!  It's at the Indiana State Fairgrounds which is just huge and was built for this very reason!  It's in Indianapolis so it's just down the road.  There are all the animals, games, food, and of course, people watching!  And we try to go every year. 

Last year was our first year with Ells... She loved it.
But this year it was so much fun to hear her interact with animals and people and express what she wanted and what she didn't. 

We started at the Billy Goats because they happened to be in the first barn and they were actually what we started with last year.  They kind of cackle, although we didn't hear any of that this time around.  They are funny looking little mugs though.  Ells even got to pet a 1 month old Baby Billy and the little girl holding it was so sweet that she gave Ells a ribbon too.  5th place.  They must not have wanted that. 

Then we headed to the horse barn.  WOW.  Those are some bad ass big horses!  Clydesdale's.  I've even seen the Budweiser Clydesdale's in St. Louis, and these were just ginormous!  I'm thinking it might have been the fact that these were so close they could have ripped my head off or eaten my hand because I was petting them, but either way they were huge.  Did I mention that they were big?  hah. 

Ella loved the horses.  I kept saying "Hey Buddy" to them when I'd walk up with her and so she'd repeat "Hey Buddy" and then when we left she would say "Bye Buddy."  It was really too cute.  And every once in a while she does a little "Woah" which is long and stretched out and too adorable to explain in writing.... she did this as we walked up to most horses.  Love her. 

Then we moved along to the other barns including Bunnies, Chickens (scary and gross), and Cows.  She loved the cows too.  Talk about big...some of them are huge too!  Note:  I've seen them before but am always amazed at their size. 

See that guy in the blue? The one on the right?  Man I wish there were better specimens in this photo to share the sheer crazy that comes out for the fair.  But anyways, this is Mr K trying to win $40K or a Car.  He needs a new car so I told him to get in line.  haha...
We didn't win. 
Woamp.  Woamp.


Then we played a few carnie games -- I mean, Ella played a few carnie games and won 2 toys that were not needed in our household... Both Dora related which cracks me up because we rarely watch Dora.  But Diego has come in handy as she grabs him and uses him to point out everything from hair to hand to shoes. It's actually a nice little Diego Learning tool... and it only cost us $5.  haha. She gets to play until she wins! 

We try to walk around the entire loop of the ground every year.  I swear this takes forever... and it does, but it's fun and sometimes it's nice to be outside, drinking a lemon shake-up, eating a funnel cake, right?  Well this year I only enjoyed Ribbon Fries & a lemon shake-up.  Delicious though!  I wish I would have gotten more, but we were trying to stay on budget as well as keeping ourselves from throwing up from the heat. 

Around back we actually found some new places we'd never seen before... Like an entire new land of untouched, non-crowded, belly dancing, tractor filled, fun!  Yes, Belly Dancing.  But it was like Belly Dancing for Idiots.  No offense to the lovely women attempting to show their skills... but let's just be honest - it was not appealing.  At the end they turned on the music for all to dance so we let Ells out to go try and she wanted nothing to do with it.  I think she though these ladies were crazy.  They might have been.  They were definitely like 35-85 years in age. 

But that was basically the tour of the fair.  We did find the Glass Barn which I had heard such great things about.  I think it would have been better for Ella if she were a bit older, but we snapped this photo which is a nice FREE keepsake for us to remember the 2013 State Fair. 


And then Ella took a sip right when the flash went off... OOPS!

Let's try this again!


Much Better. 

OK, I'm good with that little family photo.  Actually I kind of love it.  Well, minus the pigs.  But the backdrops were not that good to choose from. 

Do you go to your state fair?  Have you ever been to the Indiana State Fair? 
We even got to see a glimpse at the renovations of the Pepsi Coliseum which is going to look SO DIFFERENT -- This is a place that Mr K & I have grown up at with skating... Ah the memories... for another time! 

Until Next Year!

xoxo,
Abby

8.08.2013

New (Side) Ventures

Out with the old and in with the new... right?  Isn't that how it always goes?  Well that's completely the opposite with what my friend Julia & I have decided to try.  We've been going back and forth over a way to earn a little extra fun money on the side with minimal effort and we are both artsy & crafty so we thought about redoing furniture.  Then, when we came across a booth for rent at a local antique store and we just had to jump on it.  We are diving in head first with no idea really what we are doing and honestly no inventory either!  Our booth is a hodge podge of "stuff" that we've thrifted, redone, created, etc...

The store is just up the road from our houses at what we call The Square - It's the downtown of Noblesville, IN.  The store is called Whimsy and our booth or shop name is I Love Pickles.  Don't ask.  It's a random long story.  Short story = Julia's dog is Pickles.

Julia made this cute little sign and we were off...





We still aren't really sure what we are doing and what will sell and what won't, but it's fun!  I am glad to be crafting again since it's a huge outlet for me!  I'm finding that out as I haven't been able to do it for so long (and my garage is starting to look like hoarders).

xoxo,


8.07.2013

PlayLand Redesign

Well, my loft redesign is in the mix...
What was supposed to be an adult room for movies & lounging has quickly turned into the toy drop spot AKA PlayLand. 

So I've let go of any sense of "coordinating with the rest of my house" notions and decided to kind of go with the flow... We are stuck with the same furniture up there for a while due to lack of funds, but the furniture is just fine... so here we go!

A while back I had read a post about Kristen's new play room that she designed with Land of Nod.  Don't you just love Land of Nod?  I spent a couple hours on their site yesterday... Looking at tents & tee-pees, garland and girly things, and fun toys!  They had some awesomely cute adorable pieces! 

So that got me to thinking... I can have a cute PlayLand too!  I can do this!  I can make my loft warm, kid-friendly, and fun!  Yes I can... so I hopped right onto Olioboard and away I went.


And ended up creating this...
It's my inspiration room...
It's not mean to be a copycat of Kristen (although Kristen, if you are ever in Indy, please give me a call -- let's lunch and discuss my room[s])...
But I did/do really enjoy her room. 

Unfortunately, I have to work with a lot of what I have... so here goes...

To do list for loft:
  • SPLURGE - New Sofa... I never thought I'd say this, but I really like the Denim one used in the Mood Board - Durability & Versatility
  • Save - Paint TV stand White
  • Save - DIY that adorable garland -- I actually bought a ton of felt a while back to make headbands and never got around to it so YAY!  Cutting crazy here I come!
  • Save - Create similar artwork -- I am in love with these sayings!
  • Splurge - I do need a rug and I am in love with this one!  I wish I could find it for half the price!
  • Save - DIY Refrigerator
  • Hang TV on the Wall
Already Have:
  • Circus Tent from Ikea *Swoon* *Love* *Swoon*
  • Kitchen Stove PB Kids Hand-me-down
  • Pink Chair
  • Doll House
  • Lamp
  • Toys
  • And we have a pink plastic rocking horse but it will fit just fine!
So... I think I have the basics... It's all going to come from a lot of decor...
Here's what the loft looks like now...






Sorry for the night time picture taking... I had no choice! 
Use your imagination and you can see it transform...

Happy Hump Day!





8.05.2013

Mondays with Martha - Celebrations

Well here we go again... getting back on track...
I love doing Monday's with Martha posts whether they are big or small. 

Recently I was looking for a prop for Ella & we ran into JCP and to my surprise (well not really) I fell in love with yet another line they are carrying!  CELEBRATIONS by Martha Stewart is just another amazing addition to the lineup at JCP. 

Whether you are looking for just cute little cups and plates, or party decor, or even cute candies for vase fillers, you will find it here!  I am in love.  It's too perfect and it's so much better than anything you'll get at a generic party place!

via

via

via

They really do have great packaging, ideas, sets (if you don't like to get creative), and prices! 

Not to mention the fact that I can just run down the street to my local store to grab them!  I haven't checked, but I bet you can even place your order online for in-store pickup!  Winning!

I can't wait to throw another party!  Soon I tell you!  Soon! 

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