how to host a Rex Manning Day party

Ingredients for a successful Rex Manning Day party:

Hand-lettered costume party invites, photocopied (remember that Rex's lunch scene?), folded into junior high-style notes, and mailed in shiny silver envelopes

Empire Records on VHS

Swag bags filled with Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, movie-inspired renamed nail polishes, animal-print slap bracelets (to match the infamous couch, of course!), and mix CDs of tunes circa 1995 (each guest was asked to bring one for a swap)

A button-making station and supplies for weaving friendship bracelets while you watch the film

Contests for "best brownies" and "best impersonation" - with movie-themed prizes like this card and this bag

Sugar High punch, based on this recipe

A bunch of friends who love reminiscing about the 1990s and are great sports!

Happy Rex Manning Day! We're open 'til midnight!

adventures in motherhood: lights, camera, action.

I seriously do not know how you bloggers who have kiddos who don't take any naps do it. I can't even post regularly now that Lorelei takes only one! You're killing me, Smalls!

Things I've been preoccupied by this week:

1. Lights. As in, all of the lighting fixtures in my house. We're trying to make some small changes around here to get everything ready to put our house on the market in February (the start of buying season around these parts), and if you've been following my Pinterest board you can see that I've been light obsessed. I feel like ceiling lights are things that potential buyers won't notice unless they're hideous -- a category ours probably fall under at the moment. I'm thinking a trip to Ikea this weekend might be in order...any other great on-the-cheap home furnishing suggestions?

the only light I've decided on so far: two of these will hang (close to the ceiling) in the kitchen

2. Camera. Still don't have mine fixed, and my newest shop updates are looking a little worse for the wear with the point-and-shoot I'm using instead. Oh well. I did manage to get some cute pictures of Lorelei recently, though of course when I look at them I just see the ways in which my "real" camera would have captured the moment more perfectly. First world problems? Yep, definitely.

3. Action. I've been on the phone with repairmen -- and meeting with them -- a lot more than I would like in terms of my dreams about how to spend my free time, but at least we're making some headway on the house. New range hood? New faucet for our kitchen sink? Estimate on painting the exterior wood trim a color other than bright yellow (you can sort of see it in that photo above -- color suggestions?)? Check, check, check. Next up: getting an electrician in here to install all our new lights...once I order them, that is! It feels good to be finally jumping feet/head/everything first into this project, since I've been wanting to update our house since we moved in and it just never seemed like we should take the time/effort/money to do it. At least we'll get to enjoy it for a few months before we move, right? :)

p.s. 3 more days of knowing that your larking. purchase is going to support the fight against ovarian cancer!

Pinterest pledge.

So now that I'm selling my wares on Etsy (one month tomorrow!), I've become pretty sensitive to the way that people use Pinterest and how it affects the creator of the pinned image and product. I am definitely guilty of doing this in the past, but it's pretty obvious that some Pinteresters hit "repin" without ever checking the links they're posting. Not only is this frustrating for others (like when you find a picture of a delicious looking dessert but the pin doesn't link back to the recipe), it can lead to some pretty questionable ethical practices, especially in the DIY arena.

This post from oh my! handmade and Salt and Ginger (formerly Salt City Spice) is a perfect summary of how thoughtless pinning can be harmful to crafters trying to make a living from their original designs. Though I suspect most people pin far more than they will ever actually attempt in real life (soooo guilty of this!), there's always the chance that one errant pin can lead to a loss of income for someone.

(click the image for Jessika and Katrina's original post and image)

The quick summary:

Visit the original post over on omhg and pin the image to any of your DIY Pinterest boards.

From here on out, never pin anything without checking the link(s) first. If a "DIY" turns out to be someone's original artwork, DON'T POST IT AS A DIY.

Whenever possible, give credit to the image source in the pin description itself.

If you're feeling really saintly, spend some time going back through your old pins to correct them as needed, deleting anything that doesn't meet this ethical benchmark (I've started this process -- it's slow-going, but worth it!)

Okay, off my soapbox. Back to your regularly scheduled programming!