Hello, sweet little ruffled friend. Since The Limited is have a 40% off everything (yes, you read that right. EVERYTHING) sale tomorrow, you will most likely be living in my closet from here on out.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
This Lil' Birdie Loves Ruffles
Hello, sweet little ruffled friend. Since The Limited is have a 40% off everything (yes, you read that right. EVERYTHING) sale tomorrow, you will most likely be living in my closet from here on out.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Heartbroken, Devastated, and How You Can Help
Some of you know and some of you don't, but I have been blessed for the past six years to live in the wonderful city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. If you've watched the news at all this morning or last night, that name should ring a bell.
Last night, around 5, a F5 tornado one mile wide tore through Tuscaloosa.
As I sat in a saferoom with 8 other people 5 to 10 miles away from the tornado, I was the most scared I have ever been in my entire life. We had watched the massive tornado rip through Cullman, Alabama earlier in the afternoon, and couldn't even imagine that happening to our town.
It's one thing to see it on the news in another city, another state. It's a whole other thing entirely to hear reports of "total devastation" in YOUR town.
For some reason we're pretty much a tornado magnet sitting here just 45 minutes from Birmingham, Alabama. And we're no stranger to tornadoes. April 15th of this year we had a tornado rip through the south part of our town. But it wasn't like this.
To put it in perspective, the cottage I used to share with my sister is roughly where that arrow in the picture is.
This is Forest Lake and 16th Street E. I lived on Forest Lake and 19th Street E.
A sweet friend and her husband (our church's neighborhood missionaries) visited the site last night to pass out water and clothes. This is what she said to me...
"All roads impassible. Having to use dozers to clear roads. Talked to a police officer at Rec Center and he said there are more than 15 dead because he pulled 9 himself and in Rosedale[a government housing project] there were so many dead that they just marked them and set them aside. It's really bad... People can't even get out to get home to other counties, not even by the interstate. Only two gas stations open in all of Tuscaloosa; everyone coming to Northport."
My heart breaks when I hear this because this is my town. I know these people.
If you haven't seen it already, please watch this video. I don't think the person should have been in their car that close to the actual tornado, but I was with a friend in this area just Tuesday night for a Stella & Dot show. Now it's gone.
I would hope that your first response to seeing something like that would be to pray for anyone and everyone that was in that monster storm's path. Apparently it crossed four states (Alabama, Georgia, and then North Carolina and South Carolina).
I would hope your second response would be "How can I help?"
The prayers are much needed. The estimated death toll is 128 in Alabama, and that is before workers had daylight to search the debris.
We also need blood. I've heard reports of a blood drive today in at Northridge Fitness in Tuscaloosa. I don't know that for sure, but I do know that our local Red Cross location was directly in the path of the tornado yesterday. The Red Cross released a statement and you can read it here.
Also, our University of Alabama Student Rec Center has been set up as a shelter for those without homes. They are in desperate need of toiletries, pants, and undergarments.
If you would like to send a care package with some items, please send me an email at thislilbirdie at gmail dot com and I'll provide you an address.
Today, it's not about what team you root for or where you graduated from college. It's about human life and helping others. I hope you'll find it in your heart to help my beautiful city, because God knows, we need it.
Last night, around 5, a F5 tornado one mile wide tore through Tuscaloosa.
As I sat in a saferoom with 8 other people 5 to 10 miles away from the tornado, I was the most scared I have ever been in my entire life. We had watched the massive tornado rip through Cullman, Alabama earlier in the afternoon, and couldn't even imagine that happening to our town.
It's one thing to see it on the news in another city, another state. It's a whole other thing entirely to hear reports of "total devastation" in YOUR town.
For some reason we're pretty much a tornado magnet sitting here just 45 minutes from Birmingham, Alabama. And we're no stranger to tornadoes. April 15th of this year we had a tornado rip through the south part of our town. But it wasn't like this.
To put it in perspective, the cottage I used to share with my sister is roughly where that arrow in the picture is.
This is Forest Lake and 16th Street E. I lived on Forest Lake and 19th Street E.
A sweet friend and her husband (our church's neighborhood missionaries) visited the site last night to pass out water and clothes. This is what she said to me...
"All roads impassible. Having to use dozers to clear roads. Talked to a police officer at Rec Center and he said there are more than 15 dead because he pulled 9 himself and in Rosedale[a government housing project] there were so many dead that they just marked them and set them aside. It's really bad... People can't even get out to get home to other counties, not even by the interstate. Only two gas stations open in all of Tuscaloosa; everyone coming to Northport."
My heart breaks when I hear this because this is my town. I know these people.
If you haven't seen it already, please watch this video. I don't think the person should have been in their car that close to the actual tornado, but I was with a friend in this area just Tuesday night for a Stella & Dot show. Now it's gone.
I would hope that your first response to seeing something like that would be to pray for anyone and everyone that was in that monster storm's path. Apparently it crossed four states (Alabama, Georgia, and then North Carolina and South Carolina).
I would hope your second response would be "How can I help?"
The prayers are much needed. The estimated death toll is 128 in Alabama, and that is before workers had daylight to search the debris.
We also need blood. I've heard reports of a blood drive today in at Northridge Fitness in Tuscaloosa. I don't know that for sure, but I do know that our local Red Cross location was directly in the path of the tornado yesterday. The Red Cross released a statement and you can read it here.
Also, our University of Alabama Student Rec Center has been set up as a shelter for those without homes. They are in desperate need of toiletries, pants, and undergarments.
If you would like to send a care package with some items, please send me an email at thislilbirdie at gmail dot com and I'll provide you an address.
Today, it's not about what team you root for or where you graduated from college. It's about human life and helping others. I hope you'll find it in your heart to help my beautiful city, because God knows, we need it.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
This Lil' Birdie is Spent...
My newest inspiration....
It's been that kind of week.
Thankfully tomorrow starts a new one!
(Thanks, Sweet Sister for sharing!)
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| Keep Calm Parody Print, Earmark's Etsy Shop |
Thankfully tomorrow starts a new one!
(Thanks, Sweet Sister for sharing!)
Monday, March 21, 2011
This Lil' Birdie Is Resourceful
So yesterday I showed you my little desk fixer-upper rearranging. And I told you I would show you my bulletin board project. And here's the step-by-step!
What I used:
- Bulletin board
- Open-back frame
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Screw driver
- Shower curtain (trust me on this one)
I bought this open-back frame at Hobby Lobby for half off $25.99. Pricey for my budget? Yes, but I couldn't find anything else I liked as much, so I just went with it.
It's a 16"x20" frame, and you'd be amazed how hard it is to find a cork board to fit.
So I found this guy at Target for $6.99, and decided to cut it to size.
Easier said than done.
I started by ripping off the border. Again, easier said than done. This is where the screw driver comes in. For leverage.
It took oh about an hour.
But that wasn't the end of this project. The bulletin board was still too big for the frame.
So I measured twice and cut sixty-two times until I finally had something that remotely resembled a 16x20" rectangle. The edges were all sorts of jagged because my scissors weren't sharp enough and I ended up using the screwdriver to cut the bulletin board down to size. Don't judge me.
Here's where the shower curtain comes in. A few weeks back when I visited my lovely sister for a girls' day, we found this shower curtain at Target.
At the time, my plan was to make basic elastic-wasted skirts for the two of us (because really, that's a LOT of fabric for 20 bucks!). Then I decided to take a little square and cover a bulletin board.
So I ironed it (*gasp* yes, I do own an iron) and cut it to fit the cork.
Then because I'm the absolute laziest do-it-yourself-er EVER, I took my handy dandy hot glue gun and glued it to the board.
For the corners, I just lopped off one side (see above)...
Fold the other corner down....
And then fold that corner up and glue. Ta da! Corner are done (they don't have to be perfect 'cause they're going in the frame).
Then wiggle and worm it into the frame and you've got an adorable sweet little bulletin board!
Sorry for the lighting change. Had to go outside on that beautiful day!
And this guy is perfect over my desk...
Sweet big flower brooch, picture of me & the boyfriend, and an on-going list of paint colors I love... Inspiration!
What I used:
- Bulletin board
- Open-back frame
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Screw driver
- Shower curtain (trust me on this one)
I bought this open-back frame at Hobby Lobby for half off $25.99. Pricey for my budget? Yes, but I couldn't find anything else I liked as much, so I just went with it.
It's a 16"x20" frame, and you'd be amazed how hard it is to find a cork board to fit.
So I found this guy at Target for $6.99, and decided to cut it to size.
I started by ripping off the border. Again, easier said than done. This is where the screw driver comes in. For leverage.
It took oh about an hour.
But that wasn't the end of this project. The bulletin board was still too big for the frame.
So I measured twice and cut sixty-two times until I finally had something that remotely resembled a 16x20" rectangle. The edges were all sorts of jagged because my scissors weren't sharp enough and I ended up using the screwdriver to cut the bulletin board down to size. Don't judge me.
Here's where the shower curtain comes in. A few weeks back when I visited my lovely sister for a girls' day, we found this shower curtain at Target.
 |
| Home Feminine Shower Curtain, Target |
So I ironed it (*gasp* yes, I do own an iron) and cut it to fit the cork.
Then because I'm the absolute laziest do-it-yourself-er EVER, I took my handy dandy hot glue gun and glued it to the board.
For the corners, I just lopped off one side (see above)...
And then fold that corner up and glue. Ta da! Corner are done (they don't have to be perfect 'cause they're going in the frame).
Then wiggle and worm it into the frame and you've got an adorable sweet little bulletin board!
Sorry for the lighting change. Had to go outside on that beautiful day!
And this guy is perfect over my desk...
Sweet big flower brooch, picture of me & the boyfriend, and an on-going list of paint colors I love... Inspiration!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
This Lil' Birdie is Rearranging Things
I have a confession. I love to re-arrange things. Furniture, artwork, pictures, clothes. Pretty much anything I can pick up, I will move. The boyfriend doesn't particularly support this little habit of mine. He likes things to stay the same. I like to change things up so then it's like getting new things without the extra money!
I'm planning on starting a little home-based business soon. I'll let everyone know when I get things up and running, but until then, let's talk about how I'm preparing.
First, I realized I definitely need a desk. All through college I used my mother's hand-me-down vanity as a desk or just camped out on the couch. Now, two years out of college, I've had no need for a desk. All of my work is done, well, at work. The extent of my computer usage is internet and photos. But now, I need a desk.
There was this little corner of my apartment that seemed like it would be perfect.
I'm planning on starting a little home-based business soon. I'll let everyone know when I get things up and running, but until then, let's talk about how I'm preparing.
First, I realized I definitely need a desk. All through college I used my mother's hand-me-down vanity as a desk or just camped out on the couch. Now, two years out of college, I've had no need for a desk. All of my work is done, well, at work. The extent of my computer usage is internet and photos. But now, I need a desk.
There was this little corner of my apartment that seemed like it would be perfect.
I was standing in front of the tv to take this picture, and you can see the curtains for the french doors to the patio. So it's a small space in an awkward corner that collected magazines and puppy hair.
I inherited this antique sewing table from my mom and it fit just perfect...
Yes, it's a little off-center here but that's just because I ended up opening the top to use both sides. The sewing machine has been removed and there's just a lovely hole in it's place.
So I had my "desk" and from there it was just decorating (aka: pulling things from around the house to make it pretty).
I decided a lamp would be good, so I got one out of storage (there's no shortage of lamps around here, that's for sure). And I brought that sweet little trinket box I showed you the other day out of the bedroom. He no longer holds bobby pins and wayward jewelry. Now he holds bobby pins and paper clips.
Every desk has to have a calendar, and mine is vintage Barbie prints that will be cut and framed at the end of the year.
That tin on the left-hand side of the picture? That's full of Sharpies and pencils. I needed something to hold my colored pens (I like to color coordinate things). And my coffee mug from Anthropologie was perfect.
A little of this, a little of that, a small little project for the bulletin board (which I'll detail tomorrow), and this is the end result....
Clean, simple, organized. Exactly what I need. And my laptop fits perfectly over the hole from the sewing machine!
In my old college cottage, I had a do-it-yourself closet organizer system, and the pieces have traveled with me from home to home over the years. With fabric bins and some boxes, this one is perfect for stashing paper, stationery, and all other random things out of the way. It also makes good use out of that awkward corner beside the tv.
Add the chair back, and voila! Perfect little desk space for my new business venture!
And now that I see it in pictures, I think it's time to start bringing another color into the house. It's getting a little TOO blue...
Monday, March 14, 2011
This Lil' Birdie Is Obsessed: Milk Glass
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| Set of Milk Glass Vases from Etsy.com |
I truly love milk glass. Last summer I visited the {tiny} town of Vernon, Alabama, to help my boyfriend's parents pack up his childhood home for a move to the big {little{ city of Tuscaloosa. Vernon is a virtual treasure trove for small town junkies like me. They have a cute little downtown and everyone knows everything about everyone. But my favorite part of this small town?
The Falkner Antique Mall. My boyfriend's great-grandfather started a mercantile store in this building. It was the heart of the city. They sold everything from candy to farming equipment and was even the first funeral home for Vernon! You can read the story at the Antique Mall's website. But really you absolutely must go by if you're ever in rural west Alabama.
Miss April and I took a break from packing for a visit to the Antique Mall, and now I have the itch to go back. They have a plethora of true antiques and just good ol' junk to choose from! Of couse, I found some things I just couldn't live without...
...A shabby chic window pane with peeling paint the exact same color as my Halcyon Green accents. It hangs over my hall bench (seen in the Christmas post)
...A vintage map of Canada (all in French, no less). I painted and distress the frame. This is in the dining room.
...A sweet little black set of shelves for my storage-less bathroom. Great for towels and the odd basket full of hair appliances...
But two of my favorite finds were... milk glass!
This vase is much bigger than the standard milk glass bud vase. P.s. those pictures in the background? My dad's parents -- my Grandmother and Granddaddy.
And this sweet little trinket box at one time had some pretty gold accents, but that has long since worn off. It was a perfect addition to my bedside table menagerie...
Is your nightstand "user-friendly" or pretty? Mine's a combination of both. The trinket boxes hold jewelry and the odd bobby pin that finds its way into the bed, and the drawers underneath hold everything else!
I'm thinking another trip to the Falkner Antique Mall will be in the works soon. Next time I'll be sure to take pictures before I get my lovelies home!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
This Lil' Birdie Loves: Pink!
There was a girl I went to church with years and years and years ago. I'll always remember her because my sister and I always discussed (in church, no less!) that she had on pink EVERY. TIME. WE. SAW. HER. Huh?! Not head-to-toe. But a definite pink theme.
Now, after so many years, I'm beginning to see the genius and the flaw in her wardrobe. I don't think I could live with an entirely pink wardrobe. But if I did, it'd look a little like this...
Black and pink? Where do I buy?
Ruffles and more ruffles and oh, my... I'm in love... Currently wishing I could still wear little girls clothes...
But the problem is that for as much as I love pink, I would rather accessorize with pink...
Case in point:
Hello, darling. Your bow has won me over.
My birthday is in about a month. I will accept any of these items as gifts and promise to not even be tempted to exchange them :)
Now, after so many years, I'm beginning to see the genius and the flaw in her wardrobe. I don't think I could live with an entirely pink wardrobe. But if I did, it'd look a little like this...
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| Bobeau Stripe Bow Front Tank, Nordstrom |
 |
| Girls' Layer Cake Tank, J. Crew |
 |
| Ballet Flats, Old Navy |
Case in point:
 |
| Kate Spade New York "idiom" Medium Enamel Bracelet, Nordstrom |
My birthday is in about a month. I will accept any of these items as gifts and promise to not even be tempted to exchange them :)
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