Thompson Family-Life

Bring it on, Halloween. (& my Grandmother's resemblance to Dolly Parton.)

I'm feeling pretty happy to finally have this room looking like a livable space! The painters were finished many weeks ago and soon after we had a photo shoot to complete (using this room as a backdrop), and then after that - it just sort of sat in shambles. No pretty things on the wall. But slowly but surely, I've been pulling it together. Halloween was a perfect excuse to get my butt in gear and finish up all the little details. Frames got coats of pretty spray paint. The color palette I've had in my mind seemed to all come together. I'm so happy with how everything looks. When I was done yesterday, I just sat in the chair and took it all in. Even Ethan likes it (ha). The white walls have proved to be so calming. 

Since we put house-hunting on hold, I've been approaching our home in a much different way. Embracing it and making it what I want it to be. It's not a place-holder anymore. Just because you've been in a house for a very long time, doesn't mean you can't see it with new eyes. All it takes is a little (or a lot!) of paint and experimenting with new things. It is incredibly fulfilling to me putting rooms together, gathering things for wall vignettes and seeing how they all go together visually. This is when I'm most in my element I think. It's like a huge canvas!

Certain elements will be replaced after Halloween, like the masks and vintage mystery novel covers. I have a stack of those I bought at a flea market a while ago. I love them so much! I'd love to scan some of the covers and blow them up for wall decor. The illustrations and spooky storylines go so well with Halloween.

The masks are all leftover from my last Halloween vignette. The Batman and Wonder Woman masks - they are actually just hung on the reverse side (the other side is full color). The red and white color palette ended up working perfectly! All the paper masks are vintage and found on Etsy. The red/orange and white typography print that says "Die gedanken sind frei" ("Thoughts are Free") is from this shop. I knew I wanted to add some bold, graphic, typographic prints to this room to introduce some modern elements (so it wouldn't be all vintage, vintage) and when I saw this on Etsy, I knew it was perfect. Unfortunately, it only came in an 11"x17" size so I had it scanned and enlarged at Staples. He has some other beautiful prints in other languages like French, but I'm not really a romantic languages kind of girl. ; ) I love the way German looks.

The rest of the artwork, as I've mentioned before, are all original drawings and paintings from Estate & Garage Sales. And then there's the Dolly record. ; ) I painted the backgrounds on several pieces so they'd match my palette better. I wanted the arrangement to have a gallery feel. 

I handcut the spider webs from leftover origami paper, one from cardstock (because I ran out of origami paper, and let me tell you, origami is way easier to cut into!) and the large one was cut from BLACK VELVET PAPER. Yum. I found it at Michaels. That stuff is amazing. I want more. I like it because it's a really rich black. A lot of black paper just isn't that dark and rich. I used this tutorial for cutting the webs. Super easy and a little addictive! I hung them from clear fishing wire.

I found these light up jack-o-lanterns at the thrift store yesterday. Perfect timing. The boys of course loved these. I had some other Martha Stewart decorations and paper silhouettes I bought on clearance at Michaels several years ago, most of which I haven't put out ever. I kept forgetting I had them! I put them around the house and let the boys find them when they got home from school yesterday. Campbell said his fav is the witch. I made the fabric pumkins a few years ago. You can make some too using my tutorial here. (This is my most pinned tutorial and I'm still amazed at how many people come back to make these every year. A grandmother left a comment saying she made some with her grandson this year! Heart melt!)

(fox and owl masks are vintage)

Ok, let's talk Dolly. I love her. Many of us love her. Honestly, I think it's a bit trendy to like her these days. It's the hipster thing to do to love old school country. ; ) (That is not me being a grumpy old lady at all.)

We all have our reasons for loving certain people, certain music. I love Dolly because I grew up listening to old school country music. I know at the time I probably thought it was LAME when we'd hop in our station wagon and my Dad would turn on old country. (Where's my pop music?! Where's my Whitney Houston!?) But now I appreciate this music SO MUCH. And I appreciate that it was always playing around me, either at home, or at my grandparents' homes in Louisiana. It sort of feels like it runs through my veins. When I hear it now, it transports me back to my childhood. All those warm-fuzzy-memories. 

I've gathered quite the collection of old country records at thrift stores over the past few years, and this Dolly record is one of them. I think I'm most drawn to his photo of her because she's so young, and it's before she did all those crazy things to her body (granted, I still love her crazy, plastic-surgery-inflicted body, because she's still DOLLY underneath it all. And I love that she has such a great sense of humor about her body!)

But I realized yesterday that I'm most drawn to this photo of her because she reminds me of my maternal Grandmother!

My Grandmother ("Mamaw" to me!) has always been beautiful. She still is. She's just always been striking. I always remember my Mom telling me that when she used to go places with her Mom, men would do the double-take and turn and look at her. Embarrassing for a kiddo right? Ha! 

That's my Mom on the left. She will probably shoot me for posting this photo of her. I think she looks beautiful though (bitchin' specs, Mom!) And why couldn't I have inherited her rich, dark hair?!

Here's my Grandmother with my Grandfather at the motel they owned. She's definitely channeling Dolly here.

I remember my cousins and I even finding a blonde wig at her house when we were little and thinking it was SO DOLLY. (If I remember correctly, one of us donned the wig and stuffed our shirt because as you know, Dolly's boobs are FAMOUS!) I don't think my grandmother wore wigs a lot - even without the wig, she reminds me so much of Dolly (minus the boobs).

And speaking of my Mom, here she is on her wedding day. I thought it was funny that the colors in the room remind me so much of what I have in my own house. The floral print on that couch is amazing! I wish I had been so into vintage when I got married, because I would've LOOOVED to have worn her dress. Although, even as a size 8 or so when I got married, I don't think I could've fit in her dress. My Mom was teeny-tiny. So pretty.

Thanks, Dolly, for bringing back all of those wonderful memories. You make me miss my grandparents even more. I'm so happy I get to see them all soon. It has felt too long.

Classic Horror Movies

sources: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

I have a confession. I haven't seen any of these classics. :::ducks:::

I know right? Unforgivable. 

So I decided it was time. I bought all of these on DVD on Amazon here and here.

I'm actually not one for scary movies! But I figure these can't be too bad. It's the modern horror movies I can't take! 

Above is the new Classic Horror Movies Cross-Stitch pattern from Wee Little Stitches. Isn't it cute? You can find it here. It's not too late to do some spooky stitching!

I've finallllly gotten around to making this house festive for Halloween. Still working on it. I have some new ideas this year. I wanted to try something new, although I'll have to hang these salon ladies SOMEwhere I love them so much!

 

(You can find some printable masks that I put together for Design Sponge last year if you're interested!)

We're going to have a Halloween movie night this weekend with the kids (Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. Can you belive they're playing It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown THE NIGHT of Halloween? What were they thinking? We need to just buy it.) 

And speaking of Frankenstein, did you see Frankenweenie? It really was so, so cute. It lived up to the hype for me. It was really special I think. Good job, Tim.

Any other Halloween movies you watch every year? We'll be watching Mad Monster Party again this year. I only just discovered that Rankin Bass gem last year. There's a great write-up on it over on Modern Kiddo.

I also downloaded Heidi's Halloween Mix that she put together this year. It's too cute. She has more here.

Do you have any fun plans for Halloween? I'd really love to throw a Halloween party just for the adults one year. Have you finalized plans for the kids' costumes? Cooper decided on Iron Man and Campbell chose a penguin.

Totally don't know where the penguin came from. It came in the mail today and it's like, two sizes too big. It's going to be interesting!

Cooper's Super Mario Party & Pixel Party Backdrop How-to

You know a party was a success because when it's over, everyone absolutely crashes. This was one of the funnest (is that a word?) parties we've had for one of our boys. I think it's because it wasn't at a jumpy place (you know those places, been there done that) or bowling.. or lazer tag... or any other money pit party place you can think of. 

We actually haven't had a big party for either boy in a couple years. I think we were just burned out on parties. They are a lot of work! And when the kids get older, your options start to run out, except for those money pit places. Not that there's anything wrong with those, because the kids love them, but when every kid has their party at the same place, it just starts to get old - I think for everyone. When I thought about having the party at one of those places this year, I just got really depressed and I felt like we needed to get a bit more creative.

I knew we couldn't have it at our house because our house is so small, and all 3rd grade boys want to do is RUN WILD. They need SPACE. 

It dawned on one of us, what about a gym? One of Cooper's good friends - his father is the Pastor of a local church and we had attended a party in their gym a few years ago that was super fun for the kids. We aren't members of the church, but we thought we'd ask if we could rent it anyways, just on the off chance they'd say yes. Well, they so generously let us! I can't express how PERFECT it was for a bunch of boys at this age. (oh, and I can't forget one GIRL, the pastor's daughter. ; )

We had full access to all of their sports equipment like basketballs, footballs, kickballs, other GIANT BALLS, these things called "turtles" that you can roll around on (where have I been, i've never seen these amazing things!) and other fun things to roll around on. It was absolute insanity and chaos... and absolutey perfect. As you can see, everyone had a lot of fun. Even one of the Moms got in on a basketball game! She caught some serious air!

Here's one of the turtle roller thingies...

A huge game of dodge ball was played (for prizes of course).. mind you, these were WAY bigger balls than the ones WE played dodge ball with back when I was a kiddo...

We were able to pull them away from playing for a little pizza and cupcakes. The cupcakes came out SO cute! I won't take credit for them though. My Mother-in-Law works with a lady that makes cakes and I requested Mario Mushroom cupcakes and she did an amazing job! I really love how clever she was with the eyes and the white chocolate chips.

The backdrop was something I came up with last week (always last minute). It was actually more of an afterthought. I had ordered these vinyl wall graphics with the intention of setting up a backdrop on the gym wall that the kids could visually "interact" with, thinking it would make for great pictures! And to justify the expense, we would use them on the boys' room wall after the party (they are reusable). Then I thought my more homemade idea could be a secondary backdrop somewhere else. Well, I'm glad we followed through it because apparently my order for the vinyl graphics never went through!

In the end, I loved our handmade backdrop even more and we saved the 70 bucks on the other. The large Mario (7 ft. tall!) and mushroom cost only the $18 we spent on origami paper. We had leftover bulletin board paper from these gifts I wrapped two Christmases ago.

To find your original bitmap artwork to work from, just search your character on Google, print it out, and then draw grid lines on top to make it easier for you to follow (it will look like a cross-stitch pattern.) Here are some details about how we made them in case you want to make some pixel backdrops for your next party:

 

I will say, that since we did these semi-last-minute, there might be better ways to assemble these. You could always go outside and spray-mount the squares to your base paper. But I'm personally not a fan of the fumes, and I think they'd almost look too "perfect" if that makes sense. I like that some of the pieces are kind of loose - it makes for a more dimensional look. I like that you can see the integrity of the paper in that way. If you used spray mount, it would almost be seamless.

I'm glad that we went with the 6x6 precut paper. I had originally considered 8x8 squares and WOW that would've been BIG. Even with the 6x6 paper it was 7 feet tall. I knew I wanted it big and that seemed to be a perfect size.

We put together the mushroom THE DAY of the party because I realized my wall graphics weren't coming! Ethan suggested we do it half size and I'm so glad we did because it looks better scale-wise. I did have to cut down the origami paper to 3x3 inch squares, but if you give me a craft knife, a straight edge and a self-healing mat, I'm a cutting-machine. We got them done just in time. We hung them on the walls with that yellow wall puddy so that it wouldn't damage the walls.

Miraculously, we got both Mario and the mushroom home in one piece, so they'll be hung in the boys' room!

I bought the 36" ballons from Shop Sweet Lulu (love that site!). Unfortunately, one of the red and white dotted balloons busted (sad face). I think it was over inflated at Party City. I bought the dots to signify the dotted mushrooms. I also bought red and white polka dot plates and green and white polka dot napkins (again to signify the red and green Mario mushrooms). I bought these red and white polka dot gable boxes for favors.

And I feel I must point out that, yes, all four of these cute kiddos are 3rd graders, despite the height differences! ; )

We've actually been pixel craft obsessed around here the past few months and the boys did another unrelated pixel craft project that I need to share with you! Soon! I also have a home decor DIY involving pixels that I need to put together as well.

I think if we rent this gym again for Campbell's party in May, I'd love to do some characters down the entire wall so that the boys (and girls!) could interact with them, like they're right inside a video game! It would be a lot of work, but OH, the photos we'd get.

Minecraft anyone?

Pixels are awesome.

her new ride

I got to hang out with this little lady again today because Mama had to go check out a new school for her. I'm lucky because her Mom is still in the process of interviewing for jobs & finding a place to keep her, so she's needed someone to babysit.

And I can't complain one bit!

I love it. I truly enjoy spending time with her and it scratches that girl-itch since I'm surrounded by boys. Heck, it scratches that BABY itch! Now don't get me wrong, we're done with babies. But I still have those motherly cravings when I see a baby. I have to fight that urge to grab any cute-non-crying-baby I see in public, and just RUN. (Don't tell me you don't feel it, too.) 

There's really a lot of truth in those "motherly instincts" people talk about. It's just something you feel in your bones! In your very being.

I'm just glad I can help out, and I made it (hopefully) clear how much I love keeping her. Maybe I can keep up my babysitting duties even when Mom goes back to work.

She's definitely still very attached to her Mama, so there were some tears. But I can tell she's getting more used to me and the tears didn't last long. (See that single tear? So pitiful.)

But no worries, after about ten minutes she looked like this:

And then she got really excited when we saw these ghosts hanging in a neighbor's yard...

I kept saying "say boo!" to the ghosts and I think she did!

And then she started growling really loud at them. It was hilarious.

Oh, that amazing stroller? Well, Miss Lenore really loves going for walks. She prefers to be on the move or otherwise she starts thinking about Mama too much. ; ) So, when I saw this incredible vintage stroller (60s? 70s?) on Etsy at such a great price (even with shipping!), I had to pounce on it. I never see these in thrift stores, and this one was in mint-never-been-used condition. It was such a find, I had to have it. 

Was it a silly purchase? Absolutely. Did I have buyer's remorse afterwards? Probably. But I justify it by saying I'll have it for my granddaughters (you know I'll end up with 8 grandsons). I'm going to try and take care of it to keep it in the condition it's in so that I can use it many years down the road (or I'll sell it maybe.) She's the perfect size for it and it feels very safe for a short walk.

The first time I took her for a walk, she became attached to my Miffy key chain, so I let her hold it every time we go for a walk now. She loves it! She has good taste.

The smock top was a purchase from Etsy as well. Luckily you can find vintage baby clothes very affordably and they are very easy to find at thrift stores for a couple bucks a piece. I've already procured some pieces for her for future photos. ; ) And speaking of vintage kids clothes, have you checked out my friend Heather's shop lately? She has lots of cute pieces! When Lenore is done with her vintage wardrobe, I'll be selling them in my Online Yard Sale, so be looking out for those.

The leaves are SLOWLY starting to change colors around here in Atlanta. It's still very green. But at least we have these orange friends to make it feel festive. Luckily the trees have completely changed right around Halloween. It's always perfect timing.

And speaking of pumpkins, we went pumpkin picking this past weekend with Lenore and her adorable brother Martin (who's exactly Campbell's age). 

They recently moved here from Baltimore and I don't think they'd seen pumpkins quite this... LARGE. : )

Super Mario Invitations

We're in the throes of party prep for Cooper's 9th Birthday party this weekend. I haven't planned an elaborate party since my Mother-in-Law's party and I forgot how grueling (but fun!) it can be. Just finished these little slider cards and put them in the mail. I will share soon how I made them and I also have ideas on adding more Mario characters popping out of the green tubes (yes, I have no idea with the correct Mario lingo is) and offering it as an invitation printable in our shop. Really excited about that! 

Back to party planning!