The Vignette

Sebastian's birthday party is Friday and I've bitten off more than I can chew, of course, so back to work!

xoxo,
Rachel

Giveaway Day - Stella Bella Boutique

"Stella Bella Boutique is an online jewelry boutique that offers pieces that are dainty, bold, and everything in between. All pieces are vintage inspired and hand-made. NOTHING IS OVER $20.00!! I love doing custom orders for wedding parties and brides :) The pictures below are just a couple of my favorite pieces. Message or email me and I'd love to work with you."
-Rachel Ridd
This giveaway is for $25 store credit! All you need to do is leave your favorite piece of owned jewelry in the comment section below. Winner will be drawn and announced Saturday afternoon.

xoxo,
Rachel

Giveaway Day - Gingiber

"Hi! My Name is Stacie and I run a little shop called "Gingiber". What 3 things should you know about me and my shop?

1. Gingiber is just FILLED with happy little doodles and drawings. I hope they make you smile.

2. For one lucky reader, I am offering a giveaway of any single 8x10 print from the Gingiber shop!

3. Since I have never won a giveaway myself, I want all of the "Smile and Wave" readers to feel like winners! So, I am offering FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING to anyone who makes a purchase from the shop! You just have to leave a "message to seller" during your checkout saying that you are a part of Rachel's crew.




Thanks so much for participating. Please stop by my little blog, GingiberSnap and say hello!

-Stacie"
For a chance to win, leave a comment with your favorite summer movie. Winners will be picked on Saturday afternoon.

xoxo,
Rachel

Giveaway Day - Dressing On The Side

"Dressing On The Side creates limited and collectible t-shirts that make you *smile* when you wear them. You won't see yourself coming and going in these supersoft tees but you will start a conversation or two because everyone has a favorite food they'd like to share with the world. Click on over to check out some daily specials and summer sales going on: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dressingOnTheSide Giveaway winner may choose any t-shirt to joyfully wear...which one has your name on it?"
-DOTS

Dressing On The Side is offering *free shipping* to Smile And Wave readers if you mention *smileandwave* (discount refunded via paypal)!


To enter this giveaway, share your favorite flavored cupcake in the comment section below. Giveaway will close on Saturday morning!
xoxo,
Rachel

Wish I Was Here

(working on this one.)

xoxo,
Rachel

Summertime, And The Livin's Easy

I found my Duaflex the other day while I was cleaning my studio space and realized I haven't been experimenting with it like I wanted so I took a couple of shots around the house. I think I'm going to use it at Sebastian's party to see how it captures people. Little people that don't stand still for very long.

I know some people like to use a contraption but I'm pretty happy with the images after editing.

And here's how it looked through the viewfinder without a contraption and before editing.

And this is how I'm going to do my hair all summer when I don't have time/want to wash it. Two little buns at the nape of my neck to tame the chaos.

I saw Leigh-Ann's new favorite summer hair trick. How do you fix your hair when the temps rise?

xoxo,
Rachel

Important Work

I wonder if he'll ever keep a blog.

xoxo,
Rachel

Invitations Are Out

We're having a small little party so it didn't take long to make these invitations. I just cut out some card stock, added graph paper with double-sided tape, layered washi tape, added my information, and addressed and stamped the backs. Post cards!

I got the inspiration from a shower my friend, Ashley, threw for her sister recently. I was able to use things I had on hand and manage to use the color scheme for Sebastian's truck party instead of something overly themed. And since Sebastian can't read I'll share with you that we ordered what we thought was an adult's fist-sized back hoe to match the little dump truck and bulldozer that my grandmother bought him on our Florida vacation. It's hard to translate scale ratios and there wasn't anything to compare it to in the pictures so we didn't realize we had actually ordered something about five times larger. Sebastian is going to be one happy little boy when he opens a back hoe the size of his little sister.

Happy weekend.
xoxo,
Rachel

Love It

source

A few late nights with work paired with sleep training have taken me to a new level of sleepy! I just want to curl up on this couch for a long nap. Except I'm going to try to go to bed instead, and then tomorrow let this whole room and house tour inspire me to tackle a fun new project.

xoxo,
Rachel

Summer Goals

* Bake a loaf of bread.
I realize some of you probably have this as part of your weekly routine but I've never done this myself successfully. (any tips or recipes can be left in the comment section!)

* Visit both the St. Louis and Springfield zoos.
We're taking Sebastian to the St. Louis zoo on his birthday but I've got a whole month to fill with activities so we don't notice how much we miss Brett while he's at ROTC camp.

* Declutter each room.
We're at the point where we need to implement the One In, One Out rule. I've already gotten rid of two of my least favorite wooden chairs (although our cool neighbor adopted them) and seem to always have at least two bags ready for Goodwill in our car trunk.

* Throw a special party.
I'm not the best at parties but I've always wanted to be. I'm going to try to put a lot of thought and energy into the details of Sebastian's fourth birthday party without making myself crazy. And maybe throw another kind of party if such an occasion calls for it.

* Successfully teach my son a morning routine.
We're starting preschool in the Fall so we're all going to have to get used to getting up early and looking presentable before 9:00 a.m. (or sometimes 10:00)! We've started a sticker chart that has pictures of each thing he has to do before he's free to do whatever he wants.

* Make friends with Jillian Michaels again.
I lost about six pounds in a month doing her work out and then lost ALL motivation as soon as I got back from Florida. Hello three pounds! It's time to make it a priority again.

* Take the kids to the local pools and parks.
Even when it's so humid and hot that we're all likely to be cranky before we get there.

* Make 11:00p.m. lights out time.
No exceptions.

* Obtain headboards for both beds in our home. Finish Sebastian's quilt and make pretty pillows to finish ours.
Because it's been eight years now and I think it's about time.

What's on your list?

xoxo,
Rachel

My Little Caged Bird

Up until this week, we've been co-sleeping with Ruby. I have enjoyed having my warm little bundle next to me as I fall asleep and the ease of nursing without having to be awake for awhile. I know it's helped us bond in a special way but she's big enough now that she ends up wiggling her way over to Brett's side and whacking him in the back with her arm and waking him up a few times a night. It was cute the first time.

In order for all of us to be well rested, we're teaching Ruby to sleep in her crib and fall asleep by herself. I've moved her crib into our room so as not to disturb Sebastian's sleep in the process. She's taken to it better than I expected and almost made it through the night last night. She has been a better self-soother than Sebastian so there's usually only a few minutes of crying before she's out like a light.

Do any of you have young kids sharing a room? What did you do to get to the point where they were both sleeping in there together?

xoxo,
Rachel

Belted

I found this vintage dress in Elsie's stash and decided it needed a little work before I wore it out for date night. I took in the sides a few inches, as it was really wide, and took about four inches off the bottom before hemming it. Being just 5' 4", I needed it a lot shorter. It's been fun to experiment with sewing and reworking stuff for myself again. Here's another little dress I made from a denim jumper.

Don't mind the awkward facial expression. I think it must've been the pre-vacation crazy in my eye! This one was about six inches higher on top and too narrow around the chest so I cut it down and made a casing for a piece of elastic that only connects from shoulder to shoulder so it doesn't gather in the front. I used some scrap from another denim jumper to make a belt and gathered it in a little for some shape. The sides still have a nice shape to them and the denim is pretty sturdy so it's flattering for the most part. Now I just have to find it at the bottom of the clean pile.

In other news, I'm offering a summer discount on all ad sales! You can sponsor Smile And Wave at 20% off the regular rate for July, August, and September. With over 115,000 page views a month, summer rates are well below competitive prices for similarly sized blogs. If you're interested in getting in before spots fill up, e-mail Leigh-Ann @ FreckledNest (@) gmail (dot) com.

xoxo,
Rachel

Don't Forget...

Post card from RarRarPress
(some mature content in their Etsy shop)

Frame from Seminole, Oklahoma junk shop that is now closed.

xoxo,
Rachel

On The Pom Pom Bandwagon

To celebrate the first day of summer I decided not to tackle the cleaning and made these pom poms instead. Technically, the tissue paper was part of the clutter on my studio desk so we'll say I was cleaning. While doing this I was also avoiding the laundry and there is no way to justify this helping me cycle through that pile.

I bought this huge pack of multi-colored tissue paper at Hobby Lobby a few months ago thinking I'd use it for a spring garland and various art journal projects. I love the weight of this tissue paper. It's tough but still slightly see through. It also comes in the most beautiful shades that allow for my favorite color schemes.

In case you don't have one of the hundred pom pom tutorials out there bookmarked, here's how I made mine.

Gather five or seven or nine (must be an odd number to get this look) pieces of tissue paper in two monochromatic shades (pinks & yellows, greens & blues) that compliment each other and cut them three times as long as they are wide. You'll also need some twine or embroidery thread.

With your papers stacked, fold them into a fan like so.

Don't fold them the other way or you'll get a wonky pom pom.

Trim off the ends at an angle for a petal effect.

Tie it together in the middle with your knot and extra string on the edge of the color you want at the top. I wanted yellow at the top of mine.

Fan out and pinch around the knotted area in between the folds to help it stay fanned.

Very gently, start peeling your layers down. Do them one side at a time so it all looks even when you're done.

Your middle layer should stick out in the center but you can peel it to the top or bottom a little here and there to make it look a little more like a flower.

I ran out of tissue paper before I could fill my room with them so I just have three but they are doing a find job of making me happy when I pass them and are a great reminder that summer has only just begun.

xoxo,
Rachel

Oil Cloth Is My New Favorite

I'm still primarily nursing Ruby but we've been introducing baby food and giving her rice cereal for a few weeks now. When we would go out to eat with Sebastian through his baby food years I had a sporty little lunch bag that kept things cool and could be cleaned easily in case of a spill. I think I gave it away when we moved. I'd been hoarding some oil cloth from Heather Bailey's line so I decided to use it to make a new carrying case for our time on vacation in Florida.

I started it at midnight the night before we left so it's a little more wonky than I usually prefer but it does it's job. I basically cut out a long strip about 50" x 8", folded it in half with right sides together, stitched up the two long sides, turned it right side out, tucked the open end in and stitched it closed. I then folded it so that it had a generous pocket (see first photo) and stitched up the long sides. I had some adhesive velcro that I slapped on after figuring out where it should go when the flap came down but I'd suggest stitching that on if you're not in such a night-before-a-big-trip-crazy-lady-crafting-frenzy.

I probably should've used a different foot because my standard one kept getting suctioned to the laminated sides and would pull and bunch. Regardless, it is wipeable and can carry two or three spoons, a bib, a cloth, and two or three little jars of baby food. My next project, if I didn't already have a perfectly useful one, would be to make a changing mat out of this stuff. I made one from green gingham oil cloth with a dusty blue grosgrain ribbon for the edging for Sebastian but it got lost somehow along the way. Then I replaced it with a vinyl place mat from Target. I kid you not. It folds up nicely and weighs almost nothing and has held up in the wash since 2007. You can see a few projects using laminated cotton on the Sew Can Do blog as well as a beautifully covered bath seat from Prudent Baby.

In the mean time, we've got some eating to do.

I hope your weekend was productive and/or restful. Ruby is a scooter now so ours included some baby proofing. I also picked up almost everything I need for a Mighty Machines themed birthday party last night (hi, Katie from Target). I could kiss Target on the mouth sometimes. They always surprise me with how much they know exactly what I need.

Or don't need. Ha!

xoxo,
Rachel