September Sponsor Highlight!

For the stylish mister by ViviDot.

This customized necklace by Lisa Leonard Designs.

This fun notebook from Gadanke.

This pretty amber teething necklace from Tweet Baby Designs.

This charming lace locket by Blue Bird Lucy's.

Better than a real mouse! By Muncle Fred Art.

A sweet handmade toddler dress by 2 Sweet Things.

One of the prettiest vintage quilts ever from Made Ya Look.

The perfect floral headband for Fall by Gussy.

Good enough to eat zipper pouch by See Sue Stitch.

This chunky cowl by Donna's Decembers will keep the chill at bay!

Feather earrings from Reworked.

This adorable notebook trio by Gingiber.

This adorable canvas bag from The Pleated Poppy Shop.

This lovely scarf by Sunday Morning Sugar

Sponsor giveaways will go up tomorrow despite tomorrow being OCTOBER!!! Life has taken priority this week with a few family obligations and I know you all are pretty fantastic folks and will understand. The kids and I are headed out this afternoon to see my brother one more time this weekend before he deploys so I'll be bringing the sponsor giveaways to you from Dallas, TX!! Yeehaw! ;) I hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be back soon.

Have a peek at what else my lovely sponsors are offering this month and stay tuned for giveaways tomorrow!!!

xoxo,
Rachel

Oooh, I Like It!

Brittni from Paper n Stitch recently shared this lovely DIY on her blog and I am in love with this idea! She's combined form and function in her new art wall piece that utilizes the beauty of vintage book covers without changing their intended purpose.

It's going to send you to the thrift store to find pretty canvas hardbacks this weekend!

And in case you haven't heard, the fourth edition of Cupcake Magazine is now available online or in print.

I did a little interview with Amy that you can find almost in the middle.

I suggest 'flipping' through to see all of the beautiful photography and some lovely illustrations throughout the magazine. Thanks, Amy, for letting me be a part of all that eye candy!


I also want to tell you about a giveaway/fundraiser that I'm taking part in that is raising money to help the Gumpy family. They've recently lost their baby after he was born ten weeks premature and their friend Ashley has organized this fundraiser to help offset the costs of medical and funeral bills. Every donation is a chance to win one of two prize packs full of generous donations. If you'd like to take a look and hear their story you can find it here.

Back soon with a sponsor highlight and giveaways!

xoxo,
Rachel

Playing Catch Up

Seriously?

Where did this week go?

Coming back tomorrow with a little more OOOMPH.
xoxo,
Rachel (and Ruby)

Introducing...The Typewriters

I've been collecting them for about two years. I've come across about six more beauties but sold them when I had PonyParty, my vintage Etsy shop. I still have a hard time saying no.

And it's time to order some more film for the Instax 210.

I think I've got about eleven solid collections, most of them vintage. Typewriters, globes, little girl dresses, chairs, etched glassware, rulers, quilts, clipboards, suitcases, thermoses, and vintage fabrics. I've had to put the kibosh on a few before we turn into an episode of American Pickers, or it's slightly less glamorous predecessor Hoarders! Yikes.

What do you collect?

xoxo,
Rachel

Pretty Packages

I'm slowly getting better at the presentation of gifts rather than stopping at the thoughtfulness of gifts themselves. Although, I also sent off a package this afternoon for which I had to use unorthodox packing materials due to the nature of the contents and couldn't find my tissue paper or anything else cute to make it work. My apologies to that online friend! I'm anxious for all recipients involved to get their special deliveries if it means they'll be half as thrilled as I was to get my own package in the mail today! I've got a few things to share in that department this coming week so I'll save it for then.

I hope your weekend has been extra special!
xoxo,
Rachel

Link Love

Hiding art for people to find. This is a fantastic idea found via Aesthetic Outburst.

Just found this via Poppytalk.

Danielle's fantastic arrow DIY found on Modern Kiddo is one of the best I've seen this year. Love it.

Elsie's in the latest issue of BUST! I'm grabbing a copy tomorrow. So proud of you, E!

Have a lovely weekend!
xoxo,
Rachel

The Chalkboard Says...

My chalkboard thought bubbles have been restocked over at Red Velvet Art!

As seen in TheKnot and Bust magazines, they are perfect for your next photo shoot, a fall wedding, or the photo booth at your company party!

You can get yours right here.

Happy Autumn!
xoxo,
Rachel

p.s. photos by Emma

October Ad Space Available

source

If you'd like to become a sponsor of Smile And Wave for the month of October be sure to get your name in and secure your place! You can check out the ad rates here and send your information or questions to Frecklednest (at) gmail (dot) com. Smile and Wave brings in over 146,000 page views a month from crafting, home decor, vintage loving, and mom blogging circles and is gaining followers every day. We'd love to have you join us for the holiday purchasing season!

xoxo,
Rachel

Conversations With Sebastian

Brett: Sebastian, do you want another baby someday?
Sebastian: Yes!
Brett: A little brother or a little sister?
Sebastian: A little brother.
Brett: What would we name him?

Sebastian: Ruby.

xoxo,
Rachel

p.s. not pregnant.

Projects, Projects Everywhere

I started this little project to decompress from a few lengthy tutorials in a row over at Home Ec. and Small Craft earlier this month because it didn't involve sewing anything. It's also easy to do whilst catching up on Design Star on Hulu! I plan on turning it into this cute hat that Elsie made last year for Ruby as she has no hair to keep her warm. I also need to find that girl some socks and shoes because she's been barefoot for months and those toes are going to start getting chilly! I haven't made any more progress on the moccasins but haven't lost my enthusiasm and I have it in good faith that a certain friend has been perfecting her mini moccasin template lately. And I've seen a sneak peek of a sample. And they are cute as can be!

I've tried to get back to the crochet project a few times only to remember my hook is missing after an incident involving a certain four-year-old mindlessly unraveling row after row as he watched Thundercats with his daddy one afternoon. I came around the corner and shouted, "What are you doing!" and they both looked surprised that it was happening. That'll teach me to keep my stuff laying around for other eager fingers to work on.

So, do you have any favorite suggestions for handmade (and warm and slightly practical) shoes for little ones on Etsy that you love? There are a ton to pretty shoes to choose from but I'm most interested in hearing real reviews of things you've used and loved. Thanks in advance and I'll be sure to share if we go with any.

xoxo,
Rachel

A Letter To The Editor

Dear Summertime,
You officially have one day left. I suggest you pack your bags and go quietly.

Bring on the chill in the air, the crisp breeze, the floating leaves, the dew on the grass, the colors exploding down the street, and the extra quilt at night.

I'm ready for some cozy.

xoxo,
Rachel

On The Way Home I Stopped To Look

Ruby and I went shopping this morning after an appointment and discovered where all of the etched glassware in town is being sold! If you haven't been to Relics, Missouri's largest antique mall (or it will be when it's actually full of vendors), it's worth a look. There's a lot of big vintage walnut furniture for antique prices but there are plenty of other booths full of vintage eye candy from the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I also picked up a beautiful feed sack bedspread (the floral background), a brass beaded necklace, and wooden spools of thread in beautiful colors.

I'm in the process of decluttering our house so thrifting might seem to be working against that process but I just unloaded a bunch of good vintage at RVA and some regular boring stuff at Red Racks so I'm sticking to my 'one in, one out' guideline pretty well! I'm on a mission to only have things in our home that I'm smitten with when it's an option (portable dishwashers can't be helped, ya'll) and most of those things happen to be vintage. Which makes living in Springfield even better because the selection in town and the Midwest in general is pretty fantastic.

xoxo,
Rachel