The little house we rent on a quiet street in South City is home to a nice backyard, perfect for Walter Bishop’s sprints back and forth to chase cars. The covered patio off the back of the house was what sold me in the beginning. Large brick stones cover the large patio, wide-open to the rest of the space.

The car port off of the garage will become a second patio area. Due to Walter Bishop escape attempts, we rarely, if ever, park our cars inside the fence. I hope to build some sort of large table out of reclaimed materials (a wooden door, sign, or something) and park a small gathering of metal chairs around it, perfect for backyard BBQ’s.

A few weeks back, my family spent a Sunday rehabbing the plants, flowers, and ugly shrubs that were left by the previous tenant. The flowers they planted are growing quickly, adding pops of pink and purple. I hope to nab some hanging plants for the patios, too.

With summer fast-approaching, my obvious next project is lawn furniture of some sort. Seating for friends presently consists of a couple old wood dining chairs, my prized 1960′s lawn rocker and some sweet camp chairs that should only be used for Husband Pants’s manly float trips.

I’ve been scouring the web for ideas + here are a few of my faves:

These benches from Anthropologie are so dreamy…if I could only make them myself!

Perfect to sit in while reading White Noise, like I do every summer…

I have  a “thing” for old metal lawn chairs. I love the idea of repairing these oldies with leather belts. Yee haw!

{Days like these remind me that we need a sled…oh, and a snow shovel…}
Lucky me, I was already off today + avoided the mess. After spending the afternoon with Walter Bishop watching a mini-marathon of Stanley Kubrick flicks, I finally picked my lazy bones off the warm, comfy bed and wandered into the fluffy white stuff.

Thirty minutes later, I had uncovered the VW from the thick layer of blinding, frozen, fluff. Walter Bishop, being fur-covered and completely out-of-his-mind, ran like a mad man (er, dog) in circles round the yard chasing invisible cars and rolling in the snow.

Walter Bishop reminds me of a Taun-Taun (or a polar bear) more than ever…

{ every giant closet needs a mannequin }

Although we’ve yet to take down the X-mas tree, It’s time for a new home re-do project! After years spent with closets covered from floor-to-ceiling in tiny, yet adorable apartments, we finally have an extra room for me to play with… and turn into a walk-in dreamland.

While discussing wishes for my birthday this month, I suggested to Husband Pants that we give the ten boxes of my clothes and vintage goodies their own space. We decided to move my craft studio to the basement, combining it with the spare bedroom downstairs and turn the former studio space into a walk-in closet. Gush!

I’ve been having flashes of Carrie Bradshaw’s closet while dreaming up the layout of the room. We’re starting almost from scratch, leaving the pegboard wall my Dad built to use to display jewelry, hats, scarves, and bags. The walls are white (for now) and the floor is the same hardwood as the rest of the house.

So, now it’s time for some good ‘ol fashioned planning. I’ve been digging through hundreds of photos of closets on Flickr for ideas. What would you wish for (other than maybe Carrie Bradshaw’s wardrobe) in your dream closet?

P.S. check out more photos of un-earthed goodies in my walk*in Flickr set.

Resolutions, shmezoltions….

I never make them because it seems that just choosing one marks in stone the fact that I won’t keep it. Instead, I’m just going to focus on getting back to the things I love this year: friends, family, decorating the house, snuggling with Walter Bishop, and enjoying the little things in lieu of worrying about them.

I don’t even want to think about how long it has been since I’ve heard some live rock n’ roll…

 [all work and no play makes Courtney a SAD PANDA]

In the proccess, I’m trimming some of the interwebby distractions: blogs left to waste, social networking accounts I’ve forgotten logins to and instead pouring it all into one place in an attempt to post more. I really do miss having this outlet for ideas and inspiration.

Here’s hoping that no resolutions results in a little progress (:

This weekend brings my favorite crafty event of the year: Strange Folk!! Once again I will be sharing my booth with Cara from Mermaid Garden Party and we have plenty of new crafty goodness in store. Stop by and see us Saturday or Sunday (:

About Strange Folk:
Strange Folk is the Heartland’s largest outdoor indie arts and crafts show. We are featuring 150 vendors from across the country along with plenty of eco-freindly craft activities, exhibits, live bands, and local cuisine under a canopy of beautiful trees! Over 15,000 folks attended last year, and Strange Folk was declared “BEST OF 2008″ in the craft show category by The Riverfront Times.

September 25th-26th 2010
10a.m.-6p.m.
Community Park
O’Fallon, IL
FREE ADMISSION

150 Indie Artists & Crafters! 8 Bands! Lots of free activities for kids! Mayhem! GNOMES!

It took a domain renewal notice to kick me back into bloggarooni gear. Sad, isn’t it? I guess I felt that during those six weeks spent glued to Monster.com listings, I didn’t feel very social and instead reflected on the last few years I moved in warp speed loading projects onto projects.

I needed a major reboot.

Now, both Husband Pants and I are working in retail- different companies, different positions. I love the change and I’m finally used to being back on my feet all day. My “secretary booty” is long gone and I get to wear cute clothes to work. Let’s not even get started on Chik-fil-a…

Husband Pants leaves for his annual float trip on Thursday, and he started packing last week. It’s his favorite event of the year- writing lists of to-do’s and to-pack’s while the pile of camping gear is slowly taking over the dining room. I’m just waiting to find Walter Bishop sleeping in the two-room tent tomorrow morning. W.B. will stay here to keep me company. Hopefully we’ll join Husband Pants next year.

This weekend, I’m getting a high dosage of rock n’ roll. I am beyond ready to get out of the house and enjoy some tunes and drinks with pals. The Blind Eyes + The Safes this Saturday night!

My ten-year class reunion is in two weeks and I am actually excited about it. I can’t wait to see my old classmates and hear what they’ve been up to all these years. I still cannot believe it’s been a decade since we’ve graduated. Now, I just have to decide what to wear to the shindig! Ideas?

I’m hooked on stitchin’! Sunday afternoon I took my first class at MADE studios – embroidery. Thanks to Teach (Samename a.k.a. Courtney Tourney of HyperCraftive), I finished my tiny stitches to create what may be one of the most terrifying Kewpie babies, ever. I was instantly hooked + sped through the night to buy a ton of embroidery hoops.

So far, my squirrely stitchin’ has produced the Nightmare Kewpie (above) and this little dude:

I’m going to cover a wall in these babies. A little gallery-of-stitch! For some reason, Husband Pants was a little weary at first about these tiny critters decorating our house. Once he took a look around at the Rainbow-Brite colored walls and vintage weirdness everywhere, he figured – why not? Exactly…

In other craftastic news, my little brother (R.W.) is collaborating with me on some new wooden jewelry made from reclaimed lumber and fencing materials. We hope to have them ready for Green With Indie + you can be sure I’ll post a Twisted Handmade preview here. I’m excited to team up with my bro!

Today my brain is bogged down with an impending migraine (thank you wild Spring thunderstorms!) and a to-do list that could inspire nightmares. Bear with me while I spew a few random bits…

:: app luvin ::
I’m a cheapo when it comes to iPhone apps. Most of the apps on my phone were freebies + it’s a tough call when they come at any price. BUT, once I found the Hipstamatic app, I couldn’t say no. Gnarly vintage-ish photos via my iPhone? Yes, please. You can purchase additional lenses and flashes once you get bored with the few that come with the original app download. Not too shabby for $1.99.

:: selling fleas? ::
I’ve been debating selling some of my vintage stuff (along with a huge amount of goodness my Ma has collected over the years) at the Belleville Flea this summer. It would be interesting sitting behind the booth rather than hunting as usual. I’ll let you know if we sign up!

:: mysterious vintage photos ::
During my daily search for awesome vintage finds, I stumbled onto the Mysterious Vintage Photos group via Flickr. I’m not really sure what is happening here or here, but yes- very mysterious.

:: P.S. ::
Saturday I’ll be “boothing” again with Cara- this time at the Soulard Market Park Art and Craft Fair next to the Soulard Farmer’s Market. I’ve cranked out a TON of new necklaces for this weekend. Just look for the booth covered in giant tissue paper flowers ~

Walter Bishop made his debut at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market this weekend and made a few new pals. It turned into an impromptu giant dog convention when he met Boomer, a Goldendoodle, and Duke, one of the most popular dogs in the park (a Great Dane). Of course, the big boys sniffed away and just hung around like big lazy oafs in the most adorable way possible. I met Duke when we first moved over here and could not wait for Walter Bishop to meet him. Maybe next time we can teach Cara + Archie’s dog, Chico, to ride them…

Yikes! I’ve been a busy bee. Last weekend kicked off what I’ve dubbed Farmer’s Market May Madness. Mermaid Garden Party Pants (Cara) spent the day with me at O’Farmer’s Market last Saturday and we’re doing it all over again tomorrow at the kick-off of Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. Luckily, we’ll have Husband Pants, Walter Bishop and Captain Blazer Pants (Sir Archie) to entertain us all day.

Tonight I shall craft a cape for Walter Bishop. He’s part of the Twisted Handmade + Mermaid Garden Party street team.

We’ll be in the crafty part of the market from 8:30AM-2:30PM and then I will head to Cherokee’s Cinco de Mayo celebration for the MADE Open House. The STL Craft Mafia Studios space is amazing- I wish I lived there (hello! who wouldn’t want to sleep surrounded by craft supplies??). It’s going to be a craftastic day ~

P.S. Tonight, check out Peat Wolleanger’s Collab-O-Mask 3 featuring masks created by tons of St. Louis artists.