holiday presents for YOU!

I'm back!  It's been WAY too long since my last blog post and I do apologize!  I have so much to catch up on and I promise to do that soon, but I have more exciting stuff to tell you about now :)  On to the fun stuff!

Sara of In Small Spectacles is hosting an AMAZING giveaway on her blog!  Don't miss your opportunity to enter to win a beautiful pair of earrings!  All you have to do is follow the link below to be directed to her blog to sign up to win.  You have multiple ways to enter by following her blog, Facebook page and Twitter.  She will draw a winner on Saturday so be sure to enter! 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

I also have some super adorable FREE printables from Mirabelle Creations!  Stop on over to Deanna's blog and see all of her insanely awesome party ideas! 

We should have internet connection at our new house soon and I'll be back in business then!  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season!

a little glitch

I read last week that a set back is only a set up for a comeback.  Since the quote was from the back of my Weight Watchers magazine I assumed it was in reference to personal weight goals, food or something related to that.  The quote stuck with me and I keep reminding myself of this.  So, why the set backs and comebacks?

Well....a few weeks ago on another dreadful Monday morning I got to work, powered on the computer, checked my email and jumped on Facebook.  I had a message from one of our old neighbors on Spruce Tree.  The message simply said, "Call me regarding your tenants."  Uh oh.  My heart sank. 

I called him right away and he told me that a moving truck was in our driveway over the weekend late at night.  Our tenants had left.  Vanished in the night.  Seriously?  My first thought was, how do you even do that with 2 kids? I can barely go to the grocery store with only 1 kid, let along move out of a house in the middle of the night.  Unbelievable.  Anyway, there I was 8:45 am on a Monday with an empty house and a new house that will be done.  Like soon. 

We spent the entire weekend that weekend cleaning, painting, cutting the grass and replacing the locks.  I suppose we should be thanking our lucky stars that they didn't do a lot of damage.  Although they were only there 4 months anyway.  But, a Bengals' orange and pepto bismol pink room needed to be painting along with just a general good deep cleaning of the house.  So, the house looks amazing now and its back on the market to hopefully *fingers crossed* find a buyer.  We are also entertaining the thought of another lease purchase IF things get too rough with the double mortgage situation we are about to be in. 

So, to all of my lovely readers, know anybody looking for an awesome house in Erlanger, KY?  Totally move in ready!  And, boy, are we ready to make a DEAL.

With all of that "excitement" going on we haven't been as focused and agonizing over our new house as much.  I felt like we went from 5 weeks left when the renters moved out to now we only have 2 weeks left.  Nothing like a good distraction right?  The new house has been locked up recently now that the cabinets are installed and appliances going in soon.  I did get to sneak in one afternoon and snap a few pics. 

We've been slowly getting our things organized at my parents' house so our move-out will hopefully go smoother than our move-in!  Monday we should have a better time frame for closing, but it still looks like we are on track and will have a little bit of time before Thanksgiving to get settled. 

In other news....I've been blogging away over at http://www.birdsofafeatherfair.blogspot.com/ 6 DAYS a week!  We had so many vendors send us bios that in order to have them all featured before the Fair, I've had to post 6 per week.  Crazy!  Things are coming together and the checklist is really dwindling down.  I've been having crazy dreams about the Fair almost every night!  I'm so excited and absolutely cannot wait to see everybody together in one place.  I'm telling you the shopping is going to be amazing! 

Actually, unless something super exciting comes up, this may be my last post until the Fair is over.  I may be able to pop in with a super short update between now and then.  Take care and I'll see ya'll REAL soon!

living the lulu life!

Happy Friday everyone!  If you aren't in Kentucky today, then I actually feel sorry for you.  It is October 7, 2011 and it is 80 DEGREES!!!  We don't get many days like this in the fall so we've been soaking it up at the park this morning. 

I wanted to share a link with you all today.  It's still so funny that through blogging I have a network of people who I feel like I've known forever, and really for the most part, have NEVER even met them in person!!!  However, I'm sure that will certainly change in less than a month when I will officially be meeting some of these women that I feel like I've already shared so much with!  The Birds of a Feather Fair is bringing some of these ladies together and I absolutely cannot wait to meet them in person! 

One of them is Natalie.  I first "met" Natalie from reading an old college sorority newsletter that had updates of all of our sisters.  I always love to read them to see what everybody is up to and how they are doing.  While I had never met Natalie in college because she was a few years older than me, we automatically shared a bond.  I read that Natalie was designing jewelry for her own company, Lulubelles.  I checked out her website and bestill my beating heart.  Vintage pieces mixed with modern, classic flair.  Uh...YES PLEASE!  Anyway, I emailed her right away to see if her an her business partner, Gretchen, would have any interest in being a vendor at the Fair.  They said YES!  I'm so excited that they will be a part of our show and that they are the essence of what we started the Birds of a Feather Fair for! 

Stop over at Lulubelle's blog today, The Lulu Life and check out a feature of yours truly, Jar of Vintage Buttons.  Natalie and Gretchen, you both are amazingly talented and I can't wait to meet you at the Fair!  And I want to buy everything you make.  Thanks. 

our house on the hill

Things are really starting to take shape on Mt. Zion Road.  I go to work in the morning and stop by in the evening and I cannot believe how much they get done in a day!

Here's how things are looking now. Our house could be on possibly the highest point of Mt. Zion Road because it looks HUGE sitting on top of our little mountain.

I met our construction manager today to go over a few things before they start insulating and hanging drywall later this week.  Siding hopefully next week.  Seriously amazing how this whole process works. As cool as it is, I thank the good Lord it's not me that has to coordinate all of these contractors. 

We've also informed our construction team that we are slated to host Thanksgiving at our new house. Glutton for punishment? Perhaps. But, that's what I thrive off of, right? I've been pinning some EASY turkey day décor in case I have time to pull it together. You can check out my Holidays in Our New Home board here.  And p.s., remember I don't cook, so our house is merely just the gathering place for our friends and family.  So I am just in charge of decorating and drinks :)

Joey, Kate and I are counting down to about 6 weeks at this point. I'm sure my parents are counting down too :) 

So in the meantime, I'm busy drawing all over our blueprints arranging furniture, picking out paint colors and creating budgets for all of the things we'll need. I can't wait to share more with you about our budget details and how I'm going to rock this house out. I'm really going to push myself to think creatively and out of the box to stay within budget, or at least close! I'm about to burst with excitement about a GIGANTIC deal I score yesterday, but that will have to wait for another day in another post :)

Until the next update, I'll be continuing to get all of our ducks in a row for the Birds of a Feather Fair coming up SOON! Of course, there is a potential that we could be ready for closing...well...pretty much the same weekend of the Fair. If you haven't already heard about the Fair, check out the blog or check us out on Facebook by searching Birds of a Feather Fair (if you can figure it out with the new update....I'm still trying to!) and if you are even remotely close to the Cincinnati area, PLEASE come and shop on November 6th!!!

http://www.birdsofafeatherfair.blogspot.com/ for all the deets. 

little bits

I have been a little negligent in blogging lately, but life sometimes just takes over.  But, that just means that when I do have time to blog I have lots to tell you!  So...here goes yet another random post about everything!

The countdown is on.  As of Monday, 9 weeks until our house should be done!!!  WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!

Stop by and sit on our porch :)

 We took Kate to the zoo on Friday.   Probably the best day of her life even though she was having some allergy issues.

Started working on a little project for our new house.  It involves a whole lot of tile cutting and will eventually look something like this.  Have any guesses where its going? :)

Check and check some more fun stuff off of my Pinterest board. 

Completed another book, My Sisters' Keeper.  GAW!  So sad!

And on to something a little more lighthearted, Something Borrowed. 

Made these fun coasters for a friend for her birthday.  Tutorial from my pinterest DIY board. 

That's a quick recap for right now.  Off to enjoy the rest of my long holiday weekend!  Hope you are doing something fun and have a little time to relax!

i {heart} my ol' kentucky home

It's been almost 4 years since Joey and I have taken any sort of "vacation" together..just the two of us.  We thought it was high time we got the heck out of dodge and had a weekend getaway.  My mom and dad so graciously offered to keep Kate for the weekend so Joey and I headed south toward Frankfort, Kentucky to begin our Bourbon Trail experience.  For those not familiar with Kentucky bourbon or the Bourbon Trail, there are 6 historic distilleries between Lexington and Louisville that offer public tours.  Only one tour costs $5 a guest, the rest of the tours are free and even offer free tastings :)  The first distillery you visit you receive a Bourbon Trail passport to get stamped at every distillery you visit.  Visit all six and you receive a free t-shirt.  It's pretty much impossible to hit all six in 1 day between tour times available and the driving times between distilleries.  It's much more enjoyable to take your time and try to hit about 3 a day.  I'm not much of a bourbon drinker myself, but the history of the distilleries and the beautiful countryside of Kentucky are enough to get me in the car to tag along (and.....the derby pie and free chocolate bourbon balls at most distilleries).  Joey, however, was in complete heaven.  The tour guides are absolutely charming, the buildings and scenery are breathtaking and the stories that these historic landmarks have to tell are awesome.  I've always loved living in Kentucky, but being on this tour and learning even more of Kentucky's rich heritage makes me love it even more!  I HIGHLY recommend that if you're ever in Kentucky you make it a point to check out the Bourbon Trail!  http://www.kybourbontrail.com/

Here's a photo recap of our amazing weekend!  

Be sure to get your passport at the first distillery you visit and get it stamped at each stop!

First stop on our trip.

The master distiller, Jimmy, came out to take pictures. 

The resident CEO (critter exterminating operator) Samuel Pepper.

A true Kentucky lunch, ham sandwiches, bourbon infused mustard, Ale 8 and derby pie for desert!

Distiller's beer, a product made during fermentation.  This will get distilled into pure moonshine that will turn into bourbon after its stored in a new charred white oak barrel for at least 2 years.  The charred oak is how bourbon gets is flavor and color.

A barrel that has been stored for almost 14 years that will become a very, very expensive bourbon for a single barrel limited anniversary edition batch



Notice the black "gunk" on the buildings.  It's a type of black mold that grows on everything within a mile radius of the distillery.  Totally harmless from the alcohol evaporating from the barrels.  They call it angel's share.



The trees at Jim Beam were completely black from hundreds of years of angel's share. 

A little nerve wracking to be in a warehouse that stores 10 million pounds of bourbon overhead while on the tour.  9 stories high and this "x" brace is supposed to be the best support available.

Happy vacation to us!

my new favorite thing

Laughter.

Great food.

Great drinks.

Girls’ night with the Wives’ Club.

These are a few of MY favorite things!

Pair this with an actual Favorite Things Party and you have a recipe for a fun filled, laughing till you cry, evening with your gals that you’ll never forget!

The idea was found by my lovely friend, Heidi, on none other than Pinterest. The original idea came from  Inchmark. Heidi pinned the idea for the party and after reading how it works, I couldn’t WAIT to have one! Unfortunately we are still a long time from our house being done. Boo :( Heidi graciously offered to host the first time around for our group at her home. So, on July 22nd, our little wives’ club got together for some serious fun!

Here’s how the favorite things party works:

Each guest coming to the party brings 5 of the same item of something that is their favorite item. It can be something they use everyday (favorite lotion, lip gloss, hand soap, etc.) or something they like to eat or really anything they like. The trick is all 5 items have to be the same AND each item can cost no more than $6 each.

When your guests arrive at the party, have each guest write their name down 5 times on 5 separate slips of paper.

The first guest will introduce their favorite item and then draw 5 names from the basket. Those lucky 5 friends are the recipients of your favorite thing! Once those 5 names have been drawn from the basket, leave them aside. Then continue on until all the names have been drawn and all of the favorite things have found new homes.

In the end, everyone will leave with 5 new goodies!

I can’t even tell you how much fun this was so see what everybody’s favorite things. I left that evening with an awesome goody bag filled with great products and lots of fun memories. We have made a pact to continue doing this a few times a year. Another in October and in lieu of present exchange for the holidays I’m going to host a holiday edition of the Favorite Things in our new house!!

Get your lady friends together and host a Favorite Things Party of your own! AND, I’d love to know....what would you bring as your favorite thing?

the winner is...

The winner of the Jar's blogaversary giveaway is.....

#33 CATSKILL QUILTER!!!

"Happy blogaversary! This is my first time here, and I LOVE your large jar of buttons! I have a shelf of Mason jars with my buttons sorted by color...sigh...I do not tend to actually use them, but I love to look at them!"

Congratulations!  Please email me at leslie_hartman82@hotmail.com so I can get your address to send your prizes!

Thank you to everyone who participated :)  It's been an awesome year and I'm going to look forward to even bigger and better things for the Jar!

it's the Jar's blogaversary!!!

It's been exactly 1 year since I finally got my act together and revamped my poor neglected blog. Time flies when you are having fun :) I've been so lucky to have some amazing giveaways, have some amazing friends guest blog, been featured on some unbelievable blogs, do some fun projects and begin this crazy journey of building a house. While I've steered a little off path from my initial destination of just having a house blog, I am definitely happier that I've let this little blog of mine take me in whatever direction the wind blows :)

Of course all of this wouldn't be nearly as fun if it weren't for you! In celebration of Jar of Vintage Button's first year back in the blogging saddle, I have an AWESOME giveaway package for 1 lucky reader!!!!

1 year subscription to Country Living

Pair of Swarovski crystal earrings from Jewelry by Misty

  Handcrafted necklace from Heartfelt Helen

Dry erase board from yours truly (Jar of Vintage Buttons :)

Baby leg warmers AND a cutems change purse from Hazelnut Designs

Set of 3 beautiful stemmed paper flowers from The Sunday Flower

2 FREE PASSES to the Birds of a Feather Fair

And what's a party without cake?  (1) s'more and (1) raspberry chocolate chip cupcake in a jar from Decadence.  (She doesn't have her website up yet, but look for her at the Birds of a Feather Fair!)

How awesome sauce is that?  Want to enter?  You have 5 WAYS TO ENTER!!!!

For one entry, leave a comment on this post or on the Jar's FB page.

For an extra entry, like Heartfelt Helen's Facebook Fan Page and come back here and leave a comment on the Jar's blog saying "HH Follower"

For an extra entry, like Jewelry by Misty's Facebook Fan Page and come back here and leave a comment on the Jar's blog saying "JM Follower"

For an extra entry, like The Sunday Flower's Facebook Fan Page and come back here and leave a comment on the Jar's blog saying "SF Follower"

For an extra entry, follow Hazelnut Designs' blog and come back here and leave a comment on the Jar's blog saying "HD Follower"

Contest will begin July 29, 2011 and will close August 3, 2011 at 9am EST. Winner will be chosen using random.org. Winner will be announced August 4, 2011.

Also, I want to take this opportunity to give a HUGE shout out to the fine ladies who have volunteered their craftiness and beautiful art to donate to this giveaway!  You'll find links to their website and they will be listed on the side bar as sponsors.  Please, please, take time to visit their sites!  Support local handmade!

Now, raise your glass and let's toast to a pretty awesome year No. 1 at Jar of Vintage Buttons! Here's to many more :) CHEERS!