Nature Walk in the Yard

Being in our new house makes me realize how difficult it was to be inspired in our old apartment. We weren't really nearby any sort of nature besides the hibiscus bushes that lined our apartment complex and a nearby field that I heard was poisoned regularly. Other than that it was concrete and gravel. Here we're surrounded by grass, trees and a variety of other plans and shrubbery. In fact, the yard is kinda wild since no one's been able to really take care of it - something we're excited to work on. 

In the meantime, Noweo and I took a nice walk around the yard to really get a close look at the plant life. There was so much amazing color and pattern! 

One thing's for sure: Getting my daily dose of foliage makes me one happy camper!

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Two Weeks of Crazy

 
 
 

It has been a whirlwind two weeks. We ended up moving sooner than we planned to, and I TOTALLY didn't take it easy. I don't know how many loads of stuff I carried from our apartment, down the stairs, to the car, to our new house, and up the stairs where it was (contrary to my original plan) dumped unceremoniously on the floor. Since we had to move during the week instead of on a weekend, everyone was working (including Keola) so it was up to me to move most of our things with Noweo in tow (she's such a trooper). It was a lot of work, but we managed to get our apartment emptied and cleaned in time for check out. We had 5 days to do it all.

As soon as we were done checking out of our apartment, my sister and her husband arrived from Georgia. It had been 3 years since I'd seen her, and her husband's first trip to Hawaii so we had a blast this past week, taking them around the island and hanging out. I could really get used to them living here, but once you leave Hawaii, it's a loooong road back that requires a lot of financial planning and sacrifice. I hope they make it home eventually.

This past Thursday my mom's parents flew in from Oʻahu, and we all watched the baby of our family graduate from high school. Itʻs weird for me to think all my siblings are basically adults, and it must be even WEIRDER for my parents. This is a brand new chapter and I'm excited to see what it ends up looking like. 

Now things have quieted down: all the out-of-town family has flown home, we're done moving stuff, we're mostly unpacked, our new place is pretty functional at this point, and there are no more large family events happening any time soon. I can once again turn my attention to my Etsy shop and my biggest event to date coming up in two weeks. Oh and then there's the baby girl that's scheduled to arrive in TEN weeks. TEN WEEKS. Time is going to fly! For now, I'm just relieved that we got through May. 

Dream Spaces

I have just been bombarded by so much interior eye candy lately, and with our move coming up very shortly, it's hard for me not to day dream even more about what I want our home to look like. Lately I'm loving lots of white, bright spaces with natural materials, and textures with calming shades and the occasional color pop. Our new place had already got good bones, I just can't wait to put our stamp on it. Here's some inspiration I've come across. Drool with me now:

image via houzz

image via houzz

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source unknown

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source unknown

image via wohnidee

image via wohnidee

image via daffodil design

image via daffodil design

image via sfgirlbybay

image via sfgirlbybay

image via inkandspindle

image via inkandspindle

image via houzz

image via houzz

Creating a Booth Display on a Budget

I'm no expert at this for sure, and the things I'm currently selling don't take up a lot of space, but over the handful of times I've sold at events I've wanted to improve my displays without spending a lot of $$$. Here are some of the strategies I employ (or have employed) to create an attractive and functional table.

1) Good 'ole paper

Back on Maui I made a sign out of the same cardstock I use to print my cards. After plastering them with mod podge I had a pretty sturdy, water-proof sign. Unfortunately I didn't hold onto it for some reason when I came over to Hilo, so I ended up making a simple sign out of paper again what was bold and eye-catching.

My new sign - just printed on cardstock and cut into fourths, folded on the bottom to create a little flap and duct taped to a wood drawer

My new sign - just printed on cardstock and cut into fourths, folded on the bottom to create a little flap and duct taped to a wood drawer

2) Cardboard

Before my Farmer's Market experiment, I wanted to find a way to create an upright display. I couldn't figure out what to do, and for days I sat around...stumped. Then the toner cartridges I ordered came in and they ended up being the perfect size to display my cards! A little snip snip and I had sturdy card displays. They even came with packaging foam that I used as stands to create a "stadium" effect.

Here's what they looked like after I cut off the flaps and about 2/3 of the front:

3) Now that I had my boxes, I needed to make them pretty, which leads me to my next tip: FABRIC.

I went to the fabric store (the only one in Hilo really...) and picked up a yard of burlap for $7 (a little pricey I know, but it's Hawaii, and it's just a yard.) I just LOVED the texture and color and though it would go well. Wrapping my boxes in burlap was tricky, but each box got a little easier as I figured out the best technique. I also wrapped my little foam blocks. I love fabric because it can turn ugly things pretty and attach to ANYTHING. Because I was going for a natural look, the imperfections in the way I applied my fabric just gave it more character.

4) Borrow stuff

I borrowed a table from my parents for my Farmer's Market booth. Eventually I'm gonna get one, but at the last minute, borrowing was a big help. See what you can borrow from family members, friends and neighbors if you're on a tight budget.

5) Look around and work with what you've got.

For me that's included a wooden drawer, a couple of wooden boxes Keola's Grandma let me have, thread, clothes pins, bobbi pins, glass jars, sand from the back yard, baskets, rocks (to weigh stuff down)...you name it. The day before an event you can often find me wandering around the yard or the house, picking things up, turning them over, envisioning how it can be used or transformed into something useful. That's just how I work.

The display for my last event came together on the morning of. At 6am I stood up a wooden drawer face down (it had no handles) taped my sign to the top, taped up a couple pieces of thread across the drawer opening and hung cards with bobbi pins (genius by the way, since bobbi pins don't indent the paper like clothes pins do). From a distance the thin thread made the cards look like they were floating. I just LOVE this drawer because it's so sturdy and stable and really became the centerpiece to the whole display.

Here's a shot of the ugly back side where I kept all my cards ready to package up for people:

So there you have it! Craft booths are fun because each one presents new opportunities to be creative and resourceful. Doing booth events can be a little costly upfront depending on the venue. Some venues will provide more (like tables and chairs), others want you to bring a tent, tables, chairs, etc. Each one is different and presents its' own set of challenges, but by getting creative and using inexpensive materials, you can make your display look like a million bucks.