Junk Jubliee

hi everyone!
sorry to all our faithful readers who loyally check up on our blog. we have taken a hiatus from blogging for now, to get ready for our upcoming show....The Junk Jubilee (or as my husband lovingly calls it, "The Garbage Show")! hannah and i have had some discussions about the future of the rustic jade blog and we are excited to share some new and exciting changes with you soon.

for now, please mark your calendars for April 27th, 28th and 29th and come to the fairgrounds to see us!

click to view this larger

xoxo and lots of junk lovin',
maggie

Chan-tastic

check out the new addition to our family:)
isn't she purty??

our neighbor's daughter, Jodie, recently moved and had an extra chandelier that she no longer wanted to use. after being in our home and seeing my love for junk, old, rustic and antique, she offered to give us the chandelier. give!! i was super excited and couldn't believe she was willing to part with it. after a million hugs and 'thank you's', this baby found it's way into our house.
Jodie has a love home decorating, DIY and specifically, chandeliers. she said in her old house, there was a chandelier in every room, and had found this specific chandelier in an antique shop down in Atlanta, where she used to live.

we actually acquired it over the summer, but it sat in our guest room for months before brandon and my dad got around to hooking it up. the last light that was over our table was much to close to the wall, making it hard to center the table. back in the 50's, when this house was built, this room was the dining room and living room, and i imagine the table was much more humble in size, since the rest of the room housed things like couches, chairs and a t.v.
we like to accommodate all our dinner guests and giving them two inches of room to squeeze into their chair just wasn't cutting it. so we chose to use a hook to swag the chain over about a foot and center the light over the pushed out table.
instead of the usual flame shaped bulbs, i opted for round bulbs, to modernize things a little. my next step is to take off the black tubes that the bulbs sit on and paint them another color, other than black. my first thought would be either oil rubbed bronze or off white, but now i wonder if adding a little pop of color on them could be cool? that's the beauty of spray paint...you can change your mind and it's no big deal to change it up again. and with the collection of spray paint that i own, i could definitely try a few different options!
lastly, next on my agenda is to re-paint or find new frames for my friend-less frame wall (as brandon calls it:)) since the chandelier speaks volumes and is such a statement piece, i want to tone down the background colors and do something more neutral and less colorful. i loved the look of that wall at first, but now with two competing design elements, something needs to change.

the rustic jade team is a-thriftin' this weekend, so maybe i will find some things to add and replace on my frame wall.....fingers crossed!

tell me your thoughts on Lady Chandelier! suggestions on colors and options to switch things up a little....i need me some more 'flow' in this room. help!

xoxo,
maggie

happy wuv day:)

disclaimer: sorry about all the weird spacing today....not sure how to fix it and no time to mess around with it. annoying. 

after being told, "i love you", peyton will usually respond back, "wuv!" she must understand that the other two words in the sentence are not as important as the middle word. such a smart girl:)

i hope there is a lot of 'wuv' in your life today! i woke up to a half dozen cupcakes from Nan's Nummies and thoroughly enjoyed one for breakfast:) my hubby definitely knows what this pregnant mama craves!

happy valentines day to me

does anyone have any fun plans for tonight? brandon and i usually go out and celebrate, but tonight we're incorporating brandon's other important valentine in his life and staying in to hang out as a family. he's making us a fancy, homemade, heart shaped pizza! peyton and i will also dive into the cupcakes as well.....that's if there's any left by tonight:)

yesterday, we spent our day battling a cold and a fever. poor peyton woke up at 6 am yesterday, calling for mama and saying, "hot.....hot", so i loaded her up with meds and gave her a bath. although she wasn't quite herself yesterday, we managed to make a few valentines for the special people in her life:) v-day is the best holiday to get out all the scrapbook paper, the pink and red crayons and loads of glitter, don't you think?

here's some of my valentines decor...i have a lot of pink accessories around the house, because of peyton's room and my early college days, so i threw some coordinating things together and smiled at all the pink. i think it should stay well past valentines day. brandon does not:)

 

peyton's creation from sunday school

some homemade heart garland. simple, cute and cheap.

lastly, here's a shot of my littlest valentine today. grandparents, consider this your virtual valentine:)


and just for comparison:

peyton's first valentine's day....sigh....

happy valentines day to you! may it be full of love<3

extra hugs and kisses,
maggie

Junk Jubilee!

 hannah and i are super stoked to inform everyone that The Rustic Jade will be a vendor this year at the Junk Jubilee! woohoo!!

image from www.junkjubilee.com

all the information is on the website, but here's the important stuff:

when: April 27th, 28th and 29th (Friday, Saturday AND Sunday!)

what time: Friday and Saturday 9am - 6pm and Sunday 10am - 4pm

where: iowa state fairgrounds 4H building, here in Des Moines

just like our last show, we will be buddying up with our 'silent partner', Meg, who will showcase and sell all of her fantastic finds along with the things hannah and i have been working on. we are all flooded with excitement and nerves as this weekend gets closer and are elated to be a part of such a great group of vendors!

hannah, meg and i would love to see you there! come check out our booth and say 'hi'! even if junk isn't your thing, there are a lot of vintage pieces and re-purposed items and you may find something that you can't live without. i'm sure i will:)

xoxo,
maggie

crave city

hi folks! happy MLK day! although i still have to work, my lovely hubby does not, so i am happy to have a helper today. i think he would prefer to be at work:)

these days, you can most likely find me digging through the fridge. my pregnancy cravings have been out of control. and breakfast food is my weakness. cereal, muffins, poptarts, bagels, oatmeal, grapefruit and smoothies have been my food of choice. it's insane! makes me think this baby might be a girl, since i was the same way when i was pregnant with peyton. i used to have to keep boxes of cereal at my desk and would snack on them all day long....i bet my co-workers loved me!

this combo has especially been a recent fave of mine:

hannah banana, introduced this chai to me way back in our college days and i recently came across it at hy-vee (in the health food section). i drink it hot at night and over ice in the morning and it's amazing. better than the chai at starbucks. and panera bagels are always a must-have. in fact, since we're out, i might send brandon on a special errand today to pick me up some. he's definitely getting used to eating weird things at the very moment i think of them. such a trooper, he is:)

i'm off to eat my second morning snack of the day! hope your monday is a happy one:)

xoxo,
maggie

show me some shutter!

i mentioned in my christmas re-cap that a few of my gifts were handmade this year. i never thought that would be me....being the person that gives homemade gifts. BUT, a lot has changed since last christmas and i decided to try my hand at 'handmade':)

i will say this: giving a gift that you put a lot of time, thought and love into, is much more gratifying than just picking up something at target and tossing it in a gift bag. don't get me wrong, i have given my fair share of store bought gifts and feel no regrets. but spending a little more time and energy definitely means something to your gift receiver.

without further adieu, here is how i spent my days leading up to christmas...working on these babies!
{sorry about the bad photo quality and lighting...i had either no light or too much...gotta work on my photo skills it seems}

these shutters have a unique story.

brandon's step dad, kevin, and i share a love for old things. it takes a special person to be able to see past the dust, rust and grime and appreciate the true beauty of something worn. you should see some of the old cars he has restored....one wouldn't believe the state they were in before kevin got his hands on them!

anywho...kevin offered to give me some old shutters that had been sitting in his garage for years. these shutters were put together by his dad years ago and used inside their home. which is now the home of kevin's sweet sister, linda. no one in the family had a use for these shutters anymore, but because of the memories and the amount of hard work that were put into building them, throwing them out just didn't seem right.

so into my trunk they went! i made sure over and over that they were mine to take and happily piled them in my car. the whole trip home from ventura that day, i contemplated how i could re-invent these shutters. immediately, i knew that i wanted to paint and distress them. and then brandon and i thought it would be fun to give them as gifts to kevin and linda for christmas, since they hold a memorable place in their hearts.

this is a picture of what they looked like right out of the trunk. pretty dirty and dusty and in some need of some sprucing up.

so they got two coats of primer, two coats of paint, a little distressing, and finally, a coat of water based sealer.

linda's house is always decorated so beautifully. she has a lot of fabulous white decor, so painting the shutters ivory was a no brainer. i also added a grapevine wreath with some simple ivory felt flowers.

i loved the look so much, that i made a similar one for my mom for christmas. she also got a set of ivory shutters and a grapevine wreath with deep red felt flowers to match her accent wall in her family room. i will have to take a picture of her mantle where her new gift resides:)

the last set of shutters were given to kevin. since wreaths are a little more feminine, i opted to do something more sentimental and less girly. i framed three different pictures of some of kevin's old cars and had my dad help me screw them into the shutter. like myself (and my fellow blogger), kevin loves that minty green, vintage aqua color, and i love how it turned out!

a close up of the distressing

hard to get the true color on camera....but this is close!

everyone loved their shutter presents and it was especially fun to gift them to kevin and linda because of the memories that they hold. i am excited of all the possibilities for the rest of the pile sitting in my garage!

i do love me some shutters!!

xoxo,
maggie

christmas catch up

december was crazy. i think it was for everyone. it's a great time of year, full of excitement and anticipation, but it can also be full of stress and expectations. thankfully, i remained calm throughout the season, tried to maintain peace and kept the real reason of christmas in the back of my head at all times. all this while making homemade christmas gifts for the first time ever, cooking a baby (or as my mom would say, "being a human incubator")  and dealing with constant hunger, fighting a bout of the stomach flu and caring for four kids everyday. thus, blogging fell off my radar. so sorry, faithful readers.

but enough excuses....let's get to it.

this year was the first year where i knew christmas would be fun and exciting for our family. for peyton's first christmas, i was still learning the ropes of motherhood with a three month old and last year, we bought a house the week before christmas, so decorations, traditions and even gifts, were put on the back burner. i knew this was the magical year and it definitely delivered.

(lucky you, grandparents...this post is all about the pictures)

christmas #1 at gaga and papa's house. each present was opened with an "oooh" and an "ahhh". even before she found out what it was:)

opening her gift from "cott and dob":) it takes loads of concentration.

christmas #2 at great aunt linda's house in ventura. these are a few of her favorite cousins to pal around with. eden, zach and peyton.

sweet sister blair and i. she leaves for a semester overseas to wales in a week....what are we going to do without 'aunt bah'?!

b and i. our fifth christmas as husband and wife. but our tenth christmas together. yowza!

  
these next few pictures are some of my favorites from this year. i am so glad to have these memories captured.

christmas eve night at nama and grandpa's house. peyton is setting out some "coo-poos" for santa. (coo-poo = cookies in peyton language).

writing a letter to santa with her new dry erase crayon board. one of her presents she got from mommy and daddy.

hanging up her stocking before bed.

that face!  she was so proud. the sleepiest girl, but the happiest girl. not to mention, the happiest mom:)

christmas #3 at great grandma's house. this sassy lady got some finger bling for christmas! brandon's dad popped the question, so angie and her three girls will "officially" be in the family!

one of my favorite christmas traditions at great grandma's house. bingo!

some competitive family bingo:) who's gonna win that $10 prize??

christmas #4 at grandpa brian and angie's house. more presents! opening one of her favorite gifts...a new baby doll:)

christmas #5 with grandma and grandpa. peyton got a cradle to rock all her babies in! and she even got some stickers to 'customize' it:) good idea, grandma!

we had five christmas celebrations (five?!) all within three days, but we got to celebrate with all of our family members from both sides. i wouldn't have had it any other way. we are so blessed to have all of our families so close.

still more december catch up to be played...more postings to come.

until then...

xoxo,
maggie

christmas lovin' and an announcement:)

have a (late) Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

from our little family...Brandon, Maggie, Peyton.....and baby number two!!:)

yep, i am officially making the big announcement! i am due on july 20th, feeling great and couldn't be happier to have another little person to add to our family. peyton LOVES babies and i know she will make the best big sister.

i'm ready to feel those sweet, rhythmic kicks again. i am excited to watch my belly grow and wonder what color eyes this child will have. i can't wait to see brandon hold a newborn again and watch the relationship grow between peyton and her baby sibling.

so many things to look forward to....

thanks for taking this ride with me.

xoxo,
maggie

our first show!!

the rustic jade had it's first craft show this past weekend in mason city, iowa! phew, it feels good to have that under our belts. it was fun, but A LOT of work and we are exhausted. so it may be a few days before details are shared:) but we promise to post pictures and info soon!

here's a sneak peek for ya:

in other news, i finally got around to posting in my 'about maggie' section, so you all can read all about me!

excited to share all the deets of our show with you soon!

xoxo,
maggie

snow baby

my little P got to spend a wintery weekend up with her grandma and grandpa in clear lake....and she loved the snow! i finally figured out she was saying "snow", because it comes out  as "no":) and since "no" is such a common word around here lately, i tend to not hear it after the 12th time in two minutes.
luckily, she lives in iowa, so there will be lots of "no" to look at out the window this winter!

thanksgiving re-cap

 my mom dominated in the kitchen this year....she had half the meal already prepared the night before! everything was so good, that it couldn't go un-blogged about:)

yep...isn't she cute?

we had quite the feast and i made sure to get a picture of everything on the menu! check out the spread:

made by moi...pumpkin cream cheese pie, with cinnamon swirl crust

orange bourbon pecan pie. SO. GOOD.

the star of the show. smoked turkey!

mom's homemade cornbread stuffing. a holiday first, but a must for next year!

another creation of mine: twice baked sweet potatoes with chipotle, lime and sour cream

green beans with mushrooms and crispy shallots. a healthier take on  green bean casserole.

and a few more staples from the day.

my pants feel tighter just thinking about how full i felt. amazingly full:) we spent the afternoon lazing around, dipping into the pies and watching football.

wouldn't you agree that four day weekends should happen much more often? i do. especially since it gave us the chance to get our christmas tree up and decorated. yippee! more on that later this week:)

i hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving. now it's back to monday!

xoxo,
maggie

busted.

how annoying is this?

what beautiful porch decorations i have. a disgustingly rotting Cinderella pumpkin and another pumpkin that has slowly been feeding the neighborhood squirrels over the past week.

and this morning i threw away a mini pumpkin that was completely covered in white, hairy mold.

the pumpkins are retaliating against me, i swear. i think it's high time i start breaking out the christmas totes!

yep. it's on the 'to-do' list.

xoxo,
maggie

looking through old pictures...

and found one taken exactly a year ago:

november 2010

 and one a year before that:

november 2009

sigh......no more tiny child for me:(

feeling nostalgic and baby feverish? yes and yes. 

but i love, love, love my big girl:) she amazes me every day with all her new words and ideas. i am one blessed mama!


xoxo,
maggie

celebrating haven

this past weekend, hannah and i had a baby "sprinkle" for our friend, rachel, at the cheesecake factory. rachel is due in january and is having a baby girl! Haven Joy Vivian Sweerin will be making her appearance before we know it and we needed to celebrate her mama!

the three of us

and just for fun, here's a little walk down memory lane:)

rachel's shower when she was pregnant with judah. january 2010.

the three of us at one of my showers while i was pregnant with peyton. august 2009.

i'm sure there will be a few more of these picture traditions in the future:) apparently i have a thing for scarfs. whether it's in january, november or august(?!)

back to the shower....like hannah mentioned in her post, we were snuggled into one of the cheesecake factory's booths, which made for a great space to chat and talk about all things baby. here was the set up:

this was one of the gifts hannah and i made for rach. a sweet, little frame to store all a few of haven's girly bows. i have a feeling she is going to have tons of hair accessories! we are working on many more varieties of these types of frames to sell. so be on the lookout! this frame was especially fun because it's in our signature jade color!

these handmade blocks were a gift from hannah. she found these at the craft show she went to last weekend. 

this next gift was a special surprise from both hannah and i. rachel had emailed me a few weeks before the shower and sent me a picture of this exact wooden carrier on etsy. she was hoping to find something similar to use as a diaper caddy on haven's changing table and asked us to keep out eyes out for something like this. we ordered it that night and stuffed it full of diapers the night before the shower. it will look so cute in haven's nursery!

this was a gift i made for rach. as i said in the card to her, every fashionable mama needs a wipe clutch! excuse the poor lighting. as always, i took this in the 11th hour (literally, at 1am the night before) and my kitchen doesn't provide the best lighting at night. 

this was a fun and inexpensive project to make! i had purchased this fabric years ago and was still waiting for the perfect occasion to create something with it. 

these fabric flowers are always cute and were the perfect touch. you may recognize this left over fabric from my pillow project back during our wonder woman days. i had some leftover scraps that were waiting to be used for something amazing. fabric flowers it was. 

a close up of the ric rac detail along the edge.

overall, it was a fab shower:) we are so excited to meet haven and couldn't be happier that God gave rachel a little girl. love you, rach!!

xoxo,
maggie