Brenda Baker Productions

A couple of days ago, my friend Cassie said she hauled out her Halloween decorations--because frankly--there was no time to spare! At that point, just a couple of days before Halloween, it was basically "do or die." And her daughter Greta would certainly not forgive her for doing up the holiday right! It's a long time until next Halloween, you know. I completely understand how Cassie felt. It would be so sad to miss an entire year of my Halloween decorations! While it is a good excuse to actually DUST my furniture and put away a lot of clutter, I love the cozy feeling that decorating for autumn gives me. I'm definitely a "home-body" so I'm getting ready for the blustery weather and ready to snuggle in amongst my favorite things. Take a peek: My daughter calls these the "evil skunks." Normally, I would be freaked out about something that looks like this but I like these creepy guys for some reason. Real pumpkin. Covered in ultra fine si...

My husband and daughter recently went to Disneyworld without me. I had to work and pouted a lot, but I was secretly glad for them. We love vacationing in Disneyworld so it's really hard to be the one to sit it out! What I do appreciate, though, is hearing all of their stories. Ashley said she went on Tower of Terror ten times, Rock-n-Roller Coaster 12 times, and Expedition Everest 7 times (in a row...barf). They spent some time in the Disney animation part at Disney-Hollywood Studios and brought me home some drawings. I love this Pooh bear drawing. Everyone loves Minnie. Isn't it interesting how one Donald Duck looks slightly different from... ...another Donald Duck. No matter what, Tigger always looks cute. But this Tinkerbell bears a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie. The Tink pictured below saved loads of money on collagen injections. Jiminy Cricket isn't easy either. Does anyone else think this one looks like Morgan Freem...

I work in a school, so I've been just a wee bit distracted these past few weeks. I just hate it when I don't have time to be creative! But the opportunities to WRITE and CREATE simply ebb and flow throughout the year. Being realistic about my free time is critical to my level of contentment. So, instead of whining and complaining about not having time to blog, I'm just going to jump back into it as if to un-push a big, red "pause" button...like I was never gone! And nothing says "JUMP" like David Lee Roth. Scratch that. Nothing says "JUMP" like a pair of oh-so-classic Chuck Taylor All-Stars! Did you know you can go online and design your own? My mom gave my daughter a gift card to do just that on her birthday this year. She designed a crazy pair of shoes and they arrived last week. Check them out. Apparently these are the double-hi-tops so she had a blast choosing different colors for all of the different panels and eyelets and lace...

Bethany, Carrie and I had a blast on our most recent girls' road trip. Once again, we hit the "antiquing road" and searched for sweet vintage treasures, met interesting people, scoured as many craft stores as possible and enjoyed lots of laughs. Lots of laughs. This year we returned to a favorite antiquing event in Yakima known as "American Primitives at Clayson Farm." We made this trip last year, too, and had a ball. Check out the fun we had this year! From our pictures you'll see that it's not all about the quest for "stuff" but we take great delight in the displays, the colors, the shapes, the creativity of each vendor. And the friendship is the icing on the cake! Nothing says "vacation" like really cute luggage. But that handle would be a real pain walking through Heathrow. Two words: Super. Glue. Love this fruit platter and the gorgeous blue of this baking powder tin. I'm not a big fan of "blue" but the whit...

Entirely possible. You see I keep my marbles in a golden-hued wooden bowl. They are so cool together. It's hard not to want to plunge your hand into them and search for your "favorite." And if I am losing my marbles, I guess no one is really willing to mention the "elephant in the room." I love this old girl. I remember when I bought her at a garage sale, my best friend Carrie truly did think I was losing it. Isn't she cute? I'm actually more messy than she is. You're welcome to enjoy my blog posts as long as you don't think I'm strange. My hope is you'll be inspired to surround yourself with the things that make you happy, things of beauty or sentiment, things you've made all by yourself. It's just so important to love your surroundings. And, well, if people think you're losing it when you bring home a beat-up wooden elephant, then so be it.

I've just been itching to share this photo. It's so yummy. My sister asked me to make her a banner and these are the delicious fabrics she chose. (What? No "pixy stix" pattern?!) She has a great eye for color and pattern. She's a quilter, too. I also loved how this other fabric banner I made looked when I clipped it to her shelf (WITH "pixy stix" fabric!). A girl can never have too many party banners.