Buy This So I Won't-Volume 7 Vintage Kitchen

This week's column is an admission of sorts. As I surf Etsy and ArtFire in the course of my daily shopkeeping, I always come across things that I'm one click away from buying, and for some reason I've been doing way too good at avoiding one certain weakspot in my shopping psyche--dishes!

Now, I know what you're thinking. I got married and got dishes then and that's all I really care about dishes and fine china's for the birds so who cares? I care! And I'm terminally single and can barely cook! (Don't call the police just yet.) See, dishes can sometimes seep into my decor OCD if I start getting just a wee bit bold in the kitchen and, you know, decide that it's okay to buy lettuce that doesn't come in a bag. So, were I to induldge my desperate urge to revamp my kitchen so that it would match my bedroom (don't ask, okay? my apt. is very, very small...), here's where I would start. My bedroom is brown, dark chocolately brown with every other brown and a little blue drizzled in... this would look great in my bedroom, but we're supposed to be talking about my kitchen! ::ahem::
First, I would revamp my casserole dishes. With this 9" x 4" Unique Pyrex Casserole dish in a Bulls Eye Pattern from SleepyOwlVintage for $24.00. I love the colors, the pattern, the retro-ness of it!! It's perfect and it matches my sheets. (I can't help it! My wardrobe's the same way. I could wear my bedspread and just kill 2 birds with one stone.)


And because I like to delude myself and pretend that I might actually cook two dishes at once someday, I'd have to add this Retro Mod 60s Pyrex Terra Chocolate Brown Casserole Dish to my collection from junkculture for $14.00. It's 2.5 quarts. Now look at that dish and tell me that it's not gorgeous. It's hypnotizing you, isn't it? You're...getting...very...hungry....


I think my obsession with circles it's becoming very, very apparent. I'm an abstract art obsession-ado as well. I can't deal with art that looks back at me. I just need colors and shapes. Hmm...and trees. I can deal with trees. So, that's enough casserole dishes.

Now, once I make these dishes, I have to have something serve my (imaginary) dinner in right? Well, look no further! I have two choices battling for my wallet at this moment. The first is French Onion Soup Bowls by Hull-Set of Two by Surrender Dorothy for $21.89. I love French Onion soup, but these bowls make it look even better!


The second is Pfaltzgraff Soup Mugs In The Gourmet Pattern Set Of Three also from Surrender Dorothy for $22.00. Getting a hold of discontinued Pfaltzgr aff is always good for a sugar high, and these are simply gorgeous!!!!

Now, I have two more items to show you. One is for after dinner. Granted, they veer a wee bit from the color scheme and concept, but I don't care, I love them!! Plus, you can use them to help you drown your sorrows after you bought too much! They're 5 Recylcled Blown Glass Stemmed Vino Glasses From The Early Eighties again from Surrender Dorothy for $32.50. Can't you just see the Tequila Sunrise?

And finally, I'll breakdown and show you the last thing that I'll be lucky if I make it to morning without buying. I wouldn't even put these in my kitchen, I'd put them in my bedroom as matching knick knacky vases or something like I need more of those! I can't help it; they're so freaking adorable! Set of 4 quirky coffee mugs for $14.0o by Sl eepyOwlVintage.

*dies of the cuteness and knick knacky potential-ness*

And so again, dear reader, I come to you with my constant refrain of Buy These So I Won't because it took me about 45 minutes to write this post and in that 45 minutes, I didn't spend a dime. It would be great to wake up tomorrow morning and not be able to buy anything on this list because someone else already did! Have a heart; it's almost Valentine's Day. Save me from MYSELF!

Yours very gratefully,
Lori

And of course, you have until noon tomorrow to enter the February ArtFire Giveaway on my blog!

Buy This So I Won't-Volume 6 - Puppets

It's that time again, time for me to tempt you with hand-crafty goodness that's hanging out on my I Would Buy This If I Didn't Also Have to Eat list. Those of you who are familiar with my shop know that I'm a big fan of Little Red Riding Hood, and that's despite the fact that she runs me ragged through the streets of NYC. I can forgive her for that because Manhattan is an exciting place. But it does get old after awhile when I have to rescue her from one perilous situation after another.

In order to do this post tonight, I've taken her to an secure and undisclosed location because, dear reader, I have to confess that while Red and I are so BFF, I'm a wee bit infatuated with her arch nemesis. You know how irresistible bad boys can be, right?

*sigh*

So without further ado, let me introduce you to this week's candidate for Buy This So I Won't hailing from the Etsy shop burchanddaughters, The Big Bad Wolf.

In drag.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Cross-dressing is no big deal in 2009. We're a modern society; we just elected Barack Obama; we don't care if a Big Bad Wolf needs to work out his Mother issues in a pink bonnet, we celebrate it! If he doesn't want to embrace his inner metro-wolf and do away with that uni-brow, then good for him! Teeth whitening? Ha! Over-rated! Cover that gray? Are you mad? Leave him alone! Hasn't he suffered enough? He's already doomed to live his life as someone's puppet!

...And yet there's a soft, squishy part of me that wants to buy him, bring him home, make him comfortable on my uncomfortable sofa and sit across from him with a legal pad and just listen to his wolfly woes. But then I'd have to leave Red with Alice in Wonderland, and I don't think I could bear the separation anxiety. Some days she's the only reason I get out of bead in the morning. So, I beseech you as I type, to Buy This So I Won't, to give this brave, brazen, Big Bad Wolf a home free of conflicted little red riding girls and grandmas, and with that I'm off to rescue Red before Alice offers her something to drink...

Have a good week, Lori

Buy This So I Won't-Volume 5 - Handmade Soap

Yikes, I think I'm a bit tardy with this issue, but the New Year can be quite the whirlwind, can't it? This week's candidate for Buy This So I Won't is actually a class of products from different sellers all hailing from Artfire and is a vain attempt to address one of my most expensive Achille's heels. I have absolutely, positively no ability to resist handmade soap. I have a handmade soap addiction that's fed by the ridiculous buzz I get from aromatherapy or something. Seriously, if I'm having a really bad day, all I have to do is go pick up a bar of soap from the stack that's just waiting to be used, sniff it and WHAM, I feel better. (I will neither confirm not deny that I keep a soap sample in my purse for aroma therapeutic 911 emergencies.)

Now, some of you who pass through my world, may know that I like to make bracelets out of food to entertain myself, but I'm not nearly as skilled as these soap makers who keep making bath & body products that look better than my mother's banana bread. Honestly, do I really need to feel hungry when I'm taking a shower? No, I don't. If I made it to the shower without going near the fridge in the first place, I don't need to be rewarded with a bar of soap that looks like the neopolitan ice cream I just successfully resisted. So, dear readers, your mission this week is to BUY THESE SO I WON'T and don't eat them by accident...

Coconut Cream Pie with Shea Butter by soapdeli $5.00

Snicker Doodle Sugar Bubbles by the soap seduction $10.00

(anyone seen my fork?)

Pumpkin Crunch Cake Body Soap Design Series (Vegan Friendly) by SimplyTemptedBathandBody $6.00

(Is your tummy growlin' now?)
Lemon Sugar Cake Mini Bundt Cake Soap by Adoration $4.00

(One of these days, I'm going to accidentally take a bath with a Hershey Bar or a Reese Cup.)
Peanut Butter Cookie Whipped Goat's Milk Cold Processed Soap by Hendrick's Hearth $4.25

*Whew.* I made it through this entire post without buying any soap. Omg, that means there's a light at the end of my bubble bath. hee hee

Until next week, Lori

Buy This So I Won't-Volume 4 - Working for Peanuts

Well, I skipped last week for obvious vacational reasons, but I'm very excited to bring you this week's and the last 2008 installment of Buy This So I Won't! I was putting a Treasury together on Etsy over a week ago, browsing all over the place, and I stumbled into this shop to get out of the (cyber) cold. If you have a beverage in your mouth right now, this would be a good time to swallow.

This week's selection is workingforpeanuts. Jeanne, the shop owner, has my deepest respect because she clearly values the art of self-entertainment. (Go, Jeanne!) So, with that said, I'd like to introduce you to:

Lena! According to Working for Peanuts, Lena is "dressed for a dinner party. Why don't you invite her to yours? She'll help you with your decor. As part of your centerpiece, or hanging on a Christmas tree, she'll add some flair." Lena can be yours for $27.00.

Well, Lena's Christmas options may have flown up the chimney by now, but there's no reason she can't be someone's New Year's Eve sweetheart!

Now, if you decide to take someone else to your New Year's Eve celebration, then Lena won't be left all alone--not by a long shot. She has a plethora of peanut buddies to hang with, each as unique as she is. Go pay them a visit; trust me, you won't be sorry. I mean, you might snort milk up your nose, but otherwise, you won't be sorry. Yes, they are made out of real peanut shells that Jeanne opens, hollows out, and then glues back together. Talk about up-cycling! Now, you'll think twice about every peanut you eat, won't you? Oh, yeah...won't you please Buy These So I Won't?! Seriously, people. How is anyone supposed to resist her? She can skate better than me!

Lucinda-lots of zip
$24.00

Oh, and I couldn't close this post without wishing you and yours a very happy New Year!

Abe-Baby New Year
$15.00

I swear I'm about to click...

Thanks for a great year and here's to a prosperous 2009!

Take care, Lori

Buy This So I Won't-Volume 3 - Signs

Well, boys and girls, it's time for yet another installment of what has become a very guilty pleasure of mine: my weekly waxing about things I want but won't allow myself to buy. This week it's art. My art habit is vast and would be horrifically out of control if it weren't for the fact that I live in a very small apartment that is literally slammed full of everything at the moment. There is no more room on the walls for another piece of abstract art (aka crack cocaine to me). There are probably fifty photographs in my Etsy favorites that I would buy right now if I knew how to mount pictures on my ceiling without killing myself. But this week's fascination is art of a different type; it's an extension, I guess, of last week's pick but it goes a little further...it's signs!

My love affair with signs comes from that same font-tastic place inside me that makes me swoon over walls of over-stuffed bookshelves. I fantasize about building a dream house where all the walls are bookshelves--like in the Clue house-- and they're also all secret walls like in Scooby Doo so that when you lean on them, you end up in a room with more bookshelves! I know what you're thinking...."Oh my god...

and you're right but hear me out. , for

and and I really need to remember those things.

Sometimes I need signs to inspire me, to remind me why tomorrow matters to me:
and why it doesn't matter to others I care deeply about:.

And so, dear reader, I burden you with this task this week (perhaps someone can make me a sign?) to Buy These So I Won't! That's right, I'm asking you to make the first move.

Because if a sign can do it, you can, too!

(And if you do, convo me with the transaction # and I'll give you 20% off any piece in my shop, Risky Beads, because you just saved me some money! Offer is valid at Etsy or Artfire.)

All signs can be found at StencilStudio's Etsy shop! Go pay them a visit! They have many, many more signs that the ones in this post! Have a great holiday!

Until next time,
Lori

Buy This So I Won't-Volume 2 - Coasters

Yikes! I'm a little late with my weekly column, but this week has been a busy one. I promise you, however, that my tardiness in now way indicates a lack of passion about this weeks pick for Buy This So I Won't--Volume 2!

I'm a font fanatic and an imaginary poster child for Wordsmiths Anonymous, so this little morsel from Melanie at Carolina Cottage on Etsy keeps calling my name (in Times New Roman, Helvetica, Georgia...oh, the humanity!).

Fabulous Font Coasters
set of 4 for $15, 4" x 4"

I'll come clean right now and admit that I have a serious coaster problem. I have an allergic reaction anytime I try to sit a drink down anywhere where there's not a coaster unless it's a sidewalk or something. I probably own more coasters than I do glasses to drink out of. My therapist and I are working on this issue, but the progress is very slow...because she won't let me bring any coasters to our sessions.

Now, if you know someone who would love these coasters, feast your eyes on this little upgrade!

Fabulous Font Gift Set
4 coasters in a nestled in a wood tray, $32

This gift set is the perfect gift for (me) for that hard to buy nerdy, coffee shop, lap-top lizard, kindle-loving person on your list! So, I beseech you, dear reader, please buy this so I won't! My holiday shopping is all done, and I've already bought myself plenty of presents as well, so kindly hustle on over to Carolina Cottage and remove this temptation from my path!

And if you do, convo me with the transaction # and I'll give you 20% off any piece in my shop, Risky Beads, because you just saved me some money! Offer is valid at Etsy or Artfire.

Risky Beads is now burning the candle at both ends--on Etsy and at ArtFire! Shop at my ArtFire store and get 10% off your order and FREE WORLDWIDE shipping! Email me and mention this article to get the discount. If there's a piece on Etsy that you'd like that's not on ArtFire, let me know and I'll move it over for you!

See you next week with Volume 3!
-Lori

Buy This So I Won't--Volume 1-Sweetgum Handbag

Okay, so I've decided to start a weekly column in my blog entitled: Buy This So I Won't. I think the concept behind it is pretty obvious. There are way too many things on Etsy that I'm one click away of buying, and I need to slow my roll in that department, hence, this series. So, without further ado, here's Volume 1 of what I hope will become a truly meaningful part of my week and yours!

So, this week's item is from SweetgunHandbags in Durham, NC. Kim is my 'neighbor' as my shop is in Raleigh, NC, but I met her when I was browsing on Etsy on October 12 and found this:Tote Bag: Olive and Gold for $28!

This is the best purse I've ever purchased. Want to know why? Of course you do! I need a fairly big purse because I have issues. I need a purse that is easy to see into and scrunge around in because my purse is sort of like a junk drawer, but I also need interior pockets to protect all the things that I'll break whilst scrunging around. And I need a purse that doesn't show dirt because I'm a clutz. And it needs to look fashionable and pretty and be durable and not cost a lot. This purse is PERFECT! Look at the inside!! It's roomy! I can stash a book and a journal and a package that I'm mailing and protect my sunglasses and cell phone and not lose my freaking lip balm! It's well-made, and that's important because anytime I ask someone to hold my purse, they end up in the ER.

So, why all the fuss about a purse I already bought two months ago? Because there's another one in her shop that's black and gray and just as magnificent and only $28.00 and I want it bad, but I don't need it at all, so I want you to BUY THIS SO I WON'T. Here it is!!

Tote Bag: Black and White Stripes for $28!

The Amazing Inside!
The Amazing Random Staircase View!

Okay, so now you need to go to SweetGum Handbag and buy this bag! Buy it for yourself, or your sister, or your mother, or your aunt, or your friend, or your girlfriend, or a bag lady who needs another bag! I don't care who you buy it for, just buy it so I won't!

And if you do, convo me with the transaction # and I'll give you 20% off any piece in my shop, Risky Beads, because you just saved me some money!

Until next week, Lori
(20% offer valid until 12/31/08)