well, what do you know?

i guess those judges weren't as put off by our place as we had suspected. we got called the other day with the news that we are one of the three finalists for st. louis magazine's "living space of the year."

now, here's the part, we deplore... the campaign.

yes, the public decides the winner, and since we don't know that many people in the st. louis area, being new and all, we have to rely on shameless plugs.

if you've got a second, please vote for us here.

the bad news - we're currently in last place. the good news - whoever wins... we're gonna get an AT house tour out of 'em.

at least, we got a clean house out of it.

those judges came through on friday afternoon, as expected.

to tell you the truth, i am not so sure we were their cup of tea. let's just say that the extent of our recycling/reclaiming/adaptive reusing/craigslisting/ebaying ways might have been a surprise to them. i don't know if it was the jfk heads or our rusty old bar cart...



but we might have just put 'em over the edge.

there was a lot of nodding and pleasantries exchanged, but afterwards, dabney and i had the distinct feeling this wouldn't go our way.

at least, our house is clean.

yin and yang

we've been doing some puppysitting this week.

finalists!

apparently, it may well be.  

st. louis magazine judges visit us on friday afternoon.

more soon...

babysitting our niece will never be the same

a little inspiration for the next time we're bored while babysitting little lu...

see more here.

vote mogo

hot air, cool night

pictures from the forest park balloon glow...

images on wood

inspired by this 3D portrait we found in richmond (we named her "peggy" after our favorite "mad men" character - her full name is "peggy joan," actually) and these incredible works we saw this past weekend in chicago, dabney set her mind on making something similar.

here's her prototype...

old pennant

so cute. i couldn't resist.

chicago is our kind of town

just when we thought we were approaching the end of the road as far as mogo's outdoor show history, things changed. this past weekend's renegade craft fair was our first super fantastic show since the beginning of the recession.  boy, we needed it.





thank you, chicago, for coming out and supporting your independent craft fair.  (rcf is chicago born and bred afterall.)  after some saturday morning showers, people came out in droves and so did the sun and wonderfully warm temperatures.



bubbleman came out, too...



as did this crazy marching band.



tired of constantly printing our price tags for our merchandise, we finally got smart and used some of the leftover chalkboard paint and woodchips we had lying around the house.



just in time for rcf, new mogo bag tags!



for the first time, friday joined us for a show!  we were very apprehensive at first, but she came through with flying colors making herself home in the tent, as you can see below.

i just love cheap and quick craft projects.

thanks to these directions, found via design*sponge, i was able to make these cool wooden spool photo holders.

it took all of five minutes and cost next to nothing.

renegade chicago - this weekend

do i sense a political theme?

of course, you know we couldn't go a whole summer without doing some scavenging.

at the chelsea flea market, we found these old ballot boxes. they're missing their slotted tops, but they'll still be great for storing scarves and mittens. make that dog toys - i forgot that i live in missouri now.



this past weekend in richmond, we couldn't pass up this yard sale - especially when we saw the back this famous head. the sunglasses happen to be mine.



for 5 bucks, i couldn't say no. but the funniest part was on my way home... going through TSA security, three agents gathered around the monitor as my duffle bag went through the xray machine. the agent in the middle turned to me and asked, "is that president... kennedy?"

i bet they don't see that often.


not actual TSA imagery

and then there were five.

AT house tour via vermont

when we were in vermont this summer, we managed to shoot a couple of houses for AT.

first up was this colorful green home in hinesburg. click the image below to check out the tour.

congratulations, j & r!

over labor day weekend, dabney and i had the honor of attending the official wedding celebration of this fine couple in richmond, virginia.

as you may remember, we saw them a month ago in barnard where they were able to tie the knot legally. god bless vermont!



so it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate such a momentous occasion - an elegant reception, preceded by taco fiesta...





we had a blast dancing our buns off. thank you, ladies!

peeking

luggage rack

we found this decrepit luggage rack at an estate sale in the spring for the bargain price of $2. since then, we've been on the lookout for some fun ribbon for the re-do.

this week, our favorite thrift store came through once again with this fantastic vintage ribbon which kind of reminds of a girl scout badge.



a few minutes later, voilá... new luggage rack!  ready for houseguests and all for under $10.

our bud, kevin, in the RFT

in our short amount of time here in st. louis, this guy has become a dear friend of ours and his huge warehouse space along the banks of the mississippi our oasis when we want to go out and see people we know (and don't know) all the while with strange experimental music in the background.

st. louis' local rag, the riverfront times, recently mentioned kevin and his wonderful endeavor, floating laboratories, in their blog.  check it out here.