BFF on cup of jo!

Just a quick post to brag about my bestfriend Heather making it onto everyone's favorite blog Cup of Jo the other day. Joanna is friends with Heather's fiancee from way back, and when she saw a picture of Heather & James on her facebook, she asked to borrow it for a Cup of Jo post. The picture is from our friend's wedding (The other maid of honor at James and Heather's wedding) back in August - very sweet indeed!

Joanna also posted about their engagement reveal story (involving a photobooth, a ring, and a giant hair bow) on the Glamour weddings blog. Check it out here. Of course I think this idea is just genius - I love photobooths!

candy cane lane

Every city has one... the street designated as "Candy Cane Lane", a street where tourist and city dwellers alike flock to see the tacky, bright & festive lights adorning each house on the block. Ours in Austin happens to be just around the corner from our laundromat, so we took a stroll the other night to look at the lights....


A sock monkey nativity scene!

A flamingo nativity scene!

And my personal favorite... the house that decorated their front yard with the Austin city scape... you've gone Town Lake (Lady Bird Lake) down in the front, the 360 bridge over to the left, the Capital building, the Frost towers & more.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you're celebrating with champagne and friends/family. I'm off to Maryland to visit with my family!

diy: chain & ribbon necklace

Inspired by the talented blogger The Glamourai, I made this fantastic necklace for my best friend's birthday recently.


It was pretty simple to make, once I harnessed the multiple tangles of chain. I combined lots of different colors & weights, and finished it off with a black ribbon just like the inspiration.



Heather looked great in the necklace, pairing it with a simple black deep-v neck. Although, truth be told, she's one of those people that would look great in a paper bag.

diy: 7" vinyl record bowl

Yesterday, after the hectic last minute package wrapping & shipping died out, I took some time to try out a new & super simple craft: vinyl record bowls. It's right in line with my repurposing-old-media mindset, no? A simple google of "how to make a record bowl", some discarded 7" records and a few spacers later, I was in business.




I'm casually thinking about selling these in the shop, but for right now, I'm giving them as X-mas presents.

Twine Dispenser

Dorky but true: I subscribe to the godmother of all craft's daily newsletters. I'm totally loving this idea from the Daily Organizing Tips email I got this morning - a simple twine dispenser using an aluminum funnel.

Definitely going to make one for my black and white baker's twine that I use to wrap packages!

Austin Finds: Off the Wall vintage

Off the Wall vintage is a fab little vintage store down on South Congress, conveniently located a couple doors down from the restaurant I used to work at. However, it wasn't until after I'd left that I truly understood what a gem this place is. It's one of those magical vintage stores that somehow has exactly what you're looking for all the time. What some Texas shaped magnets? Ok. How about a card catalog or pristine vintage mirrors, 30% off? You got it. I stopped by there the other day with something very specific in mind, and the super nice shop keeper directed me right to it. I can't tell you what it is, though, cause it's a x-mas present for Tom.








ps - a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TOM!!! He is 24 today.

Craft Riot Recap

The Craft Riot this past weekend was super fun. It was hosted at the wines.com headquarters, so riot-goers got enjoy not only their complimentary glass of wine, but super cheap bottles as well.

The thing about craft fairs is this: you never know what's going to sell. Within the first 2 hours that we had opened on Saturday, I sold out of all my candles. I mean, they smelled pretty good (I was burning one at the same time) and apparently the scent was wafting down the aisle. People kept popping into our room and saying "ooh, it smells like pancakes in here!" To be fair, the scent is called "Hansel & Gretel's House" (NOT named by me) and is a delicious gingerbread/vanilla/cinnamon/Holiday mix. I sold out of those first, then the rest surely followed.

That night, I went home and made 25 additional candles and sold them all the next day. I don't sell these candles online, and had never really had much movement on them before, but I guess the cold weather + holiday scents did it! So thanks to all of you candle buyers out there!

My neighbor Debbie of Debbie Carroll Designs was fantastic, and we were in the room with Santa so we got to see firsthand just how scary Santa is to someone of a 2' stature.



Here's Kim of Broken Ear Productions with Santa. If they look especially cozy, it's because her hubby was on Santa duty that day. Cute! Also, those rad Texas earrings she's wearing were made by her. I know, right? She has similar items in the shop.



I also made this little "as seen in" framed picture the second day. What can I say? I'm a proud shop owner!

I also did end up picking up a few items from other vendors. Squid Ink Kollective were there and I picked up this card, which I am giving to myself (MERRY XMAS!) and a seriously adorable pinstripe hairbow from Cathie of Sweet Wolf.

Pommes Frites at EtsyAustin Craft Riot this weekend!

The blog title says it all: Pommes Frites will be at the 2nd annual Etsy Austin holiday event, being held this weekend in East Austin at the wines.com distributor. A glass of wine with $3 admission, pictures with Santa and tons of handcrafted goods.

See the fliers below for extra info!

Pommes Frites: in living color

I do apologize for my lengthy absence... a whole month and no blogs! I took a trip to NYC for my bestfriend's engagement party (I am maid of honor!), which was directly followed by a terrible bout of bronchitis that lasted a week and a couple days, rendering me unable to craft, blog or even troll the internet. This was then followed by a cruel exercise in Supply & Demand, in which I much Demand but slim-to-none Supply. I haven't had a backstock of books in a month... once I list them they go out the window, which is awesome for my business but bad for my callouses. I've given up having lady-like hands.

In that time, some awesome things have also happened. I got featured in the December 1st issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine, which makes my parents incredibly proud, them being the wine enthusiasts that they are. I just picked up my copy and took pictures of it for you. I'm so pleased with what they wrote (me, and artist!?) and I truly have a sense of coming full circle in a goal I set.

Two years ago, I was working at (now-defunct) Adorn magazine, writing articles and pulling together handmade items for our holiday gift guide, all the while wishing it were me owning my own independent business and being featured in magazines. After the magazine folded, I moved to Austin and slowly but surely grew Pommes Frites, and now here I am! And PF just keeps growing, which is wonderful. However, hopefully after the holidays I will have some time to restore my work room to, well, working order.