The Ultimate Baby Bundle

I love making gifts for new babies. Putting all the little gifts in a refurbished vintage train case puts the icing on the cake. 

You may recognize this blue train case with the grey and white arrow/tribal herringbone on the inside, from my post on how to re-do the inside of a train case (click here to see that post).

Well, sneaky me, I had it in my mind that I was going to give it to a particular little baby (whose name I didn’t yet know at the time.) This baby was set to be born this past summer on the very day we moved from Maui to Kauai. Ivy and I got off the plane, and went straight to the hospital and met him: Baby Boaz. I know his mama really well, and it was such a treat to meet him at just 5 hours old. (Remember when this blog was called “Jed & Ivy”? Well, Jed is Boaz’s older brother!)

Boaz’s mom loves grey, mustard, arrows and all that jazz. I love baby soft blocks, bunting, burp cloths and clothes pins. So he got all of the above. 

How adorable is he, sleeping under the bunting?! 

Ivy and I get to see him (and his big bro and parents) once a week for dinner. He’s such a good baby, and watching him grow is definitely one of the many perks of being back on Kauai. 

Aloha,

Rebecca

Read more ...

BEFORE & AFTER - Tall Black Dresser

I present to you my first Kauai furniture project. I know, you probably thought the Nautical Side Table came first, but it didn't. I got this tall dresser from a couple one of my first weekends here, and it was in great condition: solid wood, but a little dated. Those knobs... I didn't even get a good "before" picture because I was so eager to get those knobs off. It looked like a pretty standard style dresser, and when it was all finished it looked very "normal," compared to my usual pieces. 

Interesting though - I'm pretty sure this piece was custom made because the original wooden knobs were not a standard size. I could not for the life of me find any knobs to fit, not even online. So I had to buy a standard size and Kit helped me drill new holes and fill in the old holes. 

The inside of the drawers were so clean. The wood was gorgeous.

I taped off the edges really well (pat on the back). Honestly I was so impressed with my lines. 

Since I can't stop painting things black, (see here, and here, and here and here), this one got a coat of black chalk paint, topped with a metallic sheer brown, called coffee. I think it was a random Martha Stewart paint purchase.

Minimal distressing. I like to see a little wood in every piece. Just to remind us of what it's made of.

A few coats of furniture wax later, and it sold to a lady about to have a baby. 

What color would you have painted it? I've gone black and am having a hard time going back!!

Aloha, Rebecca

Read more ...

The Story of THEIVYANDCO.com

You may have heard...

www.THEIVYANDCO.com

Even though it's a great new domain name, it's not a pretty story. 

On Sunday, I started getting messages from friends saying that they were unable to access my website. I was having my biggest giveaway to date, and everyone was trying to get their last minute entries in! I called Go Daddy that night to figure out what was wrong (which btw has great 24/7 customer service) and they told me I was not the owner of that domain anymore. (WHAT?!?!?!)

Long story short: 

-I was furious. 

-My credit card info on file was incorrect so they didn't auto renew my subscription for my domain (remember when Hawaiian Air Miles Card switched from Visa to MasterCard this summer? Yep. That happened.)

-I was still furious. 

-Apparently they sent reminder emails to an email I don't use telling me to update billing info because my domain was about to expire. I didn't get those emails. 

-Furiouser. 

-Lo and behold a scammer named "Nancy Nette" bought my newly expired domain (www.ivy-and-co.com). So I hired Go Daddy to get it back from Ms. Nette, ($70 + 10% commission on how much Nancy wants to sell it back to me for). Let's remember that fair market value of this domain is $12.99. I've been checking in with Go Daddy every other day about this, and finally today they said she isn't answering any attempts to communicate but they know she usually charges within the 4 figure range. (WHAT THE HECK.) They work with her "company" a lot and she's had to change her business name 4-5 times... Probably because people hate her! (Was that mean? She's mean.)

-I refuse to give in to extortion, so I decided to change my website to www.theivyandco.com. I'm not quite used to it's ring, but it's the best I can do. 

-What makes me most irate about all of this is that the day before this travesty occurred, I passed out tons of business cards at the trunk show, (which I had just ordered), with my previous website on them, and every piece that sold also had a tag with my website on it. 

-I can't think about it too much, because I just get more and more furious. I just need to get over it and order new business cards, a new stamp for my product tags, and work on bringing traffic to my new site. This includes getting some key pins onto Pinterest from my new site and delete all the pins that go to my old site. Nancy Nette is not getting any of my traffic. 

I have to let bygones be bygones. Let's take a moment to remember all the good times we had with www.ivy-and-co.com

Ok. Let's celebrate www.THEIVYANDCO.com ! 

Aloha, Rebecca

NOTE: no content has been lost in this change. It's the statistics, traffic and rebranding that are the main issues. 

Read more ...

Instagram 1K Giveaway - 4 Awesome Prizes for 4 Winners!

We made it! 1,000 followers on Instagram. 

It felt like I was hanging out in the 700's forever! 

I just want to thank each and every one of you for helping Ivy & Co. reach this goal. 

Before we get to the giveaway, I'd like to explain a few things about my approach to Instagram.

(If you don't care, just scroll to the bottom and wait for the Rafflecopter giveaway to load, haha).

I love a good Instagram feed. Am I the only one? 

I actually put a lot of thought into the order of my pics. Anyone else do this?

I instagram somewhat frequently. On average, I'll post 5 pictures in 24 hours. 

I don't like similar photos to end up next to each other, or on top of each other. (I'm crazy, I know). 

This goes for pictures of Ivy, or Ivy and I, projects I'm working on, 

(i.e.: bunting or a furniture piece), or any photos with words. 

I'm particularly proud of the flow of photos above. 

Somehow they all have some blue, green & yellow in them. 

I'm probably never going to have one of those ALL-WHITE background feeds. I love color!

(Oops! Words on top of each other up above! But it's ok, cause it's 3 in a row.)

Okay, enough about my OCD Instagram tendencies, and onto our awesome prizes! 

16" gold filled chain, gold filled bar, hand forged, hammered, custom stamped with the word "fansea." Donated by Simone Jeanette.

The Introduction to Essential Oils Kit includes 5 ml bottles of dōTERRA's Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade Lavender, Lemon, and Peppermint essential oils. Donated by Donna Owen.

Honest Hazel Eye Gels - 10 pack. Natural ingredients: Cactus Collagen increases skin elasticity, improves circulation and reduces puffiness. Soothing Aloe Vera, Vitamin C and Vitamin E smooths fine lines and wrinkles. Arbutin combats dark circles and hyper-pigmentation. 
Donated by Honest Hazel.

Surprise Pack from yours truly! Feel free to leave a comment with which Ivy & Co. products you like best, 
so I can try to include those when you win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck & mahalo for your support,
Rebecca

Read more ...

Playing On My Pod #8 - The Holidays Are Here!

With Halloween here and gone, it's official: the Holiday season is in full swing. That doesn't mean I'm about to bust out the Christmas music. Here's 5 great songs for year-round listening. 

1. Here We Go, by Alex & Sierra

2. My Lighthouse, by Rend Collective

3. Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Jimmy London 

4. How Can It Be, by Lauren Daigle

5. I Don't Wanna Break, by Christina Perri 

Did you catch the last few Instagram #friday4's? Click the links to see who owns these awesome feeds. 

http://instagram.com/p/u3VtYoRqYF/

http://instagram.com/p/ulP8_IxqQF/

Here's what Halloween looked like for Ivy: 

And like that, it was over. 

On to November. 

This Saturday is when I like to think Christmas shopping starts, as I'll be participating in my sister-in-law's Trunk Show with a bunch of talented local artists. This is Ivy & Co.'s second year participating and I'm really excited about it!

If you need me, I'll be sewing all week. 

Happy Holidays!

Aloha, Rebecca

Read more ...

QOTD and the Instagram Friday 4

You probably know from my PLAYING ON MY POD series (http://goo.gl/gq0cUX), that I love downloading new music. I just got a few tracks from Lauren Daigle. New fave!

I also love a good IG feed. This week I chose 4 monochromatic pics from 4 great accounts. To check out these guys, approved by me, click here: http://instagram.com/p/ulP8_IxqQF/

Have you entered the ROSS giveaway yet? You have until Monday! Click here to get in your entry: http://goo.gl/wqcY6O

Here's some bunting to help you celebrate the weekend. :) you can purchase it at Party Wonderland Kauai, in Lihue. 

On my way to work. A hui hou! 

Aloha, Rebecca

Read more ...

Kauai's 1st ROSS Dress For Less & a Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!

Kauai. The Garden Island. Topics of conversations tend to center around hurricanes, GMO's, gas prices, and now, Ross! That's right. It's not every day this island gets a new place to shop. It's such a big deal, that the grand opening crowds made the front page.

I had to wait a few days after the Grand Opening on October 10, 

before venturing into the Ross abyss, and waiting had it's pro's and con's. 

Pro: Checking out was a breeze on day 3. I had friends who couldn't get in the door on day 1 and others who couldn't make it through the check out line on day 2.

Con: Kauaians had bought out the store!
I knew people were excited about Ross's arrival,
but I didn't know they were going to clear out all the inventory! Slim pickin's by day 3.  

 I still found some great stuff. 

Here are some of the products I'm most excited about:

Love me some cute organization boxes, hip new shoes and trendy seating. 

I begged my husband to let me take one of those grey and white chevron ottoman's home, 

but he resisted. 

Here's what we actually came home with:

2 bright organization bins, bicycle craft paper and placemats
My husband got soccer socks and a soccer bag

Ross Dress for Less was kind enough to sponsor this post (and my purchase) by providing me with a gift card to shop the new Kauai store. Isn't that awesome?! Even though they sponsored this post, the opinions are all mine. And I will say, I love Ross, whether it be on Kauai, Maui, Oahu or California. (That about covers all the places I've shopped at Ross.) Enough about me, let's talk about you! Ross wants to give one special Ivy & Co. reader a $25 gift card! Are you interested? Of course you are. Follow the Rafflecopter directions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ross Dress for Less
Kukui Grove Center
3-2600 Kaumualii Hwy Suite J
Lihue, HI 96766

Store hours:
Sunday—Thursday 8:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Friday—Saturday 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Aloha, Rebecca

Read more ...