Have A Lovely Weekend

It's rainy and cold here. I think I'll curl up and watch a movie. Enjoy your weekend.
artwork via meArtDesign on Etsy

Orla Kiely at Target

I know what you are thinking. Orla Kiely at Target is old news and everyone has already blogged about it before. I know this but yesterday was the first time I could make it there to check out the goods in person.

I didn't intend on going to Target yesterday but it was right there after my lunch with dad. And I may have been putting off going to work at the house. I've had about enough with painting door trim and I'm ready for a new project.

So I walk in and am immediatly sucked into the $1-$2.50 section. I spend much less time in that section now that it is no longer only $1 items. I wandered past the swimsuits and thought about my "diet". I circled past the workout clothes and thought about going to the gym. I u-turned and went back to the bag section because I really could use a new gym bag. I eventually made it to the housewares section and there they were. The Orla Kiely items.

I wanted to like them. All of my blog friends like them. They were super cute, but I just could not imagine them in my yet to be finished kitchen. I was all a little modern? vintage? (I don't know) for my taste. I picked up a mug and thought about it. But I don't drink coffee and I already have enough mugs. I considerd the pot holders but didn't want to have one random thing from the collection.

I briefly considered the magazine holder but knew it would not go with the ones that I already owned. And I didn't want anymore plastic dishware. I've got enough of that left over from my college days.

So, I didn't get any Orla Kiely is the point. Buying things for a kitchen that is under renovation is hard. I didn't want to walk out of Target empty handed so I grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice and a new bath puff. When I got to the register the line was too long. I put cranberry juice and bath puff back and went home to paint some door trim.

Free Printable Recipe Cards

Designed for the ladies of my book club to share their wonderful recipes. Free here for you! Enjoy.

Click here to download
Print on cardstock or heavyweight inkjet paper for best results.

Fat Tuesday Lunch

Here is what I'm having for lunch today. I'm going the easy route with a box of Zatarain's and some sliced up sausage. YUM!

New Use For An Old Scrabble Board

G and I play speed scrabble, no board necessary. Each person takes 7 tiles and makes their own personal scrabble board (just like the new-to-me Bananagrams game). When one player uses all of their tiles they shout go and everyone takes another tile from the pile. Tile from the pile :) This continues until all tiles are taken and someone has completed their own board. Keep score if you want.

Since we have no intentions of ever playing a real game of scrabble, we might as well use the board for some other reason. We're green like that.

Photojojo gives us an awesome tutorial on how to turn your scrabble (or any game board) into a picture frame.
If I were still teaching, I would play speed scrabble in my class on a weekly basis! What a great way to get those minds working in a super fun way.

Our Day At The Farm

Some of the things we saw at the farm yesterday

1. An 1880's style working farmhouse
2. A forlorn ox who just lost his friend
3. A big red barn full of horses, sheep, cows and chickens
4. Corn waiting to be shelled
5. Fresh maple syrup being made
6. Roosters with attitude

Sometimes we just like to be around animals. We're totally going back in April to see the baby lambs!!

Mudroom Re-do

When I'm not working on invitations, I'm working at our new house. Since it is such a big part of what I do everyday (for the past 8 months) I decided to share a couple of before/during pictures with you. It's not done...so no before and after.

What you see here is a view from inside the old kitchen looking towards the back of the house. On the left you have a breakfast nook/room that felt too small to actually entertain the idea of a table. It had a curved doorway and small window inside. On the right you have a back door that led to a small/narrow mudroom. The mudroom was more of a porch really.
The during picture was taken at a slightly different angle but we are still looking at the same part of the house. Now on the left we have a super fab mudroom with a new backdoor. On the right is a little nook for our fridge and behind the little nook is a small powder room. I've got most everything painted in this picture. We still need the molding around the top of the rooms, the baseboards installed, floors refinished and appliances/cabinets installed.

It is starting (finally) to feel like a place we could live in.

Details Of A Wedding

Ben, over at Benjamin James Photography, was kind enough to send me some detail shots of a wedding that I worked on last month.1. Candy bar labels 2. Escort cards 3. Menus 4. More candy bar 5. Beverage list 6. Ceremony Programs 7. Monogram stickers 8. Candy again

Thanks Ben!

Lamp Help

I've spent the last 2 days painting the craft room/office at our new house a nice light blue. (Sherwin Williams Mountain Air to be exact). I am looking for a funky/fun/bold/inexpensive light fixture for the room.

The front runner right now is this orange lovely from Land Of Nod. It retails for $89, but I'd like to find something a bit less. Has anyone seen something that might work?

My Friday Night

This is what I will be doing tonight. Heart shaped brownies and chocolate covered strawberries.

Pruning

With our old house, we inherited a massive grapevine. It had some grapes on it last summer but it was so overgrown and wild that the sun could not get to most of the new growth, therefore not producing much.

The literature that we've read on the subject tell us to prune when the vine is dormant (winter), but we can't seem to find any other directions that are in layman's (?) terms.

So today G started hacking away at it. It's got some big and sturdy vines, but we don't really know what we are doing. Are there any grapevine experts out there that could give us some help.
Now we can see right in the neighbors backyard :(

Swimmers Glassware

I saw these swimmers glasses somewhere a while back. They've been on my mind ever since. I stopped by the Fishs Eddy site today and........ahhhhhh.......they are on sale!!!!

20% off all decorated glass until Feb. 16 at Fishs Eddy

I'm A Winner

So a couple of weeks ago I entered a giveaway on a blog. And I won!!

The prize was a 3 pack of car candles from Scentsy! Amy over at 3 Boys & 3 Girls is a Scentsy consultant and sent over my winnings in a flash.
I have the Home Sweet Home car candle hanging right now and I'm in love. Thank you Amy! Great giveaway!!

Valentine's Day Eats

With Valentine's Day on a Saturday, what a better time to cook for your honey.

Amore~On a Plate via La Table De Nana


Heart Shaped Egg in a Nest via Pinch My Salt


Valentine's Day S'mores via Cake and Commerce


Valentine's Five Layer Finger Jello via The Food Librarian


Sugar Cookie Conversation Hearts via A Year In the Kitchen

A Warm Heart Cootie Catcher

I used to have hours of fun in elementary school with cootie catchers. I don't think I knew what they were called back then though.

When I was a teacher, I confiscated many of these during daily math or language arts lessons. Time goes by but some things never change.

Click on the image below for your own Valentine's Day cootie catcher. Use it to see if someone has a warm heart.



via The Toy Maker

Apple Pie DIY

Kathleen over at Twig & Thistle has a super cute freebie today.

Download her apple pie box for a little valentine sweet treat.
She even includes the apple pie recipe!

Wild Things

I'm back from our annual family gathering in the woods. Things got a little "wild" this year.

Wedding Invitation Book

Sometime I love getting lost in blogs. I've got some time on my hands so I start clicking away. Link after link after link until I get so lost that I don't remember how I got there.

Yesterday I was cruising along and spotting blogs and websites I had never heard of when I stumbled upon this.

It's a book. It's a wedding invitation. It's beautiful!

Check out how Nikki and Nick shared their story and invited their guests to the wedding in such a unique way. It's even got a tear out response card in the back.

Love it. I want my own copy. I don't know them but I just want to see it in person.




via Merriment Design. There are even instructions on how to put this together. I know I'm not that brave.

Classroom Valentines Downloads

Looking for some cute classroom valentines? Check out what Bunny Cakes came up with.

Click here for love is all you need valentines


Download sweetheart valentines now.


Get your zebra valentines here
images and downloads via Bunny Cakes

DIY Valentine

Here is a cute little freebie for you this Valentine's season. These are meant to be wrapped around a box of conversation hearts so your kiddos (or niece in my case) can take them to school and share with their classmates.

This is a PDF file with 3 on a sheet. Just cut, wrap around the box of candy, and tape on the back.

Click here to download

Valentine's Day Books

Each year I buy my nieces and nephews a book for Valentine's Day. It is a nice tradition and I look forward to searching for some cute ones each time. Here are my purchases this year.

Are they any other cute V-day books that I should keep my eye on?


“The endearingly straightforward tale, rendered in simple, rosy sketches, ends with the two frolicking in a mud puddle. Love can be messy indeed.” —Time Out New York Kids


Young Cornelia is walking along when it starts raining hearts. Catching them in her hand and in her yellow slicker, she takes them home to make valentines. Because each heart is different, she is able to make very special cards for her special friends.


Rhino Mister and Rhino Miss
Gaze at the moon in rhino bliss.
They rub their rhino tusks like this.
And now you've seen
Rhinocerkiss!


Pierre, a mouse who sails a fishing boat, is in love with Catherine, a ballet-teaching rabbit he glimpses from afar. She admires the dashing figure she sees from her window in the evening. Yet each is afraid to speak to the other. Eventually, they reveal themselves and learn that "feelings are like tides—you can't hold them back." While the notion of the torments of adult romantic love may go over the heads of the intended audience, children will relate to the themes of honesty and being true to oneself.


Its Valentines Day and four spirited mice deliver valentines to the other animals. But wait, one mouse is missing! The other three find him in a snowdrift and everyone is safe and happy at story's end.

More Free Circles

Last week I posted some red stickers for everyone to download and asked if there were any other colors you'd all like to see. Here are the colors.

Purple (3 shades) for Janice
Lime Green for Riley Boy
Turquoise for Linda

Click here for the download