Food, Folks, and Fun

My dad and sister left this morning. It was a great 5 days complete with walks to the ocean, a day trip to the lovely Portsmouth, NH, lobstering in the wind and rain, music, food, and camping out in the living room. Hudson and Jude enjoyed the extra attention for sure.



One of the things on the menu--this (almost) raw strawberry pie that was soooo good--sweet, fresh, easy, and basically just fruit and nuts. The recipe is here though I added a little yogurt on top. Again, it was better than I expected so give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Little Upgrades

My dad and sister are visiting this week which was good motivation to get some decorating projects done. Daniel finished making this desk to replace the plastic folding table we'd been using since we moved here three years ago.






I painted this wall with chalkboard paint (who needs security deposists back anyways) and did a little re-covering.


First--this little footstool we got for free when we first moved in. I used the scrap of fabric leftover from the curtains we just hung in our living room.



And secondly, I used a piece of a discontinued wallpaper sample to give this light switch a quick makeover.

We'll be playin Boston tour guides this weekend. Have a good one!

Mothers Day : )

Hope you moms had a very special mother's day! (Sorry to my moms for not getting your gifts in the mail on time...you guys will get them soon) : )

Hudson worked hard (with daddy) to make a jar candle for me by chopping off the tops of our current candles (hilarious) and melting them down...





Very special : ) He picked out flowers, a golfing mother's day card (I've never been golfing but he didn't think that was an issue), and a cake with lots of colorful sprinkles. Very cute.

The coolest thing about THIS mother's day?--- having TWO to be a mother to.

Best-O-The-Week

I come across lots of great stuff each week through blogs, Etsy, online stores, etc. I thought it'd be fun to share the best from this week. I have thoughts of making this a regular Friday post but we'll see how that goes.



The first is this repurposed drawer liner zippered pouch available in this etsy shop. It combines two of my favorite elements as of late: that vintage gold color and repurposed containers (I'm working on a post that shows more repurposed containers that'll be coming up soon--I know, I know, you can hardly wait...try to remain calm).



And here's more of that vintage gold color available at "The Vintage Kitchen" on Etsy. I stumbled across the shop this week and they happen to be from my old home town--the booming metropolis that is Ft. Mitchell, KY (Go Beechwood).



I purchased this necklace this week from another great Etsy shop. It was hard to pick which one I liked best and the seller is super nice. Even my receipt was beautifully wrapped.



And I love vintage cookware/dishes.. (though we don't have any. maybe I'll get lucky at some yard sales this summer or some nice old lady'll will me her kitchen).. so this sneak peak on Design Sponge caught my eye. Click here for more pictures.

Well those are my favs from the week. Have a great weekend!

One Year Anniversary Special!

This month marks the one year anniversary of my Etsy shop . It's been a lot of fun! I'm happy to report that I almost broke even last year. : ) This year I'm aiming for profit. Call me crazy, but I'm gonna give it a whirl.
So this month, when you buy a print, you get a free card/postcard of your choice. Hop on over and check it out!

In Silhouette

As I mentioned earlier, I've been slowly collecting vintage childrens books for inspiration and eventually decoration in the boys' bedroom. So this weekend I picked up "The Sleeping Beauty" illustrated by Arthur Rackham. I love that the all the illustrations, minus the cover, are done in silhouette. I love the detail, the play with positive and negative space, and the characters. It's worth flipping through if you can find it at your local library.



Speaking of silhouettes (if all goes well!) I'll be offering a few "Pretty Little Faith" shirts in my shop in a couple weeks. Tomorrow I'll ship the shirts off to a girl in California who has offered to silk screen them for me. Here's a photoshop mock up. There are only a few shirts in this round so if you're interested, make sure to check back often and snatch one up!

Annnd I'm usually not a huge "You've GOTTA watch this youtube video!" kind of person but you've GOTTA watch this youtube video! : ) It's in keeping with the silhouette theme of today's post and it's pretty darn amazing.

Flower Child

I don't mind having all boys as long as they'll sit, sip hot tea, and craft with me like Hudson did yesterday. I've been wanting to try my own little flower felt brooch ever since this post.

Mine is just made from cream colored craft felt, brown embroidery floss and some acrylic paint for that "aged" look. Hudson was feeling a bit jazzier, I guess. He opted for bright colors and glitter paint. I think he did a pretty good job! He sewed it and cut it himself! Too bad about those restrictive child labor laws--I think I could turn a pretty little profit if he just up-ed his production speed a bit : )

They are easy to make. Just cut out a few circles of felt, each one smaller than the previous. Sew them together through the middle, pulling tightly so that they flare out a little bit. Then cut lines from the outside to the center of each layer to create the petals, rounding the edges a bit. I dry brushed some antique yellow and dark brown on mine to age it. And that helped stiffen the felt a little so it holds its shape. But the possibilities are obviously endless. Check out all these for more inspiration and let me know if you give it a try!