Let Them Eat Cake!

I bought this wonderful vintage cake tin from Ebay awhile back for my retro kitchen. But then I realized I didn't really have any counter space room left. So instead  - with the help of my husband and his carpentry skills  - we made it into a light fixture over the sink! I sooo love it! (and my Santa collection).

Merry Christmas Collage!

Just finished our holiday card for 2015! Very excited about it! After I finish a collage, I always find it interesting to analysis how I got there... This one is part Dickens Faire (visited it in San Fran last weekend with family and friends), part my love of anything to do with deers, part love of vintage ornaments like the ones on our 1950s decked out silver tree, part having to have a bunch of tests done at the doctor and part God directing me to this special verse that really encapsulated the collage and my life.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead Party Invitaiton

So I was over at my friend Cathie Filian's house the other day when she was working on this awesome Day of the Dead Halloween Tree. I just love it! She used 99 cent store skulls, jewels, Mod Podge, fabric flowers, paper plates and more! To visit her site for more information and the tutorial please visit here: http://www.cathiefilian.com/new-traditions-for-the-filian-family-have-a-peek-our-dia-de-los-muertos-tree/

I loved it so much I got inspired to whip up my own Day of the Dead party invitation.

You can view / purchase it from my Etsy store here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SarahTacomaDesigns 

Kid's Fantasy Dragon Costume for Halloween

Q wanted to be a Dragon for Halloween and so we all brainstormed on how to make that happen!
I found an awesome dragon headpiece at the thrift store that jump-started our creative process as it was a family affair! Quinn wanted it to be comfortable so we found a pair of black sweatpants and a black turtle neck at the thrift store. Then I raided our fabric bin and found bits and pieces of red, silver and black material that we cut into dragon scale shape pieces. Using fabric glue from Michael's I glued on each scale in rows - alternating the colors. We already had the wings that Quinn had designed from a costume a few years ago. He had drawn the wings on paper and Mike had blown them up and cut them out of super thick black cardboard. The only thing left was to add a face mask to the dragon. We found a horse felt mask pattern on Etsy. Horse Mask Pattern

Mike altered it to look more like a dragon and then sewed it to the headpiece I had found. And ROOARRR we have a spectacular dragon costume that Quinn couldn't be more excited about to wear!

RAWR! Dinosaur Birthday Party Invitation + Party Ideas

Fun Dinosaur Party Ideas and a new birthday party invitation that I designed - double sided!
ETSY INVITATIONS

Click the below link to view my PINTEREST page with all the links to these great party ideas + MORE!!

DINOSAUR PARTY IDEAS!

Rainbow Book Wall - No bookcase needed!

I have been collecting vintage books to sell in my Etsy store and in an attempt to figure out how to store them I came up with this rainbow book wall. It does double duty as a way to display some of my art dolls and chotchkies!

To view/purchase more book stacks please visit here:

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/ReVampSarahTacoma

Vintage Book Bundles

One of the thrift stores I haunt has a large selection of antique books - so this week I've been having fun collecting them in all different colors and making vintage book stacks by hue!

 

To purchase or view more please visit here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ReVampSarahTacoma 

Chalk It Up!

I purchased an awesome vintage wood United States map puzzle at the thrift store the other day - hoping it would have all the pieces. But alas a few were missing. I loved it so much I wanted to see if I could salvage it. So I brainstormed for a few days and decided it would make a great chalkboard. I took the remaining puzzle pieces out and then painted the inset part with 2 coats of Martha Stewart's Chalkboard Craft Paint in dark green. I think this will look great in Q's room with the other retro map/globe items!

I Spy a New Party Invitation!

Still working on updating my Etsy and adding new invitation designs. A friend needed an invitation for her son's "Spy" Birthday party so after designing it for her, I made a few changes and then listed it in my store.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/231594311/secret-agent-spy-birthday-party?ref=shop_home_active_19

Children's Birthday Party Invitations!

Was updating my Etsy store today and made a compilation of my favorite invitations that I designed!

To purchase or view more you can visit my store here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SarahTacomaDesigns

Blast Off!

Turned Gideon's Rocketship Down syndrome t-shirt graphic into a fabulous birthday party invitation!
You can visit my Etsy store to purchase:
http://revampsarahtacoma.blogspot.com

World Down Syndrome Day!!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day! Over here at the Taczik residence we think it is really something to celebrate!! Our son Gideon - who is 7  - happens to have that special extra chromosome, and while I didn't think it was a blessing on diagnosis - my eyes and heart have been opened to the gift he truly is.
I created this graphic for World Down syndrome day.
Enjoy!!

You can purchase t-shirts here: Proceeds will be donated to Reece's Rainbow

http://www.zazzle.com/down_syndrome_blast_off-235481225145114813

http://www.zazzle.com/down_syndrome-235438758372285520

If you would like to see more of my work as a professional graphic designer. Please visit here:
https://www.facebook.com/SarahTacomaDesigns/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums

Easy Upcycle. Children's Stacker Toy Makes Fun Coat Rack

So I've been looking for a cute back of the door coat rack to use in Gideon's room to hang his coats.
I perused Ebay and Etsy but just couldn't find anything I liked that was in our budget. And then the other day when I was cleaning out all the toys Gideon doesn't play with any more -  I struck gold.
His old Melissa & Doug Wood Stacker Toy! It is perfect for his room. It has 5 hooks (varying sizes) in fun primary colors. All Mike had to do was screw it onto the back of the door.

Bawk Bawk

It's Valentine's Day and let me count the ways that I love chicken! I'm not much of a beef fan (although Mike is and I did buy filet mignon for a special dinner tonight). We don't like buying chicken that has been given antibiotics and prefer to eat chicken that has been fed all vegetarian food (no yucky animal by-products). Recently we got the opportunity to try Harvestland Chicken for free from Moms Meet.* I purchased a few packages of chicken thighs cuz the boys in this family love dark meat and a few packages of white meat breasts for moi.

We have a Chicken Thigh Blue Apron recipe that we like, so we invited a few friends over to try it with us.

Crispy Chicken Thighs

with Kumquat Relish & Freekeh Salad

Can't blog about the chicken without an extra gratuitous ADORABLE Baby Fraybee photo!! Let me count the ways I adore this little chicken.

Consensus was thumbs up! On both the recipe and the Harvestland Chicken.

We were pretty impressed with the quality and THE PRICE!! It's hard to find affordable all natural, anti-biotic, all vegetarian, raised cage-free chicken that fits in our budget.

For more information on Harvestland and where to purchase it please pop on over here:
http://harvestlandbrand.com/

Because I also bought white meat I made 2 different batches of chicken salad for lunches. My dad would make chicken salad with leftover chicken and I absolutely love it. I've updated the family recipe with 2 xtra ingredients that gives the standard chicken salad a little different flavor.

Classic Chicken Salad:
Boiled Chicken Breasts - shredded
celery
red onions
mayonnaise
salt
grapes - cut in half
I don't measure anything - just do it to taste and preference.

For the updated version I add curry powder and honey. Nom Nom.

For more information on Moms Meet:
http://www.greenmomsmeet.com/


*I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agree to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacture of this product. 

Best Pancakes EVER!

Short but sweet blog post today. Almost every Saturday we make pancakes for the boys. "We" as in Mike who is our at home chef -  to give him the credit he deserves. Over the years we have tasted and tested tons of pancake mixes (Bisquick, store brand, Trader Joes + many more) and combinations (blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, etc.) and have found what we think is the perfect pancake combo!!

First and foremost Fresh & Easy's Organic Whole Wheat Pancake mix is hands down the best mix we've ever tried. Then our other little trade secret is Trader Joe's sugar+cinnamon grinder. While the pancakes are baking we grind a little cinnamon/sugar onto it. I like even more cinnamon so Mike will add xtra cinnamon (sans sugar) to mine. The pancakes are sweet enough with the sugar/cinnamon so often times I don't add any syrup - but if you have a real sweet tooth top them off with REAL maple syrup.

Try it - I think you'll like it!