So the below treasury list was inspired by my sweetheart, autumn and "falling" in love.
In that vein I also designed this victorian inspired Save the Date.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Fall in Love
Twenty-two years ago I moved out to Los Angeles with my sweetheart and I discovered that even though I grew up in Michigan, my heart and home belong to sunny California. However when September rolls around I deeply miss living in the midwest. There's something magical about autumn - especially in Michigan. In September the temperature drops just a little signalling the beauty to come and then in late September, early October it happens. The trees explode into scarlet, crimson, orange, gold and yellow. And you can feel it in your bones the onset of fall - all in it's apple picking, spiced cider, leaf raking, pumpkin hunting, costume making glory.
So the below treasury list was inspired by my sweetheart, autumn and "falling" in love.
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTI4NTE4NjF8MjcyMjQ3NDYxOQ/something-old-something-new?index=0&atr_uid=
In that vein I also designed this victorian inspired Save the Date.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/125050384/vintage-antique-postcard-engagement-save?ref=shop_home_active
So the below treasury list was inspired by my sweetheart, autumn and "falling" in love.
In that vein I also designed this victorian inspired Save the Date.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Get Spooked!
Finished a new Halloween invitation design for my Etsy Store.
Also had fun this morning curating a spooky, victorian, crafty themed Etsy Treasury. Take a peek - there are so many amazing artists in this treasury.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Weekly Thrift Score - Monkeying Around / Banana Bread Madness
This week at the thrift store it was all about vintage plush monkeys. Who knew? I have a vintage sock monkey that my great grandmother Maggie made. I have saved it all these years and now it's in Gideon's room relaxing in a vintage children's rocking chair, arm in arm with a modern-day plush sock doll that I got as a gift when Quinn was born.
So I found 3 vintage plush monkeys this week at various thrift stores.
This little guy is all handmade from the cute little felt eyes to the red yarn pom poms that adorn his hat, tail, neck - well just about everywhere the crafter could put a pom pom she did.
This little guy in his dapper track suit reminds me of Curious George! Gideon loves watching Curious George on PBS and has quite humorously adopted some of George's noises - like his sigh when he's sad.
Since everything comes in threes - even at the thrift store - this is the monkey I found today. Super cute retro monkey! I think he will look great in Gideon's circus room.
And now I will perfectly segue way from monkeys into banana bread - because ironically Quinn had been begging me to make banana bread all week and last night we did!
I grew up baking. My mom was an extremely thoughtful and giving person (and unexpectedly losing her in April has been so hard). If she knew of a family going through some special circumstance - birth of a child, an illness, death in the family, surgery, etc she would bake them bread (or have me do it once I was old enough). She had a repertoire of banana, pumpkin, zucchini and poppyseed bread. At her funeral my sister asked the attendees to raise their hand if they had ever been the recipient of a loaf of bread from her - everybody! everybody raised their hand. What a testament to my mom's thoughtfulness. So I bake bread just like she did and Quinn's favorite is banana bread. I have altered her recipe through the years to make it a little more healthy (and a lot more sinful).... and maybe when Quinn is an adult - he will add on to that recipe as well.
I say hands down this is the moistest, yummiest banana bread I've ever had. But you be the judge.
So I found 3 vintage plush monkeys this week at various thrift stores.
This little guy is all handmade from the cute little felt eyes to the red yarn pom poms that adorn his hat, tail, neck - well just about everywhere the crafter could put a pom pom she did.
This little guy in his dapper track suit reminds me of Curious George! Gideon loves watching Curious George on PBS and has quite humorously adopted some of George's noises - like his sigh when he's sad.
Since everything comes in threes - even at the thrift store - this is the monkey I found today. Super cute retro monkey! I think he will look great in Gideon's circus room.
And now I will perfectly segue way from monkeys into banana bread - because ironically Quinn had been begging me to make banana bread all week and last night we did!
I grew up baking. My mom was an extremely thoughtful and giving person (and unexpectedly losing her in April has been so hard). If she knew of a family going through some special circumstance - birth of a child, an illness, death in the family, surgery, etc she would bake them bread (or have me do it once I was old enough). She had a repertoire of banana, pumpkin, zucchini and poppyseed bread. At her funeral my sister asked the attendees to raise their hand if they had ever been the recipient of a loaf of bread from her - everybody! everybody raised their hand. What a testament to my mom's thoughtfulness. So I bake bread just like she did and Quinn's favorite is banana bread. I have altered her recipe through the years to make it a little more healthy (and a lot more sinful).... and maybe when Quinn is an adult - he will add on to that recipe as well.
I say hands down this is the moistest, yummiest banana bread I've ever had. But you be the judge.
BANANA BREAD
2 3/4 cups sugar
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
½ cup applesauce
6 eggs
9 ripe mashed bananas
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbs Flax meal
1/2 - 1 bag dk chocolate chips (depending on how much chocolate you like) (you can also use semi-sweet)
Cream butter, applesauce, eggs and sugar. Add salt, baking
soda, white flour,
whole wheat flour, flax meal, mix. Add bananas and mix. And
chocolate
chips if desired.
Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes in 4 lg loaf pans.
Red Tricycle Finalist! Halloween Invitations are around the corner!
I am so excited! I am a Red Tricycle Finalist for their 2013 Totally Awesome Awards in the WEB - Announcement, Birthday & Holiday Card Suppliers - Category. Which means I get an advertising link on their site!
http://awards.redtri.com/2013/announcement-birthday-holiday-card-suppliers
I have been working on a few new invitations for Halloween and will be getting those up in a few days. But here's a sneak peak of some of the invitations available:
http://awards.redtri.com/2013/announcement-birthday-holiday-card-suppliers
I have been working on a few new invitations for Halloween and will be getting those up in a few days. But here's a sneak peak of some of the invitations available:
For more invitation examples please visit my etsy store!!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Who wants s'more!? (Q's candy experiment)
So we are still enjoying our newly finished backyard patio - it's been so lovely at night we have been eating out there almost every evening.
Q especially loves it because he's been able to talk his dad into toasting marshmallows a few nights in a row. Last night Quinn was rummaging through his Halloween candy stash for Hershey Bars to use for s'mores and wanted to know if we could do an experiment with his other candy bars.
Well - why indeed not. Don't know why we hadn't thought if it before. Bring on the sugar rush...so he grabbed a Twix, Milky Way, Three Musketeers and a Snickers.
(this was the Twix one)
Consensus was we liked the Twix the best, then the Snickers (although I am keen to try my favorite candy bar - Heath). Meanwhile since I was snapping photos - G took EVERY opportunity to ham it up and pose for the camera.
Q especially loves it because he's been able to talk his dad into toasting marshmallows a few nights in a row. Last night Quinn was rummaging through his Halloween candy stash for Hershey Bars to use for s'mores and wanted to know if we could do an experiment with his other candy bars.
Consensus was we liked the Twix the best, then the Snickers (although I am keen to try my favorite candy bar - Heath). Meanwhile since I was snapping photos - G took EVERY opportunity to ham it up and pose for the camera.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
The Great Outdoors (and our secret ingredient for the best Guacamole ever!)
Mike and I have been working hard to get our outdoor patio in order and we are done! YEAH!
So here's a view of the whole patio...we found our furniture set on Craigslist about a year ago (new), the rug from the thrift store and the fire-pit table from amazon. The Thai umbrella with the fringe is from a friend and a few of the pillows are from Target.
However after sitting out for a year the cushions became trashed! Sun and smog did a number on them.
I searched the internet and the fabric district high and low for affordable, outdoor, washable and colorful fabric to re-cover them with. Nothing! Until this spring when I happened to be buying coffee at World Market. They had all their awesome summer items out on the floor and I spied these amazing ethnic patterned oil-cloth tablecloths. Just so happened that 2 tablecloths and $85 later I had enough to re-cover my cushions in the exact colors I was hoping for. (a good friend did the sewing for me!).
We also found the outdoor umbrella at World Market - and Mike embellished it with a thrift store chandelier I had bought for the patio (but hadn't figured out what to do with it yet). He figured out it fit perfectly on the center pole of the umbrella. Isn't it pretty?
A few more photos of our backyard...a neighbor gave us the awesome Thai wood chair. I found an old Victorian wrought iron lamp stand at the thrift store and we hung a Moroccan style lantern from it.
Home Depot had the best Limey green spray paint that complimented our orange house - so I couldn't resist spray painting this old wrought iron patio chair...
And last but not least - the recipe for the yummy guacamole we enjoyed last night while sitting outside on our new and improved patio!!
2 avocados smashed
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tomato finely chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
Splash lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
and the secret ingredient is 1 tsp of green olive juice (I swear it's amazing!)
So here's a view of the whole patio...we found our furniture set on Craigslist about a year ago (new), the rug from the thrift store and the fire-pit table from amazon. The Thai umbrella with the fringe is from a friend and a few of the pillows are from Target.
However after sitting out for a year the cushions became trashed! Sun and smog did a number on them.
I searched the internet and the fabric district high and low for affordable, outdoor, washable and colorful fabric to re-cover them with. Nothing! Until this spring when I happened to be buying coffee at World Market. They had all their awesome summer items out on the floor and I spied these amazing ethnic patterned oil-cloth tablecloths. Just so happened that 2 tablecloths and $85 later I had enough to re-cover my cushions in the exact colors I was hoping for. (a good friend did the sewing for me!).
We also found the outdoor umbrella at World Market - and Mike embellished it with a thrift store chandelier I had bought for the patio (but hadn't figured out what to do with it yet). He figured out it fit perfectly on the center pole of the umbrella. Isn't it pretty?
A few more photos of our backyard...a neighbor gave us the awesome Thai wood chair. I found an old Victorian wrought iron lamp stand at the thrift store and we hung a Moroccan style lantern from it.
Home Depot had the best Limey green spray paint that complimented our orange house - so I couldn't resist spray painting this old wrought iron patio chair...
And last but not least - the recipe for the yummy guacamole we enjoyed last night while sitting outside on our new and improved patio!!
2 avocados smashed
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tomato finely chopped
3 cloves of minced garlic
Splash lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
and the secret ingredient is 1 tsp of green olive juice (I swear it's amazing!)
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Who's the Man?
I have a husband who loves to cook! Which works out best for both of us - because I just don't really like cooking - but I do really enjoy grocery shopping and don't mind cleaning up (especially after one of his wonderful meals).
So when Mike is home in the mornings I am the lucky gal who is the recipient of a home cooked breakfast. He loves to experiment and has come up with quite a few amazing concoctions.This morning he went out to our garden (courtesy of a lot of hard work on his part and the Squarefoot Gardening book) and selected some chard, zucchini and chives. He also used beets from our garden that he had roasted the day before. In addition he pulled portobello mushrooms, onions, eggs, and bacon from the fridge.
He grabbed our electric skillet and sizzled up the bacon (I like it crispy!). Then using the bacon grease he grilled the mushrooms, onions and zucchini. Next up was frying the eggs - over medium - and then warming the chard and already roasted beets. And then - drum roll please - what came next was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had! He assembled - bottom up - the portobello mushroom, grilled onions, chard, egg, zucchini, bacon, beets and a sprinkling of chives.
The whole family loved it - even my little Mr. Picky Eater!
So when Mike is home in the mornings I am the lucky gal who is the recipient of a home cooked breakfast. He loves to experiment and has come up with quite a few amazing concoctions.This morning he went out to our garden (courtesy of a lot of hard work on his part and the Squarefoot Gardening book) and selected some chard, zucchini and chives. He also used beets from our garden that he had roasted the day before. In addition he pulled portobello mushrooms, onions, eggs, and bacon from the fridge.
He grabbed our electric skillet and sizzled up the bacon (I like it crispy!). Then using the bacon grease he grilled the mushrooms, onions and zucchini. Next up was frying the eggs - over medium - and then warming the chard and already roasted beets. And then - drum roll please - what came next was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had! He assembled - bottom up - the portobello mushroom, grilled onions, chard, egg, zucchini, bacon, beets and a sprinkling of chives.
The whole family loved it - even my little Mr. Picky Eater!
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