I Won!!!

One of the really fun things about blogging is participating in others' giveaway parties!  I've held several giveaways of my own and have entered in many more!  I'm so excited to announce that I finally won one!!

Jacqueline at Purple Chocolat Home hosted a great giveaway for a gorgeous headband---handmade by her daughter, Audra, of Me Oh My Couture, an awesome Etsy store!  Lucky me, I've got four gorgeous daughters to share our treasure!

Avalon has been wearing it a lot since it first arrived in the mail a few days ago!  She calls it her "Pitty Fower".

I like it best in her ponytail!

Thank you so much, Jacqueline and Audra, for your generous gift!  We really love our new headband and love it that it's big enough for Mom to wear too!

Antique Store Finds

Yesterday was my husband's day off and he was so sweet to send me out to have a little quiet time at the antique store...yay!  Here's what I found:  

This little book, The Lively Little Rabbit was one of my favorites when I was little.  I bought it to put in baby Liam's first Easter basket this year!  I also found these sweet mouse shakers.  We needed new shakers and I thought the kids would think these were pretty sweet!  They're not vintage...but cute even so!

A few months ago, I saw a blog where a lady hung vintage hand mirrors all over her bathroom wall with plate hangers.  I thought that was such a creative idea!  So...I'm trying to collect a bunch to make my own little wall display.  I found the brush and mirror as a set so bought them both but would gladly trade the brush to anyone who might have a mirror they want to swap!

I'm also trying to collect a bunch of mini shaker sets to put at individual place settings for a fancy dinner.  (There are 10 of us so far so I'll be collecting awhile!)  The ones on the right on the little tray are not vintage...but cute!  I had to put the little hat pin holder in this picture because I saw three others throughout that store and all of them were marked as "salt shakers".  In fact, this one was only $2 because the vendor thought it was missing it's partner!  Ha! When I went to pay for it, the store owner said, "Oh, it's still got a little salt in it!"  I said, "Someone really used it as a shaker?"  She looked at me funny and said, "Yessss...."  I told her it was a hat pin holder.  Two holes = salt shaker.  Three holes = pepper shaker.  TWELVE holes = hat pin holder.  That would be some SERIOUS salting otherwise...Ha!

Here are a few sweet things I found for crafting.  I plan on decorating the little bottle to resemble Alice's "Drink Me" bottle as it's the same shape.  The one little earring will make a cute embellishment on something.  I LOVE my two glass bottle stoppers and am hoping to collect many more.  I also found these two Eiffel Tower pendants (not vintage) for crafting embellishments.

Visit Coloradolady for more Vintage Thingie Thursday! I'm also linking up with Blue Creek Home's Treasure Hunt Thursday and Thrifty Groove's Thrifty Things Friday for the first time this week!

Mantle Re-do for Spring

A few weeks ago, I asked my Facebook friends for ideas on how to redo my mantle for spring.  For the past four years or so, I've been going with the Primitive look but have lately decided it's time to switch over to a more romantic and nostalgic feel.

This is how it looked after I finished taking down everything after Christmas.

I had a brainy idea to paint this metal can white...but that was as far as I got.

I painted the can white a couple of months ago and hung the Easter eggs last month.

Today I finished it up and I love it!  It's hard to get a close up of the whole thing as it's a pretty long mantle and a short distance across the room but you get the idea.

I was so thrilled to have found these blue jars at yard sales this past weekend.  I picked up some cherry blossom branches at Michael's.  It's such a pretty contrast!

Vintage Whimsy Paper Book

I had a very busy day today and was hardly at home.  On my way home tonight, after being gone for nine hours, all I could think of doing was taking a relaxing bath and staying in bed the rest of the night with my book.  Lately I've been having these crazy crafting dreams at night (must be the pregnancy creative dreams kicking in...) and usually wake up with a great crafting idea.  Well, tonight it happened while I was in the bath and, as exhausted as I was, I just had to go and make my dream a reality...Ha! 

I began by using my kids' watercolor paints to paint a piece of cream-colored card stock.  I used red and orange.

Then I cut the paper down to the size I wanted (10x7 to make a 5x7 book) and antiqued the edges using a blade and chocolate-colored ink.

I used a pile of my kids' scrap paper for filling.

I used a couple of plain sheets for the first pages of the book and cut them just a tiny bit larger so they'd show past the scrap paper.  I antiqued the edges of those too.

Then I tied it up with raffia, added some glitter, and secured a dried rose to finish it off.  I'm not too sure how I feel about the glitter on the book itself, but I like it on the rose and overall, I think this is a pretty cute little project!

Now that I'm super, duper exhausted, I've got to go to bed!  Goodnight!

Yard Sales Woo Hoo!

Today was my first day of going to yard sales for the year!  There were quite a few in my area but I had no idea how far I would be driving in between!  I spent about 3 hours driving between 3 sales...but the kids and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way!

At the first sale, I found these old blue jars (a couple of them have the handles on still), a set of rust-colored curtains that I plan to use for fall crafts, and this sweet little pink pitcher.  The pitcher is marked "Tunbridge Wells Nash".  I can't find a thing about a company that would have put this out but did learn that Tunbridge Wells is a place in Kent, England.  It's a mystery for now, I guess!

At the second yard sale I got all this for 10 cents!  There are a couple sheets and a rug that I won't be keeping but I loved the two pillows, the rose tablecloth and the table runner with the yellow flowers on it!  Pretty!

At that same sale I found another blue jar, 2 frames for crafting and this porcelain rose made in Italy.  I saw a blog last week with some of these on it and thought they were so pretty.  Now I have my own! 

Here's Cainan with my third yard sale find.  He has been wanting this exact Noah's Ark toy for awhile now.

It didn't come with any animals but Cainan had some things that went with his Baby Jesus set that he put into it to play.

At the fourth yard sale, I found a bunch of lace and trimmings.  I've got several projects in the works so it will be nice to add to my stash!

I usually give myself a $20 limit per day (this doesn't include the things I find that we actually need like clothes, etc.).  Today, I'm proud to report that I spent a grand total of $8.00!  Wonder if that means I can add the extra to next weeks budget?

Easel Card Tutorial and Lemon Muffin Recipe

For the last five weeks, I've been teaching a class at our local homeschool co-op called Paper Crafts.  I must admit I've been hard pressed to come up with creative ideas that are challenging enough to take up the hour-long class period but are also simple enough that they can do the project with little help.  This Friday we'll be making Easel Cards.  I put one together tonight and think it will be just perfect for the kids this week!

Start by cutting a 12x12 piece of cardstock into thirds so you have 3 pieces that are 4x12.  You will only be using one strip for the card so one piece of 12x12 will make 3 cards!  Score the paper at 4", 6" and 8".  I use the track of my cutter as a guide and use this multi-tool from Martha Stewart to score my lines.

Fold the paper at the score lines and adhere one 2" piece to it's nearest 4" piece on the inside.

Stand up the glued piece to look like an easel.

Decorate the face of the card in your own creative way.

You can use anything you'd like to act as a "stopper" for the standing piece.  Buttons and foam-backed embellishments work great.  I used this cute egg embellishment and was reminded of the Cadbury commercial where the bunny lays the Creme Egg!  I loved that commercial as a kid...I wonder if it's still on?  (We haven't had cable our entire marriage so I really have no idea!)

When you've finished your card, why not send it to a friend and invite her over for tea and Lemon Muffins?  (Recipe below)

Lemon Muffins  (makes 12-18)

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt 

2 large eggs
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Mix the dry ingredients together and then make a well for the remaining ingredients.  Mix until combined and spoon into muffin pans.  Bake at 375°F for 15-20 min. or until the muffins are light brown on top and done inside.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes or so and then turn out onto a wire rack.  Yum!

Springtime Wreath Tutorial

You may remember my little sob story of last week about how I don't have many spring decorations!  I've committed to trying to make at least one a week this spring!  Last week, I made those adorable little candy jars.  This week, I tried out a springtime wreath.

I started off with a half yard of green taffeta and a half yard of pink.  That was WAY more than I needed.  I suggest just using remnants unless you plan on making 4 or 5 wreaths!  Also, I found that my taffeta burned pretty easily so you'll likely want to use satin instead.  I also used scissors, a foam circle, straight pins, decorative brads, small hole punch, candle, and tongs or tweezers.

I cut my fabric into three sizes of circles.  Circles don't have to be exact.

I held the fabric circle over the lit candle to melt (or, in my case, burn!) the edges to form the petal look. 

Then I stacked the three petal sizes together and punched a small hole for the brad to go through, securing them tightly with the brad.

I used a scrap of the pink taffeta for a hanging ribbon and then began attaching the flowers to the foam circle with the straight pins.  I put the pins behind the medium or smallest petals so they wouldn't show.

Once the circle was full, I hung it from this neat window pane that some dude downtown thought was junk...and added it to my springtime display!!  Whew!  Two down...how many more weeks to go?