Homemaking Link-Up Weekend & Giveaway Jubilee

Hello Dear Friends!

Hope you've all had a wonderful week!  It's been a busy one here---but a great one too!  What's been going on around your place?  Link up below and tell me all about it!

I've done a little bit of decorating for St. Patrick's Day but I've got a whole bag of stuff here in my craft room that I plan on putting up tomorrow.  Here are a few pieces of sheet music that I bought off eBay last week.  I like to display vintage sheet music on my piano.

I also bought this neat vintage St. Patrick's Day postcard.  I love to collect vintage postcards.  This one is from 1911.

I've been trying to come up with some neat ideas for a spring makeover on this hutch.  I see a few things right now that definitely need to go!  Like the phone on the bottom shelf...  I want to paint it white but that will take a little bit of convincing for Mr. Coller!

In other news...I bought myself a chocolate bunny tonight!

Did you know my March Giveaway Jubilee is going on RIGHT NOW?  Did you know I'm giving away 4 great prizes (one of them being a Etsy-wide gift certificate)!!  There are others who are offering giveaways too and more will join up throughout the month. Click the button below to check it out and YOU could be a winner! :) 

So...now it's time for the Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!  Several people have asked me if their post "counts" as homemaking.  When I set up this party, I tried to pick a very broad topic.  To me, anything you do that has even the remotest connection to your home/family/food/gifts/yard/crafts ETC is acceptable.  In fact, anything is acceptable...as long as it's not X-rated!  So, join up! I'd love to have you! Also linking with:

A Special Day --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend & Pink Saturday

Welcome to my Pink Saturday friends!  I'm excited to be Beverly's Featured Blogger today! 

Check out Pink Saturday---what a blessing that community has been to me!

It's been a happy week around the Coller house!  Miss Avalon Grace turned 3 years old on Thursday!

We did a Raggedy Ann theme.

It's always a special day when Grandma Christy comes to visit!

I made Avalon this cute Raggedy Ann tote bag for her books!

In other news, sweet Kynthia Joy is just about crawling!

And...I got some cool mail!  Check out this envelope dressed up like a tea bag...adorable!

I got this sweet bunch of goodies from harleygirl at Just a Country Girl.  I first met her through SwapBot.com and she's since become a good blogging friend too!  Thanks so much for bringing a little spring to my front door!  Take a minute, if you can, and stop by her blog to say Hi!

Did you know my March Giveaway Jubilee is going on RIGHT NOW?  Did you know I'm giving away 4 great prizes (one of them being a Etsy-wide gift certificate)!!  There are others who are offering giveaways too and more will join up throughout the month. Click the button below to check it out and YOU could be a winner! :) 

So...now it's time for the Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!  Several people have asked me if their post "counts" as homemaking.  When I set up this party, I tried to pick a very broad topic.  To me, anything you do that has even the remotest connection to your home/family/food/gifts/yard/crafts ETC is acceptable.  In fact, anything is acceptable...as long as it's not X-rated!  So, join up! I'd love to have you! Also linking with:

One Hour Pillow UpCycle

  Are you here for Pink Saturday?  After you read this one, see my PINK here!

One day, about a year ago, I was shopping at a thrift store in Mount Vernon, Washington, when I came upon this...

I was not just excited because of the neat Regency-era picture, the really big deal here for me was:  I had just discovered printable fabric!!!

Since then, I have found lots of inspiration on The Graphics Fairy's wonderful website and have made a couple pillows on my own. I decided to make one tonight for my March Giveaway Jubilee!

I began by selecting the graphic I wanted on The Graphics Fairy, then I create a correctly-sized text box in Word.  The size of my text box depends on how big I want the picture to be on my pillow.  I insert the picture into the text box, then I print it off onto printable fabric.

Next, I assemble my supplies.  I use Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive, which bonds really well right away, so I've got to work quickly once I get that sprayed on.  I find my pillows at thrift stores. I take them home, toss them in the wash, and then trim off any loose strings that might be hanging around...good as new!

I always like to position my graphic onto the pillow to get a feel for how it will look.

Then I peel the backing off of the fabric piece and spray it with the glue.  I do the pillow too.

I very gently tap the picture down.  I don't want any wrinkles at all in the fabric.  I also don't want to smear the wet ink.

I knew my pillow definitely needed something extra...but what?  I quickly decided against paper flowers and moved on to something else.

Yes! Raid the vintage jewelry collection!!

I decided on this vintage gold brooch because the swooping design of it reminds me of a bird (there are birds on the graphic I'm using---click on the pictures to enlarge if you need to).  I also chose this purple and gold earring set.  I can use the second earring on a bottle or something to go with this pillow.

Now what this pillow needs is some trimmings!

I found a length of pretty blue vintage lace.

Then I found this cute eyelet trim for around the graphic...but, OH! There's not enough!

Hooray for thrift store finds...I knew this would come in handy!

But, I don't really like the trim all the way around the graphic after all...so I go back to the way I had it!

Now it's time to glue!

I did end up finding a place for those paper flowers after all---I put them at the ends of the eyelet trimming.  See the pretty pink flowers there?

I think this turned out super cute---what do you think?  

Girls Day Out and Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Hello!  Welcome to another great Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!  I sure hope you've had a lovely week!  I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for some relaxation time!  Here is a cute ATC I worked on late last night.  I was ready for bed but knew I had this swap to do and wanted to do ONE more productive thing...so I made this!  The lace at the top was hand-crocheted by a Finland friend's great-grandmother and the feather was found by one of my sweet kids!

Today, Lynzie, Selah, and I went for a LONG shopping day in Eastern Washington!  The girls wanted to dress up like Anne of Green Gables and her friend, Diana Barry. 

While we were in Michael's Craft Store, I came across this cute craft made from terra cotta pots!  Adorable!

However, this awesome microwave at Target takes the cake!  Isn't this adorable??  I wonder how much convincing my husband would need.... (ETA: wouldn't you know it---I told my husband about it and now he's like "GET IT"!!! Ha! Gotta love someone who appreciates my weird quirkiness! :)

Don't forget the quarterly Giveaway Jubilee for the month of March! Would you like to participate as either a giver, a winner, or both?  Click my adorable new button for all the details!



And...now it's time for this week's Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!

Would you like to participate in the party each week but just can't remember to link up?  There's a couple things I can do to help you out with that!  First, there's a cute button at the top of my sidebar that you can put on your blog to serve as a reminder for you---and an advertisement for me!  Secondly, I can send you an email reminder!  I send out a short email to participants who've requested one on Wednesday nights to remind everyone about the party.  Please let me know in the comments below if you'd like me to do that for you!


I'd love to have you link up your homemaking posts below!  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Also linking with:

Shabby Chic Chandelier --- Guest Post

I am so happy and honored to have my good friend Rachel from Bubbly Nature Creations here guest posting today!  I have been inspired countless times by her unique creativity and bubbly personality!  So many of you have commented on how much you love my blog design---we have Rachel to thank for that, as she is the one who put it together for me!  Enjoy the tutorial and be blessed!

 Hi everyone!  My name is Rachel from Bubbly Nature Creations and  I am
so excited to be featured here on Sarah's blog!!!  She is such a
sweetie and I love her
kind and gentle spirit.  She lifts me up in so many ways and I am so glad to be
her friend!  I also love her blog and wanted to share with all of
you over here how to make a regular chandelier, or other type of hanging light, into a
cute Shabby
Chic Chandelier just in time for Valentine's
Day!  

what you will need: 

strings of pearls and beads- fake or real if you wish... mine are
totally fake! (make a color scheme from these) 

a few yards of lace

ribbons in coordinating colors 

 First take your strings of pearls and beads and wrap them around
the inside so that they hang down the middle.  It doesn't have to
be perfect either! 

Then take your lace and start hanging it between the lights... tie the
two ends of the lace together and just adjust how they hang down from
there.  Next tie little ribbons to the light posts and then you
have your cute shabby chic chandelier!!! Wasn't that so easy?!?

I really love the way
that this turned out!  I am thinking of going to the
dollar jewelry store for some Easter colored
beads next! 

Happy Creating!!! 

Be sure to visit my
blog this week to find out more about my Valentine's
decor... I will be offering a tutorial on how to make
these: 

and I also have a great post about a Valentine's Themed
Iced Coffee Party  which shows everything that I
have made for Valentine's decor... well so far! :P

Thanks for letting me come and
share this with you today!!! 

When Mommy Gets Sick --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Part of good homemaking involves delegation and training.  Delegating (and rotating) chores so children can learn them, and training children in the proper way to do household tasks, really pays off on days like today!

I woke up early this morning to a full blown case of the flu!  It's going on 16 hours now and I'm still feeling lousy!


What a blessing and a relief I felt when my husband said, "stay in bed---we'll handle it!"  I'm so thankful for my sweet kids who were so willing to help Dad pick up my slack.

My sweet husband had to leave for a couple hours to go pick up the company laptop so he could work from home tonight and take care of things.  He even stopped by the store to grab me 7up, ice cream and chicken noodle soup!

Now that I think about it, being sick does have it's benefits!

Would you like to participate in the party each week but just can't remember to link up?  There's a couple things I can do to help you out with that!  First, there's a cute button at the top of my sidebar that you can put on your blog to serve as a reminder for you---and an advertisement for me!  Secondly, I can send you an email reminder!  I send out a short email to participants who've requested one on Wednesday nights to remind everyone about the party.  Please let me know in the comments below if you'd like me to do that for you!

I'd love to have you link up your homemaking posts below!  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!