CAKE TREASURY!

Maisey's Daisey's was sweet enough to feature Girl Land's Buttercream Love earrings in her cake treasury (I want some right now) and even sweeter let me know about it! This plus a very sweet email from a satisfied customer made my day a bit brighter. Especially after having a sick kid (at least we just found out she doesn't have mono...phew) and having my car break down and get towed today. This weekend can only get better, right?????!!!!

P.S. I want that Let Them Eat Cake necklace like stat...

Happy Lemonade Day!!!

That's right, today is National Lemonade Day. So hope you had a moment to sit in the sun and sip a tall glass. Here are a few lemon-inspired Etsy picks:

row one (L-R):
Lemon Cookies by Tickle My Tummy
Refrigerator Magnet by Defiant Damsel
Lemon Felt Favor Bag by woobiNwawa

row two (L-R):
Lemon Drop Cafe Half Apron by Sunday Afternoon
Shabby Lemonade Cards by The Paper Place
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade Bath Bombs by Bath Bomb Confections

row three (L-R):
Pink Lemonade Bunny Maryjanes by Em & Sprout
Lemonade Stand Print by Urban Pink Photography
Vintage Lemon Yellow Frosted Pitcher and Glass by Slo Fabulous

I prefer my lemonade with a splash of raspberry vodka and some mint leaves thrown in. Know what else I like with my lemonade? Chocolate chip cookies. I think it's because I have fond memories of swimming at a neighbor's pool then coming home to lay in the grass and eat chocolate chip cookies with lemonade. If you haven't tried it, I'd recommend it. The sour and almost-too-sweet tastes are heavenly together.

If you'd like to make a pitcher (there's still time to celebrate!), here are some lemonade recipes from Martha Stewart. I've always wanted to try the lavender lemonade. Maybe I will this weekend!

Happy weekending all! xo

Look, Ma! I'm in an Etsy Treasury

Don't you love these colors? I do! There are my birthday tiaras. :)

Feeling Bipolar

Hello little chickadees. Hope your Monday wasn't so bad. I'm having one of those off-weeks. Been there? Like one minute, something makes me super happy. Then the next, I'm freaking out, angsting and being a miserable all-around mom and wife. FTW. No big lemons-- just lots of little needly pricky things that annoy me and make me fixate.

I do want to gush about a great Etsy experience I had! Today, they celebrated Viv's birthday at daycare. This year, instead of buying junky crap that parents probably throw away anyway, I ended up contacting Kristin through her Etsy shop, KBExquisites. For $3.00 apiece + s/h, she whipped up and sent these SUPER CUTE reusable snack bags. They are washer/dryer safe and lined with food-safe nylon. Seriously, I placed the order on Tuesday, and I got them on FRIDAY. Talk about a lifesaver! Mom sort of kind of dropped the ball on the daycare party, and in fact, I even bought Kroger m&m cookies instead of baking. I usually at LEAST can muster up some bake & breaks!!!

She did all 10 in different prints, but these 3 of the girl fabrics were my faves:

I added the lil' tags.


Have a great rest of the week! xo

My Eyes Are Smiling!

We are an Irish household. Today was spent tending to the corned beef and cabbage. Hubby needs 3 hours+ to prepare, so we typically do it the weekend before. He eats all the leftovers. We figured it out today, and this is the 12th year of the tradition. Good stuff.

This feat requires two LARGE stockpots. He boils the corned beef with seasonings for 3.5 hours. In the last half hour, he throws in the cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. He pulls the corned beef out, puts it on a baking sheet and coats liberally with honey mustard glaze then broils for 10 minutes. The piece de la resistance is his honey mustard glaze which is just French's yellow mustard and honey. No recipe-- just to taste. Again, good stuff.

So in the wake of St. Patty's Day sneaking up on me, I thought I'd throw out some festive Etsy picks:
Left to right, top to bottom:

1. Irish Rose Green Stud Earrings by Forevermore Creations
2. Vintage Good Luck Care Bear Magnet by Green Clean Toys
3. Mini Green Cowboy Hats by Imagine Art 7
4. The Leprechauns Craving Soap by AJ Sweet Soap
5. My Everyday Rainbow Necklace by Bikimiki
6. Leprechaun Stache by EllieKat
7. Green Beer St. Patrick's Day Letterpress Coasters by The Paper Peony
8. Vintage St. Patrick's Day Cake Picks by Tinsel and Trinkets
9. Pastel Rainbow Pocket Mirror by Starry Eyed Bowtique

Have a wonderful week! :) xo

Etsy Yummies

Been receiving some nice little packages via some beautiful Etsy sellers lately:

This super cute fabric from The Fabric Bar from which I shall make some appliques:


I had a BAD experience with an Etsy seller, however, too (who shall remain nameless, but it was a fabric store). Has anyone else noticed you now have to hit the "Pay Now" button twice via Paypal all of a sudden? What the heck is up with that???? I only hit "Pay Now" once while trying to buy a yard of fabric, Etsy showed the transaction as being paid, and I never noticed I didn't get a Paypal receipt. So apparently, it didn't go through and the seller just decided to cancel the sale altogether! The only way I ever found out was because I searched for the transaction on Etsy and never found it, but I had kept the original email notification of the sale. I convo'ed the seller and told her it was a pretty crappy way of doing business, and she basically admitted she just cancelled the sale due to non-payment-- no convo, no email, no NOTHING. Mind you, I have 100% positive feedback. I read her the riot act a bit more, and of course, no response. Grrrrrr.......

On to my delicate little Snow Melon necklace from Edor:


Alllllll these cutie tooties from Delish Beads:


These dollops of buttercream frosting will make some tasty earrings!


And I haven't received this yet, but I bought this as a cover-up over Q's black leotard for ballet class which she will be starting in the Fall. Can't wait to see Bam Design's handiwork in person. Isn't it soooo cute!?


I just realized that this week marks Q's 1 year anniversary of being potty trained!!! Yayyyyyyy! One pee-tail down, one to go!!! :)

Don't Forget Dad!

Don't forget! Father's Day is Sunday, June 21. I just shopped a bit today, and I thought I'd share some of Girl Land's Etsy picks for some great gifties for your fave hubby, pops, or grandpa.

Top to Bottom, L-R:

1. Lotion bar by Portland General Store
2. Sunflower and Pistachio Toffee w/ Milk Chocolate by Vintage Confections
3. Custom Golf Bar Marker by Autumn Leaves Jewelry
4. World’s Greatest Husband vintage mug by EclecticaMiami
5. Robot Tee by Happy Family
6. Vintage Wooden Box for Polishing Shoes by Val Bolen
7. Half Pint of Prose for Fathers by Inspired Letters
8. Instant Vintage Office Set by River Bazaar
9. Gourmet BBQ Spice Rub Kit by Purpose Design

My dad will be receiving the golf markers from the girls that says, "We Love Grandpa Jim". Ryan will be receiving the robot tee, a nice trophy from the girls, and a card featuring a Father's Day interview I found by Let's Explore via The Crafty Crow. It was actually for Mother's Day, but I modified the questions. Best Q answer so far:

"My Dad always tells me, 'Let's listen to the Talkin' Heads'."

Speaking of Q, here are some other recent Q-isms that have made me laugh:

During a thunderstorm at 2:00 am-- "Mom, can you please turn down the thunder???"

After her dad startled her-- "Daddy, you just scared the poop babies outta me!"

With her arms out, shaking her head, naked from the waist down, "I have NO IDEA where my underpants are."

That is all. Off to watch SYTYCD that is being Tivo'ed as we speak!

Jazz Hands

I'm sooooooooooooo excited!!!! I'm actually LIKING exercise lately what with the Wii Fit and my newest obsession. Can you guess? I'll give you a hint...I might have to buy this from Every Little Count's Etsy shop to wear to class:


It's Jazzercise! It's soooo entirely fun. I was actually looking forward to class today (what the frig?). Their new building is just 5 minutes from my house too. I had no idea what to expect, but I looked on the Jazzercise website, and figured out it's basically aerobics but kinda more dancey. The songs are all newer REAL songs (sung by the real people), and it's so fun. I was sold when they started playing Untouched by The Veronicas (I love that song!). Plus, I'm getting to know a new friend which is always nice.

Other tidbits from this week

-I've been getting an Etsy package like every day! Today it was a bib for V's party Saturday (pic to come Saturday) and another from my newest Etsy obsession, Retro NaNa. Hold onto your hats-- I seriously almost hyperventilated over all the cuteness. Look at just a few things that I bought!


Those CD labels are beautiful. I don't know if I will ever be able to part with them.

-Wide Awake Chapter 49 is up!!!! Some very good/funny parts. I'm patiently waiting for the unavoidable smut. She has to take us out on a smutty note. Too much angst, not enough dirty stuff. No, but in all seriousness, I love love LOVE the story so much. So sad there is only 1 chappy to go + epilogue. Boooooooo.

-Lost was sooooooooooooooooo good tonight! Although I'm sad. Can't say any more...I cried. I admit it.

-Preparing for Viv's party this weekend. The 'rents are coming early to help me around the house and to help me with my YARD which looks horrendous.

Happy Hump Day, y'all! xo

Lunch Lady Land

I was inspired to compile this list by my School Lunch Menu Magic book that I finally brought myself to sell on Etsy. There are some fun things out there! I suddenly have the urge to eat fruit cocktail and sloppy joes...

1st Row (l-r):
Tater Tot Stitch Markers by Scary Merry
Light Pink Short Sleeve 60s Dress by Ruby Gayle Vintage Chicken Nugget & Tater Tot Play Food by MomsPeace

2nd Row (l-r):
Hair Net by Dayclean Design
School Lunch Menu Magic by Girl Land
Business Card Holder/Wallet by Sweetheartsinner Creations

3rd Row (l-r):
Cafeteria Tray Notebook by Mrs Loaf
Vintage Trays by Vintage Tea
Mama’s Feedsack Smock Apron by Sewing Geek

Happy weekending all! We have swim lessons, painting, 1st year photos and movie-watching planned for the lovely weekend. xo

I Like to Amuse Myself

I need a change. I'm currently in the process of replacing this line o' vintage hankies...

...with some new art/photography in vintage frames. Still accumulating both the art and the frames. This pretty picture just came in the mail today. It looks super delish in my existing kitschy cute frame up on the wall! It came in a series by James Spicer who is my new hero.

I also hit an estate sale today. I Facebooked that I was rifling through dead people's things on my lunch hour. Several high school classmates were like WTF? I ended up explaining, however, I did enjoy imagining their take on it-- me pillaging the pockets of a corpse that I happened upon, perhaps. Great insight on what they must think of me!!!

I picked up this adorable HG Toys puzzle-- all 50 pieces intact and included! Methinks it's going into the shop. Also snatched up a box o' plastic deer. How could I resist? My co-workers think I'm a nut.

Happy Hump Day! xo

Cotton Candy

Some very Springy, Eastery, and sticky sweet pics to brighten up your Friday! Top to bottom, left to right:

1. Robin's Egg Dress by SarahSeven

2. Vintage Mirabeau Cocoa Bath Box of Art Goodies by Leesiebella

3. The Bake Off print by Tollipop

4. Birdhouse Tags by CatnipStudioToo

5. Shoes photo from The Cherry Blossom Girl through Apartment Therapy (which was the inspiration for this post!!! So lovely).

6. Dahlia print by PhotoVita

7. Paris in Pink tissue pouch by Chet & Dot

8. Set of 2 Vintage Pink and Aqua Leaf Glasses by Little Acorn Vintage

9. Jonquil Jelly Bean by Chet & Dot (I so lurve Jenn!!! I am also a huge Robot Candy fan).

xoo all!

C'Mon Spring!

Even though we're currently getting snow dumped on us here in Michigan, I still feel hopeful that Spring is on her way.

Some indications:

Apps for Handmade Detroit's Craft Revival (to which I will be applying) are now up. I love the Springy artwork:

This beautiful clementine kitchen from Apartment Therapy:

This sweet birdie clock on eBay. Someone PLEASE buy this. If it doesn't have any bids on it, I may be forced ot buy it, and I have nowhere to put it. Plus, my husband would kill me.

This lovely resin pendant from A Resin Revival on Etsy:

These lovely Springy items are making me try to forget that I have an eye infection (lovely), that Q just scratched the SCREEN of our new flatscreen TV in the basement, and that we had to reschedule dinner plans with my cousin due to snow and the fact that Baby Ronin is not feeling well. Win some, lose some!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! xo

National Squirrel Appreciation Day

Yes, that's right, today is National Squirrel Appreciation Day! In honor of NSAD, I have compiled a list of lovely squirrel-tastic Etsy finds sure to please every nutty buddy out there:

Row 1 (left to right):

Amber Alexander's A New Apron Print

Yellow Cake Crafts' I Love You This Many Acorns Customizable Notecard

Isabell's Umbrella's Squirrel Bookplates

Row 2:

Under the Stair Studios' Paper Circus with Dancing Squirrels

Sugar Street Cafe's Nuts Ceramic Keepsake Dish

Neskat's Hey Squirrel Wool Felt Hair Clip

Row 3:

Mis Nopales Art's Formal Squirrel Canvas Shopping Tote (because the only thing better than a squirrel is a squirrel in a top hat, fo' sho')

Little Elf's Toy Shop's Squirrel Nutkin Needlefelted Squirrel

Flapper Girl's Embroidered Brown Squirrel Coffee Cup Cozy

So if you were feeling squirrelly today, now you know why! Throw some of that stale bread and older apples out to our fine furried friends today, won't you?? xo

Minty + Chocolatey

Anyone remember that Bubblicious Chocolate Mint gum? Ryan and I were talking about it today. I don't think they make it anymore, and I couldn't even find a picture. I did, however, just buy some mojito flavored Orbit gum. Yummay!

I have been living in squalor lately, and finally feel a little better because I cleaned up my craft room a bit. It is still messy, just not tornado-hit-it messy. I found this shadow box I'd bought about a year ago, and threw some vintage fabric scraps and deer in there. Voila! I like this.

A little in the way of chocolate mint colors. Here are some more Etsy finds in the same vein:

Amandamonkey's Chocolate Bunnies cards:

Pink Owl Paperie's Chocolate Mint Layered Trim:

Frosting Couture's Bella Frosting Mod Mint Chocolate Booties:

Mixbaby's Mint Chocolate Tea Party Headband:

Hope everyone is getting over their candy hangover. I was pretty good-- I only ate 2 pieces of candy and somehow had the willpower to pass on Amy's cupcakes! I finished up my swap. Holly, let me know when you get it, so then I'll post pics. My first swap and SO FUN! :)

Twerd Alert: I bought my movie tickets last night for opening day. I talked three of my friends into taking 1/2 day off on the 21st. I'm recruiting legions of Twerds to form a Twerd Army. Got a call from my friend, Shelly, today that she is hooked. Yay! Also trying to bribe my husband to read it. That one's a long shot, but I'm all for a challenge!

Sorry and Contest #1!

Hi all! Sorry I've been gone. Finally got my camera back today. I've been a wreck without it, but my new iphone camera works amazingly well (for a phone camera), so I've gotten a few shots of stuff.

I went to a work conference last Thursday at a farm about 1/2 hour away. It made such an impression that we are going to take Q and V tomorrow. They have pony rides, a magician, and other fun stuff all autumn long. Plus you are THISCLOSE to all the animals-- and they have now week-old piglets that Q can't wait to get her hands on! Here are some pics from the conference day:

Yes, a goat in the rafters! Just before he goat dropped a turd on the opening speaker, in fact:



A brief scenic stop on our hayride around the farm just before a little talk on environmental stewardship:





The tiny piggies (Babe!):

Some more good stuff this week:

+The Paci Fairy made a visit to an almost-3-year-old last night. We decorated this bag for her, put all the pacis inside, and lo and behold, Q woke up to find a new digital camera (you know, the cheapy kid's ones) inside! Q tracked exactly how she got in too-- she found a fairy dust trail at the windowsill leading to the bag. Damn, that fairy dust is messy!

+These uber-cute matching Halloween shirts for the girls! Jennifer did a great job. I was going to applique or iron-on some shirts, but I loved the personalization, and I couldn't have done them myself for that cheap.

+And..................this is my 300th post! As I said before, let's have THREE contests. And the rules are as they were before-- leave me a comment on this post (and/or the next two), you get one entry for each. Link to my posts, and you get an extra TWO chances for EACH contest you link to. Plus, winning one of the three does not make you ineligible for the other two, so enter them all!

Today's contest will be for some Girl Land merchandise-- $20 worth of anything in my shop, vintage or handmade. I spent HOURS making this little Girl Land Bucks gift certy on Photoshop. I am a moron. Heather, look! I followed your tutorial! I really need lessons on this damn thing.

Anywho, stay tuned...Contests #2 & 3 will be over the course of this week-- and a big vintage stash will be the finale. For the Girl Land Bucks, please leave your comment between now and next Friday, October 3.

Thank you, all, for indulging me and reading what I have to say and for checking up on me now and again as well. I never imagined when I started doing this that I'd find such a wonderful, kind and inspirational blogosphere out there! Sigh. Love you. xoxoxo

Splurge

I have been obsessed with this dress ever since Kathleen posted it. Her inspiration was from this dress from Ses Petites Mains.

Well, it’s on sale. I splurged and bought it. More than I care to spend on a 2 year old, but I had to have it. While I was at it, I bought this one too for next spring/summer!

When Quinn was a baby, I used to buy lots of her non-daycare clothing from Janie and Jack. Now is pretty much a Target and Old Navy gal, so I thought she needed something special. It will serve triple duty: Halloween costume (she will be a 40's style Little Red Riding Hood with a white 1/2 apron and red hooded cape), Thanksgiving with the in-laws with a red cardigan, tights and black maryjanes, and Xmas Eve with my parents with the same.

Ventured into Etsy Alchemy again— I really do love it. Am hopeful that it works out well. Have gotten some great bids for the apron, cape and Big Bad Wolf costume, so I’m excited.

How was your weekend? We saw a pretty good movie, The Counterfeiters. Typical scenario—Ryan picks it out with super high hopes. I whine about having to watch a non-fluffy movie (I’m so shallow). He ends up being semi- disappointed, and I am engaged during the whole movie. Although, we are both looking forward to this one:

OSB Update: Made the zucchini quiche, and it was AWESOME. Omitted the parsley and oregano because we had none, but added dried mustard. Didn’t read the directions well enough and mistakenly added the cheese to the egg mixture. That’s my downfall in the kitchen: too impatient and don’t pay enough attention to detail. Anywho, baked it for the suggested time, and the top got all crisp and chewy in a great way. Served it flipped over, and it was like a cheesy bottom crust. Yummers! And I counted it as 2 veggies (because of the 1 cup cooked squash in each piece), but I think with the onion, it could probably be counted as 3…hmmm. Currently obsessed with Lean Cuisine paninis. They are 7 WW points, but I was literally STUFFED after eating one yesterday for lunch. Just had the BBQ flatbread pizza. It was so so. Bought Hostess 100 calorie packs carrot cake—ONE WW POINT! There’s like 4g of fiber in those bad boys. Sweeeeet.

100th Etsy Sale!

Wow, I can't believe it. Who would have thunk it last January that I would have sold 100 items by now? Not a record-breaking feat by any means, but something I am personally proud of. I still love Etsy as much (if not more) than I did the day I found it. Sigh.

And my 100th sale was a lovely experience. Katie of Skunkboy Creatures (dahhhling shop) bought one of my Welcome to Girl Land trinket boxes. Her 5 year old daughter liked it so much that Katie requested a special one for her! I changed up the story in the box and popped her name in. I hope she likes it. She also got a few extra goodies because she was my #100: a little Hello Kitty shopping bag (you know how I loves my kawaii!), personalized keychain (do 5 year olds carry keys?), a homemade hair tie smaller for kid hair, a heart pen, and an owl pencil eraser. Yippee skippee.

Do you have wonderful weekend plans? Tomorrow is swimming with Quinn, Amy, and her daughter, Ramona. Afterwards, a Dream Cruise party. For you locals, I'm sure you all know the Woodward Dream Cruise is this weekend. UGH. I so loathe it. When you say you loathe the Dream Cruise around these parts, people look at you with this LOOK. Like you just said you worship the devil or drive a foreign car or hate Crocs (no, I don't worship the devil). We usually try to get out of town since we live like 1/2 mile from Woodward, and it sucks because you can't even CROSS it. Dummies block the intersections. It's ridic.

OSB Update: It is onnnnnnn...I so lost 3 lbs this week (whoop whoop). I'm so excited. Makes me *almost* want to exercise after going going going for 14.5 hours straight all day every day (wah, poor me). But two things: our WW leader gave us these WW brand mini snack bars to try-- Peanut Butter Bliss. I almost peed my pants they were so good. One WW point. And found this recipe from Sarah who found it from Turkey Cookies, and I finagled to make it points/diet- friendly. I could eat 1/4 of the entire thing, and that would be only 5 pts:

Grammie's Zucchini Quiche

4 c. thinly sliced zucchini

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 T. butter (instead of 2 T.)

1/2 cup Egg Beaters (instead of regular eggs)

2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp. garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 c. part skim shredded mozzarella (instead of full fat)

1 tsp. mustard

Saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender. Whisk the eggs, parsley, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper together. Whisk in mustard. Layer zucchini and cheese in pie pan. Pour egg mixture over top. Bake uncovered (yet with a pan underneath so your oven stays clean) at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until knife in the center comes out clean. Let stand for five minutes and serve.

Really not major changes. I doubt you'd even miss the stuff omitted. I'm going to make it this weekend and let you know how it turns out. Yummers!

Roses & Raspberries

My parent’s receive a local newspaper containing a section called "Roses & Raspberries". People can write in and praise or give the smackdown to the appropriate party that. The hubby is particularly entertained by this and reads it every time we are visiting. Here is a particularly entertaining tidbit from today’s paper that my mother read to me over the phone:

RASPBERRIES:
“• A bushel of raspberries to the - - -wipes who tossed loaded McDonald's drink cups out of their car, hitting me in the head in a totally unprovoked assault as I was pulling stray weeds from the curbside lawn in front of my Woolnough Street house around 10:15 a.m. Sunday, July 20. Had you "gentlemen" not rushed off as you did, I would've loved to have invited you inside for knuckle sandwiches - with plenty of relish! Since you'd served me "soft" drinks, it's only fair that I return the favor - in spades! - K. Delano”

God bless yer spunk, K. Delano.

In honor of the post, here are some "Roses & Raspberries" inspired Etsy finds!

Friendly Banter's Raspberry Rose Brooch

Garnet Girl Design's Raspberry and Rose Stackable Rings

Dreamwear Design's Raspberry Colored Purse with Rose Print Accent