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...

Punxatawney Phil

V has strep throat and Q was home due to schools being closed, so we made a little craft from All Kids Network via Crafty Crow:


We used leftover light blue party cups for the sky, decorative green packing tape for the grass ($1.00 section from Michaels), and birds/bugs/flowers stickers from the dollar store. We didn't have popsicle sticks so used drinking straws instead. We were so glad he didn't see his shadow!

Got my craft room cleaned up a bit last week, and I took some photos. Hasn't been this clean since I first decorated!!! As you can see, my wall of creepy cute (or as my husband calls it, the "wtf wall") is coming along swimmingly. This may or may not be a raccoon carrying a kitten:







I will miss this space in the new house. I will have a craft room, but not immediately. Such is life.

Hope you all survived Snowmageddon 2011!

Ready for Snowmageddon?

V has strep. I'm still in my PJs. Getting ready to be snowbound here in MI tomorrow. I have no energy. What the heck is wrong with me? Just realized I never posted a winner from the last contest. EMILY ANNE, since you were the only person in the U.S. to enter, YOU WIN! :) I don't have your email though and I can't get on your Blogger profile, so get me your mailing addy!

I have done a few tiny crafty things in the last few days. I've had these God awful looking ice cream parlor chairs for like 10 years. I covered them in this God awful looking sage toile circa 2001, and they are all dirty and faded, so I decided to recover them since I've been HGTV-obsessed lately what with getting our house ready to be put on the market and all.


Took me the longest to pry out the industrial staples I used when I recovered before. Bought some upholstery-weight crisp-looking gray and lemon modish dot at Joann's for cheap. I think I bought 2.5 yards, but I could have gotten away with 1.75 easily.


So here's what it looked like after I pulled the fabric off-- basically plywood with a foam cushion:


I placed the whole thing on the fabric and freehand cut a circle about 2" larger than the base:


Stretched and stapled as I went:



And voila! New chairs!



Probably could have used a new coat of spraypaint, but I like the distressed cream, and I don't do spraypaint in the winter.

Here's what we're doing for Valentines this year. For V who is pretty much the only girl in her daycare classroom, we're using this idea from Design Mom:



The jungle animals came from Michaels and were under $4 after my 40% off coupon (for 12). I had the cello bags, and I printed Design Mom's .pdf at 130% to have it fit the cello bags. My mother and I went back and forth with some good ones for the crocodile and camel (think 'You're a crock of sh&t Valentine!" and something about humping for the camel). Niiiiiice, right?

Here's Q's which came from Alissa of 24*7*365:


Cute, right? Beats the cruddy selection of boxed valentines anyway.

Hope you all get snowed in somewhere good as opposed to bad! xo

Jean Louise Finch & CONTEST

I have three favorite movies, two of which go together-- one of which does not: 28 Days Later (zombies), To Kill a Mockingbird & Patch of Blue. My favorite books are To Kill a Mockingbird, Geek Love (circus freaks) and The Help. I see a pattern here.

Mary Badham, who played Scout in the 1962 film, appeared last weekend at an old theater in Detroit-- the Redford Theatre. I was SO EXCITED to be able to meet her and get my book signed! Then Ryan and I watched the movie on the big screen which was incredible.


I tried to not get too emotional. I admit I had to choke back some tears when I talked to her. The book has been a favorite of mine, my mother's and my grandmother's for as long as I can remember. I remember watching the movie with my mom as a kid. I received my book copy when I was 15 years old. I cannot watch the movie without crying-- no matter how many times I see it. Needless to say, it will be an experience I will always remember.

A nice lead-in to MLK Day, I must say. I had to laugh when Q brought this home last week.

Isn't it awesome? And who thinks up this stuff? "Let's do a connect the dot that creates Martin Luther King's head!" She did a great job though. Although she said someone had the red crayon, so she had to color his lips purple.

Last but not least, I am cleaning, decluttering, and trashing a TON of stuff in my house getting ready for it to go on the market February 1. Did any of you put a comment in to win Grosgrain's Little Red Riding Hood jacket back in '08? Well, it's up for grabs again! Q wore it once or twice, I think. I think it's about a 3T-4T. I don't know if V will ever wear it, so I will choose a number at random on Friday night.

{photo courtesy of Grosgrain}

So cute, right?? Here's how to win (each method gives you one chance):

• Leave a comment here saying who will wear the jacket.
• Blog about it and leave another comment with a link to the post
• Tweet a link to this post; comment here and give me a link to your Twitter
  
• Become a public follower; comment here and tell me you did

Please only comment if you are within the Continental U.S. Be sure that you either leave an email or that any profile I can link on has your email in it so I can contact you if you win. Happy commenting! :)

Woodland Animals + Target Dollar Spot = LOVE

Ok, I may or may not have...(snack cups!)


...gone a little nutso (2-pack of melamine plates!)...


...over the new Dollar Spot items (cups)...


...at Target (2-pack of melamine bowls)...


...but what do you think (cafeteria trays!)???!!


HOW CUTE ARE THESE??

Happy 2011!

Last night, I imbibed several "pointsettias" (aka cheap champagne and cranberry juice). We had a wonderful dinner of lobster tail and finger foods-- brie and pear phyllo purses, cheese, salami, bruschetta, crab cakes, potato skins and cocktail weenies. Mmm! We had movie night in (we rented Cyrus and Cache...) and will be living in our PJs for the next 24 to 48 hours. Bring on the laziness!

So I only did something mildly crafty this season. Got my inspiration from the awesome Ez of Creature Comforts and made up a gift wrapping package for my sister in law. I also included a roll of Snow & Graham wrapping paper and a few sheets of individual paper from Shine. Everything (besides the rolls, of course) were packed up in cello or glassine bags with Hobby Lobby scrapbook paper and tags. I thought up the color scheme from cute dollar bin stuff at Michaels-- aqua, yellow, red, black and orange!


Here's what I included:

1. Green mushroom refrigerator notepad (to jot down gift ideas or upcoming birthdays) from Target.
2. Glassine bag filled with round envelope seals. I made these with my Xyron sticker maker, Hobby Lobby scrapbook paper and two different sizes of round craft punches.
3. Paris gift tags I had in my stash. I pulled out the appropriate colors.
4. Some downloadable gift tags from Camilla Engman via Creature Comforts.
5. Post It Notes from Joanns.
6. Bakers twine in mint green/white and brown/white from The Cupcake Social's Etsy shop.
7. Binder clips from Michaels.
8. Decorative tape from Michaels.
9. Gray/yellow handled scissors (not pictured) from Target.
10. Scotch pop up tape dispenser, Target (not pictured).
11. Decorative paperboard suitcase, Land of Nod (and I have two more for myself!).
12. Five rolls of ribbon, Michaels.



Hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Day! Off to gets me some mimosa!

Are You Ready????

The shopping's done, the wrapping's done. I think I'm ready! Although the hubby pointed out a very depressing thought-- by this time next week it will be long over. Seems like such a to-do for such a finite period of time, doesn't it?

The girls have been, well, a bit rowdy. I thought Elf on a Shelf would help with the impishness, but not so much. I keep telling V there is still hope IF she can curb the obnoxiousness. This is what she has asked Santa for (with a bit of coaching from Mom):


Post Edit: the above is the Strawberry Villa by Le Toy Van from Amazon (I hope Santa knows V would love it-- hopefully his elves can recreate it) :). I wonder if she will get it. I think Santa may take pity on her.

I just got done finishing up some French macarons we bought last weekend. How have I gone so long without eating these??? My friend told me about a local bakery called Cup.cake that sells them, and I bought 1/2 doz chocolate peppermint last weekend. So delish.



If you haven't tried them, they are like a cross between a brownie and cookie sandwiching a light cream filling. Cup.cake's Facebook page tells you what kind they have every day. If you are a regular blog reader, you most likely have seen various posts about macarons especially from Miss Emily Martin (aka The Black Apple). I think I avoided them for so long because I thought they tasted like meringues. Can't wait to order some for a birthday party! They will be so pretty and tasty.

And speaking of The Black Apple, look! An early Christmas present for me!


It was on sale at Urban Outfitters for 50% off, and I snatched it up for $9.90. Score! It was the last one. My non-crafting, non-blogging friend looked at me like I was nuts when I found the sole copy. She thought I was buying it for the girls. Looked at me even nuttier when I said they would not be touching it, and it would be kept safe and sound in my craft room.

I've been collecting all my home decorating ideas for the new house on Pinterest. Have you all heard of Pinterest? I'm slightly obsessed. Psssst...you can follow me if you wish! I have been finding myself liking the mixture between vintage and modern. But someone PLEASE talk me off the wallpaper ledge! I love it so, and I know it's "in", but I have a feeling I will hate myself later for it. But just LOOK at this wallpaper!


Le sigh.

Anyway, have a wonderful short week leading up to the holidays. :) I'll be back soon. xo