Random Goodness

Some fun recent acquisitions. This fabulous Vintage Chick t-shirt from Prairie Home (this is her photo). There are some fabulous designs and colors. It is so soft and comfy - love it!

Oh so fabulous Sis Boom tunic (Jennifer's photo). This was the perfect top for Easter. Fun and springy. So happy I live in the same state as Jennifer!

Random throw in - this is fabulous pancake mix! Even my hubby who does not like sweet potatoes, enjoys this. The best part is that it is healthy and endorsed by the American Heart Association. Tasty goodness.

Cheers,

Blingy Birdhouse

I have to say I wasn't sure if I would participate in Karla and Beth's Bling Your Birdhouse event or not. I wasn't very confident in my ability to come up with anything worthwhile. But I decided to throw caution to the wind and this is what I have come up with. Welcome to Chateau Fleur home to Amelie and Colette - two of the most fun loving chickies around.

These two chicks quite love flowers and sparkle. They have climbing roses growing up the side of their humble home so they can be greeted with natural beauty each time they return home from their worldly adventures.

These two love jewelry and thought this would be the perfect touch for the peak of their roof.

They love the sparkle as I said and decided to decorate the facade with German glass glitter so that they would stand out from the crowd.

Amelie and Colette thank you for visiting them today.

Thanks to Karla and Beth for another fun one!

A Very Happy Easter

Aren't these little guys adorable? They are scented Peeps bubbles - found these at the Dollar Tree. Gotta love that store!

My very sweet friend Paula gave me this adorable Easter chick. Paula is a good friend and loves to read blogs. Hi Paula!
These nut cups will be at each place setting come Easter Sunday. I'm going to fill them with pastel Hershey Kisses.

Can't forget to announce my Blogaversary Giveaway winner - Sadie Lou! Sadie, e-mail me your address and I'll get you wallpaper pendant sent out to you right away. Thank you to everyone who commented. I was pleased to see lots of new names - I'm making my way around to visit everyone and say hi - bear with me! I'm going to be less frequent in my blogging for the next few days as I prepare for and enjoy the holiday.

Finally, from my home to yours, a very blessed and Happy Easter. May we all take the time to reflect on the Lord's awesome sacrifice.

See you in a few days.

xo,

How I Feel While Preparing Easter Dinner

When Irish Eyes are Smiling

A Happy St. Patrick's Day to all! I am not one bit Irish but I've always loved this day. From the time I was a child I would wish we were Irish and I would always dress in green and my mother would paint shamrocks on my face (thanks for indulging me Mom!). Today I will be wearing my wonderful glittery brooch made from Vanessa's directions and Jeff and I will have our family over tonight for corned beef and cabbage, and Irish soda bread (incidentally, I have heard from several people that the Irish don't eat corned beef and cabbage - any Irish readers that can comment on this? Regardless, I still love it!).

Reminder to leave a comment on my blogaversary post to be entered in my giveaway.

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day and a very happy birthday to Megan and Juli!

It's My Blogaversary! Giveaway time!

Photo from Sugar Bliss

Today marks one year since I started blogging. I thought long and hard about what to say today and how to express my feelings. I realized I really couldn't put into words what this experience has mean to me. I am thankful each and everyday to be part of this wonderful community and for all of you and the inspiration you give me. I think Heather really sums everything up nicely here. Thank you to all of you for being friends, offering advice, inspiration, and sometimes a shoulder. God willing, I look forward to many more years of blogging.

Now I say its high time for a giveaway! I've been working hard to come up with new items for my shop. In addition to huge markdowns for spring cleaning I've listed a bunch of new earrings and my new line of vintage wallpaper pendants paired with vintage chains. There are a few miscellaneous photos below. The pendant above I've called Catalina because it reminds me of turquoise blue waters and sunshine. This pendant can be yours - just leave a comment below! I'll draw a winner on Good Friday. The pendant will come to you strung on a matching ribbon and ready for you to wear as is or hang on your favorite chain.


Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog and to those who comment (except for you bad virus people!). God bless you all.

Cupcake Dreams

Remember this post from Rachael? As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for Jeff's niece. She turns 5 on St. Patrick's Day and her birthday party is this weekend. She loves to bake so a cupcake basket should be a big hit. It was fun putting together everything. Above is a cute little token I found at a local gift shop.

I had a hard time finding cupcake paper believe it or not! I finally found this wrapping paper online. The J is from say it with letters! and is in their Olive Juice font.

A cute cupcake apron I found here after some good steering from Sadie Lou. The cupcake barrettes I found here.

Williams Sonoma proved to be a treasure trove. I found this perfect spatula, the child size rolling pin and pastry mat...

...and my favorite find - this adorable cupcake holder. This holds one cupcake perfectly so it can be carried in a school bag for a special treat and the frosting won't get all messed up (I remember so looking forward to my cupcake snack only to find messy frosting - wasn't that the worst?)
Some sprinkles, cupcake papers, and a custom Pink Cupcake recipe for the birthday girl.

I hope she likes it!

Hugs,

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I thought I would show you a few of the bunnies from around my house. They love coming out of hiding this time of the year. Above is a new addition from Bayberry Cove. I love that it looks like a chocolate bunny. Yum!

This is a ceramic bunny cart that my mother made years ago. She has had a lot of her ceramics in storage and last year I was lucky enough to snag a few for holiday decor.

This is another new addition from a good friend.

I found this little cutie at HomeGoods last year. Purple is one of my favorite colors and I love that she is holding a purple flower.

This is another of my mom's ceramic bunnies. I love the colors of her little sweater and the sweet scalloped edges.

I was feeling some major love over the past few days. I received four awards from Louise, Mary, and Britt. Thanks to all - they are each wonderfully inspirational in their own right. I would like to pass all of these on to one of my favorite sweeties - Ms. Mary at Oh Merci.

Lastly, if you haven't noticed - I've added a new Etsy sidebar representing some of my favorite Easter offerings from members of the Cottage Style Street Team (of which I'm proud to be a part of!). Check out the work of these ladies - I think you'll be quite impressed!

The 'ol College Try

Okay, so I can't sew. Can't isn't probably the best word - sewing challenged may better describe it. I took home ec classes and all that good stuff but it was quite a while ago and I just didn't use my skills and as they say "use it or lose it." I've tried my hand at sewing on several occasions since home ec. Perhaps most notably was the cafe curtains I dared to try when we first moved into the house (blame HGTV!) - let's just say they weren't the best looking things. I kept them up for about 2 days. I think the silent wide eyed looks from family did them in.

I had a sewing machine on my Christmas list this year but then took it off - figuring I wouldn't use it enough to justify the expense. I've looked into sewing classes but most of the ones around here require you to bring your own machine and even if I did have one - I'm not lugging it across a parking lot! Other projects and ideas have pushed sewing out of the way for now though I feel I'll revisit it again someday. All this being said, I had a hankering to try making a heart softie recently. I decided that I could hand stitch it (these skills aren't much better then the machine ones!) to save my sanity. Above is a photo of the results - I actually do have it displayed in a prominent location and my husband seems to genuinely like it! Let's just not look at the stitching too closely now.

xo,

Sweet Treats

Hello dear friends. It is beginning to look a lot like Easter around my house. I'm slowly pulling out the decorations and plan to finish it up this weekend. It's right around the corner! I definitely prefer an April Easter as the weather is usually warmer and it just feels more spring like but hey - I guess that is just something I can't control right? This sweetie above is by the very talented Lori and looks just perfect in my kitchen window. Lori is a fellow member of the Etsy Cottage Style Street Team that Sadie Lou has so lovingly put together.

A frilly and fun initial badge and ledger paper tags also from Lori.

This is a necklace I made for a friend. The butterfly was originally an earring and had sentimental value to my friend. I wanted to incorporate it into a new piece for her but it didn't have a ready made area for me to easily string it onto wire and my soldering skills are not that fabulous figuring I haven't soldered since middle school! I decided to try making a pendant and then using epoxy to affix the butterfly. It seems to have worked well for my first try. Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that it stays put.

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo,

Shameless Oprah Plug

I've given hints here and there in the past but I am now fully proclaiming that I am an Oprah fan. I'm not saying I always agree with her or drop everything for whatever person/place/thing she is promoting at the moment (I have some self respect - I only obey her command 99% of the time :)). Hey, love her or hate her she is a force to be reckoned with. I for one feel that she has opened my eyes to a great many things and has helped me to see the world (specifically the immediate world around me) in a different, much improved light.

I have to say that I have never gotten into her book club - I don't buy the books or purposely read them. After hearing about A New Earth I did the opposite and immediately went to the bookstore. I haven't gotten all the way through it yet but it is a very fascinating and eye opening read that I highly recommend. It talks about the ego and how we mistake the ego as our true selves and how to separate the two. As you may know, Oprah is conducting a 10 week online class with the author. The first class was last night and was very enlightening (when the feed wasn't stalling on my screen that is!). I look forward to continuing on this journey and seeing where the road takes me.

While I'm promoting others - I also want to again give a shout out to Bill at Loving Her Beautiful. Bill lost his father this past week and I know he would appreciate hearing from supportive blog friends. I want to also remind everyone that Bill is putting together a publication entitled I Never Got To Thank You. You can read all about it here. Bill is in need of 100 thank you letters by March 31. To date he has 5. Let's all help him out! He has wonderful charitable intentions with this project. It doesn't have to be a three page letter - my letter was actually very short. And it does not have to be something that you actually send to the person (just send it to Bill!). I wrote my thank you to a retired soldier that I began writing to during Desert Shield. This is what I wrote:

Dear Fred,

Thank you for taking the time to indulge a young girl. I thought I was doing a good thing by writing to the troops during Desert Shield/Desert Storm but you showed me. From the first vile of Saudi Arabian sand to the handmade cartoons and all of the letters, you became a father figure. You welcomed me into your family though you were a world away and we would never actually meet. I so looked forward to receiving your letters and would check the mail box each day. I want you to know that I still have all of your letters, drawings, and cards. They are all neatly tucked away in a box, a snapshot of history I would like to think.

Much love,
Karla

See - short, sweet, and to the point. Consider sending your contribution to Bill today!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming - I'll post some mail goodies and lovelies I've been working on later this week.

Cheers!