A Little Spring In Our Step

We've been out soaking in the sunshine this week;

breathing in renewal;

walking barefoot through long, green grass;

visiting with neighbors;

finding refreshment.

Enjoy this lovely day!

Saturday Snapshots: The Little Mister

I can't get enough of this roundness!

On The Menu: FAIL

I decided to try something new.

I've had Gnocchi at restaurants;

a friend of mine has made it for me;

I felt like this was something I could do quite easily.

Nope!

I paired it with some Sun-dried Tomato and Asiago Chicken Sausage...

also, not that good.

Okay, it was alright;

I don't want to give it a bad rep.

All in all, though,

this was a FAIL;

and the husband and I ended up eating 

a little more cereal 

than we usually do 

at our cereal bedtime snack. 

Anyone have any Gnocchi tips??

The Daily DIY: Bird's Nest Pendant

I saw this on a blog the other night and pinned it right away

knowing that the little ladies and I would love this project

(since that first sighting, I'm seeing them everywhere now!).

It's pretty simple and takes less than 30 minutes to make...

even with little helpers wanting to do everything themselves.

Here's what you'll need:

Jewelry wire (ours is Vintage natural brass)

Beads (whatever color you'd like your eggs to be)

Note:

I kept the wire attached to the spindle and began in the middle

since I had no idea how much wire I would need.

I would suggest a length of 24 to 36 inches.

Begin by sticking your wire through one bead and wrapping through once more;

do this again with each bead.

Once wrapped through, stick the wire through all three beads forming a triangle.

From here, wrap the wire around and in and out of the beads

beginning to form a little nest.

From here, take one side of the wire and form a loop 

and then secure by wrapping around the formed nest and twisting several times.

Continue wrapping in and out of the nest;

secure end piece by wrapping or twisting.

And TADA! 

The end results should look something like this.

We have some pretty vintage fabric that we're going make a 

little necklace out of.

A perfect little accessory for Spring!

Children's Art Work

I've been excitedly waiting for the day

when my kids could draw...

like actually sit down and create a drawing

completely on their own.

I just love the way their little minds see things 

and then put that on paper.

I'm always looking for ways to display their work creatively 

rather than just sticking it to the refrigerator

(though there's something about creating a piece

and then walking over to the refrigerator and 

proudly displaying it for all to see...

which my girls do every time...

I love it.).

After my daughter's birthday,

we were trying to think of a creative way to 

send out thanks to those who

had attended her birthday party and given gifts.

So, we combined the two and came up with 

these custom little thank you cards

(which my daughter also blogged about today...

sometimes this just happens when there's creativity

spilling over!

And yes, I said my daughter...

who is four...

what can I say?

She was born to blog!).

I love the way they turned out!

She drew a self-portrait of herself,

and then I added the scene around her.

It was a fun little afternoon project for the two of us,

and of course,

all the Grandpa's and Grandma's and Aunts/Uncles 

loved getting a little piece of artwork to display...

on their refrigerators.

Shimmer and Lace

The curtains...

ooooooh, the curtains!

These turned out even better than I had dreamed them in my head!

And I always love it when that happens.

So, if you hadn't noticed from some of my other decor,

I'm bringing gold back.

I love the look of it and

the contrast of the silver and gold together

with the lace,

oh, goodness,

it makes me swoon.

It's so romantic.

When I had originally painted the room,

I was planning on keeping the blue curtains we had

but dying them a grayish kind of hue.

Then I had the idea to go for a dark, dark brown.

Long story short... they ended up a disturbing shade of purple.

So, when I just happen to stumble upon the silver fabric

for $1.50 a yard,

I took that as a sign that I was supposed to enhance our space with it.

The lace was around $2;

the gold fabric was on sale (later found at a different store)

for around $5;

and the backing was around $8

(with my 50% coupon to Joanne's... thanks Jess!).

That's $21, people...

for four custom panels.

I LOVE IT!

What's your take on gold these days??

On The Menu: Maple Glazed Salmon

You'll need:

1 Salmon Filet

1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Minced Garlic Cloves

Mix all ingredients (minus Salmon, of course) together.

Place Salmon in a shallow dish and pour mixture over; 

let marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Once marinated, I chose to grill this.

You could also bake it with the same results

(perhaps 400 degrees, 7-10 minutes).

This was a bit sweet for our taste, 

however it was good.

I think I'll try using a bit less syrup

and a tad more soy sauce next time around.

What are some of your go-to marinades??

Saturday Snapshots

Lace Fever

First...

A little sneak peek at what I've been working on this week.

If you can be in love with a curtain,

I am.

A few weeks ago,

some lady friends and I were working on these:

It's a jar

wrapped in lace and twine.

Seriously.

Find a jar,

get some lace,

hot glue the ends together,

and wrap some twine around it.

It can't get any easier

or more lovely.

They just add prettiness to the room.

I find myself wanting to don a petticoat and parasol

when I see them.

THAT'S how pretty they are.

Have a very lovely weekend!

My Bebe!

Okay, so she's not MY baby, per se...

details, details...

Anyway, I can't believe that I never posted

the little family's FIRST family photos.

And this was a few month's back,

so she's basically grown up now!

Being a cardigan girl myself,

I just LOVE her in her little cardigan!

Ah!

And of course, I have to throw this one in:

I love babies.

I love boys holding babies.

I REALLY love little brothers snuggling their OWN little baby.

Good grief, this is cute!

I Wear My Heart On My Sweater

This suits my fancy a bit more.

I told you I was loving all these hearts I was seeing!

And I needed one.

I bought this sweater for $1.50 at my favorite thrift shop.

I already had the felt and thread, 

so this was one of my less expensive projects 

(You're welcome, Love).

All you need to do is cut your heart out;

pin it to the spot where you'd like it to be and then sew it on.

Pretty easy...

I ended up cutting the collar off 

(I used a zig-zag stitch to keep it from fraying)

because I felt claustrophobic in it...

well, and I like ribbons.

I just wove a little white ribbon through the knitting

to keep the neck a little more secure.

We'll see where this leads,

because now I have all kinds of ideas for patches.

Spring Is In The Air...

Have a lovely Monday.

It's FRIIIIIIIIIIDAAAAAAAY!!

I'm not usually one to look forward to any 

one day of the week more than any other 

as I pretty much do the same thing everyday...

chase tiny little crazies around.

However, THIS week

those tiny little crazies (one in particular!)

have given me a run for my money!

Whew...

(stitches on a tiny forehead, toy room turned toilet... yeah, disgusting!

eating soap just for fun... ya' know normal stuff...)

I was looking around our house last night,

toys everywhere,

two-foot high stack of dirty dishes,

piles of clutter just kind of scattered throughout;

and then I thought,

"Wait a second...

tomorrow is FRIDAY!!"

Which around here is 

CLEANING DAY!!

You may think this is a joke,

but I am actually very serious.

Since beginning my lists,

I always look forward to marking off my Friday list

more than any other day.

I know, it's weird.

So, as I was relaxing last night

perusing the blogosphere,

I thought I'd do a little round-up of some

things that I've been loving lately.

(1) My Sponsors, of course (always loving them!):

Check out, Alina's highly anticipated DIY Wedding post,

you MAY see me or one of my Love's in a picture or two.

Abby is giving some love to the NutriMill,

which is the same mill I use as well.

Erin marked 2012 as the year to try new things;

go see how she's doing!

And Lori, who is ALWAYS amazing me

with her killer DIY projects.

(2) These pretzels!

Good grief they are good.

(3) This punch.

(4) And this mess.

I actually can't get enough of this blog.

Have a restful weekend, friends!

Petie and the Kid

This is my lovely friend, Petie, and her bebe.

Oh goodness, that roundness and that smile 

is TOO MUCH for me to handle!

Petie and I were pregnant together and our little guys are 

about a month apart,

and basically we've destined them best pals for life.

I took a few pics for them a few weeks ago for a special Valentine's Day gift
for their favorite Mister in their lives.
I love their smiles and the one of both of them is going
on my list of all-time favorites for sure!!