Jen over at Tatertots and Jello is hosting the most awesome give away. I have been digging into the Silhouette blog and they have some amazing ideas!

Like this. Just in time for the 4th of July

How cool would it be to make this?

We need this because B keeps changing their names.
Right now it's Lane and Dunk
yesterday it was something else. whatever.

So go on over and check out the giveaway.

Day Dreamer

I have been dreaming

dreaming of lazy beach days
long walks on the beach
a teeny tiny bite of sun burn

here is some inspiration if you've been day dreaming too


I found this one at
by the sea decor
a*stinkin*dorable!




and this one at
Country Home





oh man I could get lost for hours on
Completely Coastal

Quick Fix

It seems that with all the laundry, cooking and cleaning
{ohh don't forget homework mine and theirs}
the only thing I have time for is quick fixes!

see this hinge. it was falling off
which means the door won't close right
which means there is a whole lotta door slamming
which means momma has a big ol' headache

bet you can't guess where that leads
hhhmmm how did you know?

to the short kid's bedroom
bet you can't guess why you only get a close up either
it's very , very scary in there!

why do 5 year old's think it is so much fun to swing on doors?
idunnoknow but it drives me *batty*

you see these long screws?
those were in the top hinge already
looks like someone already had a problem with this door

so then I'm thinkin how in the world am I gonna tighten up these
hinges if the screws are already 2 inches long?!?
I couldn't find and longer screws in the garage black hole
duh
I don't think they come any longer
unless. I used lag bolts

I gabbed my tube of liquid nails
and stuffed some in each hole
screwed the same screws back in
shoved a book under it to keep it still
till the short kid came home

I Could Do That ~Totally~

Am I the only one? Am I really? Or do you suffer from this too?
I see something like this for instance

and my first thought is not
"how cute"
or
"I wonder if they have is in a pink"
or even
"what a great price"
my first thought is
'I could totally make that
and mine would be waay cuter!"

I'm just sayin'

~Ta Da~

I needed something for the front door

I had seen one similar in blog land
(can't find her post for the life of me, I would
love to give her credit for the inspiration
so if you know who it is, let me know )

hey and guess what
I had one
The "D" is from my wedding
the burlap from my stash
the only thing I bought was the ribbon
it was 88¢ at Old Time Pottery
such a good deal, I grabbed the last two rolls

I did a lil ruffle
and a lil rosette
washed the "D" in blue

ta da

I hung it from the nail on the door
however every time one of the boys slams the door
it ends up crooked
which is driving me batty
like.really.really.batty.


Edited to add: I found the post that inspired my canvas craft
Angie at The Happy Homebody
whipped one up also, her's is so cute!




I'm posting here:

Oh.My.Goodness.

I am so glad that my kids weren't with me when I found these.
because I did a lil dance.
right there in the isle.
yes I did.
can ya see that price tag?
$5
that's right 5
now do ya see why dancing was called for?

A couple of months ago I saw that
Dixie over at French Lique
had found them for $14.
And I thought to myself
that that was a super duper awesome deal.
I coveted them
I knew coveting was wrong
I just couldn't help myself
Imagine my surprise when I found these
Oh.My.Goodness.
yeah it was that good.

Now I just have to find the perfect
container to put them in
let you know what I come up with

Easey Peasy Lemon Squeezy

This was so fast and easy. I hate that I looked
at this beat up
(that what matchbox car will do for ya)
end table for so long.

I took a paper towel and dipped it in
Minwax
and rubbed it on
told ya it was easy
I let it sit for a few extra minutes on some of the more
umm distressed spots. yeah that's it, we'll go with distressed.



the color I had an hand was Red Mahogany
so I used it.



Sorry for the poor pic and the glare it was
a suppa, suppa sunny
day in NC but you still get the idea

the hardest thing about this mini project
was the wait. I wanted to set somethin' pretty and springy on it.
How ever heed my warning:

WAIT

it was tacky for 3-4 days
but so worth the wait!

Italian Cookies

I found this recipe and was
testing to see if it was "Easter worthy"
so few things are around here
hhmm let me see
there is my spinach dip

(can't even tell you how easy this is shhh don't tell my kids.
I keep that part secret with lots of grunting and pan rattling)
crock-pot mac n chz
dangerous stuff I'm tellin' ya
and my sister's olive salsa

~ Here's the recipe ~


ITALIAN COOKIES

6 c. flour
2 c. sugar
5 eggs
6 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. lemon extract
2 sticks butter

By hand in large bowl mix butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, then mix baking powder in well, then flour. Knead well adding more flour if too sticky. Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes. Keep checking bottom of cookies, when golden brown they're done. Frost with glaze and colorful sprinkles.


the original recipe called for vanilla extract
however I am a lemon lover
lova, lova
so I substituted

I am a take-and-break kinda cookie maker
so I second guessed my self the whole time about the texture
so let me just go ahead and tell ya
the batter is thick and can get sticky
so go ahead and take your rings off
we rolled them into an egg shape
ya know for Easter and all



fresh out of the oven



Glaze
3-3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
5 to 6 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp lemon extract

assorted nonpareils

this glaze also called for vanilla

but again I used lemon

and let me just tell you

~perfecto~



the recipe says it makes 7 dozen
I didn't count but I will say that I was up to
ma' elbows in cookies
so
my best neighbors, some of the neighborhood kids,
my daughter took some { a dozen}
and Barrett's teachers




and this is what you get when you let short kids decorate



he loved helping and his teachers loved his gift

happy Easter ya'll


I linked up here:

Wordless Wednesday

Nakita

Patience

Today their patience has paid off

These two guys and I are going for a walk



On the beach



We are going to hunt for treasures



And enjoy the sunshine



See you tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!

i need a lil' therapy

so I have this tin of buttons

it sits in the top drawer of my nightstand

it is old and faded

it is full of mismatched buttons

when i am sad i open it and run my fingers through them

it is therapeutic for me

these were my Nana's buttons

when i was little she would let me play in them

i would sit in the floor and dump them out and put them back in

checking each one as i returned it to it's tin

on rainy days we would play
checkers with the black and white ones



she has been gone for five years

i miss her

i hope my children have their grandmother

as long as i had mine.

Mantle Re-style 2

You remember all that crap junk err stuff
I pulled from my stash earlier this week

Here's what I came up with.



This first pic is waaayy bad.
But I wanted to give you some idea of
how the mantle is overshadowed
by this monster TV

Which is on more than it's not. You should have
heard the bellows from the peanut gallery
when I turned it off for this shot.




See that console that is in the corner
it's on my hit list. Waiting on inspiration to strike.

My options are limited as to layout
what with the TV over it and all.

But on the up side I have more
surface area because of the
shelf that the TV is sitting on.
So that's where I put my sparkly tea light votives.




I tweaked and played with
what I had pulled from my stash.
A lil' beach glass here, a lil' bunny there
oh and some cutie pie birds all the way over there...
Then I went and pulled more stuff from other places.

See those little bottles. I pulled them from my
display cabinet in the kitchen.

I'll show you those another day.



I filled this vase with wine corks, sphagnum moss,
curtain-rod finials, and old discolored Christmas
ornaments that I wrapped with twine.
I topped it with a fleur-de-lis top from a container broken long ago.

I think it is my favorite.
Though I 'm also kinda liking the tiny cloche
and wax sealer



So what do ya think?


I linked up here:

Wordless Wednesday

Mantle Re-style

My mantle has been neglected
since all the Christmas decorations came down
so sad. I know.

So....
I went shopping. It was only in my stash
but I think I might just be able to make
something out of this stuff.
Look what I found





this fleur-de-lis top
candles from the baby shower I threw 2 years ago
the tiniest cloche you've ever seen
a bunny the my mom had when I was growing up
twine wrapped Christmas ornaments
curtain rod finials
and more crap that you can't see from this picture

The only thing I did buy were
the cutest Dollar Tree birds
ya ever saw'




So give me a day or two
and let me see what I can come up with.

Happy Birthday B!

Tomorrow is my littlest ones 5th birthday!
I can not even tell you how excited he is

though most of you mommies can guess

it looks a lil' something like this


He's ready for cake
and he's been beggin' for it since Christmas.
so here's what I'm gonna do

Amanda from Kevin and Amanda
has several posts on her best chocolate cake

I made one for Christmas
and let me tell you
it is
the.best.chocolate.cake.ever.


so I though I would take her word on
the ultimate chocolate trifle



which looks a little like the dirt I
made for a Halloween party



though we might modify.
strictly for the decoration though.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

man I need to work on my photo skills.
you get the picture though.

I don't wanna

As I sit here

enjoying my coffee

and homemade Banana Nut Bread

My living room

looks like this

Oh my

So as much as I'd like to stay

and check out all of the

awesome blogs I've discovered

I.must.go.

but I don't wanna....