via on Pinterest
I cannot stop laughing at this!
February 25, 2011
The Winner, Coffee Sleeve Giveaway
I guarantee I was more excited about this anyone else, I could hardly wait to see who was going to win the turquoise coffee sleeve, I just love to give gifts!
But first, I want to thank everyone who participated and for the many, many (hundreds actually) who stopped by this past week. It really means a lot to me and I hope you will pop in often.
And now…..to announce our winner….. drumroll please…..
According to random.org….. the winner is…..
Number 13! Who was number 13??
Megan! Megan wrote, “Super cute blog! I heard about it from Amy’s FB post:)” and was referred to the site by my Smart-Mouth-Sister-Amy, of Amy’s Kitchen fame.
Congratulations Megan, don’t forget to send me your full name and mailing address so I can send you your prize!
Keep your eyes open for a future giveaway, Bree and I are currently scheming….
February 24, 2011
Walking Tacos by Picky Palette
I am oddly fascinated by this recipe I saw today on picky-palette.com.
Walking Tacos by picky-palette.com
You HAVE to dash over to her site and read about this recipe. I wish the Superbowl wasn’t already past or I would have tested it out on my brothers. Next year, next year…
February 22, 2011
My Weekend Project and First Giveaway!
I don’t know what gets into me sometimes. I was drinking my latte Friday morning and I noticed the cardboard cup “sleeve” around the cup. It wasn’t very pretty, but necessary to keep my fingers from getting burnt. I like my coffee hot! And in that moment I knew I just had to make my very own coffee cup sleeve ASAP. I wasn’t going to rest until it was done.
I have seen so many tutorials lately on making your own coffee cup sleeve: some paper with scrapbooking elements all over, some cardboard with stamps & such, some others made of material or felt with flowers and baubles covering it. There are also plenty of downloadable templates out there in blog land.
I took the cardboard sleeve off of my coffee cup and took it apart so it laid flat. It looked pretty straight forward. I knew I could come up with something simple all my own.
And that’s when I took out my stash of felt. I have been infatuated with felt ever since I made the pinecones. I figured the felt would be thick enough to protect my delicate hands yet pretty enough to satisfy my girli-ness.
Here’s the broken-down-sleeve laid over the gray felt I chose. I chose dark gray because I inevitably will spill my coffee on the sleeve and I don’t want a stain to show. I needed to draw the template onto the gray felt which can be difficult on such a dark color but I had my secret weapon….
…my white Galaxy Marker! This little baby has come in handy for working on darker papers or fabrics. It also has come in hand for this….
Yes, I write my name on my nail polish BECAUSE…. when I go to the nail salon and take my own polish, the lovely little ladies doing my nails (I really do appreciate them) occasionally like to argue with me that it is THEIR nail polish and give me the stink-eye when I put it back in my purse. This 30-second step is cheap insurance.
So back to the sleeve… I decided to make my contrast color blue and use a little birdie silhouette on the front of the sleeve as the main decoration. I just typed “bird silhouette” into Google Images and picked this little guy. I cut him out of the blue felt and voila…
…a pretty little blue bird!
To add a little more color I used embroidery floss and blanket stitched all the way around the sleeve. 1) I don’t think I’ve picked up embroidery floss since Jr. High when I used to cross stitch. 2) I don’t remember if I ever used a blanket stitch before. I had to look it up on the internet to figure it out. These shots look OK, but you should see the first one:
See how uneven and wonky this one is? It took some practice but I finally got the hang of it.
Next I sewed little birdie on, just a simple stitch, nothing fancy.
And here it is all finished! It’s just what I wanted, a little color, a little artsy but not fussy. I made two for me….
…And I made one for one of you, my reader friends!! This one is in turquoise and his stitches are slightly more even than the two I kept for myself. Only the best for you!
All you have to do for a chance to win the turquoise coffee sleeve is leave a comment on this post and let me know how you found out about my site! the hits I get on the website are rapidly rising and I’m really curious to see how people have found out about it since I’ve only told 7 people personally since I launched a few short months ago. The rules are:
- one entry per person
- winner will be chosen randomly using an online number generator
- entries will be received from Tuesday 5:00am Pacific Time to Thursday 12:00am Pacific Time
- I will announce the winner on Friday, be sure to contact me with your mailing address if you are the lucky winner!
Thanks to all my readers for stopping by my little site and good luck!
I’m linked up at:
February 18, 2011
Homemade “Magic Shell” for Ice Cream
Show Tell Share, Magic Shell
I’m not joking, I just ran across this at Show Tell Share and I want to try it, if for no other reason than to satisfy my boundless curiosity. I looked at the ingredients on the back of the “real stuff” and to tell you the truth, it’s not that bad. But the homemade stuff is only 2 ingredients: 1 cup coconut oil and 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Just mix well over low heat. Love it!
February 17, 2011
No Sticking, A Demo by Chiarello & Florence
I really would love to see this recipe…
February 14, 2011
A Legacy of Love
For Valentine’s Day this year I thought I would share with you one of my favorite family treasures.
Yep. That is an old advertising flyer. It’s from Live Oak, CA. From Benton’s store, which I don’t remember. But men’s dress pants were only $4.98!
Ok, so it’ not the advertisement that holds such a dear place in my heart. It’s what was written on the back of this advertisement that touches my heart and makes me thankful to be a part of the family that I am. But first a little back story.
My great grandmother Annette Smith (Smigkelski), a good Polish-American girl, fell in love with and married my great grandfather Horace Patterson, a good Irish-American boy in the early 1900′s. Isn’t she just adorable? And check out the socks on the little guy on the left!
Grandpa was a mason and painter by trade. But he was also a writer of sorts. He was never published, that I know of. But we have a few remnants of his scribblings. Some letters. Some prose. Some poetry. He is remembered by my Grandma Shirley (one of his 2 daughters) as being one of the sweetest, kindest men and it shows in his writings. Here is a picture of him from 1928. I love this picture, it reminds me of something out of Pollyanna. And I think he is so handsome, I wish I could squeeze him.
He used to write letters to my Grandma Annette when they were courting and he was off working out of town.
Shortly after they were married and after my Grandma Shirley was born the Great Depression hit. Jobs were scarce and men (and women) had to travel great distances to find work. So Grandpa Horace traveled away from their home in Springfield, IL to search out work so he could provide for his girls. They wrote many letters back and forth, desperately trying to keep each other up to date on life. He would write about people at work and his surroundings. She would write about their growing girls and family back home. They are the sweetest letters.
Now fast forward to the ad. It doesn’t say what year it was printed but since it was in Live Oak I know it had to have been much later, I would have to guess somewhere between the 40′s & 50′s. I don’t know the particulars as to why he chose the back of this ad. I don’t know if he mailed it to her or if he just left it on the table one day for her to find. I don’t know much about it except that Grandpa loved Grandma.
If you’re having a hard time reading it, this is what it says:
On our Anniversary-
I thank you for the pleasantries I’ve known,
I thank you for our daughters grown,
I thank you for your love that has shown
Down this road we have traveled on.
I thank you for the years that are gone,
My wonderful,
Wonderful,
Wonderful One.
True love, my friends. Happy Valentine’s Day.
February 13, 2011
My Lazy Valentines
I wanted to do something special for Valentine’s Day for the other 3 nuts I live with. But with so many other things going on this past couple of weeks, I just didn’t have time to do anything fancy. And because I’m lazy. So I did this (please excuse the quality of the photos; I was too lazy to pull out my big camera):
1) I printed out this design from Twig & Thistle (another printable, I know!) onto little food envelopes that I also purchased from them. Because I was too lazy to make my own design.
Twig & Thistle, Valentine's Printables
It was so easy. Just feed the bags through upside down so they don’t clog up the printer (which incidentally is the only way they would print correctly anyway) and set the print size to 5×8. Thanks Twig & Thistle!
2) I made brownies. But I’m not sure if they quite qualify “homemade” as it says on the bag. I used Betty Crocker. Because I was too lazy to go the store and get the ingredients for my mom’s 4H Brownies.
3) I wrapped the brownies up in plastic wrap, put them in the bags and closed them up with little sticky hearts that I had in my craft-stash. And I added their names to the bag. I just printed their names out on my computer, cut them out and pasted them on. Because I was too lazy to write them fancy with colored pens.
I left them out on the counter, so they can pick them up tomorrow before they leave for work and school. And that was my Lazy Valentines. Maybe next year I’ll plan a little better and do something fancy.
Hahaha, I crack my self up.
February 8, 2011
hello, valentine. « Becky’s Blog
hello, valentine. « Becky’s Blog.
Ok, ok, I know I’ve already posted 2 other free Valentine’s printables but I can’t pass this one up! The design is so great, it’s just so easy to print and pop them into a frame you already have. I promise this will be the last printable I show you….who am I kidding? I can’t promise that!
Both designs from Becky Higgins.
”Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” I John 4:7-8
February 7, 2011
Thrive: Make Your Own Girls Tights!
Thrive: Make Your Own Girls Tights!.
I think this is an ingenious way to save some $$ and/or personalize your kid’s wardrobe! Just thought I’d share… someone I know should make these!
February 4, 2011
Valentines Project- Love More from Sprik Space
Sprik Space: Just because (14).
As if the last project wasn’t easy enough, this Valentine’s Day project is even easier! My Creative Departure highlighted this project which is actually from Sprik Space.
Sprik Space provided this lovely printable, 5×7. Just print it out and put it in the frame of your choice! AND…. she offers it in 14 different colors so you could leave it up all year! I don’t even know her… but I like her, she’s so nice!
February 3, 2011
Easy Valentine’s Day Project
Framed He”Art” | my creative departure.
If you haven’t done any Valentine’s Day decorating or gift-planning yet, here’s an easy and inexpensive project to “put a little love in your heart”- That was for you Janna. Janna knows I hate that song. It’s a long story, something to do with a telethon, swaying to the music with strangers and singing on television. <Shudder>
Back to Valentine’s Day… I stumbled on this little project from My Creative Departure and I think it’s cute and thrifty and would even be a fun project to do with kids.
And keep your eyes peeled next week for another Valentine’s Day project that will prove to you just how lazy I can be 
