treasures found....

i went to the don scott antique fair last weekend with just a few things in mind to find (hoping for a lucky day = antique fair) and i hit the jack pot!!! take a look at what i found:

elk antlers $100



rustic shelf $20




frame $22

 i am already looking forward to returning to the next sale- january 21st...

follow up to sewing 101....

i had such a great time at my refresher sewing class.... here is what i made that night.

looking forward to taking additional classes and also taking what I learned and making some gifts. next classes on my list to take are the beginner tote bag and pillow case. if your looking for a class to learn or refresh some of your sewing skills - i recommend sew to speak in clintonville.

sewing 101....

i'm embarrassed to say that i am taking a sewing 101 class tonight and going to make the items below...

the reason i say i am embarrassed is because i am a fashion merchandising major and took a ton of sewing classes in college. i have been out of college for 12 years and have not worked in the retail world for 9 years- therefore i am not beating myself up too bad but, should know more than i do about sewing.

taking a sewing (refresher) class has been on my list of "things to do" for a long time. i'm excited that i actually took the step and signed up for the class. looking forward to going and getting my sewing skills back in order... then i can start crossing some more things off my "things to do" list.

hoping for a lucky day = antique fair

this weekend is the don scott antique fair at the Ohio State fair grounds....i am looking for the following below and hope i have luck in finding them all! will i see you there?

missing ...olive the other reindeer

last weekend we were christmas decorating and gavin decided to help- i gave him a tree of his own in the play area of the basement to decorate with all of our ornaments that don't match my themed tree upstairs. he found my little stuffed animal "olive the other reindeer" and just though he was the best- "a dog with antlers... what?"

after he finished decorating his tree (he loved doing this by himself) it was nap time and he wanted to bring olive to sleep with. after nap we haven't talked much more about olive ...until yesterday. he told me he is missing and we need to post signs around the house so that others know he is missing too. the first sign gavin told me what to write, "we miss you olive, please come home for christmas!" then we made "missing olive (with a picture of olive) reward if found $28 (he told me how much he would pay if his is found). we made about 50 signs and he taped them all over the house. the one below i found in the bathroom...

last night we looked high and low for olive but we can't find him anywhere. we thought if we could find him and then have his elf (elf on the shelf) appear with him as if he found him he would just be so thrilled. we are still looking but perhaps olive is really missing???


...if you haven't heard of olive- its a cute book that came out some time ago... "Olive is merrily preparing for Christmas when suddenly she realizes 'Olive... the other Reindeer... I thought I was a dog. Hmmm, I must be a Reindeer!' So she quickly hops aboard the polar express and heads to the North Pole. And while Santa and the other reindeer are a bit surprised that a dog wants to join the their team, in the end Olive and her unusual reindeer skills are just what Santa and his veteran reindeer team need. Colorful graphic illustrations accompany this zany dog story from the well-known author and artist team, Vivian and J.otto Seibold. Adorable Olive and her hilarious adventures are sure to make anyone's Christmas merry."

thanksgiving leaf garland

i was at pottery barn kids about 3 weeks ago and they had the cutest kid decorations for thanksgiving! so many stores have forgotten this holiday and moved straight to christmas...i happen to be in the mood to buy. i treated gavin to a thanksgiving design place mat, plate and cup . they also had this super cute leaf garland and i picked it up and was on my way to the register and happen to check the price... it was $49 - yikes. i took another look at it and decided that i could make my own.

here is pottery barns version:

check out my version from supplies i picked up at joann's: (again i can't understand why i can't rotate these photos - perhaps it's because i took them on my iphone?)

total cost of mine $10 and i still have enough supplies to make another banner.

2011 christmas wish list....

tis the season to post my christmas wish list.... to my family this is always an entertaining list as i list anything that comes to mind... after all it's a wish list! what's on your wish list this year?


1. Toddler seat cover

2. Popcorn maker
3. Keurig
4. Tory Burch shoes size 8

5. Cell phone case

6. Sephora gift card
7. Ipad
8. Costco membership
9. Tim Horton’s gift card
10. Michael Kors purse
11. Kid Rock tickets when he comes to concert
12. Vintage Detroit Lion’s t-shirt (Von Maur)
13. Handyman services gift cards
14. New carpet for the house (upstairs)
15. Photo lessons

kindness....

today when i went thru the tim horton's drive thru to get my usual coffee... i got to the window and someone had paid for it... the lady that was in front of me so kindly took care of paying for my coffee! if you know me ... that is pretty much like winning the lottery.  i promise to repay this kind jester someday when i am in line at tim horton's. we need more people like her in the world!


pinterest



is there ever an end....

i love all the projects that i get into around the house or just in general but some days i wonder if i will ever feel that i've completed them? my list just keeps growing even though i am crossing projects off. some of my projects are because i don't like to just sit and watch tv -i like to have something to do while watching tv.


the other projects are around the house to make my house what i envision it to be- these are the projects that weigh me down (at least today i feel like they are). if only i'd win the lottery!!
my current house project looks like this:

- paint my bedroom

- new tile in master bathroom

- new carpet throughout the house

- paint the nursery

- get nursery ready

- get hooks for towels in guest bathroom

- get another twin bed for gavin's room

- make pottery barn baseball sign for den

- new furniture for living room

- move washer and dryer to the basement

- create mud room

- get glass block windows in the basement

- hang tv's

- new ceiling fans in bedrooms

- replace gold door knobs with rubbed bronze

- finish painting the deck (this will have to wait now)

- paint the garage

- paint and redesign gavin's play room

- make basement hang out area "cooler"

- and a million ideas from pinterest.....


my craft list:

- need to find a holiday craft to make for gifts for all

- make another leaf garland (post coming soon)

- make my michigan banner

- make some baby items for sister in laws shower

- make thanksgiving crafts with gavin this weekend

i think why i am feeling so overwhelmed is that i just don' have my same energy right now... my hips are starting to hurt and the extra weight is "weighing" me down.


someday i want to sit back and enjoy all the things that i did get done! just don't know when that will be yet.

feeling behind...

I'm a little behind this year in having a Christmas card photo ready for our cards. Last year I was ahead of the game and was ready to order in November... This year I don't think I will be ordering my cards until after Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to squeeze in a photo session with my sister while we are home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Once I get our picture taken I'll be ordering my Christmas cards again from Shutterfly. I was really happy with the cards I ordered last year - great designs and easy to order. Not only do they have great cards but tons of other great gift giving ideas. I love the mouse pads with a photo and personalized note-pads!

These are some options that I'm thinking about...

spider balls

aka... osage oranges. do you have funny memories you remember about growing up? this is one of them for me... my dad would stop and collect "spider balls" from the side of the road and told us they keep the spiders away (i believed him).
about a year ago i was driving to get my coffee on a saturday morning and almost found myself doing the same thing my dad taught us to do- pull over and collect the "spider balls" for decorating and ofcourse to keep the spiders away. instead of stopping the next weekend my mom can down for a visit and we loaded gavin up in the wagon and set out on our adventure to find the stash of "spider balls" i spotted in my car. to my surprise i didn't need to walk that far from home... they were right under my nose out my back door. i had no idea!

just last weekend we brought a bag and went out our back door and went "spider ball" picking. funny the things you pass onto your kids because someone told you about it. gavin loves the adventure and is so very proud when he finds one. i'm pretty sure he believes they keep spiders away as he came running up from the basement looking for a spider ball as he needed it to keep the spider away that was down there.

(i have no idea how to get these pictures to turn- i've spent to much time trying to figure it out- sorry you need to turn your head to see)

the best apple pie...

the best apple pie i've ever made-(the only one i've ever made but i plan to make many more!)

serve warm with vanilla ice cream

finished apple pie- yummy

Here are the recipe's i followed:


Barefoot Contessa Perfect Pie Crust:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

(notes: i don't have a food processor so i used a cheese grader to shave my butter into the size of peas)

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

(note: i made a streusel topping instead of a top crust see recipe below)



Barefoot Contessa Streusel Topping: 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

For the topping, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly.

(note: again i used the cheese grader to shave my butter into the small pieces. below i am covering the pie with the streusel topping)

adding the streusel topping- yummy

Grandma Kilner's Apple Pie:

2 1/2 pounds of apples

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix everything above and let stand for 10 minutes. Add to your pie crust and cover with streusel topping. Bake at 400 for 25-40 minutes.

mixing the apples

adding the apples to the pie crusts

french hen farm barn sale

always looking forward to the french hen farm barn sale... (its a good thing my friend from marysville told me about them). will you be attending their sale this weekend? friday and saturday 9-5




french hen farm



abk design- halloween cards

don't forget to order your abk design stationery for halloween- they make great gifts for parties, neighbors, trick or treaters, teachers, or anyone that loves halloween. they are $5 a set (includes 8 note cards and 8 envelops). see additional images below...

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wanted: groundhog... reward:$100

since we have moved into our house we have a pesty ground hog that lives under our deck- we see him time to time and for the most part he doesn't bother us... UNTIL he decides to dine on my plants- we had just gotten back from the springfield extravaganza sale and dutch mill green house (will blog about those experiences soon). we planted my cale and set up my pumpkins on the front porch- not but 3 hours later i caught the hog enjoying a free dinner on my kale and pumpkins! i was so mad and chased him through the yard- afterwards i was laughing at myself. i heard a trick if you put ground pepper on your pumpkins then it will keep squirrels from snacking on them- this is true with groundhogs- i added ground pepper and he hasn't been back- i hope for good!

LESSON LEARNED: PUT BLACK PEPPER ON MY PLANTS AND PUMPKINS TO KEEP WILD LIFE FROM EATING THEM.

wedding shower....

my husband and i threw a wedding shower for his sister and now husband-2 days before their wedding...it was a chance to get the wedding party together to start the weekend of festivites. we had so much fun using some of the ideas i found from other bloggers and magazines that i've been dying to make and use. her colors were navy and green - we found green margarita glasses, navy and green m&m's, and then decorated with anthing navy and green we could think of... i think by the time we got everything made and set up it was 2am!

super easy tissue flowers/pom pom's we made and hung them with invisiable string.

bag of limes at costco- great for the margaritas and decorating

i sell these banner flags if you are interested :)!

green and navy m&m's - yum!

following up... i got the navy one...

in a past post "can't stop thinking about...." i couldn't decide to order this skirt at all or which color to order if I did.... well I did order and i got the navy and white stripe. i've worn it several times and its truly awesome... very comfortable and well made- i got my money's worth.

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when it finally arrived i was so excited ... the packaging its self was so cool- silver gift filler and a little card that read, "she was the life of EVERY party..." enjoy! how cute?!

i'm happy with my purchase and will have a classic piece for a long time.

country living fair 2011

i took the day off from work on friday and went to the country living fair-it was awesome and i enjoyed my day! this was my 3rd time attending and although i don't buy a ton of things its always so much fun to look around. i did get to meet jeni from jeni's ice cream and i bought her book on how to make her ice cream at home.

we arrived right at 10am when they opened and it was really busy and if i go next year i plan to go later in the day when the crowds slow down- as busy as it was i did run into a friend from michigan that came down just for the day.

this put me in the fall spirit and i have officially started decorating my house for fall!

fall appetizer

my favorite fall appetizer to share while entertaining is apples with caramel dip…. nothing fancy at all but everyone loves it! I get 4-6 different types of apples (fuji, gala, honey crisp, granny smith, macintosh) slice them up and display them with the caramel dip. i am bringing this tonight to our girls night- looking forward to catching up and seeing everyone.

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gardening....

at the beginning of the summer i was planning on putting in a raised bed garden that i've been wanting to have for a few years. BUT instead we ripped out a huge bush that had seen its better days on the right side of our deck and this is where my garden was this summer.

its tricky in our backyard we get 100% sun from noon until about 8pm in the summer- i don't know how anything can survive back there... especially with this summers heat wave. the 1st year we moved in i had planted all over my backyard and about halfway through the summer realized this was a bad decision- it took me hours at night to water everything to make them come back to life.

i planted the following this year in my garden:

tomatoes- big bertha, roma, cherry

banana peppers

jalapeno peppers

corn

basil

cilantro

garlic chives

sunflowers

sage

cosmos

morning glories

i am still harvesting my tomatoes and  banana peppers but everything else has reached its peak. ended up with one sunflower after battling the wild life- one is better than none! my corn has been cut back and drying to use in my fall decorating and i didn't find anytime to make salsa this summer. next year i am planning on putting in a few flowering plants in that space (peonies or hydrangeas) and putting in a raised bed garden- but i have to get my dad to help me first.