Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all get to spend some time today enjoying all of the reasons why you are a Mother.  I wish you unexpected hugs and sloppy peanut butter and jelly kisses!

Another Use For Coffee

I needed a fresh centerpiece for my kitchen table.  I've always loved ivy, and this verigated stuff I found at Lowes was so sweet.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I bought 3 anyway.  When I got home, an idea came together. 

I fetched 3 pots from under the kitchen sink, planted the ivy, hmm, still not right.  I found a tray and lined the pots up on the tray.  Problem:  the tray is white, and the pots are cream.  They clash a bit.  ENTER: Coffee!  I dumped whole coffee beans on the tray surrounding the pots.  It's perfect.  The extra layer of texture and deep chocolate color are just what this little arrangement needed.  Plus, it smells good.  Bonus.

Remember My Belt?

I wore my Boiled Wool Flower belt the other day, and I was reminded of how much I like it. 
It's perfect with jeans and a t-shirt (my Mom uniform). 

It deserves a re-visit with spring fast approaching.  This belt looks great with a breezy skirt too!
I'm linking up to my soul sister Jen's Linky party!

Horses in Pittsburgh

I was at a bakery in Lawrenceville recently.  I'm a sucker for a bakery.  I'll plan a day around a visit. 

So, the kids and I stopped at Dozen on a saturday morning, and on the way back to the car, I looked up and noticed the graceful horse that was above a beautiful arched doorway.  Upon further inspection, there was a date of 1888 in a brick keystone.  I'm sure this building used to be a stable. 

I loved the swirly carving at his neck, the aged look in his eye, and the moss on his nose.   He looks so magestic.

I remembered that I took his picture as I was thinking about what to get for my sister in law's birthday.  She runs a horse farm, and I never know what to get for her.   So. I made a canvas print for her of this photograph. 

Here's how you can produce an equally amazing canvas wrapped gift, or something perfect for your walls:

1.) Upload your photo to Picnik. Use all of their really cool photo effects to create and perfect the look of your photo.

2.) Go to Canvas On Demand, upload your newly created photo, and select which size canvas you'd like and how you'd like it wrapped or framed.

3.) Before you check out on Canvas On Demand, go to Retail Me Not for a discount code.  20april will get you 20% off!

Here's what I ordered:

I hope she loves it!

Bank Some Happiness

I was scrolling through my camera and my phone pictures this morning.  Any time I need a little happiness, I take a peek back through all of the funny and sweet and silly things that I've taken pictures of. 

I realized that I often take non-traditional photos.  Ones that are of the everyday goofiness and chaos and crazy that makes me happy.  Instead of only dragging your camera out on "special occasions" to take orderly family photos, keep it in your bag and take a picture of anything that makes you smile.  You'll love scrolling back through all of the captured moments.

The above is a picture of my daughter's chalky foot. Taken while in the midst of filling my driveway with art work.

Don't you just love blue candy?

Make your son feel like a Superhero even if he's just doing his math homework!

Um, well if you happen to run across a polar bear pelt, have your daughter stand in front of it's head and make a funny face!

Stick a piece of corn where your tooth used to be.

Take foam squares and stick them randomly to your face.

Take a picture of your elbow.  It really does look like...well, you know.

And how about this super happy toothless grin! It makes me smile!

I'm not good at saying "No"

I'm a Yes person.  Sure I can help. Absolutely, you can count on me.  Why not?  I've found that lately my desire to help out or pitch in has been to the detriment of my family and more importantly, to my laundry. 

I have been inspired by my painter to start a list of readily available and scripted excuses for why I can't do things.  Maybe if I just had a list nearby, it would be easier to get out of stuff.  My painter has a list as long as his arm of excuses.  Here are some that I've heard lately:

My daughter was sick and I had to get her from school

A tree trimmer got his truck stuck in my driveway.  He got unstuck by 11am, but by then, I had started to clean the garage

I have another job that is bigger than yours

I'm feeling foggy today

So, I need some more excuses for my arsenal.  What are some of your go-to's?

Help!....I can't stand it!

I know I shouldn't care.  I don't know why it's such a big deal...I'm just a quiet person.  I enjoy quiet.
 I ride in the car for hours with just my own thoughts.  Noise in the background makes me nuts.  For example, a TV that someone has walked away from hours ago, and was left on: makes me crazy. Any kind of Nintendo game constantly playing the same tune, or worse yet, the gun noise constantly: makes me nuts.

Click Here for credit for this perfect image. 

Here's the thing:  My daughter constantly hums.  It's a happy noise, full of tune and is her own personal song.  She hums in the car, while she's reading, during homework. It makes me crazy.  I hate to squelch her happiness, but sometime I snap.  (Then I feel badly)  What should I do??

Steak Stew

I've been time challenged when it comes to dinners around here.  I was inspired by the giant Costco "stew meat" package.  I remember my Mom making stew when I was little, it was a really good one pot meal.  So, I brought home the ingredients, and drug out the crock pot.  BOY, am I glad I did.  Imagine my surprise when it turned out really good, and my kids were asking for seconds.  The recipie I used allowed for a lot of interpretaion (for example, it didn't call for carrots, but there were carrots in the picture of the meal). There were also other discrepancies with measurments.  I've cleaned it up, and revised it here:

Steak Stew  (Named By My Daughter...Who Loves Steak..)

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp. flour, divided

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 lbs. beef stew meat

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes in juice, undrained

6 ribs celery

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tblsp. water

2 cups diced carrots

1.) combine the 1/2 cup flour, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag, add the beef and shake until the beef is coated.  Place in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except the 2 tblsp. flour and water.

Cover and cook on low 8-12 hours, or on high 4-6 hours.

2.) One hour before serving, combine 2 tblsp flour and 3 tblsp water in a small bowl. whisk together and add to the stew mixture. Cover and cook until thickened.

This stew is excellent served with my Amish Cornbread.

BOY Valentines

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us.  Every year, my girls go nuts painting and primping and cutting and pasting and glittering their Valentine's Boxes.  Every year, my boys moan.

I found this very boy-ish valentine from Family Fun for my 6 year old to make for his class.  He was very excited to make them, and is now excited to give them.  They are far from the norm of sticky sweet kissy and huggy valentines!

Here's what you'll need to make your own fleet of vrooming dive-bombing valentine treats and toys all in one:

rubber bands, life savers mints, Smartie's and some stick gum.

I wrapped my gum in brown paper that I had stamped with hearts (note that I did the stamping with hearts...my son could have cared less).

Take the rubber bands, string 2 lifesavers through the holes and then slide either end of the rubber band over the sticks of gum. Then slide a Smartie through the middle of the two lifesavers.

It's SO easy, and so sweet!

Custom Beads!

Well, we are at it again.  My husband is cranking out these custom made beads as a fundraiser for our kid's school. 

Each student designs his or her own bead with pencil and paper.  My very talented husband then creates each of their beads in glass.  We offer them to the parents for sale on an 18" sterling silver necklace accented with 2 silver beads. 

The fun is not just for the students at our school though, YOU can design your own bead too!  Or have your husband draw something, or have your 2 year old scribble a pattern, or design it yourself!  Visit my Etsy site to place an order.

They are terrific personalized gifts for Mother's Day.

Did You Know You Could Make a Puzzle from a Photo?

My Mom has been crazy about "having a puzzle going" all winter.  I think ever since she heard that Barbara and George Bush frequently do puzzles together, she has been validated that this is a legitimate, even desirable thing.  The winter days are long, as we know, and she really enjoys finding a few pieces here and there.  Sometimes she saves the last 6 pieces for the kids so that they can complete the puzzle...now if that's not love...

You can order your own at http://www.portraitpuzzles.com/, or any number of other sites.  Portrait Puzzles does have a very nice selection of sizes, and I particularly liked the "gift tin" option.  It was a great gift idea.

The Letter Project

I have been working on a project with the 5th graders at school.  Every year, our school has an annual auction which serves as a fundraiser.  Each grade level is asked to produce an item to be auctioned off. 

I know I've got a lot going on right now, and I really don't have time for this, but somehow I get an idea, and I just can't let it go.  It turns out that maybe having something "fun" to look forward to makes it easier to "get through" all of the other stuff on my list. 

So, here's the project:  Finding Architectural Alphabet Letters around school. 

I took some examples in to show the kids what we were looking for ( the letter B in the entryway door, for example).  Then, each student chose a capital or a lower case letter of the alphabet to find.  I've been going in at recess to have the kids point out their letter so we can photograph it.  We have been having so much fun!  The teachers have been assigned letters too.  Currently, we have are on "all out search mode" for the letters: a, and R. 

Capital Q on a post in the playground

Xavier found and X on the bottom of his chair

Lower case i in the flagpole

Capital V in the roof of the playground building

Peter found a P in the slide

And if you could have seen the expression of recognition on the boy's face who couldn't for the life of him find a letter E, you'd know why I'm doing this project.  It's all about having the kids look at things in a different way, from a different angle, in a new light.  What a great lesson.

I have plans to edit all of my images in a sepia tone and create a message board of sorts.  I'll be so excited to share the finished project!