Back to brainstorming

Remember the thank you magnets I include in my etsy orders?

I need to come up with something equally handmade and charming, but much less time consuming. The previous magnets include the tedious image transfers, at least 2 bakings, sanding to shape the edges...sometimes they are more labor intensive than the item purchased! So I've been brainstorming. Well....trying to brainstorm.

I adore the idea of clay embellished with beads and/or wire. I think they are a fabulous couple! And you KNOW how much I love black & white borders....so I thought a beaded border would be cute.


WRONG!! Not at all like I imagined. First I tried larger seed beads. Size 8/0's I think. They looked goofy. So here are the 11/0's. I don't like them either. Maybe b/c the magnet is too thick?
It reminds me of one of those rolling hand drums or something. I'm not quite sure what exactly it is...but I don't like it.

BUT!! I got to use the letter stamps I got back at xmas! LOL! Now...back to the drawing board.

Landscape brainstorming

Honestly, it's so embarrassing to share pics of our house. I know it's a (HUGE) work in progress...and I know YOU know it's a WIP, but still.

Anyway, rather than destruction we are going for PROduction this time. In the form of a front flower bed. (to hopefully distract from this spring/summer's scraping of the house)


The left side shows Aaron's idea of swirving the bricks out and around the porch. The right side shows my frugal idea of a smaller front-only bed to save money. :) After looking at it, I was won over to Aaron's idea.

I would like to put 2 of those ornamental, spiral trees on either side of the porch. Should they be on the SIDES (hiding the steps)...or in front of the pillars...or sort of diagonally out from each pillar in the rounded part of the bricks???


We are so not landscapers. I'd love some suggestions!
I'm going to put colorful hanging baskets on the porch, as well as maybe a couple large potted plants. But I'm very open to any suggestions/ideas you might have!

The bling bling tree

A.K.A. the super gaudy, collaborative project with my kids.



It's a little topiary made to fit a rectangle spot in the girls' shadow box. It's about 6" tall I'd guess. Originally it was not supposed to be so...um...blingy. But the kids wanted to help me decorate it, so each one got a side of the flower pot.




All the bling is courtesy of my generous, talented friend Scott. Thank you, Scott. :)
As if all the swarovski wasn't enough, everything is glittered from bird to flower pot. Because there can never be too much sparkle.

Lydia the non-gamer

I have a little clay project to post about, but I have to take pics later today. But first, a kid video to share. (Hey....I heard that groan...shoosh it!) ;)

The laptop came loaded w/this kiddie game where you practice following directions, in the form of making a duplicate cake. Shape, cake color, frosting color, decoration on top. If the cake is correct, it gets boxed up and put on the truck. If it's wrong, it drops in the trashcan.

Emily is an ace at this game. She loves it! Lydia wanted to try it. But Lydia isn't a "follower" sort of gal. LOL! Just watch!

Real life randomness

Long time no read, huh? There has been a lack of blog worthy activity at our house. Which is good, IMHO. :) No excitement usually means no drama!

Well, no, that's not totally true. Friday afternoon my Mom discovered her check card number had been stolen and some assholes in the Pennsylvania area were on a roadtrip shopping spree at her expense. To the tune of about $3,000! Fortunately, her bank is diligently working w/her to get her money back asap.

Miss Amelia is teething. A few days ago I swore I saw the tiniest white spec of tooth peeping out of her gums, but it was a false alarm. She's had 101+ fever and been a total crab apple, off and on, for DAYS now.

The rest of us are rocking along at normal speed. Sunday I was trying to take a picture of a scar on Emily's chin. (A before photo. We have started a scar treatment medicine on her. More on that later.) Twice I had to run upstairs to check on Amelia. Both times Garrett grabbed the camera and played photographer. Here are the pics he took.
Apparently they were going for lots of wagging tongue action.

You noticed the wounds on Garrett's face? He had his 1st major pavement-eating bike crash a few days ago. Poor kid hit a hard plastic cup in the street and lost control of the bike. Then had to make it 4 blocks home sobbing and bleeding.
Now he's proud of his wounds. I told him they made him more manly. :)

I am looking for these bowls

Because Mom was still living here when we moved back in, we decided to use her kitchen things that were already in place. Which includes these cute little face bowls.


The girls and I eat our malt-o-meal in them almost everyday of the world. Mom said they came from ABC a long time ago. I wanted to buy another set for the day when our households separate again. But I never pursued it.
Then yesterday...insert eye roll....I dropped the pink bowl and broke it. (Luckily Emily wasn't as upset as I thought she'd be. We each have designated colors. Change upsets Miss Monk, Jr.)

So I got to googling them yesterday (they read "Livingware collection" on the bottom) and I can't find them ANYWHERE! Have you ever seen them? I'm afraid it's a lost cause unless I stumble onto some in a thrift store someday.
I thought it wouldn't hurt to enlist the help of my internet friends. You never know! :)

I want to paint the kitchen

Because of it's location, and the expense involved, the kitchen will be the last room to be remodeled. However, it's the only room in the house that doesn't have ugly cracks in the plaster from the house re-leveling. So I want to paint it and "polish the turd" until a remodel day comes. It must be a very inexpensive polishing though. Only paint and curtains.

What color would look nice with the black/white/gray color scheme?

You can see from these pics that the floor and back splash are black & white with dark gray grout. The countertops are a marbled gray laminate.

And all the appliances (except for Mom's fridge) are black.

I really like this color. Do you think it would work?

I am very very decorating challenged. I need help! :) I have two prints from Hollyvision Art. I thought I might decorate based on those, but I'm not so sure. I don't think I want a tropical look kitchen.
I also have two Bettie Page 8x10's. (that b&w link isn't the exact photo I have, but it's from the same photo shoot) I had planned on doing a pinup bathroom theme some day...but who's to say I can't do a pinup kitchen?! Our kitchen is authentic retro after all!

How do I make it prettier in there? What goes w/black & white...except red?

Snow White doll

Snow White is Emily's favorite princess character. Remember her as punk rock Snow White for Halloween?

I thought a Snow White clothespin doll would be super fun...and it was! She even had fun herself...frolicking in the spring weather today.


Sewing is definitely not my thing, so I'm jazzed about how well the dress came out! :) The red spots on her sleeves are a bit big, but that's ok. All part of the dress making learning process.

I debated on what sort of miniature trinket she should have. My first thought was a shiny, red apple...but later decided to go w/something less macabre. So a happy little bluebird it is!


Of course the girls want me to do ALL the princesses, and even a "bad witch", but I don't see that happening. :)