I'm back!

Thank you blogland for being so patient while I was gone on vacation! Little D and I took a trip to Aruba with my family. Once I shake the sand off, I'll have lots of new posts for you all!

Little man squinting in the sun... it was so bright!



Patiently Waiting

I am waiting for a new friend to arrive.

I bought this little beauty (used) and am impatiently waiting for it to arrive (hopefully today)! I have been looking for a little more advanced camera then my trusty creditcard sized point and shoot and happened upon this one. It is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 5.1MP and about 5 years old. I got a great deal on it and think it will be a fabulous camera to learn on.

As soon as I purchased it I also hopped over to Kristen Duke Photography to purchase her e-book, Say NO to Auto.

She teaches a workshop on how to get the best out of your camera and not rely on the automatic settings. For workshop listings click here. Her e-book is what she uses in her workshop as a teaching aid. The best part? Its only $10!!!!! You purchase from her and she e-mails the files to you! They are sized 4x6 so they can fit easily in a photo album to go in your camera bag. I will show you what I did with mine tomorrow.

Please hop on over to her blog and get her book so we can learn together!



Magnetic Make Up Decor

Yesterday I told you about Pinterest and showed you some of my favorite Pins. Today I'm going to show you the start of a Pinterest inspired craft. Here is my inspiration. Please prepare to swoon...



http://pinterest.com/pin/16691907/


Isn't that amazing! I fell in love with this idea as soon as I saw it and knew I wanted to do something like it for my most used bathroom essentials. I loved the frame idea but was too lazy to go to home depot and get some metal cut so here's what I'm starting with.

I bought two pizza pans from the Dollar Tree and last night I painted them with their first coat of Rapids by Valspar. Generally I would have like to use a spray paint primer for this but seeing as it was 30 degrees with snow flurries here in Wisconsin, I decided to just jump in with the paint. As you can see, they are anxiously awaiting a few more coats and decor.

I can't wait to show you how these turn out!





Pinterest!

I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest! I was given an invitation from Carol over at


What is Pinterest?

Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.
People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it.
We know you have great taste in something. Our mission is to make Pinterest the best place for you to share your taste with the world.


You will be seeing a lot of Pinterest inspired crafts in the future! Here are some of the things from my Pinboards:

Dog Name Silhouette

If you are anything like my family, we LOVE our pets. I made this little project (I will show you the framed finished version at a later time) to hang by our dog's dish.

**These are available in my Etsy shop for customization by breed, name, color and font**



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Project Updates

I have been hard at work being totally compulsive on a number of projects and wanted to update you.

These are going to meet some spray paint and a little surprise. Can't wait for it to warm up so I can work on them!

This mirror, you guessed it, it is getting a last coat of paint. Once that has dried, I will have to change the hanging hooks so that it will hang the direction that I want. The shelves for my faux mantle are also being painted.

One of the projects I don't have pictures of yet is a multi purpose bag that I spontaneously started last night. My son and I will be going on vacation with my parents and friends in May (hubby can't go, sad face) so I wanted a bag that could function as a purse and diaper bag combo. This way for excursions during the day, I would only have to carry one bag around. The reason I don't have pictures for you is 1) I'm not a good sewer 2) I had no idea what I was doing. I'm making this bag out of upholstery fabric so that it is nice and durable. If any of you have tips on traveling with small children, I'm all ears! 



Herb Pot Labels

Here is a little fun spring project that I worked on last night. I have always wanted to have a little fresh herb garden but have never had a good spot for it. In this house, I have the perfect window ledge with ample sunlight to house a few pots.

Here's how I customized them:
I bought three pots and drip plates from Walmart that totalled to about $6
I chose three herb seed packs for $1 a piece
and a bag of potting soil for just under $3 (I only used about 1/6 of the bag so I have plans for the rest)

I painted the pots with Belle Grove Antique White from Valspar and let them dry.

Using my Silhouette I cut out the names of the herbs in black vinyl (I used the font LD Inventive from the Silhouette store). Then I transferred the images to the pots.

(Sorry for the poor picture, this was at about 6am this morning. Yes that is my mom mobile you see in the background as well as a small pile of SNOW!)



I'm looking forward to not killing them watching them grow. I am a serial plant killer so I'm hoping that this effort is a success!

I will be working on an awesome new project this weekend involving these:



I will also hopefully be finishing up some other outstanding projects to share with you as well. And because he's adorable, here's Little D:

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