MOM Roll the Die

A few weeks ago I was blog surfing and came across this bloghttp://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/framed-hop.html where she made these CUTE frames.....

Since easter has now come to pass and I never got around to making them (because they were so difficult - NOT...insert exasperated sigh here) I had an epiphany to try this.....

How PERFECT!! Since Mother's Day is NEXT weekend May 8th (DID that creep up on you too?) I figured I'd do a cute lil display on the mantle (that way I can showcase the lil cutie things my kids have made for me past Mother's Day's)....I'll try to post pics of that next week SINCE this idea of Mother's Day decorating just popped into my head!!

I could have sworn I had a before pic of these badbirds BUT I bet it was on my cell-y and got lost when I had to wipe the memory....anyway, picture one die red and the other green BOTH with yellow spots.....

With a lil vision and only $1.00 (they were .49 / each at the Salvation Army) I was able to transform them.....BUT first they needed a bath in a lil creamy spraypaint.....

and then I handpainted the dots black.....see I worked smart NOT hard but dropping a lil paint in each dot and simply swirling around.....
Et VIOLA!! Here they are all pretty and normal

Hope y'all have a GREAT weekend! Get out there and create!!

I ♥ a MONOGRAM

I'm going green - LITERALLY (ha ha ha) AND drinking more water with my new fab monogrammed water bottle!!

Bought it like this from Dollar Tree (where EVERYTHING is really a dollar)

Ordered a vinyl "J" on Etsy.....

AND applied! SO for less than $4.00 I have my very own monogrammed water bottle! (and I SWEAR it's projects like these that make me CERTAIN I need a Cricket).....

Because I like to monogram this (my extra appendage.....I would go CRAZY without my phone)



and this silver tray.....

(see, I should have my own cricket....I'd save a ton on vinyl!!!)
And THESE!! I even like to monogram my kids AND my niece and nephew!! (photo was from this past Halloween)

I don't know about y'all BUT I am so sick of this crappy, grey, overcast, wet weather.....Here's wishin' for some SUNSHINE!!!

IT'S WEDNESDAY.....

....and you know what that means!!! It's What I wore day!! Sadly I have only 1 outfit (I SO NEED a photog or a tripod!!). BUT I do have a FUN jewelry pic!! I am linking up to The Pleated Poppyhttp://thepleatedpoppy.com/2011/04/what-i-wore-wednesday-21/

Layered bracelets are HOTT right now! I first noticed them on Emily on the Bachelor....and then they were popping up in magazines....like People Style Watch April 2011. I have always worn at least 2-3 bracelets at a time BUT after seeing the layered look everywhere, I hopped on the band wagon! Here's my take....

Starting from nearest the hand up: Pearl and sterling bracelet (Salvation Army .99), pearl and tiger eye bracelet (Wal-mart Clearance $1.00), Sterling Faux Tiffany style bracelet (Lillian Vernon 12 years ago), faux pearl and silver strand (Tuesday Morning $2.99), silver fresh water pearl and jade bracelet (Wal-Mart clearance $5.00) and last but not least is my Mother bracelet - sterling with the kids names in blocks and swarovski beads in their birth stones.....

People did an article on how to layer....

*Choose your palette (mine was silver and pearls)

*Try Different textures (mine is pearls, links and silver balls)

*Keep it simple - stack your bracelets on just one wrist and keep all accessories simple (this is a rule I DON'T follow....for me more is always more!!)

I wear these everyday....thru shower and sleep....and they don't bother me a bit! Try stacking and layering - it's FUN!! And you may already have what ya need - just mix and match until you find an arrangement that's pleasing! If you do try it, lemme know and maybe we can do a linky party (oooh, how fun would that be?!?!)

Would you BELIEVE after 80℉ last week, it was only in the 30's this week with SNOW?!?!? What?!?! Snow in April?!?! I LOVE this cozy flannel plaid shirt BUT always worry I am wearing wrong (and look like a Nirvana loving teenager from the early 90's or a lumberjacks wife) SO I wanted to add some fun color and girly elements to it (WHILE staying warm - remember, warm!!). So I added this blue scarf (which I have NEVER wore because I feel like it swallows my entire head)....



And when I had to run errands and be outside I wore this plum colored vest (HOLY big girl...that vest adds like 20 pounds) BUT I was warm and felt like I was RAWKIN' this look, so I guess that's important too!!

Happy Wednesday Y'all!!!

Green Week....

In honor of Earth day being this week, I figured it was the PERFECT time to blog about the green projects I have done this last week!! And when I say green, I literally mean plant life green!

What she wore....

I have been SO BAD about taking pics of what I wore (and it's NOT just because I haven't gotten dressed or spent the day in yoga pants....just sayin). I haven't linked up here http://thepleatedpoppy.com/2011/04/what-i-wore-wednesday-20/ in awhile....need some inspiration.....going to see what y'all wore!!

Here is what I wore Sunday to church.....we FINALLY had some warm weather (we went from 56-84 - talk about CRAZY)

Orange Bead Necklace - Thrifted

Lace Shirt - Rue 21 (2009)

Khakis - Lane Bryant via Goodwill

Here is Monday's outfit....I wasn't even gonna post this one because there are SO MANY things wrong with it (the pink tank under was too big, the brown cute shirt is too short and these jeans make my booty look huge) BUT not all outfits will be a success.....
Brown LS Shirt - AGD 2008

Pink Tank - Maurices 2008

Jeans - Slimming Riders by Lee from Wal-Mart
BUT I did wear these lil cuties on Monday! These are from Target 2007....GOOD thing I bought 2 pair since Maya took one!

Easter Decor

I don't know about y'all BUT I was having an awful time getting started with easter decor this year (as you've heard a hundred times and will hear from now until fall again when all the seasons have gone full circle...a lot of my stuff got ruined in the flood, so it was a lil like starting over) AND I didn't want garish or loud (which I KNOW you're sayin' UM, isn't that a lotta lime green?!?!? to me, lime green is a neutral for me) I wanted more natural and NONE of the store had what I was looking for....SO I had to be a lil creative!

Here is the mantle now.....(I will give ya the details...)
See that cute dark brown basket of eggs with the happy lime green ribbon (which has cute lil white polka dots)? Ribbon is from the Dollar Tree and the basket is a Salvation Army find for .99......what a STEAL!! But I did buy it in December!! That's part of the trick(to save money and decorate for every season), buying things "off season"...just in case you didn't believe me....
The mantle was a bit of a challenge....this orange window was hanging above the fireplace since February....I really wanted to try and make it work with the easter decor BUT it was a NO GO!!

Lil'tableau in the foyer area.....do you notice a common theme?
Bunnies in cloches! If you are interested in the pink base w/the glass cloche is for sale $15.00 which INCLUDES shipping, just leave me a comment!

I was at Big Lots looking for some neutral easter decor and saw these really restful color palette of dishclothes.....I was in the market for new dishclothes, and THIS is the color palette I was looking for in terms of easter decor
Here is a lil hodge podge of natural elements.....a branch from the backyard which I am trying to get to flower (inspiration for that came from Aura Joon) Reindeer moss, natural craft paper eggs, a newspaper bird (from Michaels dollar spot) a lil tree I've had since the beginning of December and do you see that adorable lil white birdie with a crown??? That lil piece of fabness came from Michaels (it was only $1.25 on clearance). Oh, the white basket, that was a .25 garage sale find last summer!
I found these lil paper beauties at this great outlet dollar store out here....I knew I wanted to make a garland with them...
I did make a garland with them BUT then I saw this empty frame and said lemme try something...
and VIOLA! Here it is!! I took a .25 garage sale frame and made it a cue lil spring frame.
While at big lots I found this easter egg topiary tree...it was $9.60 with an ADDITIONAL 20% off because it was like this.....
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall! But NO worries, momma had some replacement eggs!
AND leopard ribbon!!

While getting creative, I knew I wanted to do something with this.....

oooh, do you see what I see? There are the two above elements....making a lil bunny cloche! I have to say, even though i was going for natural and subdued THIS arrangement is my FAVE! I think it's the sleek black playing off the fun colors and the fancy 2 tier tray that I had no idea what to do with and it landed up being perfect for easter candy!
The lil tubes of sixlets in the bright colors are my FAVE!!

PHEW! That was a lotta pics and seems like even more words! I hope I wasn't rambling cuz it sure feels like I was! Happy Spring decorating peeps!

WOW! It's been forever since I posted....

BUT with good reason! See, first we were here.......

(Wisconsin Dells for Spring Break with the kiddies)

And then I was eating some YUMMY Ropa Vieja (A pulled pork dish from MY new FAVE restaurant Carnivale in Chicago)
Which is decorated like this.....

(I always want to do the naturals and brown tones with a hint of lime green for decorating BUT after being here I was ready to GO COLOR! and BOLD! You see how the paint in the stripes looks worn and aged? I LOVE that! How fun would this look be?!?!)
As of April first my shop is officially closed (so I spent all last weekend moving the store) and the balance of this week trying to put all that stuff from the store in some kind of order.

Maya's school is having a spaghetti fundraiser dinner for the Music Boosters on Saturday and I was asked to make the centerpieces for the auction tables. Here is what I came up with....

LOVE the way they turned out! The music notes are the cardboard that comes in the bottom of your bottled water packs that I simply painted and glittered. THe wands I made from old ribbon spools SO not only did I come up with something pretty cute, I was GREEN while doing so!
Have a GREAT day! Y'all come back now ya hear?!?! I will be posting some pics of my easter decor (which proved to be a challenge this year).