no-sew bunting

I bought this 'vintage' sheet (made into a bedspread) at an antique shop for seven dollars a while back. At the time, I was going to use it as a table cloth for Petite Artiste's birthday party. But, the more I looked at it, the more I didn't like the VERY loud colors. All that orange and yellow just didn't tie into our theme. I wanted a way to use the sheet for decor but tone down the brightness while maintaining the home-grown backyard birthday style. I did a little searching around the Internet for no-sew bunting and found bright and blithe as well as mybricole. Both had super cute, easy and cheap tips.

I made a triangle pattern and traced it onto the sheet. Using pinking shears, I cut them out.

I went back and forth about how to actually put the bunting together without sewing. I decided to use Heat n Bond which luckily was very easy to use.

Simply, cut a piece to fit.

Fold over the fabric and iron the yarn (or ribbon) in between.

Voila! Here is a small peek.

snow day 2011

Just like the day before, our phone rang at 6am informing us school was cancelled for the day. Except, unlike yesterday morning, there was actual snow on the ground. A good lot of it too! Wet, fluffy, white stuff everywhere. Finally.

This afternoon we headed out in the backyard for sledding down our wee hill and snowman building. A snowman, by the way, our young pups can not stop barking at. Like a big, frozen stranger in the corner of the yard, he stands watching. The fact the guy never moves, with that cockeyed smile, whips the dogs up into a frenzy. It's actually quite comical, however, my poor neighbors are most likely very annoyed at the noise.

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The kids built ramps to sled down. It was a good time as tongues were wagging.

We were in fits of laughter watching El Fuego build his ramp (higher and higher) and flying down it while catching air.

Then we came inside to warm up and watch movies. It was a successful snow day!

update::in bullet points

• Feels like I haven't had a minute to my lonesome for a whole week now. I've been pretty much annoyed by it all day.
• Just when I got two of three kids back into school after mid-winter break, school is cancelled because of snow.
• Snow?!?! What snow??
• One week from today, my four year old will turn five.
• WAIT! What? When did that happen? How old am I again...
• I miss my bestie!!
• There has been reports of lice (ick) at school so I bought Lice Shield and make all the kids shampoo with it whether they like it or not.
• I have a major nesting bug and strong urges to purge and organize. Everything.
• No, I'm NOT pregnant.
• I very much want a thundershirt. In fact, I want two.
• My Irish roots are being traced back to actual Irish roots. Something about a castle?!
• I always knew I was royalty.
• Psssshhh, just kidding!!
• Ginormous kudos to my friend, Julie. Her cake decorating skills are totally wicked!
• I am completely hooked on Pinterest.
• Do you pin? If so, come find me.
• Onomatopoeia is my new favorite word. 
• I just wish I had a sentence to use it in.
• I've decided to go back to Pharmagel skin care products after dabbling around with Jurlique.
• I don't wear make-up so figure I can spurge a bit on the good stuff, ya dig.
• Birthday party preparations are in full swing.
• I've been dreaming of a fancy camera.
• I've also been dreaming of home renovations and landscaping.
• PG rated Eminem makes for some good Eminen. What up Slim Shady?! Why drop the F-bomb so much? Never-the-less, I do enjoy "Love The Way You Lie"... word!
• I desire for Amy to be my neighbor.
• Eagerness for Breaking Dawn is creeping in. What a dork I am.
• It turned into a lovely, sunny, blue ski afternoon.
• Did I mentioned school was cancelled because of inclement weather?
• My house collects cobwebs at an alarming rate.
• It bugs me.
• Been crossing my fingers for some long-awaited news and hoping it's very, very good news.
• Can't. Stop. Eating Hershey Kisses.
• Which makes me think of Barbara Hershey for some weird reason.
• Thinking of Barbara Hershey makes me remember Beaches.
• Remembering Beaches makes me want to go see a movie.
• And chances are, if I see a movie, I'll want to eat Hershey Kisses.....

trio

When they aren't fighting with each other or rolling around the floor in fits of laughter, they actually are pretty cute together. I hope they are forever close in life!

happy camper

I've had many versions of my "studio dreams" through out the year. One has been a little building tucked away in the corner surrounded by trees and silence. One has been an apartment, of sorts, on the top floor of a workshop for Mr. Hawthorne. And, one that keeps rambling around my noggin is a vintage camper.

A neighbor around the bend has an airstream parked out in her mossy backyard. I can see it peeking from time to time when I drive by. I heart the look of it. Actually, and more accurately, I heart the idea of a quiet space of my own away from the chaos of kids and dogs and housework.

I came across Nora Pearl, the vintage cottage camper the other day. I love seeing the sweet photos of renovated campers with a fresh start ahead of them. Fun!

Mr. Hawthorne and I have talked much about finding ourselves a camper to take the kids out on excursions during the summer time. So every now and again, I float around the Internet to see what is out there. I am NOT a tent camper my friends. I get too Blair Witched out. So, one of these lovely "vintage" campers seems ideal.

and away

here + here

Totally in love with this idea!

However, word on the street is that these most adorable 5" balloons don't keep a float for very long, making the trick sort of flop. But, this is totally swoon worthy none the less.

adventure is out there

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Have you seen the movie Up? It's super duper cute. I think my youngest watched it about 700 million times. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration on my part, but it seriously felt like it. After the first few hundred times, I lost my desire to take part in any participation of viewing this film. However, I will say it again, it is a very sweet movie.

With my new love of Pinterest in full stream today, I came across this most adorable Up birthday party. I happen to have a dollhouse in my possession right this minute that would work perfectly. My dilemma is this, though. My almost five year old has her party plan in full swing. We celebrate in T minus 21 days. No changing minds now. Miss Divine's June birthday already has her party theme rolling in the works. And, then there is El Fuego's tenth birthday in August but he gave me that "don't even try it Mom!" look when I half teased him about changing his party plans.

Don't sweat it! I think a fun summer party for no particular reason would be just fine. We have some lovely neighbor kids and family friends that would enjoy a screening out in the backyard I suspect. So I will just keep this little gem in my back pocket for now.

Until then, go take a peeksies at this adorable party and fabulous photos.

how pinteresting!

Pin·terest (pĭn'trĭst): n. a social catalog to collect and share things you love.

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Do you Pin?? I've seen a few shout outs about this site around blogland, but I never really paid much attention to it. Until this past week. My sweet friend sent me an invite to join. At first I totally spaced it. But, after she reminded me, I opened the world of Pinterest and was instantly bewitched!

It's basically an online, social networking, bulletin board. You can collect images you love and find mass amounts of inspiration for whatever tickles your fancy. I love it!

teacher valentine gifts

Recently, I tried my hand at glass etching. And, it's so easy....well this quick and cheap way is so easy. Let me tell you, I love quick and cheap!! When it comes to crafting that is.

I've been smitten with glass bottles recently. I desire a sweet set of all the same shape and size. For now, I've been trying to be creative with the bottles the Starbucks frappuciino drinks come in while being hopped up on caffeine. 

 I used a heart shaped punch for my quick and easy design.

 Then I cut around the shape. No need to be exact.

 Using painters tape, I centered the shape onto the bottle.

 Follow directions on the Armour Etch bottle and apply a thick layer.

 Wait five minutes.

Pull off stencil, rinse with water and...

 Ta-Da!

 We added pink flowers for instant cute.

Happy Valentine's Day!

to pay or not to pay

It seems I have reached my "free" blogging limit. When I started rambling about this and that just under four (holy crap) years ago, I never thought I could possibly fill up 1GB of space. And, let me just say this. What the heck have I have been going on about for four years?!?! Four years of typos it seems. I really don't fancy myself as that much of an interesting person that I would fill up four years worth of babble. Much like my home, I'm sure there is a lot of clutter I could weed through and get rid of.

Blogger wants a whopping five dollars of my money for 20 GB. Because I don't want to start all over in blog land, I guess I will most likely hand over some dinero. If it took me four year to fill up one, imagine what I could do with twenty?!?!

fastest in the pack

So it was that time of year again. Pinewood Derby.

When we moved to this new abode just over a year ago, we also moved into new school boundaries. It was a bit of an adjustment all around even though we literally only moved a mile away from our old house. One topic that we mulled over was El Fuego's cub scouts pack. Even though he would be in a new school this year, we had the option of staying with the pack from his old school. Which would mean seeing old friends, etc.

I think because, deep down, we were all sort of craving a fresh start, we decided to check out the pack at the new school. The kids and parents are all lovely, so we made the decision to switch El Fuego's pack. We thought this would be a way to make some new friends at the new school and help ease the transition which surprisingly, he had some difficulty with.

With that said, El Fuego had earned himself a bit of a reputation with the old cub scouts pack. He had won first place with his den two years running. As well as winning first place out of the whole pack his first year out and second place the second year. Impressive since he REALLY does build these cars by himself with very little guidance from Mr. Hawthorne.

So here he was. Faced with his third Pinewood Derby race, his third race car and a brand new pack. Rumor was we were to be on look-out for a certain boy holding the "Fastest in the Pack" title two years running. We chatted a lot with El Fuego about how it might be different this year and how he most likely won't win. And, not winning is a good lesson in being a good sportsman. On the pack meeting before the race, the cars were on display, and we talked a lot about how fast the cars looked and what a great derby race it was going to be.

So, you can imagine just how surprised I was when El Fuego and Mr. Hawthorne came home after a long evening with a trophy in hand. My firecracker boy did it again! He took home first place in his den and went on to bump the reigning first place champion by tenth of seconds, earning himself the title Fastest in the Pack.

El Fuego's red roadster waiting to be raced.

RACE DAY!

1st place winner!

cookie jars

I got this swell idea the other day when I saw a picture of  mini cookie jars as wedding favors from Martha Stewart's website. Of course I couldn't find the wee jars in my price range, so I did a little improvising. I found these four pack spice jars at Ikea for $2.99.

Cute!

Then I drove myself down to the local craft store and picked up some glass etching supplies. From what I saw online, I thought the process looked simple enough. And, it is. Totally easy folks!

After following the directions, I was left with a cute little cookie jar.

Fill with bite-sized cookies and voila!, you've got yourself cute party favors!!