favorite things: good stuff for real people

I just recently stumbled across Melissa at her blog, 320 Sycamore, and it was just in time. She is having a “Favorite Things” party. I’ve found that some of the “things” I love best, whether they’re books or recipes or gift ideas or beauty products or whatever, come from recommendations from real people who have really used them and have real opinions. When I saw Melissa’s post about this shindig, I knew I’d love to participate. This blog party will be kind of like Oprah’s “Favorite Things,” but on a scale that mere mortals can enjoy.

Here goes:

1) Penzey’s Spices

I am not a gourmet cook. I am only a mediocre cook. But as you probably know, spices can be pricey. A good friend of mine (who is from Milwaukee) told me about this family-owned, Wisconsin-based company years ago, and I LOVE THEM. Their (free) catalogs are great, and come with a slew of real-life, yummy, useful recipes, and their products are reasonably priced and great quality. My favorites are their dressing blends. I use their Greek Seasoning to whip up a salad dressing every week – it only takes a minute and is 100 times better than store-bought. My sister-in-law got hooked on their Sandwich Sprinkle at my house a few years ago, and now keeps it in supply at her house as well. Anything from Penzey’s is a GREAT gift idea if you know someone who likes to cook.

2) C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine

I love a good lipgloss that’s easy to throw on when I’m doing one hundred other things, but I often found that the ones I bought had a weird taste or weird smell or strange consistency or were the wrong color. This one is perfect. Reasonable price, great smell, nice consistency, a bit of tint. I buy several at a time and have them stashed in the bathroom, my purse, and the car.

3) Starbuck’s Espresso

If you’re like 80% of the moms I know in real life, you make the Starbucks stop a couple of times a week. I love a good, tall skinny latte like the next girl, but we all know it’s not always convenient to make the stop. Plus, if you’ve ever read a book about finances, you know the key to financial freedom is giving up your Starbucks.

A friend of mine once mentioned that she liked Starbuck’s espresso drinks better than their regular coffee, and until then I never understood why I didn’t like a straight-up brewed cup of whatever as much as I did a fancy drink from them. Since then, I started buying their ground espresso and brewing it right in my coffeemaker for our weekend or special-occasion coffee, and it is GREAT! People always ask me what kind of coffee it is when they’re here. It’s pricier than run-of-the-mill coffee, but at around $7/bag, it’s way cheaper to brew it at home than to order up the lattes.

4) Etsy

Really, you must know about Etsy, or you must have been living under a rock or something for the past year. Etsy is the portal to things made by real humans, small companies, and nice regular folks who have amazing talents. I’ve bought some ADORABLE clothing items for Maggie there. A few sellers I like (though there are dozens more!!):

Chirpy Designs
BowBakery
Illia Kids
Lily Sky
Sweet Papery

5) BLOGS

Check out my blogroll for blogs I love, that inspire me, make me laugh, or make me relate. There are so many more out there, but those are a few.

If you try one of my favorite things, I want to hear about it! Be sure to let me know. Now it’s your turn – what works for you, what do you like, what’s a great find? I can’t wait to hear what other people have come up with. I’m sure there will be lots of great posts over at 320 Sycamore!

holiday card giveaway

Heather at Fabulous Fun Finds is hosting a giveaway of a card and holiday newsletter from my Etsy shop today…..go check it out here! While you’re there, check out some of the other great giveaways she has.

 

 

easy silhouette ornament/plaque tutorial

Last year, I was looking for a cute, inexpensive, and simple handmade project for the grandparents. I love silhouettes, and I had seen some cute projects around the blog world, so I combined a few of them to make what I had in mind. I wanted something smaller that could be used either as an ornament or as a plaque to hang somewhere.

These are far from perfect, but we’re going to call that “charming” and “handmade.” The grandparents loved them, and I even made some for myself and have them hanging on my bookshelves.

First, I took the kids’ pictures against a solid background.

I loaded the pictures in Photoshop and isolated their heads and filled them with black. I did this because I am a terrible cutter and I was worried I’d make a mess of cutting out their actual faces like some of the tutorials I’ve seen.

I printed them out on light-colored scrapbook paper. Then I traced the wooden plaque (purchased from Michael’s….very inexpensive!) and cut out the ovals.

I painted the plaques with copper craft paint, used ModPodge to glue the paper on, and used more ModPodge to coat and seal the whole thing.

I used hot glue to glue copper ribbon onto the backs. Mine were very unfinished, but if you’re fancy, I’m sure you can come up with a more finished-looking back.

And that’s it….the finished project:

I’m adding this to Chris’s “I Can Make That!” party at Just a Girl and Kimba’s DIY Day. Lots of great projects to check out!

getting ready for Christmas already? (and new holiday photo cards in the etsy shop!)

Those of you with young children know how it is. It starts with Halloween, and the whirlwind begins — you’re tearing around town, attending performances, baking cookies for class get-togethers, decorating, cleaning, and the next thing you know it’s January.

Every year, I promise myself that I’m going to start preparing for Christmas early so that when the holiday season gets here, the “chores” are done and I can have time to bake cookies, drink hot chocolate, and watch Christmas movies with the kids without feeling frazzled. Unfortunately, that great plan tends to unravel quickly. I am hoping, though, that this year I can do a few small things to prepare a little at a time. Simple Mom has a great series, 12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas, that gives small tasks to tackle each week in an effort to make your holiday season calmer and more enjoyable. Definitely worth checking out!

I’ve been working on putting some new holiday cards in the Etsy shop, but I’m always looking for new ideas. Have you seen any cute card designs lately? Any suggestions? I am hoping to get my own card done very soon, so that they’ll be sitting and ready to send early in December.

How do you tackle the holiday season? Do you have an organized plan, or do you take the last-minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-your pants approach?

best pumpkin cookies ever!

My friend Stephanie sent me a recipe for some fabulous pumpkin cookies. I am not a good baker (I’ve mentioned that before), but every now and then I luck out. Like a good girl, I followed the recipe carefully this time (I prefer to wing it, which is probably why my baking doesn’t usually come out so great). It was easy and they came out really good  —  a nice, soft consistency with good cinnamony pumpkiny flavor.

Here they are, swimming in their icing (I added extra cinnamon to the glaze….you can never have too much cinnamon, right?):

In an effort to keep myself from eating them all, I packaged some up in little cellophane bags, tied them with a ribbon, and added a cute sticker I made for each of the kids’ teachers. I’m sending them to school tomorrow as a random treat. I know in my teaching days, I wouldn’t have minded a little mid-week surprise, especially if it involved baked goods.

Luke said, “Mom, I think it’s nice we’re bringing these for my teachers. They’ve been working really hard.”

Here’s the link to the recipe: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day and Works for Me Wednesday!

in the closet

WARNING: what I am about to show you is not especially pretty. But it is functional, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

My husband and I share a medium-sized walk-in closet. It does its job, but over time, we still seemed to be bursting at the seams in there. My shoes always ended up in a jumbled mess on the floor, some of my accessories were scattered through the closet and some were in my bedroom dresser drawers, and I was realizing that there were things I forgot even existed because of the lack of organization.

I had an idea that we could use up the little wall space that we had to create some spaces for these things. I am good at being neat if I have a place to put things; it was just that those things had nowhere to go.

Chad and I figured that we (he) could build some shoe shelves, each just tall enough to fit my tallest shoes, and that would get them up off the floor:

Next, I spray-painted some pegboard with coppery spray paint, and hung it as a place to catch my scarves and bags and a mirror. (I don’t love the way the paint came out, so I plan to repaint that another color someday when I’m feeling ambitious.)

To the right of the pegboard, I placed a large square tray on the shelf and leaned a batting and fabric-covered foam board for my jewelry. The tray is a great place for chunky bracelets and things that can’t be hung, and I just used tacks in the foam board for my other jewelry. This way I can actually see everything, which makes me much more likely to use it than when I have to dig the jumbled, tangled mess out of a dark drawer.

So these are my inexpensive, quickie ways that I made my closet work better for me. If you want to see some prettier versions of closet,  accessory, and miscellaneous organization, check these out:

• Chris talks about pegboard here and shows some beautiful examples, and does her own pegboard project here
• See how Sherry organizes her jewelry here and creates closets where there once were none here
• A great necklace organizer at Grace Violet
• Check out what Mandy did when her closet exploded

And if you have your own ideas for closet organization and maximizing space, do tell!

I’m adding this to DIY Day at Kimba’s!

brunch

I had a long-overdue little get-together with some of my friends today.

Now that the kids are in school, I thought I’d have all kinds of free time on my hands to get errands run, see friends for coffee, and clean my house. Not to mention work. I don’t know where the time is going, but those things aren’t happening quite as easily as I expected. So last week I decided it was time and sent out an Evite to a group of girlfriends, most of whom have kids around Luke and Maggie’s age. It’s very weird that we can have a kid-less gathering now.

I served a ham and cheese strata, which is a super-easy breakfast casserole made with bread, eggs, a little milk, ham, & cheese. There are dozens of variations you can make; I have often made it with chorizo, black beans, cheddar, and salsa for a southwestern version. I also made an easy pumpkin coffee cake, and the girls brought stuff to share.

photo from foodandwine.com; click for recipe!

It was such a nice way to spend a morning. I recently stumbled across the blog 4 Reluctant Entertainers, and I highly recommend that you drop in! Lots of good tips to encourage you to open up your home and spend some time with friends. I love to entertain, but I find I often let life and busy-ness get in the way.

Have you hosted any get-togethers recently? I want to hear about them!

is it fall yet?

Today’s high is 94. Believe it or not, this is 10 degrees cooler than it was last week. During most of the year, Arizona’s weather is beautiful. Clear blue skies, comfortable temperatures, and low humidity. But it’s this time, at the end of the summer, when temps are still soaring and the rest of the country seems to be getting some relief, that I miss the east coast. Fall is my favorite season, and I’m ready for changing leaves and jeans and football games and crockpots full of soup. Those things will happen here, but it just takes longer.

We moved to Arizona five years ago this weekend. I have learned that I am happiest if I don’t wait the long wait for it to actually feel like fall and just create a fall atmosphere when I’m ready. That means that soon, even if it’s still in the 90s, I will be breaking out garlands of fall leaves, pumpkin spice and apple candles, and generally making things cozier.

Melissa at The Inspired Room started the official launch of the fall season for all of us nester-types this week. Head over to check out what other people are doing to greet the new season. And she’s having a contest…..she’s giving away 3 $200 HomeGoods gift certificates. Oh, how I love HomeGoods. If I won, I’d get some accessories to warm up my dining room. I still need to fill in the bottom shelf of the new side table. Maybe some vases or topiaries for the top of the china cabinet, a table runner or tablecloth for the table, and some kind of pretty centerpiece. Fingers crossed.

I’m adding this post to Hooked on Fridays too!

baby girl room to big girl room in a few simple steps

I was dragging my feet on the big switch for Maggie. It was past time for her to move out of the crib and into a real bed, but I knew that that meant some furniture rearranging, a little redecorating, and the likelihood that I would have two kids waking me up at 5 a.m. instead of just one. Not to mention that it would force me to accept the fact that my baby is no longer a baby.

But it was time.

Here is what it looked like before:

We dismantled the crib, moved a day bed into the room, and began the setup. I liked the color scheme we had going, with a soft-but-not-too-pale yellow on the walls and some pinks, whites, and greens worked in. I decided to do a mistreatment similar to the one I did in Luke’s room last year. A couple of yards of a fun paisley fabric and some ribbon trim did the trick, framed by some inexpensive white panels from Ikea. I used iron-on hem tape and upholstery tacks for the valance, and had the whole thing done really quickly. Except for the part where I ironed the valance to the carpet, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. Oops.

For bedding, I used a white mattelese bedspread that I bought on clearance from Marshall’s years ago. I’d never used it, but I knew a nice, neutral basic like that would come in handy somewhere. It’s queen-sized, but it tucks nicely around her twin mattress, and falls just right so that I don’t even need a bedskirt.

A paisley-trimmed throw pillow and a new pink case for the body pillow finish off the bed for now, though I would love to get one of these pillows for her. Aren’t they adorable? I love the fun, bright Heather Bailey fabric she uses.

The next step will be tackling toy organization. Any suggestions on a good way to keep the toy clutter under control?

I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day. Head over there and check out the other links!

this week

Maggie and I were working in the kitchen. I was watering my basil plant and I rinsed off a leaf and told her she could eat it, curious what she would do. She took a tiny bite and asked for more. I think she was just fascinated by the novelty of eating the leaves off of a plant. I gave her another one, she cautiously sniffed it, and handed it back, saying, “Ummm….actually, that’s not my favorite. Here.”

Luke and I walked over to my sister’s house to feed her cats. He held my hand. He told me, “I can’t hold your hand at school or somewhere like that, because I might feel a little embarrassed. But it’s o.k. if God sees. I don’t mind.” Hilarious. I think it’s cute that he said he “might be a little embarrassed.” I think he was trying not to hurt my feelings.

I know these are just little things, but it’s the little things that make me happy. I’m adding this post to Melissa’s Beautiful Life Friday.