matter the most monday & a brag...

i enjoyed participating in the graphics fairy brag monday last week - especially hearing from new bloggers that i had yet to "meet" and seeing their creative work as well...so here i am again.

this is really a garage sale creation - everything on this hat was purchased from a garage sale, except for the dollar store ring which i blogged about last week. i painted an old paper lions king birthday hat  - i used black paint, the graphic's fairy halloween lady, the spider rings i glittered, fake brown stuff -- (not sure what that is really called,) and orange yarn along the bottom; fabric and two buttons on the top of the hat. i am celebrating my two younger nieces' birthdays with them on wednesday before we head back to california this week, so we are going with a halloween theme and this will be one of the hats for the birthday girl. one more hat to make yet! and i think i just may have to make a third to keep as a decoration for myself.

one of my favorite things about being home...

freshly dried laundry from the clothesline

not from the dryer, but drying out in the sunshine in the backyard of my parent's' house.
when you bring in the clothes from the clothesline,

they are still stiff but smell just like the outdoor breeze.

i love it and i miss it.

it's one of my favorite memories of home.
dragging the large arm load of wet clothes out to the line and using the clothespins that were given to my mom from my great grandma-- ones that she stored in one of those handmade dress bags that my great grandma had made.
maybe it's just a midwest "thing" but i've yet to see any of these clotheslines in my california neighbor's backyards. maybe i can use the excuse of i am just being green. when i return to california next week, i just want to bring that outdoor scent back with me...and maybe a few clothespins so i can at least put them in the laundry
room to spark a smile.

livin' the spearmint spotlight...

i am so honored to have my work featured at spearmint baby...


http://www.spearmintbaby.com/2009/09/featured-diy-butterfly-mobile_29.html?showComment=1254324528215#c4744379321861897430

if any of you are designing a nursery right now, you MUST spend some time on this blog -- ideas galore!!!!

thanks to shari for sharing my project!

glue, glitter and $1...

while we are visiting our family here in illinois, i am having trouble keeping my little ones content while the " big girl cousins" are in school each afternoon....so off to the dollar store we went. we have a witch, tinkerbell and pea in the pod waiting for us in our house this year for halloween -- we found the must-have cheapo spider rings for mia's witch costume and decided to jazz them up a bit since every girl likes glitter! maddie is the crafter for these however as mia just wasn't in the mood --so much for my efforts to keep both girls content!

treasured crowns...

because i will forever treasure these crowns given to my twins for their third birthday, i had to show a picture of them. i mentioned rosemary yesterday in my post at rose petite maison - she is the one who made these darling crowns that unexpectedly showed up in the mail just in time for the girls' princess birthday party. my girls were flower girls for rosemary's daughter amanda, and amanda sent these as their presents. i have them proudly displayed in my china cabinet - yep, right up there with the china and other breakables that the girls can't touch -- these crowns are keepers! and the little princesses are seen smiling here with their queen nana! http://rosespetitemaison.blogspot.com/