Magical Monday...

Hope you have a Magical Monday...


via Papier Mache

Mac & Cheese w/homemade bread crumbs

As mentioned in a previous post, bread sometimes goes forgotten in our house. Sadly, this is true for a recent loaf of bread. It was still salvageable, no mold yet but it was quite apparent no one wanted to eat it. So I used it to make homemade bread crumbs. To make your own, break your bread down into smaller pieces and sprinkle with oil and some seasonings. I used Italian seasoning, but I'm sure some salt and pepper would do fine too. Arrange on a baking sheet and toast in the oven @ 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until nice and toasty. Once the bread has cooled, throw into your food processor and viola! Instant bread crumbs. I used mine to top off some yummy homemade mac and cheese. Nom nom nom!

Isn't my giant cupcake cookie jar amazing?! It was my Mother's Day gift from Carmie...it has her sweet hand print on the bottom :)

Add some color to your life...for free!

Just ordered my free paint from Glidden.com. They have a wonderful promo going on for a free quart of paint in any color of your choosing. I choose Granny Smith Apple :) I for see lots of craft projects in my house turning this color. Go get yours!

Flea Market Shopping...with kiddos

This past Saturday, Carmie and I did some flea marketing at a good sized flea market that was happening at one of the nearby high schools. So I decided it would be a good idea to post some easy guidelines to flea market shopping...with kiddos. Learn from my mistakes and be more prepared than I was. In my defense it wasn't a planned shopping excursion. I was planning to just go to the bank when we passed it by on the road and I couldn't help myself :P

Most these tips are pretty common knowledge but I still wanted to help out those who have never gone flea market shopping or are still new to it.

Tips for Flea Market Shopping with Kiddos:

1. Mind the weather. Of course I decide to take my toddler flea market shopping on one of the hottest days in weeks. It was mid to upper 90s that Saturday.


2. Don't forget the stroller. There may be a lot of walking involved based on the size of the flea market you are attending. And there may be a lot of waiting for your kiddo if you're like me and like to over analyze each purchase :P


3. Bring snacks. Lots of water for warm summer days and treats to keep their little hands occupied around all the valuables being sold.


4. Hit bigger flea markets. Mamas know that time is a valuable thing. So I suggest looking in the paper to find larger sized flea markets that'll be more worth your time. You don't want to be taking your tot in and out of the car visiting smaller markets. Plus, larger flea markets tend to have more family friendly facilities like bathrooms and food booths. The booths who sold candy last Saturday were a Godsend for keeping Carmie's tears and whining at bay. Haha.


5. Get your child involved. We made sure to break into Carmie's piggy bank for some change she's earned from cleaning her room. She had fun picking out little toys and trinkets.

and remember these General Flea Market Tips:

1. Bring comfortable walking shoes.


2. Bring lots of loose change and small bills


3. Don't be afraid to negotiate or haggle prices
   (especially on items that have seen better days)


4. Look at how you might be able to use items in different ways than intended.

With that being said I found this lovely vintage crate last Saturday. I plan to use it when I start to do craft shows as a display, but for now it'll house my little trinkets and/or craft supplies. I also picked up a few pieces of costume jewelry. The locket is one of my fave finds. Hope this helps a bit for you newbies out there, good luck shopping!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am no stranger to Boojiboo's wonderful Etsy store. I have bought almost every mother in my life an apron from her. She always uses great fabrics and color combos. The definite selling point for me were all the different styles of aprons she offers. My favorite to buy as gifts is the vintage styled Bella. She even offers plus-sized aprons as well. It has come quite apparent to me that I should get an apron for myself. I use too many paper towels while cooking (and yes I feel horrible for it). It would be so much easier for me to just wipe my hands an a trusty apron...although with aprons as cute as these I'd be afraid to ruin them :P I digress...Grosgrain is hosting a giveaway for a Boojiboo apron so I'm trying my luck at winning one of my very own ;)

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cucumbersome's DIY Necklaces

I came across this tute for Recycled Fabric Necklaces on one of my fave blogs, Cucumbersome. These necklaces are so fun to make! They seriously only take 5 minutes each to create and they instantly add to a simple outfit. I ran out to my local thrift store and bought 5 Large colorful t-shirts with the right softness and stretch (Britt does a great job at explaining what types of fabric to look for while thrifting) for only 99 cents each. Make sure you use a ruler, it helps to lessen the jagged ends when cutting. And a rotary cutter will make the cutting process much easier, although you could use fabric scissors but it might take a bit more than the 5 mins promised as well as some more sweat to cut through the four layers of fabric. I love them and plan to make more. You can wear them so many different ways. You can't beat updating outfits with $1 necklaces you made yourself...they are addicting, I'm warning you.

99 Red Balloons...

...floating in a summer sky. Well there aren't 99 Balloons here but almost! So I finally got the energy to upload my backlog of pics I've been meaning to post. So as promised here are the happy Hot Air Balloon invites I made for my big sissy. I knew she didn't want the traditional baby, pinky invites so I came up with Hot Air Balloons since, as I said they were on the brain and they fit in with her whole whimsical motif she is going with in the nursery.



Her main inspiration for the nursery is based on the Ikea Fabler line and when I saw this Hot Air Balloon stuffy I knew the invites would work out :)


The invites are inspired from Jack and Izzy's Etsy store. (Gotta give credit where credit should be given). But I wanted to use my own design/colors and I used cut-out punches to add dimension to the invites. So if you like these I urge you to go visit their store. They have papergoods for lots of occasions at quite reasonable prices.

Hot Air Balloons on the brain...

Hello. I've got Hot Air Balloons on the brain for three reasons:

1. This happy song by Owl City, aptly named "Hot Air Balloon."


2. I am working on my sisters baby shower invites and they too involve Hot Air Balloons...I'll be sure to post a pic soon.


3. And I've added going to the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta that takes place every year in Albuquerque, New Mexico to my list of life goals :)

1. Sunrise in Albuquerque, 2. Rainbow Mushrooms, 3. Albuquerque Color, 4. 2006 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 5. Mass Ascension, 6. Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2008 #3, 7. Untitled, 8. grounded, 9. Balloons Away

Ahh so whimsical. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is just around the corner so I thought I'd share my recent Etsy purchase (I heart Etsy to death!). I'm pretty sure Carmen's dad doesn't read this blog, but if so...STOP READING NOW! SPOILER ALERT!

I stumbled across SoapLane's rendition of the Fight Club soap and thought it was perfect for Carmen's daddy. He's a big Chuck Palahniuk fan so I thought it'd be a nice little addition to his other gift. There are a few other Etsy shops that sell it but I liked SoapLane's creation better than the rest, it looked more authentic for whatever reason. Its a great gift idea for those daddies out there that love the movie or the book or both ;) Happy Etsy shopping!

Adventures in Breadmaking

This week I decided I would try my hand at baking my own bread. Bread consumption in our household varies from week to week. Some weeks we fly through a loaf, other weeks it gets forgotten until its just a loaf of green mold. This week however we went through it quite quickly. I had bought some yeast beforehand knowing I wanted to try homemade bread sometime. So I figure this is a better time than ever.

I used this No-Knead Bread recipe I found online. I don't have a bread maker so I wanted to find the simplest bread making recipe I could. I didn't have any bread flour on hand, but after a quick check on yahoo answers, I learned that regular all-purpose flour would be okay. It will taste the same, just a bit more dense. I mixed the ingredients and tucked it away overnight. The recipe says you can wait as little as four hours, but I did this right before bed.

The next day, you could tell the yeast was doing its thing, but it seemed rather wet to me still and against my better judgement I dumped it on the counter top thinking it would be okay to start kneading it. Man on man was I wrong. It was way more liguidy (making up my own words) than I thought and it ran all over the counter top. So Carmen helped me thrown LOADS of flour in it until it thickened up. Also, it smelled kind of funny while baking. I was looking forward to the smells of fresh bread baking, but it unfortunately had a fishy type smell? I have no idea how that worked out or why my dough was extra runny...either way it ended up looking and more importantly tasting fine :)

Its more of a rustic type bread, very crunchy and crispy outside. I would think it would go nice as dinner bread to have with steak or pasta. I was honestly looking for a recipe that would be more so for a regular loaf of bread that we could cut up and use for sandwiches. As I said, despite some minor setbacks, it was still edible. I guess I'll keep practicing and keep my eye out for a more loaf-like bread recipe. If you all know of any, please pass them on!

Currently obsessing over: All Things Nautical

Sailor Tote Bag-Red, Stockholm II Everyday Purse Navy Blue
Nautical Navy White Floral Skirt, Sailor Bow, Ahoy Nautical Tank Dress

Gelato & Jewelry...

Got a couple of pieces of jewelry in the mail as late bday presents from the pseudo-in-laws. They were two necklaces that I requested from Anirtak's (Katrina's) etsy store. I love her stores simple pieces. I love bunnas so I requested the "Lone Hopper" and the "Snippity Snip Scissors" as an homage to my love for sewing/crafting.

The cousin and I finally went to Melt Gelato & Crepe Cafe over in Town Center, Virginia Beach. She's never had a crepe before and I was craving gelato. Its the best of both worlds in my opinion ;) The prices are typical of Town Center stuff, but very much worth it. I def suggest getting some gelato and a crepe together. So yummy <3

Ships and Pirates!

Yar! There are quite a few things going on this weekend here in Hampton Roads. There are two in particular that the little one and I might check out. They would be great for both boys and girls but I'm thinking the boys will really love both of the events.

In Hampton the Blackbeard Pirate Festival is here all weekend. With lots of activities for the entire family to do, from battle reenactments to puppet shows. Check out the site for more details.

Also, Norfolk is celebrating Nauticus' 15th birthday with free admission (with the donation of one toy for the Salvation Army), cupcakes, and entertainment. Visit Nauticus.org for more info.

Basketcase...

The reason I started this blog was mainly as a self-motivator for me to get my craft/sewing projects done. And for the most part it has been an incentive to sit down and actually get stuff done, but I admit I have been slacking on the projects lately. Mainly, bc I am exhausted by the time I get home and out of the office and then I have to make dinner and yada yada. So, I try to get a little crafting in with some jewelry making since jewelry projects can get done rather quickly whereas sewing projects take more time and planning. That and I really need to build my fabric stash. Its really sad. I want to be able to stock up and just pick out a pretty fabric when I want to work on something. Lately, I've been feeling the classic look of yellow and grey. So sophisticated and crisp with a hint of color. Perfect for the warm weather.

1. Marie Skirt, 2. Spring Top Detail 1
via Curiositys

Speaking of warm weather...I'm excited to go biking with the little one. I came across these super cute bike accessories...I already have both a bell and a front basket...but that rear basket is looking mighty fabulous!

via Cyclechic

via Electrabike.com

My bday weekend...

I had a wonderful bday weekend :) The weather was awesome, got to spend time with friends and family and I did some pretty lovely things...

did some bowling...


received a sweet and much needed DS Hello Kitty travel kit to go with my Hello Kitty DS...(thnx Jo!)


contributed to Relay for Life in Currituck, NC with the family...


but most special of all...I. GOT. HER.


She's not Bella...but I'm still naming her Bella. ;D Vanilla wasn't available but pink is just as awesome and its from my family so it means that much more to me. Next I just have to get a bike rack for the car when we want to take Bella to the beach ;) It was a happy birthday indeed!