You Lose Some, You WIN Some

I love hosting and entering blog giveaways!  I'm a regular over at Someday Craft's for their giveaway directory.

Well, recently I've gotten "lucky" and won a few!

The first is from Lynn at A Little Chippy.  The prize I chose from her Etsy store is this amazing aqua mason jar candle.  She also threw in the cute aqua stained-glass coaster!

My next big win was this unique and totally useful recipe holder from 4EverStitchin'.  It's divided into sections and even came with great recipes included!

My third recent prize is this beautiful wreath from The Gathering Place.  It is so unbelievably gorgeous!

You can visit her Etsy shop here!

Let's hope my luck continues!

French Breakfast Sign

 When making a sign, three boards are better than one, right?

This is my latest sign creation, using boards connected with metal joiners and a French graphic (from The Graphics Fairy, of course).  It's the same one I used here.  Maybe no one who comes over will notice!

Tracing and painting it was no short task.

I stained it with a gel stain and then sanded it a lot.  It looks perfectly aged now.

Au revoir!


In addition to the parties on my Blog Parties tab, I'm linking to:

Drink Up

Is anyone besides me trying their best to drink more water?  "They" say that your daily intake of water should be equal to half your weight in ounces (meaning, if you weight 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water per day). 

To help me achieve this goal, I have a new weapon.

I am so delighted to have the opportunity to review The Contigo® AUTOSEAL® Kangaroo water bottle.  Mine is a pretty blue, but it comes in a variety of solid colors.

I honestly thought, ok, it's a water bottle.  But it's actually got several great features that make it a lot more!

First is its auto-seal technology...you hold down a button to drink, meaning that there is no chance ever of spilling!  No snapping it open and closed or losing a top.  Very convenient.  A flip-up hook allows you to easily connect it to your bag and head out the door.

It's also clearly scored so that you can tell exactly how much water you're drinking.

My favorite feature by far though is the built-in compartment for a key or credit card.  It makes walking, jogging, or going to the gym so much easier....no keeping up with tons of small items.

It's also dishwasher safe (a must!) and only costs $12.99....which is perfect for even the cheapies out there (like me). 

Visit here to get one for yourself and check out Contigo's many other great products!

*Author was supplied with free product to review. All words, statements, and opinions, however, are solely that of the author.

Kitty Specimen Art

Specimen art is everywhere, which is great, because I just love it.

I love kitties.  Therefore, I present to you, my kitty specimen art.

I was particularly inspired by the birdie specimen art here.

I was all set to use burlap for the cutouts when I remembered that I have several books of old wallpaper samples, including some great woven pieces. 



I free-handed a kitty on the back of the samples and used it as a template for the others.

I layered them in complementary colors and glued them onto a fabric-backed picture frame.

I love the texture even more than the color.

In addition to the parties on my blog parties tab, I'm linking to:

Guest Post--Kelly from Running with Glitter

Hi! I'm Kelly from Running With Glitter. Mamma to two and wife to one. I love to create and blog! My blog always shows how I make my projects, hosts a

 weekly link party and offers a Friday Spotlight. 

Today I'm going to share my Butterfly Garland Tutorial.

 It is one of my favorite projects.  

At night when the house is quiet and the kids are in bed I craft. I love to create and have time just to think. Last night I made this butterfly garland for my daughters dresser. I think it turned out simply beautiful. 

This month I'd love to work on getting her room spring cleaned and a decorated. I think these butterflies add a touch of spring! Now if I can just get motivated to go thru her closet!

Here is how I made it...

{Look at my little helper.

 As soon as I went to take the picture of the supplies needed 

Blueberry hopped up on the ottoman. 

He wanted to be on the Glitter blog I guess!}

Supplies: 

Scrap Book Paper 

Needle

Scissors

Heavy White Thread

Paper Punch{see below}

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Large Punch, Monarch Butterfly

Punch out several butterflies. 

Thread your needle and thru the top two holes string you buttlerfly. 

String away!

Hang your garland. 

I secured mine to the back of the dresser mirror with clear tape. 

To create a scalloped look hang a second row of butterflies then lift from the middle of the garland and tuck over the top row.  Now step back and see how beautiful! 

 You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it.

 But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder.

Author Unknown

I truly love this!
 {i would love it if you followed me and liked glitter on facebook}

An SOS from My Yard

We have a tiny back yard (not at ALL like the farm where I used to live!).  It's been quite an adjustment.  Not only is it tiny, it was, um....sad.

Yeah.  That sad.  And this sad....

*Sigh*

We moved into this house on Labor Day weekend of 2010.  By the time we got settled in (new house, new state!), "yard season" was over.  Though I was able to do a little Fall gardening, I knew I had to wait till Spring to really get in there and get my hands dirty.  By Winter's end, I was so terribly tired of gazing out into my sad little yard.

I am happy to report, though, that a wind of change has blown in. 

Though most of my focus has been on building, planting, and tending to my raised beds, I've made some time to bring some life into the backyard.

See?

We are working on it....definitely getting better!  Amos of course refused to opt out of the shot.

I would love to get some more outdoor furniture to make everything a little more "homey."  Our chairs are mismatched.  I'd like to get an entire matching dining set, like this Oxford Garden dining set, or an outdoor sofa.  Our friends have one, and it's so fun to be leisurely outside while sitting on it!  Britt fancies himself to be the host with the most, so he might go for something more along the lines of a Bamboo Tiki bar.  

Does anyone else find themselves wanting to spend all their time out in the yard?  And does Spring, therefore, seem to be a time when y'all want to spend all kinds of money??  It is for me!  I need to put some of these cats to work!

Thoughts of Summer--An Entrance Table

Green grass, petunias, ocean breezes.  I love summertime.

The only part of my home that absolutely without question gets a regular seasonal makeover is my entrance table.

Here she is all ready for summer.

The pops of grass green here are what really reminds me of the warm season at its finest.

Here is a summery trinket tray. (It's also in my Etsy shop!)

A little metal bucket from Hobby Lobby. It's filled with packets of vegetable seeds (how about that for cheap, use-what-you-have-lying-around decorating!).

Silk tulips (from PB a million years ago when I worked there), and a framed bulb graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

One of my favorite silver platters, a topiary, and my trash-to-treasure apothecary jar.

Here is an adorable toile bird I found on sale at Hobby Lobby.

I just love this little faux mercury glass jar I found at Tuesday Morning.

Long, warm days are ahead!

In addition to the parties on my Blog Parties tab, I'm linking to:
Feathered Nest Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday