MEAL PLANNER

I saw this idea somewhere in BlogLand, and I apologize for not remembering where, but I thought it would be perfect for my kitchen.

We are trying VERY HARD to determine weekly menus in advance and stick to them. The goal in doing this, is to keep our grocery bill down. So far, it seems to be working. Rather than referring to a scrap piece of paper where I originally wrote down the options, this fabulous idea is easily accessed and so much more stylish!

I got an 8"x10" frame and some dry-erase markers at the dollar store - all for $4.50. Came home, found a piece of scrapbook paper that coordinated with my kitchen colors, and cut out the letters on my Cricut.

And Voila...

Easy Weekly Meal Planner!!

I'm Linking up here...

SHAMROCK MINI SPECIMEN ART

Other than the Green Rag Wreath on my front door, I wanted to do a little bit of "Irish" decorating. I'm not Irish or Catholic, but it is a holiday non-the-less, therefore Holiday Decor is in order.

I've been wanting to find a square frame that I can use for projects just like this one, that I can change out whatever is in it for all the different holidays. I found this 5"x5" one at a thrift store for $.75.

Eventually, I plan to spray paint it white, but the tacky gold trim actually works for St. Patrick's Day.

The Glitter Shamrock stickers, I got at JoAnne's in the Dollar Bins. You know, the bins that are by the check-out?

Then I picked out three different green papers from my paper scrap supply, and cut them into equal squares.

Don't you love the Gorgeous Ceramic Shamrock? I got that also at JoAnne's. It was 50% off, so it was only $3.50.

So, I now have a little touch of "The Luck of the Irish".

I'm linking up here...

This Project was Featured here...

SALE ENDING SOON!!!!!

My Etsy Shop Sale is ending SOON.
It will be over on Monday, February 28th.

So hurry up and come visit my Etsy shop tMoOT and buy yourself a new purse for Spring. I'm offering 30% off any of the nine Totes that are in stock, or any Custom Order. Just enter code SPRING30 at checkout.

Hope to see you there before the end of the day on Monday!!

ST. PATTY'S RAG WREATH

So this past Saturday, I was ITCHING to do something crafty. I was actually having crafting withdrawls... I hadn't made something in such a LONG TIME. However, I didn't feel like going out to buy any supplies I might need to make something, so I had to work with what I had.

I've been wanting to make a rag wreath since last fall, when I really starting following all of these crafty blogs. So I got out my fabric scrap bin, and was amazed at how much green fabric I had left over from all the purses I made last summer - Green is my favorite color, but I didn't realize I had used so much of it when making all those purses. Since St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner - Green was the perfect color.

I used a wire hanger that I shaped into a circle for the wreath form. It ended up being about a 12" diameter.

I think there are about 15 different patterns - only one being a solid.

I love the combination of all the different shades - from kelly to olive to chartruese, and everything in between.

I Love it and think it looks really good on my newly painted front door.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2012 Update: A little tutorial - like stated above, I used a wire hanger for the form. I snipped off the hook part of the hanger and then using pliers, I straightened it the best I could and then shaped it into a 12" diameter circle. I then held the ends together with duct tape.

The fabric strips are 1" x 6", which I cut with a rotary tool. Then I tied them all to the wire. There are probably 150 strips. I have no idea how much fabric I used because it was all scrap.

I'm Linking up here...

This project was Featured here...

A HUGE THANK YOU IS IN ORDER....

Yes, believe it or not, I'm back. I'm sure you all have been wondering where I've been, so I'll tell you. I've been no where. I've been sitting here every single day staring at my computer trying to WILL it to be cooperative - with NO SUCH LUCK. Today, however, I SEEM to be having some LUCK. So you see, I live kind of out in the middle of nowhere - I live near a lake - and I have a MAC... three strikes against my Verizon Air Card working most efficiently - so this is the explanation Verizon gives me every time I call to complain about my lack of internet connection.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to blog about today.

What I wanted to blog about today, is something I'm sure you all have noticed if you've visited this blog over the last week or so... MY BRAND NEW, FABULOUS, BLOG DESIGN!!!!!

Isn't it Beautiful? I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! And I want to thank Krystal Winn at Sassy Sanctuary for Creating it for me.

Krystal was SO WONDERFUL to work with. She was very patient with me, especially at the beginning when I really had no idea what I wanted other than Dandelions. Somehow, through all our e-mails, she was able to read my mind, and design something that, if I knew how - or had the time, would have done myself.

Krystal, I want to Thank You, yet again, for the Amazing job you did creating my new Blog Design.

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY ELEVEN

Day Eleven of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"Dreams"

This is a photo that I actually took a couple of weeks ago, but it fits this assignment perfectly.

The week before Christmas, my husband and I made the mistake of "Just Looking" for a new house, and this is what we found....

A 250 year old farmhouse. We immediately fell in love, and have been doing everything possible to make it our own. But for now, it's just a Dream.

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY TEN

Day Ten of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"Space - Where They are Comfortable"

My husband doesn't have a favorite chair, and I know there was no way he would allow me to capture him on the toilet (LOL!!). And, his truly most comfortable space is not attainable for photographing... a Deer Stand, so I had to go with where I think he is most comfortable - the Kitchen. My husband loves to cook, and he is very good at it. At the end of a long day, working on dinner helps him unwind. He also loves cooking for our friends and sharing with them dishes from his hometown of New Orleans.

Since he's at work and, truth be told, it would be hard to capture him whipping something up because our kitchen is so small, I decided to just take pics of the space. I wanted to work on the tips that Kelly presented in her video about how to shoot in "Manual" mode.

I focused on ISO, and shutter speed. I had my kit lens on the camera for these shots, so the aperature was somewhere around 5.

I took this shot from up in our loft, which overlooks our first floor.

It's amazing, with just those few little easy tips Kelly taught me, how much better my photos look.

Here's some of the Yumminess my husband loves to prepare... Fried Shrimp Po'Boys. I took this picture a year ago. Even though I didn't really know what I was doing, I think it's a pretty good shot.

"JOY OF LOVE" - DAY NINE

Day Nine of the "Joy of Love" Photography class was to capture...

"Passions & Hobbies"

My Husband is definitely a "Fall"... and I don't mean his "Colors". He lives for two things that cooler weather brings - Football and Hunting. As soon as the Super Bowl was over Sunday night, he said... "I can't wait to next season!" Well not really, because his Pro-Football season ended once the reigning Super Bowl Champs, the New Orlean Saints, didn't make it to the NFC Championship. But anyway, I digress. Basically he LOVES Football and Hunting. So I decided to focus on the Hunting Passion, since there is a prime example of it hanging over my fireplace.

Don't you love how I captured the "Catch-Light" in it's beautiful brown glass eye?

I took these pictures yesterday afternoon around 4:30 and the lighting in this part of our great room was perfect.... so... I also took these way cute pics of the boys.

They thought it was hilarious to be sitting way up there.