{cooking up some love}

Oh for the love of love...

I am currently scrambling to find a recipe that would make husband feel good about the fact that we are buddies amongst a few other things. Pictured above is a beautiful cover of Gourmet magazine which seems to make me think of Valentine's Day. You see I associate Valentine's Day with cooking a nice meal. A few years back I made a very tasty recipe using mussels very close to this one and husband loved it. For us Valentine's Day is a reason to make something a little fancier than the norm and it is usually good that those meals are a little more time intensive because it always allows me to focus and think about the one I am cooking for. Plus the added bonus is that my husband would want nothing more than a really good meal so it is a win win situation....especially if he would come home with a jar of my favorite honey. (I am serious, I love gourmet raw honey)

Well if nobody has told you that they love you today then let me take the chance to let you know that on behalf of Full House that you are LOVED!!

Have a great day all of you love muffins.

pillows from here & here via Escapade

chocolate via here

flamingo print via here

Help me Target {Christian Dior Spring for little girls}

Target, can you hear me????

I am fully aware that the quality wouldn't be the same if you were to create the same look as in the above pieces but I am also aware that your price point would be a little more in-line with what I am looking to spend on my very active kids that grow really really fast. Please if you were to recreate a watercolor dress or a a dress with a HUGE bow I would be impressed.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. - Aren't those polka dots and colors so great for Spring and Summer?

{All of the above photos from the current line of the Christian Dior little girls collection}

modern barn

Sometimes I crave a modern barn..I just do. Clean, warm & simple.

{images via here}

{works like a charm} homemade microwave popcorn

The next best thing since microwave popcorn is um...well you know microwave popcorn..except popped in a brown paper bag with a little olive oil and garlic sea salt.

I didn't believe it was true what my sister was trying to tell me so I had to try it for myself. You know what...it worked like a charm.

Reasons why homemade microwave popcorn is better than store bought microwave popcorn:

Tastes better.

Can control what the added ingredients are.

I think it pops better.

Sounds cooler when it is actually popping.

Don't ask me why but making the above discovery brought an immense feeling of joy into my life..does that ever happen to you? For some that joy may come in the form of an afternoon run to happy hour @ Sonic..I know, I've heard all about the special ice and how it makes the fizzies taste so much better.

Thinking about popcorn popping made me think about how sometimes I want to just burst...and then I pray extra hard for the 20th time that day for patience.

Today patience was on my side so when my son started up his "wailing business" I celebrated by taking out the camera. The first pictures were captured of Wellsie in shall we say, not his finest fashion. What ensued after showing him the pictures on the digital screen was a crack of a smile in which I then said, "Wellsie, don't smile". It works like a charm every single time. After that we were able to get some happier pictures. All that aside..do you happen to see how my thrift store belt with the heavy brass buckle and emerald color stone matches my shirt. The shirt was meant to be. Man I don't know why I love that .50 belt so much. In fact I think I am going to work on making a matching brass sculpture to set on my side table in my front room..joke. I can't seem to fit making brass sculptures into my life lately.

Seriously though go make some popcorn in a brown paper bag (or any color paper bag).

1/3 cup popcorn kernals

a little bit of olive oil

salt

Add all of the ingredients to the bag. Fold over the paper bag twice. Place upright in microwave. Every microwave is different but my popcorn is done in 2 minutes 22 seconds..or something like that.

Also, sometimes I pop it plain and then add the salt with melted butter after it's done popping..YUM!

Go, fight, win!

P.S. - Funny story but I bought my little boys Gap sweater at the Dollar Store. I am still a little suspicious as to whether or not it was actually another shopper who left it behind. I didn't see any others like it there and when I asked the clerk she told me that he thought it was for sale and of course for $1.00. So if any of you lost that sweater @ the Dollar Store then call me:-)

talent abounds

Wow, did you know talent abounds in the blogosphere? Of course you do.

First my friend Angela from TPH has mad skills. Just look at her above chairs she just had reupholstered and it doesn't end there my friends. Her cottage as well as the rest of her house are pretty impressive as well. Oh and if you see any artwork in her home then there is a good chance she painted it. (I'll call you tomorrow Angela;-)

Also, in case you were wondering Jenny already did a post on the above dot fabrics here.

Secondly, did somebody really just hand cut a stencil and then paint their wall to look like the below..

Why yes they did and her name is Danika and she shares the step by step process here.

I am blown away.

(thanks to Bromeliad for the lead and then again on Sissy's blog..I'm pretty sure this DIY will make the rounds)

pink pouf

The girls room just got a little bit more pink. I never knew such a pouf would be so popular around this place. We are undergoing a few updates that I can't wait to share. I finally got around to sending off for an estimate to have that dressing table between the girls bed lacquered. I hope it is not too expensive.

Anybody have experience with lacquering furniture?

{from children rooms to a splash of chinoiserie}

This post is brought to you by a few childrens rooms designed by Robert Passal and a splash of chinoiserie. Don't you love that buffalo check wallpaper in the boy's room?

I especially love the alphabet cards from Architectural Watercolors. Don't you think they would be so fun framed in a child's room and then add a chinoiserie lamp just for fun. (lamp from here)

How are you all doing by the way?

Always fun to see examples of styles that get recycled. Almost everything always come back in style eventually.

{Images via 1 - Sarah Klaussen, 2 - Nicky Haslam, 3 - Flickr, 4 - Sarah Richardson via Caitlin Creer}

{valentines on a stick}

When I was a little girl my sister & my neighborhood friends formed the "heartbreaker" club. Now wait a second it's not what you think because back in the day our minds were focused more on candy rather than boys. At that time we also felt safe to roam the neighborhood which would often lead us to ride our bikes down to Smitty's. Once inside we headed straight to the candy by the pound section and with all of the change in hand would proceed to ask the clerk, "how many heartbreakers will this buy me". We then raced home, divided the candy and each took turns hiding the hearts from each other like it was Easter. Then we each had a chance to go and find our favorite candy. It was one of the best childhood games. I am sure we still got bored at times but there is something to be said about living in a time and place where kids owned their neighborhood.

**********

Lately I scramble to find activities for my girls to do because I would never let them roam the neighborhood like I did. Well it has so worked out that we have been able to take away the boredom by carving out time to create handmade valentines. It has been such a great last few days as we have enjoyed using paints, stickers and stamps. Besides myself being the only one to operate the glue gun and coming to the table with the idea, the girls have done everything all by themselves.

As for the idea itself I was inspired by the old school paper party favors that would shoot in and out like a yo-yo. I finally settled on using a roll of paper used for receipts or calculators to execute the project. I am pretty sure the girls classmates will not love these as much as I do because a) I am their Mother and b) they will have never seen the look on the girls faces when they crafted these creations (which goes back to me being there Mother). You can see that there was much "6 year old" life that went into making these and I love that. In fact I think I will have to save a few of them so that I can occasionally pull them out and remember the good old days. I love this stage of life...I really do.

materials needed:

PAPER YO-YOS ON A STICK

roll of receipt paper

watercolor paint/paintbrushes

wooden craft dowels

ink pad/stamps

hot glue gun (to glue one end of the paper to the dowel before wrapping it around stick)

twine

(opt.) special scissors to make the edge of the paper all fancy

SWEET VALENTINE SPARKLERS

garland (paper or tinsel)

bamboo forks

color circle stickers

tags

ink pad/stamps

AND OF COURSE LOTS OF HEARTBREAKERS!!!!

Now it is time to do some clean-up around my house.

I may be back and I may not be back..that is the beauty of blogging out of love..either which way have a very nice weekend!

{bargains}

My Mom recently sent me a picture of the World Market Josephine Desk from her phone. She said it was on sale for 179.99 and was really pretty. It made me think about the Crate & Barrel desk I had just considered for my guest room. I don't know about you but I'll take the less than $200 piece over the $500 in this case. I finally made it into World Market the other night to check it out in person and I give the desk a thumbs up.

Also right now Home Fabrics is selling some great rolls of fabric and I actually just bought the below fabric. If it looks familiar then it is probably because it is a fabric offered at West Elm....except HF is sells for $7.99 a yd.

IKAT is not dead

Seeing all of the ikat pillows in Nati Abascal's place in Hola Magazine makes me think about the below shoes.

Would you dare to wear these fun wedges that were designed by Julian Louie for the Aldo 2011 Spring collection? My shopping ventures usually do not include anything out of the Marshalls, TJ Maxx realm but I would certainly enter the mall to check out the above fun shoes. Does that mean that if they are selling them @ Aldo that they will be reasonably priced..hmmm.

{all images from Naty's place via here & shoes found via here}

{wanting to paint wallpaper}

Painting has been one of our top activities these last few days and it got me thinking that I would love to buy a paintable wallpaper and let the girls go crazy and create something that looks like....

this.....

and then.....

wallpaper their closets with the new creation. Don't you think that would be such a fun and colorful way to display their work?

Anyway how is your week shaping up? I myself seem to be just shy from being on top of things. Ever feel like you are flying by the seat of your pants?

P.S. - Isn't that painted wallpaper gorgeous? Erica blogged about it today and linked to the source over here.

{images via Moth Design, Stylebeat (Thomas Jayne for the Albert Hadley tribute), Apartment Therapy, Prjoect Nursery}

upholstery webbing

Why not take upholstery webbing and panel a room like Ashley Hicks did in his bathroom. I like this concept because webbing, especially polyester is thick and would be easy to work with.

Also I noticed that Martha made a rug out of jute upholstery webbing as seen here.