Christmas time is here...

Christmas is in fact just around the corner!

Enjoy these miscellaneous links!

Girl Talk shares readers favorite Christmas traditions.  

Print out these free adorable gift tags by Amy Moss

Try making monogram mugs for last minute Christmas gifts.  DIY by Gabrielle Blair at Design Home. (I made one too and I'm quite pleased with the outcome!)

Check out Twig and Thistle's Five Days of Felt

up and away

Cute poster, huh?  Check out the Etsy shop, Small Talk Studio.  There's more where this came from! :)

{dishes}

I just wanted to tell you about some of the latest dishes I found.  Dishes are a weakness of mine! :) I need to be extra careful when I go thrifting because there are SO many for great prices!

The white flower bowl and pink fiesta bowl came from Goodwill.  I would say that Goodwill is the BEST place to find unique dishes.  Because I collect fiesta ware I check the clearance section at Macy's whenever I'm there.  I found the green bowl half-off there AND I used a coupon to get it even cheaper!

This is my flower bowl in better detail.  Priced $0.50!  I know, right?! :)  I find it handy to keep my loose bobby pins in it.  Cute and purposeful!

These blue and white tea cups and saucers came from my friend Katie.  I love the intricate design!  Thanks Katie! :) 

:)

Hey, I just wanted to say that I'll be absent from my blog in the next few days.  I have the privilege of being in my friend's wedding this weekend!  So I will be plenty busy! :)  Enjoy your weekend!

life is short. stay awake for it.

 

I love Caribou!  Not only do I love their coffee, but I love their cups. They are so creative!

The sayings are witty and the pictures are oh so fun to color! :)

These are some one of my favorites: SMILE FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER; MAKE TIME FOR SILLY; GROW OLDER WITHOUT EVER GROWING UP; and LAUGH SO HARD YOU CRY.

take a look!

Some good links for you!

 GirlTalk: A cool testimony from a wayward college student.

MODELmumma: My latest favorite fashion blog.

life observed by {kate}: My future sister-in-law's lovely blog!

18 hours...

photo credit

...until the Road Runner Akron Marathon!  No...I'm not running in the marathon, but I AM running the relay!  This is my first race so I'm starting it slow.  I'll be running the 2.8 mi leg of the race which is in Sand Run Metropark.  It's the shortest leg. :)  See, I told you I'll be starting it slow!  

I'm SUPER thrilled to run with some fantastic running buddies: Hanna, Anne, Katie and Asha! :) 

i am here!

Indeed, I am here!  I apologize for the lack of posts. I've had quite a few things taking up my time lately.

Yep...I found these little guys on our street about 3 weeks ago.  They were abandoned in a rubbermaid container and left without any food and water.  Their ribs were clearly visible and they were dehydrated and malnourished.  I took them in and cared for them and they recovered quickly!  Now, 3 out of the 4 pups have good loving homes! :) 

Isn't it something that it's already September?  And with that, school has begun!  Even though I'm not starting school (and I don't have kids starting school), I want to share some cute lunch notes with you from Twig and Thistle.  You can download them here!

Enjoy!

i LOVE flea markets

Yep...I recently discovered that flea markets are one of my very favorite things!  Yesterday I went to the Hartville Marketplace with my aunt and cousins.  I've been there before, but this was the first time I browsed through the flea market outside the marketplace.  At first I found myself overwhelmed at all the vendors.  I felt as if I was at a HUGE garage sale!  Despite feeling overwhelmed I was able to find some pretty cool things! :)

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I came across these bottle caps and necklace at the same vendor and I paid $2 altogether.  A steal?  I think so! 

     I saved the favorite for last.  When I saw these antique keys, I became so excited!  The woman selling them had a pile of a bunch of old keys.  She probably thought I was crazy when I spent such a long time carefully selecting my new found treasures! :)  The older woman gave me a deal because I bought four.  She sold them to me for $4.  {{If you go to the flea market, you'll have to visit her.  She's such a sweet woman and she also sells her homemade candy--which is delicious!}} Lately I've been adoring key necklaces and now I can put together one of my own!  I wonder what else I can do with these keys?  Any ideas???                                                                                    

{try this at home}

Do you care for kiddos and sometimes run out of ideas to do with the kids???  If so, read on!  I would like to share a little something with you. :) 

This idea came to me while babysitting my younger siblings, Collin (7) and Hope (5).  We call it: activities.  Pretty creative, huh?  I know I should come up with a better name!  But that's the name for now.

We start by writing out "activities" (hence the name) on strips of paper.  After folding all the strips, we place them in a bowl.  You can probably guess the next step. :)  I have the kids take turns in picking an activity to do.  Here are some activity ideas: short games (e.x. Go Fish, match games, etc.), read a book together, and prepare a snack (popcorn's our favorite).  If you have high-energy kids, include a slip that tells them to run around the house several times! ;)  Also, I included small chores for them to do.  They were motivated to finish them so they can go on to the next activity! :)  The possibilities are endless!  Be creative!

a good one for you...

I recently watched That Darn Cat while babysitting my younger siblings.  I've seen it several times before but I didn't remember it being so entertaining!  If you watch it, pay attention to the outfits Hayley Mills wears.  They're very cute and classy! :)

read {a} book

I have been super busy with regular summer activities and yet simply taking the time to enjoy these summer days! Hence the lack of posts. :)

If you had a peek into my life, you would find me doing the following: sleeping in, spending time in God's Word, creating goodness in the kitchen, playing the game Blokus with family & friends, working, babysitting, drinking way too much ice tea & eating way too much ice cream, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and reading good books.

Speaking of books, I came across some personal book plates awhile back.  They're from the Image Zoo Spark blog.

 What do you think?  You can download them here.

I also found this picture while blog hopping.  Aren't the books and bookends cute?  I think my future sister-in-law, Katie, would like the owl bookends. :) 

This picture came from The Little Green Notebook where Jenny shares home decor inspirations and DIY projects.  Even though I looked at only two blog posts, I like her already! :)  Please take time to check her out!

Cute, don't you think?!  I like the way she accessorizes!  Found at Urban Weeds.

I thought this is pretty cool. :)  It was generated from an original photograph!  Go here to find more.

Are you prepared for summer?  Download this summer calender for free! 

I'm back...

These are a few photos from my trip to NC...

...and here's one from the NEXT conference in Baltimore.

Brooke's pic

3 days

                                                          Taken from Brooklyn.Elizabeth's photostream 

...until BEACH TIME!  I will be taking a break from posting while I'm on vacation with my family in the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  Hopefully I'll post some pictures when I'm back! :)
 

:)

Spring is almost here! 

I saw this bedspread at Macy's and fell in love with it.   If no one was looking, I may have jumped in and snuggled under the covers! :)

Martha Stewart has the cutest cooking utensils!  I came across this spatula at Macy's too.  

       These L.L. Bean  wellies remind me of the flowers that will soon be blooming. :)

MY favor boxes

Here's a picture Brooke took of the favor boxes I made.  As you see, we taped bows on the top with double sided tape.  I bet they would also look cute with ribbon around the box like a gift.  :)

diy favor boxes

Aren't these favor boxes adorable?  You wouldn't imagine that you could make these yourself!  I found them at Style Me Pretty.  I downloaded the file and followed the directions.  Easy as that!  It does take some time to cut the boxes and fold them.  Because I don't have an x-acto knife, I just used scissors.  Also, I didn't use a bone folder either.  I'm sure if you use the x-acto knife and bone folder the boxes would come out neater.  But mine looked fine to me! :) 

When I made these for a party, I put little heart cut-out sugar cookies inside.  I decorated the cookies with yellow frosting and white polka dots.  (I used a cake decorating bag to make uniform dots.)  They looked so cute inside the yellow favor boxes! :)

Please check out the post and download here!

cuteness!

Don't you agree?  This darling apron was designed by Christa Taylor.  Sachiko over at Tea Rose Home is offering to give this apron to readers who enter in various ways.  Won't you join me in entering? :)  Go here.

Whether you enter or not, please check out Sachiko's site.  She has some neat posts on design, crafty stuff and old items she restores.

you gotta love jones.

 

I had the sensational experience of trying Jones soda for the first time yesterday.  Even though I don't like to drink soda too often, I really enjoyed it!  The great plus about this drink is that it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup.  That doesn't mean it's totally healthy, but it does mean it's better than other drinks!  But the best part about Jones is their labels and sayings on the caps.  The photos and sayings are submitted by anyone who wants to! :)  Oh, and if you can't decide which of the many cool flavors to try, you have to taste the orange and cream!  Yum, yum....  Okay, that's the end of my shallow post. :)