it's the little things in life...

A couple weeks ago I ran to Target to pick up some diapers and walked passed this purse, I did a double take, the initial glance as you're hurrying by and then a "wait I really like that!" stop and look. But I was in a hurry and didn't have an extra $24 laying around and so kept walking.



Then I got some fun money from my beloved and while out with a friend decided to go ahead and treat myself! (thank you my love!) It is very soft and does not feel much like plastic. has a great color! I'm quite partial to bronze and copper these days. Not to mention great storage! Which is a must with small children.



Then yesterday I was getting ready to cook dinner, (yes I am actually cooking now!) and while reading through the recipe again was dismayed to find that I was supposed to be cooking the dish in and oven proof skillet. I don't own one and after looking at the scantiness that is my cook ware,(due to lack of good storage)I couldn't think of a thing to substitute or make it work. and so, off to Target, again!



$20! and I went home to cook! In case you are wondering, it was a very yummy dish called spinach and feta frittata, similar to a quiche. And also this is the third meal I've made this week from a cookbook, a personal record. The husband has given 3 out of 3 so that's even better! :)



Back to the trip to Target last night...
I was in a hurry so I could get home and make dinner for my hungry family and in the rush down the isles passed one of those end sections where they place clearance items. It had lamps for 75% off! There were three I liked but after a very quick thinking through decided I liked this one best for my home.



It's a brushed bronze and so lends warmth to wherever you place it not by it's lighting alone. It also has a classic feel to it, which I find I am drawn to more and more these days. Timeless is always better than trendy when you're on a tight budget and trying to decorate a home.



It's the little things...they warm the heart. My dear man loves me and works hard so he can support our family. I am so blessed to have so much, a home, healthy kids, a husband who loves me, and fun money to buy pretty things I don't really need. :)
God is good and faithful in his promises!



And my small stash of fun money barely noticed the loss with a price tag like this! Now I have to find a lamp shade but I'm looking forward to the hunt! :)

Ribbons and sparkly things!

I like ribbons, it's one of those things that is so versatile and so lovely!
I have a basket full as you can see, yet still i buy more! :D



i mentioned my trip to Micheals, well they always have this $1 ribbon section right up near the registers which usually adds a couple $s onto my final purchase.
I had bought some of the green/blue ribbon awhile back thinking it'd be lovely trim on a costume one day. well this time they had more so i got two more rolls as well as the brown and the creamy pinky one. the really fun part is that there are 5 yards on each spool! I would hope 15 yards would be enough to use as trim on a victorian bustle gown anyway! :)



I also thought i'd share with you my glitter letters. I had bought these last year while shopping with my sister in law Heather for some fun Christmas decorating supplies. (I like a silvery Christmas)



and so this time I purchased the gold ones for my fall decorations which i'm still waiting on inspiration to kick in to put up. lol :P
but they're lovely and perfect for fall!

Ikea

Went to Ikea the other day with a friend,
and came home with some fun things.
I found this bedspread which will be fun to add to my collection of bed linens!
I like to have different things so I can switch it up fairly often.
I also found the lovely white throw at the end of the bed.
It's really great for summer since it's very sheer and airy,

I tried to get a close up so you can see the way it's made, all scrunched up! :)
(Gabriel wanted "Woody" to be in the picture)

I also found this little metal tree,

My plan is to hang some fun things on it, not sure what yet though...
And then I finally got around to buying this...

I had seen them in the Ikea catalog months ago and have been wanting to get one ever sense!
It is actually for the bathroom but I don't have a lot of counter space in my kitchen and decided it was the perfect fruit holder!
I got some other things too but just haven't taken pictures since they are fairly mundane...
lol, well, enjoy!

dress form!!!!

My dress form came in the mail today!
I ended up getting the "Uniquely You" after doing some research and deciding what i'll be using it for most.
Of course i'd still love to get a "cute" one some day, to showcase costumes etc... but for now this is functional!
and by functional i mean i can now make myself costumes and clothes!
well, almost....the thing is, with a "uniquely you" dress form you have to fit the cover, seen below, to yourself and then you squeeze and squish it onto this foam core.
and wala! you have a dress form custom made to match your body!
so until i have someone to come and help me fit it to myself i won't be able to actually use it.
but i'm still thrilled that it's here!

Now i just have to think of something to name her....

Sharing

Like my new apron?! my mommy got it for me! :) I have wanted an apron for some time now, keep thinking I'll make one for myself but.....
well I guess it's just not a priority in my life at the moment.
But now I have one! Yeah! Just thought I'd share.
P.S. I know you love the bag of Tostitos in the background too, wink wink, lol I'm so "professional"!

The little things in life...

So this might be a little random but I wanted to show you my cup.
Last week I was walking through Target and noticed these dishes.They come in yellow, pink, green and blue. All very cute but the yellow ones really just called to me! They asked me to buy them, said they would remind me of sunny days and iced tea, that they would make me smile when I see them, and be a joy to use. Plus they are plastic so my kiddos can't even brake them!
So I gave in, I bought myself two and I use them daily.
They have not broken their word, they do make me smile every time I look at them :)
kind of weird I know to blog about a cup but I just wanted to share.
Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring us the most joy.

Today was my little man's early 3rd birthday.

Daddy is leaving on deployment and will miss it so we are celebrating a little early.
He enjoyed spending some time with his daddy in the garage. They both have an obsession with tools. :)

We did cupcakes as all children seem to love them!

He was so excited to eat one!
He had been talking about it all day. I made them while he was napping.
When he came down and was working in the garage with daddy he came into the kitchen about every 2-3 minutes to tell me about his birthday cupcakes. :)
Oh the joys of childhood!
Daddy liked his too!!! lol

So did I! :)

And now for the presents! We didn't do much due to Christmas and the fact that he's having a party with grandparents and cousins in a few weeks.
I love that he knows what to do with gifts now. :)
Here he is cuddling the sock monkey i made him.
I made one for baby sister Gwen for Christmas and he loved it and always talks about it and wants to play with it so i figured i'd better make one for him too.

And here are the cupcakes in a bowl with milk that i ate after he went to bed.
probably shouldn't have had them but they sure did taste yummy!
And hey, my official Diet/Workout plan doesn't start till my hubby leaves anyway!
Well that's all for today, off to bed now.

little houses in the snow

a wreath of music and stars a little tree and my current obsession with curled strips of sheet music. it's all over my house. i enjoy the contrast of the green and cream.
and finally, my tv cabinet doors filled with paper snowflakes!
well, that's the newest in my christmas decor,
hope you enjoy it!

it's beginning to look like christmas in my house. sadly having grown up with snow and cold winters it doesn't feel much like christmas most days here in san diego. but i am trying to make my home warm and festive. this is our first year we will be at our own home since getting married. i was excited to get all my stuff out because there was a couple years of decorations that we hadn't used yet!
when i was ten i started to collect nutcrackers, i now have 12 of them. all different sizes and some uniquely themed. like the cowboy, i also have some snow men and a robin hood. :) well, just thought i'd do a little post on my christmas favorites. hope you're enjoying the season! God Bless!

baby baby.....

ok, so here are the fabrics i picked for gwendolyn's bedding (on the left) along with the dust ruffle we had from gabriel's bedding(bottom right) and the blanket i am going to embellish a little(top right).

nesting....

so i have officially hit the nesting stage of pregnancy! sat. i cleaned my entire house from top to bottom, i couldn't stop myself! on mother's day i skipped out on church and started to paint our mini crib. it belonged to my husband when he was a baby. we used it for Gabriel but it needed a little pick-me-up color. didn't have a lot on hand but happened to have enough yellow paint to get the job done. the bars are actually darker than the rest but i kind of like it that way. ;)
so what you see here are the before and after pic.s the before really makes it look better than it was, trust me!
on Monday a friend offered to take Gabriel for a morning and i went fabric shopping for the reg. crib. my mom is making the bedding for me and I'm heading up to her house this weekend. so i wanted to have the fabrics so we can get started on the project! it took some time and a lot of looking and re-looking but i finally settled and chose the stack you see. the stuff in the green picture is the main blanket that I'm planning on adding some extra trim, ribbon etc... to. and below it is the dust-ruffle that we are also going to add a little something too.
the bigger challenge in picking colors and such is that i want it to be girly but she'll be sharing a room with her big brother. i haven't done much in his room since he moved into a twin bed and will be doing his stuff at the same time. but i want it all to match and flow nicely while still maintaining gender differences. add to that the fact that I'm picky and had a look i wanted it was a little more challenging. :) but I'm excited about what i got and can't wait to continue collecting and preparing for our dear Gwendolyn's arrival! don't worry I'll be posting my progress along the way! :)
and finally, i have a dear friend who lives back home(where my parents live and where i grew up). i suddenly felt like making a canvas collage for her, and I'm trying to get it done before i go this weekend. her bedroom is red,black and white. the white is what's proving to be a little harder since i tend to make things look old. never much real white in my art, usually creams and beige's. not to mention that i use a lot of old paper which of course is because it's aged and old, not white and new! so it's been a good challenge! here is a picture of the work in progress. enjoy!