Lovishly

Loving this gift from a sweet friend Noonday Ambassador. A portion of the profits went to Sole Hope, an organization that puts shoes on kids in Uganda. Thanks friend!!

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor

Look what I found at Dollar Tree! Halloween decor for my Halloween vignette. I love the word vignette and I NEED to have one this year. Only problem is I need a flat surface. I don't think I'm going to find a console table OR a buffet for a dollar though. Mwah mwah mwah.  

I know it's early, but you might want to get out and get some of this Halloween goodness for your own personal vignette before somebody else gets your fair share. 

(See how I worked the word vignette in again. That's just good editing right there.) 

Stayed tuned to see where this ends up! Update*** You can see my Skull Centerpiece here.

Meatless Monday Recipe

Do you observe Meatless Mondays?

My sister-in-law told us about this easy, easy meal with no meat. My husband likes it and my kid likes it. Really likes it. I kinda can't believe it. It's almost too good to be true. AND I almost always have ingredients on hand because most keep in the pantry. No defrosting meat!

I'm not sure I can call it a recipe, but here is what you do.

Prepare spanish rice according to directions. I use the Mahatma package. Easy.

Heat up a can of black beans. Easier.

Put rice in a bowl with beans on top. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Done!

We eat with salsa and tortilla chips. 

Sometimes Daniel gets fancy and adds sour cream.

Did I mention how easy this was??

Baby Girls Rock!

New baby's nursery inspired the theme for this baby shower. Or lack of a theme. We just incorporated coral  (which looks red on my screen for some reason) and grey into all of the decorations.

Monogram cakes are popular these days and I love them. This layer cake made by Danita had a wooden "G" on top that was simply painted grey.

Aunt Mandy made this cute framed wooden monogram with a chevron fabric background which now hangs above the crib.

The gift table was decorated with a custom banner, of course, and my birdcage with a mini chalkboard inside. We layered a paper polka dot table cloth with a lace runner on the table for a vintage look.

We used the birdcage to hold all of the cards.

Even baby girl gift baskets were coral and gray. 

I come from a long line of crafty people and it seems like EVERYONE helped prepare for this baby shower. My Aunt Sandy made this banner with her Cricut machine. I love the 3D look and the way it looks like lace doilies.

Aunt Sandy also made the baby shoe "goodie bags." We put tiny bags of Haribo gummy bears inside because that is expecting mom's favorite candy. 

The extras are available to purchase in my etsy store. Just click the link in the sidebar.

I made these simple centerpieces using paper table cloths because I couldn't find napkins that I liked to make tissue pom-poms. I stuck them in antique blue Ball jars stuffed with crinkle paper so that you couldn't see the wires and picks. In the top of the arrangement, I stuck a chevron monogram which was cut on the Sizzix machine. Baker's twine was tied around the top and pink pearls were draped around them.

Olivia made a very girlie diaper cake complete with frames and a tiara.

Even the food was color-coordinated. Icing and sprinkle covered marshmallows were too cute to eat. But we did. Cousins Dodi and Kori made these.

Cousin Lea made the coral cookies with hugs on top. I'm still not sure how she got them that color.

I painted this little picket fence box that I already had from a pinwheel party and used it for the fruit skewers. Little washi tape flags were stuck on top of each one.

Aunt Sandy made cones with doilies for popcorn in the "old" bucket.

Guests were asked to write advice for the new mom on these little dress cards made by Dodi and Kori.

These clothespins decorated by Dodi and Kori were used to play a game where guests lost their clothespin when they said "baby." Whoever had the most clothespins by catching people say the word, won a prize. 

I didn't win.

My mom, Andi, made the prize bags using scrapbook paper, old dictionary paper, doilies, baker's twine, and paper flowers. With a "G", of course.

Even the gifts were coral and gray. My mom used some of the leftover tablecloth to stuff into the gift basket. 

What kind of games do you play at baby showers?

We've Been Flocked!

Have you ever been flocked?

Got home the other night and this was in my front yard. A flock of flamingos.With a note.

The note said it was a fundraiser for a local danceline. To get the flock moved to someone else's yard you had to leave money in the envelope. The best part? You got to pick whose yard the flock moves to. Then it mysteriously moves when you aren't looking. Isn't that a cute idea for raising money?? I thought it was hilarious.

Smash

Do you Smash? I love this new idea for scrapbooking.

It is so much easier.  You don't have to think about where to place a bunch of doo-dads.  Got pictures?  Got tickets?  Smash 'em in a book.  Done.  I love little pockets and washi tape.  This album is perfect for the tiny pictures from my Instax Mini Camera.

You can buy these little quote pages, also.  Love that.  I happen to have a pretty funny kid who says things that I like to record to embarass her with later.

  You could buy a Smash album, but I used this address book from Michael's.  I just covered the words "Address Book" with a chipboard piece from Basic Grey.

Happy First Day Teacher Gift

Ready or not-school starts! My daughter has already gone back-to-school. And she was NOT ready.

When she got to school, she was seated at a table with several girls in the back and she was happy. Later, she was moved to a table in the front with mostly boys. Not Happy. In fact, she said, "I was so mad, I almost blew a casket!!" 

She needs to go to school, y'all.

After finding enormous paper clip photo holders at Tuesday Morning, I thought I would make "Happy First Day" cards for her teachers. I bought all they had, but when I went back, they had more in an oil rubbed bronze color. 

I used a Crate Paper Acorn Avenue Collection set with other stuff I had. Since these were teacher gifts, I thought it highly appropriate to use the library pockets with a card inside. I was given these library pockets my first year teaching by our super helpful librarian. Thanks, Judy!! I used them a lot, and I am STILL using them!

When I was a teacher, I would've loved this token of appreciation.

Make a teacher smile today!!

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