just coasting through life

{DIY Coasters with Amy Butler Designer Paper}

Latest project... DIY coasters using Amy Butler paper. This was super easy to make and didn't cost me a dime. I used scrapbooking paper I already had and white tiles leftover from our kitchen remodel. All I did was follow Prudent Baby's tutorial on Hostess with the Mostess. I did two sets. One I may make into a wall hanging... I'll let you know how it goes.

mr. postman

I love the mailman. He brings me the best stuff. Yesterday, I received the Linnea Design 2011 catalog with loads of new products--the next year's calendar, Mail Art stickers and so on. This was the first year that Linnea's daughter Johanna designed the poster calendar. I love both of their design styles. July's image is delicious!

{little happy camper kitchen wall}

adorable woodland creature population control

For goodness sake, I just cannot escape the camping cuteness that is running rampant on the Internet. Cheerful gnomes, furry squirrels, wide-eyed owls and sweet-smelling skunks (okay, I couldn't come up with a better descriptor) are everywhere in fantastical woodland settings.

{Photo from P.S. Paper-Source Blog}

Just look at the stationery that the CEO at Paper-Source crafted for her daughter who was going off to camp... How could you even put pen to paper on such awesome note cards let along take it in to the woods where it could be snatched by a racoon or worse???

let's hear it for new york

I just placed my latest Etsy design in the mail for Christina in NYC. I am so happy with how it turned out and hope that she and the gift's recipient love it. I am inspired to extend the line and pay tribute to my home town STL and others... nola, kc, atl.

Stay tuned for more!!!

payless

It has been a really long time since I have visited a Payless store. I don't know why--they just sort of fell off my radar screen. In a desperate attempt to get out of the office without spending money on lunch, I stopped at a store nearby. I was just "window shopping." Had they had my size in two different pairs of shoes I would have been "forking-over-the-wallet shopping."

{Bloom Flat by American Eagle and Petals Natural Wedge by Montego Bay Club}

I checked out their Web site later in the day and came across Style Watch, a feature that asks fashionistas to post a pic of how they style their Payless footwear. Genius. Way to go Payless for taking your affordable brand and putting it out there in a super hip way.

I promise to put you back on my radar screen with a really cute stylish dot.

hungry happy camper

If my blog had an official cupcake--you know, like the bald eagle is our country's national bird--it would be probably be this Campout Cupcake from The Celebration Shoppe. My favorite aspect is the use of Fiber One cereal for the campfire logs. Creative! This recipe is from last summer but I came across it checking out the shop's blog under campout.

{Campout Cupcake from The Celebration Shoppe}

The one-stop-shopping aspect of The Celebration Shoppe is great. A theme, customizable invites, lots of printables, decorations... it is coordinated but in a non-big-box-party-store way.

I think I'll write and suggest the following new tagline for Fiber One: "Cardboard no. Delicious yes. Especially when posing as the fuel for a campout cupcake fire." Too long?

nuts for knits

Once upon a time, I tried my hands at knitting. It didn't go well. I am crafty in many ways but that is not one of them.

Amy Butler's new line of yarn, Belle Yarn, and knitting projects, Midwest Modern Knits, makes me want to try again.

{Knitting project from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Knits}

Don't you want to snuggle up on a cold winter's night knitting this awesome sweater? Then when you are finished, snuggle up IN the sweater.

Amy's projects are always awesome. I made three Snuggie Wrap Blankets from "Little Stitches for Little Ones" two years ago for shower gifts and everyone oohed and ahhed over them.

My mom made me the Snow Mum Pillow (in cranberry) from Amy's free patterns section for Christmas that turned out fantastic and now sits on my living room sofa.

Stay tuned for handmade coasters using Amy Butler scrapbooking paper...

Wait a minute... what if I was snuggled up in the knit sweater on the couch with the pillow drinking hot cocoa using the coasters? Holy cozy!!

whoa.

{P.S.--I Made This by Erica Domesek}

I am in complete and total awe of P.S.--I Made This. Wow. I'd say I am speechless but I am typing, so...

I filed away a post on a How-To: One Shoulder Ruffle Shirt that I thought would be fun for my sister-in-law and I to make together. (We did. They are fabulous. More on that later.) I came across it on a tweet from Craftzine's blog. I assumed that the crafty author was a Craftzine staff member. Then I took another look at it when assessing the supplies I needed for the project and scrolled down to the author info, clicked on the author's (Erica Domesek) Web site, and was blown away.

Here's the description of the book, "Featuring more than 25 projects inspired by iconic fashion looks, runway trends, and celebrated style mavens for readers to create themselves."

Clearly, I've "missed the boat" because Erica is incredibly accomplished and well known. So, nobody "heard it here first" but I'd just like to second, third or one-hundredth all the great things all those that are "in the know" have said about her work.

Needless to say I am pre-ordering this book due out September 1. Can't wait!!!

four-legged guests.

My first, first birthday party went off without a hitch. Great group of guests, delicious food, happy birthday boy (until mom blew the candle out in his face--it wouldn't be a party without a few tears). Here is the finished look:

I'm already excited about birthday number two!

the invite is in the mail.

{Silly Streak Chocolate 4x8 photo card from Shutterfly}

I forgot to share the invitation for the dog-themed birthday party. It turned out pretty cute. I debated FOREVER over what to pick. I didn't want competing dog themes so those were out. I couldn't find paw prints or the like. I knew I wanted a pic of my little guy showcased AND I had earned a free set of 25 custom invitations from Shutterfly via my Pampers Gift to Grow points (a rewards program for buying zillions of diapers over the past year).


I landed on a simple design with colors I customized to coordinate and photos I had taken converted to black and white. Pretty happy with the results!

upcycled decorations

So, I took the plunge and committed to a dog-themed first birthday party for my son. If you noticed in the previous post, the cupcake liners and toppers have various dogs donning blue and orange polka dot and striped bandanas. I had my colors--plus brown for dogs/bones/paws--and patterns to pull the theme together.

First project--I knew I wanted to make a banner. I scoured the Web and found a great tutorial for a pennant fabric banner from Penny Carnival. I had leftover blue and white polka dotted fabric from another project for the flags and I bought orange and white striped ribbon on sale at Michael's to string them together.

I personalized my banner by printing out letters from Microsoft Word and used them as patterns to trace on to sheets of orange, white and brown foam. Then I used Tacky Glue to adhere the letters to the flags. Here's the finished product:

With the banner done, I needed to tackle centerpieces. Since I have a dog, I have plenty of "dog" props including dog biscuits that we rarely give Belle--she likes to take them in the living room for private dining and litters the carpet with biscuit bits. I thought I could fill cylinder vases with the biscuits and top with a "1" sign. I used scrapbook paper, also from Michael's and on sale, in orange, brown, blue and solids/polka dots/stripes, and hot glued the sign to a dowel rod. The vases were on sale for 50 percent off at Hobby Lobby (two for $5.99). And...

Additional props... Happy Birthday confetti (dollar store), balloons (Party City), and tableware in blue and orange (Target), decorative scrapbook paper in bones and paw prints (Hobby Lobby) to adorn the table, and "doggie" bags filled with puppy gifts for our littlest guests. (Yes, I did find my son's name in confetti. It was $2+ for a tiny pack but well worth it.)

It was also critical to prominently feature the cutest dog of the whole cupcake topper bunch on the birthday cake. A local bakery, Lubeley's, did an incredible job recreating it and coordinated it with a really sweet "smash cake" for the birthday boy to attack.

Next up... the finished product.