I am in the process of painting my front door green...I am loving it so far. It is Martha Stewart Sea Grass green paint. I have about 2 more coats to go, a kick plate (courtesy of my mom) and a fun Fall wreath and then I am done. (and on to my next project). Below are some other green doors I love. 
*TIP* I made the mistake of buying an eggshell finish, it doesn't have the nice gloss look. I will probably end up going back to get the same color in a gloss for a final coat ($10 wasted). SO buy glossy.
I have fallen IN LOVE with this color combination. Orange & Turquoise...perfection! 
I found this via House of Turquoise, one of my most favorite decorating blogs. I think this gal has impeccable taste. 
Thought of the day, something I have been thinking a lot about. Failure. My husband always tells me this when I get down or feel like we'll never get to where we want to be. He always tells me that the meaning of failure is giving up or remaining stagnant. As long as you are constantly working towards what you want you'll never fail. He's right. But sometimes it's hard to feel that way, especially when your life is pretty much not what you ever expected.
...but that is when I need to adjust my expectations and be grateful for ALL the wonderful things I do have.
My writing has gone down the tubes! Is it because I am lucky if I can even post a picture and 1 sentence with 3 little munchkins now? Is it because my vocabulary is stuck in 'speaking with children under 6' mode? Is it because I'm just not feeling like I have a whole lot to say??? Well maybe the first 2 are correct but that last one couldn't be more false... trust me I have A LOT going on in this brain and A LOT to say, I've just learned to keep it to myself. Why? Je ne sais pa? My friend/neighbor came over and we talked and talked and talked...and I realized how much I miss talking with people over 20 years old. It doesn't happen a whole lot, but I love the times when it does. I will try and be more"Brooke" candid from now on...I mean really, who am I trying to impress? I'm not meek and demure, I am not the girl who sits by and lets things happen, I do have power and am powerful - even as a crafting, blogging, scrapbooking, cleaning, diaper changing, dishwashing mom.
This clock was broken and useless, I didn't throw it out because I knew I could figure out something to do with it. And here is what I did.
Vintage Button Pushpins: To make the pushpins, I used old buttons that used to belong to my grandma. I LOVE old buttons. I just hot glued the button to the top of a clear push pin.
1. To make the clock into a message board I removed the inside of the clock. It was really simple, all I had to do was remove 4 screws and it popped off easily. 2. Next, I unscrewed the back from the frame and cut the cork to fit. 3 & 4. I hot glued the fabric around the cork board and screwed the back on.
It sits in our office and I just love it, I only hang my "cute" things on here like cards, announcements and invitations. :) I also reupholstered this old thrift store chair with black and white fabric. Et Voila!!
Incredibly easy to make, just takes some time. Get 4 different colored pieces of 12x12 craft paper, you can fit 3 flags on one sheet. My triangles are 6 inches wide, by 7 inches long.
(I had some that had patterns on both sides which was nice because it gave me more patterns to work with).
Next, take your ribbon and lay it out straight, don't cut it until you have layed out all of your triangles. Then hot glue each triangle to the ribbon and cut. 
You can add any embellishments you would like, I tend to go more simple, so I just added buttons. The letters are from any craft store, these are from an alphabet sticker sheet. Et voila!
I know I have been absent the last couple of days. I actually have been working on a project for my sis. She has a blossoming cooking blog and was on the verge of paying a bunch of money for a basic and not-so-great logo from an online store/site. I of course stepped in and thought, "I can do that!!" and for FREE! So I deigned her logo (above) and blog. :) So go here to see my sis's cooking blog. I'm sure it will change and evolve, but for now we have the basic idea down. It has the Southern charm, whimsy and femininity she was looking for.
*ps Dear ubber talented Que, if you can add to this or tweak it to make it even better looking we are totally up for that!*
My sis-in-law, Hilary had a baby shower last weekend. My mother-in-law, other sister-in-law, Ana and I put it on. I was in charge of the decorations so I made a flag banner (below) that said "it's a boy" in the colors of Hilary's Nursery. I also put together these lavender sachets as parting gifts (above).
The food was absolutely delicious. My mother-in-law made her famous sugar cookies in the shapes of Fall leaves and acorns.
Below is Hilary with Gabbie and Mimi before the guests had arrived. She is 9 months pregnant! Doesn't she look great. Her and my other sis-in-law Ana, stay skinny while pregnant. Not fair.
I don't think 34 is that old, oh well...age happens to the best of us. ;) And like fine cheese or wine (from what I hear) the older and more aged, the better.
Modern Fall 3-D Wreath:
found here at Tatertots & Jello. Major plus:
everything you see bellow I bought at the Dollar store!
Reversible Superman/Batman cape tutorial:
When I think of cupcakes I think of lots and lots of rich and fluffy buttercream frosting. The cupcakes made with fondant look picture perfect, but to eat I would go for the rich and fluffy stuff. Above is a cupcake from the oh-so popular Sprinkles Bakery in Beverly Hills. Yes, one day I will eat a cupcake from there. My mom has, and she said they are just as good as people say.
Below are cupcakes made by my sister. She lives in Alabama now with her hubbie and made these cupcakes for "game day". Game day is the day the University of Alabama's football team plays a game. People there go all out, I can't wait for the day I can actually go to a game with them! 
Don't these look amazing? And if I know my sister, these taste just as good as they look. She has posted 2 fabulous recipes on her blog for Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes & frosting here. She also has a recipe and tutorial for how to make these cupcake letters by hand!
Few, I finally made my sunflower wreath. It hangs on our side door and I love it!! I also love how the deep purple goes so well with these dried sunflowers. Here is how to make one for yourself...
First, cut the heads off of the stem leaving about an inch of the stem on.
remove the petals and leave in the sun to dry out. Takes a couple of days. You can also use them fresh, they are just a little more sticky where they were cut.
wrap wire (found at any craft store) around the stem of the flower and feed it through to the back of the wreath.
Pull tight and then wrap the wire around a secure piece.
Stratigically place the small, medium and large flower heads so that they cover the entire front of the wreath evenly. 
Just keep doing this all the way around, add ribbon and voila! A sunflower wreath!(ps You can also hot glue the stems after you've attached them with wire for extra security)
If you can sew a relatively straight line, then you can make these! Purchase a roll of ribbon from any craft store, there are lots and lots of cute patterned ribbon. At Hobby Lobby they have ribbon that coordinates with fabric if you wan to make a matching baby blanket and burp cloth.
pin the ribbon on top of the cloth diaper seams and sew. I use transparent thread so that the stitch doesn't compete with the pattern (and it's harder to see if your line isn't so straight, wink-wink).
Next, buy a package of cloth baby diapers found at Target, Wal-mart or any store that sells baby clothing.
pin the ribbon on top of the cloth diaper seams and sew. I use transparent thread so that the stitch doesn't compete with the pattern (and it's harder to see if your line isn't so straight, wink-wink).
et voila! You have a darling baby burp cloth that is incredibly durable and most importantly, cute.
I have used these with each of my three children and I love them!
This is a sunflower wreath I made 2 years ago from my mom's old dried out sunflowers. It's that time of year again! While at my parents this weekend I went out in the garden with my mom and picked a whole bucket full of sunflowers. They are currently drying out in my backyard and I am going to make another one of these wreaths. I am going to take pictures as I make this so you can see how simple it is to do.I have a baby shower for my sister-in-law this weekend and before I make this I have a bunch to do for that. :)
I am very grateful for projects.
For Max's school they asked for donations on items that could be auctioned off next week at Block Walk and I thought, "hmm...my mom has lavender coming out of her ears why not do a lavender basket that goes to a good cause?" My mom and I put together the basket above. It contains all her good stuff Like:
2 bundles of lavender, 1 'clean' bundle and 1 field bundle (meaning that the buds have not been removed from the bottom of the stems), 2 lavender sachets made from her vintage hankies, 1 lavender soap made for her by Spirit Goat, 1 lavender honey jar made for her by Cox's Honey, 1 bag of Grosso lavender (the fragrant kind) and 1 bag of culinary lavender.
Can you tell its lavender harvesting season? I feel like every other post is about lavender. Last year I was completely lavender'd out. I remember thinking to myself, "if I see another sprig of lavender or find another pile of buds I am going to scream!"This year's not so bad...I enjoy creating baskets and making them look pretty so lavender and I are friends again this year.
My parents hang the bundles to dry in their cottage. They need to be placed somewhere cold and dark in order to maintain their fragrance and color. Hm, who knew?
After spending quite some time picking plums from our plum trees and gathering a whole pile full we realized that they were not at all ripe. Quite tart in fact! But it was fun to be outside in our mini forest.
We have a mini forest in our front yard with about 4 or 5 Italian plum trees.
Henry was not fazed in the least by the tartness of the plums, he loved them and walked and crawled around with them in his mouth the whole time. But hey for a kid who eats dirt and sand this was probably a treat.
