Notes from A Cottage Industry

Love the home you have.

Do you ever read The Inspired Room blog? It's one of my personal favorites, for many reasons. Melissa has great style, is all about making her home a haven for her family, and I really enjoy her authentic, easy-to-relate-to writing style. (She also has some pretty adorable dogs, one of whom has his very own blog and facebook page, lives in the Pacific Northwest, and is a 12th woman. Need I say much more?)

She has just had her first book published, and the title already has me excited to read it. ("Love the home you have" is pretty much what I am doing in real life, so how would I not be excited to read it?)

So often we get carried away wanting to be able to snap our fingers and have a room (or two, or five) done up, and have the latest, most trendy decorator items.(anyway, I know I do on occasion.) It's sometimes hard for me to look at the giant TO-DO list I have created and not want to run out and charge up a blue streak, getting a few major projects whipped out so I can have some instant gratification, and the very concept of loving the home I have(In it's current state no less) puts it all in perspective for me.

Whether we own, or rent, or live at our Mom's place, we need to count our blessings and love the homes we are so blessed to have.

I can't wait for my copy of this sweet book to arrive in my mailbox. I know it's going to inspire me.

The reason I am on the hunt for watermelon nail polish.

I had written this entire post last night and somehow it disappeared this morning.

Aurrrrgh.

What was a fabulous, detailed, witty post, has disappeared into thin air.

(Even though I saved it.)

All that was left was my title.

So maddening.

Long story, short....I wanted to share a quick peek at my new summertime sandals. I haven't shared a shoe post since...well, I think 2012. (Not sure why, because my shoe addiction has continued on at a pretty healthy rate since then.)

Anyway, I discovered these little sweeties a few weeks ago on Hautelook, Nordstrom Rack's online super-sale shop for deals, and my heart skipped several beats.

(Can you see why?)

Now, I am on the hunt for the right shade of red toenail polish to accompany them.

 

Weekly words to live by.

Saturdays.

Oh, how I love Saturdays.

In my life before becoming suddenly single, I spent nearly two decades as a stay at home mom. I used to say (and still believe) it was my dream job.

One of my best gal-pals and I would always say that one of the blessings of being a stay at home wife was that everyday was Saturday. There was no exact punch in and out times, or deadlines that could get you fired if missed. If I was up with a little one with a nightmare, or working on a project, I could function the next day, sandwiching things that needed to be done around my kiddos and husband. There was an immense sense of flexibility in my days and weeks.

I do not mean by any stretch that it was an easy job. (I also used to say the thing about being a stay at home Mom was that the pay wasn't great, but the hours were lousy....and I absolutely adored and treasured every. single. nano-second. of it.)

I work a regular eight to five-ish Monday through Fridays these days, and while I like my job, weekends have become far more treasured times than way back then. My mindset on Friday nights after my work week ends is one of feeling happy to the point of being giddy, while imagining a million and two things that the next thirty six or so hours might hold. Oh, the infinite possibilities.

To stay up way late, or go to bed early? To go out, or stay in? To start a semi-major project, or Pinterest all evening? It's up to me, all because it's gonna be Saturday.

Last night I woke up for some odd reason at 2:20 in the morning. If it had been a week day, I would have kept myself in bed, but since it was the magical time frame of my week, I hopped out of bed and worked on organizing my little craft room a bit more.(I am easily sidetracked, so progress is slow.)

After an hour and a half, I felt sleepy and slid back between my flannel sheets and fluffy cloud of quilts and comforter, and drifted back to sleep, happily knowing that no alarm was going to sound off.

Of course this is all just a state of mind, because I was back awake at 7:10, bright eyed and bushy-tailed as my Mom likes to say.... ready to enjoy my toast and cocoa, in my cozy robe and slipper socks.

Oh, yeah. I love Saturdays.

Where to begin.

I moved into (albeit s l o w l y...) my little 50's cottage in December, but I haven't gotten any as many projects completed as I would like.

The bathroom is the closest thing to being done, but even that room still has a TO-DO list with about five items on it. The kitchen and laundry room are in the works, and my living room slash dining room have four different areas with various splashes of paint color on them, none of which were ideal. (In the end I have decided on an off-white. Small rooms seem larger to be when keeping the backdrop light, bright, and simple. What do you think?)

I finally decided to begin at the beginning, made myself an official Get-er-done list yesterday, and found myself more than a little overwhelmed. (This was followed by a full on freak out when I realized I had not added any TO-DO's for the outside of my cottage; the landscape, the fencing, the exterior lead paint removal..yikes!)

While I found a bit more clarity, I now feel compelled to budget out each room on the list, because that will help me to determine exactly where the best place to get moving will be. You might think it's a no-brainer, that I should finish the rooms I already started on, but some of the items on that list are larger tickets. I need to re-tile the tub shower for example. That ain't happenin' right now, because the ugly liner in the tub shower works fine but is hideous, so I am not ready to spend any paycheck money there just yet.

Tonight I am planning on adding the costs involved to my list, as well as adding the exterior plans, then putting the room projects in order after that, and pulling my game plan together.

Overwhelming to me, but incredibly fun at the same time.

After all, you know how much I love a project.

Every picture tells a story.

There isn't a Mom out there that doesn't relate to this picture on some level. It symbolizes a snapshot in time of a stage in life.

While helping to get ready for last weekend's birthday party, I went into the bathroom and smiled to myself when I saw this basket sitting on the floor.

Memories and emotions ranging from to frustration-on-the-brink-of-tears to doing a happy-dance-around-the-living-room came flooding back into my mind.

Oh, the dreaded potty-training stage. I remember thinking my first born was never going to be out of diapers. We went seven incredibly long and painful days in a row without ever once making a successful trip to the potty. On the eighth day, the sun aligned with the moon and the stars, and my prayers were answered at last. She made a pee-pee in the toilet and was rewarded with an M & M. I am pretty sure I called every single person in my address book to share the accomplishment.

One of life's rights of passage moments.

I want to know where the time went, that I am now finding my children's children at this stage in life. It's going far, far to fast for me. 

Still, seeing those books in the basket there make me smile as it reminds me that a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

And can bring back a million memories.

 

Graham cracker sandwiches.

Are these a sweet memory from your childhood too? My Mom used to bake cakes or cupcakes and then use her leftover frosting with graham crackers as a little after school treat for my brother and me.

Comfort food, for certain.

(Way back in the day, before we all thought sugar was the devil.)

I'm serious when I say that I can't look at them without remembering sitting up at the kitchen counter (a 60's Formica...) in the swivel wicker counter stools, watching my mom create these little heaven-on-a-square wafer treats for us.

Isn't it funny how something like a song, or a perfume, or even a little dessert, can transport you back to a crystal clear warm-and-fuzzy memory of a time and place long ago?

Anyway.

With left over graham crackers from our indoor s'more party, and an over abundance of butter cream frosting left from last weekend's birthday extravaganza, it was a meant-to-be dessert, taking me back to pretty fond memories.

A little glittery splash of Easter (and a teeny tiny peek at my cottage dining room in progress.)

Easter is just around the corner, you know. I'm still getting my cottage into shape, and we're going to be in the biggest little city for Easter, so I haven't done quite as much Easter decorating as I would have liked to this year. (I am getting ready to repair plaster, paint, and update the moldings in the dining and living room...oh, but just you wait until next year!)

As I said, I wasn't planning on adding any new Easter decor to my arsenal, but then, I was buying groceries at Walmart, and there was this huge baking display for Easter and springtime. Up top there, above the Funfetti cake mixes, was  basket full of the most spectacular giant glittered Easter eggs. It stopped me dead in my tracks.

There were only a few eggs up there, but I knew there must be more somewhere else in the store. I grabbed up the colors I liked and headed over to the seasonal area. It took me a couple of times up and down the aisles, but I found them.

Come to Mama.

I bought them in all the pastels (at two bucks an egg, I was able to afford enough to make quite a statement.) I got them home and realized that in a cottage of my size, the multi-colors were a bit too much, and opted to exchange some of the colors for only the green and turquoise ones.

I piled them into my vintage Easter basket (I got it at Goodwill about four years ago)and popped a few more into a serving bowl on the hutch shelf. I stood back to check it out.

Perfection.

(If I didn't know better, I'd think these fabulous eggs came from Crate and Barrel, or Pottery Barn. I love it when that happens!)

If I can get the dining room painted next weekend, I just might need to have my girlfriends from work over for a little lunch or hour of happiness after work to show things off.

Oh yes, now I am more inspired than ever to get that room painted.

Number eight is one.

As expected, we had a fabulous time at number eight's first birthday party. (Don't you love his birthday crown? My daughter found it on etsy!) The little cousins were running through the house, chasing one another with helium balloons, and we watched an incredibly sweet and touching video that my son-in-law created showing his first year in pictures and videos.

I created a chalkboard look poster, and my daughter added some adorable table decorations....

His cutie-patootie shirt was an etsy find as well...

The birthday boy had revolted against taking his afternoon nap, and so he was pretty chill during the party.

As you can see in my first photo in this post, he was far more interested in the paper straw flags and little candies on the cake than eating the cake or frosting.

We had a decent rain shower in the morning, but by the time the party began, we had sunny skies. The cousins were then able to run around in the front yard for a bit before the party ended.

A good time was had by all!

Weekly words to live by.

Another first birthday cake.

You remember this sweet little elephant, right? Well, I made Mr. Eight's smash cake for his first birthday party last night, (along with some cuppy-cakes for his guests) and I think it came out pretty cute.

His Mama wanted a simple vintage look so I stuck with the white buttercream (so yummy!) and simple candy stars around the side of the cake.

I'm off to the party, and will share more pictures later!

S'more grand-boys post.

Last one, I promise.

At least about the visit with the big grands.

My Rock n' Roll Buddy came up with a few fun ideas for the boys and one of them was to make s'mores in the fireplace. This proved to be an especially perfect idea because the day we planned to do it, the winds were ridiculously high here and the power went off.

For hours.

We built our fire and gathered our ingredients. The boys took turns roasting the marshmallows and then I helped them with the assembly.

Mmmmmmm. So yummy.

I gathered candles so we'd be ready for a night without electricity, and just as we finished roasting the last marshmallow...the power came back on.

At first we all squealed that the power had returned, and then Carter shouted, "Turn the lights back off!"

That made Gramma Cupcake smile.

A wrong turn can sometimes turn into a right move.

(I bet you were starting to worry that the Gramma-Cupcake-posts were never going to stop.)

I have one more post to share about those sweet boys and all we did this week, but I simply had to interrupt myself to share this bit of serendipity that happened to me.

The day before yesterday I dropped the grand-boys off at school a bit before 8:00 and then headed over to my cottage to shower and grab a couple of things.

Well, I meant to head that way.

I made a right when I was supposed to go left. (I am pretty sure that I was born without a directional chromosome, and because of this condition, very nearly always make the wrong choice on turns when trying to find my way.)

As I drove down the road, it didn't occur to me that I was going in the wrong direction because things looked familiar. After about two blocks I realized why. I was a block away from a place I have been going to for over five years now; the Goodwill Bins.

I smiled at this little gift from God when I realized this. I whipped into the parking lot. (You know, you can cruise in to the Goodwill Bins without your morning shower and lip gloss, because...well, it's the Goodwill Bins, for gosh sakes.)

Where was I? Oh yeah. The bins.

I rocketed through the door (They open at 8:00 as opposed to the regular Goodwill stores, which open at 9:00. Coincidence? I think not.) and grabbed a cart. Right off the bat I found a little crock that a balding older-than-me guy missed as he was tossing things here and there in the bin.

His loss, my gain, baby.

I skedaddled out to the sort-of outdoor area and there was this incredible vintage wheel barrow.

Be still my thrifty heart.

(Best eight bucks I have spent in months!)

On my way to the checkout (I abandoned my cart with a Goodwill employee and put my little crock in my new-to-me wheelbarrow)I snagged a galvanized tub, a crate and cute straw hat (No, not to wear- it's from the bins, and it's past is sketchy at best.) to hang somewhere near my potting table in my cottage backyard.

I struggled a bit getting the treasures wedged into the back of my car (My sweet truck was home in the garage) but I manged and I smiled all the way home....using my map program on my iphone.

And.....we are STILL talking about fries, and those little cardboard holders.

As it turns out, those little French fry holders are quite impressive when used at home.

(At least by four and five year old men.)

We decided to bake sugar cookies yesterday, the grand-boys and I, and I had an idea that I knew would be easy and fun for them. We rolled out our sugar cookie dough, and cut it into random length skinny-ish strips, then cut the long strips at various spots to make a lot of rectangles. We then placed them all on the cookie sheet and popped them into the oven.....(Maybe I am the only one impressed with our handy-work, but don't they kind of resemble oven baked fries, even on the cookie sheet?)

When they cooled after baking, I slid them into those polka-dot french fry holders. They mimicked real fries, all right.

The boys were wildly impressed.

Do you want fries with that?

A couple of summers ago, I got ridiculously carried away one day while online shopping, and bought cute little cardboard french fry boxes in several colors. When they arrived a week later, I wondered exactly what I was thinking.(setting the table like it's fast food for my gal-pals? Um...not happening at my house.

So, the cute (if you could find a use for them) little fry boxes ended up tucked into a drawer in my craft room, waiting for the moment of inspiration to hit me.

Each time I opened the drawer, I would see a sliver of bright orange, yellow or turquoise polka-dot paper peeking out and I would be reminded that I need to not let clever marketing sway me into tapping that silly "Add to my cart" button. (I do not even remember what the clever marketing was at this point in time, but I know me, and I know that is how this occurred.)

Anyway.

Fast forward a couple of years, give or take. As I shared a few days ago, I have two of the bigger grand-boys staying with me while their parents are on an anniversary trip. We were working on a handmade bookmark for a contest at the library, and I went into one of my drawers to get the paper punches out, and what did I spy with my little eye, but a sliver of turquoise polka-dot paper peek-a-booing out.

The teeny tiny light bulb in my head flickered and I realized the moment had (finally!) arrived to use the little fast food fry boxes. (Four of them, at any rate.)

Yesterday we picked up some potatoes at the grocery and I set about to make a fabulous boy-friendly meal. I whipped the place settings together very spur of the moment, and looking back, now see a multitude of other possibilities that would have been even cuter. (Things like cute name labels on the fry boxes...)

I used my roll of freezer paper with crayon names written on them for placemats, and paper plates. When the little men (and my Rock n' Roll Buddy) came to the table, it was hard to tell who was the most impressed.

(Note* My homemade fries look really odd in the photos for some reason... I leave the skins on. In person, they actually looked and tasted just fine.)

I laughed out loud as I listened to them ooh and aah over the french fry containers, and the littlest man, who was even more impressed to see his name on the placemat.

Men.

Go figure.

Little canning jars straight from heaven.

Okay, true confession time: I don't can anything.

Ever.

I took a class on canning one time with one of my daughters, but still have not found the time to actually do it. (Hopefully someday I will find make the time!)

Anyway.

The other day when I shared the bunnycakes, I completely forgot to share about the sweet little fruit cups on the table. Not that I meant to share about the fruit, but the adorable petite cups...holders...er....jars holding the fruit.

(They are sweet, aren't they?)

I saw them somewhere on line, right after Christmas, on someone's blog....oh, I wish I could remember where exactly, to give credit, but I do not recall. You see, I got an Amazon gift card for Christmas, and I wanted to get myself something totally frivolous with it, and about that time I learned of these adorable jars.

I jumped on Ebates, and then to Amazon, and there they were!

Oh my.

Lots of sizes, with clip on lids no less. My entertaining heart went straight over the moon. I debated, and pondered it for a few minutes, and then ordered these two sizes. When they arrived, it was love at first sight.

They're new of course, and yet they have a classic vintage look to them. I imagine little layered fruit and cake desserts in the larger ones for picnics at car shows this summer, peeking out of my picnic basket, with coordinating picnic quilt, and can see myself serving jam (or homemade lemon curd to go with scones!) in the little ones at cozy springtime breakfasts with friends around my dining table. (Que in the theme from the Gilmore Girls, 'coz I'm feelin' like I'm in Stars Hollow, or better still, Traceyville.)

Oh, the infinite possibilities involving these delightful containers boggle my mind.

*sigh*

Rest assured, you'll be seeing these little babies in many more of my upcoming posts.

Weekly words to live by.

Bunnycakes for breakfast.

(Note: I just now realized that it is a bit of a contradiction posting a high calorie breakfast post immediately following a food diary post.)

I've spending time at my cottage with a couple of the bigger grandsons this week while their parents are out of town. We started off our Saturday with bunnycakes.

I saw them on Pinterest, and I figured it would be easy.

I was wrong.

It took me several attempts before getting any pancakes to be remotely ear or foot shaped. (The first two griddles full tasted fine, but they were pretty odd looking, so I took the rejects for my plate.)

Little whipped cream tails, and sliced bananas for the pads of their feeties.(Syrup and butter added later, with sausage links and hot cocoa on the side.)

So cute!

Itty bitty food diary.

Dr. Phil says you've got to name it to claim it.

Okay, I am not a huge Dr. Phil fan, but I do agree with him on that statement. There is something about putting things out there that helps you to make them a reality.

That thought was what prompted me to make myself a teeny tiny food diary to record my daily food and water intake. Of course, I couldn't just make a running list in a WORD doc, or scribble it out on post it notes. I need things to be inspirational, to be pretty.

So I foofied up my little food diary with some motivational quotes I found on Pinterest.

Will it help me to eat better? Well, let's face it, that is gonna take stepping away from the fridge, and a whole lotta Jesus, but the cute notebook reminds me to keep my eye on the prize.

Road trip to Farm Chicks in 2015!

Eeeeeeeeeeee!

Farm Chicks, the biggest vintage fair on the west side of the united states, is coming up the first weekend in June, and I just made plans with The Other Tracey to go!

We've talked about doing this for I don't know how many years, and this is gonna be the year we finally do it. We'll be making it a whirlwind trip, with her flying up on a Friday,and us hitting the road right away.

I'm envisioning a lot of talking, and laughing, and maybe even a stop at a Dairy Queen. We will be sure to stop in at Chaps (I've been dying to go there someday, and I know The Other Tracey will love it too.)

Oh, there is so much planning to do, and so very much to look forward to! I can hardly stand it.

 

Because in the end, for me, it's all about the little details.

I am working on expanding my product line in my etsy shop, and soon I will be carrying some vintage items and hard copy entertaining kits.(Soon, as in next week!)

I am in the midst of creating a sweet little shipping area in my workroom. I have always been an absolute sucker for marketing materials, and I feel that going the extra mile with packaging adds a lot to the warm and fuzzy experience. Not only do I want to create charming banners, tags and other paper items that warm your hearts, I want the packaging to express the love that goes into all of my creations as well.

So far, my biggest challenge has been settling on one specific look for my tags and note cards, and I am beginning to think I may be changing them out seasonally to be able to try out all the looks I have come up with so far.

Are you like me? A push over for pretty packaging? (I swear I'd buy an empty box if it looked just right) Do you save pretty business cards, tags, or paper sacks because they look like little works of art?

Or...am I alone on this one?

More eye candy from Camas Antiques.

Oh my. I never tire of stopping in at my most favorite shop of all time.

So much inspiration, everywhere you look.

Last Friday was "First Friday" in sweet little downtown Camas,when all of the shops and restaurants stay open late, and I brought my camera along with me. Spring has sprung and there is a nice selection of Easter decor....

....check out these cute little Easter charms made from bottle caps...

...and, apparently I am not the only one who thinks little birds are party animals...

I never get tired of admiring vintage silver and silver plate pieces, and there were some beauties.....

This charming little ice bucket was just too fabulous to leave behind, and it ended up in my bag.

I left there, as I always do, overflowing with inspiration, and excited to get back to my cottage and do some nesting.

Everything in it's place, and a place for everything.

It doesn't take much at all to make me feel all tingly and inspired and warm and fuzzy. Therefore, what I am about to share may underwhelm you, even though it made my day.

I am trying very hard to create a more organized home, partially out of necessity because my cottage is on the small side, and partially because I love to see things looking organized and not all crammed in drawers and cupboards.

Also, I still have not put the closet doors on my closet (They are waiting for me in the garage....) and so I feel compelled to keep my closet neat and tidy since it is the first thing I look at when I wake up each day.(You may remember my post a long way back where I shared how I keep my boots orderly.

So....with our record warm spring so far here in the Pacific Northwest, I have now found a new way to organize my flip flops in my closet and I am one happy girl.

(Let me apologize in advance to the readers looking out their windows at thigh-high snow. Probably the last thing you want to discuss here is summertime sandals and clever ways to store them, when you won't be wearing yours for few more months.)

My former method of storing my summertime flip-flops consisted of  big pile on the floor at one end of my closet. There are quite a few problems with this method, with the first one being that the end of the closet I used was pretty much a very dark corner, so find two matching flip flops was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Beyond that, I actually forgot about a couple of the pairs of flip flops, and never even wore them all summer.

When I moved, I put them all in a Target shopping bag, and dropped it at the dark end of my new-to-me closet. Not ideal, but I figured at least I could pull the bag out and rummage through it for the pair I was after. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw this incredible idea on Pinterest. Someone brilliant had gotten the idea to use magazine file holders to organize their flats and flip flops.

I know! ( Brilliant, right?!)

And so began my search for magazine holders that were the look I was after, and cheap. That search ended yesterday at Target, in the Dollar bin area. I spied a pile of various colored plastic organizers out of the corner of my eye. Oh my, could it be? Yes! there were ten white plastic magazine holder thingamajigs.

I bought them all, and I am thrilled. Could I have just set my flip flops on the shelf? Well, yes...but, it is up above my eye level by about 15 inches or more. Before I know it, I am sure I would have them in a messy pile, and more than likely I wouldn't even get them up on the shelf, so I think my new method is gonna be fabulous. (and cheap.)

I'd love to hear what kinds of think-outside-the-box ideas you use for organizing your things...please share!

Weekly words to live by.

Moon-lighting.

(If you are not a beer fan, I guess you'll have to skip this post, but if you are a beer fan, read on.)

I have a certain fondness for an icy cold pilsner of beer with a big ol' juicy burger,or a hot pizza with lots of parmesan cheese shredded all over the top. (I keep a stash of iced up thrifted pilsners in my freezer for such occasions.)

Or, out of a red solo cup at a concert.

(It's part of the experience.)

Beer compliments these particular foods better than anything else does, to me anyway.

Anyway.

The beautiful Pacific Northwest is know for being the micro-brew mecca of America. That being said, I have yet to develop a taste for them, and so I remain partial to Blue Moon beer. (It's best served with an orange wedge squeezed into it, but if you happen to be out of oranges, it stands alone just fine, thankyouvery much.) Now, Blue Moon is good, but it is a little...heavy, shall we say? (Not quite sure what the appropriate beer term is here) Okay, I am no beer aficionado, and I am rather a lightweight in the beer drinking department, so for me, it is a little heavy.

I hate to give up that full bodied taste because it's so filling, so what's a girl to do?

Enter the Moon-Light. You take a half of a bottle of Coors light, and a half of a  bottle of Blue Moon (Also a Coors family product, by the way) and voila'! Great taste, with not such a heavy feeling.

Poi-fection.

(Nope, I am not getting paid by the guys at Coors for this, but I was thinking of what to share today, and ...it's the weekend. That made me think of kicking off my shoes and basking in the moment that is Friday night after a work week.  Thinking of Friday night, makes me think of relaxing, and sleeping without an alarm clock. (I will still wake up early, but its so much nicer knowing I don't have to actually get up, I can just do it.)

Kind of the adult version of "If you give a Moose a Muffin", if you know what I mean.

Thinking of all that makes me think of having a nice, icy-cold beer, and that made me think you might not have heard about Moon-Lights.

And I wanted to share.

So, I did. Hope you have a spectacular weekend!

Because nothing says happy birthday like a teeny tiny elephant in a party hat.

We've got one more first birthday coming up in a couple of weeks for grand-babe number eight. (Oh, how time flies!) I'm helping with some of the details, including little mister's smash cake, which will be topped with a little banner, and a teeny tiny elephant. (I found him for two bucks at Michaels Craft Store. Who knew little plastic animals would be found there? Not me.)

Last night I had some fun getting my petite pachyderm celebration-ready with a party hat made from a small scrap of scrapbook paper and some little stamens from a silk flower, and an eensy-weensy bow on his tail.

I'd love to have a little balloon floating up toward the sky from his trunk, but I haven't found anything that will work quite right just yet....

Even without a balloon, I think he looks like he's ready to party, don't you?

Nothing inspires me to get back to baking like a new cookbook.

Does anyone else still buy old school hardback books?(Cook books in particular...)

Okay, I try not to. Mainly because it is actually easier for me to google up a recipe I like than to flip through several cookbooks trying to find a recipe, but...

when I find a cookbook with an incredible cover...or title...or it's from a famous restaurant or bakery.....my knees get weak, and I head for Amazon. (Unless I am lucky enough to find the a fore mentioned cookbook in a thrift store, or at a yard sale. Then, I just grab it up.)

What can I say? I am a sucker for pretty pictures, and clever marketing.

Anyway, such was the case a couple of Saturdays back, when I spied with my little eye, a copy of this cookbook in a little shabby chic type boutique with my daughter. The cover melted my heart, and then, I read the inside cover and found out these are recipes from a San Francisco Bakery...And, oh! The scalloped pages? It was love at first sight.

I took a picture of the cover, and when I got home, I went to Amazon.com to snag myself a copy. It arrived yesterday, and my-oh-my, it is even better cover-to-cover than I imagined.

A recipe for homemade graham crackers? Shut the oven door. (Imagine those with a generous cuppa homemade hot chocolate....)

Cakes, and tarts, and cookies galore. All that is left is for me to decide which recipe I will try out first.

Spring has sprung.

The beautiful Pacific Northwest has been having some incredible spring weather, but I know that the majority of the country is still battling through snowdrifts and windchill factors of below freezing temperatures.

That being said, we all need only look as far as our local stores, and spring catalogs to find that spring has indeed, sprung. I was in Sur La Table the other day, and the spring colored napkins, dishtowels and aprons were in full bloom.

Of course they had a section to highlight Easter goodies, and I absolutely fell in love with these sweet little egg holders....

So sweet.

Even the KitchenAid Mixer joined in the spring color party.

I'll tell you what, it was hard to not want to run home and plant some flowers, and dig my flip flops out of the back of my closet.

Easter's comin'.

Where does the time go? This Sunday we spring forward an hour, and less than four weeks after that, Easter will be here.

I thought I'd share some of the items in my ETSY shop with you today. I used to only offer them in Printable form...

but this year I have added the Easter banners and flags in hard copy as well, to be shipped by snail mail, right to your mailbox, handmade by moi.

Make your Easter table (or mantel, or porch...) extra special with the soft pastel colors of these vintage themed paper decorations. 

Because I'm all about all the little details on the table as much as the food at mealtime.

I can't help myself when it comes to dishes and serving pieces.

I shared in my post about my less is more in my bathroom post the other day that my one weakness is table top items.

I adore vintage creamers, (to use for on-the-table syrup servers, or cream for coffee!) little bowls and ramekins, charming stemware, and ornate flatware, old and new alike. Seriously, I just can't seem to pass these kinds of items up in thrift shops, or antique malls.

Vintage white stoneware of any sort that has a scalloped cottage-y look is my kryptonite.

I think a table looks oh, so much more inviting with condiments served in serving bowls as opposed to having the jelly jar, or catchup bottle sitting shotgun next to your pretty dinner plate.

Eating a meal should be as appealing to your eyes as it is to your nose and taste buds, I think. (Oh, by the way, I like charming printed paper plates, too, but that's another post entirely.) Even when I eat alone, I like to set a pretty little setting for myself. When I set out appetizers, snacks, or even a plate of cookies out for friends, I want it to make an warm impression....to set a welcome tone.

Weekly words to live by.

A party without cake is just a meeting.