Need Gift Ideas? Crafty Edition

You know someone crafty?
I've been titled crafty quite a bit,
I love making and designing things so I thought I'd make a list of helpful tools for the "Crafty One"!

#1
Tools of the Trade

For Scrapbookers: Cricut & Cartridges, Acid Free Paper, Stamps, Scrapbook Tape, Decorative Scissors!
For Big Project Crafts: Paint, Brushes, Wood, Spray Paint, Nails, Hammers....Anything! :)
For Painters: Brushes, Paints, Canvas', Brush-Washing Solutions, Sketch Paper & Pencils!
For Knitters/Crocheters: Thread, Yarn, Knitting Needles & Crocheting Hooks, Patterns!
For Sewers: Thread, Needles, Scissors, Fabric, Thimbles, Magnification Glass, Patterns!


#2
Gift Card to...
For Scrapbookers: Local scrapbooking stores, Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, Michael's
For Big Project Crafts: Home Depot, Lowes, Hobby Lobby
For Painters: Hobby Lobby, Local Art Supply Stores or Jerry's Artorama
For Knitters/Crocheters: Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's
For Sewers: JoAnn's, Hancocks, Local Fabric Stores
For the General Crafter: Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, Michael's, Local Hobby stores

#3
Inspiration
Get a Magazine subscription that relates to their "Craft"

Books a Million, Walmart, Lowes, or Hobby Lobby has a great selection!


#4
Storage

For Scrapbookers:  They make some awesome "totes" and Paper Bins just for scrapbook paper!
For Big Project Crafts: Plastic Tarps, Large Storage Bins, and a Work Bench!
For Painters: Brush Storage, Portfolios
For Knitters/Crocheters: Yarn Holders, Hook & Needle Organizers, and Totes
For Sewers: Fabric Storage, Shelves, Thread Organizers!
For the General Crafter: Totes, Large Bins, Typical Garage Storage Carts


#5
Give her TIME to use this stuff! :)
Pick one item listed below and give her an hour or more of leisure hobby time!
Babysit, Do the Dishes or Laundry, Make a Meal, etc...........


Happy Giving! :)

Need Gift Ideas? Sister Edition

I've got listed below my top 5 favorite things I would love to give/get my Sister or Girl Friends!

Disclaimer*Sorry Sis I won't be outing your Christmas present on this list!*

#1

Brittany Fuson Paper

http://www.brittanyfuson.com/index.php

She has some of the most beautiful stationary!

I personally LOVE her yearly planner and the Holiday Collection of Note cards!

She is having a 12 days of sales in December, so check out her blog and website to steal the deals!

#2

A Sephora or Ulta Giftcard!

We girls love our beauty products!

I love Sephora's Value Sets! 

They have sets in all price ranges, starting at $9!

#3

Accessories

Scarves, Jewelry, Purses!

I don't know a girl who wouldn't love a headband, watch, or purse!
Here are some of my favorite accessory shops!

Francescas Collections, Charming Charlie, LOFT

#4
Stuff that everyone uses, but Fun(er)!
Let me explain, everyone uses mugs, coasters, soap dispensers, socks,gloves....etc.
So why not buy them but have fun with it, use their favorite colors, teams, brands.

Mugs from Anthropologie
A Design Lovers Coasters
Soap Dispenser

Mud Pie Tech Savvy Gloves

#5

Even if your "sister" doesn't cook, who wouldn't love a cute personalized apron?!
That's my theory anyway!

(My Mom made this one for Susan!)

Need Gift Ideas? Cooks Edition

I've rounded up some of my favorite all time Cooking gifts.....whether I was the giver or recipient!

#1

Anything Treen

Karen Davis - Spoon Maker

http://spoonmakerkds.com/

My Mom and I usually go to a couple of craft fairs and the 127 Yard Sale just to see Karen and her spoons!

I have four of her pieces and LOVE them all!

I seriously don't know what I cooked with before them!

Her pieces are all hand made with wood she hand picks! 

I also love her different designs for right and left handed people.

I have 1 of  the "deep small wooden spoon". I need about 3 more! :) You can't go wrong with this one!

I purchased my Husband the "coffee scoop" and he loves it as well! I chose a manly dark wood!

MY FAVORITE purchase was the "tongs". They are by-far my favorite cooking utensil! Perfect for Bacon!

I noticed they are not on her website- but I got them at her booth at the 127!

I also have a "little ladle" that my Mother gave me! It is great for Chili and Soups!

And my Mother has a lot of her pieces as well and adores each one!

She loves the slotted spoon and the "005 Stir wooden spoon". Its slanted shape is great for stirring and scraping!

#2

The Cake Pan Lady

http://thecakepanlady.com/

I saw a post on The Pioneer Woman's website about these pans!

Here is the post where I talked about the them!

Previous Post

They are great because you can personalize them!

#3
Emile Henry Artisan Ruffled Pie Dish
I have to give all the credit to my Sister for this one!
She gave this pie dish to me!
Pie Dish!


Mine is the caramel color and I love it!
No more "crimping" the crust to make it beautiful......
JUST press it in the dish and it makes a ruffled crust for you!


#4
Salt Pig


If you are looking for a small gift or stocking stuffer, this is it!
My Mom gave me this Salt Pig that she picked up in Charleston, SC.
Mine is blue and I use it every time I cook!
It is meant for easy access to your Kosher salt!
Here is a place to purchase online.Salt Pig


#5
Butter Bells, Butter Crocks
Once again, I've got my Mom to thank!
These are the neatest things EVER!


This diagram is from Pleasant Hill Grain.

It really works! It is really nice to have access to soft butter anytime out on the counter!
Oh and this would be really nice gift if given with a Anything Treen's butter spreader! ;)



And if anybody needs a "Big Item" gift idea (ex: bread machine, stand mixer,etc), just ask me!
I'll tell you my personal favorites!

Happy Shopping!

Coming to a Mailbox near you....

Is it strange that I am slightly obsessed Pottery Barn's Fall Catalogue?haha

Here are a few clippings of some of my favorite pottery barn Fall scenes!

Maybe it's my favorite season, colors, and pumpkins that make me love it! haha

I'm not rushing Summer away, but

I can't wait to open my mailbox to Pottery Barn's Fall & Holiday Catalogues! 

*4th*

Happy Fourth of July Weekend Ya'll!

2010 Christmas Monogramming

I forgot to post about some monogramming I did during Christmas. 

Here is a picture of some kitchen towels I monogrammed for someone I work with. 

This picture is of a blanket I monogrammed for a family friend.

The next pictures just goes to show you can monogram almost anything...

My friend has some really cute kitties and I decided to send them a present for Christmas.

I found a play cube with holes and strings for them to play in. The kitties names are Pepper and Mango, so I thought they needed their play cube personalized! :)

My Valentines

Just thought I'd share the awesome gifts my Husband brought home for Valentines Day!

My favorite flowers....Tulips.

My Favorite Sweet: Chocolate Covered Strawberries! 

Yummy!

Needless to say he did a great job this year!

Lovely Day

I hope your day is filled with LOVE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

************************

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours!

(This is the picture I sent out in our cards!)

And May all your Christmas' be White!

(Our TN Christmas will be if the Forecasts are Correct!)

Is it Christmas yet?

I love Christmas and for some reason I can't wait for it to get here this year! 

I always wonder when it is too early to decorate for Christmas...

But with all of the Christmas open houses, the department stores,

and Hobby Lobby decked out; it makes me want to put up my Christmas tree

Yesterday!

(Like last year, I had all the decorations up by now!)

I'm going to try to get my decorations up this next weekend.

As soon as Thanksgiving hits, all my weekends are usually filled with

Shopping! : )

Stay tuned in the weeks to come....

I'll be reposting on how

I made the

Magnolia Wreath !

Come Shop at the Charity Bazaar!

Come on out and SHOP for a good cause!

This Saturday, November 6th at the Three Star Mall in McMinnville!

One of the booths is for my cousin Heather's team Hedy's Heros.

Heather is raising the money to help fund research that will eventually find a cure for MS.

She was diagnosed with MS in 2007 and is a wonderfully strong woman that never complains about her disease. Heather always lends her hand to many different causes, but she is really making a difference through her team Hedy's Heros !

I hope that you will stop by Hedy's Heros booth and SHOP for a CURE on Saturday!

I will be putting some "crafts" in the booth. Mostly handmade greeting cards for all occasions.

There will be several Christmas themed cards and gift tags!

I hope you all come out and Shop! : )

Happy Spooky Halloween!

I hope everyone has a great, safe and fun Halloween!

For Lauren

Michael's cousin Travis and his wife Tara are having a little girl in December! We are so excited for them! (And I'm secretly excited to have another female on that side of the family!) 

So what do you get the first girl grandchild?

A HOT PINK outfit of course!

We also couldn't forget about Carter, Lauren's big brother!

I found this really cute book called That's not my sister!
It is about a Moose playing Hide and Seek with his Sister and everywhere he looks....
he finds out -That's not his sister!

We hope you enjoy the goodies Carter and Lauren!

Love, Michael and Allison!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's (or as I say Daddy's) Day! 

I found this poem and thought it was really cute and fitting for a Daughter on Father's Day!

Everything Dad

A little girl needs her daddy
To love her with manly charm,
To soothe her when she’s hurt,
And keep her safe from harm.

A girl needs her dad
To show her a man who’s good,
To help her make right choices,
As only a father could.

A woman needs her father
Just to be aware,
He’ll always be there for her
To sustain her and to care.

You’ve been all these things, Dad.
I hope that you can see
How much I treasure you;
You mean everything to me.
Happy Daddy's Day Dad! :)I love you and hope you have a great day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's out there!
The mother's in my life mean the world to me. I've learned so much from each of them and I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for them!
I racked my brain on what to get our Mother's this year. I wanted something special to show them how much we appreciate them. And finally I stumbled upon a post about "The Cake Pan Lady" on The Pioneer Woman's blog (which I LOVE)!
I knew this was the gift!
For My Mother

For Michael's Mother


What you see is actually the lid to a cake pan. The Cake Pan Lady uses Nordicware Pans and personalizes the lids! There are alot of engravings to choose from and thought these turned out great!

Easter Sunday 2010

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to Everyone!

When I think of Easter I think of:



Pretty Smocked Dresses our Mother made...



Church...



Tulips...

&




Family!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours....

Wreaths

Here are some of the Christmas presents I've delivered so far.....

A Wreath for my parents front door made out of Magnolia Leaves.




A Pine cone wreath made for my Granny.



Both of these wreaths were fun and easy to make, but time consuming! I love the way they both turned out, I'm sure the recipients do too!
Merry Christmas Eve to Everyone!

It's Christmas Time in our House!

Here are a couple of pictures of our lovely Christmas trees. I am an expert at putting my parents' Christmas trees up, What branches go on first -to- what ornament goes on last.
SO....while starting to put our trees up-I had to step back about fifty times to make sure everything looked good! After putting both trees up....twice I got the procedure down pat.



The Christmas tree in the living room is now called the icicle tree, which was not intended. Throughout the years my parents, Michael's parents, my sister and cousin gave me beautiful ornaments. I didn't realize, until I started unwrapping all of the ornaments, they were all Icicles! I guess it's a good thing I love the icy look in a tree! :)



This ruggedly handsome tree is our Cowboy Tree. My mom was the culprit on starting this tree, she found and purchased some AWESOME ornaments for me one year. Of course, being the savvy shopper she is- she purchased them after Christmas on sale! This event led to a cowboy tree and more good finds on sale at Dillards!