Matt made pizza the other night and it was fabulous! Marinated portabello mushrooms and baby spinach! It was also beautiful, so I took a picture. We thought of another business idea, to add to the list- A family restaurant. Sometimes I wish I could stop having ideas and become really good at follow through!

A Place at the Table

I love using cloth napkins, they feel super fancy and add a formality to any table setting. They are also so much better for the earth then disposables.
New designs are always so exciting. Something about an idea being manifested is just so gratifying. I am not sure how often I will be able to offer these in my Etsy shop, but they are here for now. I may end up listing them as custom items in the future. This design was inspired by an old printers block, and of course altered and embellished. The napkins were sewn by me from unbleached, USA made 100% cotton.

Cavities

For a family get together on Valentine's Day, I made these little cupcakes. Because I am hopelessly uncool, I documented the process. And yes, I cut out all the hearts individually, by hand.

Thrift Store Treasure

So, I have a prized possession. I confess to liking it more then my Bob Dylan records and possibly as much as my cats. Where did I find this beauty? Well, it came from one of my favorite places, The Salvation Army. I find myself trolling around there at least once a week, waiting for some divine item to make itself known.
I paid $14.99 for this fully functional stand mixer, from the 1950's. It is one of the only electronic items I have ever purchased from a thrift store, knowing they never work. Yesterday I finally paid artistic homage and committed it to print. This weekend this little piece of my heart will be available in my Etsy shop as prints, and on flour sack towels at the end of the month. Maybe you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Green Clean

I have challenged myself over the past year or so to lessen my carbon footprint, and really think about the impact of what I buy and what I use. This has lead me to changing all our household cleaners, cosmetics, foods, clothing and other commodities to those which are not harmful to the earth or humanity in general. This was not easy, but I really think it was necessary. I started with cleaning products, the most obvious. I replaced laundry detergent, bleach, dish soap, surface cleaners, etc, with eco-friendly alternatives. What I found surprised me, these new products were much cheaper then the brand name caustic cleaners. I moved next to cosmetics after reading several articles on the lack of regulations on ingredients and toxins. My first move was to stop wearing so much make-up (that was hard). The only make-up I wear now is raw mineral. I replaced shampoos, lotions, etc. with natural and organic products. I have limited myself to buying clothing at The Salvation Army and Marden's. I seriously have not purchased a new article of clothing in over a year. When it's time for new duds, I plan on supporting my bread and butter, Etsy.com.

Timmy's in the well

This is our cat, Rascal. He is by no means a small creature, this picture is post weight loss, he was almost 20 lbs at one point. He got himself into a real predicament today.
A few months ago someone gave us a giant TV, and we graciously accepted. I made an equally giant stand for it out of 4 bookshelves. This stand has a small engineering flaw in which things as large as cats can jump down behind, and then can't get out. Rascal did this for the first time a few weeks ago and Matt had to reach down and pull him out by the scruff of his neck.
Today while I was working I kept hearing this strange scraping noise, I thought it was the furnace or something, naturally I ignored it. A few hours later I noticed Rascal was missing, this always puts me into a panic, because of the one time he did get outside. I walked into the living room and heard a yelp. I walked over to the TV stand.
AGAIN, he went in AGAIN!
So I reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him out. He thanked me by attempting to bite me in the face.
Ain't he sweet?

Home sweet home, a work in progress...

My husband and I have been remodeling our 1900 townhouse for almost 3 years. It has been a challenge to say the least, especially because we have lived here through all of the remodeling, and done it ALL ourselves. These are some pictures of the kitchen as it is now, this has been the major focus of our efforts. To begin with we had no insulation, drop ceilings, fake wood paneling and some really ugly broken cabinets. Our recent accomplishments are trim, crown, a butler's nook, primer and a faux tin ceiling. Last winter we put in cabinets and granite. Below is our restored 1950's stove, which looks cool but is a little to HOT for us. It cooks everything at about 100 degrees higher then it's set to. Matt bought and restored the stove for me because he knew I LOVE retro stoves. Very sweet. When we move our 220 line in 'phase 2' of the remodel, will get a new stove. Please notice my towel!


The curtains, and chair cushion were made by yours truly. I bought the chair at Salvation Army for $4.99, I covered the seat with fabric to match the curtains. You can kind of see the bar stools, which are also a thrift store find. They are 36" ladder backs, that where $15 for the pair. I repainted them and poof!