Get this look!

Had a wonderful time celebrating over the weekend. I made Lindsay this necklace with interchangeable pendants for her birthday. To get one of your very own you can get all of the supplies at Michael's or pop over to our Etsy shop where there is one for sale. c.

Three times the fun

We are celebrating three birthdays this weekend. That means lots of cake and cake and cake. Looks like I'm going to need trip to the gym on Monday.

March is playing it's usual nasty tricks on us. c.

The good and the bad

We had fantastic Spring weather here over the weekend. We spent lots of time outside which felt really great.

Our poor dog has had the same surgery again because of a defect in the ligament band that was installed during the first operation. We are going nuts from worry and anger about all this. She's not sleeping at night so my husband is sleeping on the floor with her part of the time, then lifts her up to our bed and then I end up in the guest room. By the time g. is stirring at the crack of dawn we're exhausted. What a mess. c.

Can you hear me?

Today is the Vernal Equinox. Do you feel balanced? I do. I remember my grandmother having me over on this day to balance and egg on one end. It really does look amazing. I spent the better half of my morning trying to replicate this with no success. Very frustrating! So I turned to my trusty pencil and paper instead. According to Wikipedia you can balance an egg any day of the year if you have enough patience. Guess that points out the problem.

It is true, however, that communication satellites can be effected today. So if we get cut off today when I'm jabbering away on my cell phone, (it might take me a few minutes to realize you're no longer there), I'll call you back!

Enjoy your balanced day! c.

Wit-Craft Wednesday

The following is cross-posted on Wit-Craft, Craft: Happy Shiny Day

Happy Birthday Lindsay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since your birthday lands on craft day we made you a shiny bouquet of flowers using homemade paint.

To make the paint mix food coloring with sweetened condensed milk. Then draw your flowers on heavy paper using a ball point pet. Paint using a paint brush or Q-tip. When the paint dries it looks really glossy.

Hope you have a super shiny day!

xoxo, c.

Cone cookies

We had a fab time today making Ice Cream Cone Cookies. I found the cutest ice cream cone and cupcake shaped cutters at Crate & Barrel yesterday. I made a basic sugar cookie with royal icing. They taste super yummy.

3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks soft butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon vanilla

On a low speed blend sugar and butter for 2-3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and water, blend until mixed. In a separate bowl mix the salt and flower. Using your hands kneed 1 cup of flower at a time until the dough forms.

For icing whisk together 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar with 1/4 cup water. I used a gel food coloring for the colors. c.

Fluff

We are all still a bit under the weather. The dull-drum of being house bound yesterday was saved by the arrival of a box of "fluff," or hand-me-down dress-up outfits made predominantly of tulle. Yeah! c.

Rest

Oh darn!! We are all sick again. Our dog is having problems too, looks like she may be facing another operation. Time to take it easy and rest. c.

Not so innocent

Don't those cute little macadamia nuts look so sweet and innocent just laying there sleeping? Well they're not, oh no, they pack a real punch in the fat and calorie department. A 6 oz bottle has 126 fat grams. Isn't that always the way with things that are really delicious?

Made a fish bowl out of a box top with g. Say the words "glue stick" and her eyes start to sparkle. c.

A happy day

Today is Stem Cell Day in my book because today Obama lifted the ban on the science of stem cells. I love the possibilities these lovely little cells give us for solving diseases. I'm excited for the science community to have a chance to revolutionize the way we cure disease. Here's a quote from this article:

Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases – such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics, cells that could help those with Parkinson's disease or maybe even Alzheimer's, or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury.

Wouldn't that be so great! c.

Shhhh!

Shhhh, it's a secret, secret code that is. Yesterday my neighbor's daughter and I worked on a secret code and then gave each other secret messages. It really was a lot of fun. Today I illustrated a code and have a PDF for anyone to download who might like to play this game with their kids. It gets a gold star for fun + educational in my book. The PDF file contains the alphabet and one secret message to decode. c.

(This secret message is for Lindsay, thanks a lot for telling one boyfriend about the other, I think you are just jealous!)

Pigtails!!!

Yipee, pigtails!!! She's been asking for pigtails for the longest time but we needed to wait for the hair to grow out. Waiting is not exactly something 3 year-olds accelerate at.

It's a good reminder for me just how much feeling good about ones own appearance can do for your mood. We had a morning full of dancing and total excitement about these pigtails. c.

p.s. Lindsay please tell your husband's friend to leave my boyfriend alone!

Wit-Craft Wednesday

The following is my post on Wit-Craft, Craft: Can Candles

Today we made some candle holders out of our canned goods. It's so simple to do and is a great recycling craft!

What you'll need:
Used cans
Nail
Hammer
Towel
Marker
Tape

First - peel the label off the can and set it aside.
Second - fill the can with water and put it in the freezer.
Freezing the water inside the can stops the can from indenting when the nail holes are punched through. I found that leaving the can in the freezer too long made the bottom of the can pop out. So you may want to check the can after a few hours to see if it is frozen to the point you need it to be.
Third - while the water is freezing, take the original can label and reverse it so that you can draw a pattern on the back.
Fourth - once the can is frozen, tape the pattern on to the can.
At this point, you may want to place the can on a towel so that it doesn't go rolling all over the place.
Fifth - using a hammer and nail, tap the nail in, following the pattern you made on the paper.
Sixth - once you are done with the nail holes, remove the pattern/paper and place a tea light inside the can. c.

Green delicious

I can't seem to leave Michael's with only what I went in for. Today I found these super cute resin necklace charms. I think they are going to be really fun this summer. I use a lot of their card stock because the colors are so good (that's what I went in for). c.

Lemons, bowls and fish

We've got more snow. The only family member that can appreciate this is our dog.

g. decided to look on the bright side and paint a rainbow.

I'm still focused on lemons, bowls and fish. I'm also knee deep in client work and household repairs. Yikes. c.