planting trees & patio time...

 

"Chicken Little" loves to help…  She frequents the local Home Depot with us quite often, as did our Gracie girl.  Since springtime is starting to make an appearance, we've decided to plant a few trees!  Here's our very first redbud (the Oklahoma State tree).  I'm pretty excited about seeing it outside my window… they are just the prettiest part of our landscape here every year, ranging from blooms of pink to purple!  Thank goodness we staked them before our first tornado of the season rolled through… and they survived the first major storm without incident.  The patio is getting a little color too, and is becoming our favorite hangout place.  The pup is sure to stick her nose in everything, checking out every new flower and herb we plant.  And after a long day of playing, chasing, & running in the sun, she settles down on the concrete to cool off for a quick nap before it starts all over again.  Hope wherever you call home, you've been able to enjoy a bit of the outdoors finally with family & friends!

terms of endearment

oh you know… just a few nicknames along the way = adorable artwork.
so why do I feel like I left a few out?  haha.  happy friday friends!

social media buttons: clean & simple.

weeeeee!!!  

So along with my new simpler, redesign… I am smiling ear to ear about my new, colorful social media buttons!  I know!  fun stuff.  Changing my layout and widening the right column allowed me to squeeze them together, so they could all be one big happy family!  And with just a little bit of Photoshop and HTML knowledge, you can customize them to your heart's content!  

which of course means my little share buttons needed some updating as well… 

a big thanks to the blog decorator for her great little tutorial on the subject!

pure desktop magic

Been in the midst of a MAJOR cleanup & overhaul of my laptop, computer, and multiple hard drives… let's just say, not very fun (and seemingly never-ending).  However I'm discovering it does have its rewards!  I am constantly changing my desktop wallpaper to reflect my mood or the season.  And as I was doing some reorganizing, I ran across an old favorite- which of course got my creative juices flowing… and well… welcome to my new desktop!

I got the idea for this little gem a long while back from The CoffeeShop Blog, which resulted in my first attempt at this lovely little desktop, which I admired for a long time (and still do… just needed a little visual update is all)!

My sweet Gracie (aka Beans…) always remains a constant of course!

you're number one in my book!

If I close my eyes, I can still remember a time… filled with brown paper sacks, full of handmade cards and valentine sentiments…  Exchanging cards and yummie sweets with my fellow classmates is a favorite pastime of mine.  So when my sister asked if I could help out my nephew with this year's valentines, I was delighted!  (She's crafty herself!  She makes really pretty things…)  Anyhoo, she passed along the idea to me from Pinterest (linked to this blog)- 

AND here is my version of these really neat bookmarks that he will get to pass out to all his friends this Valentine's Day!  

They are so good, all the adults want one too!!

So which one's your favorite?  Hard to pick just one, I know…

happy reading friends

mission organization... spice jars.

It's finally starting to come together… We are nestled back in the states after our four year stay in Germany.  (Almost a year now, can you believe it!?)  & we found a beautiful place to call home.  Now to give everything a "home" inside it…  Enter mission organization.  Time to implement an idea that has been with me for awhile now.  And who doesn't like the idea of a neat & tidy pantry?

of course along with that, comes the very necessary… spice jars!! and voila!
when I open my drawer, they pretty much sing to me… 

these have been a long time in the making…
& of course I couldn't settle for just any spice jar- these french glass beauties are tall, for refilling less often- I was able to customize the size, shape, & even the lid!
you can find them here -buy in bulk & you can even save a few bucks.

I made my own labels, using these free printable templates 

just use photoshop, word, or the software of your choice (but make sure before you print them on the actual labels, you do a few test prints… an easy way to see if they line up, is to hold your test print & blank label sheet together up against a window so the light shines through).  Also- since I already have my graphic picked out, I chose plain white labels that measured a little bit smaller than my jar lid.

and these are the lids I chose (another little tip- mine came with a liner, which sticks to the spice jar -almost like a freshness seal- you can order lids without these liners if you prefer)

and once again, the finished product- I love them (& so does my hubby)!!

Last tip- make sure before applying the label, you screw your lids on tight!  Otherwise they don't line up as pretty…  Now go make your space organized, you'll want to cook from scratch more often!!  Have fun friends!

where some of my inspiration came from… including a few of the labels I used!

Unsophisticook :: The Pretty Blog :: Anthropologie

Lane Robbins :: Lane Robbins :: Style Lush

wait... what? twins!!

One of my lovelies is expecting twins!!  Such exciting news… You may remember her pretty face, because it seems I enjoy blogging about her, haha!!  So glad to be back in the states so I don't miss anymore moments like this… Here's a little peek inside her gender reveal "babies" shower hosted in my home with a few of our other lovely lady friends.

I had so much fun making the favors!

these pretties were so yummie!!

and now for the big reveal…

absolutely no one guessed it!!  that's right… twin GIRLS!

thanks ladies!  couldn't have done it without you!!  missed you girls…

congrats Crystal & Jeff, love you guys! 

52 reasons I love you...

So the hubby & I just passed up our ten year anniversary… I decided that even though we have never given the traditional gifts, I wanted to do something different this year.  That being said, year ten = aluminum/tin.  So me being my somewhat clever self, decided I would get him an iPad, since he is always traveling.  I asked the sales clerk what material it was made of, to which he answered aluminum… perfect!!  I even topped it off by using tin foil to wrap the gift.  I pretty much outdid myself, but I wanted something a bit more personal to add to the mix, and that's when I remembered seeing a fun little project on pinterest, or you can see it here.

Now enter the crafty Nelou.

First up, find the playing cards… Not that we don't have 50 million packs of them already, but none of them seemed to fit the bill.  My next trip to the flea market… paydirt, vintage playing cards.  I combined the best of 2 packs, and got to work.  First off, I set up an off-limits room where I could spread out the supplies I needed:

{self healing mat, exacto, triangle, sharpie, double-stick tape, cardstock, number stamps & stamp pad, hole punch, circle rings, & the playing cards of course}

I used heavy-weight craft gift tags, and was able to cut 2 from each tag.  

Once I had them all cut, I hand-wrote my 52 love notes.  

 Next, using a joker as a guide, I hole-punched the cards 

& secured them together with the rings.

 After I had them in the order I wanted, I got busy stamping.  And I must say 

I loved the imperfections when a small smudge would occur, or I would 

happen to press a little too hard, leaving a little corner of ink from the stamp.

 Lastly, I used the double-stick tape to attach them to each card.

 and voila!  52 reasons I love you… 

Sadly, this took me a little longer than expected, so the hubby didn't quite get it on our anniversary… it became a Christmas present instead.  So if you are starting to think towards Valentine's Day, and think this is a fun idea… start now!!  

Not only will it make your loved one melt… but you'll remember 

all those important little reasons you fell in love in the first place.