Somewhat Grand Opening

As you'll notice on my sidebar, my new Etsy shop is now open for business. I've added a few things, including the diaper patterns from my old shop. When I checked my email this morning, I was surprised to see that I had already sold a pattern. It was a good way to start my day. :)

Jayson's Monster Birthday Roundup

After all my hard work, Jayson's party almost didn't happen. I had all the decorations up, and I was bringing in the cupcakes, when I accidentally locked myself out of the party room with the keys inside. We had the party in the community room of our condo complex, which apparently has a self-locking door. As soon as the door shut behind me, I know I was in trouble. While I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, hubby called around to various management and HOA people who might have an extra key. It was Sunday, so of course, no one picked up the phone.

I sent out the message that the party was canceled. I went down to the community room at party time to catch any people who hadn't got the message. A few people showed up. One of them was not ready to give up on our party. People call him Big Jim, because he's, umm...big. After a quick inspection, he just decided to rip open the locked, steel door with his bare hands. I absolutely could not believe he did that! With help from the other moms, we managed to get the rest of the party stuff ready and contact the other guests. The parents in our playgroup are so awesome!

Jayson's party ended up being super fun. I am so glad (and relieved) that he had an awesome birthday.



The birthday boy.






Monster puppets.




Closeup of monster puppet craft.






Monster cupcakes that turn your mouth blue.

Something Spicy and Pink for Valentine's Day.

Hubby got me the cutest pepper grinder ever for Valentine's Day. It's much more than a cute counter top accessory, though. It's made by William Bounds, who are known for their incredible quality and lifetime warranty. They are even made in the USA.

Death By Cuteness.

There exists no cuter lunch than the bento. These little Japanese lunches have gained quite a following here in the U.S.. Bento blogs and Flikr groups abound. I, being such a fan of cuteness, and a lover of Japanese food, could not resist the lure of the bento. But, let's face it, bento paraphernalia is pricey. I was shopping around on sites like Jbox, where even the simplest bento boxes are around $20. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm a major cheapskate. So, no $20 bentos for me. I finally found an awesome site called, "Ichiban Kan" They have lots of bentos and accessories for way cheap, like $1.50! I even thought that it must be too good to be true. My order arrived today. Only 3 days after I placed it. How sweet is that?

This is Jayson's first bento.

When Life Gives You Radishes...

So, I ordered groceries online from Safeway.com, and got an unexpected surprise, of the produce variety. I ordered 7 radishes. I got 7 lbs. of radishes. What do you do when life gives you obscene amounts of radishes? Make pickles of course! I didn't have any canning jars, so I just made "refrigerator pickles." They were super easy, using this awesome little recipe. I had some on my salad at lunch today, and I must say they were excellent!

Hoot-i-ful.

Here is a sneak preview of one of the goodies in my new (yet to be opened) Etsy shop. This little owl is sure to keep your needles cozy!

Dingle Balls.

As you can see, I have been fake decorating in Photoshop again. I thought that it would be really cute to put some little, orange dingle ball trim on my valance. Apparently, this is not considered normal. My sister then informed me that I may be insane, and should seek help immediately. She also asked if I was a "dingle ball." Ha! Good one sis...I know my style is a bit much for some people, but I'm not worried about them. They'll be just fine.

Looking at my bedroom, you would never guess that I had any style (good or bad) going on. Right now, my room is the result of my decorating commitment issues. White walls and a comforter set from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Yee-Haw! Don't go too wild now! I really am a fun, non-boring person. I promise. I think too many years of white-walls rental living has taken its toll.

Notes: The lovely duvet cover can be found here. Also, the reason I wanted to have the canopy go to the floor, was so I could create a sewing nook behind the bed.

Digital Decorating.

I love using Photoshop to experiment with my decorating plans. I can get a pretty good idea of how a room will look, without all the painting, and crying, and re-painting, and cussing....Working with layers also gives you the ability to change or remove elements without disturbing the rest of the picture. Even done poorly (as in my living room photo above) Photoshop will yield a much more accurate depiction of your room than even the best sketch. That being said, my poor living room has STILL not actually been decorated.

Oh No She Didn't!

Oh yes I did. And they're fabulous! I've been working on some gorgeous cloth pads. I hope to get a few listed in my Etsy shop, after all this monster party craziness has passed. I'll probably have the pattern for sale as well.

And, yes ladies, that IS velvet...

Fine Art.

This fine example of early pre-school era art is a tempera on poster board masterpiece. The bidding will start at $100,000...

Actually this is the monster for our "pin the eye on the monster" game. Breathtaking, isn't it. Well, Jayson thinks it's cool anyways.

Window Treatment Love.

I normally have a really hard time loving curtains, or window treatments in general. I'm just not a big fan. But then I saw this gorgeous thing here. It's perfect! Not too foofy, but not boring either. That fabric is amazing as well.

Now I just need to decide which window to put it on....