The List 3.31.10

Hip Hop Horray! Spring finally made a strong push here in NE Ohio! My crocuses are blooming, all the windows in the sun room were opened, and I had a very urgent need to wash every window I could...lol! With spring comes picnicking, gardening, and tons and tons of fun crafts along with fun warm weather fashions... love it. Here are some fun things I have found whilst surfing the Web tonight...

I used to be quite the early riser and have gotten in the bad habit of staying up wayyyy too late crafting. Hopefully these 4 Great Reasons to Wake Up Early will help me get back to my old good habits!

With warm weather comes the return of the Tiffin Tin! YAY!!! Get a pretty colorful one for yourself here at Target!

I always want to go on a huge organization spree when Spring arrives...how about making yourself some pretty fabric storage bins using a tutorial like this one? Then you get to organize AND use some of that fabric laying about!

Speaking of sewing and lunches... you could always make your little ones their own oilcloth lunch bags using this tutorial and oilcloth from this Etsy store... (make one for me too ok?)

Looking for inspiration on dying your Easter eggs this year? Here is a lovely collection of ideas from The Crafty Crow!

Even though it is a little late to be thinking about decorating your house for Easter, I think making these awesome plush carrots would be a great addition to your front door along with a sign about gardening.

Now that you all know about my love affair with Peeps, don't you want to take them out of that awful cardboard box and put them in a pretty bag with a tag? Download the printable (and adorable) tags here and show your peeps some love!

Finally, I am totally 110% smitten with this pretty little Tiny Woodland Terrarium by WoodlandBelle that features a teeny nest and a little silver bird.... I am going to go pimp my store out right now so that I can buy it asap!

Happy Spring and Happy Easter to all!

Peeps for my peeps!

Isn't this the most adorable decorating idea ever????

I love Peeps, my cat loves Peeps, who doesn't love Peeps?

Check out the awesome tutorial here for the Peep garland or maybe make a few Peep door hangers...

then hop on over here to see how to turn the adorable Peep into a pin,

 perfect for Sunday dinner-wear!

What a party!

We needed a night out and boy oh boy did we get one!

My awesome friend Joan headed up this very swanky fundraiser for her daughter's private school and asked me to do the graphics. Little did I know what this would entail.... 

About $1,400 worth of design work later I had the pleasure of seeing my work EVERYWHERE, and it felt awesome! I (almost) forgot that I was up until 2am the other night finishing the program graphics and adding last minute auctions and ads.

There was serious drinkage, very tasty food, costumes everywhere, gambling, auctions, did I mention all the booze consumed? And LOTS of trouble caused by yours truly, hubby, and friends!! There was a photo booth that captured a bit of the debauchery....

And check out my girl Autumn here... her hotness stole the show (and cost all the men there a pretty penny!)

It was a great night! We had a room at the hotel so there was no worries about the consumption.... and most importantly it was a much needed night off!

How Do You Say Goodbye?

How do you say goodbye to someone that you know is leaving you too soon?

My husband's grandmother, Grandma GG to the girls, was diagnosed with 

Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer about 3 weeks ago. 

This wonderful 85 yr old woman was before that time in tip top shape for her age.

Of course she had some health issues, diabetes and such, that she kept under control

but she didn't have anything pressing her to the door.

A month or two ago I did notice that she said she was tired a lot, but GG

(whose real name is Betty Jane by the way... isn't is so country?!)

tries to do way too much and doesn't like to be coddled. 

Then came a fall down some stairs, a trip to the ER, and this...

all of a sudden she was frail, in pain, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

I hate that part... the helplessness...

Everyone has their own way of viewing death, and Buddhism sees it in a very positive light,

which is ok for me...

but how do I explain it to the girls?

That is where I am struggling. 

Gabby is too perceptive for me not to tell her what is going on, at least in broad terms.

And I hate that this is going to hurt her and cause her pain.

We haven't had to deal with death yet, not even with the pets....

I know that this beautiful, talented, warm hearted woman will end up right where she is supposed to,

and that we should at least be grateful for the warning,

but I am so scared to lose the woman who has filled up the holes left by my own family. 

I want her to continue to sing reaaalllly old fashioned songs to the girls,

watch them practice their dance moves

and cook farm food for this "city gal". 

The only thing that I can hope for is that she is comfortable,

that Hospice can manage her pain,

and that she can see the girls one last time.

If you would please light a candle, pray, whatever,

I know that my dear husband and I would appreciate any thoughts.

Thank you.

Whew! Now back to our Regularly Scheduled Program!

How is everyone doing tonight? I am so ready for that lovely warm weather to come back, how about you? Although the storm that we had last night was a whopper and I loved every moment of it.

So I am fascinated by swaps and such, especially ones that are a little quirky and fun. One of the blogs that I read regularly, Givers Log, is always full of really neat ideas... like this awesome little Water Bottle 13 oz. or Less mini swap that she did.

Basically, you just take a plastic water bottle, cut a door in the side (where the label would fit over), jam in lots of cute goodness, make sure it weighs less than 13 oz., and mail it off to a friend! How adorably cute and easy is that??

I love little things like bookplates, pens or colored pencils, stickers, chocolate, and small little trinkets. I think that this is a lovely little swap theme for someone to do. Maybe I will try it out with a friend who lives far away first and then maybe host something like this here. What do you think? Not only do you get a nice surprise in the mail, but since it is 13 oz or less, it is cheap to recycled mail too!!! Look at all that her friend sent her... who knew so much could fit in a little bottle?

Ok folks! Here are the winners for the Get Lucky Week of Giveaways!!! 

Thank you all soooo much for participating and making this a great success! 

Remember that the Etsy sellers themselves will be shipping the item from you and

I will email the coupon code to the Snuggy Baby Winner. 

All winners were chosen by Random.org and I counted from the top of the comment list

(in case anyone was wondering!)

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Featured Seller #1- Social Butterflies

Item: Wish Necklace of the Winner's Choice

Winner: #28 - Domestic Diva

"I like the Love Wish Necklace. So pretty!"

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Featured Seller #2- Works of Whimsy

Item: Pair of Rice Bunnies in Blue and Pink

Winner: #7- Carzoo Critters

"I can't get over how cute the mixed up rice mice are!! Those are by far my favorite! 

Thank you so much for this opportunity"

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Featured Seller #3- SnuggyBaby

Item: $20 Gift Certificate Code for anything at www.SnuggyBaby.com

Winner: #11- Bethany

"i love the garden party wet bag because that is the same exact fabric i made my hooter hider out of! =)"

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Featured Seller #4- StayAwake

Item: Choice of 3 finger puppets, please check the sold items for choices!

(Please remember that it will take 2 weeks to have the puppets made, plus at least 

another week for delivery to the US)

Winner: #8- Kym

"Oh it is hard but I think that the Three Little Pigs- Felt Finger Puppet set are so cute"

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Featured Seller #5- 

Sugar Chills