The House Smells Like A Rose Garden...

...thanks to Beverly.



I'm trying to use up my Yankee candles so I can make some totally cool ribbon holders like hers.

So far, this is a pretty sweet (smelling) little project. Thanks Beverly!

Pink Saturday - Sweet Stress Reliever

Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food.
Michael Levine, nutrition researcher, as quoted in The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars

Pink + Chocolate + Saturday. Oooooh, it doesn't get much better than that!

I purchased this graphics set from Daisie Company. I made this little emergency chocolate kit for a friend who's battling breast cancer. I shipped it off to her yesterday. Hope it'll lift her spirits when she opens the package to find all the sweet treats inside.

I also made one for Blondie for Valentine's Day.

And larger, gallon-size cans for my mother and stepmother for Valentine's Day.

Every woman should have a secret emergency stash of chocolate somewhere, don't you think?

Of course, a woman's stash should be all wrapped up in pretty pinkness, right?

I hope your Saturday is full of Pinks and lots of sweetness.

Don't forget to check out all the other Pink Saturday participants over a Beverly's.

Pink Saturday - Roses and Bows

It's Pink Saturday again! Woo Hoo! Thank you so much, Beverly, for hosting Pink Saturday for us again.

I love LOVE LOVE Pink Saturdays. Even when I don't have a post up, I still enjoy going around and visiting everyone else, seeing all your lovely pinkies.


Today I thought I'd share my latest creations.



This is a Coupon Organizer. I purchased the graphics, then put them together into my own design.



I had purchased this ribbon a while back. It is what I used to trim out the Christmas stocking for Chrissy. I had some left and just knew I had to add it to this box.



This is the matching Recipe Box that I made.



I've been pleasantly surprised at the response I've gotten so far to the boxes I've made. I've already received requests for custom orders.



I'm ooh'ing and ahh'ing over these. And, as much as I need them to sell, I'm really kinda hoping they don't. LOL



But seriously, I'm hoping and praying the demand keeps up. Not just because of the income factor..but because I really have a LOT of fun making these.

My shameless plug for the day: You can find these & the other tin boxes I've got for sale HERE.


Now let's head on over to Beverly's to see who else is participating today.

And have a WONDERFUL Pink Saturday!

Pink Saturday - Planning Ahead

Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound, Pink Saturday is upon us again!


Puleeze tell me I'm not the only one who does this...

I refrain rather religiously from buying Christmas decorations in the months leading up to the holiday...knowing I can get the same things for a song if I hold out until December 26.



Anyone else do that?

I even begin to purchase next year's Christmas presents at the after-Christmas sales. (The problem with this money-saving strategy is that I sometimes forget I've purchased something for someone and end up buying them another gift at some point during the year.)



Tell me I'm not alone! Tell me you too start preparing for Christmas a year in advance!


I've noticed the past few years that our living room Victorian tree has been looking more and more bare. This year it was really quite embarrassing, looking rather pathetic. Too many empty green branches. Over the years most of our ornaments have broken at one point or another. When I was packing away the decorations this year, I noticed we were down to just 8 glass Victorian-style ornaments of the original 40 given to me by my mother-in-law.



Which brings me to the after-Christmas sales this year and my quest to liven up my tree next year.




I admit it. I have purchased more ornaments the past few weeks than I ever have in the past. More than I care to ever let my husband know about.

Glass ones. Plastic ones. Styrofoam ones. Of all different sizes and colors. Most of them I have plans to perk up and transform into perfect pinkiness.



On the upside, I've made all these purchases at deep discounts. Some 60% off, more at 75% off



and my personal fave: All the pink goodies you've seen here were 80% off + my 15% employee discount at Hobby Lobby.



So when hubby finds my new Christmas stash, I'll just bat my eyelashes and give him my usual line:

"But honey! See how much money I saved you?"




Now tell me, what kind of after-Christmas goodies have you found? And what projects do you have dancing around in your head for Christmas 2009?

Marriage....It's All About Compromise

I wanted to make a new pillow for Chrissy. It needed to be pink and lacey and froo-frooey, just as any 8 month old baby girl would want.


Unfortunately, JD happened to be with me the day I went to the fabric store.


So Chrissy ended up with pink camo instead.

Just look at my poor baby girl.

She's devastated by such a turn of events, can't you tell?

Please check out all the other Pink Saturday participants over at Beverly's.

And have a Perfectly Pink Saturday!

Pink Saturday - Think Pink

We all know that.

But it lasts much longer than just October. Public awareness, education, research, early detection, treatment and a CURE are year-round projects.

Here we are on the last Pink Saturday of the month. I'd like to share a couple of ways I found to continue to support this cause as we head into the Holidays.

Have you heard the news? Linens-N-Things is going out of business. Closing all of its stores nationwide by the end of this year. They have already begun the close-out pricing in their stores.


Linens-N-Things has been a consistent supporter of breast cancer awareness. Each year they set up Pink Departments, selling everything pink you can imagine for your kitchen and bath. LNT and their venders donate part of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

This might be a good time to head on in to your local Linens-N-Things, get some good deals, pick up some Pink items they may still have left...and support a company who proved itself to be a supporter of women.

The other day I was in Wal-Mart and spied some special wrapping paper. It was in the Christmas section with their Christmas wrapping paper. The soft pink colors first caught my eye (I'm always on the hunt for shabby pink or Victorian Christmas paper). Then I saw the Pink Ribbon.

Notice their Ribbon is upside down? You can read why here.

The Gift wrap is for Friends For An Early Breast Cancer Test.

There are a couple of different patterns available. This is the one I bought.

I do not believe these are available online, at least I haven't been able to find them there. Only in the Wal-Mart store. They were $4 a roll.

As we bring October to a close, let's all continue to

And now head on over to Beverly's to see all the other ladies participating in today's Pink Saturday.

Pink Saturday - The Bathroom Edition

Welcome to my second Pink Saturday, graciously hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound. There are a lot of participants and it does take a while to get to everyone. Oh, how it is worth it, though. Thank you all so much who visited and commented during my inaugural Pink Saturday last week. I'm meeting so many lovely, talented ladies. It truly has been a great joy for me.


I've harped quite a bit on my bathrooms this week. Personally, I'm ready to move on to other subjects. But since you've spent so much time in this little room with me the past few days, I thought this might be a good place for us to end the week.

For those who've been following my bathroom progress, you may have noticed it used to have a Seashells By The Seashore kind of theme before. That is long gone.

Now it's all coming up roses. Here are a few of the things that surround the sink table that I built .

I bought this framed rose print on eBay.

I think I bought this trio at Hobby Lobby. I originally thought they'd be good to hang washcloths on. But it turns out they're not real sturdy. I think they'd look sweet with a pearl necklace or a heart shaped sachet or something hanging from the hooks. What do you think?

Two things every room of a house should have: a clock and a box of tissues. I inherited this clock when my great aunt passed away. Someday I'll have to show you what it looked like when I first got it. It's come a long way, baby!

I purchased this little cart on eBay when I built the sink table. I wanted something pretty to store our "essentials" under the sink, close to the toilet. It has just the tiniest little pink bow. What I really love about it is the eyelet. I'm a sucker for eyelet.

Yet another eBay find. This adorable set of towels came from a mother/daughter pair of sellers. Sure wish I could remember who they were. I'd love to buy more from them.

There's a lot more I could share. But I decided to keep it simple today with just a few pictures because I really do feel like I'm beating this poor bath horse.

Thank you for stopping by. Now please, come on out of the commode. Let's head on over to Beverly's so we can see all the other pink goodies our friends are sharing today.

My First Pink Saturday!

Women are like tea bags.
We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

That quote stood out to me as I prepared today's Pink Saturday post. Not because I am going to share photos of dainty teacups. Or picturesque teapots. Heck, not even a tea bag.

It spoke to me because I think I'm feeling a bit like a tea bag these days. No, I'm not in hot water, per se. But Blondie's situation continues to deteriorate. As a result, there's a lot of things permeating through my life that make me pretty darned uncomfortable. Hot under the collar, in fact. A whole lot o' baggage. Makes me question my own strength. How long I can steep in this before I begin to turn sour.

(See where I'm going with this whole 'tea bag' thing?)

Because she means so much to me, I have decided to dedicate my first Pink Saturday to Blondie. She won't ever know it; she doesn't even know this blog exists. And that's ok. Honoring her anyway does my heart good.

Here are a few bags pinkies Blondie left behind when she moved out...

This is her computer case. Hot pink of course.
Because she's a teenager and hot pink totally rules!

Blondie loves Vera Bradley.
She has several purses, wallets, even a watch.

This is a bag Blondie made in her Family & Consumer Sciences class last year.
(Back in my day, it was called Home Ec).
It's just the neatest thing; the pictures don't do it justice.
It's very roomy and has giant pockets on the outside.

There are also lots of pockets inside.
And look at the cute coordinating stripe she used in there.

This is a little sign she made.
It is still stuck to the mirror in her bathroom.
Right where she left it.

By the way, did you notice? The pink Breast Cancer awareness ribbon on each photo? That is a special little doo-dad they've got this month over at Picnik. They have a few other Pink goodies up this month too. So if you're into online photo editing, maybe you'd want to check them out.

There ya' go. My first Pink Saturday post is in the bag! Now let's head on over to Beverly's to check out all the others who are participating.