Crafty and cute for the kiddos

When my brother and I were younger (I'm 12 years his senior :), we'd do little crafts together. It was the one of the few sit-down activities that he loved doing :). I recently came across this site, The Crafty Crow, and love the concept behind it! So cute, will definitely be visiting that site a lot more often when Mirabel's older...

On a random side note, I also love this cute food blog, Lost Recipes Found! Old recipes revived? Sign me up! The illustrations on that blog are also very cute :).

Fun Finds: Places to shop in Houston, TX and cute sites to visit online

If you ever find yourself in Houston, Texas, be sure to visit Texas Junk Co. You'll find an assortment of random and original treasures, from cowboy boots to frames and embroidered tea towels. I stopped by yesterday and found all of these photographed items. Texas Junk Company is the place to go if you love experiencing the joy of finding a good deal after really searching for it, as in literally getting your hands dirty. Think grandma's garage -- dust, rust and all :).

For those who prefer a cleaner environment (one that's nicely air conditioned, not dusty and big like Texas -- it is the biggest antique mall in the Lone Star State, after all) visit Market Place Antiques. You're basically paying for them to do the dusting, cleaning and hand-picking. They know what they're selling, so it isn't as easy to find a good deal. What's fun is coming across a sale! The market place is sectioned off into booths, each one operated by a different seller, which means you'll find anything and everything here. Need a 100 year old hand-carved bread box from France? They've got that. Looking for an old Charles Dickens book? They've got you covered there, too. They even have their own little diner, so the whole place smells like a dreamy meatloaf sandwich (dreamy if you like meatloaf sandwiches, that is :).

What if you want eye candy without having to leave the comfort of your own home? What if Texas is just too hot to visit? (It is! :P) Then stay home and check out these lovely sites!:

Lolalina

Pugley Feet - Blog

Gathering Spriggs

Nest Decorating (My favorite jewelry designer!)

Girlie, cute or fun

I've been meaning to post these somewhat unrelated things for awhile, mostly because I think they are too cute or fun to pass up and not share. Here's a really sweet girlie outfit that would be so fun to wear on a summer date:

Earrings from Ruche

Shirt from Ruche

Skirt from Anthropologie


Shoes from Urban Outfitters

I am really loving this blog that a friend posted on her Facebook feed. How cute!

Need some upbeat girlie music to add to your fun summertime playlist?:
Check out these guys.
or maybe you'll like them.

Though I like My Brightest Diamond's other songs a bit better, I really enjoyed watching this video:

Fun finds and freebies

Fabric by Cath Kidston--I remembered! :D

I found this really pretty fabric online (I lost the url for the site where I found it! :0/) and thought it would make the perfect background for a fun blog! It took me awhile to figure out I couldn't crop it to make it tileable, but I made it seamless using gimp and now it can be used as a tiled background :).


I love each and every one of these kitchens! I wish that I could have a house just full of kitchens. A bathroom kitchen would be a little odd, though :).

Jinjerjup has some sweet freebies like cute wallpapers and print-outs.

Free colorful seamless patterns from Patterrific.

Really pretty free bohemian backgrounds for your site (you'll have to make them seamless).

That's it!

Don't you feel sorry for apples sometimes? They seem to be the perfect fruit for snacking on, thanks to the handy skin that makes them easy to transport from place to place without a ziploc. But that poor skin, it touches everything: the kitchen counter at work, the passenger seat, the bottom of our huge tote bag (aka home to random crumbs, gum wrappers, movie ticket stubs and old receipts that have touched so many hands -- and who knows whose hands?!! And if they wash those hands after going to the bathroom?!).

Ok, maybe it's never crossed your mind. But now it has, and I bet you're grossed out! So, altogether now: Jacquueline Dufresne, we applaud you for coming up with the clever Apple Jacket (found here)! You must've also considered the horrible torture that apple skins undergo! Thanks to you, the next time I grab an apple on my way out the door, I can rest assured that I won't be devouring a petri dish disguised as my favorite fruit when it's snack time (nor do I have to waste a paper/plastic bag!). I have to say, I prefer this way of being green rather than having my face take on that color when I think about all the microbes that might be growing on my poor apple's exterior. Ok, ok... so maybe that doesn't happen, but I do think this is a cute and clever idea.