The Week Before St. Paddy's Day - Day 1 - It's Irish Time

So today marks a week before St. Patrick's Day. The bestest of holidays.

 I thought I would share my outfit for each of the next days leading up to St. Patrick's Day AND a craft, and whatever food I think up. I'm trying to do something Irish-y every day this week but we'll see...Feel free to join in if you want to!!!! I actually started yesterday since it was my day off, so I'll actually be doing eight days before St. Patrick's Day.

March 10, 2015:

The Food:

I saw the recipe for these on Pinterest and decided to treat myself on my day off. They were nummy :)

I meal-planned while breakfasting.

The Outfit:

Green Long-Sleeved Shirt - Thrifted
Sheep T-shirt - Bought in Killarney, Ireland at The Cozy Sheep
Plaid Mini Skirt - Thrifted
Leggings - Peebles
 

I pose with a guitar I don't know how to play.....yet.

I really like this outfit! It's just amazing how the clothes you've never combined before in your closet turn into the coolest outfits.

This project was started in September and I finally finished them this month!
 

Say hello to some beautiful cloth napkins. I'm saving trees now!!!!!

Planning outfit combos!

Later on I made rice krispie treats with my sister. We added shamrock sprinkles :) See the napkin! The rice krispie doesn't get paper stuck to it on THIS napkin.

Am I making you hungry?
 

Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day or the week before like me? :D

Feel free to join in The Week Before St. Paddy's Day Party! Share your Irish outfit, food, and craft the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day. Link up by sharing your link in a comment on one of these posts :) If you can only do one day, that's great too!

Cheers!

~Mary

Sunday Waffles, Trips to the Library, And Thrifty Finds!

Well hi there! It has been awhile. *apologetic smile*

I don't recall summer ever being this busy :P This month has toned down on all the hustle and bustle but I still feel like it's going too fast :P Ya with me?

So between work and get-togethers I have been able to fit in quite a few projects these past two months! OH FRABJUS DAY! I know, right? I have even remembered to (wait for it...) take before AND after pictures of some of the projects I've completed. I'm usually terrible at doing that, guys!  *pats self on back*

Onto the pictures!

Three Sundays ago, Robert and I unintentionally started a tradition. A WAFFLE tradition! Who knows if it will stick, but we've had waffles for three Sundays in a row now and who are we to stop it? ;) I shall proceed to make you hungry with these next couple of pictures:

My waffles topped with strawberries, blueberries, and honey. Is your mouth watering yet?

Robert's waffles topped with apricot jam, honey, and peanut butter.

We went to the library and came out with more than we'd planned :D I tried to stay away, really! But, but, just look and that scrumptious stack!

This is the dress I got myself in celebration of getting my license! It reminded me of rainbows. I like rainbows.

I also got these! Russian nesting doll key covers and a tea strainer! *squeals* I collect Russian nesting dolls, so obviously I'm in love with these.

Isn't she cute?!?! She just floats in your tea cup looking super adorable.

This is the Sacred Heart of Jesus driving cross that Mom gave me :) And the pretty heart earrings that go perfectly with a necklace Robert made me a while back.

First project! This was an old frame that Robert's Mom gave us and it happened to be the 'almost' perfect size for one of our puzzles we had been wanting to frame. So I painted it with the leftover red paint that I used in the Phantom of the Opera music room.

Voila! Robert cut the matting down to size, glued the puzzle together and onto the matting since we opted not to buy glass for it. I love it and it is now quite happily hanging in the dining room :)

Nerdy cups! Over the past year I've developed this nice collection. My family enjoys choosing who they are going to be every time they come over :)

I found the large mermaid when I was out shopping and my brother brought back this little mermaid after a trip. Both needed some tops painted on them! So here they are, all complete and awkward-free. I LOVE mermaids! Our bathroom is mermaid /sea themed and I'm always looking for something new to add.

New shoes! I've been needing some new tennis shoes for a while now and I found this brilliantly blue pair at Wally World :) I also finally had a good excuse to buy myself a pair of wellies. I've been looking for the perfect pair for a looooong time and here they are! More rainbow awesomeness :D

My niece's birthday is coming up and I was trying to think of what to get her the other day. I found these shirts in the women's section at Goodwill and came up with the idea to refashion them into dresses for her! I can't wait to see what she thinks of them!

I also found all of this on the same Goodwill trip! Some of the shirts might get refashioned for my future little girls. Goodwill is awesome.

THIS is a sign I have been wanted to create for a loooong time now and I finally did it the other day!!!!!! It will be going in our kitchen once we glue the hanging attachments on the back. The sign was inspired by the song 'Scarborough Fair'. This picture doesn't do it justice :P We don't have a lot of natural light in our house so it's hard to get really good pictures while inside.

This is my latest project. This is a desk that my sister was getting rid of and I claimed it as my own. It definitely needed some character added to it though, so I decided to give it a nice coat of paint.

I know the paint looks white in this picture but try to believe that it is really a very light blue. I just put some clear coat on it tonight so hopefully it is totally done!! It will be going into my craft room once it's dry :)

*sigh* I feel so accomplished :) I need to keep being creative 'cuz I seem to thrive when I'm working on a project!


How has your summer been so far?


Love you guys!

Cheers :)

P.S. I have read 47 books this year!!!!!!!!! How many have you read? I wish I could be as dedicated a reader as somebody else I know..... *looks meaningfully at Cait* :D Someday, I tell you! SOMEDAY.

My New Pair of Fingerless Gloves.

So not terribly long ago, Treskie, a fellow blog friend, had this brilliant idea to re-purpose some of her favorite socks, one of which regrettably developed a hole in the toe region. They are now a pretty cool pair of fingerless gloves.

She provided an awesome step-by step picture tutorial, which you can find here.

Now, I LOVE fingerless gloves. I have a few pairs that I've found at Claire's and I've attempted to crochet myself a pair (I believe I mentioned them in an earlier post). I didn't get very far. Yet! I haven't given up. The thought just never crossed my mind that I could turn a pair of socks into a pair of gloves. I'm just loving this! There are so many cute and colorful socks out there these days.

Fortunately I had a pair of socks that I loved, but didn't wear very often because of the length. These one's are quite a bit longer than the one's Treskie used, but I really like them. They keep my arms warm!

They go very well with my fedora.

Thanks for the tutorial, Treskie! I'm in love with my new gloves :)


Here are some random pictures of the month:

My Dad found this "Olivia" notebook for me! It looks great in the Phantom of the Opera room. I had been thinking of finding a cute notebook to write lyrics in, and I think this one fits the bill!

I'm in love.

I've been reading "The Faerie Path" by Frewin Jones lately and I was tickled to find that when I removed the dustcover, it looked really lovely on the inside!

Pretty colors! They make me happy.

Ta-ta and Cheerio! Have a lovely night or day wherever you are :)

Valentine's Day 2014

 

Hi peoples! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day, single or not.When I was single, I used V-day as a great excuse to eat more chocolate and watch sappy romance movies that guys can't stand ;) My hubby has been a pretty good sport with those though.....unfortunately he isn't up for watching one every night in February like my sister and I did while we were still living at home. Drat. I enjoyed it while it lasted! I guess I need to plan a girl's night out to sate my girlish heart.

Despite my hectic past few days of work (why does everyone wait until the last minute?), my Valentine's day was pretty awesome. Got home at 5ish and got a call from Mom and Dad asking if Robert and I were interested in getting Chinese. She got an enthusiastic yes. No cooking? Count me in! So I changed into my new dress from ThredUP (which I'll show in some pics below) and Mom and Dad brought the Chinese :) 

Here are some pics of the day:



The Dinner Table and Pink and Red Roses from Robert.

A Valentine garland I made a few years ago.

The greenery garland is from our wedding table. I just recently placed it above our dining room door to add some color to the room.

The "Love" sign was something I made a few years ago with wooden letters from Wal-mart and scrapbook paper cut to fit, then modge podged onto the letters.

 

We finally got a frame for this! I found this picture at Hobby Lobby awhile back. Originally I swapped it out with another picture that hung in my childhood bedroom, but now it will be kept out year round. I LOVE these pictures!

When V-day comes around I usually set out all my romantic books and movies to show my appreciation. These are a few good reads. (Warning: P.S. I Love You has some adult content which I DO NOT support. I may do a review on it someday, but for now, please read with caution. Otherwise it is a good story.)

More decor. Again, these romance movies both have fast-forward worthy parts in them, so keep the remote ready, especially when watched with little ones.

Cutesie window stickers from Wal-Mart.

My ThredUp Dress! You can see how I layered with it in pics below.

Chocolates from Robert :) He even remembered that I liked the design on the box!



My card. We always use sealing wax on our cards to each other

Robert's present from me. I work at a candy store so I get to make special packs like this. My inspiration was from the Percy Jackson series. If you haven't read them, Percy's mom works at a candy store and buys him blue candy to prove to her unfortunate husband that blue food does exist. We just finished the series so I thought this would be perfect!

We're adorbs, I know.



Our activities fro the evening. I found a Romeo and Juliet puzzle at Jo-Ann Fabrics last year (I fell in love with the pic on my copy) and plan to frame it once we put it together. We're still working on it. Er, well, Robert is working on it, mostly. I'm horrible at putting together huge puzzles.


I combined the roses the next day.

 



My Mother- in- law, or "Mother-in-love" as she says, spoiled me with some pretty jewelry for my V-day gift :)

I put some of the roses in this re-usable vase that my aunt gave me.

I forgot to add this in the Christmas post! Robert made me this AWESOME pot rack for part of my Christmas present!!!!!! It is so perfect for our kitchen. I was completely surprised. He knew I wanted one, but I wouldn't have dreamed he would make me one! I couldn't have pictured anything better than this.

 

He also made this side table with my Dad for our stove, to fit in the gap between the wall and the stove. I am just absolutely loving it!
 



Tonight I made Chicken Breasts with Bacon wrapped around and Sage sprinkled on top. They were delicious!



For our side, I made fresh Brussel Sprouts, halved and cooked with a chopped onion in olive oil.
 



Last, but not least, dessert. Banana Crumb Muffins



 Happy Late Valentine's Day to you all!