A little bit of summer...

 Poppies... I love poppies. The above poppy I planted in the front garden last year from seeds. Not one came up last year. I was sooo sad. Then this year this line of weedy looking plants started growing. I decided to let it be and see what came of it. Amazingly it was the poppies I planted last year! These are amazing. They have black centers and are so striking. Just lovely. I added two more poppy plants to my collection.

 Shopping up north! We were driving out of the cabin last weekend and came up on this table filled with bird houses for sale. They are made out of scraps and were adorable. The one we took was only $4.00! Such a deal as my grandmother would say. Now to find a home for it down here in our urban utopia.

 S'mores. Yum. 

Photo Credit: Avery  9-years-old

And backyard fires... This is our favorite thing to do in the summer.. Start a fire and hang out outside. Random people tend to pop by for a visit which makes it all the more fun!

Happy Summer! 

Alyssa

Etsy find of the day!

I absolutely love bunting flags! I want a ton of them all over my house because I think they're really cute. They rate right up there with birds for me. The happiness factor is huge! Do you know what I'm talking about? You can use them for parties, leave them out as decoration all year, or take them out for whatever occasion you would like. I have thought about making them but the laziness factor kicks in for me. I love to sew, but I'm an instant gratification girl...sometimes this means the whole cutting thing bores me and leads me to forget about even starting a project. Then I found these! It's a bunting kit. Everything is in the kit and all you need to do is sew it! Yes, you can buy them completed, too, but that will cost you. These are $14.25 and you barely have to do any work! Love that!

These are all made out of vintage bed sheets. I think the reason why I like them is because I might have actually had some of these sheets on my bed as a kid. Wow, I feel old...they are now vintage. I am a child of the 70's what can I say! Anyway, I'm showing my age now.

If you don't sew yet, this could be a fun project to start with. I guarantee it will be easy and you can say you made it yourself. You did do the SEWING part of it afterall!

I hope you're starting to love Etsy like I do!

Stacy

Holy Cuteness!

Oh how I love this! Its so cute I want one in every color!

You can find them here. Check out the hot pink one too!

Things that make me happy on a rainy day.

I am sorry to say I don't know where I got this image.. But I love it. If you know let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.. In the meantime does this not look heavenly. 

It's a warm, sunny, bugless day. Kids playing in the water on this fabulous linoleum covered dock. (What a fabulous color scheme to. Don't you think?) Mom & Dad sitting on land in a chaise lounge made for 2 with lots of pillows for extra comfort. A couple of margarita's nearby and some good books and magazines on hand for when they are not dozing. Ah yes, I have now entered my happy place once again.

And now I say good-bye and hope you are in your happy place too. 

Alyssa

Things that make me happy.....by alyssa

Once upon a time I had a sad, empty, little nook. For a bit he had a small basket of my husbands things... but he didn't look happy about it.... so I moved Eric's basket and found some moss... after the moss.. came some cute little forest animal candles on clearance from Pottery Barn and now he is a happy little nook. The End.

Terrarium Time!

You will all see, very soon, that Alyssa is the one in this duo with the green thumb. For some reason, no matter how hard I try...plants do not live under my care. Could it be the lack of water? I thought plants could go for a month or two without being watered. No worries, when I realize that it's been a while, I compensate by completely over-watering. So I saw this blog, The Robots Attack, and decided to try it myself! It is my husband's cousin's blog so please check it out! She has some very creative crafting ideas!

So I bought this apothecary jar for cheap! I wasn't going to spend a ton because who knows if it will work!

See this? $9.99...go to HomeGoods! They have a great selection of these.

Now go buy some small filler rocks. Target has them for pretty cheap, but Ikea would be better. However, if your only choice is to visit Ikea on the weekend stick with Target. Ikea can instantly ruin a good mood if you go on the weekend. There's no sense in that.

Then get some activated charcoal. You can find it at your local garden store or on Etsy.

Then some potting soil. I'm not a fan of this stuff because it's not organic but it's what I had.

So this is the order you put these things into the apothecary jar...
Filler rocks (about an inch)
Activated charcoal (about 2 inches)
Potting soil (about 4-5 inches)



Now loosen up the roots on your plant/plants.Once you have loosened up the roots, stick it in the potting soil and give it a drink of water...but not too much! I chose this fern because it pretty much fills the whole jar.



And here is the end result! I love this new green friend of mine. Keep it in a sunny window and water it once a week or so. Take the lid off every once in a while so it doesn't rot. There's lots of moisture in the jar. This is the part of my instruction that I can see myself forgetting.

Happy planting! What good stuff are you planting in your jar or garden?

I'll be back soon!
Stacy

A Long Winter...but a few new things that make me happy!

There's this wonderful occasional sale called The French Flea. It's somewhat dangerous for me, if I'm being honest. I go online and see what they have coming up at their sales and decide if I want to go or not. NOT such a good idea! I went online last week and spotted this:

Do you love it like I do? I knew I had to have it, but I WORK when they open on Thursdays at 10 a.m. and I knew it would be snapped up by someone immediately. I showed Alyssa and how nice is she...she went and picked it up for me! I feel so lucky! The best part about this chair, my friends, is that it was $105. That's it! Did I mention that I feel lucky??? Here's one more pic with the pillow that Alyssa also found for me:

I'm hopeful that Spring is on it's way. I want to start creating an outdoor room that we can enjoy for a few months out of every year. Until then, I decided to show you a couple more things that make me happy around the house. I love these green apples...they are so cheap and easy to add for a pop of Spring color! You can get them at Pottery Barn. I didn't get my bowl there but, wow, it looks similar!

And without these I would be lost...

Oh, and this one too...

Okay, okay! This one too...not me, the other one! My husband, Jason.

Spring Break is coming for me and I will get some projects posted. Do something cheap and easy around your house in the next couple of weeks and think of Spring! Things are feeling fresh and alive!

Salut!

Stacy

Little Touches of Happy

A little touch of happy in my bathroom.

I think they went out drinking last night... What do you think? :) 

Ciao, 

Alyssa 

**Oops... I forgot to give credit...
The cotton branches are from my favorite little florist in the hood - Brown & Greene

Ricky & Lucy are from CB2.