i have been doing some serious cleaning and decorating the past couple of weeks, and i've finally almost gotten our bedroom to look like i want.  i just have one more piece of art to finish for it and then i'll post pics. 

this simple little print i made found a new home in our bathroom in a smaller frame and i realized i never posted it before.  i stole the idea for the paper bunting, but oh well.  the "celebrate your life" wording is a little mantra of mine, so it's in a good spot for me to see it each morning and remember to never take a day for granted.

i felt like cooking this weekend (i haven't felt like it for quite awhile), so i made some delicious pasta last night that tasted just like some we had in italy over christmas.  i had also been dying for some cinnamon rolls, and not just the kind from a can.  so i used my bread maker to get them going and made these beauties.  it made 15 cinnamon rolls and within 2 hours, there were only 3 left.  i only ate 2... guess who ate the rest?  that's right, paul said he was protecting the baby from getting too much sugar by eating most of them so i wouldn't.  how sweet.  but they were pretty fabulous!

then for dinner, i made a favorite of mine that i don't make too often because paul's not a big fan.... falafel!  yum, lots of veggies stuffed into pita with falafel (from a box, so?).  love it.

i crafted quite a lot this weekend on several projects, but nothing is finished, so some posts will be coming up on the two pieces of art i'm working on to hang, the diaper bag i'm sewing, and the blanket that is almost almost finished!

this week was exhausting and thank goodness i have now hit spring break paydirt!  tomorrow i head out to missouri to see the family and get some relaxation in.  not much crafting has gone down last week or will go down this week.  however, i've managed to almost completely crank out that blanket i started... i just have one more row of squares to do and then add the orange edging and i'm done!  how's that for focusing on one project at a time (ok, so i've started about ten others, but still, i'm focusing)?  here it is, sorry the lighting is so bad, but i wanted to take the picture before i left town in the morning!

also, i am usually a one book at a time kind of girl, but people have been throwing all these books at me lately and i am trying to get some birthing books read as well.  i finally finished this book that i think i started in january.  i really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you like slightly depressing, yet fascinating memoir.  this author takes you through the world of his childhood and it's quite a walk in his shoes.

i'm off to pack, have a great week!

i have been getting so inspired lately by some of my latest craft blog browsing.  i have a lot of projects that have given me ideas for things i can tweak to create something similar, but still my own...    unfortunately, i usually just drag and drop pics into my "ideas" file and lose where they came from, so sorry that i'm pretty much not crediting anyone here.  here are some of the things that are making my mind bubble and brew!
 
i am so loving this shade of green and want to put it somewhere in my house on something!  i just haven't decided where it will end up yet....

i have been trying to figure out what i could put in the big bare space over our bed for quite some time.  i want something long and narrow, but this vinyl on canvas project gave me something to toss around in my mind.  not sure paul would go for the flowers... maybe trees?  or if i really want him to like it, steak.

i think i've clearly expressed that i have no love for things that look like baby items... and i just really can't get excited about carrying around a big pastel diaper bag with bears on it.  sorry if you have one of those, it's a personal problem.  i think it comes from my deep seeded fear that i will lose my identity and get sucked completely into mommyhood.  i am sure that if i can just have an awesome bag, that won't happen, right?!  so i'm gonna try to make a diaper bag that is similar in shape to the one below....

ok, i'm not kitschy....  there are more things i don't like about this picture than i do.  however, i like something about the tags with the letters on a clothesline.  so i'm thinking this might inspire me to make something someday that has elements of this involved....  but not with a big bow on top.

i have loved this doily clock for so long... i have watched it and tried to figure out ways to make my own for months.  i saw it on etsy but it's more than i can justify paying, but i have the perfect spot for it.  so low and behold, i found plastic doilies (that are even awesomer than this one) on ebay and have placed my bid.  maybe soon i'll have my own, partly handmade, doily clock.  sorry etsy seller, i really do love your idea.

what's inspiring you lately?

i am generally not a fan of a lot of the store bought baby decor...  like pastels and things with little cartoon animals on them.  girls have a better selection (as always), but little boy stuff just isn't my taste when the choices are between baseball sheets or plane and train sheets.  so i thought i'd try my hand at making bold colored crib sheets, and they are super easy to make!  i followed this tutorial and made my first set.
here they are:

my copper coil hoop earrings are one of my best sellers in my etsy store, but i know not everyone loves copper like i do!  i decided to try out a silver pair and see if i liked them.  i still love the copper ones, but i think these came out great too!  they are now for sale in my shop.  do you think i should try colored wire?

my brother is giving away a pair of my earrings this week over at his awesome blog, check it out and enter to win! 

after waiting a couple weeks for inspiration, i finished my second chalkboard, because i wanted one for my kitchen and had the perfect spot for it.  i think it turned out great!  i used paint marker to put a permanent border on it, but the message is just in chalk.  i almost wrote MENU on it permanently with the paint, but then i thought about how little i have been cooking lately and changed my mind!  now i can always add the menu if i want or just leave up a message.

a loong, loong time ago, i started a granny square blanket.  and no, i still haven't finished it.  instead, in my typical fashion, i started a new crochet project before finishing an old one!  but this one i'm determined to finish!  i have 19 weeks before my baby is due.  last week, when i found out i'm having a boy, i started thinking of all the things i want to make.  i definitely want to make him a blanket, which might be weird for an arizona baby born in june, right?  so it's not to keep him warm, but for him to lay on and look cute.  when i was visiting my parents awhile back, i took all my mom's old crochet books, including this one.

i am working on the blanket on the left, but a modified version.  i'm not big on pastel anything so i'm making it navy and white, and am thinking about orange edging?  i'm also making it a lot smaller than this one, which will maybe mean i will actually finish it...  i've got two squares done, 18 more to go!

i'm a sponsor this month on one of my daily blog reads, sunday morning sugar, and there's a giveaway there for me this week for a pair of earrings of your choice.  check it out, enter to win, and browse this fun blog! 

i found a great tutorial over at studs and pearls.  there have been some great diy tutorials there, so be sure to take some time to browse.  last week i came across a tutorial for this bracelet and i love the mix of string and metal.  i might be making a lot of these for gifts, because i love how mine came out!