St. Patrick's Day lunchbox

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Miss B is off to school wearing green and carrying a special lunchbox loaded with the holiday spirit.  

Lunch is served!  Green everything.  Cheese tortellini with pesto sauce, sliced cucumbers with ranch salad dressing (tinted with a bit of green food coloring), Key Lime pie yogurt, green grapes, a bag of pear chips and of course, a shamrock cookie.  

The "Leprechaun juice" is actually Hawaiian Punch - (not usually packed for her lunches...but an exception was made for St. Patty's Day). 

I taped this note to the inside of the lunch box and included another which was a St. Patrick's Day joke.

Q: "What's Irish and stays out all night?

A:  Patty O'Furniture!!  

For more fun St. Patrick's Day lunch notes and jokes please head to the Happy Home Fairy.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Miss B and Me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day...buds on the tree in back...Spring is on the way soon!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Valentine's Day.

The basket below is filled with all of Miss B's sweet Valentine's thus far...

After school we won't be able to lift it (smile).

Sweet Valentine's

Just because it makes me happy...

Miss B's sweet Valentines for all her little buddies...

Treat bag download can be found on Serena's blog here.

"Chairy" Christmas tree

Back by popular demand - here is our "chairy" Christmas tree! A live 8 foot tree packed with tons of chair ornaments collected over the years. Everybody has their favorite. The tree is usually a 3 day process. Day 1 - selecting, buying, hauling and standing the tree. Day 2 - lighting. Day 3 - Unpacking the chair ornaments (my favorite part - its like visiting with old friends.)

New this year is the "wicker tree skirt." Last year, I searched and searched for a large basket to plop the tree stand into. I finally found one but the tree didn't feel sturdy so we resorted to a small tree. This year a friend sent me a link for the wicker tree skirt. Both she and I couldn't order one fast enough! Its basically a wicker band - tree and tree stand simply get placed within. Just genius!

Here is the bare tree. Pretty but in need of sparkle and stuff.

I had plenty of burlap left over from Miss B's cowgirl birthday party...so I made strips of garland and added white lights.

Then on came all my chair friends. I have hundreds of chair ornaments - here is just a close up sampling of a few. Hope you enjoy. If you're in town - stop by and choose your favorite.

I joined the Christmas Tree link party at Thrifty Decor Chick - head there to see wonderful Christmas trees.

Our chippy, minty green/red Christmas mantel

Hi everyone. Are you tired of looking at my blimp post? Seriously, it's been forever since I've posted (since July to be exact). Life has been busy and with Santa coming its bound to get even busier ;-) We're slowly turning our home into a cozy, winter wonderland. I decided to go chippy, minty green and red on the mantel. Pops of greens and reds and lots of chippiness (sheer happiness). Hope you enjoy.

It all started with the chippy, minty green mirror. I loved the size and thought it was a perfect backdrop for the wreath. Then I just "shopped the house" for more mint green and reds. The only thing I needed to buy was the greenery.

My favorite touch is the "Merry Christmas" sign which was purchased from my favorite store, Shutters in Fair Haven, New Jersey :-)

"33" - our house numbers.

Mint green platter, pitcher & gravy boat from the kitchen. Filled with greenery and red vintage Christmas ornaments. The small chippy red chair from our guest room.

The corner of our mantel. A distressed metal "B" for Little Miss B.

Our angel overseeing the side of the mantel.

More chippiness - two antique boxes.

The top one is filled with assorted greenery and cinnamon-scented pine cones.

Minty metal tub taken from Miss B's room and filled with a tree. 3 chairs for more "red."

Thanks for popping by.

I've joined the holiday home link party at The Lettered Cottage.

To see other mantels head here.

blogging about a blimp!

I thought I would be a better "blogger" in the month of June. Never mind - I'll try again in July. I recently read a blog post someone wrote about getting the new phone books (seriously)...so, I thought I would try to top that with a post about a blimp. Yes - a blimp! Blog worthy, no?! Happy 4th.

Marine curio

So, I found this shell collection box for $5 and had to have it. It was vintage, charming, beachy and "blue." I wasn't really sure what it was but it was CUTE! Later that week, I got my answer...it's a marine curio. For more on marine curios go here...

Off to the fair tonight!