Happy Easter

Not much to say, except, I wish you all a very happy Easter. I hope you enjoy this blessed time with your family and friends. Here I am in Hampton, VA with my brothers and their families.

We did have a crafty night last night when we decided to try Martha Stewart's tie dyed eggs. Here are my pics of the process. It was so easy and so mess free! We will definitely be doing this again next year!

Please remember the sacrifice that Christ gave for each of us! God Bless!

Vintage Window Series

OK, I can't help it. I know I just posted one item, but I have been dying to share with you my new series. I have been trying to wait for Sarah at Modern Country Style to finish her "Define Your Blog" series.

OK, here it is...I plan on putting on a series of how many things can we do with vintage windows. I recently acquired 40 vintage (100 yr old) windows for free! So, now my plans are to see how many different things we can come up with to make out of those windows.

I have to say, ShantyGirl has an amazing project that she shared on French Country Cottage's linky party today!

I love this idea! I can't wait to try it. You all need to check her site out, let her know I sent ya!

Look What You Can Make for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Yes, I said it...FREE!!!

A while ago, while my husband was still active duty, the Post Office advertised to Military wives that we could get shipping boxes delivered to our homes for free. I ordered a lot, as my goal was to ship to my husband every week while he was out to sea for 6 months. Well, I went through those boxes.

Recently, I saw a post that someone did (I'm so sorry, I can't remember who), where they used the Priority Mail boxes for paper boxes. I thought this was just what I needed. So, guess what....the Post Office still sends out Priority Mail and Express Mail shipping boxes to ANYONE that orders them for free! I went out to the USPS.com website and ordered shipping supplies. They have Priority Mail boxes that are 14.375x2.875x15.875, so I ordered a case of them.

They came today! I was so excited when I came home from work today to find a whole box of FREE Priority Mail shipping boxes. My husband almost died of shock to find out they were all free. I think you get something like 25 in a case. I found through trial and error that you can get two paper/magazine holders per box.

So, after I cut them apart, I put them together with the adhesive strip that is already on the boxes from the USPS. Then I just covered the outside of the boxes. Now, don't judge me here!!! I used to sell Leaving Prints scrapbook supplies. I used to buy all the big paper packs that they sold so that I would have samples for customers to look at, etc. There were ALOT of papers in there that I hated or just haven't been able to use. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use those papers without worrying that I'm using up my "good" paper. So, it might not look pretty, but it is better than a red, white and blue print USPS box.

I just threw in some of the paper that I had around to show you how it would work. I thought I could punch a hole in the spine and add tags to organize the different types of paper. I just haven't gotten that far yet. So, not so shabby for being free, right? What do you think?

Define Your Blog Week

Well, here it is: Define Your Blog Week! What is that you ask? I really wasn't sure. I joined into this project because a new blog friend was doing it on her blog and I thought it sounded like it could help me build my blog and maybe even guide me to understand what I really want from this blog. So, who is this amazing friend who thought of this unique idea? Why it is Sarah at Modern Country Style of course!

So, Sarah states that she is going to be posting on Inspiration, Renovation, and Creation and then having her linky party on the 14th. So, if it is good enough for Sarah, it is good enough for me! Today Ms. Sarah started with Inspiration....so shall we.....

Inspiration for my projects is usually based on a need or a found item that I just couldn't resist. Recently, I was reading a post by a blogger that I found interesting. She mentioned that she had gone junking with with a fellow blogger and her friend would only pick up items that she could place in her home or knew what project she would do with the item. However, I am so the opposite! If I find a bargain, I will usually try everything I can to get that item and then figure out what to do with it later. Probably why my studio likes like a project from the show "Hoarders".

Like my friend Sarah, once I find a project or item to work on, I search the internet for like items and/or ways to proceed. A perfect example of this was a post I did a while ago on my studio and reorganizing it. Before I ever started my project of my office, I went out to the web and pulled down tons of photos of studios that inspired me for either color, organization, etc.

Color

Color seems to inspire me the most. I love the feel and memories that color inspires. There are certain colors that I feel I am most creative around and I try to pull pictures that show colors.

I LOVE PINK!!!!!

The coolness of these colors makes me feel filled with joy and ready to work.

Style

Style of items gives me inspiration. I love vintage items. I never used to, but I am finding that as I get older and trying to get more in touch with myself, I am a vintage person!

Needs

Lastly, I try to find inspiration by looking at blog postings that show what I need. Ultimately, in this project I need organization ideas.

So, that's how my inspiration works, usually. What inspires you with your projects? Don't forget to check out Ms. Sarah's "Define Your Blog"!

How To Improve Your Blog...

Let me ask you a question....

When you get someone to finally come to read your blog and you post something that you found on another blog (i.e., a link) do you want that person to leave your blog permanently or temporarily? Personally, I would only want them to leave temporarily and then come back to read the rest of what I was writing.

I am posting this because I have found that most of us put links in that automatically take the reader to the new site on the same window or tab that our blog is in. So, I thought I would share with you a little trick to make sure that when the reader clicks on the link you want them to visit, it opens in a new window.

So, let's say that we want our readers to see what Veronica at "Life In The Thrify Lane" has posted on her blog today. The HTML code that is needed to open in a new window is: target="_blank" Therefore, your link should look like this: <a href="http://lifeinthethriftylane.blogspot.com/ target="_blank" ></a> within your "Edit HTML" tab (for Blogger at least).

I hope that helps. Have fun blogging!!!

Cinco de Mayo Baby Shower

OK, I know it isn't the norm to have a Cinco de Mayo baby shower, but when your baby is due on Cinco de Mayo, you are bound to have a partying kid! Seriously, I have a co-worker that is due on 5 May 2011 and several of us are putting together her shower and went with the Cinco de Mayo theme. So, besides all the normal Mexican decorations I added a paper sour cream container with a cute little rattle, and the cutest ever tricycle diaper cake.

I found directions to create these here: Dawns Stamping Thoughts

Now, I have to be honest, I got the great idea to create this type of diaper cake rather than the normal from Southern Fried Gal who has the greatest tutorial on her blog. When you are there, you need to look at her ENTIRE blog as she has some amazing stuff on there. Wait 'til you see the recipe for her Carrot Cake Cheesecake. YUM!!!!

Anyway, this is my creation using her tutorial. If I can do it, anyone can!

I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for looking!