Clovers

I love St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe it's the Irish in me or maybe it's just another excuse to celebrate and decorate... Whatever the reason, I'm excited for the 17th!  Last year, I snagged a couple of wood clovers from Goodwill.  Each one cost me under a dollar.  I finally got around to Mod Podging them last week.

Later this week, I'll have a tutorial for a kid-friendly St. Patrick's Day centerpiece, made completely from Dollar Store supplies and costing less than $2!

Inspiration Board GIVEAWAY!

It's finally here!  I cannot believe how long this project has taken me to finish.  There was nothing difficult in its making, but I couldn't seem to get the details just perfect.  Lucky for you, though, I did, because now I'm going to give it away!

It's an inspiration board!  You can use the (nicely coordinated) clothespins for magazine clippings, pieces of fabric or paper, pictures, notes, or anything else that might inspire you!  I want to give it to one of you, for your support inspires me greatly, and I want to help to inspire you.

There are five ways to enter.  Please leave me a separate comment for each of your entries.  

1st Entry: Leave me a comment telling me one thing that inspires you.

2nd Entry: Become of follower of this blog.

3rd Entry: Share the link to this giveaway on your blog.

4th Entry: Share the link to this giveaway on Facebook.

5th Entry: Share the link to this giveaway on Twitter.

This giveaway will end in one week, on Saturday May 8.  I will randomly choose one winner the following day.  Giveaway open to anyone living in the United States.

I'm linking up to:

From Dishtowel to Decor

My husband and I loaded our kids in the car on Saturday, after our son's early morning soccer game, for our annual trip to IKEA.  Sometimes I wish we lived closer to an IKEA, but then after I go, I think it's a really good thing we don't, because otherwise we might be broke.  Anyways, I picked up some great project supplies on Saturday, one being a small wood-framed mirror.  I had imagined Mod Podging some gorgeous paper on to it, but tonight, I was inspired to go elsewhere.

Also from IKEA, I snagged some adorable dish towels, cupcake themed.  I'm a sucker for cupcakes as is, but add a cute polka dot tag, and I'm done for!

Knowing that there were three dish towels total, I felt free to hack one of them to pieces.  So I did, and now I have the cutest little mirror hanging in my kitchen.  I'm thinking of checking IKEA's website to see if I can order more of these towels--I'm in love!

Newest Off-the-Side-of-the-Road Find

FYI--8 weeks after back surgery, while wearing heels, DO NOT (under any circumstances), pick up large pieces of furniture off the side of the road and lift them into your van alone.  

Driving home from church on Sunday, while my husband was working a 24 hour shift in the hospital, I spotted this:

It's solid wood and completely beautiful.  How could I just leave it there?  So I hopped out of my van, asked my kids to climb out for moral support, and proceeded to cram this thing into the back of the van.  How I did it, I do not know.  It seems completely impossible now that it's home.  But that's not the point--The point  is that I snagged this amazing piece of furniture for FREE!

I'm thinking that I'll probably take the doors off to use it as a bookshelf.  Or maybe we'll use it as a supply shelf in our Arts and Craft room.  I also want to paint it.  Maybe white, with some distressing to make it look older?  Really, though, I want to paint it a Robin's egg blue.  Wouldn't that be gorgeous?  Ideas?  Opinions?  I can't wait to get started!

Sit. Swing. Breathe.

Do you have a dream house?  I do.  My dream home is the house from The Notebook.  You know, the one that Noah (swoon) restores?  I'm in love with that house, mostly because of the enormous wrap around porch.  I have fantasies of spending hours in a porch swing, drinking lemonade and watching the sunset/children playing/starts come out/ocean waves.  Dreamy, right?  I wanted to capture the feeling that my day dreams bring.  I wanted something to look at that would remind me of my North Carolina evenings, swinging on the porch with my honey.  (Hush, I know it's just a dream.)  So here it is:

What do you think?  I wanted simplicity.  Does it need something more, though?  Maybe a loop of ribbon for hanging, instead of just an alligator clip on the back?  Suggestions, please.  I love it, though, because I just feel a peaceful, dreamy feeling when I look at it.  Sigh.