After seeing this sweet garland on Wild Olive last year, I put it on my mental checklist of things I would like to complete this valentine's day. I didn't have any brown kraft paper or paper bags on hand, so I opted for some trusty old book pages instead. I have several more strands to go but I am taking a little breather before I find myself in the midst of another heart attack.
This time around, I am making the strands with several cohesive skinny hearts. I am definitley prefering the emaciated heart look over the healthy, plump heart. Hopefully this batch will balance things out a bit because I am not feeling ambitious enough to start the whole project over! Eeep!
What is it about garlands that makes our lives seem a bit more fuller and the world a bit more happier? ;)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A Labor of Love
Posted by Kim Rakes at 6:56 AM 8 comments
Labels: crafting, holidays, valentine's day
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A Happy Little Giveaway
Alrighty, so the blog geek within has me convinced that it is time for me to do a giveaway on my little corner of the net. I have always wanted to do one of these but did not really want to hold one without any rhyme or reason. In the midst of a winter wonderland, I figured a bag full of happy spring loot would be the perfect pick-me-up for many of us! It certainly put a smile on my face putting it together.

What's included??
(*) Reusable Oilcloth Picnic Lunch Bag
(*) Green Polka Dotted Tissue Holder
(*) Haley's Signature Spring Flowers Hair Bow
(*) Brown Muslin Upcycled Pin Cushion
(*) Sweet Bird Patterned Pouch for your goodies
To Enter simply:
(1) Follow my blog and leave a comment about your favorite spring activity on this post
(2) Recieve an additional entry for commenting on a previous post (grab a cup of tea and please stay awhile)
(3) Recieve an additional entry for posting this giveaway on your blog (and please note that you did)
If there's enough interest, I will be drawing 3 names and be sending out 2 additional spring-themed zip pouches :)
Drawing will be held Wednesday, February 10th!
Good Luck, Sweet Friends!
Posted by Kim Rakes at 7:34 AM 36 comments
Labels: Etsy Finds, giveaway, spring
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
gratitude tuesday : week four

Being snowed in and subsequent snow day baking!
Haley and I fixed the most glorious homemade icecream sandwiches this past weekend. With that said, I guess I am also thankful for vanilla icecream, sugar cookies, and little but willing sticky toddler fingers too :)
Posted by Kim Rakes at 9:05 PM 6 comments
Labels: baking, gratitude tuesday, haley
Finally...
Be still my heart, my little lady is growing up! It only took about 2 and a half years, but Haley will finally let me stick bows in her hair without throwing an all out temper tantrum. Everyone take note of that SMILE! Now, the length of time she'll keep them in varies, but I will take what I can get. I want to make her a million more of these. They are simple and quick and I feel a new upcycling project coming up.

We are all about back to 100% health and to celebrate we are doing a little spring-themed giveaway.
Stay tuned...
Posted by Kim Rakes at 5:53 PM 5 comments
Labels: Etsy Finds, haley, my girls
Monday, February 1, 2010
9 Months
Cameron is 9 months old today.
She is crawling everywhere, saying "dada", giving high fives and flashing the sweetest toothy smile every time you say her name. She has two teeth on the top and two teeth on the bottom and remains pretty happy despite the occasional pain and fevers they bring her. She has learned to use them to bite into crackers and into my shoulder! Ouch. Nothing amuses her more than her sister Haley and our dog Chef and you can find her laughing at them and playing with them when she's not busy with her blocks or banging away on her piano. She has the same laugh as her big sister and also weighs just as much as her- 24 pounds! She loves to take tub baths and splash everywhere. She continues to capture my heart... and gobs of my hair! Double Ouch.
Tomorrow, we head to the doctor for a check up. She's had strep for the past week and it has given her the runs and the ugliest case of diaper rash I have ever seen. We let her roam around the house diaper free yesterday, pooping to her hearts content all over our wood floors, but her bottom is still red and sore and tad bit bumpy. I hope it hasn't sprung into a yeast infection. My poor, poor baby... I hope her little bum bum gets better soon.
Thanks for reading about butts and baby poop, you all are the best! <3
Posted by Kim Rakes at 6:50 AM 11 comments
Homemade Icecream Sandwiches
Oh, being snowed in does good things for the soul. Everything seems to go slower, hugs are longer and warmer, and one can find contentment in all the things that they would otherwise find themselves too busy to do- baking cookies, completing a puzzle, sewing a dress, finishing a book, painting a picture.
Haley and I did a little baking and made some delicious homemade icecream sandwiches. She was such a great helper and I was so excited to eat what she cooked.



Her lastest game she likes to play is "airplane"

We hope all our snowed in friends had a lovely time enjoying life's simple pleasures. And if you're not snowed in, we hope you take a second to do something that will make your heart happy :)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Oh My Deer!
Meet our neighbors. This is the sweet little deer family lives across the street from us in the woods. There are 4 of them, though I was only able to get three on camera. We have caught them prancing about the streets throughout the day since the world was a bit more still and sleepy today after a glorius snowfall. They look so beautiful and magical against the white, but it's hard not to get sad for them when they scamper off scared after hearing the slightest bit of noise. Haley is cute as a button and calls them all reindeer.

Tonight we are cutting out the lights, sipping on hot cocoa and looking wishfully out the window hoping to spot them again.
xoxo
Posted by Kim Rakes at 8:39 PM 7 comments










