Birds of a feather...

A new piece...finally.

One of my friends had a birthday and I decided to make her something.

I hope she liked it.

Friends are a blessing. A needed part of ones life.

Today...I am thankful for friends!

I WON THE LOTTERY!!!!!!

Well, I don't gamble so you may be wondering how I managed to win the lottery, right? I won the Mother-in-Law lottery.

I have heard lots of moaning, upset and strife over MIL's lately and it seems every where I turn one of my friends is having troubles or horror stories of a gathering that has gone wrong because of the dreaded MIL.

I TOTALLY won the MIL lottery. I think of my MIL Denise as one of my best friends. I love her to death and thank my lucky stars she was given to me as part of this whole marriage dealio.

She is the coolest and even though she doesn't comment on my blog...she is always looking at it and emailing me about it and giving her support and love. I KNOW!!! So sweet huh?

So for my birthday last year she gave me a years subscription to Country Living UK. ( I LOVE the magazine and ANYTHING English ;) Each month she lovingly wraps it up and posts it over from Merry Old England to me here in the U.S. of A. I get so excited to see a parcel in the mail, knowing that it is chock full of beautiful pics and design ideas. That's not why I love her but it helps :)


So~ I hosted my family this year for Christmas and she knew how stressful it would be and so she sent me this ( for no reason other than she is awesome) so I could relax and feel better after all the hard work.

(Look at her cute writing)

Uh- Hello!!! Can she be any nicer??? No- I declare that she could not. Those are handmade soaps by the way. Don't they look like beautiful chocolates? She was strolling through Covent Garden she found these for me.

So I just want to restore hope to some of my readers that you can have a wonderful MIL.

So Denise~ I LOVE YOU, thanks for having Daniel so I could marry him and meet you and you get the picture!!

Now everyone say hi to my cute English MIL and don't be jealous, though I know you all will be.

Introducing....

The Primrose Street Kids

They are from the Primrose Street Orphanage. They need loving homes and a little one to shower them with love. Some of these cuties have already found loving homes but a few still need to find one.

This little bear is Beatrice and she is in need of a family. She is cashmere and has a wool sweater to keep her warm with a big funky pink antique button as the closure for her sweater. Her bow is removable. Her eyes are antique abalone shell buttons.


This is Olivia and she has found a home.

This is Oliver the bear and he has also found a good home.

This handsome little guy is Albert the albino bunny. He is still searching for a loving family.

They are the best of friends and still keep in touch even though they have separated.

Here is Oliver right before he left us.

This little sweetheart also found a good home.

She has the most adorable vintage button from the 1930's on her pink sweater.

If you are interested in giving one of these kids a good home then click on my Etsy store in the sidebar.

xoxo Emily

Embrace your broken crayons...

Everyone has tons of broken crayons somewhere in the house. Raid the kids art box and collect them for this fun project. Or get them involved for a fun and easy activity today.

Collect all your broken bits of crayons and peel all the paper wrapping off. If they are too big to fit into a mini muffin pan break them into smaller pieces. Turn your oven on to 350 degrees and pop the tin in the oven and watch. Give it 7-10 mins until you feel they have all melted, gently take them out and let them sit on the counter to cool.

Be very careful because they are extremely hot and if kids are involved don't let them do this bit, they could seriously burn themselves with the hot wax. After a half an hour or so try and pop them out.

Some might need a little persuasion but once out of the tin let them cool a little more. You will then have the cutest rainbow crayons. The kids LOVE them and the little hands of a baby or toddler love them because they can grasp them easily. Plus- they just look so darn cute.

I think these make a cute gift with a coloring book. You could wrap them in a little cellophane bag with a ribbon.

Have fun and definitely involve the kids if you have them. The suspense to see how they turn out is most of the fun .
:)

xoxo Emily

Winning is GOOD!!!

I just received my AMAZING prize from Shelle at Blokthoughts for my "Don't you hate it when" story. It is the coolest little purse and on top of that she filled it with goodies galore AND 2 $20 gift certificates to Amazon and Target!!!

That was a really fun contest and I really appreciate everyone who voted for me, and Nan for making the wickedly awesome purse that I will enjoy so much. I wish I could cut it in half and give half to Binks. I'll use it for awhile and then pass it on to you Binks. How about that?

So-THANK YOU Shelle, Nan and everyone!!!

xoxoxoxo Emily

Winters Bleak Beauty

I love the dark days of winter.

Everything seems so cold, dead and repugnant.

If you look closely though, there is so much beauty in the

gray, dim, raw, gloomy landscape.

Every tree is stripped, exposed, naked. I wonder if it feels vulnerable?

I hope not, because the beauty of the undressed tree is one of my favorite images. So complex and interesting.


I guess I see a lesson here. Sometimes in the bleakest and darkest days we can still find beauty if we look for it.

xoxo
Emily

Promise Me

Please promise me that if you do one thing in the year of 2009, that you will go see ~The curious case of Benjamin Button. I just went to see it and wowzahhhhhs, it was FABULOUS, EPIC, AMAZING, TOUCHING!


If the picture below is the only reason you get to the movie theater then OK, I totally get it :) He is some MAJOR eye candy, but once you get into the movie you will be mesmerized. It is truly amazing. Now go get a buddy or a hunny and go see this awesome movie.


Happy New Year y'all!!!!