Etsy Favorites: Syko

You saw a blur of my bird and heart pillow from Syko last week, but here it is in all its glory:

I just love it. I'm so taken with the birds that are featured on many of Syko's items.

There's a cute tag so you know where it's from:

And a sweet green button sewn onto the back to close it:

It goes perfectly in my room!

Make sure you check out all of Syko's wonderful, whimsical creations. You can also visit her on her blog.

Wrist Warmers

When I wrote about my sweater, I promised pictures of the wrist bands, so here they are:

You'd think they would have been extra easy; just snip it off the sweater and it's done. Only I cut up the seam first, and then across. I figured that I would do a better job cutting the wrist part off the sweater if I was only cutting through one layer at a time. It didn't occur to me until after I'd made the cuts that I could still use the wrist parts, too.

But it was just a matter of sewing up the seam again, and then good as new!

[It feels sort of '80s, but I like them, and I've worn them].

Etsy Favorites: Frazzy Dazzles

This week's featured Etsy seller is Frazzy Dazzles. My order came sweetly wrapped including cute little buttons and an original drawing that matched my purchase:

Inside was Lish-ee, the bed monster, as well as some surprise Australian chocolates!

My bed monster promptly stole half my chocolates, but I managed to get the rest for myself:

Lish-ee's new home - my bed! (Very appropriate place for a bed monster).

[Somewhere in that blur is a sneak peek at next week's Etsy favorite].

Frazzy Dazzles is Big O-approved! Make sure to stop by her blog, too, to see all of the cute crafting that is going on.

A Warm Welcome...

...to the newest members of the Kittens' household (and they're not even cats!). These little cuties have actually been with us for awhile, but I have yet to introduce them to you. And so I present to you:

Abby the rat. She came to live with our family from the classroom I was teaching in at the end of the year (one of several class pets).

Next up is Bailey the rabbit. One day in early spring, I looked out my window into my yard and I thought to myself, 'What a cute bunny.' Then I did a double take as I realized the bunny looked like this:

That's not a wild rabbit! I went out and caught the cute little guy, and posted signs around my neighborhood. No one claimed him, so now he's mine!

And finally, my fish, who was also a classroom pet. Unfortunately, he died recently - but I just had to include him anyway.

You may be wondering how the cats feel about the newest members of our family. Well, I'll let you in on a secret: I believe that the term 'scaredy cat' actually originated with my kitties. They tend to shy away if Bailey or Abby are out and about. Not exactly hunters, but I prefer it that way!

Etsy Favorites: Creative Thursday

My most recent Etsy acquisition is from:

Creative Thursday

Again, my purchase came beautifully packaged...

...with a lovely little note.

Here's the gocco print I chose:

The color is hand painted, and the skirt is made out of wallpaper!

There are two more gocco prints in the shop at the moment. Go check them out, as well as all the other sweet things Marisa makes! You can also visit her at her blog to see what she's up to. Enjoy!

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

The State Fair always signals the end of summer for me.

{A happy Labor Day to those who are celebrating!}

Etsy Favorites: Danita Art

I came across Danita Art awhile ago, and totally fell for her whimsical creations. I couldn't help but order one, and it came sweetly packaged:

Inside the package was my lovely little piece of original art:

I was so pleased to discover that she was one of the featured artists in the most recent issue of Stuffed:

[And it seems she was featured in the Winter '09 issue, as well].

Check out the Danita Art Etsy shop, and read more about her on her blog!

A Quick and Easy Dinner

Now that school is starting up here (kids go back next week, but teachers are already back this week), I thought I would share one of my favorite work-night dinners. Really, it's great any time. But it's so fast and so good that it's perfect when you want a delicious dinner but are too tired to do anything about it.

The recipe, yet again, is from this book. The first time I made this, I substituted things I already had for things Nigella called for in the recipe. She says use naan, I had pita. She calls for marinated mushrooms, I had marinated artichoke hearts. She recommends fontina, I had mozzarella. Luckily, the fresh thyme in the recipe is growing in abundance in my garden, so if I make this during the right season I have plenty of that. Add in the pizza sauce (and I love sliced olives, too), and you're all set. The brilliant thing about this recipe is that you can just use whatever you prefer on pizzas. And since they are individual pizzas, each person can have something different - great if you have picky eaters!

These pizzas take maybe 10 minutes to put together, and they cook up in 5 minutes in a 425 degree oven.  I always make enough that there will be leftovers to take in to school for our lunches.