Confessions of a Cluttered Desktop

Well, those of you that have had the pleasure (or pain) of seeing my computer desktop, know exactly what this post is all about... I have issues with severe creative "idea" clutter! Yup, every single time I spy something fun to make, buy or look at, I drag the photo to my desktop. As you can imagine, this creates a bit of a visual disaster. But to be perfectly honest, the shear overload of color actually makes me happy, not stressed (though others have reacted quite differently!). And I know exactly where everything is. Honest!! So I thought I'd share a tidbit of the hundreds of images plaguing my desktop - they're from the bottom right hand corner. I'd really love to give credit to the original creators but they are long lost due to excessive dragging... I'm sure you could look them up on either Etsy or Instructables. Hope you find a bit of happy inspiration like I did - the tree bed is super awesome, right?!

Yo happy TWO!

I can hardly believe it but McB turned two yesterday! It seems like not very long ago that I was blogging about going to the hospital to have him and thinking he was a girl... whoa was I wrong!! So we celebrated my little man with his one and only favorite show of all time - Yo Gabba Gabba (Buzie, you're probably cracking up right now at the irony!). For those of you who don't know about "having a party in your tummy", let me introduce you.

I baked my buns off so that we'd have 75 Yo Gabba Gabba brilliantly colored cupcakes with Muno, Brobee, Plex and Toodee toppers along with a very green Brobee cake for the celebration. Once again, Betty Crocker Gel Food Coloring saved the day, thanks Betty! And I tried a new type of fondant for the cake - homemade marshmallow fondant. It was really cheap to make and tasted way better than proper fondant. Definitely give it a try if you're making a cake any time soon.

A huge thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate and especially to Satoya and Jason for singing really, really loud. You guys are the bestest!! McB was a very happy birthday boy!!

Super Cereal Muffins!

My kids don't like eating breakfast. Try as I might, it's always a battle. So when I tasted some the the yummiest muffins ever at my friend Micah's house, I had to give them a try. They were tasty, healthy, easy and moist. So good! Surely MG and McB would love them?!

Only problem was, when I finally went to make them, a bunch of the ingredients were missing from the pantry... hmm mmm, thanks daddy! So here's my version of a classic bran muffin recipe - it's great cause you throw in all the random little bits of cereal that you have lingering. You know, the end of the box that no one wants to eat? And the kids thought it was funny to eat "super cereal muffins" - they both had 2! Shocking and healthy, yay for kid friendly breakfasts! Plus this recipe makes about 4 dozen, so they're great for brunch parties. You could even bake a dozen and keep the batter in your fridge for up to 3 days for fresh muffins every morning. Yum!

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 cups bran cereal (like ALL BRAN)
• 4 cups cereal mix - I used raisin bran, grape nuts, cheerios, brown rice puffs
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 5 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups sugar - I mixed brown & white cause I was short
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups boiling water
• Optional - 1 cup raisins

WHAT TO DO:
1. In a large bowl, soak bran in boiling water for a couple minutes. Add oil, eggs, sugar.
2. In a medium bowl, mix baking soda, salt, flour, raisins. Add cereal mix.
3. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk into large bowl.
4. Let sit in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight.
5. Bake in regular muffin pan for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
ENJOY!!

-HAPPY HEALTHY BREAKFAST-

Spring Sewing!

Ahhh Spring is in full swing and I LOVE 80 degree weather! Plus all the other springish bonuses - lime green trees, fuschia flowers, sitting on the porch and digging in dirt. You know, all the good stuff! Last night I even made pasta with a sage brown butter using goodies from my garden. And everyone ate it, success!

Anyway, I always try to stick to knitting when it's chilly cause it seems like torture to think of wearing a sundress while you're freezing. But at the first sign of flip-flop weather summer sewing is a go. So yesterday I sewed a ton of burlap bags for the Craft Social "seed bomb" workshop next week. Briar had fun playing with all the "itchy bits" - aka. scrap burlap. And I didn't have fun cleaning them up later!

But the most fun I've had in a while was something that's been on my craft "to do" list forever... last night I finally upcycled a thrift store skirt and tshirt into a sundress (70% off = $1.30 total). It was a bit of trial and error, but a super easy way to make a cheap, cute dress. I cut off the bottom of the skirt to create the sash, re-hemmed the skirt, attached it to the shirt, then sewed & attached the sash using a seam in the front and the skirt loops in the back. The skirt even has pockets as a bonus, yay! Really very easy, you can do it! Next time I think it'll be an even quicker process... Thanks Toya for the company and tech support! Summer here we come!!
-HAPPY SPRING SUN-

Spring Super hero!

Spring is in the air and I have a new personal super hero - his name is Raven Sutton! He dug out the yuckiest dead shrubs and turned over the soil in my flower beds in under 5 hours including a lunch break. That has to be a super power! I can't wait to get planting... oh the plans I have planned!

Uh oh, little McB is up. Here's a quick list of the latest at our tiny happy bungalow:
1. A new knit & crocheted cloche hat for MG adapted from this DROPS pattern
2. The paperwhites are growing! If you ever spy some at a local nursery, get a few. They're lots of Spring fun with no effort.
3. AND Briar is drawing on everything... except paper. Including all over our bathroom with waterproof mascara. Yes, it is just like grease! Creative channeling is in order!

Be back soon, Michelle
-HAPPY ALMOST SPRING-

Oh My Whiteness!

I am a huge fan of white! Seriously, it has to be one of the best colors out there for it's sheer power to illuminate other colors. Plus it has the honor of being the combination of all colors at once. Considering that and many other things (like the fact that it's the hue of vanilla ice-cream) it's a pretty understated champion of the spectrum. I'm always trying to convince clients that it's well worth including more "white space".

With all that said, white seems to be especially sentimental the past few days. For instance, my favorite coffee mug that welcomes each day with me had a fight with the dishwasher and got chipped - good thing I have one of these from Anthropologie as a newly beloved. Then, I finally tackled a few things in the dining room. Newly rescued from the attic and bleached curtains went up, an old sideboard that's been 4 different colors was painted charcoal and white knobs added, and I hung a pair of photos that my dad took in art school. All good and exciting.

Then came the crib. Ugh. Little McB climbs everything and so it's time for a big boy bed upgrade. Well, I was excited until I realized that the crib is going for good. We have a great home for it, but after 2 babies sleeping in it, it's hard not to be sentimental. Anyway, the sight of McB proudly cuddled in his very own bunkbed makes it all worth it. And now I have big plans for a surprise "extreme makeover" of the kids room one day soon. I can't wait!! Happy planning!

-HAPPPYWHITEWONDERFULS-

Happy 6 Months!

My little man is 6 months old today - I can hardly believe it!! So thought I'd share a few recent photos of him. You'll see he's convinced that he can stand and would LOVE to walk. Unfortunately for him (and thankfully for me) his little legs aren't quite ready yet! He's also nicknamed "Sir Grabby Pants" because he has an uncanny way of getting hold of everything. AKA - plant leaves, paper-towels, lips, etc. Good luck to you if it's attached (see photo of him with MG's hair) ... Maybe he'll be a football player some day or one of those people that hold the Macy's Day Parade balloons? Now that would be cool!

- HAPPY WEEKEND -

Mega News...

We accepted an offer on our house!! We feel SO lucky and thankful to have buyers in this market. And for those of you still waiting on an offer, hold out hope. Our buyers were the first people to look at the house when we listed it. You just never know! It's a bit sad and it'll be very hard to pack everything up, but it's also exciting to be able to move on. Now we can start dreaming about the next house... and I can't wait to unpack all of my art and sewing supplies!

Let's see, what else has happened? Oo, big news - I've been designing tons for The Mission Chattanooga and The CAMP House. I'm really excited about a new product that I was able to use for the CAMP House sign. It's vinyl that's printed and then basically shrink wrapped to brick. The result is a sign that looks freshly painted without ruining old buildings. So cool!! Photos of the amazing interior to come...

We also had snow just in time for our first event at the CAMP House. It was a Christmas concert for the Main x24 Festival. The 1000 Hills Coffee Company was there (excellent espresso) and MG danced the night away.

A little nutty, but not a bad way to start out the Christmas season. Hope all is happy with you!
PS - Briar's new teddy "Jackson" makes him thoroughly happy and seems to make a great sleeping mask. McB passed out yesterday clinging to him ;-)

Yee-OUCH!

Well ladies and gents, it's been a doozy. Last week I finally had surgical steroid shots in the nerves in my back. Unfortunately the anesthesia didn't take and I felt the whole deal. Yee-ouch!!! I swore like a sailor while apologizing and explaining that I work for a church. Seriously! So with lots of medication I'm puttering along until the next round of shots Thanksgiving week.

Anyway, time for some happiness! I finally sent off a sweet little cardigan to my friend Feather Magoo for her new little one. It was knit using a pattern from the Debbie Bliss baby book. Once again, her patterns are easy, the construction is amazing and the end result actually looks like the picture. They're great for advanced beginner knitters!

Oh and I spied another slice of happy yesterday. Downtown Chattanooga has tons of public art, but this was an entire old building with every window covered. Such a cool visual statement - I almost crashed trying to spy what they all said!

Ok, I'm off to bed with meds. Hope all is happy on your end!

Goodie Boxes

One of the most exciting things in life is getting something fun in the mail. Knowing that someone thought enough to pack something up and haul it to the post office especially for you is pure happiness. So with our recent move you can imagine how thrilled I am every time something arrives from friends or family - it's like a little bit of home and loads of love. Thank you everyone!!

And now for a bit of history... But first a huge congrats... my best buddy from high school and fellow head cashier at the Village Market (we rocked that place) is the proud new mommy of baby boy #2! Auntie Magoo, I can't tell you how happy I am for you and I can't wait to meet your new little man!!

Ok, history time... Many moons ago, Magoo and I started a tradition. She was in Japan and I was in New York, so we began sending each other goodie boxes. They were filled with all kinds of trinkets collected from everywhere and nowhere. I think it may have been a birthday thing, but now it's random and that's so much more fun. Each box is like a mini time capsule for where we are in life - from shiny lipgloss to wedding stuff and now baby goodies. Anyway, you can imagine my surprise when a box arrived on Friday (given baby arrival and all). She's super mommy!

Thank you Magoo for sharing life, it's been a blast!! And for everyone else, I highly recommend sending a little something to someone far away. Even a note that's actually written on paper counts. The happiness it brings is totally worth the effort!!

PS - check out McB, he's determined to crawl... he just hasn't read the memo yet that says he's only 4 months old ;-)

- HAPPY BOXES OF LOVE -

Comfy Cozy

A friend asked me the other day what "comfort" meant to me. My quick answer was a cup of coffee and a cozy chair, but I'm changing my answer. Here's why... Everyone at our house has been sick for the past week. Not just tummies & nosies, the works! And there's nothing worse than being sick away from home and all you know. Anyway, in hopes of a smile we went on a field trip to the Hobby Lobby (I'd never been to one before). OH MY GOODNESS, it's my new little piece of heaven on earth! As I wandered through the fabric and yarn I had tingles, seriously. And that's why I'm officially saying that being surrounded by endless art supplies is my comfort. It may be odd, but I can't be the only one. Right?!

Meanwhile, McB has decided that his blue blankie is the ultimate comfy lovie. It's just so sweet. And MG was much cheerier after a comforting visit from a fellow sick friend (see pic of "Dr. Darke with a jellybean"). As of tonight, I'm happy to say we're all on the mend. Phew! Maybe now I can start knitting up the new yarn I bought? Sorry, can't tell you what it's going to be. It's top secret for Christmas... shh...

- COMFY HAPPINESS TO YOU -

Finally.

After a week of tummy aches and sleepless nights, I had a moment of parental bliss this afternoon. Both MG and McB wiped out during a long, lingering walk. Ahhh, success!