Drawstring Bag Project

Did you see these drawstring bags on the Purl Bee?  So cute - and useful!

Friday Featured Art: Twilight in the Wilderness

Do you like the artists of the Hudson River School?  This piece is called Twilight in the Wilderness, and it's by Frederic Church.

Thursday Tunes: Pioneer Day Concert

You may remember me mentioning Katherine Jenkins after we returned from a trip to the UK in 2009.  This year, she sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for their annual Pioneer Day concert.  If you missed it, you can see it below.

Apricot Tang!

Look what we found at our favorite Middle Eastern grocer: apricot-flavored Tang.  Tony bought it for me for fun, and I really like it!

Skylands Collection

I'm glad that Home Depot has so much Martha stuff these days!  One of our first projects was to install the Skylands collection towel bar and towel ring in our funny old bathroom.  It was a bit of a challenge, but I like how they turned out.

Young House Love

I've found a blog to inspire me as we try to update our new (old) home.  Young House Love has tons of great DIY projects - although the couple of things that we've tried so far have turned out to be more difficult than expected...  I think Sherry's post about painting wood paneling might come in handy down the road!  (These are the homes featured on the blog, and they are actually kind of similar to ours - I'll have to post as we go.)

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: PickClickSew

I really love the Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric.  On Etsy, the shop PickClickSew has a great selection of patterns and sizes including this William Morris-inspired Strawberry Thief.  The fabric comes straight from England - how fun!

Thursday Text: How to Clean Absolutely Everything

I just got a Kindle book to help me with our new house: How to Clean Absolutely Everything.  It seems like it will be a good reference to have around.  Do you have a place to find information about housekeeping?

Swinging Hare Door Knocker

We were downtown the other day and stopped in Anthropologie.  They have some really lovely animal knobs and hooks.  I think I may have to get this cute rabbit door knocker.

Orbit Mist

Have you tried new Orbit Mist gum?  I've tried Spearmint Spritzer and Crisp Mint Waterfall, and I really like it.  Check it out!

Inspector Lewis

Sorry for missing last week!  After the move we needed to clean our old place so that we could get our deposit back - you know how it goes.  Now I can start on our new home!

Inspector Lewis is back on Masterpiece Mystery this month.  Get caught up at PBS.org.

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Dodres

I suppose I should announce that we bought a house last Friday!  Things have been kind of a mess, but I have big plans.  The kitchen has some old linoleum that I'm not thrilled about, so I'm thinking of getting a lovely rag rug to cover it until we have the money for new flooring.  I like the simplicity of the rugs made by Kristine for her Etsy shop: Dodres.  She's in Latvia, though, so the shipping is kind of expensive...

 

Thursday Tunes: My Country, 'Tis of Thee

I'm feeling very patriotic these days.  Here's a verse from the beautiful My Country, 'Tis of Thee:

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

Rootbeer Revelry

Happy Independence Day!  What's more American than root beer?  I never really liked it growing up, but we've sampled a couple of specially brewed kinds lately that have been rather interesting.  There is a shop in Galena, IL, called Rootbeer Revelry that sells all different kinds.  We had one that had honey in it, and it was delicious.  I have to say that root beer is starting to grow on me...

Shaw's Corner

My husband has been reading a lot of George Bernard Shaw lately, so we looked him up in my book Houses of the National Trust.  They own Shaw's Corner, where Shaw lived from 1906 to 1950.  We love his little writing shed.  I think we should build one in our backyard!

Playroom Tent

Did you see this fun little tent in the latest issue of Country Living?  It's made by Twelve Timbers and can be found on rosenberryrooms.com.  What a great idea!  I think I'll get my dad to make me one...