Work Peeps

Coming off the high of the Valentine Party that I planned for co-workers, I decided that Easter should not go without some sort of holiday fanfare. With no time to plan for an Easter Bonnet contest or a parking lot parade, I opted for treats. On a Walmart trip a few weeks ago, I had chanced upon Pillsbury cookie mixes in Pink Lemonade, Key Lime and Orange Creamsicle flavors. Honestly, the boxes were just too pretty to pass up. Making up batches of these pastel cookies seemed the perfect start to Easter giveaways.

Once they were baked, I slipped each into its own labeled glassine bag (printed out the circular labels, Xyroned the back, cut out the circles, and stuck them on the bags before putting in the cookie), folded over the tops of the bags, hole-punched two holes, and secured the trio with a ribbon.

I nestled them into a decorative box and lid I had on hand (part of a hostess gift I'd received). With a little bit of Easter grass, a fuzzy little peep, signage and a vintage doily, made for a sweet vignette.

Ahhhhhh . . .

With Harleigh home for Spring Break, 

I wanted to take at least one day off and spend some time together. 

So we had our coffee this morning, 

the three of us shoved onto the couch, 

making what we call a Gideon sandwich 

(he insists on nestling right between us 

regardless of how many of our limbs he has to walk on, squish, and lie on in order to be near us).

I woke up to a kitchen-window eye-full of my Japenese Cherry Blossom that had bloomed overnite.

The sunlight coming in the house helped take the chill out of the air; not a warm day here in ATL.

I enjoyed a day of shopping and a nice lunch with Harleigh, then came home to craft.

The wall candle sconce on the right is one I'm redoing for Harleigh's house at college.

And the wind-up peeps and bunnies are a part of the table placecards 

I'm making for our family Easter dinner.

Full House

Special day at Chateau Gahan. 

Harleigh came home today for Spring Break. 

Jury duty calls all week (she wasn't called tomorrow, so she and Kasey 

are going to the zoo for the day), 

so there may not be as much sun and fun as is typical of Spring Break.

As I always do for her homecoming, fresh flowers adorned her room and bathroom.

Gideon turned 6 today! 

Because of his St. Patty's Day birthdate, 

there must be a big green bow tie to celebrate being a year older.

Enjoying lots of color here at Chateau Gahan. 

The bed is always blooming with lots of floral fabrics.

And in the bathroom, I swapped out the quilt stand for a chippy chair 

to hold my bathtime candle and reading materials, and a beach tote to hold toilet paper rolls.

Shell Heaven and House Hunting

I spent the last few weekends knee deep in shells; if only it had been at the beach. The next best thing is crafting my shell crosses. Three more are now in my etsy shop. As I describe them in the listings, each is lovingly crafted using shells I've found myself from shelling expeditions (translate: vacations at the beach where all I do is read and shell). I do supplement my designs with shop-purchased shells, but 90% of what I use is found by little ol' me.

What's funny is that as I sit at my craft table and place each beachy gem in place, I can often times remember the beach where I found it, which brings a flood of memories so rich that the cross I'm working on instantly becomes infused with love and good vibes. These remembrances from a woman who can't remember why she walked from one room of the house to another. Oy vey. Well, I consider myself lucky that my mind hasn't shed the joy of what my beach trips have meant to me.

Topic change.

If you have some downtime at your computer, head on over to trulia.com. It's a real estate site. You can key in a city and tour homes for sale. Gives you a glimpse into all kinds of home decor. And proves that just because you have money, doesn't mean you have good taste.

Here are some houses that I came upon that made me all dreamy-eyed. If they don't come up when you click on the link, may have sold:

Charming house in Newport Beach, CA with a dutch front door.

This one in Mystic, CT could be a beauty with a little TLC.

I'm not typically a girl of modern taste, but this beach house feels cozy with the color choices.

Pretty Smells

These are some of the fragrances I'm obsessed with lately.

The Simple Pleasures Snow Flurries lotion from Kohl's is 

from their seasonal bath and body collection. 

It's spicy and cookie-ish and has a hint of masculinity 

(hints of Old Spice and my Pap Pap's smoking pipe).

The simplySmart lotion is from Holiday Inn Express 

(one of the small samples they give you in your room). 

I'm one of thousands who have searched online for a place to purchase it.

I even called a local Holiday Inn to see if they'd sell me some. 

Next time I stay in a H.I. Express, I might just sweet talk the maid into giving me some extra. 

It's cinnamon and heaven.

Philosophy's Marshmallow for Toasting is a shower gel 

(it also comes in a lotion and lip gloss). 

You get it at Sephora, and it's a limited edition fragrance. 

Standing in a hot shower slathering this on is criminal. 

It smells exactly like a toasted marshmallow . . . I can't stop smelling it. 

I never thought I'd want to come out of the bathroom smelling like a piece of food.

Three fragrances that I will need to snap up whenever I find them. 

If you see them, give 'em a whiff to see if you find them as mind-blowing as I do.

Vintage Jewelry Box Revamp

See the before here. And here she is after! I used paints I had on hand. And took the large drawer front to collage a bit (and added a vintage Japanese bunny ceramic). When the large drawer comes out, there's a smaller drawer behind; I made sure to wallpaper the inside back of the jewelry box so it looks pretty when the large drawer comes out. Painting the metal pulls gold was tedious but so worth it (because the drawers are fully lined with green velvet, I couldn't remove the pulls). Love this kind of storage over Container Store any day!