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!

Weekend Recap

The rainy and chilly weather forced me to play house on Saturday, something I never tire of. Lots of reading and crafting. Had gotten this wooden jewelry box at a thrift store ages ago and am giving it a facelift. I love old jewelry boxes as storage for all my crafting goodies. Spent a good deal of time on it and hope to have it done next weekend! (Excuse the crappy pictures.)

I FINALLY got all my Christmas decorations up to the attic. And with the pretty Sunday (quite the opposite of the day before), I was feeling all Spring-ee, and so the Easter decorations came down from the attic.

Dear boy Gideon loves having mommy home for two days. He slept most of Saturday . . .

. . . and on Sunday, with windows open and the sun streaming in, there was lots of outdoor time and gazing at the outdoors to fill his day.

Harleigh is 21 today!

Here she is as a little girl. On the left, it was a Saturday morning and I told her she could pick out her own outfit. Who knew a bathing suit and turtleneck could work so well paired together! And she sure could rock inner-thigh rolls of chub. And on the right, a Cinco de Mayo work party from when we lived in Huntington Beach, CA. I took any opportunity I had to dress her up in costume. Not sure that the role of white artist tape was an accessory I had in mind to complete the Mexican-themed look.

And my daughter as a woman. Am honored and blessed to call her mine.

[Above photo by Ali Harper.]

Valentine's Day Office Card-Swap Party

Went to the boss last month and asked if I could throw a Valentine's Day party at the office. 

We're coming down off of the Thanksgiving/Christmas high, things are super busy and stressful, 

and we've never done a party for this holiday. 

He said go for it.

So I decided to do an elementary-school style card swap. 

Everyone making or buying a box to collect their cards, lots of fun heart-shaped decor, 

and food, of course food. 

Everybody put their "boxes" out in the morning, 

and throughout the day we all delivered Valentines. 

At 4:30 we brought our boxes to the gathering place 

and opened our cards and enjoyed food and drink.

The food consisted of sausage balls with a Dijon mayo dipping sauce (thanks, Josie!), 

artichoke dip with Tostitos scoops (thanks, Jessie!), 

and I made a hot Creole shrimp dip served with toasted baguette slices. 

Great grazing spread. 

Jessie offered to make a heart garland, the perfect statement piece to anchor the whole scene.

For a drink station, I commandeered the office sink that was ripped out during a recent renovation 

(and will be moved to storage)

The vintage mailbox above was Buzz's card-collecting vessel. 

He wanted something fun, and I had this at home. 

Love when my finds get lots of use!

Get a load of the candy hearts that include modern-day messages (text me).

I dressed the "bar" in a vintage tablecloth, and crafted a small felt, jewel, baker's twine garland that comes out of the faucet like a stream o' love.

The sink holds ice and drinks.

Cupcakes sport Dollar Tree picks (Thanks, Buzz, for styling these like a pro!).

My loot. 

The card in the left foreground is handmade by Buzz. 

He drew the design, then had a stamp made. 

The card itself is cardboard, cut and with rounded corners, one side painted red. 

The dude committed.

In addition to making the artichoke dip I inhaled, Jessie crafted these killer cards. 

Each one was hand drawn with the sentiment "I like you and _____." 

The fill-in was a word that reflected the recipient. In my case it was "crafting." 

Everyone adored these.

Shaun gifted everyone a bag of candy with these enveloped post-it notes attached. Each note was customized with an "I love you because ____." Very special indeed.

My valentine "box" was a vintage mailbox.

The only thing on my party preparedness list that we didn't tackle 

was a love-themed music playlist.

Next year.

A Week in IG

Continue to love Instragramming. Here are some images from last week. Lots of Gideon (as always). 

Spent a chunk of the weekend working on Valentines for the party at work this Thursday! You'd a thunk that I'd be DIYin' the cards, but sometimes a crafty girl just has to put on the brakes and pace herself a little. Store-bought cards it is. I found them at Ross, and they're vintage-looking. I used individual letter stamps to address them, and adorned the envelopes with stickers. I "signed" each card using the stamp below (lower right, with the pink handle). I love love love this stamp. With both letters and numbers, it allows me to stamp a sentiment in a straight line. I signed all my cards "XO DAWNEGIRL." The collection of heart-shaped baskets on the left were deeply discounted finds at Hobby Lobby from years ago. I've pulled them out to be used for the party.

The sink below was taken out of an office bathroom during a renovation. I have grand plans to use it as a bar for the par-tay. On a rare trip to Target (it's a place I avoid at all cost; although on this particular trip, I left with only the one thing I went in for!), I saw these candles (lower right). How adorable.

Valentine's Day Care Package

This year I decided to do a crafty package for my Valentine girlie. In addition to a candle, heart-shaped Peeps, cushy Valentine hand towels, a night light, and a sports bra, I made her pretty bunting, one that she can use whenever. It's about as sew-friendly a bunting you can do. I didn't even sew the triangles. The hardest part was incorporating the ball fringe into the spaces between.

There's a song I used to sing to Harleigh when she was a wee baby into her toddler days. Even though she's turning 21 this year, every once in a while the time seems right to sing it to her, each time filling in a name that "makes 3." Since we're far away, I wanted to remind her of this mom/daughter moment, and so I bought a dollar store puzzle, painted it white and wrote the song on it. Put it in a pretty box from Walmart that cost under $2. You'd pay more for a Hallmark card.



I found this plastic heart-shaped box at a local thrift store. I'm sure Harleigh can use it for jewelry or desk supplies. I also bought her a super cute pair of Aristocat kitten jammies and wrapped those in pretty paper. For the "ribbon" I used this rhinestone trim that a florist I met recently was working into some decor. He wound up giving me all his extra; put to good use here with a flower as a bow.



Some randomness from the weekend. Gideon being his cute self. Flowers from Trader Joe's. Used these for a breakfast we had at work. Used tin cans as vases and filled the rims with Spanish moss. Had Harleigh and Kasey here last weekend and missed them a bunch come Sunday when they headed back to school. Trying to eat better. Feel really good, and if I lose a few lbs., then even better.




Dropped a bunch of end-of-year-purging items off at a new thrift store in the hamlet. I've sorta sworn off thrifting for a bit, but on this particular trip, I couldn't help but bring home this guy. He's almost a foot and a half tall.

Painted Canvases for Baby Shower

Back in February, the girls of Unboundary (the company where I've worked for 16 years) gave Molly a baby shower. We painted baby blocks using an alphabet theme. Here is the link to how they turned out.  What a blast. Working with a creative group of women makes for some wonderfully crafty showers (no  shower games with this crew; we got art to make!).

And with Amanda's shower to follow in September (see link here), the alphabet block theme continued but took on a different form. Instead of blocks, we painted small canvases. Amanda can use them to decorate the nursery, either framing them in some sort of temporary framing or hanging them with clothespins (gave her mini gold-spray-painted ones) from a length of string. Once baby Adeline is older, she can play with them, spelling out words or making up stories from all the pictures. Here are all 26.

The Card Table

I love a card table. And I have lots of memories surrounding this simple, square, folding piece of furniture. As a child, I can remember the table being a "room" in one of our blanket forts. (I'm thinking that at one point we did have one of those fabric "houses" that covered the table.) Under the maze of tables, mismatched blankets, threadbare sheets (and the random broom handle to teepee any sags in the roof), we'd snuggle down with books, a flashlight, and a box of Bugles (which became divine long nails when placed on the tips of our fingers, causing us to channel Auntie Mame in voice and mannerism). 

I remember my grandparents setting up a card table in their living room if they were having a group of more than 4 to play bridge (otherwise, the kitchen table worked fine). On the weekends that they did play bridge and my sister and I would be spending the night, the sounds of adults laughing and the flutter of cards being shuffled was the sweetest lullaby a kid could ask for. Before going to sleep we'd ask Nana and Pap Pap if we could sneak out and grab a bite from their poo poo platter of snacks. We usually gravitated toward the oily, salty peanuts, like the kind they used to serve on airplanes. And when we'd say "aw, but now we have to brush our teeth again," Nana would smile, give us a loving pat on the butt, and tell us that "peanuts clean your teeth."

Growing up with a dad who was an art director in a Mad Men-esque ad agency in Baltimore was always the coolest. I remember the downtown office, the drafting tables for the artists and the typewriters for the copywriters, the lounges and conference rooms with modern furniture in jewel tones and whites, the production areas with all kinds of papers and adhesives, the risqué posters on common-area walls that made me blush but wanna look. Going in on a weekend when Daddy had to pick something up meant that my sister and I could push each other on wheeled secretarial chairs around the space, soaking in the Bestine and ashtray smells of creativity and success. Dad worked a lot on weekends, more often than not setting up shop in our basement family room, using the card table as his desk. He'd line up all his magic markers and work on TV storyboards for beer and indoor/outdoor carpet commercials. My sister and I would watch TV and play Barbies, setting up elaborate houses and scenes under and around the table. And Dad would always remind us not to knock into the legs; magic markers are not forgiving. To this day if I get a whiff of marker, I'm transported back to sitting under a card table trying to shove an exaggeratedly arched Barbie foot into a plastic go-go boot.

I have my own card table now. Its surface is misted in paint from being used as a makeshift spray paint booth in the driveway. It's seen its share of yard sales, spending many a sunny Saturday covered with a history of my life all for sale on the cheap. Although I have an enviable craft room with a giant 4' x 8' wooden table on wheels, the card table is often center stage in the living room where I can craft and watch TV. It's been lent out for baby showers and Christmas parties. It's well traveled, much loved, and showing the signs of having lived a very rich life.

One day, my four-legged friend will host the grandkids at Thanksgiving, playing the role of The Kids Table with much aplomb. It will never do a yard sale, ever again (this, a promise I make to myself after every yard sale, only to be broken when I forget the pain of the last one and look at how much crap I've amassed). And every time I set it on its side to pop the legs out in a rusty squeak, I'll be comforted by the memories that flood me and the memories yet to be made.

[Photos of markers borrowed from the Orchard Recruitment blog and Ana Reinert's blog Under the Desk.]

Serenbe Revisited and Random Stuff

I had been down to Serenbe a bit ago to see Ali's newly built house. While Harleigh was home for the holiday break, I really wanted to duplicate the trip so that she could see all the beauty and charm of this, well, . . . nothing says it better than their website:

"The settlement of Serenbe is found in the heart of Chattahoochee Hill Country. This 40,000 acres of rural Georgia is about the size of Napa Valley, and is one of the last undeveloped stretches of land in the Atlanta area. The founders of Serenbe realize that their largely untouched 1,000 acres presented a short window of opportunity for creating a community in a new and better way.

"How is it made better? By protecting this land from the typical growth patterns of urban sprawl. By merging ecologically sound sustainability principles with the design philosophies of walking neighborhoods made up of both homes and shops. By building villages and hamlets for single people, families and empty nesters of a wide range of economic and cultural diversity. And by creating real community, where people are drawn together over gardening, over cooking, over books, over art, over ideas, and yes, even over back fences.

"They say that if you want to change the world, you should start in your own backyard. If that’s so, then Serenbe is quite a beginning. Or maybe a respectful nod to times gone by."

The day my girl and I made the trip down was rainy (but, thank gosh, unseasonably warm). The wet weather didn't deter us from exploring. As we sat eating lunch at the Blue-Eyed Daisy, Harleigh said that she felt like she was on Gilmore Girls, where everyone knows each other, and conversations effortlessly bloom.

Over that weekend I made it to the library to pick up two books that I'd reserved. Pippa Middleton's entertaining book is charming. I can't say that it's opened my eyes to a new and fresh side to entertaining, but it 1) is well written, and introduces lots of British foods and traditions, and 2) has pictures of Pippa in all of the entertaining scenarios, and she is beyond adorable. Perhaps not worth $50 (Amazon has it for $25), but so worth a library loan and the time I spent reading it.

I've just begun Tina Fey's book. Being that funny and comfortable with and confident in your sense of humor is such a gift.

Atlanta has been drenched all week. I'm sick of a big, hairy, WET dog. When it's dry outside, I can bring him back to my bed for snuggling. But with the crappy weather we've had, the carpeted part of the house is off limits. I miss seeing this face on the pillow next to me.

Looking forward to the weekend! Especially Sunday when the Falcons then the Ravens play.