Ben's Bells

Have you heard of Ben's Bells?  I happened to be watching a news station that I never watch and saw a story about Ben's Bells.  In honor of a little boy who died suddenly and without warning, his parents started creating these bells.  They place them all over cities and towns and when people find them, they are encouraged to take them and spread a little bit of kindness.  What a wonderful way to remember such a sweet little boy!  I never thought I would be lucky enough to find one, but yesterday I did!

Sorry for the awful picture, I took it with my phone!

 This is the Ben's Bell that I found.  I just happened to be in a neighboring town on my lunch break to visit a friend.  When leaving her subdivision, I looked at the speed limit sign and saw a flower and other colorful things hanging there.  It took me a second to register what it was, but when I finally did, I flipped my car around and ran across the street to get it.  I couldn't believe that I had found one!

The card attached to the bell tells you all about it.  I went on to their website to learn more.  Ben's Bells is actually located in Tuscon, Arizona, and I have no idea how it came to the Boise area, but I am so glad it did!  I was overcome with joy to have found a Ben's Bell and I had a little pep in my step the rest of the day!  I think that is the whole point of this project, to remind people that there is still kindness in the world.  And if you are lucky enough to be treated kindly, pay the favor back!  Now I just need to figure out how to spread some of the kindness that was given to me!



Fall Tag Swap

I recently participated in a Fall Tag Swap hosted by It's a Very Cherry World. My swap partner was Janice at Curtains in My Tree. Here are the tags I created for her.

I made her 2 tags. One that is for Fall/Halloween, and one that is just for fun! The fun tag has vintage lace, pink pearls, a rose, a vintage button, beads and a glittery paper bird. The fall inspired one is fall on one side...

And Halloween on the other side! I love the little ghosts and candy corn!

Here are the lovely tags Janice made for me. I love them both!

The first one is this October Lady. I love her orange hat...it matches the orange seam binding on top! The yellow buttons are perfect as "O's"

I just love how she used a vintage BINGO card and spelled out my name with Scrabble tiles! The ribbon on the top is orange velvet and black lace.

Thank you so mcuh Janet for my tags! I had so much fun creating these for you and love the tags you made for me! I can't wait to do another fun swap soon!

Craft fair goodies

Yes, it has been awhile. Life has been a bit hectic. My new job is in full swing-lot's of event planning, scheduling and learning-but I love it! We got an offer on our house. An insulting offer, but that's what a short sale is really. I signed the papers on September 20th-my birthday-kind of a sad thing to do. Now we just have to wait for the short sale to be approved. We could be moving within 2-5 months...which brings a whole new dilemna-to decorate for fall or not to? If I do I know we will have to move really quick...if I don't, we will be there forever! I haven't decided what to do yet! In the meantime, I have been crafting to get my mind off of things. I sold some of my stuff at a craft fair this past weekend and I plan on making more stuff to sell at other fairs this year. Here are some pictures of what I made. I get so much inspiration from blogging and Pinterest. Enjoy the pictures!

My favorite candle with white eyelet laces and a big frosty blue/gray rose.

Towel holders-painted and distressed.

Fleur de lis tins.

MagnetsRose altered candle.

Rose message board made out of an old metal tray.

Paris metal tray message board.

A little vignette of the Paris goodies.

I loved making all these book bundles. No two are exactly alike!
White vintage lace, creamy crinkled seam binding and a frosty white rose.

Pink vintage lace, pink pearls and a frosty pink rose.

White tulle with a frosty blue/gray rose.

Blue and white vintage lace with a silky blue ribbon and a glittered hydrangea.

Black crinly seam binding, black pearls and a tiny skeleton key.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall so far. I can't wait for the temperatures to drop and the leaves to start turning. Maybe when that happens, I will be swayed to decorate for fall!

Linking up with:
Faded Charm:White Wednesday
Faith, Grace & Crafts:Pearls & Lace Thursday

I finally joined the Pinterest bandwagon!

And I love it! I held off as long as possible but I couldn't stand it anymore! This time of year I find myself drawn to baking all sorts of yummy stuff, so naturally, most of my pins have been food related! But that's okay too because I love to try new recipes...my husband is happy!

One of the first recipes I tried was Cake Batter Blondies. Unfortunately, they didn't quite turn out. Not sure if I used too much milk, didn't bake long enough or used too small of a pan. I haven't given up on them completely and will try it again. These Rolo cookies turned out perfect! Caramel and chocolate-one of my favorite combination's!

Super easy to make too! 1 box of devil's food cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup of oil. Mix together and form a ball of dough over a Rolo. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 and dust with powered sugar. Yummy!

I did make those Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars and they were amazing! So good in fact that I was only able to snap a picture of them fresh out of the oven and none of the individual bars themselves. These are absolutely the perfect September dessert. It is like an apple pie, apple crumble, cheesecake and caramel apples all in one delicious bite. You won't be disappointed if you make it. For the recipe, visit The Girl Who Ate Everything.

The weather is cool with scattered rain showers and thunder. And I love it! Fall is definitely in the air! I am looking forward to the weekend-I am going to see Def Leppard and dressing up 80's style. And my birthday is on Tuesday and birthday's are always fun! Wishing everyone happy weekend!

More vintage treasures

I have been finding some really great vintage finds lately! Today on my lunch, I stopped by a local thrift store and immediately found some things that I knew I couldn't pass up! I didn't know what this was exactly, but I loved it!

After a little Google research, I found out that this is a General Electric Baby Food Warmer. You plug it in and it keeps food nice and warm. This one didn't come with a cord, but that is okay. I am sure if I really wanted to find one I could. The pictures are just so cute!

A little boy catching butterflies in his net with his dog is in the first tray.

Two little girls in a hot air balloon with a cat is in the middle tray.

A little girl in a pink dress with an umbrella, a turtle and a duck in the third tray.

The removable tray has a cute little Eskimo boy ice fishing!

And I just love that it pink too! This would be so cute holding crafting supplies or baby stuff! What a clever idea for warming baby foods before microwaves were in every kitchen!

The instructions on the back say not to clean in an automatic dishwasher or boiling water. And if it breaks and blue liquid leaks out-watch out-it will act as a laxative! That doesn't sound appealing!

I also found a great bundle of vintage Jello molds! I just love these and can't wait to use them in my crafting. I have lot's of ideas floating around in my head for these!

Do you remember this vintage American Tourister Tiara train case? I finally figured out what to do with it!

The top tray is holding bits of ribbon, seam binding and ric-rac. I definitely need some more to fill it!

And the bottom is full of all my lace! I have found that I have a new obsession with lace. Every yard sale and thrift store I go into seems to have some waiting for me to buy!

Look at this fantasticly chippy stool! I got this for a steal at a yard sale and I think it is pretty much perfect as is. Rusty, chippy, vintage and yellow!

It works pretty smooth too. Maybe next summer I can put it somewhere in the yard holding pots of pretty plants!

Thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post. Little by little I am coming around to the fact that I am losing my house, but I am very excited to see what the future holds. You are all amazing women and wonderful friends! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Linking up with:
How Sweet the Sound:Pink Saturday

My tiny little house is for sale

Well, our house is officially on the market. The realtor came by last night to have me sign the papers, take measurements, pictures, etc. It's so bittersweet. I bought this house in December of 2007-right before the economy took a plunge. The market was high, prices were high, interest rates were high...but I felt like that was the next-right-step to take. If only I had waited even 3 more months! I paid way too much for not very much house. And since I was laid off in July and even though I got a new job, I still don't make enough to make a mortgage payment. So through a lot of sadness and tears, this house will be sold in a shortsale. Someone already came to look at it today! I guess that is good. Since I might be moving soon, I thought I should show you some pictures of my little house before it isn't mine anymore.Here is the front. This really is the nicest house on our street. The rocks on thse side of the garage as well as the landscaping give it really nice curb appeal.

The view of the living room. This is where my husband proposed to me. Makes me sad to think I won't be living here very soon.

This is the view into the dining room. You can see the little sewing desk that my husband refinished for me-it is where I do all my blogging and a lot of crafting. We custom painted the whole house and I absolutely love the colors!

My sweet little kitchen. We just painted the cupboards white this winter. I was in the process of getting rid of my coffee decorations and changing over to a shabby chic tea theme. This is where I cook and bake and do so many things I love.

Another view of the kitchen. That clock on the little wall was a steal for 50 cents at a garage sale. This is the perfect little spot for reading!

Here is our party patio. We never got the chance to finish it. My plants and flowers are finally starting to really bloom and now I won't be able to see them grow anymore. We never got to have that party we wanted to have out here.

The view of our attached patio that houses our hot tub. That is coming with us!

And our tiny little master bedroom. So tiny that only a double bed will fit. And the summer's here get so warm, you can barely sleep with a little thin blanket on you. I have never had a matching bedroom set with matching linens to go on it. Maybe someday that will change. Many sweet dreams have been dreamt in this tiny little bedroom.

I have cried many tears over this house. Somedays I hated how small it was but then I would see the coziness of it and love it once more. If only there was a way to have the tiny little house have a tiny little payment to match, we could stay...but life doesn't work that way. I know someday I will have the house of my dreams, but that may take a long time to happen. Hopefully something will go our way very soon. I really wanted to be able to say that I made it through this recession without having to sacrifice my credit, my pride or my well being. Unfortunately, I have no control over this and I didn't make it through. I am sad. I am sick. I am heartbroken. I hope no one thinks that I am taking the easy way out because I can tell you that this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.

A telephone pole for an anniversary gift?

My parents will be celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary on September 11th. This weekend, my mom gave my dad his anniversary gift...a telephone pole! Why would anyone want a telephone pole and who would give that to someone? Well, let me tell you the story!

Dad going to see his gift, a little bit in shock but very happy!

My dad is a phone guy. He was in the Air Force, working in telecommunications and currently works for a telephone company as the installation and repair manager. If you ever want to learn how exactly a phone call works, just ask him and he will be happy to tell you! When he first started in the industry, he worked for a telephone company in Midvale, Idaho and loved his boss, a guy named Verde. Back then, my dad would have to climb telephone poles to repair them, wire them, etc.

Mom telling dad how she got the pole.

Most telephone poles from back then have been taken down and replaced with newer ones. But there is a place still in Midvale where the poles are still standing-they have no wires on them, they just never got taken down. Everytime my dad drives by these poles, he tells my mom about how he used to climb THOSE poles when he worked for the telephone company and how much he would love to get one.

Dad checking out his new telephone pole.

After you have been married for so long, you probably run out of ideas as to what to get your spouse for a gift. My mom really wanted to get her hand on one of these telephone poles since my dad so clearly wanted one! She found out who owned the property where the poles were located and gave them a call. She told them the story and how much my dad wanted one and the lady said of course she could have one if she was able to cut it down herself.

So this weekend, while the boys went fishing, us girls found a way to get that telephone pole cut down and brought it home to surprise my dad. We told him we had a surprise for him, put a towel over his head and walked him over to it. Mom told him she knew how much he wanted it and he was shocked when he saw it. He couldn't believe that she was able to get one for him!

He was so funny, he told us all the story of how he climbed this pole many years ago and showed us where the climbing spurs on his boots had made marks. He has big plans to put it across the creek in his yard and maybe add some more to it!

I not only love the look of this old telephone pole and the antique insulators on it, I love the story that comes with it. I love that my dad has fond memories of working and climbing these telephone poles, but I also love the story of how my mom did her research and was able to get this for my dad. I love that we were all there to be a part of the surprise!

Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

Linking up to:
ColoradoLady:Vintage Thingie Thursday