What I Heart Today: 2nd Day of Etsy Christmas

On the 2nd day of Christmas Etsy gave to me...

Today I'm shopping for my 11 month old daughter.  She's a little too young to even know what's going on so this year's gift may be just a little bit more for me than her.  Since she has no interest in toys, only in items that aren't toys, like oatmeal containers and tupperware dishes, I'm thinking I might go with clothes.  After finding the world's most adorable poncho in Zarina2009's shop I just might be convinced.

As for me, today I'm dreaming about this gorgeous yarn wreath from MouseHouseCreations for my front door, but I've got double doors so Santa will have to bring me two!

What I Heart Today: 12 Days of Etsy Christmas!

In my mind today starts the official holiday shopping season, in retailers minds it started the day after Halloween.  In honor of the holiday shopping season I'm kicking off 12 Days of Etsy Christmas!  Each day I will feature a unique gift on Esty that's hopefully perfect for someone special on your list.

Today's gift is something I'm eying for my best girlfriends, a perfect place to perch your hot totty!  These are handmade tile coasters made from reclaimed tiles and graphics from vintage greeting cards for only $6.00.  Check out the whole line at Robotcandy's shop.

One for you, one for me...of course as I'm shopping for others I can't help but shop for myself.  I've recently been thinking of ditching my diaper bag for something a little more sophisticated but still roomy enough to tote around a diaper or two and I think I just may have found it at andyandme's shop.

What I Heart Today: Christmas Decorating

It's the day after Thanksgiving and for many people that means Black Friday shopping.  Not me, I don't know about you but nothing on my Christmas shopping list is on sale during Black Friday (or Cyber Monday for that matter).  So I spend the day after Thanksgiving another way... putting up my Christmas decorations!  That's right my beautiful white artificial tree is up and I love it, love it, love it!  Decorating the day after Christmas is something I always did with my mom and I hope it's one tradition I can pass on to my daughter.

Happy decorating!

I am participating in Infarrantly Creative and Tatertots and Jello’s Blog Hop for a chance to win a Mint Cleaner. It is the revolutionary machine that cleans your hard floor surfaces for you.

Click here to join the blog hop and a chance to win!

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Bed, Bath & Beyond

What I Heart Today: Another Silhouette Giveaway!

O.k., I interrupt my time off to bring you this fabulous message... Tomkat Studio is also hosting a Silhouette SD giveaway!  I strongly encourage you to pop on over and enter.

What I Heart Today: Time Off

Today I'm thankful for time off with family.  Have a great Thanksgiving and see you back for photo Friday!

What I Heart Today: Sweet Giveaways!

If you're crafty at all then you need a Silhouette SD, and guess what, tatertots and jello is hosting a giveaway for one lucky reader!  How cool of a prize would that be.  Maybe you're not crafty?  What a great gift it would make!

What I Heart Today: Bruno Mars

There's a couple of songs I've been hearing on the radio that have really drawn me in, I can't help but sing along.  Little did I realize they were by the same singer, whom I now love, Bruno Mars.  Have you ever heard that song "I wanna be a billionaire so frickin bad..." he sings that!  Even better he sings that song "Just the way you are" and "Nothing on you."  Check him out this morning on the Today show.

What I Heart Today: Lake Kachess

As we prepare for cold temps this weekend (and maybe even snow!) I'm thinking back to the hot summer we had and a great camping trip to Lake Kachess.

See lot's of other great photos at photo Friday at deliciousbaby!

What I Heart Today: North Face Boots

I'm dying for these boots over at Piperlime, they're on my Christmas list and let's just say I've been a very good girl.  This morning I got an email from Piperlime advertising 25% off on boots today only,  only to find out it excludes North Face, boo hoo.  And we might even be expecting our first dusting of snow this weekend!  My poor feet, they'll just freeze without these boots.

What I Heart Today: Inspiration

I've been mulling over what I want to do with my bedroom which needs a complete overhaul.  I'm starting to get some color palette ideas from today's decor8 post by colormepretty.  Feast your eyes on this grey, pink, yellow and white inspiration board!

What I Heart Today: Gracie's Birthday Dress

I finished!  This has to be a record for me because normal Michelle MO would be finishing sewing Gracie's birthday dress the night before her birthday party.  But I've got it finished a full month and a half before.  If you'll recall I was making this pattern from Oliver + S:

Well I actually finished the Oliver + S musicbox jumpert!  This is one of their easiest patterns and I have to say I still had a little trouble understanding some of the directions, there may be a few parts of the dress that aren't exactly like they're supposed to be.  However I did come out of this pattern knowing how to make buttonholes.  If you have a sewing machine made in the last decade you are definitely going to want to check out this fabulous buttonhole tutorial which is great for 1 step buttonholes, my machine is 30 years old and I have to do what is called a 4 step buttonhole (thanks to Sue at Issaquah Sewing and Vacuum for telling me that). I wish the light was better for my photo but it's a grey, rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest.  Without further ado here it is!

What I Heart Today: Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Are you like me, do you have Adobe Illustrator loaded but have been too intimidated to use it?  Does it seem overwhelming to learn?  Well check out this tutorial at http://www.vectordiary.com/!  Learn Illustrator in 30 days, which I know sounds like an infomercial but is a free tutorial.  Doesn't look like it's actually going to take 30 days, I'm about 2 hours into it and I'm already on day 9.  Great tutorial so far, I hope some of you are also inspired to try it.  Let me know what you think!

What I Heart Today: Ahhh, The Florida Keys

As I sit here typing it is absolutely pouring outside.  That's why I like to think of a sunnier place, Key West, Florida.  Ahhhh....

I'm part of photo Friday on deliciousbaby.com!

What I Heart Today: The Apple Store

It's like I hear angels singing when I walk in "Ahhhhhhhh."  Except I don't picture heaven to be as crowded, try pushing a stroller through the Apple store on Veteran's Day.  Last night my macbook died and I suspected it was the power cord so I headed straight to the Apple store today to replace it.  As soon as you walk in there's like 4 store employees there to greet you and ask you if you need any help which I absolutely love!  The employee that helped me took me straight over to an open power cord and plugged my laptop in to verify that that's what the problem was.  My husband had threatened me with an old, used Windows machine if it was more than just a power cord problem (yikes!).  Here's the part I hate about the Apple store though, the power cord alone was $80!  So standing there in the middle of the store the Apple employee rang me up by running my credit card through his phone, it was truly amazing.  I love you Apple!

What I Heart Today: Fresh Ground Almond Butter

If you've ever had it can I get an Amen!  I'd forgotten about my friend almond butter until recently when I decided to give my daughter her first try of it.  Regular old almond butter is good, you can buy it in jars in most grocery stores these days, but the fresh ground stuff is amazing.  Fresh ground can be found at stores like PCC and Whole Foods, they provide the machine and you grind it yourself.  The great thing about grinding it yourself is you can choose as much or as little as you would like, and it's actually warm when it comes out of the grinder!

Some of the benefits of nut butters as described by Whole Foods are:

• Nut butters deliver omega 6 essential fatty acids in an unprocessed form.
• Most nut butters are packed with healthy monounsaturated fat – the same kind of fat you find in olive oil.
• Some nuts contain excellent quantities of Vitamin E, including hazelnuts and almonds.
• Nut butters contain natural fiber and they can help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

 If you've never tried fresh ground almond butter I implore you, next time you're at a store that sells it grind out a little something, something and give it a try.

What I Heart Today: Button Ruffle Scarf Tutorial

I'm dying from cuteness, how cute is this little girl!  O.k. but I must focus, focus on the adorable button ruffle scarf tutorial from the blog Living with Punks.  This is one of the blogs I read every day and this is a project I'm adding to my sewing list (I think right after the dress I'm making for my daughter's first birthday which is almost done!).  If you love sewing, even if you're a beginner, I strongly recommend checking out this blog!

What I Heart Today: PEPS

PEPS stands for Program for Early Parenthood Support and it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  If you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, I strongly recommend you checking out this organization.  Moms-to-be or new moms can go to the website and sign up to be assigned to a group in their area of children the same age as their child.  You can choose to be in a mothers group which meets during the day or a parents group with moms and dads that meets in the evenings.  Members meet for 12 weeks, rotating between each others homes, with a PEPS leader that is provided to your group to facilitate the meeting.  Once the 12 weeks is up your group can choose to go on without a leader.

I signed up for PEPS before my daughter was born and was placed in a group when she was 2 months old.  Our group has stayed together and my daughter is now 10 months old.  I find the moms in my group to be an awesome support system as well as great sounding boards.

I highly recommend this program, read more at http://peps.org/.

What I Heart Today: Photo Friday - Aruba

Just what we need right about now, a little Aruba...

See this and other great photos for photo Friday at deliciousbaby.com.

What I Heart Today: Halloween Aftermath

Boy it's tough to have Halloween on a Sunday. Happy Halloween recovery!