Thankful branch

I am once again totally ripping off stuff from my BFF in order to make things cute around here. She is super clever and is always inspiring me; this time I am giving an actual photo of her fabulous-ness. How fabulously shabby chic is she?

When she and I recently visited for a much needed BFF weekend, we stopped into Pottery Barn and picked up a few cute little things, including the mercury glass vase you see. I brought my vases home and plonked them on the mantle in the family room. BFF went home and made a Thankful Branch. She went outside, plucked a nice branch off a tree, used her little mini alphabet stamp, some white blank tags and some pretty sheer ribbon and made this darling fall decor. It's simple and sweet and chic and natural. So off course I went totally Single White Female and ripped her idea off pronto. BFF suggested I do this for the baby shower I had a couple of weeks ago. Instead of Thankful words, I used baby words, like "snips and snails" "puppydog tails" "ten Fingers" "Ten Toes" "Snuggles" "First Steps" "First Words" "Love" "Baby Kisses" etc.. and the baby's name. After the shower, I gave it to the mom to be, and she is putting it in the baby's room!



This would also be great as a Thanksgiving craft with the kids; have them choose things they are thankful for and help them stamp out (or write) the words and hang them on a branch. Cute!

 Enjoy, and be safe during this holiday!

Lauren

Some Grace, on the cheap

This summer I had had enough of my dark dinnerware. At one time I thought they were great but one day I looked at them and thought Blech! I looked online for some shabby chic-style pates, in antique white, with a distressed look. Even at one of my favorite stores with a bullseye logo a set was over 70 bucks. I know for dishes that's not too bad, but with 4 kids my stuff gets beat up; I was not investing much.

Wandering (at top speed) through Wal-Mart one day I came upon these adorable dishes. These are from Better Homes & Gardens. A set of 16 pieces was 30 something dollars, and the pieces are also available individually, anticipating my broken cereal bowls and dropped mugs. The set included 4 dinner plates, 4 mugs, 4 bowls and 4 salad plates. I got 2 sets. They have actually turned out to be very sturdy little buggers, as well as great in the microwave (they don't get too hot) and they just look so darn cute! Thanks Wally World!