i love buttons

I found most of these old buttons at an estate sale last summer and the rest have been picked up at antique stores and flea markets. I still have a ton of them left: some I am keeping, some I am selling in one of my Etsy shops, some I have used in projects and some of them I am using in a decorative jar.

The day I sorted them...fun stuff!

I don't know what it is about buttons but I just love them. They are so cute, can be so colorful and can be used in so many ways.

win this totally awesome stuff

You could win all of that awesome stuff in the picture if you simply went to the Fantabulously Frugal blog and entered. There are no strings attached at all and you don't even have to have a blog. But, I really don't WANT you to go because then that decreases MY chances. So...I'm just sayin'. :o)

a healthy sandwich

My sister introduced me to this sandwich.
Its Ezekiel bread, with a layer of avocado, slivered almonds and alfalfa sprouts. That's it!
This sandwich is chock full of nutrients and good stuff.
The one she first made me was surprisingly wonderful.
But then when I tried to make one myself (the one in the photos) it was super bland.
I think my avocado wasn't ripe enough.
It helps if you mix a little salt in with your avocado. I'm just sayin'.
I know it makes it "less" nutritious, but you just might gag otherwise.
Try it! Really, try it!
Think of what you are doing for your body.
All those healthy sprouts and "good" fat from the nuts and avocado.
Maybe it would be good with some salsa mixed in the avocado...salsa isn't too terribly unhealthy is it?

Hugs
~ Anna Marie

rainbow cake - hippy cake

I tried my hand at making the rainbow cake that is so popular on the web these days. I made this like 3 months ago and the pictures have just been sittin' on my computer. The above picture are the ingredients that I started with. I went based off of this post (you can find all the ingredients and directions on there).

Two boxes of white cake mix.
Mix in 24 oz of ginger ale or sprite.


I loved how the batter bubbled up so much when I poured the ginger ale in. Make sure you pour slowly. I had to "take a break" to let the fizz go down.


Divide your batter up as evenly as possible. I "roughly" used a measuring cup. I believe I started out with just one cup per bowl and then divided up the remainder evenly.


You need to use gel food coloring or Wilton icing colors to get a vivid color. Unless you want pastel shades...then just use regular food coloring liquid.


Now...if you are trying to go in order of the rainbow with the entire cake then you are going to have to use your thinker on this one...or just go to that link up there where she did the thinking for you. She divided it up with 3 colors in one pan and 3 in the other. But I just did all the colors in each pan but reversed the order. So my first pan I started with red on the bottom and went down the rainbow... It's as simple as ROY G BIV people...didn't you learn anything in school?!? :P

Then the next one I started with purple and went backwards...so VIB G YOR...ha!

I baked them according to the box for 2 - 9 inch pans.


Happy bowls!


For the frosting I tried something I had never done. You mix a big thing of Cool Whip with 2 boxes of instant vanilla pudding (also from the link above). My husband wasn't too fond of it, nor was I...but my sister loved it. It is worth the shot. I didn't color mine...but you can.

It is a little on the psychedelic side. My husband calls it the hippy cake :o)


ENJOY!!!!!!

Here are some other links to people that have made a rainbow cake:
whatever
The Neil Bilodeau Weblog
Eat, be and see
It's Otrembarific!


Have you made one yet?
~ Anna Marie

Remember this post?




Sorry, I got sidetracked and completely forgot to show you what I made for the birthday party. I claimed it was sort of Nester meets whatever. Well, Nester introduced me to the idea of a rag garland like this one and Meg (whatever) is always inspiring me with all the colors of the rainbow.

So I made it for Addie's birthday party but I decided that I am going to hang on to it (seriously, who would throw it away after all those knots??) for other birthday parties. In fact, we already used it at my little brother's party (he turned 6 last week).

I tell you, I had little colorful strings all over me during that week of making it. It isn't hard at all but it takes...so...long!

Here is what I did...

• I went to JoAnn's and picked up 1 yard of each color...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink. I chose about the cheapest fabric they had...but you don't have to.
  
  
• Then I cut little slits at one end to "begin" my tear and then I just tore long strips off the fabric. About 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.
  
  
• Then I took those long strips and folded them once and then cut at the fold.
  
  
• For my rope I had a new, white clothesline lying around so I used it. If you use a clothesline don't cut it until after you have tied all of your fabric on...you might be cutting yourself short (or too long) if you do.
  
  
• Finally, begin to knot...and knot...and knot. I did two knots per piece.

Hope you are having a great weekend!
~ Anna Marie

mega bottle caps

If you read Ali Edwards' blog or Meg's blog whatever...then perhaps you have heard of mega bottle caps. Last December Meg posted one of my favorite posts ever about things you can make for Christmas gifts. These totally awesome mega bottle caps were used to make one of those such gifts. I immediately tried to go order some for myself but they were out. I kept checking on mayaroad.com because that is who makes them. Needless to say after weeks of checking I finally contacted someone at Maya Road and they informed me that they would not be available until June 2009. Bummer!

But guess what?!?! They are available NOW!!! I am so excited! They were available the second or third week of May. I already ordered my batch. Now what are you waiting for!?! Go here to order your fun, today! :P

Meg's adorable creations!

Ali's

Happy Friday!!!
~ Anna Marie

new background

This is a time when I really need you readers to leave me a comment and to be honest...are the words harder to read with the new background? :o) Thanks so much!
~Anna Marie

awards

I don't know about all of you but we had a very busy and very eventful weekend. I am pooped to say the least and am still trying to unpack and get back into the swing of things. But before I continue "trying" I want to acknowledge a couple of sweet ladies who gave me awards last week.



I received the "One Lovely Blog Award" from Bea of Bea's Blabber. I had not "met" Bea before and was very honored to receive it. Thank you Bea! I haven't had a chance to read a lot of her posts yet but upon glancing I think I will like her. And you just might, too!

When you receive this award you are supposed to pick 15 other bloggers to pass it on to. At this time I do not have the time but I really do want to be able to do it in the near future.


The second award that I received was the "Lemonade Award" from my good "blogging" friend Nicol of Classy and Sophisticated. We have been blogging friends since I started blogging last fall. We soon found out that our daughter's are only about a month apart. So fun! She is a great read and I highly recommend that you add her to your favorite blogs. I have learned a lot of new things by reading her posts. Thanks Nicol!

Again, I do not have time to follow the steps that come with receiving an award but it is on my to do list.


Hopefully all of you are adjusting after a nice "long" weekend.

Happy Tuesday!
~Anna Marie

i love spring

Bringing a little of it indoors.

Anyone know what it is?
It was a large, flowering bush.
I thought it was beautiful so I cut some branches off.
Hope you are having a beautiful Spring day today!

mushroom hunting

Yesterday was my first experience mushroom hunting.

We found a sitter.
Put on our old clothes and shoes.
Loaded up the 4-wheeler.
Covered ourselves with Off.
And headed to the woods.

Within two minutes of hunting we found the six mushrooms pictured above.
We hunted for another 2 hours or so and never found another.
I had fun and also got a much needed work out.

~ ~ ~ ~

While out with John I found myself thinking back to our dating years. Often times we would load up his 4-wheeler and ride for hours out in the country. I miss that. It's crazy how busy our lives have become now that we are married and have a child. In no way do I regret getting married and starting a family, if anything it just made me realize that we need to remember to set time aside for us. I loved spending that time with him. He is my best friend and my lifetime companion. You have to make time for friends or your relationship deteriorates...our husbands are no different.

Do you try to set aside time with your husband?
What's your secret to making it happen?