There are crafts that I do with my kids that I deem post-worthy, and crafts that I really wouldn’t write about.  But this one turned out pretty cute, so I thought I’d share.

Since I was going away for the weekend, without the kids, to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary, I decided to take my five year old daughter to the craft store and spend a few hours with her, creating something together for autumn.  We picked out some fabric leaves and amber beads, and decided to make our own wind catcher.

And it’s true. There is something irresistible about autumn leaves blowing in the wind. Call me sentimental, but now I’m longing for cornfield mazes and pumpkin pie.

Here is our creation:

If you want to spend an afternoon with your kids or grandkids creating something together, then this is an inexpensive keepsake craft.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no!  it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

-Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116

recited at our wedding

September 5, 1999

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a big believer in making your home your personal refuge from the world. I’d rather spend my money on feathering my nest than taking a grand vacation. When we planned our home expansion, I insisted on creating my own sanctuary by incorporating a courtyard into the design plan. In truth, my courtyard is my favorite “room” in my home. I begin and end each day in this very spot.

We’ve been landscaping our barren backyard in several stages, and for several years. When choosing plantings, I find myself drawn, time and again, to anything with deep purple flowers or sage green leaves. Jackpot, if both occur. In nature, I find the color combination of aubergine and sage green irresistible.

Rainbow Elephant Bush Succulent 

In my outdoor decor, I also return to shades of green. To me, green is a color that is fresh regardless of the season. I never tire of it.

Read the rest of this entry »

I hope you’ve had your coffee, cause I’m getting up close and personal this morning. 

When you step out of the shower or bath, what is your first layer of choice, after drying off your bum with your towel?  Are you a robe person?  Do you immediately dress?  Or do you dance around to bad 80s metal in your skivvies?  (Don’t tell us, if the latter is you.)

Quite frankly, I am none of the above.  (Although Mr. CG loves to belt 80s rock ballads while shaving, but don’t tell him I told you.)  Robes make me sweaty (except on the coldest mornings), and I can’t imagine getting dressed right away.  And I’m much too bashful to run around in my underwear.  Day after day, I turn to a spa towel wrap because it covers me with cozy terry cloth, but frees up my arms for all that I must accomplish between 7 and 8 a.m.

My old storebought spa wrap was getting a bit tattered after years of use, so I thought I’d just make myself a new one.  My five year old daughter is just as “anti-robe” as I am (“It’s too sweaty mommmmmmiiiiiieeeeeee” ) so I also made her one too. 

One clearance towel + 1/2 yard of cute cotton fabric + one afternoon = glam spa towel wrap.

Here is the pink version I made for my girl:

Read the rest of this entry »