Travel Minis

I recently discovered these awesome "travel minis" which are mini scrapbooks that some very creative people have put together to document their vacations. I've always wondered what to do with the "stuff" collected on trips, like ticket stubs and maps, but I'm not a huge fan of big scrapbooks. These "minis" are great, and next time I travel I'll definitely make one. These are my two favorites so far:

From the Found Paper Company blog here

From the Big Picture Classes blog here

New Ideas Tuesday

Right now life is so busy that I feel like this blog is a way to store ideas for later. I'm like an idea squirrel, storing idea "nuts" for the winter. There's so many great ideas out there, I find it hardest to keep track and to not get overwhelmed by all of them. I haven't quite figured out the best strategy for this - maybe I take two days a week off of idea hunting, maybe no idea hunting on the weekend? I'm not sure yet, because it's something I really enjoy but it does get overwhelming. For now I think I'll start New Ideas Tuesday, a collection of some of the most intestesting ideas I've found through the week.

Idea #1: Ivory Soap Experiment from a very creative mommy blog here

Idea #2: Mini Polaroid Magnet project here

Idea #3: Magazine rack from an old pallet here

Idea #4: Cool art display here

Idea #5: Free Paris gift tag printables here

Idea #6: Tiny kitchen from recycled TV or microwave cart here

Idea #7: Cool bookshelf display here

Cool Idea - Chalkboard Fridge

We have an old fridge in our garage from the 80's that serves as our drink and party fridge. It's really, really ugly and was part of the house when we bought it. But it's a great extra fridge and makes no sense to buy a new one when the old beast is still kicking. My mother-in-law is going to turn her old fridge into a chalkboard, which I think is a great idea and that's what I think we'll do with our old fridge outside. Here's a few pics of this idea in some cool kitchens. For more, see my Pinterest boards here.

Inspiring The Inner Engineer

I've always been more artist than engineer, interested more in drawing and painting things than building them. But these prings from 20x200 artist Todd McLellan have inspired me to want to take stuff apart and see the "art" that went into making them. Next time I'm at a tag sale I think I'll buy some cheap old electronics and work on taking them apart with Bean to maybe inspire her inner engineer. All of these old things that we now take for granted are amazingly intricate, and seeing all these old parts makes me appreciate all the human innovation and engineering (that art) that went into making them. There is definitely a major element of creativity to engineering.

Old digital clock

Old camera

Old typewriter


PS, if you live in the Columbus, Ohio area, the COSI museum has a room dedicated to taking things apart - check it out here.

Fun Party Supplies

I'm always waiting until the very last minute to get supplies for birthday parties and get togethers. Next time I'm going to order in advance from Sweet Lulu, and I'm definitely getting some of the giant balloons and fun cupcake wrappers. Here's a few other supplies I like from this shop:

What We Found in Our Front Lawn

For some reason there are a ton of creepy crawlies out so far this summer. We've seen more snakes, spiders and other assorted bugs this year than any other year before. Maybe they had more time to grow with it being so cold for so long? I don't know, but there's a ton of them out there and it really grosses me out. But today we came home to something else in our front lawn, in one of the bushes right next to the house. I had noticed birds flying in and out of this bush for the last week or so, so when we got home tonight and I saw one fly out I had to take a look. There in the bush was a perfect bird's nest with five baby blue eggs. They're not tiny eggs, they're about the size of a small chicken egg. And they're the lightest color blue-I did some quick research and they look like either Finch or Robin eggs which we've seen around here. We didn't want to stay too long to disturb them, but I had to get a few pics. Bean was so excited about them, and she's even more excited about when they hatch to see the baby chicks. This bush is low to the ground so we should get to see those chicks, and we'll have to make sure they're safe!

Homemade Sopranos Video in NYC

This is a hilarious video of my nieces Amelia and Annabelle's recent trip to NYC. Their dad, my brother-in-law Steve, is so creative with these video clips. This one cracks me up. Tony Soprano would be so proud.

Coolest Mom on the Block

Ok I just saw these on a blog I follow. I totally want them - forget roller blades, roller skates are way better. I would be the coolest mom on the block if I had them.



http://www.rollergirl.ca/skateshop/rocket-p-234.html

Too bad they're ridiculously expensive and I don't think I could ever justify spending $335 on a pair of roller skates. It did spark my interest though, and I did a little searching. I found some cute ones on Amazon - Bean and I could get matching skates like this for a hec of a lot less:



http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Womens-Artistic-Roller-Skates/dp/B001G2CTZK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1305903618&sr=8-6



I also looked on Etsy and found several vintage skates. That could be an option, especially if I could somehow find some adult-sized Smurf or Strawberry Shortcake skates from the 80's. That would be awesome.



http://www.etsy.com/listing/74310947/vintage-1983-rainbow-brite-roller-derby?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=roller+skates&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_category=vintage&ga_facet=



http://www.etsy.com/listing/36269086/vintage-smurf-roller-skates