Giveaway!!

So my loverly friends of blogland I decided that is about time I show you some gratitude by giving away a handmade bunting by ME to YOU!

I don't think I have said it enough but this blog really makes me so happy and means a lot to me! It gives me motivation to keep crafting, reading, set and accomplish goals AND the best part...I have met so many wonderful friends!! I just want you all to know how much it means to me that you take time out of your own life to take a peek into mine, seriously...it means so much to me!!




I saw this fabric at Joanns when it was still winter and I fell in love. It made me so happy and long for spring!! I loved it so much that I didn't even really want any other fabric incorporated. I did look but I just wasn't happy with the way any other fabrics looked together. After I sewed it all together I felt it was missing something though or a bit plain maybe. I found some adorable green leaf buttons but they didn't really show up too well with the green bias tape I used. Soooo....after some thinking it dawned on me CROCHETED FLOWERS, duh!! I have a butt load of buttons handed down to me from my mom and I found a bunch of different yellows ones that I used as the centers. I love these buntings so much, they are so springy and wonderful to look at. I made two of them so TWO of you can win!!!

All you have to be is a follower of my blog with either Google or Bloglovin and leave a comment telling me what you have planned for the month of May, it's that simple! You can earn extra entries by posting about this giveaway somewhere else, your blog, twitter (mention @jamietoohey), facebook, wherevs just so long as you leave a separate comment and a link it'll count.
So my darlings...I figure there is no better way to start the weekend than with a giveaway!!
I'll pick two winners at random next Friday, May 6th (I can't freaking believe it will be May already!!)

Good Luck!!

I won (another one)!

Last week the wonderful and lovely Miss Cuppy had a giveaway for a few products from reuseit.com and I won!!!
I was so stoked ESPECIALLY for the shopping totes. I like to think I'm pretty concious of reducing, reusing and recycling but I never did get on the whole reusable shopping bag band wagon. I have a Brita water filter in my refridgerator (that, soy milk and beer is all that's ever in my fridge, Jeremy hates it. He wants soda or iced tea but I won't drink it so I don't buy it! Plus lugging those bottles up 3 flights of stairs with my other groceries would be murder!!) I have a bottle I bring to work everyday filled with water that way I'm not buying and throwing away bottles. I also make my own coffee at home in the morning and I have a cute little travel mug that I use. (Also, supplying my own water and coffee is MASSIVELY cheaper than buying it in the cafe at work, the vending machines, Wawa, Starbucks, etc.) I know most of the reason I never had any reusable shopping totes came from a part of me that would say "I'm not gonna buy one, I can just make one." but I never actually did, which is pretty ridiculous and embarassing!
I am super, super excited to use everything so let me show you what I got!!

The shopping totes are already in my car so I have them on hand any time I go into a store.


I love the notes about why everyone should have reusable totes in the area where plastic bags say they are hazardous and not toys.


How adorable is this "paper" bag and the napkins?!?


I'm leaving one of the napkins at work and the other three at home for Jeremy and I to use during dinner. I don't want to use the lunch bag for my actual lunch though because A. I bring my own cereal and milk in separate tupperwares to work every day and sometimes the milk leaks out a little bit and I don't want to ruin the bag (I do have a lunch box though, no bags!) and B. This bag is so cute, if I were to leave it in the refridgerator at work I know someone would steal it. Seriously...people steal shit all the time at my job, it's insane. Especally when it comes to food! A lady I used to sit next to brought in half a stromboli that she had eaten for dinner the night before and someone took it!! One of our managers had tuna in a tupperware and the bread in separate bags so he could make the sandwich when he was ready and it wouldn't be soggy...someone stole the bread!! I had someone go in my drawer, in my purse, in my wallet and steal $30!!! Needless to say that was in the very beginning of me working there and I take my purse everywhere with me and lock my drawers now but...I work with some scummy people! Enough of that rant! I will be finding something more adorable and useful for this bag (tote around crafts maybe?...yes!)



Here is my new water bottle that will be replacing my plastic one. It's so nice and sturdy and I love that it says "this is not a plastic bottle". This little black bag had a tag saying it is for Pet Toys/Stuff. However, my snake doesn't really have toys/stuff that I would be carrying around, hehe! Instead I am going to use it to put all of my mini reuseable bottles of shampoo, body wash, contact case, toothpaste, etc. for when we go camping.


I am so incredibly happy with everything!! I talked with Natalie at reuseit.com after I won and she was extremely nice and shipped everything out the same day! Please visit their website and purchase a few things that I'm sure you can find good use for and possibly replace some not so good things you are currently using. Honestly, we as humans have done so much harm to our planet and it is the only one we have. It breaks my heart to know that there are so many little, simple changes every person could make to help but don't because they won't change their habits. I'm not very good with words but my Aunt Stephanie is. She won an Earth Day Photo Contest (go look at the picture, she is an amazing photographer as well) that cafepress.com had last year and she really summed it up "The Big Blue marble is our home: Mother Earth sustains us and we should live in balance with her."

Thank you Cuppy for this amazing giveaway and thank you reuseit.com for all that you do!!

Psst...Check back tomorrow because I am having a giveaway of my own!!!

Granny Squares Continue!

So I kind of stopped making the granny squares for my afghan. I had made so many at once, I think I burned out. No worries though, I picked that hook back up again! I have 12 more finished, a total of 48!! That's more than half way done!

This weekened we went camping in the Poconos at my friend, Kara's family cabin. It took about 2 hours to get there so I did some crocheting on the way there and back while Jeremy drove. It's this really old house built in the 1840's. It was once a Bed & Breakfast but now is just a cabin her family goes to for hunting, fishing, camping and general getting away from it all! It was beautiful even though it rained a lot. There were 10 of us there and when a bunch of people went fishing I stayed behind with my sister and our friend, LaQuan in the cabin. I crocheted a ton more while Jessie read to us from this really awesome special Time Magazine Issue, 100 Ideas that Changed the World. It was everything from cavemen to discovering the Atom, the idea that the Earth spins around the Sun, electricity, and all the most influential ideas that have changed the course of history! We only got about half way through before everyone came back but it was a good time just talking and learning about all that stuff.
Anyway...here are the next 12 squares!






You can see the other squares I've made if you'd like...
First Bunch
Second Bunch
Third Bunch

Also, I have no idea why I've been making them in bunches of 12, weird!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

Key Lime Pie

Like I mentioned before, we celebrated Easter at my Dad's this past Sunday. Besides ice cream, my Dad's favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie. I decided I would try my hand at making one since it didn't look to difficult

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups (24 oz) sweeted condensed milk
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream
3/4 cup (6 oz) key lime juice
1 TBS grated lime juice
cool whip or whipped cream
Note: I was able to get everything at my normal grocery store but they didn't carry Key Lime juice so I went to Wegmans to get it. They had it in the drink mix aisle.

So let's get started...
Get all your ingredients together.


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime rind.
I seriously love seeing what the picture on the Daisy sour cream foil lid is going to be every time I use it!! This time it was a lovely picture of the Grand Canyon.


Mix well, pour into crust.


Bake in preheated oven 5-8 minutes. Until pinhole bubbles burst on the surface.
DO NOT BROWN!
This is what the recipe said. I never saw any pinhole bubbles. I left the pie in my oven for 10 minutes and decided either I'm blind or there were no pinholes!

Chill thoroughly before serving and enjoy!



Everyone complimented me on this pie. My step mom even compared it to a pie they once had in Key West. Her and my Dad have been to Key West about a bazillion times and for them to like the pie so much was pretty wonderful, my Dad even had two slices!!

Candy Swap!

A few weeks ago the wonderful Erin organized an Easter Candy Swap. As soon as I heard the word "candy", I was in! I was paired up with the hilarious Mollie. She lives in the UK and I was so, so excited to get some English candy! Mollie did not disappoint. First off as soon as I got home I saw my package at the door and literally "squeed" out loud! It's not every day I get Royal Mail!!


There's English Toffee, Milk Chocolate Butterflies, the little lumps in the clear bag Mollie told me are called Grey's Tea Cakes (I will be making tea to eat them with, British it up and what not) and a Yorkie Bar.
Here are all my sweet treats!


Tell me this isn't hilarious!! I ate it last night and it was sooo delicious! Chocolate, raisins and "biscuit" which is like the crunchy stuff in Hershey's Crunch bars.


I am so glad I participated in this swap!! Thank you Erin for organizing it and thank you Mollie for the wonderful Candy!!
Have a sweet Thursday kids!

Monthly Planner

So I've been itching to get a monthly planner. I have so much stuff going on this spring and summer on the weekends that it's hard to remember everything AND not double book myself! I looked in a few stores for ones but I don't like any of them. They're ugly and assume I want certain things already written on the days (no offense but I could care less when all these Queen's Birthday's are!!).
Last week I saw LA over on Freckled Nest had a link to making your own Agenda Book. There are free calendar pages to print and directions for binding it all together. I wasn't able to watch the video, it's blocked on my work computer and my phone wouldn't upload it. I went over to Howcast and quick found instructions for How to Bind a Book.
I got to work Monday night! I used a cereal box for the cover and just glued this scrap book paper I found at Joanns onto each side. The outside is a creepy haunted house, trees and the moon and the inside looks like sheet music. I wasn't able to print the calendar pages so that there were backs and fronts on each page so I just glued them together. I used embroidery floss to bind the pages all together and added some stickers to jazz up the pages! I've written in all my stuff so far and LOVE it!





Sorry the pages are so dark, I was half asleep when I took these pictures and didn't even realize the flash was off! DUH!
Have a good day lovies.

I won!

Last month Kam had a spectacular March Mega Sponsor Giveaway! I won a custom 4" cursive typewriter hoop from Ruggles Stitch. I was able to select my own quote and Alexia typed it up for me. She even painted the hoop Kelly Green for me! My quote wasn't very long so she suggested a 3" hoop instead and I am sure glad she did. It arrived in the mail yesterday and I am LOVING it!!
The quote is from the Blind Melon song "Change" and means a lot to me.
One of my 2011 Craft Goals is to start a Hoop Love wall of my own and this bad boy is going right up on it!




I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday, we are having some craptastic weather here. Rain and Grey skies, bleh!

Easter Bunny

We celebrated Easter at my Dad's house yesterday. Jeremy, my sister and I along with a bunch of friends planned a camping trip Easter weekend without even realizing it! Oh well, we worked it out.
I decided since it is my niece's first Easter that I would make her a little Easter Bunny doll. I found a free pattern for this Miffy Bunny on Ravelry. I have no idea who Miffy is but the pattern was a sinch. I used felt for the eyes and yarn for the nose and mouth. I wanted to spring up the bunny a bit so I used this cute flowery fabric on the ears and sewed a little heart onto it too.





I wanted to take a picture of the bunny with Lindsay but she does not like the flashes on a camera! My Dad takes a million pictures and that flash scares her everytime!
I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Cold Veggie "Pizza"

Today is my new manager, Kristen's birthday. The team decided we would have a little surprise party for her and this is what I made, Cold Veggie "Pizza". I put pizza in quotes because this isn't really what I think pizza is at all and I don't want people thinking it is! It is super easy to make and oh so delicious! The really good thing is how versatile this is, you can use whatever veggies and cheese you like. Also, if you choose all fat free, low fat, etc. ingredients it can be pretty healthy.

Ingredients:
2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
Veggies of your choice, chopped, sliced, etc.
(I use tomatoes, black olives and green onions)
As much shredded cheese as you want
(I use cheddar and mozzarella)

So let's go...

Get all your ingredients together (the dill escaped the photo.)


Unroll the crescent rolls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten the dough out and seal the seams and perforations.
Bake at 375 degress for 10 minutes or until golden brown.


While you are waiting for the crust to bake, combine in a small bowl the mayonnaise, cream cheese and dill.
Remove the crust and let it cool off a bit. Then spread the mayo combination onto the crust.


Top with your veggies and sprinkle with cheese!


Cover and chill at least an hour.
Super easy and super yummy!!

Book Review: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski was our Book Club book for March.


I didn't finish it in time for the meeting but I did finish it last night. This was a long book, 562 pages to be exact. It was really good though, kind of slow but a good slow and very well written. It's about a boy (Edgar, obviously) who was born a mute. He can hear but can't speak. He lives on a farm in northern Wisconsin with his mother and father and they raise dogs. Not just any dog, these really awesome dogs that people across the country seek out because of how well trained they are and the amazing bonds they have with humans. One chapter is all about his dog, Almondine and how when Edgar was born she knew that her life was meant to watch over the boy. It was so well written, I mean how do you write from the point of view of a dog?! Wroblewski did it and did it so well. Reading it I was thinking "clearly this is how dogs think, it makes so much sense!"
Then Edgar's father dies. This isn't really a spoiler, it even says it on the book jacket and that's where a lot more of the story comes into focus. He believes his uncle killed his father and obsesses over proving it. Something else happens (this would be a spolier) and Edgar runs away. He runs north with 3 dogs in tow and hides for 2 months. Robbing food from lake houses and eventually ends up staying with a nice guy he meets when one of the dogs gets injured. After a while Edgar is so homesick for his mother and Almondine that he back tracks through the woods and fields back home.
I don't want to give away the ending but it was good! I definitely recommend this book. Like I said, it is a bit slow. It's slow though because, how fast paced is life on a farm anyway?! Plus there's a lot of description of the landscape and what not. I really liked it and gave it 4 stars!
Now onto April's book which is My Pick!!

Lists 12 & 13

Hey my lovlies, how was your weekend?!

List 12 - Weekly Rituals


List 13 - DIYs I want to try. I only added a few because I know there are many more but totally had a brain fart while writing this list!



What are your go to websites and blogs for awesome DIYs?!

Lists 10 & 11

Happy Friday!

Here are two more lists from the 30 Days of Lists challenge.

#10 On my Wishlist


Pretty self explanitory. Oh except the "real bed" part. I have a futon. My apartment is a studio so I needed something that could convert to seating when I have company. It's alright but my hips don't like it much! If I sleep on the middle part (it's hard since that's where it bends into a couch) I wake up very sore and stiff. I can't wait to have a real bed again!

#11 Date Night Ideas


Again...pretty obvious! On the Border is a Mexican restaurant, it's a chain but it is soo good! Plus most of these things we already do or have done but I'd like to do again. Except shooting guns, I've never done that and I really want to!! Oh and we've never hiked together and we live right by the Appalachian Trail so that's kind of sad that we haven't.
I forgot to put bowling on here. Jeremy loves bowling, he's in leagues and goes once a week. We go together or with friends sometimes and always have fun. The last time we went just the two of us, about a month ago we had such a good time. I honestly felt like we were on a first date or something <3

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!